Truths And Lies 04.29.14: WWE/TNA Week In Review

Let me try something new.

Consider this a challenge, open invitation, experiment, etc. Whatever you want to call it, this is the deal. Next week, this little opening spot will go to one of my readers! Yes, that is right. Send me an email (listed at the end of the column), a lengthy tweet (@JustinWatry), or use the comment section below. Just make it a paragraph or two and fun with it. Only rule is the same as always: no cuss words or insults! Good luck.

Moving over to the wrestling scene, TNA Sacrifice was last night. I would ask if anybody saw it, but outside of illegal streamers, it is difficult for me to believe many paid $40 for the pay-per-view. WWE Extreme Rules is this Sunday night, which will be very interesting just because of all the cable company drama and network stream holding up. It did for WrestleMania XXX, so things should go well! Now bring on the cheap plugs…

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Comments

Note: I will happily respond to comments, as long as they do not have insults or cuss words. Sadly, most still do not grasp the very simple concept months later. Here are some of the best from last week!

JaySin420: So Steph is doing a good job playing an annoying role that barely gets any heat? Dixie played the same role, got a lot more heat from a lot less fans…but I guess she wasn’t acting?

Yep! If you are looking for ANY kind of Dixie Carter praise, you are in the wrong place.

SpankyHamm: If TNA is looking to maintain their status, they need to put the title on either Jeff Hardy (i.e. NOT Willow) or Kurt Angle (won’t happen). They need a name as their champion (yes, Eric Young is technically a name, but then again, it’s Eric Young).

If they are truly hitting the reset button (i.e. focusing on the newer, younger talents), then Magnus should have been booked as a much stronger champion. Of all of the newer guys on the roster, he still has the most opportunity to be a breakout star. Instead, they book him as a paper champion who couldn’t win on his own, completely neutering him.

TNA has suffered from many self-inflicted wounds. They overpaid stars, they featured the wrong stars, they wrote bad stories, they took away too much of what made then different. And after all of that, they ended up in a spot that is worse than where they were 8 years ago.

Goodbye Spike.

I still say TNA Impact Wrestling stays with Spike TV. It just fits like a glove – low rated show on a (fairly) low rated network.

The problems are exactly as you stated. Jeff Hardy should be Jeff FREAKIN’ Hardy! Not some clown named Willow. Whoever is allowing him to show off his ‘artistic freedom’ needs to reel him back in. Kurt Angle is rumored to be out the door in a few months, so that is a tough call. If he leaves, there goes another name talent. At the same time, he could easily stay put after realizing a WWE Wellness policy and physical waits for him. Something he can avoid in TNA.

Eric Young is Eric Young. I have NOTHING against the man personally, but the decision to put the TNA Title on him was wrong on 1,000 different levels. What was happening with Magnus was not working either, but that was their own doing, as outlined the past few months. TNA did that to themselves. Ultimately, I wrote about this back in Fall 2013. All of the booking mistakes, all the miscues, all the bad signings, all the fat contracts, all of the nonexistent PPV buys, all of the empty live event buildings, all of the expensive live/road tapings, all of the embarrassing story lines, and all of the careless spending finally came back to bite them.

Michael L: If the WWE signs up with Spike TV, it would be hilarious to see some cross-promotion with Jon Tafer. Is the bar owned by Tim White still open? Having him come in to “save” that bar would be hilarious, especially if it gets disrupted by your typical brawl between two wrestlers or teams that have a beef with each other.

That would be great. Last week’s episode of Bar Rescue drew over 1.6 million viewers, so there is definitely an audience watching. I always thought it would be hilarious to see Jon Taffer come into TNA and just rip into everybody. Then at the end, yell is catchphrase “Shut it down!”

Bleh: Dear TNA (and Russo),

There is something called a “build”. You build to things. Not do it because WWE did it.

Also, people watch you because they want something different from the WWE. Not because they want to be reminded of a superior product.

You were starting to do so well with rebuilding your X division and your women’s divisions (the things the WWE don’t do) and strengthening your tag team division with the Wolves. Now, this? I don’t dislike Eric Young but he needed a build up. And bringing back Abyss doesn’t count.

It is 2014. Fans have been saying this for YEARS now. TNA just hates pay-per-view buys. They hate them. Between Lockdown and Sacrifice, there were four episodes of Impact with a TNA Title match. Remember this is the company that scaled back on live PPV events last year by cutting 66% of them. Presumably to make every single PPV mean more and with more weeks/months build. Well, throw that theory out the window. At one point, three straight episodes of Impact had a TNA Title match in April. Why not take those three weeks to talk up Eric Young, have him be treated as legitimate, rally up his fanbase and then pay it off at Sacrifice. Instead, we got everything already for FREE (plus their weekly dose of gimmick matches) and have no reason whatsoever to plunk down $40 on Sunday. Happens every single time…boggles my mind.

Rob: To be fair, the reason Smackdown lacked some star power was because most of them were on tour in Saudi Arabia.

Yep, from my Smackdown thoughts:

“The Blue Brand had a rough night for star power with many already overseas…”

Steve Ward: I think Paige and Rusev are fine so far. Paige is doing pretty much exactly what she should, and it doesn’t come off as another “debut new talent, they win a streak of short matches” because a four minute match is par for the course in the divas division. She’s just coming off like a champion making regular defenses of her belt. If they had another video package or two showing off who she is and establishing a character, she’d be golden. Then just have monthly challengers and it’s all perfect. As for Rusev, I’m not a fan anyway, but squash matches were pretty much the only way he was ever going to debut, and probably the best for him.

As for Dallas, strap yourselves in for some fantasy booking from a nobody with a keyboard – Provided Evolution/Authority/etc continue feuding with The Shield, I would have Bo Dallas win the US title within his first week or two on television. Have him suck up to HHH, HHH gives him the match, wacky screwjob shenanigans and interference cost Ambrose the title.

Ambrose isn’t doing anything with it, and certainly doesn’t need it. Bo Dallas’ main source of heat is turning “go away” heat into his meal ticket, so basically handing him a title he “doesn’t deserve” right out of the gate is perfect for him. Sucking up to HHH also immediately gets his smarmy disingenuous character over. And most importantly, Dallas can then proceed to congratulate himself for the rest of time, telling us all to Bo-lieve, because Bo-lieving in himself is what made him our US Champion. Basically, run with his NXT Champion character with the US title.

Two things:

1. I am fine with Paige and Rusev. The issue is when Bo Dallas and Adam Rose show up. That is four new talent to spread out over Raw and Smackdown. All the while, Xavier Woods is lost in the shuffle. Titus O’Neil is just standing around as a heel. Also, guys like Kofi Kingston (not that I care), Damien Sandow, Dolph Ziggler, and countless others come and go. Ask Fandango how quickly he was forgotten about. Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing. WWE is getting close to that point with new talent debuting.

2. Evolution just feels like a short-term reunion. Triple H will not be wrestling every month. Batista has Guardians of the Galaxy coming up. Randy Orton is…well, Randy Orton. While your scenario with Bo Dallas would work, I am just not sold on Evolution lasting much longer after Extreme Rules. Much less HHH and Stephanie McMahon as the heel authority figures. That well is running dry. Regardless, I would just be happy if WWE had some kind of plan for Bo Dallas. Do not forget he came up to the main roster last year too. That went well…

Matt86: Ok, last week, I was pretty confident in my words and views, but Smackdown and RAW especially have left me in favour of your reply to my comment from last week.

WWE doesn’t seem to know precisely how to work with Heyman as Cesaro’s manager, it all comes off pretty messy, it confuses the life crowd, who wants to cheer for Cesaro, who even wants to cheer for Heyman to a certain degree, but can’t because Paul is PLAYING UP the heel aspects of his character instead of being a tweener manager.

I know Lesnar will not be on RAW every week, but really: Wrestlemania is gone, nobody cares about the streak when it’s not Wrestlemania, especially because the streak is no more. I think WWE made a mistake in believing Brock breaking the streak would have any kind of impact beyond the build of the next Wrestlemania. Now Heyman is around trying to Brock over on something he did while he is not there, while managing someone who needs face momentum, not heel heat meant for someone else.

So yes, you’re right, the thing is pretty messy, & even though I’m normally all for long builds, the sooner Cesaro breaks away from Heyman, the better. Thankfully, WWE seems to think the same way, already planting the seeds for Cesaro’s split from Paul.

Yeah, whether intentional or not, the seeds are being planted for Cesaro to break away from Paul Heyman. Jerry Lawler during Raw really drove home the point of a breakup. No idea what WWE is going for here. Cesaro is great. Heyman is great. Cesaro and Heyman together now?!?! Now so great.

Jason Andreas: A few thoughts, Justin:

1) It was difficult to watch Bryan, as you say, however I can’t imagine he’ll have done himself any harm in the eyes of Vince/HHH/etc with his insistence on being able to work and set up the angle before heading off to be with his family. I get the feeling that sort of commitment will be viewed very favourably.

2) Seth Rollins’ promo was slightly rambling, but his ability on the stick has improved markedly since he first appeared in NXT and I genuinely think he could be the next CM Punk in terms of being the “alternative” style focal point, different from all the vanilla cookie-cutter guys.

3) Ryback was surprisingly good on commentary. Put over both teams confidently, referenced some old stories and wrestlers, and generally just nailed it. One of the best ‘joining us on commentary’ appearances in a long time in the WWE. I didn’t realise he had that in him.

4) Paige has had some decent matches so far. It’s a shame the crowd tune out (at least until the Scorpion Cross Lock, which at least seems to get a bit of a pop – I wonder if she can put that on Tamina?) but it shows that they need to do a little more in the WWE to give the crowd a reason to care about the women. They’ve got three hours – surely they can sacrifice a little bit of recap time to develop some current stuff.

5) Cesaro’s new music is ok – in a generic sort of way – but they need a good edit to let the music start thumping straight away after a victory or ‘standing tall’ moment – the sirent is all well and good, but the music then takes a bit too long to build. You want an instant hook there.

6) Poor Drew McIntyre. If things were different, he could have made an interesting new Evolution member – with all of the current members equating to moving up a peg (HHH now Flair, Batista now HHH, Orton now Batista) – the Chosen One gimmick would have fit the junior member of Evolution as well as the Legend Killer did.

7) RVD is just about done. Cesaro struggled to carry him to a cohesive match, and Cesaro’s one of the best workers on the roster. It was almost painful watching him at times.

8) Rusev has some talent (and I was surprised at how much offence Sin Cara was allowed – it made it better viewing than the average squash) but they really need to let him show off some of his speed and agility, as well as just strength. He and Big E could have an interesting feud – they’re both huge guys with deceptive speed.

Right, that’s enough for now!

Nice comment. Agreed on nearly everything! Just two quick disagreements: Rob Van Dam is not done. Far from it. He can do his short-term stints, take time off, and come back refreshed. It works for him. His match with Cesaro on Raw was perfectly acceptable. Did not notice anything bad. On Drew McIntyre, he already got the huge push to the moon. The boss – VINCE MCMAHON – told the world how great he was in the middle of the ring, and it still did not work. Can not get much more of a boost in WWE. It falls on the talent after that. Right Elijah Burke?

*There were tons of great comments last week. Lots of fun stuff discussed. However, a few choice words made it impossible to warrant an actual reply. Oh well…*

Truths: TNA Impact Wrestling (4/24/14)

Note: My commitment to covering this show full-time ended in January. However, I will watch from time to time. For those curious, I will be tuning in to the pre and post TNA Sacrifice episodes.

1. Magnus did his best on Thursday. – After months of being treated as a joke, Magnus had a good night on his own Thursday night. It does not repair his lost credibility since the start of 2014, but it is a start. Abyss still being featured in 2014 is amazing to me. Yet here we are. TNA had about six months of programming with them but whipped through it all from Lockdown to Sacrifice in six weeks. Par the course but just a waste of time. None of this made any sense. Glad TNA remembered that Eric Young was their champion but then again – I would try to hide that fact too until the way end of the show. Okay EY fans, time to prove his big drawing ability and pay the $40 for Sacrifice! Oh, who am I kidding?

2. Samuel Shaw has jumped the shark. – Am I using the phrase right? Whatever, my worst fears have been realized. When his character started, it was a nice idea and could be something fun. Then all the nonsense started with the security footage, stalking, mannequin and just silliness. We have now arrived at clear as day fake blood drawn on his face and the camera guy just leaving the entire scene. Speaking of, he is living with his mom named Christy…huh? What happened to the apartment condo thing he had? The man must be loaded to have two different places to buy. Either way, Mr. Anderson is not the guy for this mess nor is Shaw. Scrap the whole thing. Toss it in the trash and never mention it again. Go find Knux and join his carnival adventure. More nonsense.

3. TNA needs new Knockouts. – Gail Kim, Madison Rayne, Velvet Sky, and Angelina Sky feuding over the title. Somebody tell me what year we are in. Briitany is a good start, but she just pops up every once in awhile. Either focus on her full-time or do not even bother. Her showing up once a month is pointless. The worst part is that ODB is also still hanging around doing the same bit she has always done. Just do something but a repeat of The Beautiful People. I know it is the dreaded Impact Zone, but goodness gracious were they silent for the Knockouts stuff.

4. Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy need to give WWE a call. – Jeff Hardy should be Jeff Hardy. Whoever is allowing him this creative freedom needs to be shown the door. Jeff Hardy sells as JEFF HARDY! Not Willow the clown dressed up and screaming. Let the man be Jeff Hardy and nothing else. Kurt Angle may be leaving the company soon. He may not be. That is all speculation. What is NOT speculation is the joke that is Rockstar Spud and Ethan Carter III. No, not in a good comedy way. Think about it folks. You have Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle in your company. Of allllllll the feuds and allllllll the matches, they are teamed up to battle two clowns. Smell the pay-per-view buy rates. Smell them!

5. This may have been the worst go-home show in the history of modern day wrestling. – Raise your hand if you are paying the full $40 for Sacrifice on Sunday (last night by the time this is posted, but you get the point). Raise your hand if you had even a slight interest before Thursday. Now tell me what happened during their two hour episode of Impact that convinced you to pay the price. Was it MVP beating Austin Aries? Was it a quick promo from The Wolves? Was it the Magnus vs. Abyss match that had nothing to do with the PPV? Was it the content from Anderson and Shaw? Or the Bobby Lashley (who just returned and is already doing nothing) vs. Kenny King match? No, none of that? Exactly. If these buy rates are ever released, I seriously would doubt any number above 100 PPV buys.

Lie: MVP is staying in the background. – I should have known better. My fault. When MVP came on board, I was fine with the move. He was always a solid talent and could certainly do better than Dixie Carter as the authority. Well, anybody could have. Well, I was wrong. MVP is just involved with too much. He was in the opening with Abyss and Magnus. He has his mini-feud going on with Kenny King. Then he tops it off by defeating Austin Aries (who is rumored to be on the outs of TNA). Yep, pretty nice for a face boss that tries NOT to get involved with the talent…

*Bad show. As usual with TNA, the actual in-ring action was good. However, when those few minutes are surrounded by MANY minutes of illogical, unreal, laughable story lines with no direction, it is hard to care about the results. None of the champions mean anything right now, and with Slammiversary in a month, the only real question is how many TNA Title matches can the company squeeze in on free television before then rendering the PPV useless. From Lockdown to Sacrifice, we got four TNA Title matches on Impact. Three weeks in a row in April! I will be watching next week. Why? I ask myself that question every day. Whatever lousy television rating this show grabs, it deserves.*

Edit: Once again, COPS reruns on Spike TV beat Impact Thursday night by a few hundred thousand viewers. Save the NBA Playoffs excuse. Just save it! That is invalid. Every network and cable show competes every single week regardless of what is on. Besides, the previous Thursday had no NBA game on, and TNA drew a near identical viewership. Once again, the numbers fall on the company, not whatever weekly handbook of excuses you want to use to deflect blame.

Truths: WWE Smackdown (4/25/14)

1. Curtis Axel won a match. – Why?

2. Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger should have been at Extreme Rules. – Good match. Okay setup beforehand. This all just should have been featured at Extreme Rules on Sunday night. Even Darren Young vs. Titus O’Neil was able to get some PPV time when they split up. Yet, Cesaro and Swagger get an episode of Smackdown? Come on now.

3. Bray Wyatt delivered a very good promo. – I liked this a lot. The cage was used as a cool visual. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper stood there looking creepy. The live crowd seemed interested in what Bray Wyatt had to say. With no John Cena, this feud rested on the shoulders of Bray on Friday night. He came through. In a weird way, their steel cage rematch at Extreme Rules has me more intrigued than their WrestleMania XXX match assuming Bray wins, of course. Whole world in his hands. Whole world in his hands…

4. The breakup teases continue for Goldust and Cody Rhodes. – I really wish this story line would have happened months ago. Now it just does not carry that much of a punch. Goldust and Cody Rhodes have been on and off TV, so their momentum has stalled. Imagine them teasing a breakup when they were still featured every week and getting loud cheers every week. Now, it is more like “Yeah, yeah. Another team fighting. Go figure!”

5. The Shield were presented as stars. – Really, these three have been presented as stars since their debut. This is no different than the past 18 months. The Blue Brand just put it over the top with their impending collision with Evolution. They destroyed a bunch of heels and were left standing. I did laugh at the fact that the commentators just casually told us that Curtis Axel was attacked backstage. Ha! Thanks for that.

Lie: Nattie defeated Tamina Snuka. – Credit to the women here. I thought on more than one occasion Nattie was going to beat Tamina. Luckily, that did not happen. Paige is wrestling Tamina at Extreme Rules, not Nattie. Thus, the outcome was never really in doubt. However, I got caught up in the action. There were a couple near fall in this that made me believe Natalya would get the victory. Kudos ladies! Paige did not appear live but was given a promo highlighting her career so far at age 21. Perfectly fine with that here.

*Good show but nothing major happened. Bray Wyatt delivered an entertaining promo. Goldust and Cody Rhodes continue to tease a split. Cesaro defeated Jack Swagger in a good match. The rest was about The Shield pummeling a group of heels as they gear up to take on Evolution. The first hour or so flew by and kept me engaged until the end.*

Truths: WWE Raw (4/28/14)

1. Only Damien Sandow could have made that segment work. – Yes, it was silly. Yes, it was over the top. Yes, it was 100 percent ridiculous to even comprehend. That being said, Hugh Jackman was on Raw to promote the new X-Men movie. Dolph Ziggler being there made sense story line wise, and Damien Sandow’s character fit perfectly. He can easily do this kind of thing and be fine the next week. Silly fun. Hugh did great as expected, and WWE got whatever little mainstream press that is coming their way. Celebrity spots like this will always be in wrestling, so it is not going anywhere.

2. The opening scene was legitimately creepy. – Wow. I have been watching wrestling for over 20 years, and that ranks up there as one of the most ludicrous. Chilling. Stunning. Weird. Strange. Awe inspiring. Probably am going to re-watch that segment a good dozen times in the next few days. Now, Bray Wyatt and John Cena have to deliver at Extreme Rules in the steel cage.

3. Adam Rose will be on Raw next week. – Okay, the wait is over. Time will tell if the latest NXT call-up will be like Xavier Woods and Emma…or The Wyatts/The Shield. WWE better have a plan in place for Adam Rose (and Bo Dallas for that matter too). If not, it is just debuting a guy simple for the sake of debuting a guy.

4. Daniel Bryan and Kane needed more before Extreme Rules. – I enjoyed the backstage shots of the mask, until it was gone. I liked that. The blabbering with Stephanie McMahon and the Divas Title match was “blah.” Not a good use of Paige. Yeah, everything came back to Daniel Bryan, Kane, and the WWE World Title eventually. At that point, it was too little too late with the build. I appreciate the effort, but Bryan missed a week due to his honeymoon and then (kind of) missed a week due to tragic circumstances with his father. Tough situation to deal with. Props to Brie Bella for the line about Steph in the trainer’s room. Excellent!

5. Evolution vs. The Shield is MY main event this weekend. – I am ready. The WWE World Title match never really stood a chance. It is not Daniel Bryan’s fault. It is not Kane’s fault. It is not even the company’s fault really. Seeing a huge brawl between Evolution and The Shield wins out. Just like The Shield vs. The Wyatts a few months ago. There was just something extra special about the collision. Adding Ric Flair only adds to the drama, assuming he even shows up on Sunday. Does The Nature Boy swerve everybody and stand tall with his buddies? Or does he actually help The Shield dethrone his former stable mates? Really could go either way. It all depends on if Evolution is sticking around past Extreme Rules or not.

Lie: The #1 contenders IC Championship tournament was pointless. – Job well done to everybody involved. Bad News Barrett won the tourney to step back into relevancy. Big E can (hopefully) lose the belt on Sunday. Plus, WWE gave us some entertaining wrestling for a few weeks with eight talented performers. If Extreme Rules gives us 20 minutes of Big E and Barrett wrestling a great match, the value of the IC Title WILL go up. That is not bad news…

*Decent show. Good tag title match, but that should have been on the pay-per-view. Same with Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger (read my Smackdown thoughts above). Most of the Extreme Rules matches got time for hype, and I really liked Michael Cole telling everybody about DirecTV and Dish Network not airing the event. That is smart. Now the 4-5 millions watching Raw know to head to WWE.com or risk missing out. I will have more to write about the WWE Network/Extreme Rules situation next week. Until then, enjoy!*

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:

Adam Rose to debut on Raw? – Nice try. His bus has been outside the arena since his vignettes started airing. No reason to guess or oops, I mean “report” when his debut will be based on that.

Update on War Games! – Are we still doing this? How many years in a row has this been speculated on with absolutely zero facts referenced? Ranks right up there with Sting/WWE rumors…

Update on Sting – Apparently, WWE has delivered the contract to Sting. Everything has been agreed to, and all he has to do is sign. Moment of truth!

Ric Flair returning to WWE? – One report two weeks ago said he was NOT coming back. Now a report says he is. In other words, one person guessed. Then another guessed. Easy enough, huh? True or not, it would not a full board Evolution reunion without at least a cameo from Ric Flair. I hope he returns.

WWE announces their next live NXT special – There you go. This is exactly what I wanted to get me back into the NXT product. Their ArRIVAL show was awesome. I will be tuning in.

WWE is building to The Usos vs. Ryback/Curtis Axel at the Extreme Rules pre-show. – Or this Monday night on Raw. Let me guess the sourcing on this: “I watched Ryback and Axel start feuding with the Usos on TV the past few shows, so I shall report WWE is setting up a tag title match! Genius inside scoop. Oh and since the tag titles were given the WWE WrestleMania XXX pre-show spot, I will add that in there for good measure. How can I be wrong?” *pats self on back*

Dean Ambrose defends his United States Title on Smackdown. – I have been calling for Dean Ambrose to drop the U.S. Title for months now. Yeah, Google it. Like that phrase, huh? On top of that, I was even for it merging with the IC Title. Ambrose does nothing with the gold, and it has become a running joke ON AIR about his rare title matches. Time to move on WWE. Pick anybody, anybody, anybody at all.

TNA Impact Wrestling signs with talent agency. – Potentially VERY good news here. It remains to be seen what the endgame revolves around. It is to land a good television deal? Is it about getting guys/gals more appearances in the public? Or is it just about some pointless social media advertising and trying to get Dixie Carter her own reality show like rumored months ago? Time will tell. A fancy press release only goes so far.

Bar Rescue draws 1.6 million viewers on Spike TV; Ink Master draws 1.4 million viewers on Spike TV – Both have been renewed, as have other Spike shows recently. Both more than double TNA in the main male demographic and deliver an extra couple hundred thousand viewers. Also COPS reruns drew 1.2 and 1.3 million viewers last week. Even that new Catch a Contractor show has been renewed and deliver over one million viewers. Yikes.

Daniels gone from TNA Impact Wrestling? – He has done nothing for the past six months. This is not exactly breaking news. Usually when guys/gals are suddenly off television for extended periods of time or pushed down the card, it is not a good sign. Bad Influence (Daniels and Kaz) have been nearly invisible for half a year now. I assume Kaz is next, as will be many more after that.

TNA Impact Wrestling creative being secretive; Eric Young winning the TNA Title was NOT because of Daniel Bryan – Sure, whatever you say. As for story lines being secretive? I am actually for this…to a certain extent. It is good to keep plans under wraps and off the ‘dirt sheets.’ That is obvious. However, if the main event talent (or even others) have no idea what is going on day to day without some kind of idea, it can be frustrating.

Backstage heat on Dixie Carter and ‘Big’ John in TNA, low morale? – No reason wasting time on discussing Dixie. I a little surprised by the (reported) amount of power given to ‘Big’ considering he is doing stuff in TNA that he did NOT do in WWE. Not sure how that is logical but whatever. The low morale story is usually just a monthly click bait headline, but in this case, I assume the wrestlers are worried about the television deal expiring. Their last big extension with Spike TV was announced on April 5th, 2012. We are now past that date in 2014, and Spike TV has been announcing renewals/extensions for other shows in recent weeks. Nothing on TNA though. Has to cause at least SOME kind of worrying. I still say they stay put, but nothing is guaranteed at this point.

Following Sacrifice, Eric Young says he will defend his TNA Title on Thursday…again. – Of course! Why am I not surprised? Hey, all 100 of you who just plunked down $40 for a TNA PPV event on Sunday, guess what? There will be yet another TNA Title match on free television this week on Impact. That makes FIVE since Lockdown. Goodness gracious. I expect a few gimmick matches thrown in there for good measure too. Remember that when Slammiversary rolls around in June. Seriously, who pays for the TNA product and why? WHY?

The final quarter hour of Impact drew a 0.69 rating. – That is not a typo folks. The entire Magnus/Abyss mess was a waste of one month and culminated in classic TNA fashion: main event without an actual finish and nothing really settled. The more things change the more they stay the same. Oh, and Eric Young was out there too. Yep, 0.69 rating!

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.

Batista Rules!

Congrats to Batista. You are this week’s “Greatest Person Ever!” Hey, maybe I should make that a weekly thing? Maybe. Or not. Either way, The Animal decided to vent a little on Twitter Wednesday afternoon…for some reason. I have no idea. I do not follow any current wrestlers on the social media website. Regardless, he spoke the truth and continues to deliver since coming back. He deserved a shout out. Here are a few of his tweets:

Ive always considered myself a WWE fan first and foremost but Im completely confused Y some fans cant differentiate between SHOW and REALITY

I forget who said it, but one of my favorite quotes is that the “smart” fans are the easiest to work in wrestling. Pretty much. We are all die hards fans, but some just need to get a grip. Yet, it is the smarky, smarky smarks who STILL in 2014 are unable to tell the difference between a show and reality. Batista could have stopped there, but he had another gem waiting…

Also noticed that most critical fans dont have pics of themselves posted or need to take a good look in the mirror! People in glass houses..

Hey, I guess Batista does read my columns, huh?

All kidding aside, he is 100 percent correct again. Fans online make fun of Batista’s physique…yet are the ones hiding behind a computer screen. Beyond laughable and hypocritical. You want to post a picture of yourself before judging Batista first? Go right ahead. Please do. I will wait. Then we can see how your comment holds up. It just furthers my stance on avatars and user names. It is real easy to yell and scream without any consequences.

Anyway…peace to all my positive people! Looking forward to the day when I can go back to interacting with twitches w/o all the negativity

No clue what ‘twitches’ means but whatever. Batista has been great since returning and becoming the heel he was in 2010. The man has a role in a major movie coming out in theaters this summer and tapped out clean in the middle of the ring to Daniel Bryan during the WWE World Title WrestleMania XXX main event. Something he should get major props for. Keep up the excellent work sir!

Fashion Blog

*NEW POST ADDED*

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Ink Master On Spike TV

Another successful week. So far, so good.

Self-Promoting Finale

Finally, here are some “ME!” plugs for all of you…

Just Google my name.

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