The Triple Threat 7.30.06: The 13th Edition

Posted by Sean, David, Alex on 07.30.2006

Well David no-showed this week, so I got JT of Hidden Highlights to fill-in for him. Don't worry we are still delivering the best damn column to ever hit Sunday afternoons. This week we delve deep into the attack of the wellness plan as well as discuss how long Booker T could hold on to his newly won title. There are other topics in there too but you have to read the column to find out.

Hello everyone, I don't know that we've ever seen such an attack on people (in wrestling) like wellness has hit SmackDown. Fortunately, we received word that Bobby Lashley has been cleared to wrestle again. However, there are others that were hit by injuries and wellness, we will be sure to have all of that for you. Also we give our thoughts on the Great American Bash, King Booker as champion, and TNA. David went MIA this week so I had to get some help again. JT of Hidden Highlights fame is taking David's spot this week. Look's like things are crazy once again, but I'm sure it is still a good one. It is the lucky #13 edition of the Triple Threat and we hope you enjoy it.



Topic #1 What did you think of the Great American Bash? Also be sure to include your match of the night in there as well?


Alex: This PPV turned out alright, given the circumstances. Booker T winning the World Title was WAY overdue, however, and even worse is the fact that he is just keeping it warm for Batista. The Punjabi Prison match, well it was interesting, of course my match of the night goes to Regal and Finlay, good showing by both. Also the tag match was good.

JT: Honestly, I thought it was pretty good. It has some good, it had some bad, but the one point to remember here is that it was the best in years; especially if compared to the last two years. They were BAD. The one difference in this PPV was that whenever there was something really bad (say, the Diva match), we at least for once had JBL on commentary to bring us through it. My match of the night had to be the opening match for the tag titles. Both teams were on fire, and they got us off to a great start.

Sean: The PPV was actually good, that is surprising considering we are talking about WWE's Great American Bash, that has been their worst PPV the last two years. My match of the night goes to the opener the tag title match between London & Kendrick and Pitbulls. This was some old school tag action that really made me want to see more matches between these two. This did show that London & Kendrick found a way to have good matches without needing to just do shooting star presses or 450 splashes. Regal vs. Finlay was not the really good match it could have been because WWE didn't want to turn Finlay just yet. However, aside from the few boring chants, they recovered well using the comedy stuff with the Leprechaun. Matt Hardy ended up being a nice replacement for Super Crazy to face Gregory Helms. The Punjabi Prison was cool looking and Big Show was a way better opponent for Taker than Khali. It had an anticlimactic ending but the match was probably as good as it could have been. Kennedy really bled hard in that match with Batista. It was weird to see it end in a disqualification because we all thought Batista would run through Kennedy to get to King Booker. However, WWE did the smart thing and protected someone that could turn out to be their next big star. I hope they continue this feud and don't just do a short three week thing with Kennedy. Then rush into a short feud with Booker just to have the match at Summerslam. King Booker finally getting his World title was a terrific way to end the PPV. I was so happy to see Booker hit the big time and now I hope he gets to keep the title for a little while.


Topic #2 Coming out of the Great American Bash, we ended up with a new World Champion in King Booker. Are you happy with Booker as champ? Also how long do you think he could hold on to the title?


Alex: Well I stated once before how I felt about the victory, it was way overdue, but it may be tainted, just because the E doesn't want the two biggest faces on SmackDown against each other. Booker will probably lose the belt to Batista at Summerslam, and it will be a huge mistake.

JT: I've been screaming for Book to have the belt for about three years now. He actually rounded out the trifecta of my "these people need the belt dammit!" of RVD, Rey, and now him. Of course I'm happy. I don't care if it was clean or not. Booker has long deserved a shot at running with the belt, and as of late – even without the belt – he has been awesome. I HOPE he keeps it until at least Survivor Series or (in a perfect world) the Royal Rumble. I just think he deserves to be more than transitional and actually have a title run worthy of having some actual importance.

Sean: It is about damn time Booker gets his title. Ever since Wrestlemania XX when many people believed Triple H should have jobbed to Booker in their match. Fans have been waiting for the day to see Booker's hand raised with a title in the other hand. When it happened I was happy to see it and I hope he doesn't end up becoming a transitional champion to Batista. I think he could hold till Survivor Series if they continue this Batista vs. Kennedy thing to Summerslam. Booker will probably end up facing Undertaker because he's the only main-event face not involved in a storyline at the moment. Then after Summerslam I'm sure we will see the anticipated Batista vs. Booker T feud. Even though, it was sad for me to see Rey finally lose that title, at least he held it longer than many of us expected. Now Rey can repair his credibility against Chavo and Booker can establish his dominance on SmackDown.


Topic #3 TNA has officially announced that Bound For Glory will be held in Detroit Michigan on October 22nd. This will be the first PPV outside of Orlando and this allows TNA to charge for tickets that go on sale August 5th. The show will be held inside the Compuware Sports Arena which seats around 4,000 people. Do you think we will see a sell-out of this event? And what matches could we see at BFG?


Alex: This event could very well make or break TNA. Seeing as how they sold out this venue once before for just a house show, I believe they will easily sell it out for their biggest show of the year. As far as matches go, we'll there is Christian vs. Sting, and Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Jarrett, I'll have to wait to see how everything else shapes up.

JT: Well, due to this being an emergency fill-in, I'm not going to dive into what matches to expect because TNA changes their direction on seemingly a weekly basis; however, I will speak on the other matter. I live near Detroit, and I say this will not sell out. Why? Because it won't be good? No. I went to the first ever house show in the same arena, and it wasn't close. We may have filled 1700 of those 4000 seats. I have to believe that not only will 2300 people not be driving up from around the country, but even people in the area will not join in. I mean, isn't something like a "First Time Ever" house show kind of PPV quality? We didn't even fill half. On the other side, people want to get on TV, and be a part of something, and I can't imagine you not being able to do either in an arena this small; so I'll change my answer. Yes. I think we could see a sellout.

Sean: I think the only way there is not a sellout here is if for some reason TNA doesn't promote it. This is not a house show, this is their biggest PPV of the year and you know not only will they promote the hell out of it. They will also have the best card possible on the show as well. I think we can expect Christian vs. Sting and Joe vs. Jarrett. We might see that 6-Man that Csonka has been talking about. I will try to make an effort to go somewhere where I can see this. This would be the first time I order a TNA PPV so I hope this lives up to the hype.


Topic #4 In other TNA news, Monty Brown's contract comes up in September or October. There has been some speculation he could go to WWE after the contract expires. Do you think there is a chance we see that happening?


Alex: This could be bad news for TNA if The Alpha Male leaves. He is one of the characters TNA has created, and he would be a major loss to the TNA roster. Although Monty Brown would fit into the E very well, TNA can't afford to lose him.

JT: Interesting wording of the question. Do I think he *could* leave TNA for WWE. Sure. If WWE offers a contract, anyone on the TNA roster *could* leave for them. That being said, do I think he will leave for WWE? No. It's well documented that Monty Brown makes a great living all on his own with his gym/personal training/whatever. It's also known that one of the reasons many people think he's held back in TNA is because he doesn't focus himself even 90% on wrestling (again, because he does fine on his own). No way a guy like that is going to sign a 300 day a year contract and constantly be forced to be on the road, listen to a comparatively large booking team, and be used improperly.

Sean: Oh man, I really hope this stays as speculation because this would be a big blow to TNA. This is a TNA homegrown talent and the last time Brown was a free agent, WWE was interested in him. Now that they have Bobby Lashley I don't know that Vince would pay the money to get Monty. Monty can cut some great promos and has grown as a wrestler but his style is very similar to Lashley's except that Lashley has an Amateur background. I could see Vince doing it just to keep TNA from having him. So far Vince hasn't hired any big names from TNA so I have no idea what he would even do with Monty Brown. I think unless TNA starts to job him out, Monty will stick with TNA for the long haul.


Topic #5 Kid Kash apparently has some issues with Jamie Noble his tag team partner and is being taken off the road. What does this do to the tag division?


Alex: Well this doesn't really come as a surprise Kash has a reputation of being hard to get along with and some of his past tag partners have expressed this. Hopefully this will be worked out and they will come back as singles wrestlers, because this god awful Pitbulls gimmick has go to go.

JT: I'd actually try to think of something if they had formed a team longer than like six weeks ago. To me, it does nothing. The tag division is what it is. London and Kendrick managed to breathe life into it, and where is the competition? MNM, split up. MexiCools, split up. Gymini, haven't seen them in months. I mean, who is there. I suppose that Noble and Kash splitting means that now instead of one team to feud with, the tag champs have none. Either way, splitting these two aren't going to devastate the division either way – because there is no division.

Sean: Damn every time it looks like we could have a successful tag division or tag team feud it gets ruined by some outside thing. L&K vs. MNM, what happens afterwards? Joey Mercury gets sent to rehab because of some drug thing and then Nitro & Melina are shipped off to RAW to get them away from the SmackDown roster. Mexicools split up because Super Crazy might be going to ECW. The only credible tag team left is the Pitbulls and they have a pretty good match at Great American Bash. Again something silly happens that tramples this situation too. Kid Kash is having some kind of problem with Jamie Noble like he does with a lot of his tag team partners. Hopefully he doesn't do something to lose his job. I guess we are going to see London & Kendrick against Scotty & Funaki which isn't the best thing. The worst thing would be that WWE decides to scrap the tag division period and just have London & Kendrick feud. This also hurts the cruiserweight division as well because now only Psicosis and (if they ever use Akio) are left to deal with Gregory Helms. My goodness I hope Kash can resolve his issue soon. At least they tried to have a semblance of a division.


Topic #6 Well this week we saw the debut of "the Vampire." Next week C.M. Punk is set to debut, and sometime in the near future we will see the debut of Shannon Moore in his punk gimmick. Do you think WWE has done a good job of establishing new guys in ECW?


Alex: I didn't catch Fertig's debut but I saw him in Austin and he wasn't that bad of a performer. I think CM Punk could very well become the new face of the new ECW. I can see him getting way over, in a short amount of time. With Heyman saying he wants to bring in more cruiserweights, ECW could be doing a turn around, things COULD be looking up. Scouting out Dragon Gate is an excellent place to start bringing in some international stars.

JT: I'll make this short and sweet, because it hasn't been long enough to accurately call it, but no. They haven't done a good job of establishing new guys because the only guys we ever see on TV are old ECW and current WWE. Big Show? Test? Sandman? RVD? Balls? Sabu? Seen it all before. Vampire might have a new outfit, but it's still Mordecai. Shannon Moore… new? No. Like I said, everybody is either old school ECW or current WWE, and throwing CM Punk into that equation isn't establishing shit. I won't hate on Mike Knox, but he isn't doing anything to help himself get over as "new" talent. Let's see, who else can I think of from ECW…? Oh yeah, Justin Credible and Tommy Dreamer.

Nope… nobody new.

Sean: I have to disagree,You know out of all the things ECW does wrong. I have to say that they are establishing a lot of new guys in place for the future of the show. However, they don't need to kill off all of the old ECW talent to get their point across. Mike Knox is a very generic wrestler but they added Kelly Kelly to give him some personality which may help him get over in the long run. "The Vampire" also has a manager so that he doesn't need to talk and just get his business done in the ring. The reappearance of Test and Shannon Moore are good because it has been a while since fans have seen these two in WWE. C.M. Punk like Alex said has the chance to get mega over if WWE lets him wrestle without a bunch of limitations. Kurt Angle is returning next week and RVD will be back soon too. This better be the last week we see a WWE superstar facing Big Show in the main event because ECW needs to stand on its own separate from WWE. They are starting to develop some storylines and maybe in a few weeks we will start to see an all ECW show. I hope Paul Heyman does bring in some more Cruiserweights because that would bring a different feel to ECW that people don't normally see on WWE programming every week. Some Dragon Gate guys would be awesome I hope that's not just a big tease by Heyman.


Topic #7 When wellness attacks it strikes down with incredible power. Great Khali and Super Crazy have been removed from the road due to some elevated enzymes in their livers. Lashley also had the same problem but now has been cleared to wrestle again. Matt Hardy had to be taken off the road because of some issues with his staph infection coming back. Then later it was announced that Tatanka also had some wellness issues. So is SmackDown close to being wiped off the map?


Alex: I don't watch SmackDown so I can't really say if this hurts them or not.

JT: SmackDown is most certainly not dead. Look, I'll give you Mark Henry was actually a part of something, but the loss of Hardy, Tatanka, and Khali (I don't care what you say) is not going to hurt anything. We already know Lashley is back, so a Finlay turn won't be necessary. We just got Dave back, and Benoit is soon to follow. Mix that in with the likes of Finlay, Regal, Book, Rey, Kennedy, Chavo and the rest, SmackDown will be just fine…….. as long as the Boogeyman doesn't come back.

Sean: Actually, JT I did hear something about Boogeyman possibly returning in September. WWE would be wise however to just let him go. I don't really care about Khali because to me he adds nothing to the show so if he comes back early or not, it is no big deal. Super Crazy actually may have Hepatitis C which is an incurable disease. I really hope not because that's something horrible. Good thing Lashley is back because now they don't have to turn Finlay face so they can continue that feud. Matt Hardy will miss some time which isn't good right now because I thought he might get a push, but hopefully he still gets one when he returns in about a month. As much as I don't really care for Tatanka he does get some reaction from the crowd so the fans in the arena might miss him some but overall he won't be a huge loss. SmackDown is not dead it is just that they are losing a lot of their roster and will struggle for a while to take up two hours of television time. Hopefully in a few weeks we will get a clear picture as to where SmackDown is headed once Hardy comes back. Also there have been some reports that Hardcore Holly is set to come back soon so that's another good thing. Remember SmackDown doesn't really have to do anything until September when the new CW network begins. Until then, all hail King Booker.


Topic #8 Last Monday Stephanie McMahon gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Aurora Rose. With the birth of their first child in the books should WWE make them an on-air couple again?


Alex: Congrats to them, but hopefully this means BOTH of them will stay away from the biz for awhile. That…that would be cool if they did.

JT: Definitely not. I love the McMahon's for what they've done, and I love Trips for who he is, but we all know how bad it can be with Steph calling the shots backstage. Now can you imagine her not only doing that, but incorporating herself onto TV every week? Fortunately, with her having a kid, we hopefully won't have to worry about this anytime soon. Steph should sit around and do her thing in the back (…if she must…), and leave Trips to be Trips.

Sean: It would be kind of weird to see a face Triple H with Stephanie by his side. Not to mention, with him in DX how would Stephanie fit-in to all of that. I think right now they don't need to have her on television. Maybe later once DX is finished, they can then put Stephanie alongside Triple H and keep him in the mid-card for a while. People in the IWC may not like Stephanie but if she's on television it gets common fans interested because something always seems to happen to Stephanie. I think I would have to actually see them on television together before I could make a final ruling on this, but I will say I'm not opposed to it. If it starts becoming Triple H gets the title for a year then, I will retract my earlier statement.


Match of the Week Nominees: John Cena & Ric Flair vs. EDGE & Johnny Nitro (RAW), ECW Championship: Big Show vs. Kane (ECW), Samoa Joe vs. Rhino (TNA Impact!), World Championship: King Booker vs. Rey Mysterio, United States Championship: Finlay vs. Regal (SmackDown).

Explanation: Match of the Week is where we honor those companies that have enough money to get themselves a national television deal. We list the ones that we thought were the best from the three shows and then pick our favorite. We may include a Heat match if it was really good but most of the time it will just be from RAW, Smackdown! ECW and Impact! PPV's don't count because we always give out our match of the night when we give our thoughts on them. Also we only add an indy match if we went to the show. So here are our picks for Match of the Week.


Sean: United States Championship: Finlay vs. Regal

JT: United States Championship: Finlay vs. Regal

Alex: Samoa Joe vs. Rhino



Shout Out's to our 411 Crew


First as always because he comes out the latest of all the people we usually link. Ari Well you want to know all you can about ROH? This is the column to read. It is damn good and we read it every week, so you should too.


The 3R's Larry sent a message out saying his computer died on him this week, well everything but the hard drive luckily for him he at least got to save that. Geoff is still doing SmackDown, Ryan Byers from Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People is doing RAW, I'm doing ECW, and "The Franchise" Larry Csonka is doing TNA.

Got to take this time to thank JT for helping us out this week, always make sure to check out the fun and entertaining column Hidden Highlights with JP& JT showing you the things you would never think about in wrestling. I'd give the column a link but the new column comes out at the same time I turn this into the system by. There so you know, I read your column every week, it is just time constraints prevent me from giving you a link.

Bayani Domingo In his Truth B Told, gives us the gimmicks we've never seen plus those Asian bitches looking really good.

John Meehan Talks about the Great American Bash and how it didn't suck. Also he discusses why the backup plan worked out as well as it did.

Phill Feltham Quick Talkdown He discusses a few things that have happened over the last week and the new era in Canadian television.

Special shout out to Andy Clark, I hope he's enjoying his week off. I sent ya some feedback so you can't complain that I never write you anymore.


Hey! there are other new guys out there besides us


Because they come out the latest of all these columns they get first dibs from us. High/Low Road Sat and Rajah discuss the Great Khali and Undertaker feud. Well to decide if you are going to go either High or Low, you need to check out their column and vote.

Shining the Spotlight Michael Weyer discusses the wonders and problems of Scott Keith and his various books that he's written.

The Top Ten Julian Williams gives us his top ten skits. See what he thought were the greatest skits and backstage things ever, and if you agree or disagree you should let him know.

If you want to know where we came from and some of our old columns that aren't on 411 go here: Old Triple Threat's



There is something new you should know about


411 has a new section on the website. It is a re-launch of the Video Games section with all new writers, reviews, previews, and columns. I have a few reviews up there on some games that came out a while ago and will be doing more reviews in the future, as well as, being a part of any features. However, all these new guys have helped make this thing work. So go visit the games section and start enjoying everything 411 has to offer over there.


Now Time for Feedback


Our inbox was a little low on the load this week. So we only got one email and it was from you guessed it John Bryant Bateman He has some questions and wants to talk about Alex's TNA address.

Do you think Whenever Jeff Hardy returns we'll see a Christian/Hardy vs Jarrett/Steiner match? And also: Do you think Sabu vs AJ Styles in an Extreme Rules Match would be good or bad? Also finally Someone sees the wisdom in getting that title off of Jarrett. I posted this is my Feedback thing that has become as Routine as Sean's love for The Fallen Barbie. I want to see some new blood because face it that Abyss/Christian thing was the LAST Title defense I can Remember that didn't that have sorry suck-up Jarrett invovled so yeah We NEED FRESH Blood not that Ric Flair Hack. I mean face Jarrett is becoming a Mixture of Brock & Goldberg. He wants to hog the main title, he wants alot of money and he thinks just because he's someone's son-in-law he's the boss. I swear if TNA does NOT I repeat, does NOT get rid of Jarrett he will run TNA into the ground faster then Vince Russo ever could of done to WCW.


Sean: Well if Jeff Hardy does ever return I guess we could see one of those matches eventually. Christian and Jeff have chemistry from their past WWE days so that would be cool to see. Sabu vs. AJ Styles in a hardcore match would be awesome I would pay to see that one. Well I think Jeff Jarrett needs to lose the title too. In fact he should never have it again after he loses it to someone. This works right now because if Joe, Rhino, or Monty Brown beats him at Bound For Glory for the title the crowd will go crazy and everyone will be happy. Yes if he doesn't lose the title TNA could wind up on the deep end, but I think Jeff Jarrett knows better than to kill his own promotion. Well if you want to try and figure out some trivia go here to John's own blog. John's Blog



Well that's all for this week folks. Don't be afraid to send us your opinions and comments as we will take anything, even if it is to say that you hate our stinking guts. What do you think of these topics? Well you can send us an email and let us know. Tonight, David, Jeremy, and I are going to an Indy show in Arlington, Texas. The promotion is called No Limit Pro Wrestling. Petey Williams vs. Christopher Daniels is the main event. Also Sonjay Dutt will take on Milano Connection AT, plus you will get to see a lot of great Texas indy wrestling talent. So anyone in the North Texas area that wants to go is more than welcome. Hopefully, this time next week wellness won't hit SmackDown again so we can actually enjoy the Friday show and maybe we can get this column back to normal too. Well until next Sunday, I think a lesson we can all learn is to stay in school and be cool. See ya's my People's and Crazy Sean is out. We got to thank JT again for the help you are welcome back if we ever need help again. I really hope having the guest writer doesn't become a common thing. Peace out from Alex Mattis. Later Triple Threaters.


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