Truth B Told 5.10.07: Chain Reaction
Posted by Bayani Domingo on 05.10.2007
A lot can change in 7 Days but after some time to reflect the gunman on the grassy knoll may not be who you think it is. It’s probably Vince…but you know…it might not be.
Things changed dramatically this year for the TNA/RoH relationship. At the beginning of the year it appears that RoH began to phase out some of their shared TNA talent from major storylines. Some people are saying RoH had the foresight to make these change themselves while others believe TNA was giving them some signals and hints that it may be best for them to rely less on TNA talent and that a move might be forthcoming in the near future. As of last week this left only 4 TNA/RoH shared wrestlers on the roster: Austin Aries, Homicide, Alex Shelley, and a newly committed Chris Sabin. However, it was not to be as RoH announced their PPV deal last week. In response to that news, which reportedly was not even announced to TNA by RoH until they read it on the internet, TNA pulled all of their talent effective immediately from RoH. The next day it was announced that Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, based in Los Angeles, also had all of their TNA talent pulled from not only their upcoming Tag Team Tournament but all future shows. A lot has happened in the past 7 days. But I think this bares a bit more analysis and review. Because now that the initial shock has passed I think now is the time to keep a level head and see just how "Evil" TNA really is or isn't.
Now I'm going to have to make the assumption that TNA has been sending signals or outright telling RoH that at some point in 2007 they would be pulling their talent. RoHbots across the land are hailing Gabe and Cary as clairvoyant geniuses, but c'mon, let's be honest; they had to have known from TNA that a move was coming. So they began un-booking some of the talent. They also were secretly pulling together a plan to get a PPV deal for RoH. That is a brilliant move that I've been touting for months and months now. Problem is…they kind of forgot to mention that to TNA. It probably made sense not to tell TNA and leak the information before a deal is done, it happens all the time in business, however not letting TNA know before everyone else and risking them pulling their talent post haste (as they ended up doing) resulted in an immediately pull of talent from RoH's roster and not a gradual phasing out. Since it was clear RoH had been phasing out most of the TNA guys since the beginning of the year this had clearly been in the works for sometime, and going into your first PPV you figure you'd want to showcase the guys you can guarantee are going to be on your roster for the next 12 months. Butt something just didn't sit right with me when I looked at the guys who weren't given the opportunity to make their farewell speeches.
Homicide was one of the cornerstones of RoH since its inception, however it appears and I may be wrong, that Homicide was never really embraced as a champion in RoH. Being the chaser and not the chased seemed to sit better with the audience and he was squashed by Morishima unceremoniously after just a few defenses. Shelley/Sabin were set to work with the Briscoes to bring back the Tag Division and trust me, they could have done just that. The "Motor City Machine Guns" in my opinion are one of the top 3 Tag Teams in the entire country, but truthfully they only had one match before being pulled and both Shelley and Sabin weren't a big part of the roster until that point as they were both appearing only sporadically for RoH in the past 6 months. So again, potentially a big loss, but realistically not ingrained enough in the storylines that their loss couldn't be recovered from. It's like losing out on a second date with a hot chick you got set up with because she was getting transferred to a new job in a new city. Sure there was that potential, but were you really that invested in the first place? Buying a 3 pack of condoms and a bottle of ruffies doesn't count…or does it? However we also come to Austin Aries and that's where the conspiracy theory starts solidifying itself.
Now Austin Aries' tenure in TNA has been publicized as being tumultuous at best. But then something happened, he began to get more and more vocal backstage as had Samoa Joe, and then he did the unthinkable. No, it wasn't the refusal to work a day off to tape a vignette for TNA. He eventually decided he'd go ahead and cave on that issue, but he showed up at a fan fest wearing an RoH t-shirt. Say what you will, but THAT is drawing the battle lines right there. While Kip James is an idiot for cutting an interview saying he'd jump back to the "e" if the money was right, Austin Aries went to a TNA sponsored event with TNA fans and wore a "rival company's" product. That's like paying for your anniversary dinner with your new girlfriend with a gift certificate your old girlfriend gave you…where she works at. At that point TNA really did have to take action because you really do have to send a message to your employees that as a company you are in charge. What's next? Aries starts taking shits in Leticia's bag backstage and tearing up the Orlando Howard Johnson to the tune of $300?? Which for a HoJo means wrecking 2 full rooms.
Okay maybe that's an exaggeration but it was clear Austin wasn't happy and was sending a clear signal to TNA where his allegiance fell. But, why would Aries do something so blatant when he had a contract with TNA? Hmm…maybe he knew something we didn't know until last week, especially considering that he was one of the only TNA/RoH guys that seemed to be getting a big push in RoH and part of one of the biggest storylines in the company. Perhaps there was more to this than we think as it seems that most of the TNA/RoH guys seemed to be going on very convergent paths in the past few months. When you look at Homicide, Shelley, and Sabin, they are all part of established TNA storylines and seem to be moving on to big programs in the tag division that sorely needs a shot in the arm. AJ/Lethal/Joe, all of those guys were becoming more prominent in TNA in established angles and storylines and it made sense that they had already made the jump to ex-RoH worker. Aries however was in a bit more of a precarious position and his actions the past few weeks seem to belie his knowledge of events that he may have already been alerted to.
Okay, maybe you're not convinced there was a conspiracy yet, but what about Shelley/Sabin? They were set to be part of a big feud with the Briscoe Brothers right? I mean they turned heel and attacked them and had a great match a few weeks ago, but then something funny happened. They turned ‘face' again after the match and shook hands with the Briscoes. Well… if they were going to continue a feud, why would they pull this move? My theory is that they had to have been told by someone, either TNA or RoH that the feud wouldn't continue and they could go ahead and act like ‘good sports' after the match, otherwise it would make no sense to only run that one match before they went back to ‘faces'. The question is who told them? Did TNA tell them they were being pulled? Perhaps, they are now reportedly going to become a tag team in TNA and perhaps they wanted them to save their matches for TNA PPV's rather than have them wrestle for a "rival" company. Then again, maybe they were told by a little birdie that TNA wrestlers "might" get pulled from RoH events soon. It also looks like Silkin had been signing up wrestlers for the past 4 to 6 weeks to "contracts" so it was clear that something was going on behind the scenes. That coincides with Samoa Joe's farewell tour, but not with Daniels' abrupt departure and Shelley/Sabin's seemingly quick push and departure as well. Things are getting a bit cloudy here now. Because while Joe's departure and Homicide's de-push were expected, a couple of other moves involving other TNA wrestlers seemed abrupt and to ME that looks like a bit of manipulation by RoH to keep people off guard. Bravo for them because it was a move that "worked" us all. Still, like a Lita once said to her optometrist while getting treated for pink eye after a ‘Bukakke Battle Royal', "I should have seen it coming".
The thing we have to look at in all this is that RoH fully knew what it was doing. Doesn't it seem a bit coincidental that the weekend before the announcement of a PPV deal Colt Cabana had his farewell, Daniels abruptly quit the company, and the MCMG's lost clean to the Briscoe's without an obvious opening for a continued feud? RoH knew what they were doing and decided they couldn't keep the secret any longer if they wanted to beat the "dirt sheets" to the punch. They decided to take a calculated risk and not tip their hand by letting TNA know and announcing the big news themselves. But it was CLEAR they knew what the repercussions would be. So Indy fans can't blame TNA too much for their reaction to the news. To be fair, RoH and TNA had never been in direct competition until now. The fact that RoH has a PPV has no changed the landscape of the game greatly. Now TNA is going to have to compete with RoH at the PPV level and indirectly, so will the WWE. Although not to the degree TNA will. But that isn't the entire puzzle yet, as we have yet to look at PWG and a critical piece they have in all of this.
PWG released a statement on May 7th about ending their agreement with TNA. Apparently they were informed two weeks prior via a contract stating that no TNA contracted wrestler could appear on a DVD distributed by a 3rd party. That 3rd party being Highspots.com. PWG was given the option to either stop using Highspots for their shows in which TNA wrestlers appeared or to release the DVD's on their own. PWG opted to stop using TNA wrestlers instead of changing their practice. This was probably the only legitimate option for PWG as they are not large enough to release their own DVDs yet. For the life of me I can't imagine why having a TNA wrestler appear on a DVD distributed by a 3rd party is such a big deal, but in theory I guess you could say that if a fan had only a fixed amount of money to spend on DVD's and they go to a distributor then TNA is theoretically competing with the other company for that fan's dollars, where as if a fan goes directly to a company's web page which doesn't offer TNA merchandise as well then they wouldn't have the same competition. There is also the argument that TNA wrestlers just put on better matches in RoH and PWG because they aren't bound by time limits and piss poor booking constraints and TNA doesn't want to be "shown up" and have their own product look weak by comparison. But you didn't hear that from me. Well, flimsy as that may be I think this all stems from TNA wanting to control their wrestlers and set aside more time in their schedules for more "House Shows". In the end is this any different than what the WWE does? Except of course, they can pay their guys to be exclusive to their company where as TNA really can't…yet.
What is curious is that PWG was informed prior to RoH announcing their PPV deal as well as TNA informing RoH they were pulling their talent in response to RoH's PPV deal. One has to wonder whether these events are merely coincidental or part of a bigger plan. It looked like RoH was planning to surprise TNA after all but PWG was merely a victim caught in the crossfire. But if that was the case then why would PWG have been informed formally before RoH that they would not be able to book TNA talent anymore? It would see that although TNA was nudging their talent off PWG's roster they did give them an option, albeit a rather poor one, to simply change the way they distribute DVDs. At first it looked like PWG would be spared any of the issues TNA and RoH had because they weren't considered competition and were still a fairly small Indy fed, but it looks like PWG was also targeted for some reason.
If you want to be a "conspiracy theorist" the booking issue could play one factor as TNA guys haven't always been booked that great in PWG. When you consider the level of talent they have and how PWG puts their own local guys over more often then not (which you have to do as an Indy fed really to grow your own talent) then that could have played a factor. Although Kazarian and AJ are both former champs, TNA guys have been treated as "one of the guys" and perhaps not as protected as TNA bookers would want. One argument is that PWG uses a lot of TNA talent on a regular basis and considering the proximity from LA to Orlando and other PPV's they didn't want to run into any possible travel issues later on, but again that's only speculation. What about TNA planning to expand out West and wanting to be in control of how their guys are being portrayed on the West coast? I'm not even sure as to the true reasons as PWG doesn't have a known working relationship with RoH and so far there haven't been conflicts with TNA or TNA booking. What this now leads to further speculation that TNA will now start pulling talent from other companies, but that remains to be seen.
What does this mean for PWG now that they are working without any TNA talent? Well so far they have managed to stay away from cementing many TNA guys into the core booking of the company. Frankie Kazarian was a former PWG champion and as a core member his loss will be felt, but PWG he wasn't a centerpiece on the roster by any means. Shelley and Sabin on the other hand had been enjoying a great amount of success as a tag team and were the favorites going into this month's tag team tournament to crown new champions. Their loss is huge as they were replaced by Josh Ambercrombie and "Spyder" Nate Webb, aka The Trailer Park Boyz, from WSX. So from tourney favorites to also rans, it's a big hit for PWG at least in the short term.
What is even worse is that coming off a near record crowd of almost 500 people for All-Star Weekend 5, highlighted by Samoa Joe vs Low Ki, it looks like attendance may also suffer, along with that is DVD sales as PWG is going to have to find new talent to replace the big names that usually appear on sporadic shows or big weekends only. Typically shows which featured mainly local talent and few "fly-ins" get about 200 to 300 people per show. I can imagine the DVD sales would likewise be on the low side. "Super Shows" which feature international talent or TNA talent usually get at least a 25-50% bump in attendance, it would seem logical to think DVD sales would see the same growth. That's a lot of money to leave on the table as PWG has to find suitable replacements for "Big Names" on the Indy scene. PWG will survive but there are some tough times ahead for them as they don't have near the size of loyal following RoH has because they were still trying to cement their legacy and don't have the level of respect RoH has yet. Then, we have the "trickle down effect".
Now that TNA has locked up their talent and has branded them as "TNA wrestlers", RoH is pulling a similar move and signing key guys to "contracts". Some of which have been named: Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, Takeshi Morishima, Jay and Mark Briscoe, as well as the entire NRC (Strong, Richards, Romero). There are supposedly at least 15 wrestlers signed and speculation is abound as to whom that may be. Now what has been reported is that these contracts are only for the wrestlers to commit to appearing in RoH for an unspecified amount of dates (reportedly all 6 PPVs at the least) and will not bar them from any other Indy shows. Which makes sense unless RoH can offer them enough money to NOT work any other shows and be exclusive. But this clearly means RoH is going to be the #1 priority for these wrestlers, meaning PWG as well as other Indy feds may have to book around these guys' schedule and move their show dates if they want to have a bigger pool of available talent that include the "RoH guys".
PWG books Richards and Romero regularly and Strong, Claudio, and Hero semi-regularly. Also while we're at it, El Generico and Kevin Steen are becoming big players in the Tag Division and are also main stays as the current and former PWG champs, how possible is it for them to put RoH as their top priority? While this brands those guys as "RoH wrestlers" other Indies will have to scramble to find more talent to replace them. This creates a duel effect as guys like Hero, Strong, Aries could command more in booking fees because their services would be at a higher premium with TNA talent off the market, it also creates new opportunity for guys in CHIKARA or IWA:MS or even PWG wrestlers to find new booking with spots opening up all over the country. I see this as really creating both a new challenge and opportunity for guys on the Indy scene as the "Old Guard" has been absorbed into the WWE and TNA now and new top talent has to either take it's place or fans need to start being patient with the growing pains of mid and lower card Indy guys trying to step up to fill the void. It's going to be tough but PWG should be okay for the most part on regular shows, but those "Super Shows" and tournament will need a serious infusion of talent, both domestic and (more than likely) international. This all may boil down to the new era of "Indy Wrestling" being the most internationally influenced ever.
While RoH was previously the uncrowned Indy Super Fed, their current PPV deal actually is the actual crown now. Does this mean guys who usually would work IWA:MS, PWG, or JAPW will now be showing up less in favor of RoH? Who knows. This really becomes good news for TNA as they now control more of their talent and RoH because they are now THE company to work for, but it might hurt other smaller feds. So before you start popping the bubbly consider that. Also a lot of talk is out there about some TNA wrestlers wanting to jump back to RoH for the juicy pay day now that the PPV deal is in place. Hold your horses now because this is only a bi-monthly thing and how much more do you think each wrestler is going to get for the PPV tapings now? There is about 20+ people on each show, not to mention the international talent they'll have to get to fill out the card so maybe $100 - $300 max will be added to each wrestler's paycheck on a bi-monthly basis? Not exactly enough to jump ship off TNA to make an extra $600 to $1800 a year is it? Especially considering that part of the PPV money will go to the upgrades in production as well as the profits for the owners. That doesn't even take into account the other peripheral concerns that may eventually come up with the "contracted" wrestlers. Is there a chance Gabe will want more of a say in how his "contracted" wrestlers are booked in other feds? Wow, a whole can of worms we've yet to open.
So that begs the question; what will TNA do now that they have set themselves on an "island" so to speak?
"Necessity is the mother of invention", or in this case re-invention. The X-Division used to be the pride and joy of TNA. That was until they signed Christian Cage, Sting, and Kurt Angle. They then decided that since they have the Dudleyz and Middle Aged Outlaws on the roster that they would focus their attention on trying to take away the WWE's fans instead of recruiting more RoH/Indy fans into the product by almost forgetting about the X-Division. They moved the 3 biggest X-Division stars (Joe/AJ/Daniels) out into the heavyweight and tag division and left the whole division in shambles. Now however it looks like TNA has a set roster of guys who are exclusively their own. For the first time in the history of the company they truly are going to be able to "brand" their wrestlers. So get used to Samoa Joe, Senshi, Alex Shelley, and Homicide being TNA wrestlers first and foremost. Right now it looks like TNA is kind of in a tough position because not only does their heavyweight and tag division have to compete with the WWE, but their X-Division has to try and compete with RoH. Let's take a look at what they have to work with:
Main Event
Christian Cage, Sting, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Abyss
Mid-Card
Robert Roode, Jeff Jarrett, Eric Young, James Storm, Chris Harris, Lance Hoyt, Rhyno, Christopher Daniels
Tag Teams
Homicide y Hernandez, Team 3D, Shelley/Sabin, Tomko/Steiner, Bashams (soon), Seratonin (Kaz, Havok, Martyr), VKM (Kip/BG), The Naturals
X-Division
Jerry Lynn, Black Machismo, Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, Senshi, Shark Boy
That is 37 muthafunkers on the roster, not including Ron Killings and Austin Aries. Yikes!! By contrast you have about 25 male wrestlers on RAW and 25 to 30 wrestlers in RoH that are regulars to semi-regulars. That is just too many damn people. But at least they have some roster depth. The problem is they have a pretty thin X-Division made up of some good wrestlers but could still use the return of an AJ or Daniels into the mix. Sure you could intertwine Shelley/Sabin and Seratonin into the mix but right now Shelley/Sabin are needed more in the tag ranks and Seratonin like Shark Boy are universally considered jobbers. Let's just assume they trim the roster a bit and we'll say The Naturals are gone and someone FINALLY clues in Russo and Jarrett to VKM being useless, you then end up with about 33 guys on the roster. Which…is manageable, the only problem is figuring out what to do with them because at the top the Heavyweights can't compete with RAW's star power and the X-Division as is, is too weak to get RoH and Indy fans to choose them over RoH PPV's.
TNA is in a crunch right now. They HAVE to start putting together good PPV's if they hope to even KEEP their current fan base, let alone grow it. Right now they have a decent looking card heading into "Sacrifice" as they are featuring some of the ex-RoH guys in good match ups, but at this point their current fans are giving them little leeway. At this point TNA is in danger of becoming WCW circa late 2000 and RoH is becoming the REAL "wrestling alternative". But fear not, because I think RoH isn't the only company with something up their sleeves.
The timing of the PWG talent withdraws seemed odd because it had nothing to do with the RoH PPV announcement. Then it hit me, they are planning to run more House Shows now and that will make up for some of the lost bookings from not working RoH and PWG, but also it seems in line with another expected announcement. TNA and Spike are still working on a 2 hour time slot. My guess is the RoH PPV announcement may have just expedited that announcement. Don't be surprised if prior to Slammiversary that announcement is made. It's time that TNA takes THAT next step in the evolution of the company. Right now they have the opportunity to show case some great matches on Sacrifice: Daniels vs Rhyno, Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles, Sabin vs Machismo Negro vs Sonjay Dutt, etc. they need to at the very least stay on par with the WWE's good PPV showing of late and give fans a reason to not totally jump ship to RoH's PPVs in July. They have exactly two PPV's to do that. If TNA ever wanted to stake their claim as a true "alternative" they have exactly a month and a week to do so when Slammivery comes up. Imagine what would happen if they managed to trump RoH and set up a Samoa Joe title win at their anniversary show prior to RoH having their first PPV? Also, let's not forget that they have a bit of time to hope that RVD does in fact sign eschew the WWE for TNA's pastures and instead of inserting him in the main event scene, use him to spark new interest in the X-Division. I think RVD vs Jerry Lynn in TNA could be quite good again and in an Ultimate X match, well…they say "nobody gets higher than R-V-D" right?
Right now TNA is in a grow or die state where they are not in any imminent danger of going under, however they may die a slow death if they can't manage to get out of 2nd gear in the future. They are not only competing with the "e" now but also RoH in terms of talent and PPV buys and fan base. The only real problem I see is that the PPV's may cut into DVD sales as they are going to be delayed 6 to 8 weeks. While most hardcore RoHbots will spring for both, remember, the RoH PPV numbers may be depressed a bit due to people throwing RoH PPV "parties" rather than each person buying it individually. One would think that now that RoH has a PPV deal they are ready to expand a bit and grow their audience. That can only happen if they take a bigger leap of faith and start expanding their shows to include more mid-west and west coast venues. I think a big reason TNA hasn't managed to grow is that they mainly hold East coast PPV's and a few house shows, now while that is changing I think RoH AND TNA would both benefit from some trips out West in order to pull in a new audience. That spells bad news however for PWG who has monopolized the West coast thus far. Then again PWG has a good little cult following so like I said before they will be alright once the growing pains subside a bit.
RoH really comes out looking like crafty devils in this situation as they out maneuvered TNA as well as "worked" their fans. They also are taking a relatively low risk approach to growing their product since not much will have to be changed other than in the editing for them to profit off of their PPV's. I have no clue what the buyrate will be but once we see the 3rd installment we'll probably have a better baseline. Let's just hope that no unscrupulous fan would consider bootlegging a DVD from the PPV rather than waiting to buy it off of their website. *wink wink, nudge nudge*
TNA right now is not in a horrible position, nor are they the bad guys. Remember the WWE has been plucking talent outright from RoH for years and it is not like they've fully utilized all of those workers to their utmost potential. Given that CM Punk has become KENTA because apparently no one had faith in his moveset getting over in the land of Big Boots and chokeslams. I think what hit RoH fans most is the expectations they had. TNA initially got better and started showcasing the RoH talent and with that Indy fans got their expectations up, then suddenly it all went away when Russo got on board. The backlash isn't from wrestlers moving on (although that is a big part of it) but rather wrestlers moving on to companies where their talent is being wasted. Most people would gladly pony up for a TNA PPV or tune into Impact if they could see most of their favorites performing on the kind of levels they've seen in RoH. TNA isn't the enemy right now, but they are no longer the in a position where they can sit and wait for success and opportunities to come to them. They have to grow or die. Because now there's a new company taking up root in the jungle known as PPV dollars.
The Truth
To be honest, if I was TNA I'd make Austin Aries sit at home till I felt like he was either on board or till his contract ran out unless I was getting something out of the deal. If the rumors are true (and I can't say they are) and he is going to complain and pull juvenile shit like at the fan fest, then what incentive does TNA have to give him an easy out? Although if they worked things out Aries and TNA could both benefit from the relationship because Aries is a fantastic talent without a doubt, but I think RoH needs him more than TNA although they lack the leverage to get him. For those hoping that TNA and RoH could work together and play nice, it looks like that chance is up. While I truly believe something could be worked it looks like both companies have to stand on their own for the time being and set their own paths.
There are fears that the PPV may dip into DVD sales a bit as some people may want to wait for the whole show and not the abbreviated 2 hour edition. As well as some people hosting "PPV Parties" and cutting down on the amount of homes that actually buy the events, and let's not forget about the possibility of just…well…pirating. That being said, the PPV deal is a great path for RoH now as they are starting to grow now little by little and their international touring will only help. If they can manage to build new main event level stars AND retain them, then they'll be just fine. The reason that RoH kind of stuck it to TNA is because they knew they could get away with it. Their fan base was already souring on TNA and blaming them for stealing their favorite wrestlers so they were able to actually make TNA look like the bad guys even though they basically "pearl harbored" them. I doubt that they will lose many fans because of the exodus of "main event" guys to TNA, but then again RoH is running off of reputation and history right now. They need to delivery not only great shows and PPV's every time out, but they need us to believe the guys left on the roster are every bit as good as the guys who aren't anymore. I can't imagine people buying a Bobby Dempsey "The Champ is HERE" t-shirt. Maybe a nice "Bobby's gonna GRILL you", baby tee with a picture of a hot dog on it.
TNA had every right to pull the guys they did and in fact had to do just that to "brand" there guys and make them look like they really are a National Company and competition to the "e" rather than just another "Indy Super Fed" with a TV contract. TNA has to step up big time and show that the RoH guys they signed aren't just there as window dressing and bring back some of their loyal RoH fans back into the fold and hopefully convince them to buy some TNA PPVs as well. If you want to see Joe/AJ/Daniels/Low Ki now you HAVE to watch TNA. The question is, can TNA make you WANT to keep watching them. As for PWG, they'll be just fine. They started out with lesser named talents and thanks to TNA's and RoH's rise the talent they already had on hand began to get more recognition and as a byproduct so did PWG. I guess its going to be up to PWG to not only find new talent but to retain their talent as well. You'll notice more and more PWG guys doing shows out East and in the mid-west, well hopefully they'll still keep PWG as a priority but also serve as talent agents of sorts. Hey you never know, maybe we'll see Pelle Primeau in BoLA 2007 after all. Damn you TNA…Damn YOU!!
Coming Up Short
Okay, along with "Billy Kidman can't be powerbombed", "Austin Aries can't be head scissored", we now have, "HBK can't be moved to Smackdown". Seriously, even HHH kinda almost got moved to Smackdown once during the draft…to be inexplicably traded for Booker T and the Dudleyz, but still it counts. HBK seems to be out of his feud with John Cena for a while, but really what they could have done is used his special brand of selling magic to keep Batista motivated and revitalized on Smackdown. Let Batista beat ‘taker then move HBK over into a program with him after ‘Tista turns heel. Moving Edge over just seems like a waste because now you have Mark Henry and Edge as the heels and Batista as the only main event face. Heck, moving Orton over also made some sense because he could want to "prove himself" against Batista and get his career back on track with a change of scenery. Really anything else makes more sense than moving Edge to Smackdown unless…oh man…but that couldn't happen…could it? I mean he DID beat Mr. Kennedy clean last week and DOES have a score to settle with Edge, but you know, are we going to give "creative" that much benefit to believe that they are positioning Edge for a good long, legit title reign only to help put over…MATT HARDY?? It could happen. Matt Hardy as the WHC?? Stranger things have happened, but if this doesn't all pan out I have to really question the "e" for creating one hell of a feud between Cena, HBK, Edge, and Orton, only to replace the latter 3 with Khali and moving over Edge to battle Batista in a "Battle of the Spears". Geez, with a set up like that, what's the chances K-Fed shows back up? Good. Damn good. Connect the dots people, Batista still has to get back at Henry for not only injuring him last year but also making it possible for Edge to leap frog him for the title and something tells me that they are going to want to let Edge ride with the belt for a while. If this boils down to an ACTUAL title feud and eventual title reign for V.1 then maybe his promise to "show us all" that he made the right decision to come back to the "e" didn't come up as short as we all thought.
6 Degrees of…
Ray Church from the 411 Politics page…yep, we have a political section. Mostly people who voted for Perot, but whatcha gonna do, he won so let's see who he picked…
I won I won... Only two people entered, but I won... and I guess I gotta nominate the next one. Seen as it is traditional to name an actor and I'm supposed to be hanging out in 411politics, I nominate Susan Sarandon, the most political actor of her generation.
Um…you know, I would have accepted Condoleezza Rice just the same Ray. But if you insist on Tim Robbin's mom. Well not sure where to go here, but if we're talking politics and strong headed women with fiery tempers then…
Okay, I have no idea how Cheerleader Melissa relates to politics or Sarandon, but I AM possibly going to see her for the first time live ever this week at the Inoki Dojo this Sunday. As well as Masato Tanaka and Amazing Kong. Which…I'm surprised has never hooked up with Cyber Kong while he was here stateside. Oh well, I guess two Kongs don't make a right. Damn…even I'm ashamed of that joke, okay, leave me now with my shame and get to work people.
Whatchu talkin' bout readers?
I guess even the French watch wrestling…blamemusicpmfu:
Actually whereas EuroDisneyland was unsuccessful at first (but not nearly as much as some media outlets and TV shows like the Simpsons would have you believe), Disneyland Paris is extremely successful and generates a huge sum of money. So...your wrong. HA HA!
Uh, I didn't even realize there WAS a Disneyland Paris. Apparently it used to be EuroDisney right? Then they repackaged it with a new name and voila!! Its like how Mordecai became Kevin Thorne right? Or how Vince McMahon became Jack Evans. Or…not. Well great for FrenchyLand. I wonder if Cinderella shaves her pits?
John Malankar likes the idea of a Euro-E. And he seems to be the only one:
Hello,
I just wanted to thank you for finally supporting the concept of international brands. When I first heard about WWE trying to move out to Japan, Mexico, and Europe, I was mighty excited. I've always thought about World Cups and having Wrestlemania be an international culmination of competition. Imagine maybe 15-20 years from now you might have even eight separate brands with eight different national champions. Granted it would be very rare that anyone followed all of them (that's what the IWC is for, haha), but imagine all of those champions clashing in the greatest King of the Ring tournament ever. I've always been fascinated by world title unifications. Remember when Lesnar and Goldberg looked to be on a collision course with both of them as world champions? That didn't quite work out, but it would be amazing to see two world champions compete to see who is truly best. The concept of more brands would amplify this idea. Here are a couple of questions though. You touched on it in the article, but would it really be smart to air the international brands in the US? While I'm sure Vince would be eager to squeeze as much profit as possible, saturating the market can be bad for business. His attention would be better served focusing on grasping the national audiences. Especially with the UK, it seems like these territories are waiting for that Wal-Mart (my preference over McDonalds, but a fine analogy nonetheless) to come in and provide a low cost, high satisfaction alternative. I agree that the UK is the most open market and least likely language barrier among other perks. With Shane and Stephanie to take over in the coming years, maybe having international and national is the best way to distribute power.
Anyways, I guess I didn't really have any questions. I'm glad to see someone in the IWC supporting the international brand concept. For the record, ECW has improved by leaps and bounds since December to Dismember so let's not get too down on the show with a joke of a roster and 60 minutes on Sci-Fi to work with. Vince can certainly spare the energy and cash to try for a new brand. Home base is in decent shape.
I always thought TNA had a good thing with the World X-Cup and if they go with it again this year, which they should, I think bringing in Dragon Gate guys from Japan and going with the US, Japan, Europe, and Latin America would be good. That way guys like Nigel McGuinness, Claudio Castagnoli, PAC, and Jody Fleisch would be on board along with the Dragon Gate guys a lot of the TNA fans are familiar with and that leaves guys like Homicide, Hernandez, and Ricky Marvin available and not just confines them to whoever AAA sends over. Right now RoH is in position to do a similar tournament on a PPV basis. Imagine a tournament featuring Danielson, Claudio, Nigel, KENTA, El Generico, Rocky Romero, etc. representing 8 or 10 different countries, a World Series of Wrestling if you will. Right now the WWE would have a US, Canadian, and…Scottish team? Okay, they need some work but they could pull it off at some point, although never bet against the US champion winning 90% of the time. ECW has gotten a bit better, but right now it's half Punk vs Burke and half Vince McMahon's show. Meaning it's half good. Right now the chances of a European Brand aren't good, but I wouldn't be surprised if Vince decided to look towards recruiting a developmental federation sometime soon just to test the waters. And remember the WWE 24/7 network is a great tool for Vince to air just that kind of show to the select few in the states who care to pay for it, in the world of wrestling there is never "too much".
6 Degrees Results
#3
1. Kathy Lee Crosby was once in " That's Incredible"
2. A Clip "That's Incredible" was seen in the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
3. Anchorman featured a cameo from Jack Black
4. Jack Black starred as a masked wrestler in Nacho Libre
5. another masked wrestler was "The Portugese Man O' War" Aldo Montoya
6. Aldo Montoya later became known as Justin Credible
-Scott Haynes
Not bad Scott, although I would have rather seen you link Aldo Montoya to a "jock strap" instead of a "mask" but that's just semantics. Something about a Portuguese man wearing a yellow jock strap on his face that just strikes fear in every man's heart…and groin.
#2
Dude, don't think that 6DO is losing steam. It's just, you know, springtime, and people are spending, um, more time outdoors and stuff. Except for me, of course. And as such, I hereby bring you two 6DO's for this week:
#1 -
1. Cathy Lee Crosby made a guest appearance in a 1974 episode of "Shaft", a role played by Samuel L. Jackson in the 2000 movie.
2. Samuel L. Jackson was in the 2006 cult hit "Snakes On A Plane" with David Koechner.
3. David Koechner was in the 1999 movie "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" with Verne Troyer.
4. Verne Troyer was a part of Season 4 of "The Surreal Life" with Joanie Laurer.
5. One of Joanie Laurer's most famous on-again off-again relationships was with Sean Waltman.
6. Sean Waltman and Peter Polaco, aka Justin Credible, are very good friends offscreen and have wrestled together often.
#2 -
1. Cathy Lee Crosby played Wonder Woman / Diana Prince in a 1974 made-for-TV movie.
2. The role of Wonder Woman was filled very nicely (as was the costume) by Lynda Carter in the 1975-79 TV series.
3. Lynda Carter was in the 2005 movie "Sky High" with Kurt Russell.
4. Kurt Russell was in the 2002 movie "Interstate 60" with Christopher Lloyd.
5. Christopher Lloyd was in the 1991 movie "Suburban Commando" with Hulk Hogan, who is legendary for his yellow and red wrestling garb in his times as a face.
6. Another wrestler with a legendary yellow costume (for all the wrong reasons) was The Portuguese Man O' War, aka Aldo Montoya, who showed up later as Justin Credible.
Double C (Corey Cotton)
This was a really close week and up till about this week's deadline but I had to deduct a point from the 2nd entry after I realized that Bird Bird was also a legendary figure who wore a yellow costume. No love for Big Bird Double C? Tsk Tsk.
#1.
Greg Pryor
Hey B, sorry dude I just cant help myself...I dont expect all of these to be published...but I just like finding different ones whilst bored in the office. Pick which one you think is the best to pit against the others,my personal favourite is the chuck norris, john kreese, carl weathers , jaws links! I know I promised not to throw a hand full of rocks but hey its friday and Ive time to kill!
1) Cathy Lee Crosby played Wonder Woman in the TV Pilot which starred Ricardo Montalbán
2) Ricardo starred in Spy Kids 3 alongside Sylvester Stallone
3) Sylvester Stallone inducted into the hall of fame his Rocky III co-star Hulk Hogan
4) At Wrestlemania 19 Hulk Hogan fought Vince Mcmahon
5) At the 2005 Royal Rumble Vince Mcmahon tore his quads because he couldnt get in the ring properly.
6) Someone else who couldnt negotiate his way into the ring properly on his return to WWF was Justin Credible.
1) Justin Credible in WWF was originally known as PJ Walker
2) Walker Texas Ranger was played by Chuck Norris
3) Chuck Norris turned down a role in the movie Karate Kid..that being Sensai John Kreese(Martin Kove)
4) Martin Kove starred in Shadow Warriors alongside Carl Weathers
5) Carl Weathers starred in Happy Gilmore alongside Richard Keil (Jaws from James Bond movies)
6) Richard Keil performed in Circus of the Stars as did Cathy Lee Crosby.
Well these were the two I figured would stand up against CC's entries and after careful review, Greg won by a Ricardo Montalbán. Although the "Triple Threat" of Carl Weathers, Chuck Norris, and "Jaws" was also unbeatable. Well Gregory, you won again this week, I believe that puts you in the top 3 or 4 for TBT All-Time winners. Hmm…a 6DO Champion of Champions tournament? Could be interesting. Or amazingly dull. Or both. Or not. Eh, okay, get your limey little entry in this week Greg for next week's thrilling installment of ‘6DO'.
Left Overs…
The Undertaker is expected to miss 6-8 months, meaning that he'll be back in time for the build up to WM24 and not much else. Oddly enough Snitsky has the exact same injury but has been working through it due to the fact that he only utilizes his right boot during 95% of his matches.
Mark Henry returns this week to Smackdown where he'll be relied upon to help make up for the losses of ‘Taker and Kennedy. Which is like plugging up a hole in dam with a dried up turd, trying to put out a fire with a dried up turd, or really just fill in any analogy you want, just make sure to equate Henry to a dried up turd.
Jackie Moore had two of her teeth knocked out during her street fight with Gail Kim on Impact! and yet still managed to finish the match and is expected to show up this weekend at "Sacrifice". When asked to comment, Don Imus had this to say,"wow, that is one hardcore….oh hold up…I have a call from Sharpton on the other line".
I guess they might be serious about Monty Brown being a big player in ECW after defeating CM Punk relatively cleanly on ECW. Which is great because the other big muscular black dude they're pushing right now has the mic skills of a 2 year old. Every time he cuts a promo it reminds me of my niece, because he thinks he's really speaking in full sentences, I'm struggling to understand more than bits and pieces of him, and at the end of the whole thing I'm always left asking, "so…do you want a piece of candy or do you need to go poopies?"
UWF managed to score a Dudley Boyz vs Steiner Bros. match at Hardcore War II. Which is a great match up of two legendary tag teams who should probably be retired at this point. The undercard also features a match between Ralph Nader's presidential aspirations vs people who still "raise the roof" at clubs.
"The Condemned" continues to tank and may struggle to break even when all is said and done. Maybe people just don't watch movies anymore. I hear this comic book movie about Spiders did okay though. You know this means we'll be getting Colt Cabana debuting as a Arach-Nick the half man/half spider don't you?
Linda McMahon blamed the "R" Rating for the depressed ticket sales for "The Condemned" and also for Edge's lack of success versus Cena. I'm still waiting for them to debut a ‘kid toucher' gimmick called NC-17.
December 2 Dismember has officially been cancelled. D2D has been hailed as the WWE's biggest failure since the XFL and the Sylvan ‘Grenier' Learning Center. Pat Patterson has NEVER recruited so ‘hard' in his life.
I love Kevin Thorne's line at the end of his promo on ECW, "my future lies in fresh blood", then he goes all ‘emo' brooding for 30 seconds. You realize this is the beginning of the angle where he starts stalking the "ECW Nitro Girls" don't you? But only once every 4 weeks.
Dragon Gate's Wrestle JAM 2 from 7/15 to 7/22 will now be expanded to include Europe to it's tour. So far the International talent signed up for WJ2 are the returning Austin Aries, Jack Evans, Matt Sydal, Jimmy Rave, Cyber Gang, and Turboman, along with new participants PAC, El Generico, and Delirious. Go buy the DVD when it comes out. I'm looking forward to the special bonus tracks where Generico, Delirious, and Stalker Ichikawa Z sit down for a game of "Mad Libs". "The first thing you do in case of a fire is to (Ole), drop, and (bahbahbahbahJack Rabbit). If you can not find an (Ole!!) then run to your nearest (bwahahahahaPauly Shore) and make sure to alert the (*towel throw*)."
Random Asian Bitch Lookin' Good Pic of the Week
See? I told you not to stand in front of HHH when he does his entrance.
The Resilience is who now? Erick Stevens, Matt Cross and ?????. Well let's see if we can piece it together because these guys need a leader and someone who personifies what "Resilience" really means. Let's look at a thesaurus: Resilience: Hardiness, flexibility, buoyancy…holy shit Lita is coming to RoH??
So if I'm not mistaken, ‘Taker and Batista's feud never had a blow off since it was a "draw", Mark Henry further softened up ‘Taker, then Edge beat the broken down man for the WHT. Meaning ‘Taker has 3 feuds already in queue by the time he comes back in 6 to 8 months. I'm surprised backstage they didn't have Hogan and Scott Hall run into his ambulance with a semi-truck just for the hell of it. After all, they did leave 2010 wide open for a few more feuds.
Pimpin' In High Places
For some reason it looks like Karma has decided to strike down all of Smackdown's main eventers and now they're relying on Batista, Mark Henry, and a RAW exiled Edge to keep things going until reinforcements arrive. Fear not, because 411 is stocked to the brim with the deepest roster of writers in the entire IWC. Although Randle still refuses to move to Fridays if Marsico goes down with a gallbladder infection. He's very HBK like that:
Ask 411 unmasks DOOM!! Yeah, they were the only two black dudes on the WCW roster. What? That's the same reason Cryme Tyme doesn't mask up anymore. Well, in the ring that is. Money, Money, Yeah, Yeah!!
Jules Smacks Down your Top 10 matches. How many midgets made the list? Does Mysterio count?
O'Dog has a seven year bitch about the state of the WWE now. Yeah, it was better when the "F" was still around. Then next thing you know there's all this "e" everywhere. Its like Juvy never left.
Evo Scheme has the sometimes forgotten 4th Horsemen. No it isn't Mongo McMichaels, I didn't say All the time forgotten.
Mi-So-Notti has a secret crush on the Great Khali. C'mon Mikey, it's obvious. You always tease the girl in class you're sweet on. Or as they call it later in life..."stalk".
CoH is a double shot this week as it prepares for RoH's most important weekend...perhaps ever. It's big, big, big as RoH is about to unleash an unnamed PPV card upon us. Dempsey vs Morishima anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Jordy pits Cena vs Cabana...in a RAP BATTLE!! Just kidding, at least it's not a merchandise fight..."Cabanarama" head bands anyone?
Threat x 3 aren't Randy Orton's biggest fans. Hmm...maybe these guys are straight after all. *Fabulous*
El Hijo de Adam takes over the Shimmy this week. It's like he took 500 some odd words and fluffed you for the "main event" that is TBT this week. Make sure to tip him a $1 and offer him a wet nap will ya? Puro Power!!
Berman obviously has taste. He's back in PWG this week featuring Scott Lost vs Davey Richards. Yep, Davey won, Scott Lost. Err...Scott lost...Lost. Or...damn it.
D-Dubya is the afterlife of the party around here. Witness his continued obsession with Edge screwing Cena....kinky.
On-line World Of Wrestling is the new website formerly known as Obsessed with Wrestling. Well, kind of. It actually is the same but not the same because the same isn't different, but not the same as...um...Hell, I'm just doing JT a favor here, so start pimpin' out this site so he doesn't try to steal my Stacy Keibler beach towel in retalliation.
Oh boy people, got me some D-V-D's on the way. Most of which are coming via the $10 RoH sale, 7 to be exact. It also looks like I have a tough choice to be made because TNA looks to be stepping up their game with an interesting card this weekend. Daniels vs Rhino? Joe vs AJ? Tiger Mask in a 4 way?? Yowza. Well let's not forget that on Mother's Day Masato Tanaka, Cheerleader Melissa, and Amazing Kong are going to be at the Inoki Dojo. Good thing my mom is out of state. Wait...I guess that actually makes ME out of state since it's HER day. Hmmm...well, um... er... don't worry I sent her a gift. I'll just have to explain to her when I call her Sunday why it sounds like a big Black woman is killing a tiny Japanese girl in the background. Not that she'd recognize that distinct sounds, but you never know. Mom's have secrets...deep...dark secrets.
