The Triple Threat 5.27.07: The 49th Edition

Posted by Sean, David, Alex on 05.27.2007

Hey guys we have returned. We had some computer issues, but now we got those fixed and are ready to roll once again. We talk Judgment Day, RVD, Jericho, and One Night Stand gimmicks.

Hello everyone, it's another week in wrestling and looks like some Spring cleaning has begun for WWE. Sorry we didn't have a column last week as I ran into computer problems at the place I was staying and couldn't transfer David or Alex's information onto my Laptop from the home computer. So Alex will have his thoughts on TNA's Lockdown in a separate section since we didn't get to cover that. We talk Judgment Day, One Night Stand being all extreme rules, Chris Jericho and RVD. David couldn't answer two of the questions because he had computer problems after he got home from work, so he apologizes for that. So relax, take a break, and read the Triple Threat too.

Topic #1 WWE Judgment Day was last weekend. What did you think of the show?


David Martell: I didn't see it, so I can't really comment, but it looks like it was a bad PPV anyway.

Alex Mattis: I didn't see the show, but from what I heard it was bad at best. But really with Khali-Cena and Edge-Batista, how good could it have been?

Sean Garmer: I didn't get to see this show but other than MVP's match and the World Tag title match, it really doesn't seem like I missed much. After a terrific Backlash, WWE dropped the ball a little bit here.


Topic #2 We only got one title change in the US Championship. Should there have been any others?


David Martell: It's good to see MVP get the US title. Everything else was fine.

Alex Mattis: They are trying to put MVP on the map with his title win, going 2-0 on Benoit in a 2 out of 3 falls match? That's impressive by anyone's standards, plus when was the last time a 2 out of 3 falls match went 2-0 in the E?

Sean Garmer: Nice to see MVP finally get his title win and in impressive fashion with a 2-0 over Benoit. I like that the Tag belts still haven't changed as WWE is really trying to establish Cade & Murdoch as a good team and that is great for the belt in the long run. Lashley not getting the belt back works since One Night Stand is so close. The other two needed to stay where they were as Batista or Khali winning would have meant certain death to those brands.


Topic #3 ECW is taking something from TNA with their PPV One Night Stand. This year One Night Stand will be similar to TNA's Lockdown. In that every match will be gimmicked, but instead of just cage matches, it will be Extreme Rules. Are you ok with WWE turning this into a gimmick PPV?



Alex Mattis: BLAH! I hate this PPV already, but with the Extreme Rules factor at least we might see a cool spot or 2.

Sean Garmer: I like the idea of making everything extreme rules at least it keeps some semblance of ECW. It's also a better idea than TNA's Lockdown because it's not all one type of match. They are just variations on the No DQ rule, so you can have a cage match, Street Fight, Ladder Match and so on… all on one PPV. I think it brings extra intrigue to some matches that may not look that good on PPV and allows some feuds that have gone on for all these months to have something new to work with, which is always a good thing. I don't have a problem with it, who knows if they keep the PPV around it could become a trend that I wouldn't be opposed.



Topic #4 WWE Spring cleaning has begun as seven wrestlers have been released by WWE in the past weeks. Those include: Scotty 2 Hotty, 2 Cold Scorpio, Ariel, Rob Conway, Nick Mitchell, and Vito, anything to worry about here?


David Martell: I think it was a good move for Sabu because he is way past his prime. He is just not good any more and he botches everything imaginable. TNA can have him for all I care. This doesn't really affect me at all. As for the rest, I didn't really care about any of these guys except for Ariel. I thought that Ariel was a big part of Kevin Thorns gimmick and without her being there it wont be as entertaining. Other then her, none of them were really that important.

Alex Mattis: This is what is best for Sabu, the E had nothing for him, plus now not only is he Sabu but he is "former WWE superstar" Sabu, he'll make a killing on the indy scene, and if he goes back to TNA, that's cool too. The rest just strikes me as spring cleaning.

Sean Garmer: the way Vince had taken ECW Sabu's whole purpose was gone. Sabu is a hardcore wrestling artist for a long time he's prided himself on coming up with crazy ways to do moves off chairs, tables, ladders, you name it he's done it. There's always that factor of will he hit or won't he? That became useless when he was relegated to jobbing and having to wrestle in normal matches, which he can't do that well anymore. I think it's best for Sabu to work the indies and as Alex mentioned, being a "former WWE Superstar" will help him immensely in making a killing. It's no secret that he hasn't really been happy in WWE, I wish the best for Sabu and I hope he finds a place where he's happy. I'm surprised that Scotty has stayed with the company this long. I felt he would be one of those guys that always stay with them, it will be sad to see the master of the worm go. Scorpio was signed, but never used, I always felt Rob Conway was the weak part of La Resistance and they tried with him but to no avail. Mitch was the useless part of the Spirit Squad, so I have no problem with him being released. We all knew after the novelty of Vito in a dress wore off he'd be canned, because no one can take him seriously after that. The surprise here is Ariel because she was very important to Kevin Thorn's character, she's the one that sold it to the audience. I'm very surprised WWE couldn't find another use for her, if they wanted to take Thorn in another direction. Apparently, she could wrestle too, but it's WWE and they do what they think is best.


Fun Topic of the Week: If Chris Jericho were to comeback to WWE soon. Where would he fit best? On RAW or SmackDown?



Alex Mattis: Raw most likely, that seems to be where most wrestlers of his era hang their hat. I would put him on SmackDown and have him feud with Benoit for like...ever, I don't think those two can have a bad match.

Sean Garmer: Actually, on either one he would work well, SmackDown, he'd have a bit fresher matchups with Finlay, Batista, Kennedy, Undertaker, King Booker, and MVP, as well as his old rival Benoit, and EDGE. On RAW he's pretty much wrestled all the top guys in HHH, HBK, Randy Orton. John Cena would be kind of fresh, and he could get something good out of Umaga. He'd have some nice mid-card matchups with Nitro, Carlito, and Jeff Hardy too. I think his big character and appeal fit on RAW, but it wouldn't be bad if he went to SmackDown too.


Topic #6 RVD has basically given his notice to WWE. He's been complaining and blaming WWE for recent issues and dropping down the card. Does he have a true beef?


David Martell: I guess he has a true beef because he isn't getting the time off that he wants which I think every wrestler deserves sometime during their career. I really don't think he will hurt the company to much by losing him. I really don't want TNA picking him up either because it will only mean that more of TNA home grown talent wont get anywhere. I rather see RVD tour the indies for awhile before making any big jump to TNA.


Alex Mattis: Well we all knew this was coming, and yes has a definite right to have beef. I actually think that RVD has been misused during his entire run in the E, but that is here nor there. But it is unfortunate that RVD's last WWE match may be against Snitsky, it is insulting to his career. If he is out and he is happy, I suppose that is all that matters.

Sean Garmer: If there is someone that deserves to be given some time off it's RVD, because he's given his all to a company that at first didn't want to give him opportunities. However, you have to give him and WWE credit. RVD came over at a very opportune time for him. He was the most popular Alliance member and was the first non-WWE guy to hold a title for an extended period of time. After that, he held the IC title multiple times and had good feuds with Brock Lesnar and Eddie Guerrero. Heck, he got to win the title for like ten seconds on a RAW after he beat the Undertaker, but the decision was reversed. At Wrestlemania 22 he won the MITB and then became the first person to ever hold the WWE and ECW titles at the same time. Then he ruined himself, he went out and decided to be smoking pot. He screwed himself, that's not WWE's fault. I like how he forgets that minute detail. RVD if you want to leave the company that at times has been mean to you, but for the most part has given you multiple opportunities to succeed, go ahead. You might do well in TNA, but you'll just be in a watered down WCW with some good young talent, that doesn't have a lot of room for you on their one hour show.


Topic # 7 Is Vince McMahon the one to blame for the way the New ECW is going?


David Martell: Of course he is the sole person to blame for ECW not turning out well. He is the owner after all and everything goes through him. I really think they should just get rid of the ECW name all together because soon enough they won't have any ECW originals at all. Hell, they could just get rid of the entire brand and move the wrestlers to RAW or Smackdown because both of the shows are pretty thin on guys anyways. Vince has a lot of work to do if he wants to get anything good out of ECW.

Alex Mattis: At the end of the day I think it is safe to say that Vince is responsible for the way things have turned out. Everything that is written must first go past Vince, and like it was said before, Heyman would write what he thought Vince wanted, which was garbage. Any question that ECW bombing was Vince's fault should have been answered at Backlash when he won the "ECW" World Title. There were many factors that made ECW as bad as it is, but Vince was the main one.

Sean Garmer: No he's not because this actually shouldn't have been done in the first place. Vince tried to resurrect a dead franchise into more than a novelty act and he succeeded in getting it a one year television deal. If anything ECW fans should be happy about that. You can blame Vince for canning Paul Heyman before he was given time to flourish and possibly for a decline in ratings but not everything. Some of the blame has to go to the writers before Dusty came over, and you have to look at the roster as well. He tried to at least give it a little semblance of the old ECW, instead of porting people over there and using young talent, and calling it ECW. He can only sign those that are willing to participate because no matter what promises are made beforehand, that doesn't guarantee they will come to fruition. No, I don't blame Vince for everything.


Match of the Week Nominees: RVD & CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke & Marcus Cor Von (ECW), Samoa Joe vs. Sting (TNA Impact), Matt Hardy vs. Miz, Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Chavo Guerrero, #1 Contender Fatal 4 Way: Batista vs. Finlay vs. Mark Henry vs. Kane (SmackDown)

Explanation: Since we talk about the PPV's every time they happen. We thought it would be a good idea to recognize the best TV match every week. So the only things under consideration for Match of the Week are RAW, ECW, TNA Impact, and SmackDown. If we happen to all attend an Indy show then we might mention it on there as well, but, this will mostly be based on matches you see on television.

David Martell: RVD & CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke & Marcus Cor Von

Alex Mattis: Samoa Joe vs. Sting

Sean Garmer: #1 Contender Fatal 4 Way: Batista vs. Kane vs. Finlay vs. Mark Henry




Some Extra Thoughts on TNA Sacrifice


Alex: This was the best PPV TNA has produced in quite some time. The card was very solid and there were only two matches I didn't care for, both the tag matches. The Texas Death Match was a true story of redemption, these guys went from having one of the worst matches in recent history to having not only the best match on the PPV, but telling one of the best stories TNA has had in a while, easily a **** match. Now to break down the rest of the PPV:

X-Division Title Match:
Good, hot opener. It was somewhat of a surprise to see Sabin hold on to the title.

Jeff Jarrett Vs. Robert Roode:
Better than I expected, and I expected it to be good. Booked very well, and shows that TNA might be starting to be serious about Roode… which is a good thing.

Christopher Daniels Vs. Rhino:
Again, better than I expected. Nothing spectacular, the aftermath of the match bugged me a lot. The man was just hit in the face with a BASEBALL BAT and he gets right up and chases his opponent away, c'mon keep it somewhat believable.

James Gang Vs. Bashams:
NEXT MATCH

X-Division 4 Way:
Good enough match and it was cool to see Tiger Mask, but I didn't feel the match had any purpose or any ramifications to follow it.

Tag Title Match:
About as good as I expected, not horrible but not great. And OH SNAP the Steiner's are back, when need some amateur wrestling headgear for Rick and a sweet mullet for Scott.

AJ Styles Vs. Samoa Joe:
These two, I believe, are not capable of having a bad match. This match was as flashy as there previous encounters but was a smart match. Each man went for their patented moves (EX: AJ-leap frog, drop down, dropkick. Joe-atomic drop, boot, senton) but they kept countering each other. And even in the end Joe had to use a move he doesn't normally to catch AJ off guard. Smart match.

NWA World Title Match:
Way too short, but good for what it was. I don't like how it ended but understand that the title needed to be vacated.



There is something you should know about


411 Video Games section Go read the whole damn section. This is the place to go for your Video Game needs and maybe even more than you asked for as well. Seriously, everyone has been working hard to keep this running and any feedback for them, is greatly appreciated. I do reviews and organize the roundtables for the section, but it's all those column writers, news reporters, other reviewers, and our Editor Caleb Newby that keep it afloat. I'm just happy to be a part of it.

Hey check it out, did you hear? 411 has a Myspace. Go right here to visit the 411 page

411 Games has a Myspace too, and you can check that out right here

Also, worthy of your time should be the whole Sports Zone itself. We have a new editor in Dan Owen and he's getting ready to roundup some guys to provide more content to the zone. So be prepared for the new look of the zone after the MMA guys leave for their own section.


Well that is all for this week folks. Thanks everyone for reading. Well let us know what your opinions are with some feedback. It's always good to have someone else to argue with besides these guys. We hope see everyone here next week. Ciao Triple Threaters.


If you want to send us your thoughts or comments send them to [e-mail]