Wrestling’s 4R’s 6.15.07: Retro Slammiversary, The Draft, The Death of Vince, Tributes to Vince, Harris and Storm Rock the House and More!
Posted by Larry Csonka on 06.15.2007
All of that and two special guests join in for the fun!
The 4R's of wRestling
Introduction~!
-Welcome back kids for another edition of Wrestling's 4R's! As always I am Larry Csonka, along with me is my tag team partner "The Whole Geoffin Show" Geoff Eubanks. It is time again for that walk through the wild world of wrestling TV that we take each and every week. Lots to discuss with RetRo Slammiversary, the Draft and of course, the untimely passing of Mr. McMahon. I have had a very busy personal week and have gotten some assistance for the week in the persons of Daniel Wilcox and Mike Minotti! Be kind to them, and with all of that said it is working time!
iMpact!:
iMpact 6.07.07:
The Right:
The Time and Structure of the Show - Time and time again I come down on TNA programming for not delivering enough in ring action in their one-hour shows. The reason for this is first of all I don't think they can afford to short change new fans since they are at the disadvantage, secondly they claim to be "We are wrestling" and thirdly I don't think you should have more commercial time than in ring action. Add on top of that I think their shows flow a LOT better with my formats and there you go. They had more in ring action than normal, about 16:00, all of the matches were solid to great and the pacing of the show was slowed, there were not 8,000 people on screen and when the show was over, I remembered what happened instead of it being a blur. That is a good thing people, and that made me happy.
Quality Wrestling! - One thing that happens often on Impact is a potentially good match is turned to shit because it gets 2-minutes, after a commercial break and the guys cannot do anything. This week was totally different as mentioned above. While time and structure are great qualities, you still need that good in ring action and this show had it! Lynn vs. Roode was a fine opener. Lynn is the kind of guy Roode needs to work with. He has been around, he knows how to work and again like the JJ match, Roode was able to use all of his abilities to be the best heel possibly. That was great stuff. Gail and Traci had a fine ladies match, stemming from actions during the first one. Yes, matches leading to angles leading to other matches, this is fine stuff! Finally Storm and Harris followed up their awesome PPV match with an awesome TV match this week. This was a very good wee of wrestling on TNA TV, and I am happy to have seen it!
If I can be serious for a minute, wait, wrong Canadian, right idea. - To me, Christian Cage is on a roll in TNA. Good matches and good promos every time out without question. But one thing that has held him back to some is his comedy. As the heel champion, he shouldn't be making people laugh. Iknow he isn't champ now, but follow. Last week on Impact he was playing hide and seek with Tomko until he was caught, and then, he snapped into WHAT HE SHOULD BE with a killer promo! He went wild explaining that he made Tomko and that he was ungrateful and should show respect. He was intense and serious and he was great! It is everything that many knew he cold be and every thing he SHOULD be in his position. This was excellent, and Christian proves why he is the best overall performer in TNA today.
puRgatory:
KOTM Qualifier: James Storm w/Miss Jackie Moore vs. Chris Harris - This match represents everything that is right as well as wrong with TNA. These men have an awesome PPV match and then they follow it up with an awesome TV match. But instead of getting rewarded and the fans getting a finish, we got neither. These guys busted their asses to get nothing but a match with a Football Guy and for Harris to play Random Tag Team Partner. Also after the match they got to lay there ad had NO attention placed on their awesome performance. That is horrible. Another awesome offering from there guys, but no reward for them or us. Everything right with TNA = This Awesome Match. Everything wrong with TNA = The finish, follow up and aftermath of this match.
The wRong:
The New Sonjay Dutt - While I do find the stuff with Nash humorous, I do find Machismo humorous and I agree that the X-Guys need characters, I still do not think that this is the way to go. Dutt debuted his new Ghandi-esque character this week and he now appears to be MORE generic. Genius TNA. Take a guy that is exciting and flashy, and make him calm and wearing all white. Unless this leads to a heel turn where he is evil and using motivational skills against people, I don't see the good of this at all. How the fuck do you not get "The Playa from the Himalayas" over? Although Machismo did save it with the whole, "Snake Roberts ruined my wedding" line.
Sting and Daniels - All right, let me get this straight. Daniels goes to Sting for advice. He takes it, apparently misinterprets it, and goes on his own path. He then tries to get further council from Sting, who blows him off. He then nails him with a bat, causing Sting to lose his chance at a world title match at the big 5th year anniversary show. Sting, obviously angry follows all of this up the next week with a vicious attack of Daniels before his match, laying him out with the bat and other weapons at the ringside area. So after all of this occurs, the next step is NOT a match you see, but a CALM FACE TO FACE INTERVIEW~! Seriously, the line of logic in TNA astounds me at times.
The Ridiculous:
Still Advertising Team 3D vs. The Steiner's - They ran at least two promo packages on Impact last week hyping the 3D vs. Steiner's TNA Tag Title Match. The Steiner injury happened VERY early in the week, so to me there is NO EXCUSE for NOT changing the show. They have made quicker edits in the past and should have here. The match will not take place, it will end up being false advertising because Scott Steiner may be out until late this year, early next year. The fact that this got through was bad, and since I have bashed WWE for shit like this before, I shall do the same with TNA. FOR SHAME~!
SmackDown!: By: "The Whole Geoffin Show" Geoff Eubanks
SmackDown 6.08.06
"'Dear Diary, I want to kill and you have to believe it's for more than just selfish reasons." – Wynona Ryder, Heathers.
I'm having a shitty week, and not just because of the draft (see: The Ridiculous for details); rather, the draft's the dingleberry cherry on my shit sundae. I'll spare you the details and we'll get Right into it. For now, a little French lesson: Je vive en un monde du merde. If you know what that means, e-mail me. I'll send you a Slammy if you're Right.
The Right:
Canadians RULE! – I've often said that without the state of Texas and the country of Canada, modern-day professional wrestling wouldn't nearly be as exciting or interesting a situation, and this is a prime example of that statement tonight, as we had Edge (Ontario) squaring off against Chris Fucking Benoit (Alberta) in a non-title match. I don't know if it has to do with the fact that Canadians take a holistic sense of pride and belief in professional wrestling (a Canadian crowd is always one of the best) that Americans do not, but the wrestlers who emigrate south to the States always show up with such an acutely solid, seemingly inherent knowledge of psychology and a rugged, no frills approach of good, basic mat wrestling. I'm anxious to see this new crop of Canadians on the verge of making their debuts; it'd be a shame to allow the respectable lineage of Canadian wrestlers wither because of the death of Stu Hart.
Anyway, I bring this up because we had what essentially was Benoit's SD! swan song here tonight in about as good a tough, rugged match with no run-ins, no ref bumps, no extra-curricular activity whatsoever, as we're likely to see from WWE on free TV (and quite frankly, I'd have paid for this one!).
Benoit dominated throughout with Edge toughing it out, managing to counter and/or capitalize upon key mistakes in Benoit's otherwise flawless offense. Kudos to McMahonagement with respect to the manner in which Edge's reign has been orchestrated thus far. I've mentioned since the WT switch a few weeks ago that Edge, although nowhere near being an angel, has yet to cheat to win a single match, title on the line or not. It appears they're really pushing the "ultimate opportunist" moniker and presenting Edge as someone who is truly good enough to win without cheating, utilizing instead the capitalization of mistakes made by his opponent and ring awareness to get the W, and I think that's absolutely brilliant. A heel needn't always cheat to win; in fact, a heel who can retain his belt without resorting to nefarious means will 1) PISS OFF the fans and 2) be looked at as all the more dangerous, thus making him a stronger presence as a result. This is VERY old school southern booking, and, while I certainly cannot back this up with fact, I'd be inclined to believe this has the fingerprints of Michael Hayes all over it. At any rate, it totally works and, considering the role Edge has been on and that his victory over Benoit came as a result of Benoit being FIRED into the ring post on a shoulder that had already taken some damage, combined with the fact that Benoit took the gentleman's way out of SD!, that being, on his back to put over the WC, I say all is well here, fantastic match (although I can't help but think they reserved just a little in the event their paths cross on PPV some day…) and thank you, Chris Benoit, for all the amazing moments and matches with which you've provided us here on SD!. Teach those kids well over on Tuesdays…we'll miss you!
MVP is better than us in every conceivable way – Oh, yeah, pal? I sure a fuck dress a damn site better than you. So I understand that MVP kinda sorta ripped off an old CM Punk gimmick with this promo; not having seen any old school ROH footage, I can't say for myself. However, origin notwithstanding, if you're gonna plagiarize, use a solid source. Still again, this is the MVP I wanna see behind the mic, cocky, confident and, most importantly, serious and focused and unafraid. The difference between this attitude and his whole "I'll stub my toe and sit out the remainder of my contract and collect those Benjamin's" schtick is what separates him from lower-midcard to high-midcard, a "character" from a personality…does that make sense? Stay the course with MVP cuz this kid's going places.
Kawada! Yakuza! Hai-kiba! Huuzzah! – That's for all the MSTies in the crowd tonight. Moving on to the match Vickie Guerrero made between the aforementioned MVP and Batista, this was a pretty stock match made more fun because it was well-booked to accommodate the talent involved, and well-performed, because MVP has really begun to blossom into one of the smarter wrestlers on the roster (especially now that we have Masters and Khali back on our side…*grrr*) and because Big Dave looked pretty good tonight, bless him. MVP did a fine job of playing stick-and-move in the opening minutes, but, of course, it was simply a matter of time before Batista's power would give him the edge (no pun intended). MVP, being the smartie he is, though, created his own opening and WOLLOPED Batista over the top with that vicious Yakuza kick, allowing him some offensive time, which he utilized well, at most by immediately targeting Big Dave's injured leg (hey, where's the new tat…?). MVP was a one-man swarm of bees, hanging The Animal over the apron, slipping to the floor and nailing not just one but two successive Kawada kicks! However, a dazed Animal made his way back to the ring and gained the upper-hand, only to turn around and find Edge poised to deliver a spear…to which Batista responded with a spear of his own, causing Edge to scoot on his butt up the aisle like a dog with worms in reverse.
My question is, what happened to MVP? It was as if Barbara Eden came to ringside, blinked and replaced MVP with Edge. Okay, yeah, great way to focus on the Edge/Batista thing, but MVP just helped to deliver the best singles match we've seen out of Big Dave on TV in a few weeks…where's his love? This is just the kind of "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" kind of booking that can lead to one talent's demise at the cost of putting over another, and you DON'T want to do that with MVP!
Honey, something's wRong with the cable…I'm seeing Jamie Noble on SD! – Yup, someone at SD! finally remembered they employed Jamie Noble and decided to wipe off the dust to let the kid perform. And perform he did, as did all six men involved in this killer little CruiserWeight tag (even Daivari)! What can I say? This is just the quality of action I want to see from our CW division on a regular basis and there's no reason we shouldn't have it. The roster is small but stacked and it's my contention that, given a solid year of honest dedication, we could even see some respect restored not just to the belt, not just to the division as a whole, but to even Funaki…yes, Funaki. All in all this appeared to be a way for us to remember that Jimmy Wang Yang has a pinfall victory or two over CWC Chavo Guerrero, but considering Guerrero took the fall (again!) from Brian Kendrick (who isn't even a CW competitor, given his status as a tag performer), especially when his (Chavo's) partners, Daivari and Noble, who can't get on television without divine intervention orchestrating it, it makes me wonder if we're not going to see the division decide that the belt means something and all go on a Chavo witch hunt…?
Adios, Motherfucker! – Translation, So long, Boogeyman! For at least 2:00, Mark Henry was my favorite wrestler on earth. He squashed the FUCK out of The Boogeyman and his little identical tick and sent em packing to WWECW. Boogey is completely demystified, Henry continues to look strong, and we all win.
I was hoping Teddy'd take a drink of water – The shot of Vickie Guerrero with Thaddeus Long sitting eerily, directly behind her was WEIRD. It looked as if she was sitting on his knee and he had his hand up her ass, making her talk…I couldn't even see his lips moving!
Basically this was a trial for Vickie by Long to check out her matchmaking sensibility and her ability to announce such matches, which she did quite well, by all counts. Of course, we know she's just playing nice till the time is Right to throw the Khali to the fan and watch who gets splattered. I'm completely no-selling all the nonsense involving Vince after the announcements because none of it mattered and if you want my thoughts on the matter, keep scrolling down.
JBL's Word of the Week – compunction:
com·punc·tion [kuh m-puhngk-shuh n] –noun
a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse.
We love to fight! – Just a quick word to comment favorably upon the video piece we saw featuring Finlay and The Little Bastard. It seems to me (and I know I've said this before) that we're going full-blown with the face turn for these two. It seemed as if McMahonagement was keeping them on the cusp and utilizing them however was needed, either as face or heel, because, as over as is The Bastard, he could easily be used to manipulate the crowd for a little end-of-match fun if need be, or minimize his involvement and allow Finlay to work his eeeevil Elvin magic. As fun-loving a piece as we saw, though, I'm thinking they'll be transitioning into a staunchly face role. And if these guys are wasted on a program with Khali because Vince thinks it'd be a hoot to see Nature's Little Oopsie in the ring with The Bastard, I just might quit.
purgatory:
Vince + SmackDown! = Handicap match – Yes, bringing the quality of genius he possesses over from Monday nights, Vince invaded SD! and treated us to a handicap match, pitting Matt Hardy against our WWETTCs, Lenny & Squiggy. Well, this was sadly one of the best matches in which the "champions" have been involved since diluting the talent roster at the beginning of the year. I say sadly because it takes a well-mapped handicap match against one of the top tag workers in the industry to make them look good. And I say well mapped because the way this one was booked was no accident. Notice we had Hardy versus Deuce, whom we've already singled out as the greater (and only) talent on this team, for the grand majority of the match, as Hardy was quite efficient at keeping the FAR inferior Domino out for the better part of the match, Domino only making it in the ring to cut off Hardy's gathering momentum with some remedial move or other, taking The Twist Of Fate in the end and would have been pinned had Deuce not Cracked Hardy in the Mouth and put him away.
At a time, however, when tag team wrestling is seen as an afterthought and a haven for jobbers, why would McMahonagement be looking to undercut a performer on the rise like Hardy to put over a tag team, and one of the least talented teams we've seen in awhile (well, on SD!, at least…Raw still has CRYME TYME, after all)…? Perhaps now that THE HARDYS have been relieved of their WTTTs over on Raw, we might start seeing more of Jeff on SD! with the blurred lines of the brand extension for a tag title chase, especially considering our Night of Champions coming up soon…?
One thing I dug about this match that gave me a little nostalgic pang in my heart was when, toward the end of the match when Hardy made his final uninterrupted pin attempt, he, in plain view, yanked the trunks of Domino. I saw that and heard this in my head:
Jesse Ventura: Look, Gorilla! Hardy hooked the tights! He hooked the tights!
Gorilla Monsoon: Sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire, Jess!
Made me smile.
Welcome back, Ashl…oh, never mind – Okay, so I'm not sure what was the deal in just having brought back Ashley last week to cost Jigglin Hall her match against Michelle McCool, only to have Vince Perot suspend her indefinitely for having accidentally spilled his coffee all over him this week, but it appears we'll be without the lovely services of Ashley for another bit. As nice as she is to look at, I'm not going to miss her in the ring. So, one wonders, do we give up on this program, then? Is there some huge, jaw-dropping plot in store as a (forgive me) boobie prize…? Stay tuned, true believer! Oh, and mental note to WWE catering? You might want to consider providing lids for your coffee cups…
Late breaking news suggests that Ash was suspended as an on-screen reason to put her out of action while she participates in "Survivor: China" (in which Shawn Waltman also participated and lost), so there's that mystery solved, although it still leaves us with a quandary with respect to the Jigglin Hall program. Guess we'll just have to wait and see…
The wrong:
NADDA~!
The Ridiculous:
Vince has faked his death to hide the fact that he's checked into Overactors Anonymous – I mean, seriously, the FUCK is this shit? Vince loses the WWECW HWT and he turns into a constipated Ross Perot with a mean streak (seriously, did anyone else think, once he stood up from that Director's Chair at the conclusion of The Cutting Edge that there'd be an ostrich egg-sized turd smoldering there)? Aside from the fact that this is so disgustingly and horribly overacted to an embarrassing point beyond farce, it's completely inconsistent with WWF/E history. I certainly don't recall Vince being this torn up about losing the WWE WT after he'd defeated Triple H for it several years ago. In fact, he didn't lose it at all, he had benevolence and scope enough to vacate the belt and find a new champion. So WTF is all this now? Absolutely pathetic, and it would be comical if it wasn't just so damn sad.
Kudos, however, to Edge for a solid performance, although, really, all he had to do was verbally fellate Vince once he (Vince) hobbled to the ring, and, having nailed Lita the Walking Glory Hole as long as he did behind his best friend's back, Edge was taught by the best, so no surprises here.
First draft? How about back to the drawing board – Well, friends of The R's know this rant was coming this week after the ass-raping SD! took in the draft to rebuild Raw. I've been saying this for as long as I've had this gig (because, ya know, I'm Right!), that Vince doesn't give a red, runny shit about SD! until he makes an abject embarrassing failure of Raw, then dons his gloves and overalls to harvest from the garden of SD! the talent who have quietly made the show the best wrestling program on North American television so he can transplant some God's honest talent to Raw, where the monkeys writing that show in Crayola can rerun threadbare angles and programs to squelch everything that made such talent a hit in the first place. I can't tell you how PISSED OFF I am about the results of the draft!!! Check out who we lose on Friday nights, friends:
Chris Benoit is going to WWECW, which was predicted and noble on the part of The Wolverine, as it is his absolute desire at this point in his career to work with some kids who are just starting theirs and get them on the Right track. Benoit is one of my absolute favorites and has been for about a decade. While I and the show as a whole will steadfastly and wistfully miss Benoit, I can think of no greater reason to see him move on. Teach em well, Crippler!
I have finally been purged of The Boogeyman! I suppose there's always a silver lining, isn't there? However, in this case, not nearly enough of one. Michael Hayes and Company had finally begun to come up with much more creative ways by which to book Boogey other than the Goldberg treadmill (upon which he'd been previously), and it was getting to where I didn't near as mind seeing him as before (although much of that goes toward the surprisingly entertaining program involving Little Boogey, Finlay and The Little Bastard, plus the fact that Boogey was finally made to start selling and losing contributed a Dustyload, too). However, when it comes down to it, I still hate the freak and I'm stoked to see him gone.
King Booker and Queen Sharmell. Okay, now you KNOW I'm pissed. All I hear from these McMahon sycophants is how the brand split has allowed so much new talent who'd otherwise not be allowed to shine the opportunity for camera time, Booker being one of them. I call BULLSHIT on that. Is it a secret to anyone that Booker is a fucking pot of gold? Think waaay back to when Booker and Goldust were the only reasons to watch Raw each week for MONTHS. The guy's no rookie, he's worn gold more of his career than not and he has a wealth of unique and infectious quality of personality. Add his smoking hot wife, who has an equal amount of charisma, with whom he obviously works well, and, yeah, DUH, there's a little magic there. Who was it well over a year ago predicting these two could be the next Savage & Elizabeth? The fact is, no, The Royal Couple wouldn't have had the opportunity to shine the way they have on Raw, because Vince is too concerned with pushing himself getting a fucking haircut and lumps like Lashley and Khali, and then has the utter gall to come up for air out of his ocean-sized ego to find that Raw's roster SUCKS as a result and goes looking at the other brands to see who's managed to flourish when he hasn't soiled their careers by keeping his filthy fucking hands off them for a while and snags them back to Monday. Oh, but the BULLSHIT doesn't end there…
Mr. Kennedy is going to Raw. Anyone who's read my portion of The R's at all over the last year knows how low a blow this is to me. Kennedy could be my favorite guy on the roster at the moment, a spot he's earned in my eyes. I've called him the second coming of Steve Austin and I stand by that. I believe in him that much. He's got it all, he can talk like few in the history of the business, he can honest-to-Benoit WRESTLE, he can do hardcore/gimmick matches, he'll keep it on the mat, take to the air and isn't afraid to take chances. Kennedy is the SHIT. And he just got stolen from us, friends. The thing that KILLS me about this is, aside from my own personal preferences, McMahonagement is fucking STUPID for doing this Right now, because there was a built-in, paint-by-numbers, no-brainer program all set up for Kennedy and Edge once Kennedy returned, but now they've pissed that away. Unless, of course, they plan on continuing blurring the lines between brands, but it seemed to me that was a necessity on Raw's part because Vince had fucked up his little life-sized game of Risk and had to hit the reset button. FUCK THIS.
Oh, but it gets better, because Vince didn't just rape, pillage and plunder the contented little garden of SD!, no, he took a huge, steaming shit on us, too, before he left. Check out who we get in return for losing, you know, three (four if you count The Delectable Queen…and I DO) top-notch performers:
Torrie Wilson has been in the business longer than Candice Michelle, Melina, Kristal and Jigglin Hall COMBINED and the stupid old bitch STILL doesn't know a wristlock from a wristwatch. The most this black hole of talent has managed to do is take off her clothes twice, presumably to offset that really WEIRD face of hers. This dumb whore can't talk, can't wrestle and there are younger, more talented and more eager and more attractive women on the SD! roster and in the business as a whole…who needs her? Tell her to take that fuzz mop for a walk…a LONG one and get her off my show.
Khali. Ah, Khali. The prodigal freak show returns, presumably to hook back up with Daivari…? Yeah, so many fresh programs for Nature's Little Oopsie over here. On the bright side, maybe we can get Khali and Mark Henry to throw down and they'll kill each other. No, really, I mean that. Well, Henry can live…
And all welcome my fellow California native, Chris Masters back to SD!. Talk about another talentless, waste of oxygen fuck. WE DON"T CLAIM YOU IN LA, asshole. So he's jobbing to that sham of an IC champ on Raw week in and out, a "champion" so green The Hurricane took a shit and it evolved into Barella, so he's no good to us on Raw anymore…send him to SD!.
Oh, yeah, but we got Ric Flair. I'd be more excited if he were going to be anything but be McMahon-assigned life coach for Batista to try and help him, you know, not SUCK anymore, but that just means we're going to continue to have Big Dave shoved down our throats until his entire musculature slides off his bones like a well-cooked chicken. Fantastic.
So here begins still another uphill climb for the silver and blue after still another night mugging by the boss. Thanks there, Chairman. Shame you really weren't in that limo, asshole.
Remember people, show Geoff some love by emailing him here: yostankmama@hotmail.com
RAW!: By: Daniel Wilcox
Raw 6.11.07:
The Right:
Kicking things off with a bang - This was a bid edition of Raw what with The Draft Lottery and Vince McMahon Appreciation Night, and I was worried that WWE might forget to put the marquee names in meaningful matches and thought that show would turn into 3 hours of Vince's ego and draft picks. However, Raw kicked off with an interpromotional battle between two long-time rivals in Edge and John Cena. Not only that, but it was WWE Champion vs. World Heavyweight Champion. After some great matches in 2006 from these two (I feel like I covered that stuff way too much) we've come to expect that these guys will just go out there and have another tremendous match, but unfortunately there is only so much that you can do in just over 7 minutes, which is what the match got. That being said, they kept the pace fast for the entire match and we had a decent and very hot opener. Usually I would complain about the lame ending, but for a number of reasons I think that this was a smart move. Firstly, Edge is a relatively new champion and is trying to carry the SmackDown brand so jobbing him out would have been a terrible idea, especially after his recent clean loss to Shawn Michaels. So giving Edge the win (albeit by count out) was a smart move as neither man came off looking bad after the match. The other thing I loved was the way the finish was set up. Cena cleared the announce table, hoisted Edge onto his shoulders and walked up the steel ring steps, hoping to nail an FU through the table. Those with a good memory, or just those who read my column a few weeks ago, will realize that this was the finished they used a year ago at Saturday Night's Main Event after Edge got himself disqualified to hold on to the title. So having Edge scout the move was another good piece of booking and even (dare I say it) a Hidden Highlight! So overall, a big match that delivered to kick off a big 3 hour show is a good thing.
Protecting ECW - This is to do with the draft picks that were made in regards to ECW, the draft picks that weren't made from ECW, and the matches that ECW wrestlers were involved in. ECW's first draft pick was The Boogeyman. Personally, I hate the idea of Boogeyman on Tuesday nights but whatever. As long as none of the future stars in ECW have to job to him I'll be fine. And I suppose having Boogeyman in ECW will please the guys at Sci-Fi network so that can't be a bad thing. ECW's second draftee was CHRIS F'N BENOIT~! This is right on so many levels. First of all Chris Benoit is a name that just about every wrestling fan recognizes and that is something that ECW has been lacking for a very long time and even more so since Rob Van Dam was shelved with that "injury" of his. Benoit is also a tremendous wrestler that can help the younger guys on ECW, Punk, Burke, Cor Von et al, and progress and get better.
Another important thing is that ECW won 3 matches that they participated in out of 5 (not counting the battle royal), which is tremendous. CM Punk went over Carlito and Bobby Lashley (who was ECW at the time) went over Benoit and Snitsky beat the Miz one, two, three wether the decision was reversed or not. Ironically two of those 3 victors were drafted away from ECW but the bottom line is that ECW beat Raw and SmackDown on 3 occasions.
And finally, Bobby Lashley, the ECW Champion, was drafted to Raw but was stripped of the ECW title by Jonathan Coachman by orders of Mr. McMahon. This means that the ECW title is now vacant which is tremendous news for the rest of the ECW roster as they finally have something worth fighting for. This should give the show tremendous direction. ECW is no longer the Bobby Lashley & Friends Show, it's a bunch of hungry guys working for a world title. It probably won't improve ratings but it makes for damn good entertainment. This means that either Chris Benoit will be a World Champion again soon, or Elijah Burke or CM Punk will get a huge rub from being a World Champion. Either scenario qualifies for a right.
Lashley vs. Chris Benoit - This was actually a really fun match. They start off with some basic holds that progressed into some nice mat-based wrestling with both guys jockeying for leverage. Eventually Lashley's power gained him the advantage and Benoit had to fight back. Several times the Rabid Wolverine went for the Crippler Crossface but Lashley was too big and strong to allow his opponent to lock in the hold. So later on in the match Benoit went for a different approach and tried his Germans but even they seemed to have little affect on the ECW Champ. Finally Benoit went for the Sharpshooter and managed to cinch that in, only for Lashley to power out. This lead to the downfall of Benoit who got caught by Lashley's powerslam and Lashley was victorious. As much as I dislike Lashley, this was a fun match and a great change of pace in the middle of the show and with only 7 minutes or so to work with I think that they did the best they could do.
Match Quality - Whereas the aforementioned Benoit/Lashley match deserves its own little mention, I think these other matches should be grouped together as they were just good and nothing spectacular. Carlito vs. CM Punk was a decent match. It was short but I think both guys did a good job and looked good in there. Add to that that the right guy went over (Punk) and we get a decent bout. The triple threat match later in the night was also a lot of fun in a short space of time. The match pitted Batista vs. Elijah Burke vs. Jeff Hardy and all three men looked great, particularly Jeff Hardy who worked his ass to make sure the match worked. It's also good to see Batista in there with some different opponents and even he looked motivated tonight. Burke was his usual solid self and played his heel role brilliantly before taking the Batista Bomb for the pinfall.
Pulling out all the stops for the boss - Throughout the night there were many videos promos from a ton of different WWE Legends including Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes, Lou Albano, The Iron Sheik, Bobby Heenan, Gene Okerlund, Snoop Dogg, Marc Cuban, Steve-O, Donald Trump and others. While most of these promos were cookie-cutter "Vince is an asshole, but I respect" type stuff, some of them were really good. Sheik rambled on about God knows what but it was damn entertaining. Austin and Snoop Dogg came close to breaking the world record for number of curses in a 30 second interviews, which was also mildly funny. And we also got to hear from Bret Hart which is always a good thing even if his comments were a little restrained. Dusty Rhodes' promo in particular was brilliant – partially because he was able to do it live and get a little more time for it but he pretty much summed up McMahon in about 3 minutes. I also like how they pulled out some huge names to do the interviews as it was a big night, bigger, in fact, then any of us could have imagined. Which leads me onto…
Thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great… - The Chairman of the WWE is dead. Vince McMahon, arguably one of the greatest characters in the history of professional wrestling was killed off Monday night. At least he went with a bang. We saw Vince come to the ring and attempt to cut a promo but he was soundly booed. He muttered the words "thank you" and left the ring looking just as crazy as he has the last week. He walks to the back and we see him go by a bunch of the WWE Superstars. He goes the wrong way to his limo but Coach corrects him and he goes outside. Vince looks at two workers talking but continues. He stops by his limo door before getting in and it blows the fuck up. While I'm still uncertain about wether or not it is a wise move to kill off one of the best heels in wrestling history, if WWE was insistent on doing it (and they must've been as they wouldn't have done it) at least they did it right and have set up a potentially amazing storyline for the summer. The visual of the limo going up in flames was tremendous and it was a really shocking image and a great way to end Raw. I have to admit I found the whole thing quite amusing, though that may be because I saw it coming (going to a wide shot of the limo was a huge giveaway) but the way it went down was great. Even better, they've set up an angle that can go all summer and be great entertainment. "Who killed Vince McMahon?" WWE has already sited many potential suspects including Austin and Trump, but there are like a million possibilities and hopefully WWE will do their best to cover everything and keep us guessing. On a side note, credit to the E for going all out on this – they've got stories of Federal agents and such going through McMahon's office to find out whodunit. Plus, they've managed do get some big media outlets to believe Vinny Mac is really dead.
PuRgatoRy:
The Draft Lottery - First things first, the draftees. I've already mentioned that the Boogeyman to ECW is a bad move, and Benoit to ECW is a great move. Some of the other roster changes that I liked were Booker to Raw. Since losing the World title last year the King spent a lot of time jobbing to the stars as it were and having done just about everything he could on SmackDown, a change of scenery is definitely a good thing for Booker. Masters to SmackDown is another good move. The guy has been jobbed to hell on Raw but I hope that he can be a decent mid-carder on SmackDown. If anything else, moving to the Blue Brand won't do Masters any harm whatsoever. I'm completely indifferent when it comes to most of the other changes; Khali to SmackDown is just pointless because wherever he goes he's not going to do anything noteworthy and it's just a case of WWE trying to get as much out of him as they can. Ric Flair probably doesn't have a whole lot left in his tank which leads me to believe he'll remain a mid-carder over on SmackDown but at least it gives him the opportunity for some fresh rivalries. The other two draft picks shall be discussed later on.
The 15 Man Battle Royal - This had to be one of the most boring battle royals I have ever seen. Outside of the confrontation between Mark Henry and Viscera, there was very little incident and most of the time was spent with wrestlers rotating around the ring and hitting each other. Very sluggish for the most part. However, it was a nice change of pace to the rest of the night and it at least got a bunch of guys on the roster, and the right man went over in Randy Orton whose push is continued.
The wRong:
Pacing - The show was just so repetitive it became almost tedious before the last few segments. Right from the start of the show it was match, taped promo, match, taped promo, match, live promo, match… rinse, wash and repeat. Add to that the matches were all roughly the same length and after a while the whole process becomes very boring. Thankfully the last two matches were a little different in that they were multi-man contests but as I said earlier, the battle royal was too dull and plodding and the triple threat was too short to be really good which it almost was thanks to Jeff Hardy's effort. I don't even recall a backstage segment or interview to slow things down. When you have a three-hour show, you need variety and for the most part this episode of Raw had none.
Showcase the damn tag teams! - Overall the past couple of months we have seen some tremendous tag team action from the Raw brand involving The Hardys, Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch and to a lesser extent the World's Greatest Tag Team. Last week, Cade and Murdoch won the World Tag Team Championships as part of one of the many twists in the ongoing rivalry with the Hardys and yet this week… they are nowhere to be seen! Not even a short promo. I understand been difficult to continue the feud with The Hardys as Matt and Jeff are on separate brands and most of the night was interbrand matches, but why not a tag team contest against London and Kendrick? Or a triple threat tag team contest – throw the Major Brothers in there! I think that would have been a really good match and would have helped the aforementioned poor pacing of the show. Missed opportunities, guys.
Setting up the Vengeance main event - So backstage Coach announces that the main event at Vengeance will be John Cena defending the WWE title against all former world champions who are left on the Raw brand after the draft. First of all, that is such a lame way to announce a match. So then Mick Foley comes out and says since he is part of the Raw brand after Vince re-hired him last spring, and since he is a former WWE Champion, he will be in the main event at Vengeance! Sounds cool so far. But then he goes on to talk about Mr. McMahon in the same way that everyone else so far tonight has. Way to tell us which one is more important. After all the draftees have been… um, drafted, we find out that it's going to be Cena vs. Foley vs. Orton vs. Booker vs. Lashley. I'm sorry, but that's just lame. And I think that is going to be one-piss poor match up. And there's only going to be one winner. It's just a case of WWE not thinking things through. Let's make Vengeance the Night of Champions. OK, but what do we do with all the top tier guys who don't have belts. Let's throw ‘em all in one big clusterfuck of a match. OK, let's do it.
The Ridiculous:
SmackDown gets screwed… again - How about we trade you three of our top workers and Boogeyman, for 2 guys who can't wrestle for shit, one guy who can't have a good match with anyone not named Triple H and a piece of ass and a pair of tits? Deal? Good.
Kennedy to Raw - I'm almost certain that he will only get lost in the shuffle. On SmackDown, he had a ready made feud with World Champion Edge and had solidified himself as a main eventer and one of its top guys. Now he's on Raw and he will have to take a backseat to Cena, Lashley, Orton and maybe even more. While a feud with John Cena could be awesome because of both the promos and matches, this is a typical case of WWE using SmackDown to make the stars and then shifting them over to Raw before anyone notices. Hopefully Kennedy will find his way back to SmackDown via winning the Royal Rumble and then we can get the feud with Edge in time for WrestleMania
Snitsky to Raw - We've all heard the rumours of a Snitsky vs. John Cena feud. Let's just all hope that idea does a Mr. McMahon and dies a quick and sudden death. This guy has no place on Raw unless it's Heat. People like me and Furious should not have to recap this guy – that should be left to Small and Slimmer.
Wait. There's a pay-per-view coming up? While I'll be DAMNed! - Yes, one more Raw before Vengeance and they did jack all to build to it other than that main event which was booked horribly. How about setting someone up for an IC title shot. Some sort of backstage confrontation between The Hardys and Cade and Murdoch? No? OK, perhaps something with Melina and Candice? No? OK forget, I won't buy your pay-per-view. WWE better hope people buy Vengeance just for the Night of Champions thing because the build is pretty much non-existent. This is part of the whole too many pay-per-views argument and creates a strong case for that argument.
ECW on Sci-Fi!: By: Mike Minotti
ECW on Sci-Fi!: 6.05.07:
The Right:
Tag Team Main Event: It was nice of them to immediately fulfill all of the fan boys' wishes and put Benoit and CM Punk together. The four men in this match pretty much are ECW at this point. WWE needs to use Chris Benoit to propel all of these guys, and it seems they are doing that. The match itself was fun. Every man looked pretty strong, though Punk played the "face in peril" role a little too often for my tastes. I love hearing Burke yelling from his corner. Little bits of personality like that really help a young guy get over.
During the whole match, it became clear that Benoit is going to be a big deal again. Yay. The announcers were selling him well, using his history in ECW and as a World Heavyweight Champion to get him over. It looks like they may just push him as the top guy in the company until Punk and Burke can grow some more. That's is probably the best thing they could have done for ECW. Besides, the idea of Benoit being a world champion again (even if it is the ECW World Championship) is enough to get me pumped.
puRgatory:
Tribute Show to McMahon: So, Tazz and Styles told us that this was going to be a tribute show to McMahon. Ok, decent enough of an idea, but I don't see how a hardcore match and a Boogeyman squash are appropriate tributes to Vince. Besides, Raw was already a huge tribute show to Vince with that whole "Mr. McMahon Appreciation Day". It makes sense storyline wise to have a tribute show for Vince following his death, so I'm ok with the idea, but the execution was a little lackluster.
Tommy Dreamer vs. Ballz Mahoney: I guess this was harmless enough, but nothing worth writing home about. Some of the hardcore action worked, some not so much. It was a little sad seeing them move forward with a table spot on a table with a broken leg. Dreamer attacked Ballz with a kitchen sink. Lawl. The biggest problem is that Ballz has been jobbed out so much at this point I don't see how anyone can care about his being in a match ever again.
Burn Vinnie, Burn: The show opened with the entire ending segment of last night's Raw. And then we saw part of it again at the end of ECW. I understand how important this angle is, but showing the whole death of Vince thing was a waste of time for a show that really needs time to reestablish itself after losing their champion. The WWE has a great editing crew. I'm sure they could have put something together to tell yesterday's story in a less time consuming manner. Besides, it's a pretty safe assumption that anyone who watches ECW probably watched Raw last night.
The wRong:
Retarded Main Event Finish: What the fuck? What kind of an ending was that? Even Tazz and Cole didn't know what happened. I guess Cor Von was disqualified for going past a 5 count. And then Benoit destroys everyone after the match anyways, including making Burke to tap out to the sharpshooter. Since Benoit immediately made Burke tap afterwards, why didn't they just make that the end of the match? It wouldn't have made the heels look any weaker. All they did was confuse and piss off the crowd.
For Whom The Ring Bell Tolls: Seriously, they rang the ring bell? I think we're taking it a bit far. That has always been an incredibly touching tribute to wrestlers who have passed away. Who will ever forget the Owen Hart or Eddie Guerrero tribute shows? Doing this for the sake of a wrestling angle really cheapens those wonderful tributes. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, since it's been well documented that the WWE will do anything to get an angle over.
The Ridiculous:
Remember that world title thing? : ECW just lost their world champion, and had their world title vacated at the same time. This issue wasn't brought up a single time during the show. The world freaking title of your show is vacant, and they don't say a thing. They don't mention how or when a new champion will be declared, and they don't begin to pick possible contenders for the belt. That's insane. How can you just ignore your world title? What does that say for the prestige of your belt when you appear to forget about it? Now, if they do plan to crown a new champion at Vengeance (which I'm assuming they will, with that whole "every title will be defended" thing) they're going to have one show to set up a match that is going to guarantee a new champion.
New show, same crappy Boogeyman: Boogeyman made his grand debut on ECW by squashing Matt Striker, and then making him eat worms. Wow, Boogeyman squashing someone and feeding them worms… I've never seen that one before. Seriously, if that hasn't gotten him over by now, it never will. Why the hell do they keep doing it? Do they actually think that this is going to catch on with the "ECW" crowd? Please. The current ECW fans are either Raw and Smack down fans who don't have any plans on Tuesday night or WWE completists who make it a point to never miss any show. If no one cared about Boogeyman when he was actually getting a push and squashing Booker T on WrestleMania, I doubt they'll care about him beating freaking Matt Striker. I have no idea what they're expecting Boogeyman to do for this show. He can't make other wrestlers look good, and pushing him is a waste of time. The only reasonable feud I can see in ECW for him is against Thorne, and that won't last for long. What the hell are they going to do with him then?
RETRO SLAMMIVERSARY!!:
TNA Slammiversary: 06.18.06:
The Matches:
Bingo Hall Brawl: Team 3D defeated the James Gang @ 10:22 via pin **½
Handicap Match: Rhino defeated Scott D'Amore and Bobby Roode @ 11:02 via pin **
X-Division Rankings Match: Senshi defeated Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley and Shark Boy @ 19:35 via pin ***½
Kevin Nash defeated Chris Sabin @ 8:24 via pin *½
NWA Tag Title Match: AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels defeated America's Most Wanted @ 18:00 via pin ****¼
Samoa Joe defeated Scott Steiner @ 13:13 via pin ***¾
NWA Title: King of the Mountain Match: Jeff Jarrett defeated Christian Cage, Sting, Ron Killings and Abyss @ 22:32 via pin ***
The Right:
Pre-Show Goodness - Often times nothing of note happens on the PPV Pre-Shows, and in fact they haven't had one for a few months and for reasons I had explained before, I was totally fine with that. But the one thing it does it give them some "extra" TV time, in which they can develop some angles, and again, this is ok with me. This month they used the pre-show to advance the angle they have been working on with The Naturals and Shane Douglas. The Naturals battled Team Canada in a pre-show match, and seemed to have everything locked up…until they celebrated like stupid babyfaces and Team Canada stole the win. Shane Douglas, who watched on from the ramp then stormed the ramp and tore into the Naturals. He asked if they were trying to make a fool of him after he swore on Candido and his father that he would bring them back to the top. He told them that they would not come back to the Impact Zone until the have gotten the loser out of them and are ready, and that will only happen when HE says they are ready. He also said that he would kill them first before letting them embarrass him or themselves again. I loved this, and this is perfect to get them off TV for a bit, retool their look, cut the hair, new outfits, add some new moves and re-debut them. I just hope that they can keep the focus on them, because with Douglas doing all the mic work, he runs the risk of getting himself over inadvertently.
The X Division Rankings Match - On shows, certain guys have jobs. In TNA, the job of the X-Division is to go out there for "what ever time allowed" and bust their ass in a match that is non-stop action. If they steal the show so be it, and if they just have a really good match, all good as well. And that's what they do kids, and tonight, they did it again. Whether it is some kind of 6-man, 4-man, 3-man, tag or gauntlet match they always seem to go out there and deliver. I loved the idea of a "Rankings Match." They did one early on in the Weekly PPV Era (Low Ki (now Senshi) vs. Elix Skipper vs. Kid Romeo vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Tony Mamaluke vs. Jerry Lynn), and it was an excellent match and out friend Senshi won that match as well. Now back then the follow up wasn't as good, but I have better hopes for this one. Senshi, Dutt, Petey, Lethal, Shelley and Sharky put on a great match, and while you could argue some of the rankings, the overall effect was achieved. Sharky played his role perfectly and was gone first, Shelley keeps showing why he is so entertaining, Jay Lethal has a ton of potential, Petey did his thing, Dutt was the face in peril and Senshi was the bad ass mother fucker that will cave in your chest with the DOUBLE STOMP OF DESTRUCTIVITY~! Great match and now Senshi is the number one contender, and since it is Friday and you are reading this, he is YOUR new X-Division champion.
We have NEW NWA Tag Team Champions - After a long 8-month reign with the tag title belts, AMW finally lost the belts to AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. After the great match they had last month, they made sure to not let up and delivered another great match this month. AMW has been a great tag team for TNA, and many people, myself included assumed that they would eventually feud with Team 3D and lose the titles to them. But TNA took a different road, and has continually thrown obstacles in 3D's path, and kept them "oh so close" to the tag titles, while never letting them have it, using that "slow burn" if you will. It's not what we expected, and that is why a lot of people are pissed. I like it. I liked how Daniels and Styles declared that they were a TEAM and would bring prestige back to the titles. It's something different, and with AJ and Daniels as former tag champions, as well as the top of the X division and AJ being a former NWA champion, they were an instant threat. In the end I think this is a good thing because it changes the landscape of TNA. This freshens up the tag ranks:
People have been complaining that things have gotten a bit stagnant, but with the move and win, things just got a whole lot different and could be very interesting if the right guys step up.
Jim Cornette has arrived - Jim Cornette has arrived in TNA and he arrived as only he can, cutting a bad ass promo like only he can. Many people have the gripe on TNA that they don't have many great promo men. Jim Mitchell does his job well, Steiner has been solid and so has Joe thus far, but in the grand scheme of things they don't have a big time promo guy that will deliver each and every time out, and that is where Cornette comes in. Jim Cornette has that gift of the gab, he can go out there and deliver a great promo easier than anyone, and the fact is that he will do it while putting the product over at the same time, which is what is needed. Cornette debuted at Slammiversary and just did a fabulous job in his debut. He put over that everyone put off TNA and said they wouldn't make 4-weeks or 4-months, let alone 4-years. He explained that the company had its ups and downs, but they are stronger that ever and are ready to keep growing. He explained that he was there to set things right and to make sure that TNA succeeded. If you put on good matches, sell PPV and make good ratings, you are his friend, if not, SEEK EMPLOYMENT ELSEWHERE. He put over the NWA Tag Title match, as well as AJ, Joe, Daniels and Rhino. Cornette just did what was needed, he rallied the troops and put over TNA, which should be done in EVERY promo given. Great work here by James E. Cornette, and I for one am happy to have him in TNA.
Samoa Joe and Steiner: Tremendous~! - If you would have told me 6-months ago that I would be hyped for Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner facing off, I would have LAUGHED AT YOU! Man was I wrong. This match had be genuinely excited after the interaction that they had in last month's PPV tag match, and was amplified by the AWESOME UFC style promo that was shown last week on Impact. Now this match had the chance to suck ass, as it was up to Steiner to decide if he wanted to get himself over and no-sell Joe, or if he wanted to help erase his WWE run and show that he COULD still mean something to wrestling. This match I thought was great, as it was a display of total ass kicking and no holding back. I am sure I will get hate mail for this, but to me, this had some elements of Joe vs. Kobashi. The way Joe kept coming back from the onslaught of Steiner, who in Kobashi like fashion used his suplexes to drop Joe on his head numerous times. They had the crowd right where they wanted them, and one spot in particular had me sold that Joe would lose. When they were on the floor and Joe had hit the post and slumped to the floor, Steiner then took a chair and KILLED Joe in the head and he looked to be out. It was announced that there would be a 10-count, and if one man couldn't answer, he would lose. Steiner got into the ring and the crowd was SOLD that Joe would be counted out and lose. Joe, at the VERY last minute got back into the ring and it continued. Both men continued to battle, and Joe locked in the CLUTCH, which looked to be the end, but Steiner made it to his feet and got the low blow. He would then get the recliner, only for Joe to STAND UP with Steiner on his shoulders, hot shot him and get the quick power slam for the out of nowhere win. Bottom line, this was a great, dramatic match and the best match out of Steiner in a very long time. Thus far, in TNA, Steiner has been great and I am glad that they brought him in. In the end, Joe's stock rose even more and he is a big time player, whether the haters want to realize it or not.
puRgatoRy:
Screw Job - I suppose that it was only a matter of time that they would run a quasi-Montreal deal since they had hired Earl Hebner. I hate the Montreal Screw Job, I hate that nearly 9 years later we are constantly reminded of it at the minimum once a year in Montreal Screw Job. But the one thing I didn't want is a reliving of the Montreal Screw Job in TNA, which is basically what it was. Everyone, and I mean everyone needs to get over this because I am sick and tired of it.
BUT, in terms of the storyline it did make sense. Larry Z's position is in trouble due to the hiring of Cornette, and since Larry is power hungry, he will do anything to keep his position (see last month when he made a deal with Scott D'Amore to use A1 to take Raven out.) Jeff Jarrett also noted that, "If the new face is who I think he is, I'll never get a shot at the NWA title again." So he buddies up with Larry Z to hatch a plan that allows him to win the NWA title, giving JJ the power of champion and Larry Z being is a good place as management and JJ's paid off management. But they needed someone in the ring, a referee to make the plan fully happen so that there would be no failure. And who do you go to, in storyline terms, that has a history of being corrupt? Earl "I swear on my Children" Hebner. In terms of execution, I have to give them credit, it did come off well because they got the exact reaction that they wanted. They had the Sting and Cage teases, the dissention that grew between JJ and Abyss and Killings almost being a Cinderella story. When Jarrett won, the ring filled with water bottles and trash in displeasure of the decision. I wonder what kind of heat this was, because either it was good money drawing heat, or the handed out a bunch of free water and said, "hey, if you want, throw those later" because they haven't done anything like this before. This COULD all be part of something bigger, and while I understand why some have nothing but distain for it, and to a point I do as well; I suppose only time will tell, and I am willing to place this in puRgatoRy until we see for sure. One thing we can all agree on is that it took the show down in the end from something people were enjoying to creating anger.
The wRong:
Nash vs. Sabin - First I will say that as a match it wasn't "bad" in terms of quality, but on this night it was the worst of the bunch. Sabin busted his ass and worked for 4–men and Nash sold really well for him but in the end Nash won and we had a huge problem. You see, in the end, this whole angle has gotten Nash over way more than anyone else. Half way through the match they were chanting in the majority for Nash, even chanting "SABIN SUCKS" during the match. I let this lay in puRgatoRy for a while, just to see where it went, but it is an easy move now to the wrong. They took the time, built this, had Nash beat down some X guys after matches all to lead to this match. But the fact of the matter is this, Nash is over more than ever with TNA fans and Chris Sabin is an after thought. They accomplished the exact opposite of what they wanted to do in the feud; that took skill. I suppose the good news is that Nash didn't just beat him on his own and squash him, and Shelley must have interfered 4-6 times for Nash. That is what cracked me up, all the emails saying, "Man, Nash beat Sabin clean, that sucked." He didn't beat him clean kids! But the fact is, Nash is more over than ever and Sabin is still exactly where he was last month. The little X guy that puts on good matches, but no one connects with.
The Ridiculous:
Could you guys, for the love of God, PLEASE stop advertising the competition! - It's like I am talking to a retarded child here. It's not that I expect TNA to listen to me, but some of the readers must have mental problems. Do you NOT see the problem with them constantly bringing up ECW, WWE, DX or what not? YOU ARE ADVERTIZING FOR WWE! Sweet Christ almighty I don't know how much clearer I can make this. Every time they put over ECW, WWE, DX or what not in a promo is ONE LESS TIME they have put TNA over. That is the problem, these guys are on a mission to "prove people wrong" and that is fine, but do it while putting over TNA and having good matches, not talking about your "glory days" which the COMPETITION IS CURRENTLY REVIVING! BG and Kip, knock it off with the crotch chops, Ray, SHUT THE FUCK UP until you can cut a promo that has no mention of "ECW, WWE" or anything like that in it. And one last thing, after the opening tag match, Ray got on the mic and said, "This is how it is done." No Ray, Dreamer, Funk, Foley and Edge showed us how it was done last week. Shut the fuck up and concentrate on TNA and your run in TNA and stop living in the past you pasty, lazy ass, Mick Foley wanna be.
The Ri-GOD-DAMN-diculous:
You don't use PPV to sell your TV show! - So they run this screw job and now we technically don't have an NWA champion. In essence they have just used the PPV to make us watch the TV show. NEWSFLASH, the 30-50,000 people that order these PPV's are already watching the TV show! This makes absolutely no sense what so ever; it is back-asswards business! You use the TV show to try and make people buy the PPV, where all of the revenue comes from! You aren't WWE where you c
