411 Fact or Fiction 12.27.07: The Year End Edition

Posted by Larry Csonka on 12.27.2007

Week ONE HUNDRED and FIFTY-EIGHT features Mike Campbell, Brad Garoon and discussion of the year that was, the WWE and TNA Wrestler of the Year and the year that will be!

Welcome back to another week of 411 Fact or Fiction: Wrestling Edition! This week, two 411 writers go to battle as Mike Campbell enters the 411 Arena to do battle with Brad Garoon!

And remember to go to TigerFlashGames.com and play addictive, free flash games when you're bored at work, school, or whenever! Ashish made this place because he loves you.

Let's get to it!

1. Overall, WWE can consider 2007 a successful year.

Mike Campbell : FACT. WWE lost a lot of talent in 2007 for long periods of time. Michaels, HHH, Edge, Undertaker, Mysterio, Cena, Lashley, and others. But they were still able to weather the storm and create and elevate several of their workers. Randy Orton finally made it to the top of the mountain, both Hardys have been on a roll, and MVP is miles ahead of where he was when the year started. It's been quite the turbulent year for the promotion in any sense of the word, but overall, they've been able to make some proverbial chicken salad out of proverbial chicken shit.

Brad Garoon : FICTION. This question almost feels like a joke. Between the Benoit tragedy and the inevitable steroid scandal the WWE has basically been in a free-fall. While by the end of the year they'd gotten their heads on relatively straight in terms of the on-air product backstage things have been a complete mess. They've even cut back 2 PPVs (although that bit was definitely a good idea). Internally this was one of the LEAST successful years the WWE has had.

Score: 0 for 1


2. John Cena is your WWE Wrestler of the year.

Mike Campbell : FACT. Obviously this depends on your criteria of being wrestler of the year. But overall, I can't think of anyone who wrestled such a variety of opponents and still put on quality wrestling. Cena put on damn fine matches with Shawn Michaels, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, and even The Great Khali. There's several others that you could certainly make a case for, but I can't think of anyone offhand who's had as many good performances this year, with such a variety of opponents.

Brad Garoon : FACT. No other person put on great PPV performances, even when everyone else was phoning it in. No other person put on a near hour-long gut check on RAW with Shawn Michaels. No other person's injury sent shockwaves through the company to the point that WWE had to bring Chris Jericho out of hiding. Cena was the man in WWE in 2007 and upon his return in 2008 I wouldn't be surprised to see things happening just the same way.

Score: 1 for 2


3. WWE will not have a better 2008 than they did in 2007.

Mike Campbell : FICTION. This is another tricky question, part of why WWE has been so remarkable is how they've bounced back from adversity with losing so many wrestlers to injuries, the Benoit tragedy, wellness violations, etc. You can't really predict how the next year will play out, because how can you predict injuries and other issues like that? But the elevation of Jeff Hardy, the continuing of the Michaels/Kennedy feud, and the slow burn of Edge/Undertaker certainly has 2008 starting off on the right foot.

Brad Garoon : FACT.How could it get worse? Only if the Congressional hearings really bite the WWE in the ass will 2008 be worse than 2007. On the flip side of the coin the first few PPVs of the year look to be a lot of fun with a motivated Jeff Hardy getting a solid push and Jericho back things are looking up. They also have the return of Cena to look forward to, so I think (barring another freak incident) the WWE will be in much better shape this year than last.

Score: 1 for 3

---SWITCH~!---

4. Overall, TNA should not consider 2007 a successful year.

Brad Garoon : FACT. What did TNA do that could be considered successful? Cancelled shows in new markets? Put on awful PPV after awful PPV with nonsensical storylines? Buried Samoa Joe to the point that he didn't care how he came off on live TV? Brought in football players to win titles? What exactly were we supposed to like about the year. The fact that you can find about one good match per PPV is eerily reminiscent of WCW's dying days. Why anyone still bothers with this show I have no idea. Sadly TNA got so bad this year that I stopped participating in TNA roundtables because I literally had nothing nice to say about the product at all.

Mike Campbell : FACT. When you look at the overall year of TNA, what have they done that's really stood out? Breaking away from the NWA? The huge push of Kurt Angle? Samoa Joe again failing to get the big win? At the beginning of the year everyone thought Joe would be getting his big win, and we're still waiting. The NWA name never had much effect on TNA. And Kurt has put on some good outings in the ring, but short sighted booking has marred a good portion of his run. Most of the new faces they brought in were gone as quickly as they were here, and none of them have made a huge difference (we're still waiting for Booker T), and I can only think of a scant few wrestlers who've been truly elevated, Kaz, Lethal, and the Machine Guns. But they all still play second fiddle to others. TNA may have made strides business wise, with running more house shows and getting two hours, but as a wrestling company they leave much to be desired in my book.


Score: 2 for 4


5. Kurt Angle is your TNA Wrestler of the year.

Brad Garoon : FACT. Joe and Christian probably had better years as far as the in-ring product was concerned but Angle came out with big wins over both of them and in the end made Joe look pretty silly. Calling someone the TNA Wrestler of the Year is like calling someone the best smelling garbage man; no matter how nice they smell they're still working in a place that forces them to stink.

Mike Campbell : FACT. The booking of him is somewhat questionable, but as overrated as I find him to be at times, I'll never deny that Kurt is a good wrestler. It wasn't the same sort of variety that Cena had, but Kurt also had a variety of opponents and worked with them. He busted his ass to make Lethal look good in their X-Division Title match. Despite the Russo booking that went into them, the Angle/Sting, and Angle/Joe matches were both excellent. I'm not about to call Angle the TNA savior, but on the relatively short of list you could make for nominees for TNA wrestler of the year, Kurt is head and shoulders above pretty much everyone.

Score: 3 for 5


6. TNA will have a better 2008 than they did in 2007.

Brad Garoon : FACT. Hopefully increased cooperation with New Japan will help the product more than bringing in racers and football players. Hopefully the MCMG and Lethal will be pushed. Hopefully Joe can get passed all the nonsense he's faced so far. Hopefully guys like Nash, Angle and Booker will be used primarily to put over guys like Joe and Abyss. Mostly I feel that rather than getting better or worse from year to year TNA just finds different ways to disappoint, so hopefully 2008 will buck the trend.

Mike Campbell : FACT. It's human nature to learn from your mistakes. We can only hope TNA learned from the money wasting ventures of Pacman Jones, Andrew Martin, and Junior Fatu. As well as learning what exactly went into getting Kaz, Lethal, and the Machine Guns as over as they are. Hopefully a sense of perspective and maybe some fresh thought will help them turn around in 2008.

Score: 4 for 6


These two finish 4 for 6! Come on back next week for more of 411 Fact or Fiction: Wrestling Edition!