Your News, My Views 4.22.08
Posted by Larry Csonka on 04.22.2008
In the latest edition of Your News, My Views we will look at the reason Matt Morgan didn’t choose American Gladiators, heat on Tomko and Khan, WWE’s African American Directive, Royal Raw Ramblings, Ric Flair’s immediate future and today in wrestling history! Also, Andrew Critchell, joins the column this week to share his Independent Insight as he compares and contrasts ROH and CHIKARA!
Welcome to the Tuesday news adventure, the one stop shop for all of the wrestling news, scuttlebutt, tidbits and rumors that you crave…Your News, My Views! I am your host Larry Csonka and it is time again to do what I do best, so sit back and relax.
It was a long week last week. Hana had an accident at school and broke her arm, I had to go away to a conference, shit just turned upside down for the Csonka family. Thankfully Hana is a trooper and looks not even bothered by it. Today we head to a surgeon to make sure she doesn't need surgery. I am slowly back to my regular schedule, and all I really want is a nap.
Get ready for the Independent Draft Spectacular II. My roster is EPIC.
I was very sad to hear that Bobby Eaton was hospitalized last week. It is no secret that I am a huge old school NWA buff, and a huge fan of tag team wrestling. Bobby Eaton is one of those guys that doesn't get his due, likely to the fact that he never talked much and when he did he didn't set the world on fire. But the fact is whether he was tagging with Condrey, Lane, Anderson, Regal or anyone, he was completely awesome and one of the greatest tag workers of all time.
It was announced over the weekend that PWG secured a DVD deal with Big Vision Entertainment. This is excellent news for a company that at times doesn't get their due. With ROH getting so much publicity, the West Coast can be ignored. Fucking east coast bias. Anyway, they will now have releases through Big Vision, and that is nothing but good news for the company, and I cannot wait to get in some of their DVD's to review.
Now to discuss some comments:
Regarding last week's news column: Regarding the question, "Csonka, where do we send the checks if you can get West replaced?" Email me for details.
Regarding last week's news column: As for AAA in English, I have no clue where to get t, but I DIG the LUCHA as it is.
Regarding last week's news column: Santino playing Air Trombone? I think I can find that.
Regarding last week's news column: Much respect for the ones that admitted to getting Rick Roll'd by the Muppets. I did as well when I first saw it.
Regarding last week's news column: I am very glad that people dug the "Invisible Man Match" clip so much, it's a personal favorite of mine.
Regarding last week's news column: Chris Sabin points to his palm to represent Detroit. The hand held that way kind of looks like Michigan.
Regarding last week's 4R's: I think that it is great to see Geoff getting so much praise in the comments section. Geoff has been writing in the R's for 3-years, and unfortunately I feel some people forget about that.
Regarding last week's 4R's: While I do thing that Orton isn't getting his due for the Regal vs. Orton match, saying that they are making him a new Flair is a bit of a stretch. The reason Regal was believable is that he had the crowd, he is a great performer and his style is so good because it is fresh and simple. Just like Finlay.
WrestleMania Buy Rate prediction. 800,000 Domestic and 1.2-Million combined with international buys, likely just below the record. I wouldn't be surprised to see them break the record though.
Congrats Baby…
Today in Wrestling History:
1988 - Event - Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup, Greenville Coliseum, Greenville, SC - Day 1
1996 - The Giant defeated Ric flair for the WCW Heavyweight title
2000 - Tommy Dreamer defeated Tazz for the ECW Heavyweight title
2000 - Justin Credible defeated Tommy Dreamer for the ECW Heavyweight title
2000 - Rhino defeated Yoshihiro Tajiri for the ECW Television title
2001 - Payne & Damien defeated Shelton Benjamin & Brock Lesnar for the Ohio Valley Southern Heavyweight Tag Title
Births and Deaths:
1963 - Born - Miguel Perez Jr.
~A BETTER VIEW OF THE GREAT STRUT OFF~
+++ROYAL RAW RAMBLINGS 04.21.08+++
Fuck yes, King of the Ring! Please let this rule, oh please lord let this rule. I have ALWAYS loved the King of the Ring tournament and was glad to see that it was returning. Here were my suggestions to be in the tournament:
*Mr. Kennedy
*Umaga
*Chris Jericho (IC Champ)
*Shelton Benjamin
*CM Punk (MITB Winner)
*MVP (US Champ)
*Matt Hardy
*Finlay
Here we go, Lillian is sexy. Our first two men are…JERICHO and MVP. Hmmm, not a fan of this being the first match of the tournament or MVP losing. The match had a good pace and this was an overall solid match, no complaints about the work they did. It just was short at about 6-minutes, and really, I feel that it hurts MVP's credibility. **
And next we move onto CM Punk vs. Matt Hardy. Fucking A I am four for four so far! Again this was another well-paced match, lots of action and energy. But again it was short at 4-minutes, and that is lame. *½
JBL talked, I got a whiskey sour. Cheers dad.
Leave it to Khali to ruin my fucking bracket. FINLAY! I am 5 for 6 on my picks to be in the tournament thus far that makes me happy. This match I can deal with being short if the others weren't already short. (This was about 2:00) Khali loses by DQ, which I understand since he has a PPV match, but then again don't book him if you have to protect him. Show walks down, they stare at each other and Khali walks away. Joy. Finlay's hurting from the Khali attack on the knee, should hopefully make for a good second round match, with the storytelling he is capable of. ¼*
Finlay is taken out with the help of the ref and trainer. REGAL is in the tournament! ROCK! He gives Finlay a stern look as they pass. Make the match NOW please. Never mind, they just made Hornswoggle vs. Regal. This tournament started out so well. Regal makes Hornswoggle tap quickly. I think they spent 13-minutes on the opening 4 matches. Match Rating: BULLSHIT! At least Regal vs. Finlay could be awesome, that helps.
I picked five of the eight tournament participants, I think I did well.
Sweet Jesus, I feel like HBK and Big Dave has turned into an episode of Dr. Phil. The first three interactions or so were great, but now it just seems like variations on a theme. One of them comes out to a shoe, calls the other out, HBK does his talking, discussed becoming a born again Christian, BIG DAVE DOES NOT APPROVE and we go on. Let's see what happens tonight. Holy shit, was Dave pumping the needle into his ass and doing curls right until his music hit? His veins are about to explode. More great promo work by HBK, I hope that the match delivers.
Hilary Clinton talks, let's just hope that they do not find a SNOOK in her *SNIZZ.
*(Thanks for the correction, I haven't seen the episode in forever.)
Hardcore Holly vs. Carlito…I do not care. Wow, as if the champions losing TWO weeks in a row as a team wasn't bad enough, Carlito then beats Holly. The tag team champions are the biggest jobbers on the whole roster right now. At least they got to clear the ring. Cody showed some fire on the mic and the crowd responded, but I am not a fan of how they have been booked. ½*
HHH talks about the title match, which is already more interesting than JBL reading a newspaper.
Obama reads straight off of the teleprompter; it was so obvious.
We move onto Jericho vs. Punk now, and they had a good TV match that lasted 7-minutes. It could have been more, and I really felt that it lacked. These guys have the talent, but they aren't giving them the time to work and deliver something memorable. The win is good for Punk, but it seemed anticlimactic. **¼
Next was Regal vs. Finlay. Apparently I expected way too much here, as we only got a 4-minute match. I know that they ran the knee injury angle, but I guess I just expected more from these tournament matches. The ending was perfect as Regal got the stretch and since Finlay's arm was trapped, he passed out instead of tapped out. That was cool, but again, I wanted more. *½
John McCain performs verbal fellatio.
Cena talks, he did Marine stuff and offended millions of people because he has no talent and never made the company any money. What a loser.
Fake Hillary and Fake Bill coming out to Real American made me laugh. The dude playing Bill was the star of the segment…UNTIL YOU-MANG-A CANME OUT AND KILLED THEM! YOU-MANG-A is clearly an independent voter and is my hero. Although, when I think about it, I really have to question them doing this angle. You actually get the candidates to pre-record comments, and then run this?
Some of the diva chicks come out to congratulate Mickie James defeating Beth Phoenix last week on Raw. THANK YOU FOR TRYING TO MAKE IT IMPORTANT! Mickie is hot as always tonight. Mickie begins a speech about not giving up and here comes Beth with the HEEL chicks! Beth says it was a fluke, and then takes a slap from McCool. CAT FIGHT~! The good girls clean house, and maybe we'll get a 10-diva tag for Backlash?
A video for Kennedy's return runs, good idea to show his return date and remind people that he isn't dead.
The King of the Ring Finals are next. I will say that I wish that it got the main event, because they hyped the whole show around the return of the King of the Ring. Regal wins a fun little match in four minutes. I will not go on about this, now, that's what Friday is for. But this tournament looked promising after two matches and then jumped off the cliff. Seven KOTR matches, 25-minutes total, 3.5-minutes per match average. LAME. And while I like Regal, and think he will play the King role VERY well, the win comes out of nowhere since he hasn't been treated as a serious wrestler, outside of last week, for a long time. Also, jobbing Punk CLEAN via tap in a four-minute match is not exactly the best way to protect him. Sure I get the point that Regal wrestled less time than Punk, most times the heel does in instances like this, but the match came off as an after thought and not a tournament final. It could have been done better, with Regal still winning.
Dave just emailed this to me as the show was on: "Hey Larry, Just thought I'd let you know that JBL was considered tonight's worst person in the world for his male sex enhancement drug on Keith Olbermann."
Randy is a sad panda because he is overlooked. JBL us out, followed by "Hi I am taking the finish" and then Edge. 20-minutes later, at least that is how it feels, Taker finishes his entrance. OUCH. Blown spot on isle 3 there with Cena and Chavo. Well I'll be damned, Chavo didn't take the pin. Edge pinned Kane, nice change. We then get a little FINSHER-FEST that leaves Taker standing tall.
Is it hot in here, or is it just Csonka?
WWE/ECW news, notes and happenings to the EXTREME:
Your News: There has been a directive to up the involvement of African Americans on WWE TV. The marketing department has noted a downturn in African American viewing since 2006, and over the last year the company has lost the Boogey Man (injury) Monty Brown, Booker T, Sharmell, Krystal Marshall and Bobby Lashley. MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Mark Henry, Teddy Long, Kofi Kingston and Big Daddy V remain, although BDV is out and has been directed to lose 50lbs for health reasons. Many feel this is why Cryme Tyme was brought back.
There was actually a big fight to get Kofi Kingston on ECW, as the higher ups in creative were negative on him, but due to the directive, he got the spot. Shelton Benjamin was moved to ECW initially because Dusty Rhodes really liked him and he was slotted to win the ECW Title. His push was halted, and Chavo Guerrero got the title. Benjamin was to be part of a trade, with Elijah Burke moving to Raw. Brian Gewirtz never had any ideas for him and Stephanie McMahon eventually just vetoed the trade, and only moved Benjamin.
My Views: Oh we begin the news week with a touchy subject. Anytime we get into race you know there is going to be some major opinions on all sides. Now there has always been debate regarding the placement of African American in the world of wrestling. There are people that will just say that there have not been that many good African American pro wrestlers or any that drew money, which is bullshit because JYD, Ernie Ladd and Booker T say hello. Some will say that they are horribly mistreated in the world of pro wrestling. And depending on who you talk too (Lashley), this is true to this day. There is a very old school mentality in wrestling, like a bubble, a time warp. Go into most any wrestling locker room and they will put sailors to shame, and I cannot tell you (especially down in the south where I am) how many times you will hear, "nigger, coon" and other negative racial terms for African Americans tossed around. Some will tell you that they are telling a joke or what not, but the fact is that many people use the language and do not thin it hurts anyone. Again this is rumored to be part of the reason that Lashley wanted out of WWE. The wrestling business is fucked up kids.
Enough about that part, let's discuss the meat of the news item. WWE is a business first and foremost, and their marketing team has explained to them that they are losing African American viewers. They have lost Monty Brown, Booker T, Sharmell, Krystal Marshall and Bobby Lashley. That is five African American performers that were under contract. The Boogey Man is injured, and Big Daddy V is out to lose weight, so right now we will call that seven performers gone that did have prominent TV roles. This leaves us with Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Kofi Kingston and now Cryme Tyme. Some will look at this and say that they aren't trying, but I think that they are to a point. Also remember Ron Killings was signed and will be coming up after he recovers from his shoulder injury.
On Kofi, I can understand them not wanting to bring him up. He is still green and he has done NOTHING at all since coming up. He has variations on the same quick match and some tags. He has nothing to make people care about him, and that is on the booking team.
Burke has just been shit on by the company. Once announced as the New Face of ECW, he has been CM Punk's bitch and completely used wrong. Brian Gewirtz reportedly never had any ideas for him. Apparently the ECW booking team doesn't either. Completely wasted.
Henry is just a big jobber, but that is mainly due to the fact that he hasn't improved in 10-years.
Long is a GM/Co-GM and gets a lot of TV time.
I am editing this in, I cannot believe that I forgot MVP. While his run has been hot and cold due to injuries from he and Hardy, he has been booked well, gets a lot of TV time but I was disappointed in his booking for the KOTR tournament. My apologies for his omission and thanks for the people that pointed it out. It has been a long week, and I just made a mistake. Sorry guys.
And then you have Shelton, who was brought over, went on a run and was made to look like the "Gold Standard" and like he was going to be pushed, again. But then Dusty left, and someone decided that they didn't like Shelton and Chavo got the show.
The sad thing is that while I am not saying that WWE are a racist company, when you look at complaints from Lashley and Krystal, and piss poor booking of Burke and Benjamin, who are talented, one could see why the company and the wrestling business as a whole gets labeled that way.
Out of curiosity, and because people will ask, let's look at the African American's that TNA employs:
-Awesome Kong: Knockouts Champion, booked very strongly.
-Booker and Sharmell T: Feuding with Roode, lots of TV Time. Booker is treated as a respected former champion.
-Elix Skipper: Jobber because he almost kills everyone he faces.
-Miss Jackie Moore: Paired with Storm, a good amount of TV time, portrayed as a strong veteran of the business.
-Jay Lethal: Multiple-Time X-Division champion, booked half the time as a great athlete and half the time as a total goof.
-Rhaka Khan: Set up with Steiner and Williams. Gets good TV time, but really does nothing but stand around.
The funny thing is that on the surface, TNA seems to book their African American talent well. But then again they have a lawsuit against them with Konnan saying that they racially discriminate behind the scenes. Man wrestling is fucked up.
Your News: The current plan for Ric Flair is to keep him busy on the road doing media appearances for the company. They will also allow him to do trade and card shows, which could earn him a lot of money doing autographs.
My Views: This makes sense. The plan is to being him back to TV, but they also know that if they do it too soon that it will mean nothing. Sure having Flair cut wacky promos for 5-minutes on every show would make those shows much better, but it has to make sense. I hope that they have the patience and hold off until they have a firm and well laid out angle for him to be involved in. There is certainly a use for Flair on WWE TV, they just have to figure that out first. But until that happens I hope that Flair has fun traveling around with his hot wife, making money and just being Ric FUCKING Flair.
Your News: Ron Killings suffered a shoulder injury at the March 8th house show. He had previously been bothered by the shoulder, and due to the injury was pulled from the European tour.
My Views: It seems as if Killings cannot catch a break right now. He was banged up coming in, he finished up his AAA dates, and then he started working dark matches and house shows. He was about to head onto the European Tour and then brought up to the main roster, but this most recent injury has held that off. Here's hoping he gets healthy soon and that everything works out for him. Thankfully he seems to be ok as he retuned last night in a Raw Dark Match.
Your News: There are problems for Florida Championship Wrestling and their ability to tape the weekly TV show, which was to have begun around WrestleMania. They have no public bathroom at the facility, and with them wanting crowds of 300 people, they will not be allowed to run shows until the paperwork is finalized and the plumbing is installed.
My Views: All right, the entire time the plan was to make them a TV entity, like OVW was. They knew that from how long ago? So who dropped the ball and didn't put in PUBLIC bathrooms? Who was the idiot on staff that didn't look into the Florida law regarding event laws? These are the kind of mistakes that WWE doesn't make that often, very dumb ones. So now they can't do the shows until they get this all finalized, which means that they just have a bunch of guys training with each other, working matches for the trainers with no crowd reactions. Again I say that the Developmental Consolidation Project was a HORRIBLE MOVE for many reasons.
Your News: Based off of early information, many inside WWE are predicting 1.1-Million buys for WrestleMania, with 700,000-800,000 of those being North American PPV buys.
My Views: Well it looks like my prediction is close to their internal predictions. I was really close last year as well, so we'll see how I do. The one thing we all know here is that WrestleMania was… MANY BUYS!
Your News: Joey Styles has been removed from the ECW announce team and will now work with WWE.com. The decision was apparently made quickly on Friday and most people backstage at the Smackdown/ECW taping last night were surprised to hear about it.
Styles will not be "Head of WWE.com" as stated on TV last night. Brian Kalinowski will continue to be in charge of the website, and Styles will report to him as an editor of sorts. Michael Cole had a similar role with WWE.com but gave that responsibility up earlier this year. Styles will be responsible for most of the content on WWE.com from now on.
As for why he was removed from the ECW announce team, part of it was because WWE is paying Mike Adamle a lot of money and wanted to use him in a bigger role. But also, Vince McMahon has never been too crazy about Styles' work.
My Views: And OH MY GOD has this been quite the fucking topic of discussion. First of all you had people that think or thought that Styles was a great announcer and that it was a travesty that he was being replaced. The truth is this, and I have said it before, Joey Styles is a shell of his former self. He was great back in the day, he was great at the first One Night Stand, and he was great when JR was out for a while. But the thing is that he started to go downhill. Between having to announce the "WWE STYLE" and being stuck with ECW not being ECW and his enthusiasm was gone. He and Tazz were serviceable, they didn't suck, but they weren't great.
Secondly the job with WWE.com is reportedly what he wanted. Styles was not enjoying working the show any longer, and he does have experience working with web sites (1wrestling) back in the day. He will travel most weeks with the company, but the new job will also allow him to work from home more often. Again, this is apparently what he wanted. So the facts to me are he had no enthusiasm for the product, the quality of announcing was noticeably down and this is what he wanted. I say let's stop complaining and be happy for the guy.
And NOW we come to Mike Adamle as his replacement. If it was me, I sure the hell wouldn't have selected him as the replacement. While his performance was not the worst of all time, it certainly wasn't good. This isn't to say that he can't get better, but this is a guy that at his old job they kept a gag reel from all of his live report mistakes. Yes, that's the man we want on sometimes live TV and PPV. No, I think not. But when you pay a guy $300,000 a year, there is the pressure to use him.
In my opinion WWE had two better choices under contract that they could have gone with. The first is someone who has been with the company for a while, and always seems to get overlooked, Josh Matthews. Josh Matthews did a great job on Velocity for a while, he was enthusiastic and knew his stuff. He is a wrestling fan at heart and someone who loves the job. He would have been a fine replacement I feel. Also there is Timmy Baltimore, recently signed from Derby City Wrestling. Baltimore is a really good announcer and would have been a fresh face with commentating experience. But they chose Adamle, so all we can hope for is improvement.
Your News: WWE is considering Universal Studios in Orlando as a potential location for the physical WWE Hall of Fame.
My Views: I actually love this idea. Building it in Stamford would be useless. If you do this you need it in a place that gets a ton of tourism, and Universal Studios is a great selection. First of all for the regular tourism that they get, and secondly with the TNA crowds there for the tapings, you KNOW that there are wrestling fans always around Universal. I hope that this comes to be true, because I really feel that a WWE Hall of Fame building would be a cool place to visit.
Intermission kids, let's party!
…Intermission…
Remember that fun, free, addicting flash games await you at 411's new sister site, TigerFlashGames.com! Go there or Ashish will cry!
Your News: The reason Matt Morgan is off of American Gladiators is due to scheduling conflicts. Morgan was always going to be groomed for a big role in TNA, and while some on the booking committee wanted to use him as a wrestler three weeks into his run, they did hold off. With the Gladiators deal coming his way, the plan was to make him a player on TV, so that when Gladiators returned to the air, he would be a strong presence on TNA TV. Morgan went to Los Angeles a few weeks back to finalize his deal and to begin Gladiators practice. The Gladiators people wanted him to sign a two-year deal, with a six-year option. They also wanted Gladiators to be his first priority, including being available for potential touring. Morgan realized that this could lead to potential problems, and since he wanted to focus on pro-wrestling, he chose TNA in the end.
My Views: I have to say that I am personally disappointed with the change in events. I was looking forward to Morgan on Gladiators. But it appears as if he made the right decision for him. If Gladiators did run strong for long enough, there was a chance to make good money there, but he has stated that wrestling is his first love, and that is what he is sticking with. I do think that Morgan has a ton of potential, whether it is realized or not is entirely another situation.
Your News: Tomko has big time heat on him, which is why he and Styles dropped the tag team titles. The company requested he not work the 4.12 Osaka show in Japan, because that was the day of the TNA Lockdown Fanfest and had been set for a long time. Tomko went to Japan, worked the show and flew back for Lockdown. There is no explanation as to why Young and Kaz got the pin on Impact, since LAX were the #1 contenders and an LAX vs. Styles and Tomko feud had been penciled in.
My Views: I can understand TNA wanting him there for the fan fest, but the question is what was he booked for first? I know he has a TNA contract and that TNA is priority one, but if he had the booking previous to the announcement of the fan fest, then they shouldn't argue it since they approved it. But if he was booked for the fest first, then I understand the issue here. That all being said, if the heat is on TOMKO, WHY did AJ Styles take the fall? That is what boggles my mind. And then there is the fact that they are once again punishing the fans with the angle. Stripping the tag titles for what, the fourth time in 6-years is NOT a good thing. Why not just build up to the LAX vs. Tomko and Styles match and do the clean finish there and go on? So frustrating. Stop punishing the fans with the idiocy and start suspending guys or cutting pay.
Your News: There is also a lot of heat in Rhaka Khan. TNA has signed a trading card deal, and as part of that deal each talent had to sign 1,000 of their cards for distribution. Khan didn't want to sign at the tapings, but opted to take them home to sign and then Fed-Ex them back to the office. Some other talents did this as well. The problem was when the card company got the cards, they were furious. Most of the signatures did not match, and they thought that she had "multiple people" do the signings for her. Also on some of the cards, both Rhaka and Khan were misspelled. She explained that she was getting tired of signing the cards, and then Jeff Jarrett made the call to drop her from the line of cards.
My Views: Wow, not a good way to begin your run in TNA is it? If she actually had someone else help sign the cards, that is a truly bonehead move on her part. I think that if the signatures were that bad, then Jarrett made the right call to drop her from the line. Really, who was looking for that Autographed Rhaka Khan card anyway?
Your News: TNA is expecting the UK tour to do very good business due to the price of the tickets and the expectation of merchandize sales. One of the shows will be taped for the next Global Impact special, and another possible DVD release.
My Views: The ticket sales are strong, and if they do well with the merchandize, then all should be good. Add in the rights fees if they get to air this on Spike and the potential DVD sales and overall this should be the biggest TNA swing ever. This is another reason to support that the company is looking to be substantially profitable in 2008.
Your News: Former Puerto Rico headliner Mikael Judas had a dark match try out with the promotion last week, losing to Sonjay Dutt.
My Views: Judas is a former IWA World Heavyweight Champion, but honestly other than that I do not know a lot about him. Personally I think try outs are fine, but also I do not think that TNA has to add to the roster at this time. They have a very full roster and some talent that they have aren't utilized as well as they should be. Honestly, some of the guys could be dropped right now to make things a bit easier to book.
Your News: Jim Cornette will be releasing a "25th Anniversary of the Midnight Express" book later this year. Cornette will share tons of inside information on the late years of the Crocket Promotions, including original booking notes for some of the TV shows at that time.
My Views: As a huge fan of Cornette, the Midnight Express and that particular era of pro wrestling, I am VERY excited about this announcement. Hearing Cornette tell the stories, sharing booking sheet and all of that stuff should be fascinating. For me this will be a must buy.
Your News: There are not any plans from ROH to use TNA talent at this time. The door is not shut, but as of now there are no plans to follow up on the appearances of Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley.
My Views: And I can completely understand why. Yes it helps live gates and like the past weekend will make for good matches, but otherwise it doesn't make them that much money due to the fact that the TNA talent cannot appear on DVD or PPV. So while we won't get to see more fun matches or big returns as of now, this is a smart business move for ROH to make at this time.
Your News: TNA Slammiversary will take place at the DeSoto County Civic Center in Southaven, MS on June 8th, 2008.
My Views: And this particular announcement seemed to anger people. Some felt that it was in the middle of nowhere and that since they didn't know where it was, that it was automatically a horrible decision. Well, the DeSoto County Civic Center is 3-hours from Nashville and 20-minutes from Memphis. 20-minutes. Memphis, a wrestling hot bed for years. That isn't that bad a location. Also, some people have to remember that TNA is not running huge buildings, they are looking for 8,000 seat buildings and under, like the recent arena that they ran Lockdown in. In the end we really have to wait and see how ticket sales go before we can judge. They did horrible drawing in Nashville last year, which is why they didn't go back this year. I hope that they do better this time around in another location.
Your News: Samoa Joe is signed to a long-term deal with TNA. There was a recent issue with the copyright and trademark over the Samoa Joe name though. Joe bought the rights to the name himself, but TNA wanted to have ownership of the name. So while this led to discussions about how to handle the situation, there was never a fear that Joe would leave. The two sides have reached an agreement, with Joe retaining ownership of the name. Joe has been using the Samoa Joe name since before he came to TNA.
My Views: In the conference call Joe mentioned that there was an issue still being discussed, and this would be it. I understand that TNA wants to own the names, but also that people have to protect their personas. Look at Team 3D for an example of that. Joe made a smart business move that paid off for him, he got to maintain control of the name while also getting his contract taken care of. It is just smart business by all involved to lock everything down.
Your News: The new announcer, Lauren, was hired because SpikeTV wanted more women working backstage segments during Impact.
My Views: And she is not very good. She is monotone and doesn't appear to be into the job at all. Word going around is that Crystal may be done with the company, which is a shame. She is pretty, she is enthusiastic, she seems to know what is going on, very few mistakes and honestly one of the better women in the role that I can remember in some time. Also her dancing with Curry Man owned. Crystal, shake that ass baby. I hope that it isn't true, because Lauren will be like Leticia Cline, boring.
~The HOTTNESS of Rebecca Knox~
I love this woman!
Andy's Independent Insight~!
Larry Csonka: If you are a fan of the podcast, or check out the WOTW or Fact or Fiction columns, Andrew Critchell should not be a stranger to you. Andy is one of our contributors that, unfortunately doesn't have the time to do a weekly column, but as mentioned does a lot with 411. A few weeks back he came to me with this "Independent Comparison" idea, and I thought it was great and offered to run it for him. So this week, the independent zone is all his. Treat him well kids, he's good people.
ROH's Eye of the Storm and Chikara's King of Trios, Night Three – A Comparison
by: Andrew Critchell
Andrew Critchell: The Background: WWE must have done one hell of a job getting me pumped up for and during Wrestlemania that when it was over, I was still hungry for more wrestling. I had not purchased an Indy DVD in a while so I thought that this time of year was the perfect time to do so. The next decision was what to buy. Up to this point I owned 7 ROH DVDs, I PWG DVD, and one Chikara DVD. I knew I wanted to purchase one ROH DVD because they are the biggest and most successful Indy company with the biggest stars but I was torn on whether to get a Chikara DVD or a PWG DVD. Recalling how impressed I was with Chikara on their "Best Of" DVD, I decided to that another Chikara purchase was in order. I knew that I wanted shows that were new (i.e. shows in 2008) so I asked around and got some suggestions, then after looking at the line ups on the shows suggested I decided on ROH's Eye of the Storm and Chikara's King of Trios, Night Three. Both shows seemed to hold the promise of being entertaining and had a lot of wrestlers that I liked so I was looking forward to both shows. For those of you looking to order from ROH or from Smart Mark Video (the company that distributes Chikara) I want you to know that both companies shipped my DVDs very quickly, notified me when they shipped, and both DVDs arrived in perfect condition.
Breakdown: I am not going to do a full review of both DVDs here as
1. It is really not necessary for this column and
2. The reviews were already done on 411 by DVD reviewing experts
Instead, I am going to give a few notes about each DVD and I'll name my favorite match as well as my overall impression of the show. Then I will compare and contrast the DVDs and then I will finally tell you which one you should spend your hard earned Indy wrestling dollar on. Easy as that. Ready? Let's go!
Eye of the Storm: This DVD is so named because the night it took place there was a big snow storm and as such several ROH talents could not make it. On the one hand, that was bad news since it meant Nigel McGuinness would not be there but on the other hand it was great news since it meant that Brent Albright and Roderick Strong weren't there. You know, because both of those guys are horrible. Anyhoo, ROH made lemonade out of lemons and decided to hold a one-night single elimination tournament with the winner receiving a future ROH World Title shot. I was a fan of King of the Ring growing up and I always find tournaments in wrestling to be fun so I thought this was a fantastic idea by the folks running ROH. The night after this show Bryan Danielson was to wrestle McGuinness for the title but even so I'm sure most of the people at the show had him as the odds on favorite. The announcers said as much as well. The interesting thing though was that Danielson didn't win and in fact he lost via submission to the eventual winner, Kevin Steen. Steen is of course one half of Steen and Generico, one of the best tag teams in ROH and he is also the self proclaimed "Mr. Wrestling."
This DVD was my first real exposure to Steen as a singles wrestler and I was as impressed with his work solo as I was impressed with his work in a tag team. In fact Steen was involved in my favorite match of the show, the tournament finals match between Steen and Go Shiozaki. I don't get to see much Japanese wrestling (I need to have announcers I can understand) so seeing the different style of Shiozaki was a real treat. Plus the match itself was smartly worked, had a good pace and wasn't too long (as some ROH matches can be) but not too short either. Steen's match with Delirious was really fun too and much different from his match with Shiozaki.
Overall: This show was really all about Kevin Steen. I don't know if ROH had been planning on pushing him prior to this show but after the performance he puts on here, I don't see how they couldn't. While this show didn't have a lot of "star power" it was still entertaining and the fact that there was only one short Necro Butcher match didn't hurt matters either. Seriously, that guy sucks hard.
2008 King of Trios, Night Three: The 2008 KOT tournament was the largest wrestling tournament I have ever heard of with 24 three man teams participating. That's 72 wrestlers so if you can't find at least one team that you enjoy watching, you should quit watching wrestling all together. Night Three was the culmination of this tournament and featured a lot of really great teams such as The Colony, Team Fist, Team Black Out, and others. Also participating was Team Mexico (made up of Luchadores) and Team Japan (made up of Japanese wrestlers.) Both of the nationalistic teams did a great job of showcasing the unique and distinct styles their countries are known for and both had a great showing, especially Team Mexico that ended up winning the tournament. As I mentioned with the ROH DVD, I have to be able to understand the announcers calling the action and as such I don't get to see a whole lot of Japanese or Mexican wrestling so when I get to see it, I am always excited. Speaking of announcers, I really enjoy the revolving door that Chikara has on this DVD set meaning that calling the action is Mike Quackenbush, Larry Sweeny, Ultra Mantis Black, or Leonard F. Chikarason in some kind of two-person combination. Whoever is calling the action is able to inject his character and it makes watching the DVD fun as all of these guys have a good sense of humor and make a lot of jokes while never taking away from what is going on in the ring. A good announcer should always enhance the product; never detract from it and these guys all deliver. The best combination in my book is Ultra Mantis Black and Larry Sweeny, who I believe is the best talker in wrestling today, bar none. As for the in ring action, Chikara does a great job at delivering good, competitive action with a lot of fun and some wackiness mixed in. As much as the fans enjoy the fun stuff, the wrestlers seem to enjoy it even more which in turn makes the show that much more enjoyable. Of course, when it comes time to deliver the action, the wrestlers get serious and two matches that really highlight this are the Team Black Out vs. Hallowicked & Delirious & Helios Semi-Final match and the Team Black Out vs. Team Mexico Finals match. Both of these matches featured exceptional Indy wrestling from all the participants but one really stands out, that being Eddie Kingston. I had heard of Kingston before but had never seen him wrestle and I was very impressed. He is not the most physically imposing person but he wrestles a hard-hitting style that is believable and effective.
That isn't to say he is a small man either. Chikara's site lists him at 5'11" and 228lbs, which seems about right. Kingston has a real charisma about him as well and I could easily see him moving up to WWE after some time at the gym and in developmental. Choosing a favorite match is tough because there are several great contests but I believe the finals with Team Mexico vs. Team Black Out is the best match overall.
Overall: This show was just amazing. I had a lot of while watching this show and I really believe that anyone who watches it will be a Chikara fan. I really do. Six man tag matches are always a lot of fun and they allow for some hard hitting and fast paced wrestling and that is what this whole show is all about. Mix in some fun humor and appearances by Demolition from WWF and Glacier from WCW and you have yourself one heck of a show.
Conclusion: This may surprise some people but the Chikara DVD blows the ROH DVD out of the water and, to be completely honest, I have gotten more enjoyment out of the 2 Chikara DVDs that I own then the eight ROH DVDs that I own. While I feel that ROH has a more talented roster than Chikara, it is the whole "feel" of a Chikara show that makes is superior to ROH. Chikara seems to be built around pro wrestling as a diversion, something fun and enjoyable to watch, full of bright colors and wacky characters and run by guys like me. I grew up watching bright and colorful Saturday morning cartoons, reading comic books, playing with Transformers and GI Joe, and catching the over the top antics of the WWF. One look at a Chikara show and you will see that kind of sprit throughout the entire promotion. ROH, on the other hand, treats wrestling as a sport and they treat it very seriously. The matches are all treated as struggles for dominance or respect. The shows seem a lot darker than Chikara, both in color and in tone. Here is the difference in a nutshell; in Chikara Larry Sweeny is a goofy over the top heel. In ROH he is just a huge jerk. In Chikara he is a guy you can't wait to see and listen to. In ROH he is just another bad guy who tells the audience how fat and ugly they are.
For the Indy wrestling fan, watching Chikara is like when Dorothy opens the door of her house and sees Oz for the first time. You see color and fun that you never knew you were missing (or that you had to go to WWE to get!) You see something new and different and exciting and you just can't wait to jump into that world. Now that's not to say that ROH is bad, because it certainly is not. Does ROH have a more talented roster? Undoubtedly. Does ROH put on great matches? Absolutely. But if you have to choose between ROH and Chikara, well, there is only one way to go.
"Really, who was looking for that Autographed Rhaka Khan card
anyway?"
LMAO
Csonka = Many Buys
Posted By: Sivapc (Registered) on April 22, 2008 at 12:16 AM
Was it just me, or did Lilian have a little bit more bass in her voice when she
announced the Undertaker's entrance?
Posted By: Galen (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 12:37 AM
Larry, sorry to hear about Hana's arm. Glad to hear it sounds like she's doing
well.
And regarding the check I'll send you when you get West replaced... I'm sure we
can work something out. Just get that crack smoking asthmatic chimp off my TV
please.
Posted By: Matt (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 12:38 AM
The King of Trios was actually 28 teams with 83 men and 1 woman in it.
Posted By: Curtis (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 01:27 AM
Seven years later and that video still kicks major ass.
Posted By: Jeff (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 01:41 AM
Akeem Man Gang = buys
Posted By: rshort2001 (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 02:08 AM
WOO! CHIKARA!
Posted By: Stuart James (Registered) on April 22, 2008 at 03:01 AM
If you cant find ideas for a young charismatic guy with mic skills and wrestling
ability then you are in the wrong business. Burke is a superstar waiting for his
time to shine. Move him to Raw, and let him fued with Jericho and Jeff Hardy.
Benjamin really should be a tweener. Bring back Sunny, and let her manage him.
Actually the WWE is doing a piss poor job with diversity. With the wealth of
Asian and Latino wrestlers out there, its a shame that the WWE doesnt try some
more international flair. Am I suppose to believe that in all of the US, there
isnt an attractive Black/Asian female wrestler to hire.
Rebecca Knox needs to be on my tv regularly.
Posted By: Huthaifa (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 03:26 AM
They just aired an audio clip of the Obama/Clinton 'match' on BBC Radio One news
on the Chris Moyles show this morning. It get's up to 8 million listeners each
morning so it's a pretty big deal. They played Lillian announcing Obama and
Clinton and then commentary from JR and the King. The last times they featured
WWE in the news was Mayweather fighting the Big Show and, prior to that,
Benoit.
Posted By: Baron Skinny (Registered) on April 22, 2008 at 03:49 AM
"Also her dancing with Curry Man owned. Crystal, shake that ass baby. I
hope that it isn't true, because Lauren will be like Leticia Cline, boring.
"
True I like Crystal her stuff with Scott Steiner is gold too
Posted By: Craig L (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 04:32 AM
Big props for the Lonely Road Of Faith video Larry. It still has to be the
finest piece of work the E's video people have ever done, somebody deserved a
big bonus for that! Even all these years later, it still gets me a bit
teary-eyed!
Posted By: Whiteyford (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 04:41 AM
"Hey Larry, Just thought I'd let you know that JBL was considered tonight's
worst person in the world for his male sex enhancement drug on Keith
Olbermann."
Only ten people in the world watch Olbermann... and only five of them give a
fuck what he has to say about anything.
Posted By: David Burcham (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 06:26 AM
I'm sorry to correct you Larry, but the phrase is actually "Snook in her
SNIZZ".
Posted By: Simpleton (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 06:49 AM
Comment Part 1:
TNA continues to not make any sense. I had heard a while back that nobody in
the office liked that Crystal chick, but they kept her around because she was a
pretty face.
So they stick with her, much to the chagrin of the fans, only for her to build
up a connection with the audience. Once she gets accepted, boom, she's gone.
What the fuck TNA! If i had known that was your strategy i would have
approached this a different way.
Dear TNA,
I just can't get enough of that Don West fellow! He makes me laugh! And your
roster is mostly lacking, i am a fan of Black Reign and B.G. James. Kip James
being my favorite. And whatever you do, fire Christian and Rhyno!! They are my
least favorite wrestlers. I want them gone now. And sign that Mike Tenay to a
100-year deal. He is wise!
That, my friends, is reverse psychology. or..psychology!
Posted By: steveo (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 07:33 AM
I look forward to you finding the Santino "air trombone"..thanks for
reading my comment!!
Posted By: setobakura (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 07:44 AM
Comment Part 2:
The Rhaka Khan card will be a collectable in about 6 months when she doesn't
have a job.
...
or at least it would have been.
Posted By: steveo (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 07:51 AM
Umaga for President!
Posted By: Vincent Chiucchi (Registered) on April 22, 2008 at 08:04 AM
Sorry to hear about Hanna's arm. Hope she's ok.
Posted By: Owen Can't Fly (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 08:40 AM
CARLITO WINS, I RUN A BATCH !
Posted By: Darth Mortis (Registered) (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 08:52 AM
The strut-off as a whole was just awesome. But what makes that clip work so well
is Sweeney calling him 'Mr. Gang'
Posted By: Mike Campbell (Registered) on April 22, 2008 at 09:22 AM
"unfortunately doesn't have the time to do a weekly column"
Due to responsibilities in the Hot or Not Forum and obligatory masturbating.
LOL.
I thought they really blew the KOTR. I mean, is Regal going to win the title
at Mania in a couple years? Nope. My choices would have been Kennedy or Umaga
since CM Punk had the MITB. I guess Umaga doesn't really need a belt(or KOTR),
and Kennedy wasn't available at the time. Maybe they just decided to give a
tip of the cap to Regal.
Posted By: SharpshooterVA (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 09:56 AM
Just to clarify: TNA CAN in fact appear on ROH DVD's that are sold at
rohwrestling.com. TNA talent CANNOT appear on nationally released DVD's (like
Bloodstained Honor and Stars of Honor) or their pay-per-views. I can't wait to
see MCMG vs. AgeOfTheFall and MCMG vs. The Briscoes on back-to-back nights!
Posted By: guest (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 10:27 AM
RE: African American wrestlers
Larry, I can't believe you forgot MVP! He's in a strange position
booking-wise. He's the US champ and is allowed to look strong against guys
like Batista and Kane, but loses more than he wins. His recent clean jobs to
Matt Hardy, and Jericho last night make him look weak. I felt he lost to Matt
a bit too easily, and he shouldn't be tapping out clean to anyone right now. I
fear when he drops the strap they will give him a classic de-push, and it could
be a long time before he reaches a serious main event role (I wouldn't make him
world champ for about two years yet but the push would help him).
Posted By: Jason (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 11:41 AM
RE: African American wrestlers
Larry, I can't believe you forgot MVP! He's in a strange position
booking-wise. He's the US champ and is allowed to look strong against guys
like Batista and Kane, but loses more than he wins. His recent clean jobs to
Matt Hardy, and Jericho last night make him look weak. I felt he lost to Matt
a bit too easily, and he shouldn't be tapping out clean to anyone right now. I
fear when he drops the strap they will give him a classic de-push, and it could
be a long time before he reaches a serious main event role (I wouldn't make him
world champ for about two years yet but the push would help him).
Posted By: Jason (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 12:01 PM
Holy crap, I had no idea a TNA PPV was coming to the Desoto Civic Center. I live
in Desoto County, and you're right, Csonka, it's practically Memphis. Trust me,
the fans will show, this area is a hotbed for wrestling. And the DCC is
actually a pretty decent area, it's no FedEx Forum (home of the Memphis
Grizzlies and Tigers), but it will be a solid event.
Posted By: Brian (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 02:16 PM
I about lost control when I watched that Larry Sweeney video. That man is
entertainment gold.
Posted By: Hillbilly Socrates (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 03:32 PM
That video was awesome. If it was actually made by WWE than i smell a Macho Man
HOF for 2009.
Posted By: JasonE (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 04:14 PM
You don't have any comment for RoH coming to Canada?
Posted By: Dylan (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 04:22 PM
Well,Andrew I can see why you made the choice you made. You pick a ROH show that
was totally put together on the fly due to weather, with half the main roster
missing or in Japan, and in their smallest market to boot. Compare that to the
CHIKARA show, a huge show with them flying in all kinds of international &
indy talent,obviously quite intricately booked, in their home base. I ask you
if that is that fair of a comparison? Compare New Star Navigation to Final
Battle while your at it. Don't get me wrong sir, I am a fan of both companies
and I'm sure your intentions were pure but it you don't need a rocket scientist
to tell you that an ROH show on the island wasn't too hot. That's why the show
you bought will go down as the last one there while ROH expands to places like
the beltway and Canada and is returning to Northern Ohio after 2 years.
Posted By: SMYK (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 05:44 PM
DAMN! I love that Kid Rock WWE Desire video. The first night I saw it I about
cried. The article about black wrestlers is so touchy. Some of its true and
personally I feel Shelton should be pushed as tweener on Raw and have a hot
diva like Maria manage him. I feel that Cryme Time is to sterotypical.
Posted By: JFLYNT (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 08:13 PM
I think having Regal win the KOTR is a bad move. they should have had a young
guy win it.
and the two people i wanted to win wasnt even involed in the tourament!
I wanted John Morrison to win, and if he didnt, i wanted Kennedy.
Posted By: Litas Biggest Fan (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 08:17 PM
Two thoughts re: Kid Rock video...
1. You guys really need to stop saying you cried or "about cried"
while watching wrestling. Seriously. Be a man.
2. Jason E, your wisdom knows no bounds. And I have no idea what the word
"sarcasm" means.
Posted By: MP (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 08:30 PM
1) Hope Hana will be fine!
2) Looks like the long-standing and odd WWF/WWE policy of hiring non-fans for
broadcast positions has really bitten them this time.
Posted By: Mark (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 10:47 PM
I don't know what happens behind the scenes but the reason that Shelton isn't
pushed is because he is sloppy as hell and can't cut a promo. Where does any of
that have to deal with race?
However, affirmative action is bullshit in any profession. And kofi getting the
call just because he's African American to fill a demographic slot is bullshit!
But then again does it matter really matter as hell be gone in six months
anyway...
Besides when do people watch TV shows based on the nationality of its
characters? I thought we watched based on well written characters and well told
stories? Or entertainment?
Posted By: Eddie Chicago (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 11:16 PM
How can they be near calling up KFuckingKwik and have no plans for Shelton or
Burke? Seriously, what is Killings appeal? His stupid dancing, his awful
rapping or his bland, Booker T ripoff wrestling?
If they're already starting to have troubles with developemental, I shudder to
think how bad the next Ortons, Cenas and Batistas are gonna be. Because lets
face it, if the WWE had Rock, Austin and HHH in their primes NOW, then we would
know Cena as the longest running Velocity champion ever. Of course, the
wrestling business would be insanely different if that were the case, rendering
the point... pointless.
Posted By: ERic (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 12:00 AM
I just read an article on 411 breaking down all the indy leagues and I decided
to check out the Chikara site, dug what i saw & read your write up on the
DVDs... 24 teams! 72 wrestlers... and you right away say who won... thanks,
dickhead! guess i'll go back to only watchin WWE, they're live so Andrew
Critchel can't blow that for me... I'll spend my hard earned money on a giant
would be cool to watch tourny knowing the winner...not.
Posted By: TheHomewrecker! (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 01:04 AM
So, I got around to watching RAW, finally. After a bit, I realized that this
tournament was just the biggest tease of all. I would seriously be interested
in seeing any combination of the wrestlers involved (minus the two with
extremes in height). How about a six man round-robin tournament.
That's another thing, they keep pointing out how it's a single elimination
tournament, but have they ever had a round-robin style tournament in the E?
I was impressed that all the matches ended in clean finishes (I don't count
Khali). And suprised at so many submissions. I do think it's sketchy to have
MVP and CM Punk tapping out, clean, though I'm confident they're strong enough
characters to withstand that kind of loss. Still think MVP should have taken
the knee thing (Codebreaker, I think).
My pick for winner was either Jericho or Regal. Regal, because it fits with
him, mabye a little too obviously, but I think Jericho could have been
hilarious with it, heeling it up. I figured he'd be maybe on par with the King
of Harts Owen Hart. But I love Regal, so I'll reserve judgement until I see
where this goes.
Oh, and I figured Chavito was a red herring and that Kane was going to take the
pin. I enjoyed the ending, but maybe just because I'm a mark for 'Taker.
Posted By: G-Walla (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 01:20 AM
"Go into most any wrestling locker room and they will put sailors to
shame" I take offense to this being a sailor, while we swear every other
word, I don't tend to hear to many racial slurs thrown around, unless like you
said the person could be southern.
I would be a major downgrade for Flair but wouldn't it be great if he replaced
Coach on SD as color. Ric Flair is color, him announcing everyweek would be
money.
And it is nice to see them trying to get us to care about the Womens Title.
Wish I had HD in the middle of the ocean.
Posted By: jeyh (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 02:09 AM
Hey Larry, i have a question for you.
If you could only watch wrestling or MMA for the rest of your life, which would
you pick?
Posted By: Litas Biggest Fan (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 07:31 AM
Eye of the Storm: This DVD is so named because the night it took place there was a big snow storm and as such several ROH talents could not make it. On the one hand, that was bad news since it meant Nigel McGuinness would not be there but on the other hand it was great news since it meant that Brent Albright and Roderick Strong weren't there. You know, because both of those guys are horrible. Anyhoo, ROH made lemonade out of lemons and decided to hold a one-night single elimination tournament with the winner receiving a future ROH World Title shot. I was a fan of King of the Ring growing up and I always find tournaments in wrestling to be fun so I thought this was a fantastic idea by the folks running ROH. The night after this show Bryan Danielson was to wrestle McGuinness for the title but even so I'm sure most of the people at the show had him as the odds on favorite. The announcers said as much as well. The interesting thing though was that Danielson didn't win and in fact he lost via submission to the eventual winner, Kevin Steen. Steen is of course one half of Steen and Generico, one of the best tag teams in ROH and he is also the self proclaimed "Mr. Wrestling." 
2008 King of Trios, Night Three: The 2008 KOT tournament was the largest wrestling tournament I have ever heard of with 24 three man teams participating. That's 72 wrestlers so if you can't find at least one team that you enjoy watching, you should quit watching wrestling all together. Night Three was the culmination of this tournament and featured a lot of really great teams such as The Colony, Team Fist, Team Black Out, and others. Also participating was Team Mexico (made up of Luchadores) and Team Japan (made up of Japanese wrestlers.) Both of the nationalistic teams did a great job of showcasing the unique and distinct styles their countries are known for and both had a great showing, especially Team Mexico that ended up winning the tournament. As I mentioned with the ROH DVD, I have to be able to understand the announcers calling the action and as such I don't get to see a whole lot of Japanese or Mexican wrestling so when I get to see it, I am always excited. Speaking of announcers, I really enjoy the revolving door that Chikara has on this DVD set meaning that calling the action is Mike Quackenbush, Larry Sweeny, Ultra Mantis Black, or Leonard F. Chikarason in some kind of two-person combination. Whoever is calling the action is able to inject his character and it makes watching the DVD fun as all of these guys have a good sense of humor and make a lot of jokes while never taking away from what is going on in the ring. A good announcer should always enhance the product; never detract from it and these guys all deliver. The best combination in my book is Ultra Mantis Black and Larry Sweeny, who I believe is the best talker in wrestling today, bar none. As for the in ring action, Chikara does a great job at delivering good, competitive action with a lot of fun and some wackiness mixed in. As much as the fans enjoy the fun stuff, the wrestlers seem to enjoy it even more which in turn makes the show that much more enjoyable. Of course, when it comes time to deliver the action, the wrestlers get serious and two matches that really highlight this are the Team Black Out vs. Hallowicked & Delirious & Helios Semi-Final match and the Team Black Out vs. Team Mexico Finals match. Both of these matches featured exceptional Indy wrestling from all the participants but one really stands out, that being Eddie Kingston. I had heard of Kingston before but had never seen him wrestle and I was very impressed. He is not the most physically imposing person but he wrestles a hard-hitting style that is believable and effective.
