The Happy-Go-Sucky Wrestling Report 10.22.08

Posted by Steve Sullivan on 10.22.2008

What's in Booker T's briefcase? Ric Flair wants to wrestle again, TNA does some scouting in OVW, USA wants Raw to go 3 hours every week and more!

For months now I've complained about how I can't get Smackdown anymore since they moved to MyNetworkTV.

Apparently my cries for injustice have been heard, as the local newspaper here in Lexington picked up the story last week.

Now it would seem to be just a matter of time before MyNetworkTV allows one of the NBC, CBS, or Fox affiliates here in Lexington pick up Smackdown and air it late at night, which is just as fine for me because I typically always watch it on Saturday or Sunday anyway on my DVR.

Anyway, apparently I wasn't the only one here in Central Kentucky, and for that matter all across the country that wasn't getting Smackdown. Now why do I continue to complain about this? Because I remember the first time I ever complained about this, someone told me that MyNetworkTV reached a broader fanbase than CW did.

Regardless as to whether that is statistically true or not, it would seem to me that there are more people complaining about once having it and not having it anymore as opposed to those who never had it and have it now.

Anyway, off the soap box! Time to rassle! And oh what a thrill for you! A SPOILER to start things off!



*TNA SPOILER ALERT* SCROLL DOWN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!*

















News: Booker T will unveil a new TNA "Legends" Title shortly. (Source: Gerweck.net)

Happy: So THAT's what's in the briefcase. I have to tell you I'm happy for a couple reasons and not so happy for another. First the happy.

First off, when we reported on this last week, I was worried that TNA was going to create another title that it couldn't keep up with, similar to the X Division Title. And while we'll get to the Go Sucky of the fact that TNA has created a title that wouldn't make sense for a younger wrestler to hold the title in a little bit, let's relive a piece of nostalgia in comparing this title, to the legendary Million Dollar Title.

Only 3 people ever held the title, which isn't even recognized as an official title for the WWE. Ted Dibiase and Virgil of course held it. Can you name the other one The answer at the bottom of this newsbit!

Anyway, Dibiase was always putting that title on the line against foes. And since Dibiase never officially held the WWF title back in the day, it was the Million Dollar Belt that made Ted Dibiase a legend in his own right. That title enabled Dibiase to get over without ever having to wrestle in title matches.

The gimmick worked perfectly for the belt. The same can be said about Booker T's current gimmick. Booker T won't have to wrestle for the TNA World Heavyweight Title to stay over as a main eventer. He can get heel heat by never defending or always successfully defending "his title".

And whoever does eventually beat Booker for the title, will hopefully get a better boost in his career than poor Virgil did.

One more positive I get out of this is that if this belt will truly be called the TNA "Legends" Championship, either that title will give the Legends something work for other than the TNA World Title or it will give the younger TNA guys the chance to put themselves over as "Legends". There's only one guy on that roster right now that I would call a "TNA Legend", and it's not Samoa Joe.

Go Sucky: Why on earth does a guy like Booker T who's held nearly 40 MAJOR titles in his career need to create his own title? Or for that matter, why would any of the other "Legends" like Kevin Nash, Sting, Christian Cage, or any of those guys need a semi-phony title to stay over in TNA when TNA continues its push of old has-beens and continues to push the originals like Johnny Devine out the door?

Basically what will happen here is TNA will focus more time on a title that may or may not be "official" than they will the REAL titles like the X Division title or the Tag Team Titles. This seems like just another recruit ploy to all the disgruntled, fed up WWE employees to come to TNA and be considered a "Legend".

If this title helps the younger guys get over, that's great. But if this title becomes a "Geriatrics Division" type of title, then I'd expect to see a lot more of those X Division guys leaving really soon.
By the way, the 3rd person to hold the Million Dollar Title was given the title in 1995. That person was none other than The Ringmaster, aka Stone Cold Steve Austin.




END OF SPOILER








News: Doug Basham returned to Ohio Valley Wrestling for a one match only situation to face JD Michaels. TNA has requested a copy of the match.

I think I've talked about this a couple of times and the reason why I put this in my newsbits today is because this could potentially be a huge first step for both TNA and OVW to become partners.

Recently, OVW appeared back on my television and I've found myself enthralled by the talent and the storylines that OVW has been putting out lately. TNA could benefit a lot by having these guys in a developmental system. What that ideal broils down to is this:

TNA gets a top notch, proven developmental program under its wings. With that, TNA gets fresh, properly trained talent. With properly trained young talent, TNA no longer needs to continue hiring older veterans.

Here's a disturbing thought to put in your head. When you think of the TNA "Originals", that is, prior to TNA signing Christian Cage from the WWE to TNA, how many "Original" talents that never wrestled in the WWE has TNA signed and put into storylines on a regular basis? Can you think of any?

I can only think of a few. LAX, Consequences Creed, and Jimmy Rave. And Jimmy Rave isn't even used on a regular basis. That's kind of scary when you think about it. TNA has NOT built a path for its future. So when the current TNA World Title contenders outside AJ and Joe retire in a couple years, what's TNA left with? Nada. That's why TNA could truly benefit from a partnership in OVW. A lot of the guys in OVW now are well on their way to being as good if not better than some of the guys in TNA right now.

News: Ric Flair is mulling over offers to wrestle in Japan.

Happy: The nostalgic wrestling fan in me would love to see Flair get back in the ring and do his thing without McMahon pulling his strings. Big wrestling fans know that Flair took on Antonio Inoki in North Korea years ago and had hundreds of thousands of rabid Asian wrestling fans packing the stadium to watch the two wrestle.

It's a long shot but Flair may be bigger in Japan than he is here in the United States. Especially today. Flair appearing in Japan to take on someone like, let's say The Great Muta in Tokyo would probably encite chaos and riots on the streets to gain tickets to the events.

The match at Wrestlemania 24 was unbeatable on an American standard for the way Flair should retire. But on a global basis, to watch Flair wrestle again without the mainstream booking and creative teams working against him, would be huge.

Go Sucky: Here's the thing though, if Flair wants to wrestle THAT bad, then there's a good chance he's going to become the next Mick Foley and have 500 "Final Matches". If he goes to Japan or Korea and wrestles again, he's going to realize he wants to do it again. And you KNOW TNA will be all over this. And once Flair's non compete contract expires, Flair will be heavily tempted to come over and face off with Sting one last time. Don't get me wrong, the nostalgic fan wants to see Flair vs. Sting one last time, btu the smart fan says, "Don't do it Ric!"

News: McMahon isn't a fan of doing the three hour editions of Monday Night Raw. Many in the company know all to well what happened to Nitro when it went to three hours, and they don't want to repeat history. With the three-hour shows there is a ton of promotion only to do "disappointing numbers." Plus, there is a problem with producing too much product and burning the audience out. But the bottom line is that Vince doesn't want to turn it down and upset the USA Network. The USA Network has toyed with the idea of wanting the show to be three hours long, but for now are just working with the occasional specials.

Part of me believes Vince is right here. If Raw, the way it is right now, went to 3 hours every single Monday, there would be wrestling overload. No doubt about it. You can only watch Batista wrestle in so many matches on one card.

Here's the thing though. A 3 hour Raw every week has endless possibilities. First, from a business standpoint:

1) More Sponsorship
2) Extra TV Time
3) Extra Promotion Time

That extra hour will also allow the WWE to get some of the midcarders on TV every week and help push their characters more. Tag Team wrestling could even flourish with that extra hour. Sure the ratings wouldn't be OUTSTANDING, but that extra hour doesn't usually HURT the overall rating anyway.

And besides that, who the heck is the WWE competing against for ratings right now anyway? Monday Night Football? They haven't got a chance! That's why things didn't work out for Nitro. They had to COMPETE with another wrestling company that was doing similarly as good. Raw's product remained solid while people grew tired of Nitro's product. Today's Raw, a lot of fans are already burned out. But the ones that watch now, almost ALWAYS watch anyway. So there's nothing to lose and everything to gain in my eyes.

And then there's this if, and it's a big IF. What if for Raw, and Raw only, Vince tears down the brand extension. For 3 hours, every Monday, every WWE Superstar could compete. I know it won't happen, but it's nice to think about. There are possibilities so I wouldn't be so quick to shoot it down.


News: The Live Impact was a request from SpikeTV. SpikeTV is already set up in Las Vegas this week to film, produce and broadcast their annual Scream Awards. The Joint at the Hard Rock Café and Casino is close to sold out as they have released some extra tickets for the event.

Happy: I'm glad that TNA has been able to expand as far as landing a major venue in Las Vegas. On top of that, I'm glad they are able to go LIVE while on the road. It's big for TNA to be able to go out on the road and give the other fans who don't live near or visit Orlando a chance to see them wrestle. Hell, this is the ONLY way fans in Las Vegas will get to see Sting! But we'll get to that a little later.

I don't expect that TNA will get a higher rating than a 1.1 like it usually gets but it's good for the younger guys to be able to go out there and be live. And for once, it will be nice for ALL of us to be surprised when TNA is on.

Damn those pesky internet writers…..

Go Sucky: I'm not sure a change of scenery will do any good for TNA. Last time TNA went live, they spent more time telling the fans that they were live. The common wrestling fan doesn't know the difference nor do they care. Sure there will probably be a few thousand of us who will watch TNA this week rather than read the spoilers posted the week before. That may help. But if that's all TNA's getting, then TNA and Spike better re-think making over the product rather than spending money moving them everywhere for the same exact TV audience every week.


Rapid Fire!

News: Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling did a 0.4 rating for its main airing at 8PM ET on Saturday.

And TNA has FINALLY defeated a wrestling company in the ratings!

News: EliteXC has officially gone out of business.

Again, I'm not a big MMA follower here but apparently there was some hearings that the company paid the dude that knocked out Kimbo Slice money not to do so. Or something like that. We all know how well that worked out.

News: TNA is coming to Lawrenceburg, KY on December 6.

Not really news for most of you, just more of a reminder for myself to make sure I buy my tickets this weekend! I'm hoping to see TNA in person for the first time this show. I hear the house shows are better than Impact.

News: Sting is still not working TNA house shows.

Well I guess I won't be seeing Sting in Lawrenceburg. Sting, while one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, has become TNA's cancer. He is slowly killing TNA from the inside out. Not allowing the PAYING TNA customers to see the World Champion wrestle is just a spit in the face to the fans. It's funny that Sting's character is all about respect when it's obvious that Sting doesn't even respect the fans he's talking about. Shame on you Sting.

News: Jeff Hardy didn't arrive for last week's Smackdown until after the card had already started. He was in the main event of that show.

And the winner for the "Most Unsurprising Headline This Week" is….I wonder if this is Strike 2 on a foul tip?

News: The Suicide character has now officially been put on hold due to Frankie Kazarian having surgery to repair his triceps. Due to the surgery he will likely be out until early 2009. The character was originally going to be debuting either with a run-in at Bound for Glory or shortly after.

I guess putting this guy in instead of Petey Williams for the TNA Impact Video Game was the smartest move of all time eh?


That'll do it! Until next week my friends, may your lives be Happy…or Go Sucky!