show in my area, and I have to say that it was a decent time. Not great, because I could only see about half the action. I'll tell you something; it just doesn't pay to have floor seats. You've got people bringing signs to a non-televised show, kids standing up on chairs, other people standing up on chairs because they can't see over the kids standing up on chairs. It's a big mess. I highly recommend balcony seats; which is what I thought I had gotten. Doh.
Anyway, the show itself wasn't too bad, but neither CM Punk nor The Undertaker were in attendance, and directly before the opening contest they announced that Taker wasn't there and anyone wanting a refund could request one before the start of the show. Not a minute later, R-Truth's bs started playing. Not that I was going to request one anyway, but it's crazy they made that announcement and then gave nobody time to react.
The best match of the night was Beth Phoenix vs. Mickey James, which doesn't come as much of a surprise given that they're two of the best three women's wrestlers in the company and have worked together so much that there's a comfort level between the two that's almost incomparable. Mark also thought it was the best match and was disappointed that he couldn't see the two roll around on the mat together.
Natalya, in case you're wondering, is smokin' live. I've always thought she was hot, but believe me, the television doesn't do her justice. She and her boys defeated the rapper/cowboy team with a Hart Attack relatively cleanly. Regal teamed up with Zack Ryder and some guy I've never seen before with dreadlocks in a losing effort to Kozlov, Golddust, and Yoshi. I must have missed a lot having to do with the Ruthless Roundtable lately.
I stopped watching ECW because it was boring, so I was surprised to see Regal and Kozlov on opposite sides and Zeke challenging for the ECW Championship. He actually had a pretty decent match against Christian; I may have been wrong about his chances to stick around WWE. Jericho and Matt Hardy put on a decent match that had a nice ending and I was glad I got a chance to see McIntyre hit his finisher on Morrison. It's even more sick and brutal in person.
What surprised me the most was probably the way the crowd reacted to the main event, though. It was Rey Mysterio vs. Batista, and both guys got a huge pop before the match started and they didn't really boo Batista much during the match, though they did pop hard for anything Mysterio did. Very different feeling and atmosphere than anything I've seen before. It was like the crowd didn't want Batista to lose so much as they wanted to see Mysterio hit his amazing spots. Very strange.
The two didn't have a bad match against each other, but it seemed a lot like their match on Smackdown a few weeks ago. Batista got DQed for using the ring bell--I guess--and that was the only nonfinish of the night. I went to three live wrestling events last year, and this is probably my only one for '10. If that's so, cool, as all in all it was a pretty good show. I'm still disappointed I didn't get to see heel Punk live, but hey, you can't have everything.
2. Four is not better than six.
Six isn't better than four, either; it's just different, and that's what Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Dixie Carter, and anybody else in charge at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling need to realize. The idea of getting rid of the six-sided ring is actually a pretty stupid one, because it's pointless. I know that I've read over and over again how much some wrestling fans hate the six-sided ring, but after all these months and years I have yet to see someone explain exactly why they hate it. I mean it's just a wrestling ring.
It's not like the wrestling promoters came up with the square circle, after all, it was the boxing ones. So, basically, for years and years, the sport of kings has been using a hand-me-down from another combat sport. Do you see baseball players playing on football fields? Well, yeah, you do, sometimes, but it's ugly because it's due to the field being shared between two types of teams, and it isn't like you see the baseball team using the down lines or the football players running the bases. Each sport has it's own defined type of area in which to play...except professional wrestling.
Now, does every other professional wrestling organization in the United States use the four-sided ring? To my knowledge they do, and certainly the vast majority of them do, but so what? When TNA started, the whole point was to push things differently than any other organization ever had on a national level, and specifically differently than WCW did and WWE does. TNA should strive to be better than WWE, of course, but they should also strive to be as different from them as possible. Otherwise, why would anyone want to give them a try?
If I were judging my future viewing habits on the shows that aired a week ago, I would choose WWE in a heartbeat. Impact! started off horribly. As I've said before, they had a chance to get a jump start on WWE and fucked it up by offering wrestlecrap. Sure, Jeff Hardy returned in that timeframe and Hulk Hogan showed up in the last five minutes, but the matches they offered were both short and horrible. In that sense, they did offer an alternative to what WWE did that night, because almost everything on RAW was interesting to some degree or another.
Looking at tonight's TV listings, I see that Impact! is not going to air tonight, and that's a wise decision. I disagree with Hulk Hogan's assessment that TNA needs to air live every Monday to compete with WWE. TNA didn't exactly get spanked last Monday, which is great considering they were up against a BCS college bowl game and the return of Bret Hart to Monday Night RAW. Yeah, RAW apparently did a big number, but Impact! did about 150% of its normal Thursday rating, so they did about as well as could be expected the first time out; especially facing stiff competition.
That doesn't, however, mean that they should keep on cracking away on Monday nights. Not now. I'm sure a lot of people who watched Impact! on the 4th were doing so out of a curiosity factor; maybe even from nostalgia. That won't last. They have to offer something new and different and they have to do it LIVE on Thursday nights. Otherwise, people can just read the results on the internet and say, "Meh, it's not worth watching," or just tune into the parts they've read about that they want to see. They cannot remain taped and legitimately compete with WWE; they just can't.
Basically, what I'm saying is changing aesthetics that don't really affect anything before doing anything else is kind of retarded. Could the new ring hinder signing big time free agents? I doubt it; after all, tennis players and golfers have to adapt to their surroundings, and when a star player from a team sport signs with a new team, the vast majority of the time he has to adapt to their style, not the other way around. So, TNA should go live and they should work on booking their shows to be a lot better than the first half of last week's. Changing the ring is a mistake, because it's a tangible thing that differentiates them from WWE; but, if they're going to do it anyway there are more important things to work on first. Baby steps, people.
3. Boy, did I make the right decision.
I know there's two different ways to look at last night's RAW, and despite the fact that it was a pretty decent show, I'm going to look at it the negative way. Look, some good things happened, and I won't dispute that, but some bad things happened, as well, and the ending of the show was so predictable that they shouldn't even have bothered running the damned angle. I mean, what was the fucking point? To make Jericho as much of a joke as Santino's become? Jericho should be on the show every week; but not as DX's punchline.
Am I the only one irritated that the Diva's Championship is having another tournament? So the Divas Champ is injured, big fucking deal. It's a stupid championship that never should have been created, anyway. I honestly don't understand why an organization that treats women wrestlers completely as eye candy needs two championships for those same women wrestlers. It makes absolutely no sense. As much as I like Maryse--and how great was she last night on commentary?--I wish the Divas title was just done away with. It's been worthless right from the start.
You know, it's weird that I can be this down about what was, overall, an entertaining show, but entertaining or not, nothing looks like it's going anywhere...at all. Oh sure, we have a challenger not named John Cena, but it's the other guy that dominated RAW in 2009 and how does he get that right? Why, of course, by Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase helping him secure it, completely negating the tension we've seen between Priceless and Orton in recent weeks and also, of course, yet again nailing the coffin shut on Kingston's push.
And that's why, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't be thrilled with MVP's outstanding promo following The Miz's outstanding promo. I mean, seriously, could those guys have had a better segment? I don't think so, and I'd love to believe those two are future cornerstones of the company, because Jesus Christ! If they can do that shit in the midcard, just think what they can do on the next level up. My long lost buddy, Soren, must have been shitting himself during that segment. I enjoyed every thrilling second of it.
However, I then came down and realized that it doesn't matter how great that segment was. It doesn't matter that it had the riproaring potential to jumpstart a months-long feud between the two, because the fact is that MVP is never going to be a main eventer. The Miz? I think he'll get there some day; maybe even this year, depending on how much slices of the pie there are to go around, but this is at least the third attempt to get MVP over huge in the upper midcard, and the other two times he's failed to transition into the main event.
As much as I'd like to look at last night's RAW as promising, all I see is old, tired things happening. Vince McMahon came out being an arrogant asshole, no Bret on the show, further confirmation that nobody besides the usual four--except Sheamus and the troll, for some reason--are going to make it to the main event. No matter how hot they get, guys like MVP, Kofi Kingston, CM Punk, Mark Henry, even Chris Jericho aren't going to make it past Randy Orton, John Cena, Triple H, The Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels.
If they were, MVP would have been able to challenge Orton after the draft last year, Kofi Kingston wouldn't have kept losing to him the last several times they've faced each other, Jericho wouldn't have been made to look like a fool for weeks on end, not just by DX, but by anybody else they have conversed with, Mark Henry would've become the #1 contender for Miz's title--a shot that still should've gone to Jack Swagger--and CM Punk...well, where can I start with CM Punk? The bottom line here, folks, is that all RAW did last night was emphasize that despite Sheamus' championship reign, the glass ceiling is still intact.
4. It's possible Randy's not entirely stable.
I'm still not happy that Randy Orton won the #1 contender's Triple Threat on Monday night and I'm still not happy that we've got two heels facing off against each other at the Royal Rumble. That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, considering how new Sheamus is, how many fresh babyface opponents he has to fight, and that his program with John Cena is far from over. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Cena isn't getting another rematch, as I think this whole undefeated thing is stupid.
It's not like Cena loses often, anyway, but for him to promise that he isn't going to lose until he wins the WWE Championship seems foolish. He didn't win on Monday night, no he didn't get pinned, but didn't he "lose?" If he doesn't win the Royal Rumble, will that count as a loss? Looking at things logically, unless this is going to change and Cena is going to become more and more disappointed in himself, he's going to get the WWE Title at No Way Out at the latest, as there's no way he doesn't qualify for the EC match.
But, what if he does lose before winning the championship? Isn't that the more interesting way to go? And what if he keeps making promises that he can't keep; even small ones and starts cracking under the pressure? Look, I have no idea where they're going with either Orton or Cena. Maybe they'll end up facing each other for the championship again at Wrestlemania, and won't that be a joy? But, maybe not. Maybe instead of these guys fighting over the strap, this year they're going to be linked in another, less tangible way.
Again, I'm only speculating here, but there is an intriguing storyline possibility here. Remember last year how Orton taunted the McMahons, with claims that he had some kind of neurological disease that made his attacks on their family not really his fault, because he wasn't in control of himself? What if this year, Orton really does go crazy, but not in exactly the same way. Think of the words to his theme song. "I hear voices in my head. They counsel me, they understand, they talk to me."
There was an extremely weird moment in the triple threat match on RAW. I'm sure you saw it; the commentators even mentioned it. Orton disabled Kofi Kingston somehow and then started pulling Cena into the ring through the middle and top ropes in order to do his patented ropes-hung ddt and halfway through the maneuver, in other words, before dumping Cena onto his head in his usual vicious manner, Orton looked up to the sky (ceiling) in almost a trance, before he seemed to receive confirmation and completed the maneuver.
So, here's my thought, and I know it probably won't happen because of WWE now being PG, but what if we saw a juxtaposition between these two former multi-time World Champions, with them both losing it in different ways. One, because he goes insane due to cracking under the tremendous pressure he put on himself to the point he couldn't even complete a simple task; the other because he thinks that God is talking to him and that he is following the righteous way by listening to His voice.
As insane as Orton has acted over the last few years, I can't think of anything more frightening than him being driven by something even more potentially powerful than his drive to be WWE Champion. Meanwhile, John Cena has been so rock solid steady over the years that to see him not just start to crumble, but fall apart, would be something really special if done correctly. The contrast between these two different descents into madness would be nothing, if not compelling television.
5. It's all about Me, Me, Me.
I don't know about you, but I'm kind of excited for tonight's Impact! I can't guarantee I'm going to watch it tonight; I'm kind of bushed and want to spend time with my wife, who's not exactly the biggest wrestling fan on the planet. She'll tolerate watching WWE with me, but when it comes to ROH or TNA, typically not. Maybe I could learn something from her opinions as to why WWE keeps on top of all the other promotions, but on the other hand, she did watch WCW with me, so maybe eventually Bischoff and Hogan will bring something to TNA she gets into.
Oh yeah. That reminds me, Hogan and Bischoff are going to be running the show tonight. I bet you thought that was already the reason I'm excited, right? Nope. I do think that in time they are going to put something special together, but I also think they need time to get a feel for the company before that happens and they need to get this whole "band" thing sorted out along the way. Genesis is only four days away, which is kind of a concern, but I think they're going to be fine, though 14 days certainly isn't a lot to work with.
No, the reason I'm excited for tonight is that I watched some Pro Wrestling Guerrilla last night. More specifically, I watched what was billed as a "Never In Your Wildest Dreams" match that featured some pretty damned good talent. It was The Motor City Machine Guns and Cima vs. The Young Bucks and (The) Brian Kendrick and while it's not a match that would ever have been in my wildest dreams--wrestling matches don't seem to make it there--it was a pretty darn good match that had me thinking about how a MCMG vs. Young Bucks feud would be.
Some of you may remember that I was pretty upset about the result of the tag team title match at Final Resolution. I really felt at the time that the Motor City Machine Guns should have gone over The British Invasion to finally get their first taste of tag team gold in TNA. Now, maybe it's just a fortunate coincidence and TNA didn't have this planned, butnow it seems like keeping the straps on the Brits may not have been such a bad idea, though it's inarguable that it would have helped Sabin and Shelley's profile.
You see, tonight Matt and Nick Jackson are going to debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. I don't know if they are going by those names are not, but for those of you who don't know, those guys are the Young Bucks who are probably the best tag team in the world right now. I didn't used to think so. I thought they were good, but pretty much just spot monkey tag team specialist pretty boys and Rocker copycats. These guys may dress like The Rockers and even wrestle somewhat like them, but they're much, much better.
Better than Shawn Michaels? Probably not; how many people are, when it comes right down to it?; but as a tag team, they own the Rockers and pretty much any current team. Except, maybe, Sabin and Shelley. I don't like the way TNA has treated the Machine Guns and I sure as hell don't like the way their style has been toned down, but I'm hoping, really hoping, that instead of the Jacksons (or whatever they're name are going to be) having to dumb down their style, that they are able to help the Guns be rejuvenated as the dominant, vastly entertaining force they are on the independent circuit.
It appears that The Young Bucks are going to be known as The Me Generation in TNA, which implies to me that they are coming into the organization as heels, which is how they're at their best, so hopefully they'll be put into a program with MCMG immediately. If not, at least TNA has secured the services of a terrific tag team that we can look forward to working and entertaining us every week on a show that actually gives a shit about tag team wrestling. That's not something to rejoice in.
6. These are the seven best matches of 2009.
Before I just move on, as I have with most of the end of year lists I've done for the year that passed about two weeks ago, I feel that I should clarify something with this one. There are other matches that could conceivably have made this list, but will not simply because I don't believe in putting multiple matches from the same participants on this sort of list, so while CM Punk and Jeff Hardy had two outstanding contests mere days separated, and Randy Orton had a great match with John Cena three straight months, only the best of those feuds will be on here. In fact, no WWE wrestler appears twice. Let the disagreements commence!
7. Desmond Wolfe vs. Kurt Angle (Turning Point 2009)
I know a lot of people think I overrate Nigel McGuinness, but to me under any name he's one of the greatest in the world, just as I know a lot of people think I over-rated this match; that it wasn't the best match on it's won card, maybe not even 2nd best, but I absolutely loved it. I thought it fit perfectly with the story that they were telling throughout the feud, with an ending that fit well and kept both guys strong; if only they'd followed through the following month, this could have been the feud of the year.
6. Davey Richards vs. Shingo (Untouchable 2009)
Davey Richards has become a star and one of the best wrestlers in the world; there's absolutely no question about either of those statements, and since he's never going to be a performer in TNA or WWE, because he's got too much pride, this was his night to prove himself on pay per view, which he did. He and Shingo put on a tremendous bout, with each focusing on a body-part, and whichever one held up longer would be the one to survive, and the ending exemplified that. Watch this match, folks, even if you have to youtube it!
5. CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy--TLC (Summerslam 2009)
I have no idea what WWE is planning with their gimmick matches. They still have Tables, Ladders, and Chairs and Hell in a Cell on the pay per view schedule, so maybe this will be the last time we saw a TLC match that isn't on the TLC PPV. And, really, that's a fine idea. I don't know that any two men will be able to top the story that these guys put on. The furniture was almost irrelevant, though there was certainly an amazing spot involving it, to the battle of wills between these two men. Punk became World Champ for the 3rd time here, but he didn't win, so much as Hardy lost.
4. KENTA vs. Nigel McGuinness (7th Year Anniversary Show)
I watched this match, revelled in it, and couldn't understand why I hadn't heard people raving about it before; that's how good it was. The night before, McGuinness had torn his good bicep, so going in he was in serious trouble and everybody knew it, but the performers didn't shy away from it; they made it the focus of the match. Critics call Nigel "McLariat" and every time he tried one in this match, Kenta ducked, Nigel swung, and Nigel hurt. This match was a challenger doing everything within his power to win the title the champion desperately clung on to with any part of his body that still worked.
3. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (Wrestlemania XXV)
Almost universally, people watching this match thought it was going to be the match of the year, and it ended up being so according to WWE, but both my son and I knew we'd already seen a better one two days before. Still, Taker and HBK put on a tremendous spectacle that either one could easily have walked away from crippled. I didn't like the ending, as that moonsault is on par with Kurt Angle's in the "it never works" category, but all the false finishes and the atmosphere made for great drama the whole way through.
2. Davey Richards vs. KENTA (Supercard of Honor IV)
This match, on the other hand, was the match that Cody and I chanting "Match of the Year" at the only live ROH event we've been to. The ending hurts this match a little when you watch it on DVD thanks to a brutal editing job, but live it just added to the drama, as Kenta--the innovator of the Go To Sleep--tried twice to hit an inverted version, but instead finally settled for a standard one after a tremendous back and forth of kicks, chops, submission moves, and death defiance by Davey Richards, including a tope in which he ended up about four rows into the crowd. God-DAMN!
1. John Cena vs. Randy Orton--Anything Goes IronMan (Bragging Rights 2009)
This feud seemed to go on and on and on, but I'll be damned if they didn't keep having solid matches on pay per view. I don't really want to see them feud ever again, simply because watching the set-up was always so damned boring, but I know it'll happen and that's doubly too bad, because they'll never have a better match than this one. This match told a story that encapsulated their feud, even going so far as to show both how confident Orton was in his strategy and how much he wanted to put Cena out of action permanently; of course, due to a heroic comeback he was unable. I watched this match live as it aired and then again the next night; that's how great it was. If you still haven't seen it, you definitely should try to get your hands on it. This was a masterpiece.
7. I realize it's the X division that has no limits, but this is getting ridiculous.
I've already mentioned before how stupid I think it is that Beer Money can't wrestle for the tag team championship as long as The British Invasion hold the titles, and now TNA is set to put a similar limitation on Kurt Angle as it relates to AJ Styles' World Title. Are the guys on TNA's booking staff really so uncreative that they can't come up with another way to keep guys away from championships? Like, for instance, personal business?
I realize that Kurt Angle just got done taking care of a very personal issue with Desmond Wolfe, but the fact is that there are plenty of other guys Angle could have a storyline with, and absolutely no reason to write the start of it with the fact that he's no longer eligible to compete for the top prize in the business. How many times have color guys made the statement that if you aren't competing for that strap you should just quit?
I can't believe that's the story they're going to go with for Angle. I think it's far more likely that he moves into a program with Daniels, Joe, Lashley, or one of the old guard, assuming that he does, in fact lose to AJ tomorrow night. AJ, of course, also has a personal situation looming with Tomko, unless this past week was the resolution to that story so that Bisch and Hogan can move on to their own stories.
If it was, so much the better. I like Tomko, but they really botched this whole Angle by having Tomko do a promo and then actually wrestle in an 8-man tag a few weeks back. Plus, the guy is clearly out of shape and I really don't like the idea of him coming in right away and being in a World Title program. He just got his ass kicked by AJ, though, including being defeated by one of AJ's signatures, instead of a finisher.
The bottom line is that I wouldn't be surprised if Kurt Angle walks away with the championship again tomorrow night, while AJ goes into a longer program with Tomko, but it isn't something that makes sense at the moment, and it's definitely not something I want to see. I agree that Angle shouldn't hold the title again--at least not any time soon--I just don't like they've announced it.
It takes away fan speculation and anticipation for really no good reason. Since September, I think TNA's done a pretty good job of keeping people hot for an Angle/Styles match, while at the same time booking them against different opponents and having it always be a "wrong place, right time" kind of situation. I think that should have continued, and the Angle/Wolfe feud extended.
As much as I want Angle to put over AJ cleanly...for good...I don't like the four months of build-up for a three week program. Talk about a letdown. Still, if they are really going to place AJ at the top of the promotion for the stretch run, I'll be happy with it. It's going to be interesting to see who gets the next shot at being the challenger, though. Joe? Wolfe? Or somebody we can't even anticipate yet. Apparently TNA doesn't care as long as it's not Angle, and that's refreshing.
