The Wrestling Menu - NWA/TNA, Styles vs Jarrett + Should Cena Main Event Now?
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, October 29, 2003 at 4:49 AM EST




THE WRESTLING MENU #66

Welcome one and all to the 66th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

I was initially going to talk briefly about NWA-TNA & then continue my 1990's review series this week, but that was all scrapped as soon as I watched last week's NWA-TNA pay-per-view. I just had to speak in more detail about the main event. I also thought it would be timely to talk about one of the 2 WWE wrestlers that took part in the match of the night at No Mercy.


APPETIZERS

NWA/TNA (October 22) Thoughts / Review

Just a little note that we only get one NWA-TNA pay-per-view per month down in Australia. I do not purchase the events monthly & the last ppv I saw was the disappointing show main evented by Jeff Jarrett & Sting vs AJ Styles & X-Pac. An interesting sign was shown in the crowd during this event. It stated something like: "TNA Dream Match - AJ vs RVD". Hmmm, now that one could indeed be interesting & not impossible by any means!!!

We start off with a very well put together recap of pretty much all that happened last week. It appears as if the production has improved since last I saw it. Our opening match is The 3 Live Kru going over Siaki, Legend & Ekmo in a fairly good opener. The 3 Live Kru are obviously playing the role of The Dudleyz, as they aren't much good, but do fire up the crowd pretty well. This was ok while Ron Killings was in there, and I thought Ekmo (aka Jamal) really looked good. Siaki was wasted while James looked terrible. I had no idea Konnan still did his old WCW routine before a match. It looks like the WWE aren't the only ones still stuck in the late 90's!!!

Speaking of... Dusty Rhodes interrupts a Jeff Jarrett interview & I'm just happy I could understand him!!! Good little recap next of the Kid Kash vs Abyss feud, which leads up to Kid Kash's match with Sonjay Dutt. Good, if way too short (at 5 minutes) bout. Dutt looked impressive for the short time he had & also seemed to have some charisma. He will have to put on some weight though!!! Kid Kash's brainbuster-type move from the middle rope was one hell of a finishing spot.

Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger defeat Danny Doring & Roadkill to retain the tag-team titles. If I wanted to see an average ECW match from 2000, I'd rent a DVD!!! Next up was the X-Division title match between Michael Shane, Chris Sabin & Christopher Daniels. It was a good 10 minute triple-threat match. Daniels was his usual crisp consistent self, while Sabin has really improved since I saw him last. I can't really comment on Shane, as he is playing the opportunistic gimmick, which basically means he hardly gets in any offense, but still wins.

The following 10 minutes consisted of Jimmy Hart confirming that the 'Bound For Glory' ppv has been re-scheduled due to Hulk Hogan needing knee surgery. It predictably ended with Jarrett running out & attacking Hart. Raven defeated Slash next in a short, but good, dog-collar match. It actually had a good mixture of brutality & wrestling. Slash impressed me a little in this bout. Afterwards, Vampiro comes in & does anything but impress me. In fact, both he & his offense looked downright silly!!!

America's Most Wanted defeated The Naturals (Andy Douglas & Chase Stevens) in the next bout. Boy, The Naturals sure do look like The Hardyz!!! This was another good match, although it basically broke down into a lumberjack match at the end. There were so many people at ringside, that I didn't know where to look. The Naturals originally win, but Erik Watts restarts the match due to Gilberti's interference & AMW come out on top. Entertaining in a disorganized sort of way. I've said it before & I'll say it again; AMW would make the perfect WWE team.

Ok, I'm going to give my concluding thoughts now before going into more detail on the main event. These overall thoughts do, however, include the main event between AJ Styles & Jeff Jarrett (especially the wrestling side of it). When all was said & done, this was a really good show. The match-ups were a good blend of new & old, upper-card, midcard & lower card, and different types of matches. There was nothing really terrible (both in & out of the ring) & most matches were above average. Seven matches & a lengthy segment is probably too much for an event lasting under 2 hours, so I thought one match should have been eliminated to give the main event more time. All in all, I was happy with the show... BUT...


MAIN - AJ Styles vs Jeff Jarrett

BUT... there were many things about the main event that I did not like!!! Let me get one thing out of the way first; As much as I can be, I am a huge fan of AJ Styles. His in-ring work is up there with the very best of them as far as I am concerned. He reminds me of a less charismatic Shawn Michaels circa 1994-1996. When he won the title, I was glad. The odds were against him retaining in this match, so the loss isn't what really bothered me.

Before I have my whinge, let me look at the main positive first; For about 10 minutes, the wrestling in the bout was great. In fact, I was even a little surprised as to how well the two were working together in the ring. Jarrett allowed AJ to get a couple of major spots in, while trying to wear him down with his usual style of offense. Jarrett really did seem to be able to keep up with Styles offense as well. The bout was also being paced really well for what I was expecting to be approximately a 20 minute match.

But I knew something was up when Sonny Siaki (who appears to be involved with Styles in a weak angle, that may result in a good match) walked down to the ring at only the 10 minute mark. When he was quickly followed by Dusty Rhodes, I buried my head in my hands. This is where the match went downhill very fast. And when I say "very fast", I mean very fast, because the bout was all over less than 3 minutes later.

Let's start there, shall we!? Thirteen minutes for a main event of this proportion is just $hitting on AJ Styles. I don't care how successful his title reign has been, he has proved that he can get it done in the ring. To basically treat this match like it was only a stepping stone to the Jarrett vs Hogan feud (which I admit it is) is bull$hit. Styles wasn't even seen in the post-match monologues by both Jarrett & Jimmy Hart. In other words, the NWA basically said "just hurry on out of there quietly AJ, will you!?!?!?"

Man, I've got so many points to discuss, I don't know which to discuss next!!! Ok, so we all know that this was basically a set-up match for the feud which NWA-TNA is going to base their next 3 or so months around. Or should I state whenever The Hulkster is able to walk and/or show up. But now, the fans are going to be (what's the opposite of) treated to Jimmy Hart bringing back some old wrestlers to try & take down Jeff Jarrett. Now, unless he is going to unleash Bret Hart, I'm just going to give this a big yawn folks. If Ed 'Brutus Beefcake' Leslie shows up, I'm unsure I will ever order another NWA-TNA ppv!!!

This was also a huge opportunity lost for NWA-TNA in a couple of ways. Let me explain; So pretty much every fan, no matter how much they knew about the Jarrett-Hogan feud, thought that Jarrett would go over Styles & regain the title in this bout. When you couple this with the fact that the 'Bound For Glory' ppv was being re-scheduled, wouldn't this have been the perfect opportunity for the promotion to throw a perfectly believable curve-ball & have Styles go over!?!?!? It would have given the fans (including the so-called 'smart' fans) a great dose of unpredictability that would stick with them for months to come.

Furthermore, having AJ go over, would mean that he would have succeeded by himself (without the help of Russo or anyone else). Hasn't this been the major gripe of his title run...??? Surely, a few more weeks defending cleanly all by his lonesome would have done more good than harm. It's not as if these two have fought a hundred times, so they could easily meet in another rematch in about 3-4 weeks time where Jarrett could go over. That would still provide enough hype time for the Hogan bout, and for something different, it could be a cage match or something like that.

Another thing that bothered me about the match, and I know as wrestling fans we must suspend disbelief a lot, is Erik Watts' role in it. He was just as heavily involved in this important bout than the previous one which pretty much meant nothing. Not 20 minutes earlier, he had re-started the tag match due to cheating. So why didn't he do the same here when he clearly saw Jeff Jarrett use the title belt to defeat AJ Styles!?!?!? It was even more blatant & for the World Title!!! If I really wanted to be fussy, I'd also ask why the referee allowed the chair to stay in the ring? And why he was deaf to the previous chair shot? But I'm not a fussy man. I just want consistency.

Like I have already said, the many things I didn't like about this main event did not ruin the pay-per-view. Nor did the fact that it was AJ Styles who got pinned & lost his title. It was more the way it happened, as he was basically embarrassed & beaten easily when by himself. Sure, AJ is young & will have a lot more time to possibly become one of the greatest professional wrestlers ever. But the problem is what I fear is going to happen to him in the coming weeks. He will probably be forgotten, just as he was immediately after the match. While his match & feud with Siaki could be good, it will arguably be a fairly big drop down the card, and I can see the angle being a bit of a non-event in general. Meanwhile, Triple J will hog the spotlight on NWA-TNA until The Hulkster finally decides to limp in.


DESSERT

Should John Cena Main Event Now?

I think the section title is the important thing here, but I will also talk about another hypothetical question concerning John Cena; Should he turn face now? This is obviously due to the surprising dueling crowd chants that occurred at No Mercy during his match-of-the-night against Kurt Angle.

Ok, I'm going to start off with the answer to both questions & then work from there; No & No. But hang on, this isn't going to be a negative piece. I'm currently a huge fan of Cena & he is probably the wrestler I most anticipate seeing, especially on television (as compared to pay-per-view). When his music hits right now, I am pretty much assured that I'm going to be sufficiently entertained in one way or another. That's a great thing!!!

But still I answer "no" to both questions that I have posed. Firstly, let's look at how long John Cena has been on the main WWE roster; About 16 months. While he has definitely graduated from the rookie stage, he is still a relative newcomer on the scene. Sure, Brock Lesnar pretty much jumped straight into the main event, but you had the feeling that Brock was always being groomed for that. Plus, his body size means that any in-ring deficiencies that Lesnar has, can be more easily covered. Cena, on the other hand, came into the WWE as a question mark. Therefore, he needed to, and succeeded in, working his way up the card.

While I didn't have too many problems with his main event match for the WWE Championship against Brock Lesnar earlier this year, I still think Cena needs to improve in the ring before he becomes a genuine main-eventer. Sure, others have main-evented & been less of a wrestler than Cena is now, but I'm thinking more for the long-term good of both Cena & the WWE here. He is not terrible in the ring by any means. In fact, I think he has very good intensity & great facial expressions. His repertoire, selling & style of offense are also not horrible. Because of all this, he has an excellent base to work from, and that's not even mentioning his character just yet.

What I mean by him needing to improve in the ring is giving himself a style that is his. He is a little too bland at the moment, and not very original. He needs more signature moves & needs to exaggerate his wrestling style a little more. I think this will come, as he is still a little raw (or green) in the ring. Part of this process is finding a new finishing move. The FU pretty much sums up his wrestling; Sufficient, but a little bland.

Don't get me wrong, I believe this will all come for Cena & he will be main-eventing very soon in the WWE. He is still relatively young & inexperienced. Just give him some more time. When & how long, I hear you all ask? Nine to twelve months, in my opinion. It all ties in with the second question about a face turn. I know that the WWE will be tempted to do it this year because of the reaction he received at No Mercy, but I hope they hold off, for more than one reason.

This is my rough booking plan for Cena over the next 9 or so months: Right now there are enough possible main-eventers on the SmackDown roster to last through until WrestleMania 20; Lesnar, 'Taker, Angle, Guerrero, The Big Show & Benoit. I say keep mixing up these combinations, and have Cena feud with whoever is not in the main-event equation at the time. I think that a feud with Benoit somewhere along the way will do wonders for Cena in the ring.

At WrestleMania 20, basically have Cena do what he was rumored to be involved in at WrestleMania 19; Some sort of interaction with a world-famous hip-hop/rap star. This must involve a match however, and preferably against a wrestler (not the rapper). So for example, Cena may wrestle Eddie Guerrero, who could have the hip-hop star in his corner. Before the match, some sort of rap-off freestyle competition could take place. This would give Cena a great match & some mainstream exposure. All this would undoubtedly be better if Cena is still a heel. My choice for the rapper, by the way, would be LL Cool J. He is known worldwide, well built & doesn't have the extra baggage some of his peers do. Of course, we will probably be getting a Cena vs 'Macho Man' Randy Savage match!!!

From there, Cena could progress quickly up the card to genuine main-even status. Come June, July or August, a face turn would be just bursting to happen. His character currently seems to work better as a heel, but I think by then it would start to wear thin. If his in-ring skills improve sufficiently between now & then, the face turn & a WWE Championship win could occur within a month or two of each other. If all this is rushed however, and Cena is a face & title contender by this upcoming Royal Rumble, I can see his lack of experience & in-ring skill letting both him & the WWE down. If that occurs, his long-term career may never live up to it's obvious potential.


Ok, that's it for edition #66 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I hope my whinge on the Styles vs Jarrett match wasn't too negative. There was just so many things I didn't like about how the bout was booked, that I just had to sound off. Please don't hesitate to let me know what you thought of it, or NWA-TNA in general, by sending me an e-mail. Also, I'd like to know your thoughts on John Cena and/or my WrestleMania 20 idea for him. You know I will respond to everyone. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Ok, there may be a doubt on 'The Wrestling Menu' next Wednesday. We have a super long weekend in Melbourne next week (for a horse race, believe it or not!?!?!?) & I'm going away. I do want to continue my 1990's Review series, and am in a position to, but I just might not get a chance to view, write & post by next Wednesday. If I don't, you can expect that column the week after on the 12th of November with my predictions for The Survivor Series. We'll all have to wait & see what happens. Until whenever, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.













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