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Submitted by Phantom Lord on Monday, October 18, 2004 at 9:23 PM EST
 FACT(hopefully) Da Ref: I'll go FICTION on that one. While they have already done it, I think WWE could try again with Flair against Helmsley. While they currently have Flair proclaiming Helmsley as the greatest wrestler of all time, which I have problems hearing Flair say, they could do something where Flair challenges Helmsley for another match, presumably non-title. Vince Russo’s decision to leave NWA-TNA due to Jeff Jarrett and Dutch Mantel’s stranglehold on the booking will in the long run hurt TNA because they are struggling to create angles to keep the audience interested in the product. Dumass: I don't remember anyone really giving a shit about TNA while Russo was there. FICTION just because it doesn't seems like TNA will be a good investment whether Russo is there or not. I'll give Russo some credit though. He came from being a "heel" columnist on the WWF magazine to booking the WWF and WCW (killing WCW of course) and making no Impact! (har har!) for TNA to be taken seriously. Jeff Jarrett isn't someone small either. His entire career has been "I've been screwed here." and "I've been screwed there". Hell, when he was finally given the title because his dad made a company, he still hasn't made it a "real" federation. I wasn't expecting much when TNA first put on a show on PPV, and I'm still not expecting much when Russo leaves. Da Ref: Regardless of what a certain someone wants to believe, that's FICTION. For the past 6 years, Vince Russo has been living off his success as a writer during the WWF's Attitude era. While he did have a hand in that period, he was not the only one involved. In WCW, we found out that Russo is quite limited when on his own. In NWA-TNA, it's been the same thing. Plus with TNA, it's not really been the storylines that the fans have been raving about. It's the wrestling, which Russo has no clue how to book. Phantom: What that certain someone line directed at me? I think this is a huge FACT. You want an idea of how good Russo really was as a writer and creative genius? Half the Internet thinks Russo is going to swerve Jesus. While I believe he truly has found peace and salvation, deep down it must be killing the old Vince Russo to know if he can do this unintentionally then imagine what he could work in TNA when he’s trying. I would like to think that Russo isn’t leaving, but considering what Joe E. Legend said on his website about Jeff Jarrett and Dutch Mantel it doesn’t surprise me that Russo is leaving and I believe that if NWA-TNA is dead this time next year it will be all the fault of Jarrett and Mantel. Jeff Jarrett will not put Jeff Hardy over in any form at the Victory Road PPV thus causing Jeff to once again withdraw from Wrestling after being re-inspired by TNA recently. Da Ref: Hopefully FACT. I think correct statement is Jeff Jarrett SHOULDN'T put Jeff Hardy over in any form at Victory Road. Jeff Hardy may have been "re-inspired" to sign with another company but it's still the same Jeff Hardy that people saw in WWE. Jeff Hardy was given another chance to become a star and he's once again proven that he can't. He has no heart for the business. The excitement for him has died down once again. He's up to his old habits of showing up late. Jeff Hardy should do himself and everyone else a huge favor. Get out and stay out. Phantom: As much as I hate Jeff Hardy for being nothing more then a glorified backyard wrestler, I think it would be a huge mistake for Jarrett to not put him over at Victory Road. What TNA needs to do is get an established star in the minds of the common fan and he needs to win the title this way when say A.J. Styles wins back the World Title (Since he is the Golden Child of the NWA) it means a hell of a lot more then Jarrett losing the title in a Memphis way. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Jeff Jarrett is booking TNA like it is Memphis in the early 90’s and he is Jerry Lawler. Lawler won and lost the USWA World Title about 250 times (give or take) and a title change would literally happen every TV taping to what ever WWF guy was on loan at the time. That style of booking works fine on a regional level, but when you have the real established World Heavyweight Championship and you have a chance to make the promotion shine…only an idiot would book himself over someone who could in theory do that. So yeah this is a FACT. Dumass: Jeff Hardy isn't really a huge contender for any Heavyweight championship. FACT. It's guaranteed that he'll cry and piss and moan about not being used properly in TNA like he did in the WWE; which seems to be his calling in life now. Whenever I watch him wrestle, it truly looks like he's bored with it. Why doesn't he just go back to writing poetry and driving motorcycles? Oh wait; it's because that shit doesn't put bread on the table. I'm expecting him to get another hizzy fit about not being used properly and junk. Hell, he's already pissing off the reps at TNA by doing what he did in the WWE; showing up late, taking bad bumps, and bitching about the product. I really hope Jeff wasn't expecting to be elevated to superstar status in TNA. If he was, I see that it crashed and burned completely; much like one of his horrid spots. ROH might have the Angle of the year with a Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat and his stable representing Tradition taking on Mick Foley and his stable representing Hardcore. For Bonus points who would be more over as the heel…Steamboat the traditionalist or Foley the Hardcore Guy? Phantom: Based on what I’ve been reading of this, I would say it’s the Angle of the Year and it potentially could lead to an amazing match that could see the long awaited return of Ricky Steamboat to the ring for one last match. Hell if Ring of Honor does play their cards right, they could use the heat Foley has with Flair for this one. I think it would be interesting to see Steamboat as a heel. It wouldn’t be like he’s turning heel because he wants to…he’ll turn heel because we the fans made him do it. I’m blood thirsty and I enjoy watching a good mauling, so of the traditionalist would be the bad guy here. Oh sure its fun to see a thousand different counters and flips…BUT WE WANT BLOOD DAMN IT. So this is a FACT and if anyone from ROH is reading this…get off your lazy asses and book a damn show in New York City for once. Da Ref: I guess I'll go with FACT on this one. It just depends on whether or not ROH can pull it off right. We've all seen angles that just pitch themselves because of what all is involved go down because the booking gets screwed up(WCW Invasion in 2001). However, I think the company has its head straight and is capable of creating something that could work out. As for who would be more over as a heel, I gotta PASS on answering that one. I realize it's a cop out but let's take a look at what we're talking about. In Mick Foley, his hardcore style is everything that goes against what Ring of Honor was based on. Just look at the Code of Honor and the rule about no weapons. With hardcore wrestling, it's almost been about fighting to create pain and shed blood. Meanwhile, Ring of Honor has always been about fight for....well, honor. So, you have a strong heel right there. However, think about something for a moment. When Hulk Hogan turned heel in 1996, he became more over than he had been in a long time. Possible the biggest reason for that was because he had been THE hero for so long. He was "Mr. America"(and not just in terms of the masked wrestler). He was the role model. In a booking sense, he was all that was good in the world. Yet, people forgot that he was a heel. If a guy that had been playing a face for so long could be hugely over as a heel, what would happen if Ricky Steamboat, quite possibly the ONLY wrestler to have worked as a face during his entire career, turned heel? Dumass: Is that what ROH is doing? Wow. That doesn't sound like a bad idea. FACT, but unfortunately, I have little access to what ROH has been doing. It sounds like a great idea, just as long as we get to see Foley and Steamboat go at it. MOTY candidate is reeking on that. With that, I would venture to say that Foley would be a better heel. Steamboat has always been a face, and that's how he should always be. Him turning heel is like seeing Bruce Lee with a beer gut, sitting on a couch, eating Cheetos and watching pro wrestling; not a pretty sight. After the mugging incident by the Strong Style Thugs (Homicide, Low Ki, B-Boy) on Teddy Hart in Jersey All Pro Wrestling as detailed here, Work or Shoot…Teddy finally got the ass kicking he deserves for running his mouth and burning bridges all over The East Coast. Dumass: First off all, this whole Strong Style Thugs thing is always and forever will be a rip-off of the Gangstas. Every single type of gimmick that comes from the "hood" is going to be a rip-off of my man, New Jack. Now, my professional opinion is it was a work. It seemed too out there for it to be looked at as a shoot. I think it was because B-Boy and Low-Ki stole Teddy's shoes. And though it was great to see Teddy Hart be smacked around like the crybaby pussified bitch that he is, I'm probably going to call this up a to a work. My personal opinion? I wish that they did more to that little punk. Phantom: I downloaded an amazing music video made by the guys at JAPW of the Teddy Hart/Homicide match and I have to say this might be the greatest worked shoot ever. Teddy Hart knows everyone hates him so why not play up that fact. Either way he did get the shit beaten out of him and I think a lot of people up and down the east coast collectively cheered when Low Ki, Homicide, and B-Boy laid him out and stole his boots. So yeah this is a FACT and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Da Ref: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! FACT This was the first that I had heard about this. Oh man, I have been a fan of Low Ki, B-Boy, and Homicide since seeing some of their work on DVD. If this was a shoot, they have moved up near the very top of the list. Put it bluntly, I don't like Teddy Hart. He's obnoxious. He's arrogant. He's sponging off of his family name, which isn't even his. Whenever he opens his mouth, he ends up looking like a jackass. To top it off, he is very much overrated. Maybe now, the self-proclaimed "Savior of Professional Wrestling" will realize that his significance in the business is small. Retro: Based on a discussion in the General Wrestling Forum at the LOP Message Board, who do you consider the Best Women’s Wrestler in History Phantom: Well if you wanna go by title reign, The Fabulos Moolah beats everyone with her 28 year plus run as Women’s Champion. As for who I personally believe is the best woman’s wrestler ever I’m torn between three people. Wendi Richter, Sherri Martel, and Madusa. Those three women defined women’s wrestling the 80’s and they won every title you can think of. I think I’m personally going to go with Madusa as the Best Women’s Wrestler, but history has a funny way of changing over time. On a side note, someone who I think could have been great and probably could still be great should she decide to come out of hiding is April Littlejohn a.k.a. Riot from W.O.W. She had the look, the talent, and the fan base to be huge and then after W.O.W died she disappeared. I’m trying to track her down for an interview and if anyone can point me in her direction that would be super. I mean how can you not mark out for a woman who can swing a bat and deliver a Sky Twister Press. So I truly believe if she were to ever come back to wrestling she really has the potential to be something great. I should really do a column on Women’s wrestling sometime. It’s amazing how many chicks on the Indies that actually put men to shame talent wise. Dumass: One thing needs to be made clear; the "Greatest Women's Wrestler" thread in the LOP forums is a joke and I thank God I'm banned because I would be kicked out permanently for calling damn near everyone in there a moron. Now the best women’s wrestler in history is hard to pick, so I'm just going to pick the 2 best in the popular regions, which are Japan and the States (Mexico doesn't have much of a women's wrestling division and England is exempt because.....well.....I hate England). USA - Wendy Richter - WWF, AWA, IWF, NWA, WWC, SCPW A ton of people don't like Wendy, but you cannot deny her complete dominance in women's wrestling in the 80s. Her popularity was up there with Hulk Hogan and her skill was clearly better than Hogan's in comparison. She held many titles during her career, including the AWA and WWF Women's Title (which she won against Lelani Ki at Wrestlemania I). Her most remembered feud was against the Fabulous Moolah in the ring and the WWF brass behind the curtain. She was a slight victim of some controversy, but picked herself back up to win more titles in other federations. Honorable Mention: Candi Devine, Sherri Martel, Madusa (Alundra Blaze), Joyce Grable Japan: Megumi Kudo - All-Japan Women’s Pro, FMW, Megumi Kudo is regarded by most as being the top hardcore women's wrestler of all time. She was to women's hardcore wrestling what Mick Foley was to men's hardcore wrestling. She started out in 1986 with All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling (AJWPW), and quit in 1989. Then in 1991 she returned to wrestling and joined Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW). It's with this promotion that she became a Japanese wrestling icon. FMW featured both men's and women's matches, which was rare at the time. And when FMW transitioned from standard wrestling to hardcore wrestling, both the men and the women made the transition. And it just so happened that Kudo excelled at it. You wouldn't have guessed it given her physical appearance; she was a slender beauty and former teacher. But forget Francine (from ECW fame); Kudo was the "Queen of Hardcore". She competed for six years with FMW and took part in a number of hardcore gimmick matches, becoming the company's top women's wrestler and its top wrestler period next to Atsushi Onita (who was the company's #1 draw). She was like the Sable of FMW, except of course she'd take big bumps and blade. Kudo retired in 1997 at the age of 28 after being the headline of a PPV and having a vicious match with her arch-rival, Shark Tsuchiya in a Electrified Barbed Wire No Ropes Double Hell Match and winning to become one of very few joshi wrestlers to retire with their title. link - I couldn't put it better myself. Honorable Mentions: Akira Hokuto, Bull Nakano, Aja Kong, Combat Toyoda Da Ref: I can name a few who AREN'T the greatest and some of them are with WWE. *L* As far as coming up with THE greatest, my experience with women’s wrestling is somewhat limited even though I got to work shows with ladies like Lelani Kai, Judy Martin, and Sue Green. There are a lot and I think just flat out saying Moolah is too easy to do. While I'm not saying that she is the greatest, one person that I have always been very impressed with is MEGUMI KUDO. When I first got my DVD player, I got a whole bunch of FMW titles with some of her matches. I was impressed with how she was able to work a straight technical match with some aerial moves mixed in. Then, she could go to the other side and work the hardcore style that FMW including the No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Match against Combat Toyota where she won the FMW Unified Women's Title. I think being able to adapt to any style of match and do it well is a sign of a solid worker, male or female. Retro: Since Carlito Caribbean Cool’s gimmick is such a blatant rip off of Razor Ramon’s, would Scott Hall be looked at as much different wrestler if he was handed the Intercontinental Title upon his debut with the WWF in late 1992. Da Ref: I'll say FACT. During Hall's time as Razor Ramon, it was very uncommon to see someone enter a company and shoot up to championship status in a quick manner unless they were already very much established elsewhere(Flair when he went to the WWF or Hogan when he went to WCW). During those days, if something happened like that, it's doubtful that the fans would truly accept it. Even with somewhere around ten years under his belt, Scott Hall was not over with the fans and needed to do that before being looked at as championship material. Dumass: He would have looked like Scott Hall; no more, no less. Scott Hall was given his shot at the World Title about 6 months after he came in. Bret Hart beat him and then the IC title battle royal happened, giving him the IC title for 7 months. If he was given the IC title right off the bat, I think that would have made him just the same wrestler he was then, just with a big piece of gold hanging from his crotch. Phantom: I think had Razor Ramon been given the Intercontinental Title upon his arrival, he would of turned out exactly the same in the WWF. Think about this, Kevin Nash when he was Diesel won the Intercontinental Title in his real big first singles match and I was at The Garden the night he killed Backlund for the WWF Title in 8 seconds (Which to this day is still a mark out moment). Razor would probably still have gone on the same career path he took to become one of the best wrestlers never to win the World Title. Time for a bit of Fantasy Booking with Taboo Tuesday Looming…with the current RAW Roster, what match would you book and what stipulations would have the fans vote on. Da Ref: After getting to see the match a couple of months ago, my mind flashed on one match. That match was [B]Chris Benoit versus William Regal[/B]. I had heard so much about the match they had at the 2000 Pillman Memorial and when I got the Benoit DVD, that was like one of the first matches I watched on it. Both guys had their A-game that night and both of them showed what "wrestling" was all about. To get a chance to do that match again would be tremendous. As for stipulations, I think doing something like a cage match, a ladder match, a falls count anywhere match would be the wrong move since both guys are faces. For me, the best stipulations would be: -Best of Three Falls Match. This way, the match could go more than ten minutes and let them go all out. -Submission Match. With both men having a strong knowledge of submissions, you'd be playing to some of their biggest strengths. -Toughman Match. Now, this is sorta obscure. If you go back to WCW in late 1997, they were talking about starting up a "Toughman Division" or something like that. It's not like the Toughman boxing matches. It was almost like WCW going for the Strong Style. Some of the matches had guys that were legitimately tough like Meng, Fit Finley, the Barbarian, and some others. Two other guys that had a match or two in this division were Benoit and Regal, including one against each other. Dumass: Randy Orton vs Ric Flair - Loser Leaves Town - Winner Stays, Loser Skips - Retirement Match I really want Flair gone; for his own good. Chris Jericho vs ????? - Edge - HBK - The Hurricane I think the Hurricane should have his chance. Plus, I don't want to see HBK with the World Title again. He had his chance and ruined it, time for someone else to have it. Eugene vs Eric Bischoff - Norman The Lunatic Match (There are keys that is lost in the building. Whoever finds the keys will have control of Mike Shaw for the rest of their life) - Shockmaster Match (Whoever does the worst promo will lose) - Lumberjack Tuxedo Match (It's like a Bra and Panties match......but with LUMBERJACKS!!) i LiKE TeH WreSTLECrAP~!~! Kane vs Gene Snitsky - Crybaby Match (where the winner is decided by how much they over act badly and cry about whatever) - Baby Carriage Match (it's like a stretcher match only you have to put your opponent in a baby carriage and push him out of the arena) - Pregnancy Test On A Pole Match (Lita's pregnancy test is on a pole and the first one who gets it finds out that Lita had a pillow under her shirt the whole time) A stupid end to a stupid storyline. Christy vs Carmella - Christy beats up Carmella - Christy beats up Carmella and kicks Vince McMahon in the balls - Christy beats up Carmella, kicks Vince in the balls, and tell Vince off about how even though she won the search contest, Carmella still has a contract; thus proving that Vince didn't swerve the internet fans, but lied to us completely by providing two winners instead of one so he wouldn't look like he had egg on his face when the "morons" he refers internet fans figured him to be the shallow, lying, useless fraud that he is. - Christy does all that stuff listed before then comes to the Holiday Inn down the street and I have hours and hours of sex with her. You can see which one I'm going for. Triple H vs ???? - Does it matter? Why list anyone? We all know he's going to win anyway, so why lie and give you all false hope? Phantom: I think I would book Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H and make it certain that this would be HBK’s last ever shot at the title. For the stipulations…I’m a sadistic bastard so lets see. -I Quit Steel Cage Match: For those of us who remember Magnum vs. Tully, who wouldn’t love to see HBK take a piece of a broken chair and stab Triple H in the head causing him to scream I QUIT over and over. -Barbwire Ladder Match: No real reason for this other then I don’t think one has been done since Dusty vs. Tully in 87. Part Bunkhouse match/Part Ladder Match. Barbwire is wrapped around the ropes and no one should be able to get in or out. Again we see Triple H thrown into the barbwire so that he may scream in pain…I guess your noticing a pattern here. Lets see what else can I think of that will see Triple H in pain and lots of it… -Leather Strap Match: I’m thinking something along the lines of Sting vs. Vader at SuperBrawl 3…that was the last good violent strap match. Just let HBK and Triple H whip the shit out of each. For an added bonus…coat the mat in salt or something. Either way we would see the same ending. Shawn Michaels winning the World Title and the Triple H reign of terror ending in a very bloody and violent manner. I think we can all agree Michaels as World Champion would dare I say showcase the title once again and we would get to see some classic matches. That’s all we ever ask for. And Now the Plugs The LOP Message Boards. Home to the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance and some of the best discussion on Wrestling, Politics, and Entertainment on the Net Lethal Wrestling: Fact Is Always Worse Than Fiction Free For All Daily: Politics, Sports, and Everything Else Check out some exclusive auctions on Raven Memorabilia from Raven himself only at The Raven Effect Spiritual Fitness Wear, A clothing line from Two-Time W.O.W World Champion Heather Lee Millard Send Feedback to Da Ref Send Feedback to Phantom Lord Send Feedback to Dumass Send Feedback to all of us Note if it isn’t labeled feedback, then it gets deleted OH MY GOD! Some of the Hottest Kelly Kelly Pix Ever!
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