|
|
|
|
|
Submitted by Wevv Mang on Monday, November 20, 2006 at 3:03 AM EST
Ridin’ With The Bossman – Thankful For TNA Greetings! Welcome to another edition of Ridin’ With The Bossman! The only column to be named part of G-Unit. Right Game? I got your back homey. Affirmative action works both ways. I even got a grill. Though I got laughed at for it. Hey, it’s a Weber. Weber makes good grills. Let’s just move on shall we. We have a week of wrestling to cover, we have some Over-Analyzing to do, and then the annual Thanksgiving edition of Kane’s House. WWE is overseas, and you know what that means. Plane rides. Long plane rides. And with JBL getting squirrelly to get back in the ring, talent grumbling (quietly, but it seems to be growing, and it’s all just rumors right now), Steph putting her mark on Raw with a huge H push, TNA having a prime time special, old crufters coming out of the wood work, that means good news for webwriters. I got a feeling that something is going to happen on one of these flights. It’s been a while since the web was treated to the story of Michael Hayes getting his mullet cut, Goldust serenading his wife over the intercom, and Mr. Perfect and Brock Lesnar fighting. Oh, and Ric and his busy hands. But enough about that. Rumors won't be leaked for weeks. And we got TV to get through. WWE TV – The Series Raw Recap info courtesy of Chad Matthews Well, the show was from Manchester, England. And there was one them that was made clear early and often. DX. Period. They were all over this show. They beat up four, not two, not three, FOUR other tag teams in less than eight minutes. Jobber team? Well, they are now. So, it’s back to nothing but H. Oh, it’s under the guise of pushing DX, but HBK did the work in that one match, H came in for a minute, beat everyone up, threw a bunch of punches, did one move, and it was over. The whole show was like that. HBK had a funny skit with Cryme Tyme. Some good wrestling between Nitro and Hardy, and Edge and Orton won the tag belts, in a hard fought battle no less, and they got to celebrate for all of thirty seconds, before DX ran them off. But, I don't want to just bash the show. Some was good, some wasn’t but the questions I came away with were: A) DX Has No One To Oppose Them Edge and Orton were supposed to be their foil. Well, they did just win the tag belts, after Ric Flair and Roddy Piper held them for just days. The belts are not going to help them, as a good argument can be made that the titles are a joke. Edge and Orton have been made into DX’s bitches. The past month shows that clearly. So, there is no one on par with DX. Not Vince, not Edge, who was rolling, not Orton, not Bischoff, and certainly not Coach. There’s no one. B) DX Is So Fragile They Need All The Help They Can Get Without all the hype, without the army of jobbers given to them, without the constant focus and protection of DX, the ruse would be exposed and the stable would flop. If DX showed an ounce of vulnerability, then they would lose their mystique. The two questions go hand in hand, and raise more. Why would DX need to beat up four tag teams? Shouldn't Orton and Edge be doing that, to keep them on the same level as DX? Why would DX need all that camera time? Why would they need to be made to look so strong? What is the long-term plan for DX? I just don't see any. Other than just letting them take complete control of Raw. One random question. Where did that sausage come from? You know, the one H brought into the arena? I don't think they sell those at the concession stand, so, H must have brought it in himself. Yet, I didn’t see him carrying is around earlier. There is only one conclusion. H smuggled it in. Yes, H is a certified salami smuggler. Oh, and Todd Grisham filled in for Lawler halfway through the show. He did a good job. A better fit behind the mic than Coach. ECW Recap courtesy of Eddie Martin Tazz is out, and Elijah Burke is taking his place. It’s a week of rotating announcers, I guess. He was rough, but solid. Contract Signing Yes, the show open with a contract signing. Holly was supposed to sign, but Bobby Lashley showed up, took out Holly, and signed the contract for the Elimination Chamber. Well, that was surprising. Bobby didn't say anything, but I think he’ll be good in ECW. After commercial, we get Big Show, Holly, and Test bitching at Heyman. C’mon Paul, you’re taking crap from Test? CM Punk beats Mike Knoxx Good match. That’s all really, and it should be a decent match up, after all, they’ve faced each other for a while now. Bobby Lashley vs Hardcore Holly Well, Holly ain't no Finlay, that’s for sure. Still, a good match. Lots of outside shenanigans, which seems to be what ECW is now all about. Run-ins and interference. Bobby pulls off a win, and Sabu, RVD, and Punk run in to make the save. There was more to the show, but nothing I can really remember. Or feel like commenting on. At least some planning appears to be happening in regards to the December PPV. That would normally be a good thing, but when it involves pushing Test, well, that just can't be good. It was a good idea to use Elijah to cover for Tazz, as it kept him on TV, and also gave Elijah some experience talking, and seeing what it’s like from the other end of the camera. That’s a plus. Khali is just kind of there. I wouldn't mind seeing him square off against Sandman. The show felt light in a lot of areas, focusing only a select few. But then again, with Survivor Series coming up, and no plans being laid out of that PPV, other than finally deciding on which matches are going to take place, long term planning may be moot at this point. Smackdown Recap info courtesy of Rudi Pavani Good show, which had a lot of solid wrestling. Yet there were a lot of side bits just kind of thrown in there. Way too much emphasis put on the fact that they were in England. Some quick points: Boogey Man vs Mysterio I don't like the surgery footage. Never have, doubt I ever will. In fact, I found the surgery footage more cringe worthy than Boogey Man and his worms. Mr. Kennedy, Take 2 Kennedy gave another strong promo. Only this time, it was taped. And it went too long. This one just didn't pack the punch of last weeks. Still, it was great at keeping interest in the match up. Regal vs Paul London Ashley got injured in the match, I believe. Excellent match. JBL and Cole kept rambling on about Dave. Remember Dave? Regal's one time tag partner? Who got injured after one week, and hasn’t been seen or heard from since? Well, Cole and Tazz kept throwing his name out there and singing his praises. Which leads me to believe that this show was one where Regal and Taylor were supposed to win the belts. But it didn't happen. Taylor is gone. Oh, not permanently, but out for a while still. So, why mention it? No idea. Just stick Regal with some one else, if it’s that big a deal, or have him go solo. Oh, wait, I was supposed to talk about the match. See how distracting that can be? The match was solid, Regal won. Lashley and Teddy Well, at least some effort was made to explain why Lashley was going to ECW. It also left an out, which is good. Teddy says that Lashley is welcome back anytime. Kane vs MVP It seems like WWE really wants this guy to do well. Which makes sense, after the build up. This match was brutal. Kane did a good job of helping the rookies along, and getting a decent match out of him. Ending was a mixed bad, as Taker showed up, Kennedy was there, and MVP did get the win. Other than that, another solid show from Smackdown. It’s making an effort to put pieces in places, and again, it seems like the long term planning is just being hinted at, until word comes down from on high, and all the plans go out the window. Smackdown is doing better than Raw in terms of show quality, and that will bug some folks on Raw to no end, and thus, Smackdown must be kept down. Still, Hayes is doing a good job. He’s got a good challenger for Undertaker, and even if Taker wins, that won't be a bad thing. Kennedy has been the strong one so far, and that impression can survive a loss to Taker. He should win, but like I said, if it doesn't happen, no big deal. However, there is still one week to go, and anything can happen in that time. Speaking of the PPV, here’s some quick thoughts about the matches listed so far: Team DX vs Team Edge/Orton Well, let’s see. DX has all but ignored their teammates, and Edge and Orton are barely getting screen time. So, it’s just gonna happen. A Hardy Boys re-union, and CM Punk with H. Team Orton/Edge has some great talent, but it seems like a waste. Why? Because from all we’ve seen, they won’t be given a chance to outshine DX. HBK will sell and work with them, but will H? Honestly, you think H is going to sell offense from Helms? Knoxx? HA! No, in the best case scenario, H will spend most of his time on the outside, and let the guys work on their own. He’ll get the pin, no doubt about that, but I predict that H will spend a total of 2 to 4 minutes in the ring. Team Cena vs Team Big Show Well, this one seems heavily lopsided in favor of Cena. Frankly, I would rather see Team Cena face off against Team H, oops, I mean Team DX or against team Edge/Orton. Edge/Orton would be fantastic. But oh well. Still, Show has got Umaga and Finlay on his team. MVP is green and Test is a handicap. But we’ll see. These team matches were announced early, but that doesn't mean they’re set in stone. After all, nothing is final, until the bell for said match actually sounds. And even then, it can be iffy. Over-Analyzing Wrestling Today’s Topic: First Impressions TNA, the little company that could. It’s been around for over three years. No one expected it would last. They may have hoped it did, but realistically, no. When it first appeared, fans raved about it. Finally, an alternative to WWE, and the H show. Over the years, it’s been a rough ride for them. Supporting a dark horse always is. Yet they persevered, and have made progress. TNA isn't a money making company, but it always seems to be on the verge of it. From a PPV only show, where it would produce weekly TV shows, and charge people to watch, to getting on a real, if weak, network to finally making it to Spike TV, a much stronger network and the home for a couple of years, to the opposition. WWE, and the flagship show, Raw. The past year has been a big one for TNA. That stands for Total Non-Stop Action, not Tits and Ass. They signed Sting. Christian jumped to TNA. Jeff Hardy was there for a while. It’s the company that Kevin Nash steals money from, once he was done just stealing WWE’s money. Scott Steiner worked in TNA. Now, they have Kurt Angle. From a network perspective, TNA started out with a bad timeslot. It could have been worse, a lot worse. But Thursdays at 11 PM is not a strong slot. Replays on the weekend, Saturday at 11 PM help, and do almost as well as the first run shows. It also allows word of mouth to get around. That can be good, and it can be bad. Yet last Thursday, a big deal happened. TNA was going to Prime Time. Not permanently, but for a special. The one-hour show length would also be expanded to two hours. That’s really good news. The marketing drive was on. TNA advertised on WWE programming. Kurt Angle made the media rounds. TNA was getting ready to make an impression. A few weeks ago, a name known to most netfans was linked with the company. The controversial former head writer of WWE, back in it’s golden days, Vince Russo was back. He had been there before, but now, but circumstances forced him out. Partly his own, partly conflict with other members of staff. Now, he’s back. Writing for TNA. Who had a golden opportunity to show that they can compete talent wise, and entertainment wise. How did it play out? How would TNA use this chance to better themselves? Would they finally show that they were an alternative to WWE. Or more importantly, a BETTER alternative to WWE? Two hours. A couple of big names. A PPV on Sunday. A lot was riding on this show. And it wasn’t good. I taped it. I am grateful that I taped it. Fast Forward was my friend. Over the years, I have admitted to not being a fan of TNA. I have taken pot shots. I have joked around. But I went back and watched their shows from time to time. To see what was going on. I was hoping this show would be good. I was hoping that TNA would finally get their shit together and make this work. I was hoping that other wrestling fans would give it a chance. Or should I say, another chance. But frankly, I wasn’t holding my breath. I expected Jeff Jarrett to copy H and be all over the show. But I didn't get what I expected. TNA Spike TV Special The show opened with Eric Young. Apparently, he wants to not be fired. I sort of know Eric Young. Vaguely. I do know this has been a running angle on Impact. But, I don't know what the point is. Eric leads people into the arena. He starts to speak, but music cuts him off, and he runs away. - That would set the pace for the show. Old angles would be brought up, and I can understand that you don't want to upset your fans but scrapping everything that has gone on before, but this was a good chance to start new angles, and also put some emphasis on those angles, and bring new viewers up to speed. LAX LAX is Konan, Homicide, and Hernandez (?). They plan to do something. Something bad. They’re going to burn the American Flag. America’s Most Wanted comes out and stops them. Gail Kim is with them. LAX gets run off. - OK, no idea. LAX are bad guys. Got that. Burning the American flag, would be a bad thing. Horrible, shocking? No. Three years ago, yes, but it would be pushing it. Now, AMW, no idea what their problem is with LAX, since last time I saw them, they were bad guys. But these two are going to fight for some reason. Oh, and Gail Kim is making her return. What from? Something called a border toss. I guess it’s a move. But she does some moves, so it must have been bad. Again, no idea what’s going on. The announcers are talking a mile a minute and constantly. Samoa Joe video package Samoa Joe is a name you may know. He’s a bad ass and he’s going to be fighting Angle. Samoa Joe vs Jay Lethal Some brief moves, lots of kicks from Joe, and Joe beats the crap out of Lethal. Joe gets him in a submission hold and makes him tap. He then refuses to let go of the hold. Guys from outside run in to make the save, except for Chris Sabin, who stands on the ramp and is talking to Jerry Lynn. Joe beats up Sonjay Dutt, who has some nice moves. Joe then calls for Angles blood. Nice. - No idea what the deal is with Sabin and Lynn. No explanation. Or maybe there was and I missed it. Christy Hemme and LAX LAX is still planning to burn the flag. Only now, they have some white guy who’s going to tag along with them. Christy is invited as well. Hey, wait a second! That’s Petey Williams! Also known as the Canadian Destroyer! Why is he with them? No idea. More hype for Joe vs Angle a la Video. Paparazzi Productions Two dudes in a bathroom, apparently taking a leak. Is H writing this stuff? Kevin Nash is taking a dump in a stall. Nash puts on a wig. Wrestling fans love gay porn. Team 3 – D You know, it’s really stupid. They’re the Dudley Boys. They’ll always be the Dudley Boys. But WWE won't let them use the Dudley Boys name, and it’s really hurting them. Apparently, D-Von and Bubba will be facing he Naturals. I will say that Bubba has improved a lot on promos. But when you hear Team 3 –D the reaction I have is ‘Who? Oh, yeah. Dudley Boys.” Naturals vs Dudley Boys – Tables match It was bad. No bullshit. Have the fans go nuts for it just makes it look rigged. Seriously, it was slow, and plodding. The six sided ring seems to throw everyone off. The end was Shane Douglas, right in front of D-Von, get in the ring and push a guy out of the way, and then take the move. And D-Von stood there and let him. Idiotic. But the Naturals do win. They put D-Von through a table. -Thinking about this match makes my brain hurt. I have a lot of ‘What the?” “Why did?” and ‘Who booked this?” Eric Young Again Who is this guy? Is he stupid? He’s going to try and make his announcement and stall while doing it, so that he can clearly be interrupted again. Is this supposed to be comedy? A couple of guys dressed like Raven’s old style come out and start to preach about a “Great Redeemer”. Who is obviously Raven. Unless he’s no longer with the company, but last I heard he was. Oh well. Road Dogg and Billy Gunn They were called the James Gang and now they have a new name. The Voodoo Kin Mafia. VKM. Just in case you missed it or just didn't care the first time, they say the real names of H and HBK and say Vince’s full name. EIGHT YEARS AGO SOME STUFF HAPPENED! That’s all you need to know, and now Road Dogg and a red headed Billy Gunn are declaring war on Vince. Step 1, use initials. And, oh forget about it. - I do know what this is about, and I don't care. You know, eight years is a long time and I didn't care about Billy Gunn back then, and I don't know. I’m more puzzled about how this “war” is supposed to be done. So far, they haven't done jack shit. Furthermore, what can they do? Bring in X-Pac? No one gives a crap about X-Pac? Bring in Chyna? Even worse. Rip off old DX skits? It’s old and stale. Hell, look at the effort WWE is putting into getting their new version of DX over. And they have the name, and the two most popular guys in it. It’s a losing battle and I think fans can see that right off the bat. Doomed to failure. It’s just mind-boggling. What can they do that would be new and exiting? Tell stories about the old days? Hasn't most of that been covered? Ad nasuem? Is there really anything new to tell? Really, this angle has so much disappointment written all over it, it’s a downer just thinking about it. More Nash Nash is back in the bathroom. Where’s Vito? Probably in the stall with Nash. Christian vs Rhyno It‘s a steel cage match, and again, the now six sides of steel seems to be throwing off Rhyno and Christian. Match was a dud. Call it a knock on Rhyno and Christian if you want, but it was slow, it was plodding and it was a few spots mixed in with a bunch of punching. They were allowed weapons too. A key. HAHAHA! A friggin’ key! A straightjacket, chairs, and bolt cutters. To make matters even worse, they went to commercial in the middle of it. We come back and Christian is bleeding. So, we missed the big blood spot. Smooth move TNA. A couple of falls from high places. Both guys are trying, but it’s not working. Rhyno gets his key. Just the thought of it cracks me up. He holds it up above a fallen Christian and then throws it away. That was it? You gotta be kidding me. Chairs come into play. Some nice spots. Then a horrible looking spot where Rhyno tries to do an F-5 move and plants Christians ribs on a chair. That was clearly not the plan. He was supposed to go through the chairs, not on them. Finish comes quickly after. Rhyno gores Christian through the cage onto the floor. That was horrible. Insulting really. The cage is that flimsy? Oh, I know it was supposed to show how powerful Rhyno is, but the exact opposite was my reaction. - A valiant effort. Both guys worked hard, but the deck was stacked against them. Stupid gimmicks, and a bad ending. It was a big ending, but it looked stupid. A straight jacket. Come on… Jim Cornette speaks With some baseball guy. I don't follow baseball. I fast forward. Sabin vs Christopher “Fallen Angle” Daniels vs A.J. Styles Solid match, that was too short. Some great work here, but it’s all for naught. Another crappy ending. Christian comes out, all bandaged up, says he has something to say, and gets knocked off the apron, onto the floor, and that lets Daniels get the win. -It was a “What the?” moment. Even WWE doesn't do stuff that bad. It was a solid match, with some cool looking moves, and the ending just squandered it. Nash Nash makes his decision and rules in favor of the one guy and says that the other guy has to pay him $100. The one guy is upset, and as Nash is walking away, he’s wearing a robe, and we see that he’s naked underneath. Good grief. Nash is really trying hard to get back into WWE. LAX They are in some park, I think, about to burn the flag. Petey then goes all American on them, and won't do it. LAX then beats him up, but runs off when the cops show up. A really sad angle. Abyss vs Angle Angles first match on TNA. It better be good. And it is. Not great, but pretty good. WE got thumbtacks. Whatever. Angle makes Abyss tap with the Ankle Lock. Samoa Joe then runs out to beat up Angle. Sting then descends from the ceiling in an unintentionally funny entrance, and chases off Joe. Abyss then goes after Angle again. And we start doing jump cuts to the ring and to the back. Apparently, Joe has Sting beaten and hanging upside down. Bah. A lame ending. The whole show was one lame ending after another it seemed like. All the angles were jumbled together to me. Like I said, I haven't been following Impact, so it was all new to me. And it made little sense. The only angle that really stood out was not a surprise. Angle vs Joe. The others, well, not sure what the plans were. Some other thoughts were that at least TNA had the sense to hype their products. I think there were several different types of DVDS for sale. The PPV hype seemed to be non-existant. I forgot it was this weekend. The announcers, Mike Tenay and Don West were not good. Tenay called the moves, but the two of them would not shut up. They were all over the place, jumping from one plug to the next, going back to the match, and then off somewhere else again. It was really annoying. Worse than that, it was distracting. The fans were another problem, which grew over time. In the Rhyno-Christian match they were going nuts, and even broke out a “This is awesome!” chant. Thing is, it wasn’t. It was stuff I had seen, and seen done better, many times on WWE TV. It just came across as forced. Then, after it had called attention to itself, it came across as being forced and silly. It wasn’t the worse show I’ve seen. But I can't say it was good. The best part being, No Jeff Jarrett. It was a chance to make a first impression on a lot of casual fans. It was a chance to regain old fans. TNA did come across as an alternative to WWE. A not very good one. The wrestling, which has always been it’s strongest suit, is being hampered by sports entertainment being thrust into the matches. Folks who were leery of the return of Russo have a reason to be. If this is his latest batch of ideas, I am not impressed. TNA does have some good qualities. The wrestlers themselves are solid. Some of the promos I heard were well delivered. Some of the wrestling I saw was damn good. The only part really dragging it down was the sports entertainment. And in a one-hour format, it’s going to be tough to get around that. Especially when the announcers run down every single angle every five minutes. But it was just one show, right? Maybe too much was crammed into the special. Maybe the pressure of trying to create a great show caught up TNA and the end results was too much of one thing and not enough of another? Here are results from last night’s PPV Genesis Recap Info courtesy of Matt Hagard VKM defeated Eric Devine, Matt Bentley, and Frankie Kazarian The ground war starts this Thursday. Two guys beat up three. Hey, it really is like DX! After the match Eric beaten up by Kazarian, and Bentley and Raven shows up. The Franchised Naturals vs Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal Shane Douglas wins. Daniels vs Sabin An X-Division championship match. Daniels wins. Sabin attacks him after the match and Jerry Lynn runs in. You may not expect jerry to turn on Chris. It’s the Russo way. Paparazzi Productions vs Ron Killings and Lance Hoyt Nash does the announcing. He’s not done destroying the X-Division, especially since Daniels has the title again, it may survive. In a truly surprising twist Killing and Hoyt win. Christian vs AJ Styles Daniels ran in to make a save and instead cost AJ the match. LAX vs AMW Tag Titles match. LAX wins with shenanigans. Jim Cornette then strips LAX of the title for attempting to burn the flag. Yes, and next will be the bringing back of the “USA!USA!” chant. Sting vs Abyss For the title. And Sting loses in a horribly booked match. Seriously, read the recap and tell me I’m wrong. Angle vs Samoa Joe Angle wins. Well, some big problems. Some little problems, and some actual angle, ha ha, progression. The choice of having Angle vs Joe this early is really a no brainer. It all depends on what the long term plans are. An early match, to let the two learn how to work together, and build an angle with more depth. The “score” is now Angle 1, Joe zero. Plenty of time to build the next one. Plenty to work with too. Yet the NWA title ending was a clusterfuck. Just reading it makes me cringe. In fact, the tag titles ending wasn’t any better. It seems to be relying on the old foreigner angle. And that’s been done to death. A PPV that seems to have suffered too much from Sports Entertainment. Now, I’m al for Sports Entertainment, but I’ve had more than my share of badly done SE. Granted, a lot of unintentional comedy can come out of it, but that’s not the way it should be done. Aside from Samoa Joe and Angle, nothing really seems to be clicking. At least from my one viewing of the Thursday night show. I didn't see the PPV, and may have lost something by just reading the recap. But if Thursday was Russo’s big chance to convince me to get the PPV, he failed. The only thing I’m interested in, is seeing how badly the VKM angle will fail. And there’s a lot to go wrong with that angle. The thing is, it’s all based on getting WWE to react, and there’s a strong chance they won't. WWE has been ravaged by the best. And not reacted. The psychology behind the angle is to get WWE fans to watch TNA. To see what TNA will do next. But I predict the opposite will happen. TNA fans will tune into WWE to see how they react. WWE fans can be told of what happened and just shrug their shoulders. It’s all been done before. It’s nothing new. TNA, excuse me, Russo will be banking on WWE making a mention or at least taking some kind of swipe in return, and then he can crow that he got the to react. If, and I stress if, a reaction is done, it will more than likely be some snide insider comment made by H. So, TNA making a big response about will drive folks to pay attention to H’s promos. Which is never advisable. It’s ten to twenty minutes of your life you’ll never get back. Final thoughts: Steph seems to be playing catch up. She’s been out of the drivers seat for a while and things have changed. Russo is pulling out old angles and trying to say they are new again. In the battle between the two, Steph is winning. TNA has a lot of talent, but it’s being misused. With Angle jumping ship, a lot of people were considering TNA as an option. The good part is, they can have more control over their angles, if they play their cards right. But the show is still weak. And then there’s the Jeff Jarrett question. No mention of him in the PPV recap. That could be good, in that he’s released his strangle hold on the show. But it looks like Russo has taken up the job. It could be bad, in that Jarrett could cancel out some of Russo’s influence, and thus allow the wrestlers to guide their angles, in the power deadlock. It’s still a gamble. The PPV is over and done, and the special is in the books. It’s a new chance for TNA to advance. The rating weren’t stellar, but they were on target. But if the word of mouth is anything to go on, it’s not looking good. Time to take the next step. The Angle buzz has worn off. What’s next TNA? Well that’s it for today. Sorry, but the Kane’s House segment was running long, and I wanted to get to TNA. But, I will try and get this up in it’s own column sometime this week. So, I’ll just throw the plugs out there and call it a day. QUICK PLUGS! LOP FORUMS New and Improved! The latest Sports, Entertainment news! What are you waiting for? LOP COLUMNS FORUM THE MOVIE BAR! Great place for reviews of DVD's, Music, and special video clips. Your one stop review spot. THE PROJECT LIVES! A creative site for creative people. Be sure to check out the forums! The Rose Reports A great site for politcal news links. LOP'S PWA E-FED. Best E-Fed on the net. Period. That's all for this week. Thanks for Readin' and Thanks For Ridin' Wevv Mang mrwevv@mac.com - PLEASE LABEL ALL EMAIL AS FEEDBACK. THANK YOU. MUST SEE New Pix of Kelly Kelly & Friends Partying!
|
|