2009 Running Pro Wrestling Thread

Yowza.

 

I figured that. I was just wondering if TNA decided to book a company brawl that ended up getting legitimately out of hand and someone ended up calling the cops.

Kind of like the Michaels/Hennig fight in NYC in 93 (or 94?) where the two of them decided to brawl on Howard Finkel's car as a rib, then had to run out of there when someone called the cops because they saw two guys fighting on a car.

 

You know, the sad thing about TNA, and I've said this before, is they have a LOT of legitimate talent. A.J. Styles. Christopher Daniels. Homicide. Hernandez. Beer Money. Matt Morgan. Samoa Joe. The Motor City Machine guns. Heck, even the annoying British guys aren't bad. If they had decent bookers, they could put on a decent show. And with as bad as Raw has gotten, they could find a good audience.

But instead, they book friggin' title matches with Angle and Sting and Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley. Angle can still put on some great matches, and the crowds love Sting even if he sucks in the ring, but Foley and Jarrett stink.

It's worse seeing those guys dominate the TNA title than it is seeing Cena-Trips-Orton dominate the WWE title. At least the guys on Raw can all still put on some pretty good matches, even if we have seen it 30 million times. On TNA, they're doing the same thing but with guys who suck.

 

Agreed on most of those points. I think they do a pretty good job of getting the TNA World Heavyweight Title to different guys, though. Guys like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Jeff Jarrett and several others have been in the mix for the title for awhile. At the moment, it looks to be centered around Sting, Jarrett and Angle; but in WWE, it's been between Orton, Triple H and Cena for months now.

If anyone needs to mix it up, WWE needs to freshen up the storylines.

 

Look at the title matches at the TNA PPVs going back to the first of the year:

Victory Road: Angle vs. Foley, Angle wins
Slammiversary: Mick Foley vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle, Angle wins
Sacrifice: Foley vs. Sting vs. Angle vs. Jarrett, Sting wins (stipulations mean he doesn't win TNA title)
Lockdown: Sting vs. Foley, Foley wins
Desitnation X: Sting vs. Angle (special ref was Jarrett, enforcer Foley), Sting wins
Against All Odds: Kurt Angle vs. Brother Ray vs. Brother Devon vs. Sting, Sting wins
Genesis: Sting vs. Rhino, Sting wins

Since last October, the only people to hold the title have been Foley, Sting and Angle. They seemed to be doing more to get the younger guys involved, and then sometime late last year, they dropped it.

 

Understandable.

The said can be said for WWE, too.

Look at the WWE PPVs dating back to the Royal Rumble in January, 2009:

Royal Rumble: John Cena (c) vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Cena wins
No Way Out: John Cena (c) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Kane vs. Chris Jericho vs. Mike Knox, Cena wins
WrestleMania 25: Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton, Triple H wins
Backlash: Triple H (c), Batista, & Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton & The Legacy, Orton wins
Judgment Day: Randy Orton (c) vs. Batista, Batista wins by DQ (Orton retains)
Extreme Rules: Randy Orton (c) vs. Batista, Batista wins
The Bash: Randy Orton (c) vs. Triple H, Orton wins
Night of Champions: Randy Orton (c) vs. Triple H vs. John Cena, Orton wins
SummerSlam: Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena, ?

We've had only four different champions on the Raw brand since January. I didn't count Smackdown, but I'm sure the said can be said on that brand, too.

 

Ricky Ortiz released today.

 

Former University of Tulsa linebacker. The Golden Hurricane family will be mourning his release, I'm sure. Those who even knew he was a pro wrestler.

 

Well, considering back in the old days, champions held their titles a lot longer, I'd say having four champs in a 8 month span is pretty busy.

Problem is, there's no new contenders crashing the top 4, and that's what makes it stale.

20 years ago, a champ and the No. 1 contender might feud for months. But they would keep coming up with new storylines to keep it fresh. Now, you keep shifting champions and keep the same storyline in place. And it's lasted for years.

 

Dare I say it? Raw has actually been entertaining tonight.
The DX stuff had its moments ("Hickinbotham!?" ... and "Summerslam? I thought it was Summerfest?"), it's been amusing to see Slaughter antagonizing the crowd as the American heel, and the return of the Miz was surprising and well done.
Only nitpicks are it would have been nice to see Big Show-Orton go to a clean finish and you know there's no way in hell Cena-Jericho ends clean. Other than that, it's been a good show so far.

 

Freddie Prinze Jr. the guest host next week, yet he already works for WWE.

 

Now, see that was a solid Raw and why? Because the 'guest host' stayed out of the way.

Nice to see them mix up the matches a bit. I was actually intrigued by the idea of Show vs. Orton and Cena vs. CJ. Too bad you could see next week's tag match coming from a mile away.

The DX stuff was stupid but it was a fun-type stupid so I was OK with it.

Anyone else love that women's match? Jeez, that was some good stuff. Kind of bummed they didn't let Beth win though, I don't know why but there's something I like about her.

Miz coming back was pretty predictable. I knew as soon as they introduced the "Calgary kid" that it has to be a stunt and figured since he wasn't on ECW and/or SD, it was Miz.

Overall, solid show. Did a nice job pushing us a week closer to SummerFest.