Professional wrestling thread

Saw the results of the TNA PPV and no titles changed hands and Samoa Joe triumphs.

 

What the hell was the point in giving Sting the title to begin with?

 

I wonder if Sting was the only one Double J was willing to drop the title to before he took time off? Or maybe it was in Sting's contract?

It's time to give the belt to Joe. Seriously, how much longer are they going to wait?

 

The only thing I can imagine they're thinking is that if they keep the belt out of the Joe-Angle feud, it theoretically gives you two strong top of the card matches. Of course what ends up happening is the title loses its luster when the two guys positioned as the company's best aren't even remotely concerned with the championship (at least Joe stole the belt and kept it from Jarrett leading into the Angle feud).

And TNA really needs to learn how to repackage people better. They give Robert Roode a makeover and hype him as wrestling's hottest free agent, only to have him look stupid against Eric Young at every turn. Then they take three drifting cruiserweights (Matt Bentley, Frankie Kazarian and Johnny Devine), give them new images, a new stable name and Raven as a manager, but then have them lose on the last two PPVs.

But quality control has never been a strong suit with TNA. Case in point: Team 3-D goes takes time off after losing to the James Gang, ostensibly to clear their heads (in reality, they had wrestled the required number of dates to fufill their contract), and they part with Brother Runt and wish him well. Runt goes punk and falls into an angle with Raven and Abyss, then 3-D comes back with no buildup and no acknowledgement of Runt. Then 3-D loses to the Naturals in a feud with little backstory and even less interest. And none of the three were on the PPV tonight.

TNA has an opportunity to take a bite out of the ratings of a stagnant and sometimes downright embarrasing WWE product, but they don't know how to handle success yet.

 

Wait. The "hottest free agent?" Isn't WWE doing that with MVP? Booooooooooooooooooooooooo.

 

I just finished watching TNA's "Turning Point" and overall, it was an entertaining show.
First off, Joe-Angle II was excellent, much better than their first encounter. The match went about 20-25 minutes and during the last 10 minutes, I literally was on the edge of my seat (I had avoided the spoilers until I could see the match). The ONLY strike against the match was the very end when Vince Russo's overbooking style required a ref bump. It took a little intensity away from the match, but thankfully, it didn't play too big of a part in the end. I have been dreaming of seeing Joe and Angle beat the hell out of each other for about 2 1/2 years now and tonight, the match lived up to what I wanted. If these two guys never wrestle again, I can live with it and be happy with what I got. My next dream match is Joe vs. Benoit. Hopefully it'll happen outside of WWE, like this match did.

As for the rest of the show, everything except the NWA title match ranged from solid to really good:
** I really enjoyed Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Sabin. They put on a clinic in the ring. I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with this Jerry Lynn storyline.

** The opening Paparazzi Challenge Series match was entertaining. Senshi (Low Ki) is one of my favorites, and Dutt is one of the most underrated workers in TNA. Austin (Aries) Starr is really good, though I prefer his ROH persona to his wannabe Macho Man Randy Savage one in TNA.

** Styles-Rhino was a great brawl. I was looking forward to a great match between these two and, while the tone of the match was completely different from what I was expecting, I thought it was fantastic and I'm looking forward to this feud continuing.

** Sting-Christian-Abyss was a mess. The finish was completely botched and it made Sting look like an idiot getting pinned on such a weak slam. Plus, there's been all this build up involving some secret that Tomko knows about Abyss and there was absolutely no payoff on the pay-per-view. Isn't that what PPV is for? To reward the people who fork down $35? I guess not.

** The flag match was OK. I really like Homicide and Hernandez. They're both really talented in the ring and I'm hoping they keep the belts for a while and get some good tag teams to work against. I've NEVER been a fan of America's Most Wanted. So, count me among the people who could care less that it looks like they're breaking up.


As for what's coming up next, I think Joe's long-awaited title reign starts at the next pay-per-view. He'll beat Abyss. And, then I'm predicting that TNA and SpikeTV will air some sort of ode to "Clash of the Champions" and put on a special that airs live on the same day as WrestleMania 23 with a main event of Joe defending the title against Kurt Angle. With what WWE is working with, I could see the TNA card being much more entertaining than 'Mania. I've not heard of any plans to do this, but I think it's something that TNA should think about doing. There's nothing like the day of WrestleMania for wrestling fans and I think people would watch in greater numbers cuz it's the biggest wrestling day of the year. It would be a huge change for them to gain some new fans that day.

 

I agree that Joe moves into the title picture. I also think Sting might have either ended his time with TNA or has 1-2 more matches, tops, before he's done with TNA.
I could definitely see a Joe-Angle title match, but to put it head-to-head against WM23 isn't the right thing to do. I know TNA is pushing the WWE-TNA feud as much as it can and perhaps the constant reminding, comparing, VKM, Ron Killings (rapping and calling out Cena) and Rhino (ripping the new ECW), etc. is a way to bring attention to the brand, but to put it against WM23 would be suicide. If they do it and they still only get the 50,000 or so PPV buys, or worse get less, then TNA will be embarrassed beyond belief. Sure, TNA can put on better matches because they have guys on the roster who want to do that more than act, but I sense Russo was brought in at this time to help TNA combat WWE much like WCW-WWE and we all know how that ended.

If TNA were to run up against WM23 on the same day, what would the TNA card look like since it would have to feature matches that make a statement and differ greatly from what WWE offers?

Remember too that some of TNA's wrestlers also work for ROH and don't they usually run cards in the same general area as WWE on WM weekend?

 

If it's a Clash of the Champions type of show, that would mean it's on free TV, not PPV. Spike TV has given them primetime specials already, so I suppose it's feasible, but I don't really know how successful it would be. I don't think TNA is even on the radar with most casual fans, whereas WWE is a household brand name. I think the only people who would end up watching the TNA show would be TNA diehards. You want to run a free TV special against one of the other WWE pay per views? Fine, go for it. But trying to run against WM is not a real bright idea.

 

Sorry to backtrack, but I just remembered this.

Did you guys ever see that footage when Sid broke his leg from doing that top rope move?

I think that was even more disturbing than the Beltran-Cameron collision two years ago.


Anyway, I hope Joe finally goes into the title picture, but it sounds to me like they're not done with the Abyss / Sting / Christian angle yet. I'm guessing it carries over to a blowoff at Final Resolution.

Maybe Joe will FINALLY get the belt at Against All Odds.

Anyone else here a big fan of LAX? It's amazing to me how long it took them to find a good fit for Homicide and Konnan, but Hernandez has been great. This team kind of looked like an after thought when they were doing the "protest" thing last year. Right now, they're by far the hottest tag team wrestling has seen since the early Hardys vs. Edge and Christian feuds.

 

Last night's RAW was the epitome of why I despise Vince McMahon and the Monday show. The whole program is build around K-Fed vs. John Cena ... two guys who can't wrestle.

Also, why bury Jeff Hardy (to Umaga) and Jonny Nitro (to Cena) when those two have put on some rather entertaining matches and have been getting solid heat behind them from the fans. Since Hardy's return, he's been great in the ring, much better than I remembered and the Intercontinental Title had JUST finally started to gain some value. Johnny Nitro has been really improving lately and his matches have been worth watching. With Melina at his side, it looks like he's got a solid future.
But, both of those guys looked like chumps last night. There's a roster full of mid-carders, so why not job them out? It seems like WWE can only focus on one or two feuds at a time and they forget to think longterm about the "undercard."

The only good thing for me was the reuniting of "The World's Greatest Tag Team." It's been too long since they've done anything with the wildly talented Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. Here's to hoping for a good feud with The Hardys, or they're shipped to SmackDown with the rest of the good tag teams.

 

Sting-Hogan and DDP-Hennig, right?

 

I liked Raw enough last night. At least TWGTT is back and there weren't a lot of screwy finishes like there usually are. I didn't like having Flair come back two weeks after getting brutalized by Rated RKO. And if they're going to rehabilitate Kenny Doane, they could start by having him lose the headband and not get his ass kicked all the time. But the rest of it was acceptable to pretty good in spots (they've done a good job making Victoria as evil and crazy as she was when she debuted, though they don't really have any choice BUT to make her Mickie James' top contender, since they're the only two women who can wrestle worth a shit).