Biggest news to report: Shelton Benjamin has been switched from Raw to the ECW roster. I don't think this bodes well for Charlie Haas. However, I think this is great for Shelton Benjamin. He is one of the top five wrestlers on the Raw brand and he gets buried so much he is seen but once a month on television. It's sad that a guy with that much talent gets such little television time. Part of the problem is that he had been paired with Haas again. I'm not knocking Haas, but this is clearly a case of Shawn Michaels/Marty Jannetty.
Benjamin can make a big impact on ECW. He is deserving of a belt and he held the Intercontinental Title for a fairly long period of time. He should be thrown into the ECW Championship mix and I think he would work a great program with CM Punk. I'm excited to tune into ECW on Tuesdays and see how Shelton fits.
TNA news: Tomko has had emergency surgery on a torn muscle. There is no word yet on how long he will be out of action. TNA can clean up this mess by teaming Christian with Styles and having the two drop the Tag Belts to the Steiners or - even better - Team 3D. This could push a Christian Cage - AJ Styles feud and a Team 3D - Motor City Machine Guns feud for the Tag Belts. I like Tomko, but this is not a horrible situation... except for Tomko... and I guess Prince Albert (A-Train) whom he shares the New Japan Tag Titles with (disclaimer: it may not be Albert that he shares the title with and it may not be New Japan that he wrestles for and he may already have lost that title... I guess I should have done some more research : - ( ).
I'm very curious to see how the Chris Jericho/Randy Orton program will be booked. I'm very curious to see how Edge is booked. I'm most curious to see if Triple H will book himself in a heel turn which, in my opinion, would then push Jeff Hardy to the top face - I guess only behind Jericho - on Raw.
Matt Hardy has had surgery on his appendix and will be out for 8 to 10 weeks. Jeez... more bad luck for the WWE. Matt Hardy is probably the hardest worker on Smackdown... if not the WWE. It works that they could play his absence as a knee injury courtesy of MVP. I guess MVP v. Matt Hardy for the U.S. Title at Wrestlemania 24?
I've actually been brainstorming a possible card for Wrestlemania... What do you think?...
Triple H v. Jeff Hardy for the WWE Championship - Triple H has won the belt from Randy Orton due to Chris Jericho's help and turned heel on Jeff Hardy who has won the Royal Rumble.
Edge v. The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship - Edge has won the World Title from Batista.
Chris Jericho (should he still be around) v. Randy Orton in some kind of special stipulation match... should the feud last this long...
Shawn Michaels v. Ken Kennedy should they still be feuding. I think this should be a great program. I hope Michaels lays down for Kennedy.
Ric Flair v. Ricky Steamboat - this is going to be Flair's last match and who better - besides I guess Sting - to work with in his farewell match. This is also dependent upon Steamboat's ability to work a match... a good match.
Batista v. Umaga v. Snitsky v. John Morrison v. the Miz v. Finlay in the Money in the Bank Match - this is because I have no idea how else to book these guys.
MVP v. Matt Hardy for the U.S. Championship - this feud can be booked longer and built better with Matt Hardy's injury.
Who am I missing? What do you think? I'm sure The Kidd will have something to say. I'll give some more thought and do a re-post.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our loyal readers!!!
Peace Out
- Seannie Wan
2008 WWE King of the Ring
William Regal - a big push followed by a 60 day suspension.
Showing posts with label Tomko. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tomko. Show all posts
11/17/07
Total? Nonstop? Action?
Allow me to take the wheel on TNA discussion this week. The Kidd is m.i.a... or m.i.t.n.a. rather.
TNA is geared toward the real wrestling fan. I don't like it more than the WWE, as horrible as the WWE shows have been since the Chris Benoit tragedy. I could very easily like it more, but there is something wrong. It's eerie... it's not tangible... it's out there floating around... it's the calm before the storm.
I was reading an article by Kevin Kelly - he was the fat dude who interviewed 'talent' 'backstage' on Raw telecasts during the 'Attitude' era - and he labeled TNA as a safe haven for all the WWE talent who didn't want to comply with the WWE Wellness Policy. I guess there is some truth to that. I personally don't harp on steroid abuse in any sport. If the athlete wants to destroy his or her body and his or her family and his or her life, they should be allowed to. This is America after all. If the athletes become more durable, a little faster, a little stronger, and a little more entertaining because of a drug, than I'm all for it. Don't take this as 'Seannie Wan supports steroid abuse.' It's not that at all. My point is that if somebody wants to do something illegal, they're going to do it and the powers that be may as well let them do it. It's their choice. I'm off track. The point of this post wasn't steroids, it was TNA Wrestling.
Yes, the calm before the storm. TNA is geared towards fans like The Kidd and myself. We are fans that want an intriguing story and an interesting match with high points that work well not just because they're high points but because the interest in the match and the result has been built up through good storytelling and athletic ability. That is what Jeff Jarrett is working for. Vince McMahon, on the other hand, is at a place where he is trying to figure out - hopefully - what direction his promotion is going to go in. The WWE seems geared for children right now... and that's fine as long as the pay-per-views don't suffer. As long as I can watch several well-worked matches, I'm OK with the stories being geared towards kids. TNA is geared for an older audience.
TNA's problem is that they're handing out contracts to talent that has run their course with the WWE in a bad way. Booker T... Andrew Martin... Junior Fatu... Scott Hall... More talent will arrive with great buildup and this talent will be pushed front and center. I understand that TNA needs somewhat well-known names now that they have a 2 hour program. However, pushing the talent that has been rejected by World Wrestling Entertainment simply because they're known talent is going to backfire. The young talent that has been with TNA through it all - the guys like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels and James Storm - are being buried in mid-card matches while Kurt Angle and Booker T headline a pay-per-view. TNA believes that their fans want to see Hall and Nash face Angle and a mystery opponent who is making his TNA debut after a long stint with the WWE (this is just an example, there is no former WWE wrestler set to make his debut at the next ppv), when in actuality, their fans want to see Samoa Joe win the world title and AJ Styles work a program with Christian Cage. This way of thinking will shoot Jeff Jarrett in the foot. The real talent that this promotion can be built around will lose their drive - especially working for 250 bucks a show - and think about the greener pastures of Connecticut. And yes! That was also WCW's downfall... i.e. Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Paul Wight, etc.
I really like TNA. Impact was pretty good on Thursday. I think the Team 3-D/x-Division feud is interesting. I didn't see the Havoc swerve coming... mostly because he is so uninteresting that I would expect something better... but regardless, I think it's a pretty cool feud. I really like the Motor City Machine Guns. I think AJ and Tomko jump from Christian to Angle is a nice story also. Rellik is pretty lame and Dustin Runnells must be very upset with how his career has turned out. Jay Lethal is a great talent, but his 'black Macho Man' gimmick is getting stale. There are ups and downs, but they are all interesting.
Overall, there is reason to get excited about Thursday night, but I just don't feel it yet. I feel very calm about TNA. It's a promotion on the brink of bankruptcy that continues to bring in over-the-hill talent as opposed to building up their own guys. Is there a storm coming? It's not James Storm, that's for sure. Something is going to give at some point.
I'll leave it up to The Kidd to comment further.
Survivor Series tomorrow night....
Peace Out
- Seannie Wan
TNA is geared toward the real wrestling fan. I don't like it more than the WWE, as horrible as the WWE shows have been since the Chris Benoit tragedy. I could very easily like it more, but there is something wrong. It's eerie... it's not tangible... it's out there floating around... it's the calm before the storm.
I was reading an article by Kevin Kelly - he was the fat dude who interviewed 'talent' 'backstage' on Raw telecasts during the 'Attitude' era - and he labeled TNA as a safe haven for all the WWE talent who didn't want to comply with the WWE Wellness Policy. I guess there is some truth to that. I personally don't harp on steroid abuse in any sport. If the athlete wants to destroy his or her body and his or her family and his or her life, they should be allowed to. This is America after all. If the athletes become more durable, a little faster, a little stronger, and a little more entertaining because of a drug, than I'm all for it. Don't take this as 'Seannie Wan supports steroid abuse.' It's not that at all. My point is that if somebody wants to do something illegal, they're going to do it and the powers that be may as well let them do it. It's their choice. I'm off track. The point of this post wasn't steroids, it was TNA Wrestling.
Yes, the calm before the storm. TNA is geared towards fans like The Kidd and myself. We are fans that want an intriguing story and an interesting match with high points that work well not just because they're high points but because the interest in the match and the result has been built up through good storytelling and athletic ability. That is what Jeff Jarrett is working for. Vince McMahon, on the other hand, is at a place where he is trying to figure out - hopefully - what direction his promotion is going to go in. The WWE seems geared for children right now... and that's fine as long as the pay-per-views don't suffer. As long as I can watch several well-worked matches, I'm OK with the stories being geared towards kids. TNA is geared for an older audience.
TNA's problem is that they're handing out contracts to talent that has run their course with the WWE in a bad way. Booker T... Andrew Martin... Junior Fatu... Scott Hall... More talent will arrive with great buildup and this talent will be pushed front and center. I understand that TNA needs somewhat well-known names now that they have a 2 hour program. However, pushing the talent that has been rejected by World Wrestling Entertainment simply because they're known talent is going to backfire. The young talent that has been with TNA through it all - the guys like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels and James Storm - are being buried in mid-card matches while Kurt Angle and Booker T headline a pay-per-view. TNA believes that their fans want to see Hall and Nash face Angle and a mystery opponent who is making his TNA debut after a long stint with the WWE (this is just an example, there is no former WWE wrestler set to make his debut at the next ppv), when in actuality, their fans want to see Samoa Joe win the world title and AJ Styles work a program with Christian Cage. This way of thinking will shoot Jeff Jarrett in the foot. The real talent that this promotion can be built around will lose their drive - especially working for 250 bucks a show - and think about the greener pastures of Connecticut. And yes! That was also WCW's downfall... i.e. Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Paul Wight, etc.
I really like TNA. Impact was pretty good on Thursday. I think the Team 3-D/x-Division feud is interesting. I didn't see the Havoc swerve coming... mostly because he is so uninteresting that I would expect something better... but regardless, I think it's a pretty cool feud. I really like the Motor City Machine Guns. I think AJ and Tomko jump from Christian to Angle is a nice story also. Rellik is pretty lame and Dustin Runnells must be very upset with how his career has turned out. Jay Lethal is a great talent, but his 'black Macho Man' gimmick is getting stale. There are ups and downs, but they are all interesting.
Overall, there is reason to get excited about Thursday night, but I just don't feel it yet. I feel very calm about TNA. It's a promotion on the brink of bankruptcy that continues to bring in over-the-hill talent as opposed to building up their own guys. Is there a storm coming? It's not James Storm, that's for sure. Something is going to give at some point.
I'll leave it up to The Kidd to comment further.
Survivor Series tomorrow night....
Peace Out
- Seannie Wan
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