BrooklynBomber
The Champ is Here
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- Feb 26, 2005
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Well, here's my latest comeback rant, mostly on the state of WWe programming.
Summerslam is usually my favorite event of the year, because it wraps up feuds, starts new ones, and more often than not has some of the better matches on PPV all year.
I didn't give a shit about this year's Summerslam. The top 3 promoted matches all featured part time performers, and lets break down those bouts individually.
DX vs The McMahons: The entire idea of this feud is absurd, and the only ones buying into it are people who really have no idea about wrestling. Triple H is McMahon's son-in-law, and HBK has long been one of Vince's favorite sons. The McMahons are not good in-ring performers, and regardless of what I'm going to hear about Shane, all he's good for is taking kill himself bumps, thats it. Triple H's work hasn't been worth watching in the ring for years, and he's been cutting the same promo since 2001. Shawn's the only in-ring performer worth anything in the match. Then, to have DX, two forty year old guys acting like college frat boys, get decimated by guys like Big Show, Finlay, Kennedy, Umaga, etc etc and still come back and win is both demeaning to all the performers who jumped them, and is insulting to the fans intelligence. This is the McMahon family, Triple H and Shawn included, putting themselves all over the top of the card, and all over the shows, because they can, and think they can outdraw anything. Its annoying and takes away valuable time from performers many people would rather see, or should see.
Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Orton: As much as I hate Hogan, the guy draws big money, so it makes sense to bring him in to boost the buyrate. Randy Orton is the "Legend Killer", and as much as I hate seeing him work old guy after old guy, the Hogan angle is a good idea...if booked right. Hogan ends up tearing his meniscus, essentially giving him two bad legs, and made virtually immobile. Orton hasn't improved a whole lot since his 2003 push to the top, but against Hogan the matches are always seen as less is more. Now, we all know Hogan has a problem doing jobs. Thats one of the main reasons I dislike him, how can you make a new star if this semi-retired guy twenty years past his best still can beat him? Well this leg injury would have been win-win on all sides if Orton had gone over like he should have. Hogan could have helped really raise Orton's stock which has been in limbo since he was de-pushed by Triple H, and he could have played up the injury as to not lose face, and could have been applauded for his brave effort. But instead, Hogan, despite being almost immobile still beats Orton. Its stupid booking, and is a showcase for Hogan's selfishness, and again, was an angle that made me change the channel everytime I saw it.
Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair: I don't like Mick Foley, and its not for the reason you would probably think. I enjoy a good hardcore match, and in his prime Mick could do it as well as anyone. I don't like Mick because he is a hypocrite, and another guy who is selfish, because he's balked and no-showed indy events to instead go make more money working for WWE, like he needs it. I don't like Ric Flair because ever since the start of the 90's the guy is a charicature of the guy who was one of the best in the 80's. He's a silly routine worker, and its annoyingly predictable what happens when you see Ric in the ring. Under hardcore rules, I figured these two would probably have the best match of the night, and from what I've read, they did, and I still don't care because its not like either one of these guys did anything that they haven't done before, and they had a good match, but its not a program I cared about because of what a sad cartoon Flair has become, and what a hypocrite Foley is.
Foley in a 2004 Shoot: "I would have liked to work a program with Ric Flair, but when I found out what he was saying about me behind my back, and shaking my hand to my face, I won't ever work with Ric Flair, because I don't want him making money off of me." - Wow Mick, you sure keep your word don't you?
The irony of RAW is that the FOURTH, FOURTH most important program is the only one to feature two full time performers, and one of them is the World champion. That is ridiculous booking. You can clearly see that Edge has lost his passion for what he's doing, because he's being disrespected by management. He's the top guy, yet has to play FOURTH fiddle to the three other programs? I'm not a John Cena fan, but the guy is in a world title program and is that low on the card? He's being disrespected by management too. You'd think they'd give this guy a lot more face time since he has a WWE films movie coming out. There's no intelligence being put behind this at all.
On the Smackdown side of things, their top program is Batista trying to reclaim his title against King Booker. I'm upset to see it, just because Booker's been SD's best and most reliable worker especially post-Mania, and his fire has been reignited by this title run. It'll be surprising if he keeps the title past next month, but the DQ finish was a nice swerve to keep the belt on Booker a little bit longer, and Batista didn't look to shabby in there either.
However I'm disgusted by the Chavo/Rey/Vickie program. Eddy's name has been whored out since his passing, and this is by far the sickest exploitation of it, because its the three people closest to him. And the sicker part? The Guerrero family are the heels?! How can you not sympathize with people seeing their uncle/husband's name used by someoene else for career advancement? And how can the three of them go along with this? I was happy to hear this match was sufficiently booed, and will not be watching Smackdown for a long while because of this blatant disregard for Eddie Guerrero. Watch for Vickie's heel turn on Friday night, it makes me sick. To quote Dave Meltzer "I bet Vince is kicking himself for not thinking of this with Melanie Pillman."
Big Show vs. Sabu: As I understand, Kurt Angle was supposed to turn this into a three way dance, but the groin injury he suffered is really bad, and management is wisely giving him time to heal up. On a side note, I'd like to note how bad I feel for Angle's situation of a divorce and constant injury. Yeah he screwed up his marriage, but the guy just wants to insure another run at the top while he's still healthy, and as the Bret Hart of this era, you hate to see someone that talented have their career cut short/
Back to the title match. Uhh, I wasn't sure how these styles would mesh, and I felt Sabu should have been made to work a lot dirtier, more in tune like when his uncle wrestled Andre. But the match itself was alright, and hats off to Show who's been working really hard to up his game, and is a genuine nice guy if you ever meet him.
The WWE situation is bad. I don't ever remember not wanting to watch it like I am right now. On the bright side, TNA is still very watchable. And here are some thoughts.
Departures: Positive side? Kevin Nash is likely not going to be used much anymore. His contract is almost up, and his constant injuries seem to have TNA not wanting to bring him back, as his presence did nothing to elevate the X Division as planned.
Sting will also likely not be returning when his contract expires at the end of the year. Despite his claim to want to help put over young talent, and help TNA establish a bigger presence, he hasn't done a lot. His involvement did help TNA get a bigger audience to a degree, but he hasn't done the job for anyone but Jarrett, and hasn't really given anyone a rub. He's been at the top of the card since he's come in, and has shot down almost every angle he's been pitched. He hasn't helped TNA as much as they had hoped, and I really don't think anybody's going to miss Sting.
On the negative side, two very talented workers are asking for releases. The first of which was Monty Brown, who asked for his prior to the last PPV, while intending to work whatever dates he was needed for, a very professional move. Brown was supposed to have a push coming, but it never materialized. He's an energetic presence, and a really good worker who's still improving, and could have done a lot for TNA, but it was more of a situation of not having anything for him at the time. WWE is said to have a lot of interest in him.
The other star asking for release was Ron Killings. Killings is a former two time NWA champion, and easily one of the most talented guys on the roster. Killings was also supposed to have a big push coming, but it failed to happen. Killings is extremely over in Mexico, and is wanted by both AAA, and Vampiro's Revolution promotion.
Christian's heel turn has been handled very well, despite its predictability, and should end with him beating Sting in their expected feud, possibly for another NWA title run. He is expected to have a PPV match with Rhino, which should end up being very good since both men have a long history together since their indy days.
The Naturals run under Shane Douglas is more entertaining each week, and seeing this talented team climb the ladder is a real treat.
Raven will be back in the mix working Abyss, in a program that could produce show stealing matches. Raven has lost most of the weight from his thyroid condition, and although Liu and I both thought a possible Raven/Abyss/Mitchell stable could be an entertaining one, as a sort of new version of Jake Roberts/Taker/Paul Bearer.
Bobby Roode's promotional videos each week are good, and are very similar to the way Randy Savage was brought into WWE, and look at how far he went. Roode has the potential and talent to be a big star for a long time to come.
Senshi is a heat magnet right now for badly beating Sonjay Dutt with his notorious stiff kicks in TNA, and they are looking to take the belt off of him and put it on Chris Sabin, which if nothing else should produce an excellent match.
Is it just me, or is Eric Young's "Don't Fire Eric" gimmick extremely entertaining? The guy's a fantastic worker, and this new gimmick is giving him a very over personality, I smell an X title soon for him.
The AMW break up has the potential to be a feud of the year. Normally I would be against breaking up such a talented team, but TNA actually needs to make room in their tag team division because theres so much talent there. Plus, these guys are both very capable of making it on their own, and working against each other could produce matches that could lead to big things for both guys. I'd like to see this feud last for a while, like Tommy Rich and Buzz Sawyer, because it could very well be that good.
Speaking of the tag division, the LAX are hot right now, and the program with AJ and Daniels is making all four guys look great. I'm hoping that AJ and Daniels both go back to singles competition soon, but for right now I don't mind seeing these awesome matches.
Samoa Joe's push has been going on for quite a while and he needs to be put into the NWA title picture real soon. If the bookers are smart, Sting takes the belt off of Jarrett, drops it to Christian, and we see some Christian/Joe matches main eventing.
Look for Austin Aries's "Austin Starr" promos, as that will be his name in TNA. Starr or Aries, I don't care, he's an impact player and is a very valuable commodity.
Jeff Jarrett is still champion, but with all the foreshadowing going on, it seems as if Jeff realizes he needs to step down and out of the top of the card for a little while before people start calling him "Triple J."
And finally, kudos to TNA for using Scott Steiner in the right capacity, which I didn't think was possible anymore. They limit his in-ring time, have him job clean to Joe, TNA knew what they were doing bringing Steiner in.
TNA is almost guaranteed to be moving to a two hour format, hallelujah. It is unknown what night it will be on, or what hour it will shift to, but it is definite that it won't be Monday night.
Summerslam is usually my favorite event of the year, because it wraps up feuds, starts new ones, and more often than not has some of the better matches on PPV all year.
I didn't give a shit about this year's Summerslam. The top 3 promoted matches all featured part time performers, and lets break down those bouts individually.
DX vs The McMahons: The entire idea of this feud is absurd, and the only ones buying into it are people who really have no idea about wrestling. Triple H is McMahon's son-in-law, and HBK has long been one of Vince's favorite sons. The McMahons are not good in-ring performers, and regardless of what I'm going to hear about Shane, all he's good for is taking kill himself bumps, thats it. Triple H's work hasn't been worth watching in the ring for years, and he's been cutting the same promo since 2001. Shawn's the only in-ring performer worth anything in the match. Then, to have DX, two forty year old guys acting like college frat boys, get decimated by guys like Big Show, Finlay, Kennedy, Umaga, etc etc and still come back and win is both demeaning to all the performers who jumped them, and is insulting to the fans intelligence. This is the McMahon family, Triple H and Shawn included, putting themselves all over the top of the card, and all over the shows, because they can, and think they can outdraw anything. Its annoying and takes away valuable time from performers many people would rather see, or should see.
Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Orton: As much as I hate Hogan, the guy draws big money, so it makes sense to bring him in to boost the buyrate. Randy Orton is the "Legend Killer", and as much as I hate seeing him work old guy after old guy, the Hogan angle is a good idea...if booked right. Hogan ends up tearing his meniscus, essentially giving him two bad legs, and made virtually immobile. Orton hasn't improved a whole lot since his 2003 push to the top, but against Hogan the matches are always seen as less is more. Now, we all know Hogan has a problem doing jobs. Thats one of the main reasons I dislike him, how can you make a new star if this semi-retired guy twenty years past his best still can beat him? Well this leg injury would have been win-win on all sides if Orton had gone over like he should have. Hogan could have helped really raise Orton's stock which has been in limbo since he was de-pushed by Triple H, and he could have played up the injury as to not lose face, and could have been applauded for his brave effort. But instead, Hogan, despite being almost immobile still beats Orton. Its stupid booking, and is a showcase for Hogan's selfishness, and again, was an angle that made me change the channel everytime I saw it.
Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair: I don't like Mick Foley, and its not for the reason you would probably think. I enjoy a good hardcore match, and in his prime Mick could do it as well as anyone. I don't like Mick because he is a hypocrite, and another guy who is selfish, because he's balked and no-showed indy events to instead go make more money working for WWE, like he needs it. I don't like Ric Flair because ever since the start of the 90's the guy is a charicature of the guy who was one of the best in the 80's. He's a silly routine worker, and its annoyingly predictable what happens when you see Ric in the ring. Under hardcore rules, I figured these two would probably have the best match of the night, and from what I've read, they did, and I still don't care because its not like either one of these guys did anything that they haven't done before, and they had a good match, but its not a program I cared about because of what a sad cartoon Flair has become, and what a hypocrite Foley is.
Foley in a 2004 Shoot: "I would have liked to work a program with Ric Flair, but when I found out what he was saying about me behind my back, and shaking my hand to my face, I won't ever work with Ric Flair, because I don't want him making money off of me." - Wow Mick, you sure keep your word don't you?
The irony of RAW is that the FOURTH, FOURTH most important program is the only one to feature two full time performers, and one of them is the World champion. That is ridiculous booking. You can clearly see that Edge has lost his passion for what he's doing, because he's being disrespected by management. He's the top guy, yet has to play FOURTH fiddle to the three other programs? I'm not a John Cena fan, but the guy is in a world title program and is that low on the card? He's being disrespected by management too. You'd think they'd give this guy a lot more face time since he has a WWE films movie coming out. There's no intelligence being put behind this at all.
On the Smackdown side of things, their top program is Batista trying to reclaim his title against King Booker. I'm upset to see it, just because Booker's been SD's best and most reliable worker especially post-Mania, and his fire has been reignited by this title run. It'll be surprising if he keeps the title past next month, but the DQ finish was a nice swerve to keep the belt on Booker a little bit longer, and Batista didn't look to shabby in there either.
However I'm disgusted by the Chavo/Rey/Vickie program. Eddy's name has been whored out since his passing, and this is by far the sickest exploitation of it, because its the three people closest to him. And the sicker part? The Guerrero family are the heels?! How can you not sympathize with people seeing their uncle/husband's name used by someoene else for career advancement? And how can the three of them go along with this? I was happy to hear this match was sufficiently booed, and will not be watching Smackdown for a long while because of this blatant disregard for Eddie Guerrero. Watch for Vickie's heel turn on Friday night, it makes me sick. To quote Dave Meltzer "I bet Vince is kicking himself for not thinking of this with Melanie Pillman."
Big Show vs. Sabu: As I understand, Kurt Angle was supposed to turn this into a three way dance, but the groin injury he suffered is really bad, and management is wisely giving him time to heal up. On a side note, I'd like to note how bad I feel for Angle's situation of a divorce and constant injury. Yeah he screwed up his marriage, but the guy just wants to insure another run at the top while he's still healthy, and as the Bret Hart of this era, you hate to see someone that talented have their career cut short/
Back to the title match. Uhh, I wasn't sure how these styles would mesh, and I felt Sabu should have been made to work a lot dirtier, more in tune like when his uncle wrestled Andre. But the match itself was alright, and hats off to Show who's been working really hard to up his game, and is a genuine nice guy if you ever meet him.
The WWE situation is bad. I don't ever remember not wanting to watch it like I am right now. On the bright side, TNA is still very watchable. And here are some thoughts.
Departures: Positive side? Kevin Nash is likely not going to be used much anymore. His contract is almost up, and his constant injuries seem to have TNA not wanting to bring him back, as his presence did nothing to elevate the X Division as planned.
Sting will also likely not be returning when his contract expires at the end of the year. Despite his claim to want to help put over young talent, and help TNA establish a bigger presence, he hasn't done a lot. His involvement did help TNA get a bigger audience to a degree, but he hasn't done the job for anyone but Jarrett, and hasn't really given anyone a rub. He's been at the top of the card since he's come in, and has shot down almost every angle he's been pitched. He hasn't helped TNA as much as they had hoped, and I really don't think anybody's going to miss Sting.
On the negative side, two very talented workers are asking for releases. The first of which was Monty Brown, who asked for his prior to the last PPV, while intending to work whatever dates he was needed for, a very professional move. Brown was supposed to have a push coming, but it never materialized. He's an energetic presence, and a really good worker who's still improving, and could have done a lot for TNA, but it was more of a situation of not having anything for him at the time. WWE is said to have a lot of interest in him.
The other star asking for release was Ron Killings. Killings is a former two time NWA champion, and easily one of the most talented guys on the roster. Killings was also supposed to have a big push coming, but it failed to happen. Killings is extremely over in Mexico, and is wanted by both AAA, and Vampiro's Revolution promotion.
Christian's heel turn has been handled very well, despite its predictability, and should end with him beating Sting in their expected feud, possibly for another NWA title run. He is expected to have a PPV match with Rhino, which should end up being very good since both men have a long history together since their indy days.
The Naturals run under Shane Douglas is more entertaining each week, and seeing this talented team climb the ladder is a real treat.
Raven will be back in the mix working Abyss, in a program that could produce show stealing matches. Raven has lost most of the weight from his thyroid condition, and although Liu and I both thought a possible Raven/Abyss/Mitchell stable could be an entertaining one, as a sort of new version of Jake Roberts/Taker/Paul Bearer.
Bobby Roode's promotional videos each week are good, and are very similar to the way Randy Savage was brought into WWE, and look at how far he went. Roode has the potential and talent to be a big star for a long time to come.
Senshi is a heat magnet right now for badly beating Sonjay Dutt with his notorious stiff kicks in TNA, and they are looking to take the belt off of him and put it on Chris Sabin, which if nothing else should produce an excellent match.
Is it just me, or is Eric Young's "Don't Fire Eric" gimmick extremely entertaining? The guy's a fantastic worker, and this new gimmick is giving him a very over personality, I smell an X title soon for him.
The AMW break up has the potential to be a feud of the year. Normally I would be against breaking up such a talented team, but TNA actually needs to make room in their tag team division because theres so much talent there. Plus, these guys are both very capable of making it on their own, and working against each other could produce matches that could lead to big things for both guys. I'd like to see this feud last for a while, like Tommy Rich and Buzz Sawyer, because it could very well be that good.
Speaking of the tag division, the LAX are hot right now, and the program with AJ and Daniels is making all four guys look great. I'm hoping that AJ and Daniels both go back to singles competition soon, but for right now I don't mind seeing these awesome matches.
Samoa Joe's push has been going on for quite a while and he needs to be put into the NWA title picture real soon. If the bookers are smart, Sting takes the belt off of Jarrett, drops it to Christian, and we see some Christian/Joe matches main eventing.
Look for Austin Aries's "Austin Starr" promos, as that will be his name in TNA. Starr or Aries, I don't care, he's an impact player and is a very valuable commodity.
Jeff Jarrett is still champion, but with all the foreshadowing going on, it seems as if Jeff realizes he needs to step down and out of the top of the card for a little while before people start calling him "Triple J."
And finally, kudos to TNA for using Scott Steiner in the right capacity, which I didn't think was possible anymore. They limit his in-ring time, have him job clean to Joe, TNA knew what they were doing bringing Steiner in.
TNA is almost guaranteed to be moving to a two hour format, hallelujah. It is unknown what night it will be on, or what hour it will shift to, but it is definite that it won't be Monday night.
