WWE sitcoms. They can’t be serious?

When I first heard about this story a while back, I just about fell over laughing.  The problem was, this was not a joke.  The WWE really is going to make Its own sitcom, based around Santino Marella, Beth Phoenix, and Kozlov.  Of course It will be an online show on WWE.com, that according to Marella will be shopped around to the networks after the first season.  Okay, let me first start off by saying that I do think that Santino is funny.  His little skits that he does on Raw can be very entertaining.  And his involvment with Beth Phoenix as the duo known as Glamarella was also quite humorous.  But a sitcom?  And with Kozlov (the most boring man in Wrestling) as his best friend?  I just can’t see this being anything but a train wreck.  I suppose like most sitcoms, It will be a wait and see kind of thing.  But if WWE’s movie division has taught us anything, It’s that most Wrestlers should stick to Wrestling.   For Santino though, this might actually turn out to be a good thing.  He has stated that if the show is successful, he would like to spend more time working on acting.  As it stands right now, Marella is just used for comedy relief anyway.  So getting a little bit of experince doing a sitcom (even if it’s a wwe venture) can only help.  As for Beth Phoenix.  She still has a good in ring future, so hopefully she won’t lose too much time working on this.  And Kozlov?  Who really cares.

Pope is pimpin…And TNA fans love it.

It has often been said that one mans garbage is another mans treasure.  This saying has been played out a few times in the world of Pro Wrestling.  Way back when, a very under-used Wrestler who went by the name of “Stunning” Steve Austin makes his exit from WCW;  then shows up in ECW, before finally getting to the WWE. We all know what happened there. And even before that, there was the story of  the AWA just not knowing how to market a guy by the name of Hulk Hogan.  Now granted these are two of the biggest names ever, there are still examples of Wrestlers leaving a company and getting a shot at re-inventing themselves somewhere else.  For what ever reason they had, the WWE released Elijah Burke.  Here we have a person who is very athletic, and great on the mic. That alone is usually all the WWE looks for.  That, and you should be huge.  Perhaps that was the problem.  Maybe Burke wasn’t tall enough?  Either way, they let him go, and eventually he turns up in TNA.  I have to admit that the first time I saw him with his Pope gimick, I laughed.  I didn’t quite get it, and even to this day I wish he would lose the surgical mask.  But then a strange thing happened. I started to like this character.  Like a lot of people probably did, I assumed this whole “steet preacher” thing was a religious angle.  But after hearing a few promo’s you get over that notion pretty quick.  I also noticed a funny thing happening in the Impact Zone as well.  The fans started to embrace The Pope .  Now, hearing “Pope is pimpin” chants is a regular occurence.  I do however think that there is room for improvement with Popes in ring work.  But he really has improved greatly in a short amount of time.  His matches with Desmond Wolfe have proved that he has the potential to be one of the best.  I recently heard a comparison of Popes popularity to that of The Rocks, in his early days.  I don’t think we will see somebody reach the heights that The Rock has achieved in Wrestling for quite some time.  But I do think that the Pope, if used properly could be a very big star for TNA.   I guess this one is a minor loss for WWE.  Of course they did get back Ron  “R-Truth” Killings.  So I guess thats a fair trade.

WWE Royal Rumble 2010 Review

This years Royal Rumble  was billed as being the most star studded lineup ever.  Granted they say this pretty much every year, but this was definitely one of the best groups Ive seen in quite a while.  But before we get to the Rumble match itself, there were a few matches before the big dance to talk about.  The first of which was for the ECW Championship.  I have always been a fan of Christian, but I didn’t hold out much hope for this being any good since his opponet was Ezekiel Jackson.  Thankfully I was surprised by how good this match turned out to be.  Big Zeke has improved quite a bit over the last few months, and with Christians ability to make just about anybody look good, this was a very good way to start off the show.  Next up was the United States Champion The Miz, taking on MVP.  For the most part this was very much by the numbers, and I actually found my attention wandering.  I’m not sure If Its because I find MVP boring, or because of my lack of interest in this feud, but I was just happy to see this one come to an end.  Thankfully the next up was Randy Orton vs Sheamus.  I was really interested in seeing how the crowd would react to two “bad guys” facing off.  It didn’t take long to get my answer.  The crowd was behind Randy Orton, almost 100%  As for the match itself.  I have to say, It was better than average.  Sheamus has great potential, and seeing two heels try to out do each other with who can be more destructive was fun to watch.  I would love to see these two have at it a few more times.  The only down side to this match,  was that it was short. But because of the Rumble match itself, this was the case for pretty much all the matches.   Naturally after something heavy like that, we need a bit of comedy relief, which brings us to the Womens Championship match between Michelle McCool and Mickie James.  Mercifully I think this will be the end of the whole Piggy James angle.  There wasn’t a whole lot to mention match wise, except that it was very fast, and kind of funny.  Now that we have had a laugh, we get serious again, and settle in for Rey Mysterio vs The Undertaker.  You know with Mysterio you are going to get a lot of fast action and some high flying, which is probably why he was given this shot.  Taker is rather beat up, and probably shouldn’t even be holding the Championship right now, but he is a big draw, so we have him going against somebody exciting, that can carry the match for the most part.  And all things considered It worked.  I’m not sure I would like to see these two work together too much, but for one night It was a good pairing.  Now this brings us to The Rumble.  I was going to list the order in which everybody came in, but I thought that would be too much of a spoiler for those that haven’t seen It yet.  So let me just say that I was happy to see a good collection of top stars this year, with a few funny moments, a couple of twists, and at least one good surprise.  Overall this was a very good Royal Rumble.  Now to see how things play out on the Road to Wrestlemania.

TNA’s Damage control

So here we are only one week after the fiasco that was the re-creation of the Montreal Screwjob on Impact, and It appears that a little bit of back peddling is going on.  Yes, the incident  was highlighted.  But for the most part It was explained away quickly, and thus we got back to the show.  In a nut shell, Earl Hebbner took the blame and said he was paid off by Ric Flair to do It. Kurt Angle appologizes to Hogan for spitting on him, and Hogan tells Angle if he ever does something like that again, he’ll be fired.   All wrapped up nice and neat in just a few short segments.  Somebody, somehow, must have noticed the reaction to this little bit, and decided to get it done and over with as quickly as possible.  I for one am very glad that this happened, especially since the rest of Impact seemed to be back to normal.  Which typically means, more actual Wrestling.  The start of a new tournament to crown a number one contender for A.J.’s World Title, and a new ranking system in TNA, should make things more interesting for a while.  And straight from the rumour mill, there are rumblings of an all X-Division Pay Per View.  Now that would certainly be something to watch.  And It would show that the new “powers that be” aren’t about to brush the X-Division off.  Now if things can build more along these lines, I think Impact will continue to get better.  But we will just have to wait and see.

Monday Night Wars, set to return.

So, the word going around right now is that starting March 1st, Impact will start airing on Monday Nights again.  One will be live, then the next night they will tape an episode for the next week.  Meaning that every other week will be live.  Either way, the move to Mondays looks to be a permanent one, thus starting an all new Monday Night War.  As exciting as this sounds, and as much as I loved the original battle between WWE and WCW, I don’t think this is a good idea.  At least not yet anyway.  As we have seen in just a few short weeks with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff running the show, things can get mighty strange.  TNA right now is in a transition phase.  They are adding new talent, and trying to streamline their product.  I really think that this is way too soon to be going head to head with the WWE.  Looking back on the original Monday Night War, you have to remember that WCW was in a much different position.   They had been around for quite some time, had many established stars who were big names, and were selling out arena’s.  Of course It wasn’t until the whole NWO thing, that the company really starting taking it to WWE.  But the point is, they were in the right position to do it.   I do remember a time when WCW also used to tape out of Universal Studio’s in Orlando.  They wouldn’t have tried competing with the WWE head to head back then.  And this is very close to where I think TNA is at right now.  They are close to breaking out, and perhaps in time they would be ready for this battle, but not right now.  Now I know that the three hour special did great ratings, but is that the kind of thing they can keep up week after week?  The other part of this, and It’s something that bothered me about the first Monday Night battles too, is why compete at all?  Yes It was exciting, but at the same time It hurt both companies.  WWE by their own admission, almost went under, and eventually WCW did !  So really, I would be perfectly happy to see TNA keep getting better, and growing, and staying on Thursday nights un-opposed.  But for now, Its a matter of playing wait and see.  Hogan and Bischoff have until March to fine tune their strategy, and then we will all get to see the new Wars begin.  Should be interesting.

Pre-Royal Rumble, thought’s and predictions

With the Royal Rumble less than a week away, I thought I would weigh in with my thoughts on the overall card itself, and how I think things might play out.  Like many of you, I do like to check out the most recent rumours and gossip, but when it comes to Pay Per Views, I try not to read them just prior to the show, so I can be surprised.  Especially since plans change so rapidly.  What somebody thinks is a possible spoiler, turns out to be nothing at all.  That being said, some of the recent things I have read, and watching the show’s leading up to the Rumble have me wondering if we are going to be getting a show with zero surprise factor at all.  First off, we have the ECW Championship being defended.  Christian vs Ezekiel Jackson.  Why on Earth Christian has been forced to sit this long in ECW is beyond me.  Sure he has been the Champion for quite some time, but he deserves to be on one of the main shows.  I see Christian losing this match simply so they can take the Title off of him in preperation for a move come draft time. Next up we have the Womens Championship match.  Michelle McCool vs Mickie James.  Normally I would think that James would win this one, just to finally put an end to the whole “Piggy James” nonsense.  But with talk of her releasing a Country album of all things, I have my doubts.  This might turn out to be a half decent match though, since these two can actually wrestle.  The first of the two World Title matches is The Undertaker vs Rey Mysterio.  Taker is in pretty rough shape these days, so I don’t see this being a very long one.  Rey will be fast, and make this look exciting, but in the end Taker wins and moves on to the main event at Wrestlemania.  The second Title defense is Sheamus, taking on Randy Orton.  Earlier I did a post on how I felt that Sheamus would not walk out of this match as Champion, because I did not see him headling Wrestlemania.  I still stand by that, but some rumours are going around about the Rumble match itself that puts a bit of doubt in my mind now.  And so that brings us to the Rumble Match itself.  As per usual, the build up has highlighted how this is every man for himself.  People making bold claims that they will win.  Silly over the top rope challenges, and teams having words with each other.  Teams like D.X.  And here is where things get a little strange.  The whole notion that if Shawn Michaels wins, he can get his shot at The Undertaker again.  And HHH, basically just wanting to win, because…..well, just because.  One rumour out there, has both men winning in a Tie, so that they both get what they want.  I certainly hope this doesn’t happen, as it cheapens the whole point of ” I am the one”  John Cena winning would simply be par for the course, but this scenario works for my prediction of Randy Orton having the Title.  Then there is Batista.  No doubt if he wins, its a rematch with The Undertaker.  But for some reason, I think that the Sean Michaels rematch would be pushed first.  As for a surprise winner?  I don’t see it happening, but I see Edge making his return at the Rumble.  I doubt he will win, but I think he will eliminate Chris Jericho, thus setting up a fine feud that could last all the way to Mania.  So, who do I pick as the overall winner?  If I must choose a name, I’ll go with Cena.  Not exactly going out on a limb with that one, but I see this Rumble being pretty much by the numbers anyway. 

Hogan-Bischoff, The job thus far

So, here we are only a couple of weeks into the new era of  TNA, with Hulk Hogan, and Eric Bischoff at the helm.  They say you only get one chance to make a first impression, but in this case I beg to differ.  These two are going to be judged each and every week for quite some time.  Just using the first two weeks as an example, we have seen some changes, some good, others not so much.  Personally I enjoyed the Genesis Pay Per View.  Not all of it was great, but It did have It’s moments.  The debut of Mr Anderson was certainly a highlight, even if his match wasn’t the greatest.  Seeing a traditional 4 sided ring will take some getting used to as well, and thus far the fans in the impact zone have been very vocal about their dissaproval of it.  I’m sure that will fade in time though.  But what about some of the other changes taking place?  We have new faces popping up.  Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Orlando Jordan, Brian Kendrick, Sean Morley, The Nasty Boys, Mr Anderson, and Jeff Hardy.  And from the sounds of it, there will be more to come.  Now of course not all of these people are new, or at least not new to TNA.  And this raises the question, what about the original talent?  As nice as it is to be surprised, and see somebody new on the scene, the wrestlers who have been there the longest, and have already established themselves, better not get lost in the shuffle.  It’s a bit too early to tell how this will work out, but I am hoping to see a good mix of the old and the new.  That being said, I did get that old familiar feeling while watching impact.  It felt like I was watching the WWE.  Opening the show with an interview that just seemed to drag on and on, and for a two hour show I don’t recall seeing as much actual wrestling as I’m used too.  Then It happened.  At the very end of Impact. The rematch between A.J Styles and Kurt Angle.  They re-create the infamous Montreal Screwjob.  Seriously, what the hell are they thinking?  We have Angle playing the part of Bret Hart, right down to spitting in Hogans face (Hogan playing the part of Vince McMahon of course)  Up to this point I was giving Hogan and Bischoff credit for shaking things up, and trying to make TNA look, and feel like a bigger and better show.  But this was just plain laughable.  I guess It will get attention, which is the whole point, and I am curious to see where they go with it, but I would rather they come up with something original.  Because THAT is what set TNA appart from the competition in the first place.  So for now, I will say that the job being done thus far has been good, but stunts like that last one will turn people off in a hurry.  But we’ll just have to wait and see.

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Sheamus reigns supreme, but can he retain at the Rumble?

Not so long ago, at a little Pay Per View called Table’s Ladders, And Chairs there was a bit of an upset.  Sheamus, in controversial fashion beats John Cena for the WWE Championship.  Some people booed, some cheered, and a few little kids were close to tears.  I on the other hand was very happy.  Aside from the fact that I’m Irish, I was really happy to see that the powers that be in WWE finally decided to try something new.  Granted, they have shaken things up in the past, but usually you can see it coming.  Such as C.M. Punk cashing in his money in the bank briefcase.  This one took me by surprise.  I honestly thought they were just trying somebody new out against Cena.  You know, a trial run to see how people react.  I never expected Sheamus to win.  At least not in his first title match.  Now here we are on the verge of the Royal Rumble, and as much as I hate to say it, I don’t like Sheamus’s chances.  I only say this because of one thing.  Wrestlemania.  The rumble is the big lead up to WM, and you usually have things set well in advance.  As we all know, the winner of the rumble will get an automatic spot in the main event against one of the World Champions.  I can almost guarantee that Undertaker will be one of those Champions, and will not lose his title before WM.  That brings us to Sheamus and Orton.  There is still plenty of time before Wrestlemania, but I would assume that those same powers that be that I mentioned earlier, would rather have an established name as the other half of that co-main event at Mania.  Sheamus is an experiment, and a very good one. I see him being a multiple time World Champion, and a main eventer.  But there needs to be some build up for a WWE title defense.  Therefore, Sheamus must lose his Title, and soon.    I would prefer not to have him lose it to Orton, for the simple fact that I find him as boring as watching grass grow.  But having him in the main event at Mania has been done before, and I would imagine It will be done again.  This time with Cena chasing the champ.  But I don’t think It’s all bad news for Sheamus.  As I said before. I think he has great potential, and once Mania is in the books, he can resume his quest for the gold. I just hope the WWE keeps on giving guys like Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, John Morrison, and Evan Borne, more chances to shine.  Because they are the future of the company.

TNA Genesis 2010 Review

This years Genesis Pay Per View was certainly a night of firsts.  The first PPV of the year, the very first one under the leadership of Hulk Hogan, and Eric Bischoff, and the first time in a TNA ring  for at least one new wrestler.  I will be bending my no spoiler rule just a little bit for this post, simply because 2 matches on the card saw the debut of somebody new in the company, and It’s hard to comment on matches when refering to mystery people.  But I will not give away match results, as per usual.  This leads us directy into the opening of the show.  Hogan and Bischoff came to the ring and cut a little promo, and at times got mixed reactions from the crowd.  The first one due to the fact that the 6 sided ring is now gone, and has been replaced with a traditional 4 sided one.  This prompted a very funny “we want 6 sides” chant from the crowd.  Of course Hogan did his best to win them back, and took a verbal shot directly at Vince McMahon, then they left the ring.  Now on to the action.  The first match was for the X-Division title.  TNA tends to open with these because they are very fast paced and exciting, and this one certainly didn’t dissapoint.  Amazing Red was to defend against a mystery opponet, who we find out is one Brian Kendrick.  This was a very good opening match, and if Kendrick had any ring rust, It wasn’t showing very much.  A lot of innovative moves and counters in this one.  Definitely a good way to start off the show. I was just hoping the rest of the card would be as good.  I was soon to be let down.  The next up was Sean Morley vs Daniels.  Don’t get me wrong, this was not a train wreck of a match.  But Sean Morley is just a little past his prime, and his ring rust was a tad more apparent.  All things considered, this match could have been a lot worse had it not been for the efforts of Daniels.  He made Morley look as good as possible, but the crowd wasn’t buying it.  Despite the fact that Daniels was supposed to be the “bad guy” in this one, he was cheered for the most part, and Morley was boo’ed whenever he hit something.  But lets move on.  Next up was the Knockouts.  Tara was challenging ODB, in a 2 out of 3 falls match.  The knockouts are usually very entertaining, and the matches are fairly short.  And this one was no exception.  I just hope that with the new direction that the company is going in, that they don’t leave the knockouts behind.  I liked this match, and am always surprised at what some of these women can do, but I feel that they need to get some more new talent in.  After the Knockouts, came the Tag Team Championship match.  We have the British Invasion facing Matt Morgan and Hernandez.  This seemed to be pretty much by the numbers.  Nothing really exciting, or entertaining.  I think the two teams involved just lacked some kind of chemestry.  It had It’s moments, but overall I found it kind of dull.    But the next match woke me back up.  Desmond Wolfe vs The Pope.  I really like both of these guys, and the clash of styles made this one very fun to watch.  Wolfe with his unique counters and submission holds, and The Pope with his rather unorthodox moves, and entertaining character.  I wouldn’t mind seeing this feud go on a little longer, because I think given a bit more time they could have some really excellent matches.    The next one up was Beer Money, going up against Kevin Nash and 6-Pac (Sean Waltman)  I guess Scott Hall didn’t feel up to it, so they wrote him out by having him lose a game of rock, paper, scissors to Waltman, who replaced him in the match.  I have always liked Beer Money, so seeing them in this match was all good for me.  Nash and Waltman actually looked pretty good during this one, so surprisingly this turned out to be a better tag match than I had hoped.  In fact, It think It was better than the one for the TNA tag team championship earlier on.  Now on to our second surprise of the evening.  Earlier in the show, Abyss (while protecting Eric Bischoff)  laid out Bobby Lashley. So Hulk sent him to the ring to face a Mystery opponet.  That person turned out to be Mr Anderson. (Formerly Kennedy)  Seeing Anderson back, and now with TNA was great.  The match itself, maybe not so much.  Its hard when you dont have any lead up to a match like this, and I’m sure Anderson would have beneffited from having a couple of warm up bouts, but in all It was a good enough outing.  I for one am very happy to see Anderson back, and I think if he is used properly, can be a big boost for the ratings.  Finally we get to the main event.  Kurt Angel facing off with A.J. Styles.  I’m not sure what else to say about these two when they wrestle, except that It’s always good.  Lots interesting twists in this match, and one involving Ric Flair who came down to ringside to watch the action. But of course you will have to watch for yourself. Despite this being a very good match, I would like to see these two go their own way, and face somebody else.  There is more than enough talent now to keep both men busy for a while.

In all, this was a good PPV.  Had a bit of a roller coaster feel at times. I am looking forward to whats next with this Hogan-Bischoff era.

Angelina Love, Finally returns to TNA

Thats right everybody.  After what seemed like an eternity, Angelina Love has finally made her return to TNA.  I am not sure if the timing of this was done on purpose, but It certainly is perfect.  With the new era dawning in TNA, having Angelina back is sure to help get those ratings up.  It’s no secret that the Beautiful People are a huge draw.  Unfortunately when Love had to leave the company due to a Visa issue, she was replaced by what turned out to be a lame duck named Lacey Von Eric, and former member Madison Rayne.  The Beautiful People were still a draw, but we all knew that something was missing.  Well, not any more.  Now in her return, Angelina laid out her former BFF, and the other members of the group, but I’m sure this will only be a temporary feud.  The powers that be, and all of us fans want to see the original Beautiful People back together.  Either way, feud or no feud, It’s great to see her back in TNA where she belongs.  Here is what she had to say on her official MySpace page.

A BIG Thank You to my Fans!

Love,
Lauren/Angel/Angelina Love

So there you have it.  She’s back, and we could not be happier.