SlamZilla

Way back in January, Angelina Love came back to TNA.  At that time, she was no longer a part of The Beautiful People, and actually began a feud with them for having the audacity to replace her.  Back then, ( 7 months ago to be exact)  I predicted that the feud wouldn’t last long, and that the original B.P. would reunite.  I guess I was half right.  As we saw on this past edition of Impact, Angelina and Velvet have made up, and now we have the original bad girl duo back together.  It just took a lot longer than I thought.

     So why did they get back together after all these months?  Of course from a storyline perspective it just makes sense.  The original leader comes back, feuds with the new girls for a while, then eventually the replacement leader (Madison Rayne) gets too full of herself, so the original duo get back together, and team up to destroy the monster that they originally created. 

     But then there is the other part of the equation.  The whole time Angelina has been going solo, and fighting it out with her former teammates, there has been another duo that has been copying them over in WWE.  The twosome known as LayCool.  I know I am not alone in the opinion that Michelle McCool, and Layla  are a blatant rip off of The Beautiful People, and not a very good one at that.  As some people would say, they only generate “go away” heat.  In that, they are just annoying.

     This is something that did not go un-noticed in TNA.  Angelina Love herself made a comment on Facebook, making reference to them, in a round about way.  So even though it took  a very long time to do it, the powers that be eventually decided to listen to the fans, and bring back the original Beautiful People.  And I’m sure this won’t hurt them in the ratings either, as it was noted quite often before the Hogan/Bischoff era, that B.P. segments brought in some of their best numbers.

     But for whatever the reason, its just good to see these two back together.  And with this, I certainly hope they decide to start re-building the Knockout Division.

Here is a link from back in June to a short blurb about Angelina Love’s comments about LayCool

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2010/0621/529398/angelina-love/

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The TNA X-Division Title.  Once upon a time it was the very cornerstone of the company itself.  This was what set TNA apart from the WWE.  They even went as far as using a six sided ring to give their high flyer’s more ways to  pull off new and exciting moves.  But that was then, and this is now. 

    Back then, you had some of the biggest names in TNA making the X-Division the thing to watch.  A.J. Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Petey Williams, and Low-Ki (now Kaval in WWE)  just to name a few.  It wasn’t unusual for an X-Division match to steal the show at a pay per view, and be more exciting than the main event.

     So what happened?  Three little words.  Hogan and Bischoff.  Despite the last few weeks being better than average, and the recent improvements on Impact, the X-Division is still on the back burner.  Since the Hogan/Bischoff regime has taken over the focus has been all on the World Title, and the pushing of the heavyweights.  Now I do understand the importance of having a strong World Champion, and the building of new stars to challenge for that Title, but you should not kill the very thing that got the company noticed in the first place.  Especially since its those fans, the ones that started watching TNA because it was so different, that are starting to turn their backs on the show they once loved.   Why bother watching something that is now just like the WWE, but not as good, when you can just watch RAW or Smackdown?

     So what can be done to fix this?   Well that answer is very simple.  Just allow the X-Division to do what it does best, and that is to have exciting matches.  There should always be at least one match on Impact, and a Title defence on every pay per view.   But how can this renewed focus begin?  Well for starters, they can bring back/start using the current talent that has been for the most part sitting the bench.  Homicide has already quit the company, so they should act fast before his actions trigger a domino effect among the others who are not being used.  People such as Eric Young,  Kiyoshi, Suicide (put somebody new under the mask), Amazing Red,  and Generation Me.  It would also be a great idea if they brought back something like the World X-Cup tournament.  Seeing talent from around the World compete, even if for a short time, in the X-Division is exactly the kind thing that would bring in some new fans, and remind the older ones why they started watching TNA in the first place.  It would also be a good excuse to bring back Petey Williams, but that’s just my opinion. ( I miss seeing my home town boy)

    But one of the very first things that should happen, is to end this boring, tired, going nowhere angle of Doug Williams “schooling” the X-Division guys while sucking all the fun out of his matches.  Take the Title off of him, and lets get back to some real action.

By Bruce Shearon

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The Hogan and Eric Bischoff era is here.    It was with a lot of fanfare that these two men arrived in TNA, with promises of taking the company all the way to the top.  They wanted to move  Impact to Monday nights and challenge RAW.  They did, and they failed.  They also made a lot of other moves that didn’t please the fans, such as bringing in their running buddies.  Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Sean Morely, and the Nasty Boys.  These men  took up space that was better suited for younger, up and coming talent.  Another thing that seemed to happen was the X-Division, the Womens Division, and even the Tag Team Division, seemed to be put on the back burner.

         There were of course a couple of other minor changes.  Getting rid of the 6 sided ring, in favour of a traditional 4 sided one.  This initially got a negative reaction, but that faded fast.  And of course there is the ramp that goes all the way up to the ring.  That disappeared for the Hardcore Justice Pay Per View, and was still missing during the “Whole F’n’ Show” on Thursday.  We can only hope that those in charge decide to be rid of it for good, as it gives the high flyers much more room to do their thing.

     And that brings us to what is going on in TNA right now.  It seems that somebody in the head office is actually starting to listen to the fans, or at the very least has a better grasp on what we want to see.  Lately we have seen the tag team action heat up, with the best of 5 series between the Motor City Machine Guns, and Beer Money Inc.  Hopefully they can keep that momentum going and start building the sort of division that used to  boast some of the best tag teams around. 

     The Ev2.0 angle looks like it will continue into a feud between that group and Ric Flairs, Fortune.  Not a bad Idea at all considering the popularity of the former ECW wrestlers.

     The removal of the dead weight, i.e. Hall, Waltman, etc…. and the focus being put back on the people that can deliver, such as Jay Lethal, Mr Anderson, Jeff Hardy and A.J. Styles.

    The return of Abys, as “The Monster”  Face it, not one person liked this guy as the ultimate Hulkamaniac.

    But what else can TNA do to continue this forward momentum?   For starters, they need to get the X-Division back in action like they did with the tag team.  Get that Title off of Doug Williams, and put it on somebody that can excite the crowd.  They learned this lesson with Rob Terry, the former “Global Champion”  Now they need to do it with Williams.

     They also need to go on a hiring blitz, and re-boot the Knockouts Division as well.   Getting Awesome Kong back would be a good start, but overall they are very thin in the talent department.  Adding 6 more Knockouts would certainly shake things up.  Either familiar faces such as Micky James, if they could get her, or Maria Kanellis, or even some women from the indies.  Either way, they need to inject some new blood into the mix.

     For now though, I am happy to see that TNA is actually starting to improve.  Slowly but surely they are getting their swagger back, and its a good thing for all us fans.  We can only hope that this trend continues.

By Bruce Shearon

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TNA’s HardCore Justice was a very unique pay per view.  It was unique in the sense that it didn’t feature very many actual TNA stars, and it didn’t involve any of the current story lines.  As most of you already know, this was a night for the former ECW alumni to do there thing, one more time.

     Like many people, I wondered about the logic of one brand serving up one of their own pay per views for the benefit of another, especially since that other one is no longer around.  But this is TNA, and they don’t exactly do things in a normal way.  From having a 6 sided ring, to being the innovators of such matches as the Ultimate-X, and Lethal Lockdown, they like to try new things.  This seemed like a blatant attempt at getting their buy rates, and ratings to improve by dragging out the ol ECW crew that everybody loves, but who cares, it really was a fun night.

     Of course it wasn’t without some odd moments.  Because of the WWE owning pretty much everything to do with ECW, there were some name changes for a few wrestlers, such as Balls Mahoney being called Kahoneys, and Justin Credible having to use PJ Polaco.  We even had a fake Blue Meanie.  Naturally that didn’t stop the crowd from chanting the names of the people they recognized.  Lets see Vince sue the entire Impact Zone audience.

    But what about the show itself?  Did the ECW boys deliver?  I would have to say in a word, yes.  Some of them have lost a step or two, but for the most part it was entertaining, and now and again just a little bit extreme.  I would have to say that the WWE’s, One Night Stand pay per view was a bit better, but back then they had a better selection of guys to show up, and of course they have their WAY better production values.  But what could have been something great for the WWE was ruined by Vince McMahon’s vision of what he wanted a new and improved ECW to be.  Then of course it slowly died. 

     So, to sum up, I would have to say that HardCore Justice was a good show, and a much better way to see the old ECW brand put to rest.  And for whatever reason that Dixie Carter and TNA had for doing this, it really was a nice gesture and a proper sendoff.  We the fans of ECW appreciated it.  And of course since this pay per view was devoid of their own talent (mostly) and story lines, they are putting on a Thursday night special that is totally loaded.  Sort of a free for T.V. pay per view.   sounds good to me.

For more on this, check out the following link.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-sport/mma-and-wrestling/2010/08/12/tommy-dreamer-tna-exclusive-hardcore-justice-was-about-closure-i-will-never-wrestle-raven-again-115875-22483600/

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What do the following wrestlers have in common?  Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, The Undertaker, Kevin Nash, Sting, and Mick Foley.   If you guessed that they are all legends in their own right, you would be correct.  If you also guessed that all of them are past their prime, that would also be true.  But should they retire?

     This is one of those things in wrestling that is never easy to answer.  In the case of Hulk Hogan, he really has no business competing in the ring, and with his recent back surgery its not very likely he will ever try to do it again.  But it wasn’t too long ago that he was giving it a shot.  Which brings us to Ric Flair.  Flair actually did retire, but when he needed the money, and WWE had nothing left for him, he jumped ship to TNA and is now back in the ring occasionally.  Right now he is still feuding with Jay Lethal.  Sting recently made his return on Impact, and I’m sure we will see him back in action before long, especially since he seems to have joined forces with Kevin Nash.   Both Sting and Nash can still wrestle, as can Flair, but none of them are half as good as they used to be.  That is also the case with Mick Foley, who has also returned to TNA.  He seems to know his limitations, and only does a match now and again, but they are painfully slow.   The only one of the group that I have listed above that seems to still be able to compete at the main event level is The Undertaker.  But as we have seen, he needs more and more time off to let his body recover, and soon will have to make that decision that no wrestler ever seems ready to.

     So when should a wrestler retire?  Each case is different, and as we have heard from countless men who have left, only to come back again and again, the pull of the ring, the roar of the crowd, and the spotlight are hard to resist.  Others have managed to do it though.  The Rock left the business, as did Stone Cold Steve Austin, with both taking on careers in acting.  Of course these two cases are rare when compared to the number of wrestlers who just don’t know when to walk away.  To me, I would say that a wrestler should hang up the boots when he is no longer able to entertain the crowd.  Watching Ric Flair in his matches with Jay Lethal proves this point.  Lethal is almost moving in slow motion to allow Flair to keep up.  Now don’t get me wrong, Flair is still an icon, and leading the new group that he has formed is the perfect role for him, and he can be as entertaining as anybody in that role.  He just shouldn’t wrestle any more.  The same can be said for Foley and Kevin Nash.  Both of these men can be useful, but not in the ring, where younger talent has to carry the entire match for them.  I just hope that The Undertaker takes the route of The Rock and Austin, and bows out gracefully, rather than going on and on, and becoming a shell of his former self.

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With TNA’s Hardcore Justice Pay Per View just around the corner, I thought it would be a good idea to take a closer look at what many people are considering a “publicity stunt” or even a desperate attempt at improving ratings, and buy rates for a company that is having trouble producing both.

     Lots of people are bashing TNA management for rolling out the ECW brand, and trying to cash in on its success with yet another reunion type show.  Of course for a while we were led to believe that this was going to be an invasion angle.  And maybe in the beginning it was.  But since WWE is already doing one, with those Nexus kids, it was probably a good idea to go in a different direction.  Especially when you consider that The Nexus are all younger, and just starting out in WWE, and the ECW boys are a little long in the tooth.  Meaning of course that one will most likely be around longer than the other.  Either way, the plans have changed, and now we have TNA’s “One Night Stand”   But is this idea worth doing in the first place?  And will it have any sort of long term benefits?  I think the answer to the first question is, yes.   The fans that loved the original ECW, still love it today, and just about everyone hated to see what Vince McMahon did to it, before he eventually decided to kill it off for good.  So, for TNA to bring back as many people as they can, and having a (hopefully) final goodbye to the brand is not only a good idea for generating interest for the Pay Per View, but it is also nice for us fans.  But then there is the second question.  What, if any long term benefits will TNA see from this?  Well, that all depends on how they decide to follow up.

     I have a link at the bottom of this post to a great blog written by former ECW star Lance Storm, and his thoughts on how things could be booked.  The general idea that he proposes is something along the lines of the current TNA wrestlers, the originals, being upset over the fact that management is pushing them aside to bring in (yet again) stars from the past, and using them on a Pay Per View.  So, the TNA originals then become the invaders, and rebel against the company.  This way, it is the younger talent taking back their own show.  The ECW faction could still have a stable within the company for a while, but eventually the TNA originals would win out.

     But who knows what TNA has in mind after this show is over and done with.  I personally like the one shot idea for this Pay Per View, but if you are going to do it, then you might as well try to milk it a little longer.  Just be sure to put over your own talent by the time its all said and done.   And be sure to read Lance Storms thoughts on this.

http://www.stormwrestling.com/072610.html

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For months now we have had to suffer through watching “The Freak” Rob terry, carry the TNA Global Championship.  And as we all know, a Championship is only as valuable as its Champion, so in this case it was utterly worthless.  But not any more.

     A.J. Styles is your new Global Champion.  This of course is the second time that Styles has held this Belt.  The last time was when it was still referred to as the “Legends Title”  Call it whatever you like, the fact of the matter is, now this Championship has a chance at being something truly worthwhile.  This is also the first bit of Gold for Ric Flair’s new stable, that he refers to as “Fortune”  Styles, along with Kazarian were named as the first two members of the group, and as we all saw on this past weeks Impact, they now seem committed to working together.  It was Kazarians interference that helped A.J. to win the Global Title after all. 

     Now the question will be, who else is going to be in Flairs group?   Beer Money have been running buddies, and guns for hire, for Flair in the past.  Desmond Wolfe seems desperate to prove that he belongs.  And there is the big man Matt Morgan, who could really use somebody like “Slick Ric” to keep him focused.  And lets not forget the Knockouts.  Flair likes Gold, and he loves women.  So it would seem fitting that he would want to add one of the Knockouts to his stable, and bring along another Championship.  Maybe Madison Rayne would be a good pick.

     But speculation aside, what we know right now is that “Fortune” has its first Champion, and that man is A.J. Styles.  And we the fans now have a Global Champion with some real credentials, and incredible skill.  Lets hope that he can elevate this Title to where it deserves to be (second only to the World Heavyweight Title)  and that we can witness some excellent matches along the way.

Since this post was written, there has been a change.  Once again, somebody is listening to the fans, as The Global Championship is no more.  It always struck me as being somewhat redundant to have a World Champion, and a Global Champion.  But not any more.  As of now it will be known as the TNA, Television Championship.  I for one am very happy to hear this, as T.V. Titles have been around for a very long time, so there is at least a little bit of tradition that can go along with the newly named Title.

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Finally !   That was the word that best summed up the win at Victory Road, by The Motor City Machine Guns.  After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, and missed opportunities, The Guns actually won the Tag Team Championships.

     The part that bothered most people is that it took this long.  Alex Shelly and Chris Sabin have been the most exciting Tag Team in TNA for quite some time now, and arguably the most popular.  But for some reason they were never allowed to carry the ball, as Champions.  Sure they would get built up, and get as far as being the number one contenders now and again, only to lose in the Championship Match, thus putting over another team (that was usually inferior).  But they never won the big one.  Thankfully it seems that somebody at the top is actually listening to the fans.  But now that The Guns have the gold, where do they go from here?   It looks like the powers that be are really on the ball on this one too.   After their epic match against Beer Money, the guns will now have to compete in a best of 5 series against Roode and Storm.   The Guns are already down one in the series, after losing a great ladder match.  And to make matters worse,  the prize at the top of the ladder was a contract stating that the winning team could name the stipulation of the second match.  Beer Money has opted for a “Street Fight”

     Of course we all know that this series will go the distance.  But will Sabin and Shelly come out of it with the Tag Titles?  If I was a betting man, I would say yes.  If anything, this series against Beer Money will prove just how popular The Guns really are, and how exciting the Tag Division in TNA can be again.   But should they for some insane reason, not be victorious in this 5 match series, then at least they got that monkey off their backs.  This should be the first of many Title Reigns for The Motor City Machine Guns. 

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TNA announced their latest top ten ratings for the month of July, and I have to admit that it looks pretty solid, top to bottom.  The last two, top ten’s that they did had at least a few area’s to improve upon, but I can’t really find too much to complain about in July.  So lets go ahead and have a look at where everybody stands.

10) “The Freak” Rob Terry    9)  “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero     8.) Kurt Angle     7) Hernandez    

6) A.J. Styles     5) Jay Lethal     4) Samoa Joe     3) Mr Anderson     2) Jeff Hardy     1) Abyss

     The good thing about this months ranking, is that they broke the three way tie that they had from last month, and made Abyss the number one contender.  This will make most people happy, as we are all glad to see the return of “The Monster” as opposed to Abyss “The Hulkamaniac”.   The rest of the top five is exactly what you would expect, with Jay Lethal and Samoa Joe both moving up, due to their respective winning streaks.  A.J. Styles at number six, isn’t a surprise, since he has been moving down steadily, due to his recent problems and a bit of a losing streak.  The only real surprise is Hernandez entering the top ten at number seven.  I guess that the last few spots were pretty much already determined, so they had to put somebody in there.  But honestly, despite his win in the cage match, I would have given that spot to Matt Morgan.  I guess the reasoning here is that the person in the seventh position is going to be Kurt Angle’s next opponent, so give the match to Hernandez, since we have already seen Angle defeat Morgan.  Angle leapfrogs over “The Pope” after their match, making Angle number 8 and Dinero number 9.  But don’t expect “The Pope” to stay near the bottom for very long.  He and Angle with both be racing to the top in the next few months.  And the other minor surprise is “The Freak” Rob Terry cracking the top ten again, in the bottom position.  It still amazes me that somebody who holds a Heavyweight Championship in TNA, barely makes the top ten, and last month wasn’t even in it.  For the love of all that is holy in Wrestling, can somebody please beat this stiff, and take away that Title.  Maybe then it will actually be worth something.

     So, there you have it , the top ten for July, and a few thoughts on how it panned out.  I think they are actually starting to get better at making this list, and listening to the fans.  Lets hope they can keep it up.

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For weeks now, Tommy Dreamer has led three of his friends, and former ECW members (Raven, Stevie Richards, and Rhino) into the Impact Zone.  They have been content to simply observe the action, and let everyone wonder why they are there.  That is until last night.   Finally, after a brawl breaks out between Abyss and RVD, the four of them hit the ring and start taking it to The Monster.  Before long the ring begins to fill with other wrestlers, security, and TNA officials.  The interesting part though, was seeing who was brawling with who.  Anybody who had an association with the old ECW, was going after everybody else.  It becomes an ECW vs TNA war.  Then to make matters even more confusing, Mick Foley appears at the top of the ramp.  And just before the show ends, Dixie Carter herself tries to end things, and announces to everybody in the ring, that she invited them.

     So what does this all mean?   Well, for starters it is the begining of what has been rumoured for quite some time.  There is about to be a bit of a feud between a faction of former ECW members, and the TNA Wrestlers.  The other rumour that has been making the rounds, that appears to be true, is that the Hard Justice Pay Per View will be along the lines of WWE’s Extreme Rules.  Or perhaps it will be a bit more like One Night Stand.  There is talk of more former ECW Wresters coming in for one shot appearances for Hard Justice.  But for now, we know that the main event is going to be Rob Van Dam, in a match with Abyss, with that board of his with the nails in it, hung above the ring.

     But will this Invasion angle work out?  If the crowd reaction in the Impact Zone is any indication, then I would say yes.   Of course there are those among the Internet Community that are sick of seeing these types of reunions.  Especially now that some of these former stars are not even close to being in the sort of shape they were in back when ECW was around. (the original that is, not WWECW )   As it stands, a few of the former stars showing up for a one shot, doesn’t sound like a bad thing.  As long as that is all it is.  There are still enough former ECW Wrestlers currently on the TNA roster to make up a good stable.   Which is where I think this is really heading in the long run.  Invasion angles only have a limited shelf life, as a group cannot actually take over a company.  But starting out like this, and then shrinking down the group into perhaps 5 or 6 guys, could work.

     Either way, it should be a lot of fun watching this all play out.  I have often compared TNA to a hybrid of ECW and WCW.   Now we get to see one of those factions take a stand, and start a War.  If done right, this could be one of the best angles that TNA has ever done.

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