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The annual tradition of post Wrestlemania releases has happened. A few names aren’t a shock.  Who really wanted Jimmy Wang Yang around anyway?  But a couple of names are a little more surprising than others.  Mickie James being one that I really didn’t see coming.  This on the heels of Maria Kanellis.  Two of their more popular Divas are let go, when they are both in their prime.  And in the case of Maria, you have somebody who was getting some mainstream attention due to The Apprentice.  Then of course there is Shelton Benjamin.  I guess I’m not really as suprised by this one, since they never seem to be able to make this guy work.  But at the same time, you have a fantastic athlete who always steals the show in his Money In The Bank matches.  But of course all this means is that TNA is about to add some new names to their roster.  The rumour going around about current Knockout Tara, is that she is leaving once her contract is up.  That  just means that there is now room for both Mickie James and Maria to take her place.  But even more interesting is the fact that not too long ago, WWE got rid of Charlie Haas.  Now we have both Haas and Benjamin who can sign with TNA, and reunite with Kurt Angle, to reform “Team Angle”  Of course that would probably be a short reunion, since TNA most likely would have bigger plans for all three men, but it would still be fun to see 10 years after the group was originally formed.  But the addition of both Haas and Benjamin could only mean good things for TNA.  Their styles are a perfect fit,  and as we all know, sometimes a fresh start in a new company can do wonders for a career.  So personally, I would love to see all of the above, added to TNAs roster, and soon.  And just because I like her, maybe they can also sign Katie Lee Burchill.

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Recently both TNA and WWE have released one of their female stars.  In the case of TNA, it was Awesome Kong.  This in my opinion is a big loss, since Kong was such an important part of making the knockout division what it is.  And on the WWE side, they released Maria Kanellis.  Honestly I was a bit shocked when I heard of this.  Maria is one of the most popular Diva’s, she is still very young, and with all her mainstream attention right now I would have never guessed that the WWE would let her go.  But they did.  And that brings me to the question at hand.  Should TNA try to lure Maria to their side of the Wrestling fence?  In her statement, Maria talked about pursuing other ventures, but I’m sure at some point she would like to be a part of the Wrestling business again.  Now this is a very hard thing for me to say, because I have been a big fan of Maria’s over the years, but in my opinion TNA should NOT try to sign her.  Lets face it, the Knockout division is for women who can actually Wrestle. (with the exception of Lacey Von Erich)  And Maria, try as she might, just can’t do it.  So if she wasn’t a part of the Knockout division, what would be left for her?backstage interviewer?  Nope, they already have Christy Hemme for that.  Valet?  I guess but that would only go so far.  I suppose there could be something for her to do as just an on camera personality.  It worked for Sharmell, and Karen Angle for a while.  But really, they don’t need Maria.  Don’t get me wrong, if they were to sign her, I would be happy to see her on Impact every week.  But I think TNA’s money could be better spent picking up somebody more talented.

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Welcome to the last stop on the Road To Wrestlemania.

     I haven’t always been a fan of the Elimination Chamber concept.  Mostly because I felt that the WWE should have adopted the War Games style match instead.  But over time I have come to appreciate this unique match, and now it is the theme for an entire Pay Per View.  And being the last PPV before Wrestlemania, It’s importance is even greater.  I must say that I was expecting some surprised for this years edition, and I wasn’t let down.  Of course I won’t spoil those surprises, but I will say that the one at the end of the Smackdown, Chamber match was a good one.  Of course in hindsight I should have seen it coming.  First up though was the Raw, Chamber match.  This group had some interesting things going for it, story wise.  With guys like Randy Orton, and Ted Dibiase in there, who could work together.  And of course HHH, John Cena, and Sheamus, who all have their own issues as of late.  And last but not least, the high flying Kofi Kingston.  All the right elements were in this one, and It certainly delivered.  And as I said earlier, there was a nice surprise for the ending.  The Chamber match was followed by the Intercontinental Championship match between Drew McIntyre and Kane.  For me This McIntyre character is decent, but he has a long way to go to be as good as they are building him up to be.  Kane is always Kane.  Slow, methodical, and usually boring.  He is made out to be a monster, so It makes the other person look better if he can beat him.  This was a good match to head to the concession stand during.  Now, what could follow such a snorefest?  How about a Diva match.  What was supposed to be Gail Kim vs Maryse for the vacant Barbie Belt…aka, the Diva’s Championship. Turned into a tag match pitting Kim and Maryse vs Team Lametool. aka, Michelle McCool and Layla.  This being the work of the shrieking banshee known as Vickie Guerero.  As you can imagine this wasn’t too much of a match. Thankfully It was over fairly quickly and we moved on.  Next up was MVP facing The Miz for the United States Championship.  As much as I don’t care for MVP, I have to admit that this time out, he looked good.  This was a much better match than I expected, but of course had a typical sort of ending.  Either way, It was a good one to see.  Last of course was the second Chamber match.  This one didn’t seem to have as much in the way of storyline as the Raw, Chamber match did.  But it had some really good talent, that put on an excellent show.  How could you really go wrong with Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, R-Truth, C.M. Punk, Chris Jericho and The Undertaker?  Well, I guess one way, was to let C.M. Punk get his hands on a Mic.  But aside from that, this was a solid Chamber match, with that ending that again, I should have seen coming, but didn’t.

     So there you have it.  I would say that if you haven’t seen this PPV yet, then you need to check it out.  The stage is now set, so let the final push for Wrestlemania begin.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Recently the rumour has started again, of the WWE changing the look of Its World Title.  Personally I say Its about damn time.  I have hated the John Cena, “Spinner” Belt since the first day It was introduced, and have been waiting patiently for the powers that be to finally decide to ditch that thing.  Granted, when It was first introduced It was a big part of the John Cena personality.  He did the same thing to the U.S. Title Belt as well.  But once he was out of that picture, they thankfully returned it to Its former glory.  The problem right now is, that Cena is always a fixture in the World Title picture.  But, his character has grown up since he first brought out the spinner belt.  He isn’t so much the “rapper” that he was back then, and more of the “military” kind of guy.  Of course this isn’t the first time somebody had a custom made belt.  Steve Austin had his smoking skull, World Title.  But that actually looked cool, and still looked like a Championship Belt.  This ridiculous spinner, that no longer spins, looks like some sort of kids toy.  Of course that was probably the point from a marketing perspective.  But I would feel silly if I was say, Randy Orton, lugging that ugly thing to the ring.  Just as an example, I have a picture of both the current Championship Belt, and the old Undisputed Title, that HHH wore.  It’s obvious to me which one looks better.  The Spinner Belt looks like something that you get out of a gumball machine and wear on your finger.  Hopefully the rumours are true.  And as an extra added bonus.  Perhaps HHH can smash the old belt to pieces with his sledgehammer.  ; )

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We all know Its coming.   The seeds were planted a while ago, and now the tension is mounting.  But the question is this.  When these two factions finally do go to war, who will win?  On paper this looks like an uneven matchup.  On one side you have nothing but world champions.  And on the other, we have up and comers, and former mid carders.  But taking a closer look, and breaking it down by the individuals paints a slightly different picture.  The leaders of the two groups, Kurt Angle and Eric Young seems to be a no contest.  But Angle and his bad neck won’t be around for too much longer, and Eric really has been overlooked for the quality wrestler that he is.  The edge still goes to Angle though.  Then we have the tag teams.  Booker T and Scott Steiner.  Steiner is a shell of his former self, and despite looking half decent recently, he still needs Booker to carry the load.  On the other side is the British Invasion.  They are young, and talented.  The matches they had with Team 3D prove that they can hang with the best, so Steiner and Booker might have met their match.  Now on to the Big men. Kevin Nash has looked much better in recent months, but he is also running on borrowed time.  Wold Elites strong man, Rob Terry, could certainly match power with big sexy.  But for now,  Terry is still very green.  Of course that didn’t stop the Ultimate Warrior from crushing a very aged Andre The Giant years ago.  So, on this one, It might be a draw.  Samoa Joe right now represents the X-Division as Its champion, and the closest World Elite can come to matching him is Homicide, who LOST the X-Division Title to Joe.  So I think we know who wins out on that matchup.  But that still leaves us with some people left over. Kyoshi, and Sheik Abdul Bashir.  Thats right, the World Elite wins the numbers game.  And they are still trying to expand.  Which in the long run, simply makes them even more dangerous.  So, who will win once this battle breaks out, like we all know it will?  In the short term, I would bet on the Mafia.  But I think down the road, that World Elite may be the ones left standing in the end.

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Vincent Kennedy McMahon.  The man behind the WWE, and the guy we all love to hate.  At least thats his character.   But as the head of the company, he has built the WWE to be the world wide money making machine that it is.  But lets face it, he isn’t getting any younger.  Now in his 60′s It’s obvious that he can’t run the company forever.  And with Linda now going into politics, the big question is, who will run things?  The obvious answer would be his children, Shane and Stephanie.  But as we have seen over the years, Vince likes to take a more “hands on” approach to running the show.  Will Shane, or Stephanie do the same?  And should they?  Over the last several years we have all heard the stories floating around of Vince being out of touch with what his audience wants.  That brings us to HHH.  As much as I hate to say it, Hunter would be a logical choice to run the “wrestling” aspect of the company.  The behind the scenes, and writing part of the shows.  But for now, he is still an active performer.  Perhaps It will all just be a matter of timing.  HHH seems to be just one more injury away from calling it quits as it is.  But once he doe’s, he could take over Vince’s role as the on air personality that is running the show.  I just have to wonder what sort of direction the WWE will go in, once Vince finally doe’s step down.  Will they keep their, PG mentality, or go back to something a little more risky?  I guess we will just have to wait and see.  But It really is just a matter of time.

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C.M. Punk.  The straight edge world champion.  He is the first, of his kind in WWE.  And he’s better than us. Or so he likes to say.  The problem is, he just keeps going, and going, and going. His mouth is like the energizer bunny.  It never seems to run out of energy.  Now don’t get me wrong, as a Wrestler, Punk is great.  I have always liked watching his matches, and It’s nice to see somebody else at the top.  And I also understand that this is Punks new thing for getting heat with the crowd now that he is no longer a “good guy”  I just wish that his diatribes didn’t go on for what feels like an hour.  Perhaps Punk needs to study some of the masters on the Mic.  Some of the people who were excellent at getting the crowd to hate them.  People Like Edge, and Chris Jericho.  And even the Rock, when he was first starting out and was  hearing the “Rocky Sucks” chants.  These men have the ability to get the crowd going with just a few words, and sometimes a look.  But I digress.   The scary part of Punks new found passion for preaching, is that he is on the show that actually tapes, and edits, unlike Raw which is live.  So I can just imagine how much of his rambling gets cut out?  Hopefully sometime soon he will be hated enough that he won’t have to do this long and boring promo’s.  One can hope. 

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