RedJed

Yeah, when he managed LAX, they were getting a really strong push, and back before, he really wasn't treated horribly at all. I'm sure it doesn't help his perception when Killings is likely down in AAA alot working side by side with Konnan, either. He definately was given wishy washy treatment all through his tenure, but still was given two (short) world title runs and a final spotlight (at least intended) with Pacman Jones (which blew up in the company's face, but that was unexpected to say the least). Which, regarding that (AAA) - it's too bad there has to be bad blood with Konnan and TNA, as I would love to see talent exchanges more within TNA and AAA. There are alot of guys down there right now who are lighting it up, and bringing in someone like Faby Apache to the knockouts division would be awesome. I just mentioned Brown because, more than anyone, I thought he was held down more than Killings or Konnan, way more. But whether that was because of "racial discrimination" is completely up to interpretation. Sure, he was pushed hard on TV here and there, but they had a chance to run with him when he was really hot, and they dropped the ball on that bigtime. Those two notable matches he had with Jarrett (Impact and Final Resolution, I think) were just begging for a different finish than what we got. And then following that, they turned him heel, joining up with Jarrett even, and nothing was followed upon after that.

Rented a few mindfuck-type films this weekend that just came out on DVD.....worth mentioning.... Southland Tales: This is the film that has been on the shelves for a good while, with Rock as the main role. Seemed to recall some issues with distributors putting this release on hold. And some negatively critical responses at film festivals. I didn't even hear shit on this being released, and was still expecting to see this on some limited release in theaters. Anyway, this is, well, certainly different, I will say this much. There is alot to take in with this film, and it seems to grab your interest for awhile, but it's so disconnected in some parts that it really doesnt deliver by the end. But it's worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of Donnie Darko meets David Lynch meets some pre-apocolyptic politically driven script. Probably going to check this out again to see if what I saw all makes sense, as it might, but it's just so all over the place that it was hard to put together. I will say the story is creative as hell. Slipstream: I don't even know where to start with this one. Written and directed by Anthony Hopkins. The film goes in and out of consciousness, literally. Hopkins plays a writer who's characters start blending into his real life, creating an almost dreamlike state of film that really plays no boundaries of past and present. Really hard to watch as the editing done on this film is very off the wall and makes you feel like you took a hit of acid. But much like Southland Tales, the story is pretty out there but very uniquely thrown out there to interpret.

Never even heard about that film, whats the premise?

Yeah, I am really feeling the pretty decent MMA type build to Joe/Angle right now. They did well with that on Impact, and looks like we will see consistent vignettes of Joe moreless going into training to learn how to compete at Angle's level of competiveness in that area. One would imagine they will do some pseudo-shoot exchanges at Lockdown based from this, and in the least the match itself should be rather stiff. Much stronger build for Joe/Angle than I've seen TNA do ever with these two. That first match they did (at Genesis 06 I think?) was marred by weak booking one week after the strong Angle/Joe headbutt angle, so it's good to see TNA seems to acknowledge their flaws in this feud by pulling out this card to build to their likely final match against each other. Keep Karen far away from this mess, and AJ too, and then when Angle loses the belt to Joe, they can then build on AJ/Angle (which sounds like one of the more interesting feuds TNA may do in a long time if done right here) and likely Joe/Nash or something.

One would guess they will settle out of court - the majority of the lawsuit sounds a little frivalous to me, regarding racial discrimination, etc. I think what probably went down is that Konnan was given a loan on the surgery, agreed upon ahead of time, and then when Steiner got hurt and TNA paid for that (which is weird they did since it didn't happen in their ring, but given the immediate nature of that surgery, maybe felt on the spot with it?) he felt it wasn't fair (which, in fact, it isn't). The whole racism thing, though....hard to say, although Jarrett and Mantel could still very well hold a "southern boy" attitude in a sense regarding ethnic athletes....shit, look at how Monte Brown was treated, as perhaps another example of a guy being held down for whatever reasons. Whatever the case, I don't expect the product to change because of this, but if this means LAX and Booker T get more of a push, I guess that's ok by me.

I actually like that match. I'm suprised no ones said Earl Hebner vs Nick Patrick from InVasion 01. Umm, huh? There was never such a match on that card IIRC.

PPV ordered live: Mania IV, I believe. PPV went to live: SummerSlam 99, followed by ECW Anarchy Rulez 2000, and since then, somehow or someway, I tend to go to a live ppv once or twice every year.

Anyone hear of this horror flick called WrestleManiac with Rey Mysterio Sr as a psycho killer luchadore? I just saw this tonight and its so over the top its fucking hilarious. Think it just came out on DVD.

Wow, that show sounds uber bland for lead-in before the lead-in show to Mania. Why can't they do something to make Taker/Edge more interesting to me? I'm sure the match will be great in all, but DAMN, the build for this since No Way Out has been poorly done. Hey, at least we get to see The Naturals and Alter Boy Luke killed by Show.

To follow up on the talk about the Superstars of WrestleMania movie, well, I saw it over the weekend and damn, it was a really weird experience. I went to a showing of it over the weekend and I went through the same exact problems as others mentioned that you may have seen in the Observer's daily news updates. If you hadn't read about it yet, basically it sounds like alot, if not possibly all, of the theatres that showed this had the film's digital file sent to them in some corrupt manner. And of course they played it without checking it beforehand. I talked to someone after the movie on the problem that worked there and was told it was an issue with the file they were sent by the company that provided it (so it would either be Carmike or WWE themselves). Since it was played exclusively via digital projection, that means the film and soundtrack is essentially just a really large file that the theatre "downloads" to receive it. So there really wasn't anything the theater themselves could do about it other than request a new "clean" version of the file. And I think I went to the first showing of this like a retard, so I got to experience the shit. I don't know if this issue was fixed in future showings, but I sure hope so because it was a major annoyance to say the least. I ended up getting a full refund, though. The show itself wasn't that bad, if you take out all of the technical issues. It was fun to see wrestling shown on a big screen, almost bringing back memories of closed circuit pay per views at local theaters (some places may still do this?) and given format, the show was presented in widescreen, which was fine for the bios and such, but it cut off the tops and bottoms of the video when they aired the actual matches, to "form" it into a pseudo-ass backwards widescreen format (if that makes any sense). Made some of the matches hard to watch since so much was being cut from the perspective....think of how WWE has it now with HD widescreen and moreless cut off the standard definition version of any broadcast from the top and bottom significantly and this is what was presented. The sound went from great sounding to almost like it was coming out of a tin can at times, which had to due with the technical issues of the movie "file" being corrupted in some form. It started with a WrestleMania trailer and then immediately went into a 10-15 minute bio on the Rock. Rock-Hogan from Mania was then shown, and from the start of the intros, the audio went in a weird loop, playing over the original audio on a three second delay from the "live" commentary track. Thus you couldn't really understand anything that was being said or heard essentially, when a three second delay echo effect would occur over the soundtrack. After the match finished, the audio went back to being ok, and a HBK bio (around the same length, quickly recapping how he got to the point of being back at Mania after retiring) aired followed by Jericho/HBK from Mania 19. A few times during the match, though, sound and video became a bit distorted and not as clear at times. After too many complaints from all five of us total actually watching this, a worker told all of us in the theater that we could get a full refund and leave anytime wish as there was nothing they could do to fix the movie. Then came a Taker bio followed by Orton/Taker from Mania 21. This was when it got really weird again, as close to the finish of the match, the audio went totally out and the match starting going in fast forward, literally looking like someone hit a fast forward button on a DVD. It stopped right after the match finished, where the audio and video went back to normal AGAIN. HHH bio was next followed by Jericho/HHH from Mania 18. Everything was great here from a technical standpoint until the clarity of the audio went to sounding like it was coming from a tin can again, and then the video went to looking not as nearly as clean and normal looking. Think of it like watching a video on the internet at half the bandwidth speed and quality compared to the norm. The video is shittier in resolution and the audio sounds "tingier". Thats totally what was happening here. The show finally stopped with any further technical issues with an Austin bio and Austin/Rock from Mania 15. Overall, I would have been more into the show as a whole (even though I've seen each of those matches a handful of times) if it wasn't for all of the technical issues. The film went close to two hours total in length.

NCFOM is still playing at the discount theater here in town, I'm sending a link so everyone can see what kind of typical fare this place gets. Normally its films that will be on DVD within weeks or films that are already on DVD currently. The theater is an absolute piece of shit, though, but what do you expect. http://www.maverick4.com Anyway regarding the box office this week, its a tragedy that Doomsday is going to get the "see ya" treatment in no time here. It was a GREAT flick by my standards. Mix a little Mad Max, Escape from New York, Evil Dead and about five or six other movies I can think of, and this is what you get. I think this was done by the same guy who wrote and directed Descent, so that explains why I enjoyed this so much. Gore heavy as well to say the least! This will be one of those cult favorites once it hits DVD, I'm thinking.

Results for Thursday's show: Jim Cornette announced Angle vs. Joe and a Lethal Lockdown (War Games style) match for Lockdown with a four-on-four with Christian Cage and Tomko picking the teams. Styles attacked Christian and Nash saved, so that should give one member. Curry Man b Petey Williams Samoa Joe said if he didn't win the title, you wouldn't see him on Impact again Black Reign & Rellik b Sabin & Shelley. Super Eric caem out after Kurt Angle b Kaz in a strong match Karen said she wanted a separation. Kurt was happy saying it would give him time to focus on beating Joe. Karen then started crying. Lance Hoyt & Jimmy Rave & Christy Hemme b LAX & Salinas Gail Kim b Velvet Sky - Kong beatdown Kim after the match until ODB saved Kevin Nash & Christian Cage b Styles & Tomko via DQ when Team 3-D interfered. So they are in the match. They also attacked Joel from Survivor ---- Ok, so we have as (what one would think) a given of Joe over Angle at Lockdown........who knows though, but call me pessimistic, but the Karen Angle storyline smells of swerve, akin to the Joe/Angle match from, shit, August (not sure on the time of that)? I am rather confident that it will be clean match and if anything, the schmoz in that match will be Karen helping Joe to win, thus negating the point of waiting this damn long to give Joe the belt (yes I admit I am a Joe mark). Not sure how 3D got involved in the primary angle but whatever, its TNA ----- what the fuck...... And what exactly is a "strong match?" EDIT - these are for 3/13 actually, my bad - can someone change up the header?

Could the person in the coffin be Sayed? Given that he was working for Ben, that could have given the response Kate gave to Jack at the end about last season regarding the deceased. Either that or Locke somehow gets off the island in some undercover means, and in the process ruffled a bunch of feathers in doing so.

Apparently not, which is very odd. The way that promo was done last week made it seem that he may possibly not even be on TV until the ppv? He said something about "the next time you see me here I will be TNA champion." Weird way to book the challenger if thats the case. Perhaps weekly vignettes of him training for the match? It's possible he's in a few segments though as the person who sent in these spoilers admitted her memory may have been scattered. Regarding these spoilers, its interesting to note that they really still havent announced Christian's entire team (thats being held off til the live Impact) but one could assume its Christian, Nash, Rhino, and Sting v. Tomko, Styles, and Team 3D.

Here are the spoilers for the 3/20 show waaaaaay late TNAWrestlingNews.com reader Linda sent in this report from the Tueday iMPACT! tapings. The airdate for this show is next Thursday, March 20th, 2008. Sorry for the lateness. Well, I have never done this before but I am going to try to send in what I remember from the tapings. It started with a Welcome Home party complete with a bottle of champagne. Booker T came out and welcomed Sharmell back home to TNA. Sharmell came out and Booker told Sharmell that he would never put her in harm's way again. Then, Jim Cornette came out and told Booker that he didn't like how Sharmell came out and hit everyone (especially, him) with a strap at Destination X. He announced that at Lockdown, Booker T and Sharmell would face Robert Roode and Payton Banks inside Six Sides of Steel. Sharmell and Booker T were upset that she was included in the match. Booker T overturned the table with the champagne in the ring. Cornette then told him that he could take his anger out on AJ Styles who he would be facing later. They also mentioned that AJ had a seat reserved for his special guest. Scott Steiner and Petey Williams (w/Rhaka Khan) defeated Eric Young (not Super Eric) and Kaz. Scott Steiner pinned Eric Young after Black Reign and Rellik came out onto the ramp and talked to Eric to distract him. Tomko defeated Rhino after interference from AJ Styles. Team 3D, Tomko and AJ Styles starting beating on Rhino and Christian Cage came out to help Rhino. Christian held his hand out to Rhino and Rhino shook it. Team 3D came out and helped Tomko and AJ againstChristian and Rhino. Kevin Nash came out with a chair to help Christian and Rhino. Cornette told Team 3D that they had a match tonight against Christian and Rhino. Sonjay Dutt defeated Homicide (w/Salinas and Hernandez) in a Lockdown X-Divison Xscape qualifying match. AJ Styles came out to the ring and announced to everyone that he had a special guest there tonight and then he brought out Karen Angle and led her over to the seat he had reserved for her to watch his match. Booker T (w/Sharmell) defeated AJ Styles with Karen Angle watching. Robert Roode and Payton Banks come out to bother Booker T during this match. In a TNA Knockouts tag team match, ODB and Gail Kim defeated Angelina Love and Velvet Sky. ODB pinned Angelina. Kurt Angle put on a sparring exhibition against four different opponents. The last one was Kory Chavis. In the main event, Christian Cage and Rhino defeated Team 3D (w/Johnny Devine). Rhino pinned Brother Ray after a Gore. AJ Styles and Tomko came out and helped Team 3D and Johnny Devine attack Christian and Rhino. Kevin Nash, the Motor City Machine Guns, Curry Man and Sharkboy came out to help Christian and Rhino. The heels laid everyone out and then, they played Sting's music and video. The heels fled the ring, while looking around for Sting. In a match taped for Xplosion, Curry Man and Sharkboy defeated the Rock N Rave Infection. Curry Man pinned Jimmy Rave after the Spice Rack.

Yeah, so the cat isnt let out of the bag that he is working for Ben (well kinda, Ben appears to have Walt captive in some capacity)......

I still dont get the reasoning why some are saying Cena/Taker is the big draw match. Its not like the two havent worked against each other before, hell, didnt they do a match with them on one of the amped up Raws last year even? I just dont get it. While Taker/Michaels is certainly not THE match that should main event Mania next year, its a great upper card bout.

Eh - I dont see that as a match that warrants headlining Mania to me. No offense but its just not fresh at all, really. Next year w/ HHH-Edge, Michaels/Taker (which is SO ready made as others have said with Houston being the venue), and Cena/Batista are all solid matches to build upon. I wouldnt at all be shocked to see the company go over and beyond the typical standard to try to get old names back at Mania for other big matches too. Not that I expect it to happen, but I am betting the internal push to do Hogan/Austin at the 25th Mania is going to be huge, as well as perhaps them trying to coax Rock into a match on the show, perhaps against Orton or someone.

Yeah, I'm thinking, after watching Impact, that 1) Nash isn't going to work the match and will be replaced by Rhino and 2) that forth man will probably be a surprise saved for the live Impact, and could very well be Jarrett.

Its actually playing here in town (Mankato, MN) at the local Carmike (the company that exclusively did the deal with WWE) theater (and a nice theater at that, all digital projection and amazing sound) starting today. Should be cool to check out, am certainly going to throw down on it just for the unique experience. Not sure how long this is going to run, but I think this is going to be a condensed version of the Wal Mart DVD of the same name, as a trailer I saw about it lists (and in this order it appears): Austin/Rock - Mania XV Jericho/HBK - Mania XIX Jericho/HHH - Mania XVIII Taker/Orton - Mania XXI Rock/Hogan - Mania XVIII Throwing in video profile packages in between the matches, I would guess this (digital) film version runs about a good hour and half or so. I'll post thoughts about it after I check it out over the weekend.

Its actually playing here in town (Mankato, MN) at the local Carmike (the company that exclusively did the deal with WWE) theater (and a nice theater at that, all digital projection and amazing sound) this coming Friday. Should be cool to check out, am certainly going to throw down on it just for the unique experience. Not sure how long this is going to run, but I think this is going to be a condensed version of the Wal Mart DVD, as a trailer I saw about it lists (and in this order it appears): Austin/Rock - Mania XV Jericho/HBK - Mania XIX Jericho/HHH - Mania XVIII Taker/Orton - Mania XXI Rock/Hogan - Mania XVIII Throwing in video profile packages in between the matches, I would guess this (digital) film version runs about a good hour and half or so. I'll post thoughts about it after I check it out over the weekend.

Some brief news I found over at www.tnawrestlingnews.com from the 3/20 taping of Impact....Sting is apparently coming back for Lockdown. "While full taping results are not currently available, the end of the iMPACT! tapings (to air in two weeks) saw Team 3D, Johnny Devine, AJ Styles and Tomko lay out most of the baby face roster. As they stood in celebration, the lights went out and Sting's music played. He did not appear, but it looks as if they are setting up his return for the Lockdown PPV to be a part of Christian Cage's Lethal Lockdown Team." So the Lethal Lockdown match at the next ppv will be 3D, Tomko, and Styles v. Sting, Nash, Christian and ????, very possible the forth babyface guy is that Joel guy from Survivor, who is the guy with Johnny Fairplay.

Yet another movie that fit damn near the same criteria as 10,000 BC - horrible story that just didn't jive for me, mediocre convincing of such, and the effects were there, but not yet saving the film in any way.

10,000 BC is indeed a fucking mess. Really bad and unconvincing acting, horrible plot with tons of holes in the story, could go on and on. The effects are definately good, but pretty much all were seen in one way or another in the main previews.

So TNA is drumming up some big groundbreaking announcement by Karen Angle for this week's Impact. One can only assume, in true Russo style, the next chapter in this Kurt/Karen/Styles angle is Karen announcing she's pregnant and we get the "who's the father" shit goin.... Either that or she's "divorcing" Kurt, which will probably be a swerve as it was before when Karen was brought in.