RedJed

If Goldberg signed a TNA deal before they brought Russo back (which is possible) I could easily see them easily having him show up tonight to challenge Joe for BFG. The way the BFG lineup is set now, Joe is way left out in the cold on that show unless they put him in the Sting-Jarrett match. Thats my most realistic prediction at this point.

This would make much more sense if WWE released some strip poker show with the chicks as a ppv or DVD or something (you know, actually showing nudity) - instead this is done to run against UFC? Huh? Fuck, bringing back the brawl for all concept back for one night on Oct 10 would be even better than this. Or having a night on ECW of all "extreme" matches or something.

At this point I dont know what to think of it all, but I have to admit there is some really tremendous internet buzz about tonight and I am definately looking forward to the ppv tonight. There is alot riding on tonight though, from the booking of the ppv to these announcements/changes. I am really having a feeling Angle is showing up tonight, or Brock. Goldberg is probably not a possibility with the Russo factor back in tact but stranger things have happened, I suppose.

I will say this much, it is true that Russo and Jarrett arent as chum chum as they used to be, and in past interviews since he left TNA, Russo almost spelled out what TNA's problem was and that was a Jarrett conflict of interest on top. So this MIGHT work - hard to say though as fucking Mantel helping out is nothing but a shitty deal. I could handle Russo, D'Amore and Tenay doing the booking, with that said. The Keller audio recap is promising to hear as that news makes this not sound as bad as originally thought, but I still have my doubts about Russo coming back.

So can it be assumed that the Mysterio mask fan really wasnt a plant? They didnt show him getting his ass handed to him on the show last night, was clearly edited out before Joe came out. Pretty good Impact last night, hate to see the creative shakeup with their last show delivering the goods.

I'm just putting two and two together here, but IF the big announcement is Mondays head to head, I can at least understand now why Russo was all of a sudden thrown back into the mix. Agreeing with it is another story.

What a fucking letdown. Unless this is a swerve to legitimately surprise people with the two hour Monday night timeslot, this is nothing but a downer. Worst thing is that I feel this is at the expense of a political pull by Jarrett to keep himself in the game, but I could be completely wrong. And Russo will definately keep pushing the guy, there is no doubt.

It will DEFINATELY have an upside. Wrestling viewership was shitty as all hell back in 95 when Nitro came on board. Competition will help here ALOT for both sides.

Holy shit - big news there --- I wonder WHEN this will go into effect. Now is the time for TNA to get their act completely together - theyre doing ok right now but the roster and booking is not cohesive enough to compete with Raw right now, but I think it could be in 2-3 months time. A new transition needs to be taken place with Joe as world champ dominating by this time, that much is for sure. Jarrett needs to be in the mid to upper card but away from the belt ASAP. Leading into a head to head battle w/ Raw with Jarrett on top will shoot them in the foot from the get-go, that much is clear. Something tells me this will open the door to Goldberg coming in, also. I actually thought the ppv announcement was going to be that he was coming in and taking on Joe at Bound for Glory, but apparently not. I'm sure I will have more thoughts on this later when I am able to process the potential of this more.

Russo didnt really get any booking pull or heavy influence until Spring 97, after a RAW taping they did in Germany (I believe it was) that just bombed in the ratings. Think about the same time that RAW changed drastically cosmetically....that was when abouts Russo got this power. While ideas of his may have been used in some form before then, the real official move didnt happen til Spring 97. Not shocked at all to hear about Gagne being let go - that was going to happen sooner or later, likely sooner. Even his own family members I have spoken to about the OVW gig knew he wasnt going to last 6 months. Guess Greg goes back to selling cars?

Punk wasnt really that over on the show, he was audibily telling people "come on" etc, and when he went to the fans by the barricade one person stood up for him nearby - the rest just sat there. While I'm a fan of his, the response he got there seemed pretty weak by most week's standards. Overall the show seemed very much just there to me. Please move on from Sabu-Show.

I'm not convinced Marine is going to do any numbers close to See No Evil - more than anything for these reasons. 1) Cena is not a household name by any means and they are using his name/drawing power to promote the film whereas See No Evil was just a horror film with nobody pushed above anyone else for names. By that same token, in this action film genre, I think the importance of a drawing name to the film is more important than the horror genre due to horror having a pretty specific fanbase that doesnt go to see a certain star really versus just a film concept, etc. They're taking a shot in the dark using his name to draw people to this film. He's not anywhere as familiar of a name to the masses as a Rock, Austin, or Hogan. On another side note, the more WWE pushes this on TV, the less interested I get the more I see what the film is all about, clips, etc. 2) The film's trailers do not showcase anything unique or worthwhile to even check this out whatsoever. I liked the first trailer a bit but now, as I said before, the more I have seen additionally, the more I am not feeling it at all. 3) I'm also very skeptical how much advertising they will put into this, giving it even less of a chance to succeed. If they only do the same advertising budget as See No Evil, its pretty much fucked. If they do more, thats great but it still goes back to the first two points and how those will play into this release. 4) Hawk's point about the competition. Both those films will likely go over this one, not to mention there is other films (especially in the horror genre) that will be out that month (Saw and TCM) that will really overpower the top spots likely.

I think it did ok considering the low screen distribution on it. Its nowhere near this area in the theatres right now sadly or else I'd go. Anyone heard anything positive about this Covenant film? It looks a bit ok from the previews but could easily be a shitty deal with the little I've heard on it.

So is Moore basically buried then, or where are they going with that? I hope its just a simple CM Punk squash match and left at that. It made no sense why the dude was even hired back in the first place other than to spite TNA. Didn't he blatanty say his TNA trademarked name last night too - "Prince of Punk"?

Still, interference or not, there's no real good reason why you should have a guy like Batista lay down on free TV, unless you're trying to bury him. Either way, it's pretty ridiculous booking as it serves to help no one. Booker T doesn't really even need the rub from Batista in the first place, as he's drawing heat on his own, and jobbing out Batista, even through interference, just makes him look weak. Fucking WWE. I disagree here, Booker has NEEDED a rub from Batista since the entire program has been one sided as hell. Ideally, Booker should have pinned Batista at SS via the crown scepter shot, but instead Batista kicked out. With that said, its pretty illogical why Finley can hit him with a similar device and he does the job, I will admit that. But Batista needed to give a little back in this feud for the chase to mean something. I'm certain the program isnt over, this is far from the blowoff. Finley/Batista will just feud leading to a few matches on Smackdown til No Mercy, where I would expect a Batista/Booker rematch. Whatever the case, I dont see Batista losing any momentum from doing this job really.

Well, first off, one word: Goldberg. Second, Jarrett is the definition of a career killer at this point. His heat is so apathetic that when he goes over someone, it just kills the other guy since nobody wants to see Jarrett even really lose in the first place and they REALLY dont want to see someone to the job to him. They just want him off tv (well at least I do) or at best, not in the position he's in. Anyone that Jarrett goes over at this point is dangerous, ESPECIALLY the guy they should be grooming at their money man. Joe has the possibility to put the company on the map if they do it right, and by doing it right is NOT by jobbing him out to JJ - thats the worst possible idea. It will kill off alot of his appeal to the casual TNA fans, and downright turn the hardcore fans off extremely, likely not wanting to bother with TNA again if they can't do shit right (me included). Joe's appeal, over and above everything, is his sheer and brutal dominance whenever he's in with whoever. If he would lose now, ESPECIALLY to the guy that a majority of the fanbase loathes in a not so good "heel heat" way, it would kill him right off as well as the idea of a "chase" meaning something for him. He can chase the title just fine by still remaining undefeated.

I would have been perfectly fine with Joe/Sting, Jarrett/Raven (play off the deal in Canada last year since they STILL are fucking rehashing that whole situation in storylines), and Christian/Styles or something like that too. Instead we are probably getting Joe/Steiner, Rhino/Christian, and of course Sting/Jarrett at BFG, which just does not ring out "WrestleMania calibur ppv" to me AT ALL.

The main event had no right being on ECW - it felt and was worked just like a goddamn Raw "main event" style match. Holly was out there to get some sort of rub which was sad because other than for that reason, this should not have been on here tonight. It was another lame attempt for WWE to "cross-brand" thinking the rating will jump. All I got to say is it fucking better not! Otherwise the rest of the show was quite alright.

I dont get why they didnt just do that same finish to Booker/Batista at SummerSlam - but hey, at least its done now and they are at least attempting to give Booker some heat in this feud. Finley can then be the guy to put over Batista stong leading to another Booker/Batista at No Mercy, I would assume. Anyone know if this is going to air on any Minneapolis station this week? Im really lost in this whole CW switch with pre-emptions of the show. The whole Rey/Chavo junk still annoys me to no end as part of the show, now Rey get the bummed out failure losing streak angle? Great way to bottom him out right before he's leaving for surgery. I just dont get the deal there and I am far from a Rey mark or anything. But the Eddy shit is just killing him dead. Kennedy-Taker just seems like a feud thrown together for the fuck of it. I would imagine Miz/Hardy has to be at least somewhat interesting, running with him as a heel is probably the best bet. I think the chances are slim on Cena moving over here to this show, but it honestly wouldn't be a bad idea at this point. There would be much more variety in the main event with Cena over here to balance things out a bit, esp. if Rey is buried/gone anyway. If Cena would come over here, I'd test a heel turn out, either him or Batista actually, building that as the $$$ match for the title at Mania. There could be a cool story there on how they both kind of got "over" at the same time period and whatnot.

Crank was definately an entertaining film. Seemed to parody itself a bit, or at least not take itself seriously, much like Snakes did. The action was good, comedy was subtle but funny, and overall it didnt just seem like a Transporter rehash like I assumed it was, so I left happy. Covenant and that movie with the Ong-Bak guy are both out this weekend, definately will likely check both of them out.

I would expect plenty of media heat as well as investors questioning shit like this down the road here, I cant see this staying in tact as they are making the rules as they go here. The whole point of the "Wellness Policy" is null and void with them doing shit like this. Also, I dont think they can force the workers to go on the road without pay. They're attempting to let it slide with the "expenses paid" deal but unless all workers signed an extension of their contract stating this shit, they have all the legal right in the world to sit out if they get suspended. Or at least I would assume.

I just have a problem with anyone selling the shit out of those guitar shots. That is such a ridiculously played out gimmick that yearns for Joe no selling the guitar shot IMMEDIATELY to kill it off.

I am legit shocked at nearly everyone enjoying Raw last night - either I was in a foul mood or something as I just didnt see much of anything interesting. How was Edge's promo so special? It seemed like the same cookie cutter Raw intial in ring promo, even added with the standard vignette package on such person in the ring cutting the promo which really has no meaning overall. Sans with the McMahon/Show deal - that just seemed right out of the 80s booking formula - heels blather about nothing for a bit, they insult the fans, the good guys come out and clear house. The security getting their asses kicked happens all too often as well. I will admit upon a second viewing that the wrestling portion of the show wasnt that bad, but then again, was there anything above ** to ** 1/2 here? Calling Hardy/Nitro one of the best Raw matches of the year is a LONG stretch! As far as the build for the ppv, I think my problem is that I feel that ppv card overall is extremely weak on paper and the build is kind of all for naught when I see that lineup. So while they may have built the ppv up on this show, I didnt feel it was done very well since I still have no desire to see that ppv.

Jarrett/Joe is non-title at No Surrender. Very stupid - although I understand they want to slow build Joe to the title, but for fucks sake! Jarrett el-kabonging Joe and him selling such is just as ridiculous. To say I am very concerned about Joe losing to Jarrett is an understatement, as I could see JJ get the fluke win over him, then Jarrett beats Sting at BFG and then jobs to Joe after such. Then again, this might be something like Joe beats Jarrett, Sting beats Jarrett at BFG and Sting then jobs to Joe later in the year. All in all though, what IS the point of booking Joe/Jarrett non-title? Ultimately TNA is going in circles with the world title situation and its really affecting things a bit. We now have it confirmed that Sting-Jarrett at BFG will be for the world title, which is a mistake IMO. I just cant see this being anything but lackluster for a main event at BFG. It would have been a perfectly fine sub-main event with Joe also defending the world title against someone like Christian or Steiner, but now it seems like there is no direction for their big show except this Sting/Jarrett nonsense which is fucked.

The show tonight was boring as all fuck, IMO. The Edge and McMahon/Big Show promos, in particularly, were about at stale as it comes. The matches themselves werent anything to write home about either. Everything seemed in slow motion mode for the 9/11 show where I would assume the big ppv selljob angles and substance will be on. I thought I heard a pin drop during the tag contenders match and Crymetyme isnt going to help things out in that division either. The only hope I see out of Raw is Carlito right now, and thats about it. Everyone and everything on this show was/is absolutely stale, otherwise.