RedJed

I'll IM you later today, didnt know you had it taped or else I would have not bothered with this post!

Anyone have a quality version of last weeks Smackdown? Looking for it since my VCR f'd up on me. Thanks

Oops, my bad! Well with that said, he's not worth bringing in, definate old timer who really couldnt offer anything, even in a non-wrestling role.

Ok here's a different direction on this topic, I know that Farrooq apparently got "fired" last night, but isnt he still a part of WWE anyway and will continue to be likely as an agent or something even if he's inactive as a wrestler now? What I mean is why the hell is this being discussed in the first place if this isnt even a possibility? Should I make a "Should Rene Dupree Come to TNA?" thread next?

Just feudin is all......they had one match in particular for control of tbe belts, Abyss won thanks to Luger, but then Russo apparently held up the belts in the aftermath since it was a BS finish and Abyss didnt deserve the belt. I think the reality of that situation was that they ixyaed (sp?) on Luger and whoever was supposed to be Styles tag partner that next week ended up falling out. So the whole idea of Abyss with the belts was scrapped. I'd much rather see Styles and/or Abyss without the tag titles anyway, they need to keep them as singles and contenders to the world title.

Show was pretty good last night. Main event surprised the shit out of me, not a bad match at all. Harris sure isnt ready for the title yet, but thats a good start at a successful singles career. The fans were begging for him to win. Solid *** 1/2 or so. People complaining that Jarrett won this match is BS.....1) Because Harris getting the belt is just wrong and premature 2) Jarrett made him look like a million bucks 3) The match delivered. Ladder match could have been longer but it still was a pretty solid match. This is a feud that demands a few more matches between them as they consistently have good bouts. Finish was weird, as was the main event, since it seemed to almost turn Raven heel, was that the idea? Not sure if thats smart...... Good to see Killings finally get back to a singles push, it's about time! On the same note, I think a guy like Siaki has made tremendous headway lately and could handle a sizable push as well. Same with Kash, Diamond, etc. I'm not feeling the whole Michael Shane face turn at all, and that feud with Douglas it going to be the shits. Still not feeling Kazarian at all either. Monty Brown should be a guy that they can push decent enough though. Future doesnt look so bleak for the company after a show like this, but what determines the real future is how they can organize all of these contenders that are apparently to be pushed harder to that everyone benefits.

I agree with both points. I thought the actual shows booking was horrible though for the most part. I guess they needed to have one last show of the whole "Under New Management" chaos, with all of the Jarrett run ins and lame copout finishes. One thing that has really baffled me......a few weeks ago they had a match when El Leon worked Abyss, and El Leon apparently lost by DQ when Styles ran in. Now if he lost, Leon was to lose the mask. It was never mentioned in the aftermath. This happened AGAIN this week....with Styles and Abyss. Dont even bother having a stipulation if its not even going to be acknowledged, much less honored in the post match! Shit like that is worse than even WWE has done in years past. Also, if Lynn knew he was fired after last week, why did he even bother coming out for that tag, much less be able to be booked in it? I dont get it. There was some good worked matches somewhat in the card, but as I said, the booking just baffled me. I wasnt feeling Jarrett-Harris at all for some reason. Russo as this new director.....hmmm, I'll give it a chance but I'm not sure how this makes sense in the long scheme of things....Russo as a babyface? The Fairplay thing fell REALLY flat, as did most of the matches to the live crowd, other than the ICP thing of course. Only real positives to me were the opener (post match though was lame) and the tag with Raven. Cool to see him revert back to his old persona, even if it seems like the idea came from the Taker stuff in WWE - either that or thats complete coincidence. Hope to see alot better direction next week without all of this Jarrett shit in every segment. I understand that his whole deal is supposed to be a knock at the competition in some weird subconsious way, but its getting out of hand where the product is really getting affected. The booking is struggling enough without Jarrett being the antithesis of every finish and storyline. Anyway March 10 should be cool though, and I would assume that then leads to Canada v. USA in April maybe?

Unfortunately I hate to report.......but the plan was, as of a few weeks ago, to have some sort of involvement with IWA PR at the next taped show, according to Meltzer. I'm not too convinced that it will be an X division thing though, they might go more towards working in a hardcore environment or something, I'm not sure. And I'm not really interested in this news either, like the majority. Would much rather see a NJPW or NOAH involvement in a tournament. I think the first step though is to continue this deal with AAA and bring them back for another "Cup" perhaps defending against a few countries, as someone else said. That would make for a cool show.

Wouldnt it be easier and cheaper for them to just open up the window before the pre-show next week since I think they air the week before right before it? I dunno, just seems like it would be easier that way, but still good to see they are trying to make up for the error somehow and a little more personally.

Holy Overreacting, Batman! Booking guys to work multiple matches in one night(while probably not the entire case here) *is* stupid, so chill with the overdramatizing BS. Doing it wears them out and you get botches like in quite a few of those matches last night. And before you go running off at the mouth using Red's rationale for why certain people wouldn't like the show, I do like lucha, but only when it's well-done and it wasn't well-done last night. I will say this much, I dont think the problem was booking them for multiple matches in one night, since that didnt happen here. Essentially, they booked two different times to put this show together, I think the first night was the singles matches (which I didnt see any of them other than Negro-Skipper being dissapointing) and then the second week was the tag matches and finale. That explains the complaint also of some spots being done again, I noticed this with the AAA guys on occasion especially.

Two points....... 1) Five botched spots per match my ass. 2) It has nothing to do with people wanting TNA to succeed or not, I've been as critical of the next when they put on bad shows but to say this was anything around 'awful' is ridiculous.

Gotta say it, its people like YOU who bring this board down and make ME sick with incessant bitching and moaning......can never be happy and if *gasp* someone actually talks about the good stuff a company is doing instead of just harboring on the negatives, then to you, its a shitty forum. Go figure. It's your opinion and you are entitled to it, but seriously, you're just as bad as someone who biasely thinks a certain company can do no wrong, you're just the opposite of it. If you dont like the style of wrestling that was put on last night (lucha/x division based) then you're entitled to that. But other than that....well give me a fucking break, it wasnt like this was the worst show ever, well over half of the TNA shows on average, if not more, were MUCH MUCH worse than this, even to the most critical around. This wasnt as good as the first X-Cup, but I gotta say it still held its own ground VERY strongly and was probably in the top 10 of the best TNA shows ever, in my opinion. The technical problems pissed me off, I'll admit, but it still didnt mean the show sucked by any means. I really wish that they would furnish a replay of the show for free though. Opener was pretty good, as was most of the singles matches. The tag matches.....eh, they didnt do much for me. As for the last match, very well done, and the only thing I would change would be to have Lynn actually have tied the match and THEN it would have been going into the captains match with those two, all it would have taken was about 5 or so extra minutes to really build even more drama into that match and made it REALLY something else. Plus since that match with Juvi and Lynn would have been scheduled for next week, it would have been a great idea to get people to tune in next week and load that show up even more. The Jarrett stuff, I dunno, it was what it was, and it led to something significant so whatever, I wasnt as pissed as some. Plus it wasnt like it took that much time out of the show, maybe 5-10 minutes tops? I didnt like how the AAA team was immediately interrupted by Jarrett though. Storyline or not, I think thats shitty of that to happen and it demeans the entire tournament.

This sounds better than Hall/Nash v. Jarrett/Sting (which was their idea after the Hogan deal soured) but definately not as good as either Hogan/Jarrett or even Jarrett/Raven. If you want purpose to sign a guy that demands that much money, save Savage in a role that makes sense, not here and not now. Thats why I understood the logic in bringing in Hogan, since there was backstory there with Jarrett and I think it would have done something in terms of bringing people in. With Savage......well, did that WWA ppv with him advertised up until the preshow (and by that point I ordered the show already) really draw alot of buys? Nope. Case closed. The guy isnt a draw and if anything needs to be brought in for half of what Hogan asked if not less, and not used in a main event setting like this right off the bat. I still think the most ideal situation would be Raven/Jarrett since April will be a full year almost exactly (wasnt their match the first week of April last year?) of their title match. Thats a decent story to use in building up that match. With Savage, I cant see a viable storyline that would make me really hyped to see that one. I actually do like the idea of having Savage in the company though, believe it or not. He may not be a huge draw anymore, but he's still a name from the past much like Piper, who people can associate with. Just not in this role and not for that price tag is what sucks. But I'm sure he wont take anythign less than what they offered Hogan, more than anything because of ego and because of his supposed beef with Hogan. His workrate.....since its been almost 4 years since he's wrestled, who knows how bad or good he is now, so I wont comment on that aspect of it.

In this weeks Observer, Meltzer reports that TNA is trying to work a Hall/Nash v. Jarrett/Sting match as the main event of the first Sunday ppv. Not sure what the reasoning here is other than the mindset of all 4 being notable names, but how will this draw at all? Since the ppv is being planned for April, the logical route would be a Jarrett v. Raven rematch from a year ago for the world title, and I hope they go in that direction instead of this crap. Hall and Nash would probably be better fit taking on AMW once they win back the titles (I would assume they cant play that out much longer) if they insist on bringing them in. As for Sting, wouldnt mind seeing him against Styles in a sort of passing the torch match as the top 3 matches on the show. Just caught me off guard with this news. They are also in negotiations with Ken Shamrock to return on this show, unsure what his role would be though (maybe against Abyss?)

Wow, if Mantel thinks that, he really needs his head examined. Quite frankly, any organization that thinks they are or should cater to a demographic with only 10 years seperating it......well cmon. Keeping storylines simple is ok as long as the angles and stories themselves are creative and interesting. But so far I havent seen much of that from Mantel. I think he would be best working with Russo side by side, as they both have good points to their booking. Mantel likes to slow build things and give it the proper development.....I havent seen that from Russo since WWE days. Russo likes to build unique characters and like to add surprises to storylines and matches (whether all of them are good or not is up to debate). If they could be on the same page with their positives, it would be great. Jerry Jarrett (not sure about Jeff's booking abilities) has the positives in bringing concepts that made the Memphis territory so successful back in the day (wild brawls, hardcore elements, etc). If they could all pool their ideas into a nice merged weekly show, that would be great, but who knows if thats possible. Could care less if Russo is back on air or not, I'm more thinking maybe not so he can keep focus on what he's around for anyway.

That would be horrible. Cena should fight Big Show, and have Big Show loose the title to Cena. Pretty sure thats lined up for No Way Out already, and thats hardly a ppv calibur match. Having it at Mania wouldnt make much sense.

But is it for the Title or is it non-Title? If Goldberg is indeed leaving after WMXX is he just gonna lay down for Brock as a send-off? He certainly can't win the belt if he's not coming back. Or maybe he's turning heel? Nope, non-title......neither guy would even have a belt at all. Note that I made Angle-Guererro for the WWE title instead. In a response to an issue with Guererro as champ, I should have clarified.....its not like Eddy would come out of the match looking "lucky." Goldberg might interfere, but not cost him the match (see last night with Goldberg having to be eliminated by Angle post-Lesnar attack). Say Goldberg comes in during Lesnar-Eddy, spears him. Eddy gets a near fall but still finishes him off alone. I guess I just dont see WHY Lesnar-Goldberg needs to be for any title, especially since it will be interpromotional. I dont like the idea of either title being challenged by the opposing brand really other than the tag titles or Women's titles. Not until they unify the world titles should that happen.

Ok, my two cents on how Mania should be lined up. Its supposed to be 5 hours long so lets assume that means it should be 12 full matches, thats how I would do it at least. Probably been threads like this, but given what happened last night, now things are more noticible what can't/can be done. INTERPROMOTIONAL MATCHES Kane v. Taker: Theres no way to get past this one since its already been built from November. One thing though, and this might be the plan already, they should bring back the oldschool Taker to fight him. Lesnar v. Goldberg: Again, another inevitable one. Lesnar though, loses his title at No Way Out to Eddy thanks to Goldberg's interference. This match could still be special if booked right. Hogan v. Stone Cold (with Vince as ref?): This is the only viable reason for Austin to wrestle again, if Hogan returns at all. Heyman v. Bischoff: Might be terrible, but sounds fun on paper. Add some stip to it like the loser will have bragging rights at the true GM of the WWE. This would segway to that title being completely banished post-Mania. You could involve any of the McMahons in this too, but not sure how, maybe have Vince/Bischoff/Heyman v. a 3 team of whoever instead or Shane/Vince v. Bischoff/Heyman? TAG BELT TLC: Bashams v. Dudleys v. WGTT v. RVD/Jericho: With the depleted tag divisions, why bother with two tag titles? Just have the tag team champs move from show to show when need-be. Women's match w/ both brands. Not sure how to do it, biggest bra and panties match ever? But have all the chickies in there, and the winner will take the Women's title as well, so the title should be switched to Smackdown if a gal like Torrie took it. OTHER MATCHES SMACKDOWN WWE TITLE - Angle v. Guererro: Looks like Angle will turn, so he'd be the heel here. As said before, Eddy wins the title at No Way Out. Crusierweight Battle Royale: I know they've been talking about this and I like it. Move most, if not all, CW material over to SD for this from Raw so its a full load of guys. Also they have to actually pin or something to eliminate them, not over the top rope since that would take alot out of the match with the high flyers. Cena v. some rapper: Sounds weird but it might work. Method Man or something? RAW World Title: Shawn Michaels v. Chris Benoit: One of the few dream matches left in my opinion. Rock/Foley v. HHH/Orton: This could be two seperate matches, but might be better this way. Edge/Jeff Hardy v. Matt Hardy/Christian: Interesting twist on this old feud between the Hardys and E/C. Edge could return on Raw as well as Jeff in the next few weeks to build this. Incorportating Lita into this mix would work too. On the pre-show (HEAT), I would have some contenders match w/ Show, Booker T, Rhyno, Steiner, etc. Winner recieves a favor of their choice at the next show they are on or something. Maybe a shot at the world title at the next brands show? Anyway, that would pretty much take care of the whole roster for Mania.

As much as I could care less about this Venom guy, here is a thing I've learned in time from dealing with guys like him after posting on boards.......JUST IGNORE HIM IF HES SO TERRIBLE. If you dont think he has anything to offer to the table, just let him be. Replying back to him in basically the same way at times doesnt help the situation, it just makes him want to come back over and over again for more. It's like a fire that you guys keep throwing fluid on. I initially came around here probably upon the inception of TNA, or shortly thereafter. For quite a while, I was a regular around in the TNA board since I continue to watch show after show and everyone who posted here was fair, impartial, and most of all, RESPECTFUL to others opinions. Not sure when it stopped, probably 3 or 4 months ago, but I started to lose interest in here when it just became a game of whos wrong and who's right around here, and then with that came people who just seemed to want to start arguments.....I certainly wont throw any names down but the only single poster I even could seem to talk constructively to was BPS. I just think this place needs to get back to that. Just ignoring the waste and just talking constructively about the shows might be a nice start. I've come around occasionally to try that, but I cant even get much conversation from the matter since everyone is so concerned with throwing shit back and forth at each other. Can we all just grow up already, please?!! Anyway..... For what its worth, I thought the show was alot better than the average has been in the weeks' past.......the AMW match was surprisingly strong against the Red Shirts, and it just seemed that generally speaking, alot of the guys had their working shoes on last night. The atmosphere seemed like there was more going on...with Lynn returning and the buildup to the next X Cup, that should be cool, and Fairplay made for, well, something to talk about I suppose. I cant judge whether Fairplay will be a good thing or not yet, all depends what they will do with him from this point. If Russo wrote some of this, I saw the difference as it didnt just seem so dulled out of a two hour show than what its usually like. Sure, there still needed to be alot of work, but this could be a good start to a new leaf for the company with Russo back in the fold and maybe learning from mistakes past. If Mantel, Russo, and the Jarretts could all be on the same page, we probably could get a real good product with all of their strong points being used. Mantel's visions could work in terms of his long builds, and if Russo could help make those builds more interesting with more substance (which time will tell on), well thats something positive to me. One thing is for sure though, Lynn back is definitely a good thing to me.

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic there or not! No I'm serious, I thought that was a very well done show last night, had a wild atmosphere and there really wasnt that much that was dull other than the David Young match. Sure had more action and things happening than most Mantel productions on average. To each their own though.

Never thought I would say it after what he produced near the end of his last booking run in TNA, but I'm glad Russo is back in the fold after that tremendous show last night and especially since he got them to bring Lynn back. Mantel doesnt know his ass from a hole in the ground as far as who to push and who not to push, keep around, let go, etc

The show ended up being a little better than I expected, but it was still nowhere near a blowaway show by any means. I was underwhelmed by the lineup probably more than any other week in TNA history, so to say I came into this one with low expectations may be an understatement. The main event, in particular, impressed the hell out of me in how well it was done given having a guy like Watts in there. I like that they took the not so obvious route of not having the chick turn on Watts, as that would have made lame ass storyline anyway. I like that next week they are finally going to settle this stuff with Watts and Calis finally, and I would assume they might actually have a match or something. Hope this also means that Styles will have another match with Jarrett and I think that means that he will get that belt finally after all the buildup. Jarrett at this point is losing a million points by just continuing to hold that belt, as its hurting him more than helping really. The rest of the show was ok in spots, but some of the stuff just bored me to death. Douglas and Skipper was blah, same with Young and Diamond (more like pure crap). Couldnt get into that handicap match with Sandman at all either, and next week doesnt look good either in that aspect (never been a fan of Balls Mahoney, was hoping he was going to say Funk). X contenders match was just kind of there too, it was nothing that I havent seen before, too short, and Shane winning just pissed me off. They do the contenders matches WAY too much, too, hell......next week is another with AMW and Red Shirts, lame excuse for another match with those two teams. I liked the tease of XXX getting back, but like everything Mantel does, I have a feeling it will be drawn out too long where I could give a damn when/if they get back together. I think the problem with how he draws out storylines is that the substance with them is nothing special or interesting. I'm not too keen on not seeing Raven AWOL either even if its just storyline. Big stories from the show was the announcements of down the road. The Johnny Fairplay thing......hmmm, well it MIGHT get them some mainstream coverage but lets just say I hope they didnt shell out an enormous sum of money for him. I think his presense might work, depending on what they do with him. I'd like to see him do a thing with a Piper feud, but that might come too close to home from what I hear. I'm really excited for the next X Cup in Feb though with AAA, that should make for a cool show all around if its anything like the last one.

He cut a promo and then had another one during the countdown, I believe.

My main beef with the show was soooo much talking and so much Jarrett. There really shouldnt be that much talking (at least when it goes nowhere) when people pay 10 bucks a week for this. The stuff at the beginning with Jarrett and Kash, and then the stuff in the ring with the same guys and Watts, that took up almost a half hour which is asanine (sp). And then to end it with Jarrett saying nothing really significant, well whats up with that. I'm scared to find out who that mystery guy is who attacked Jarrett, and I was kind of pissed that they did a stupid excuse for Jarrett getting out of his title shot. Logically, shouldnt he be stripped like it was stated before the end of the year if he didnt defend it within 30 days? Ultimate X 2 and the six man were good, but especially with X2, I expected more at least it terms of time. To have only 13 minutes reserved for that match is a slap in the face of the wrestlers and the fans if you ask me. The rest of the matches, blah. I think Sandman will still turn on Raven in this storyline though. But I wish it would just be Punk v. Raven feuding, all of these sidelines like Mitchell brought back to feud with him is redundant. I'm still trying to figure out as well why a guy like Lynn still isnt back, and a guy like DLo wasnt even used at all last night. Definiately didnt live to the expectations I gave the show, which were kind of high given the fact that they had 3 weeks to fine tune this show. One thing that caught my attention was the AAA/IWA PR stuff, and if that ends up happening, I'm all for it.

I thought the show wasnt too bad at all last night really. The only thing that really bugged me was the run-ins all over the place. I thought this was one thing that would be best served for purpose, and having the same guys run in almost every match (like the Red Shirts) defeats ANY purpose other than forcefeeding the fans into buying these losers into main event talent. Well, it aint workin! Another thing that kind of bothered me was that I thought maybe this big news from Jarrett would be announced tonight. Plus no follow up with guys like Hart and Piper at all. Seemed odd considering they were a reasonably big part of the shows lately. The opening was pretty good, and Sting/Jarrett was ok for what it was. Likely a rematch on the 7th for the title, I would assume. Is anyone really getting sick of Watts though? He has nothing to offer in this stupid role, they should just turn him heel with Callis. Plus he kind of rambles in his promos and isnt very crisp. X division matches were pretty good, sans the run ins, again. Fucking Michael Shane of course blew a few spots, and then looked to blow out Traci's knee or something when he dropped her. F'n dumbshit. Daniels-Sabin was strong, like a few others, I could have handled more time with this one (even 5 more minutes). I like that Skipper is playing this tweener role at the time, makes you wonder where that will lead. Am looking forward to Ultimate X though, should be great. The tag matches.....the street fight was pretty well done I thought. Good work by all of them. I liked the angle after the match too (only real good point to a run-in there). I dont need to see Red Shirts and AMW in a feud really, but I guess they had to segway somehow into a new program. This might lead to Harris going solo after Jarrett in the months to come. The "dream match" was just kind of there. There was no heat here at all. The main event was the same way, no fucking heat up until the last 5 or so minutes. The run ins here didnt need to happen, just made for this chaotic confusing situation. Maybe built up that Raven was going to win even more, but it almost made it too predictable what was going to happen. Like I've said before, I'm not too thrilled myself with Punk-Raven, but I'm glad to see the turn finally happened, just so they can progress with this. They sure are building this Raven title shot though, thats good to see as long as the feud with Punk doesnt go forever. I cant help but still be critical of TNA even after a decent show like this. This still isnt up to the level of the shows I used to see them put out week after week consistently. Two major issues that I have at this point. 1. This roster is very small and depleted. I assume thats because all of these guys are moreless under contract and they are trying to build around them. The thing is should some of them be even used full time in the first place. I hate this concept of his heel faction of Jarrett, Abyss, Red Shirts, Kash, Disco, blah blah blah as some sort of dominating force here. It makes the roster look that much weaker. And I'm seeing a lot of forcefed pushes that arent working (Abyss, Kash, etc). Guys that are back like D-Lo seem to already be stale in just a weeks time in their role. How is that possible? If you have a small roster, you have to make the most out of what you have, and other than the exception being the 4 guys in the X title hunt, I just dont see them using their talent to their potential for the most part. Plus the crowds have been downright dead in the past month or two and thats never a good sign. Either the Jarretts have to step in to offer more assistance with Mantel or they need someone else in to assist as well like Russo. I'd be willing to give Russo another chance as long as he's not booking by himself like he was before. I always have said if Russo is working alongside someone equally, I dont have a problem with his work. When him and Jerry/Jeff were working side by side back earlier in the year, more times than not, those shows were good. 2. The other problem is how they layout the matches. It has seemed that as of late, the matches seem more formulmatic, almost akin to WWE styles per usual. I dont see much of anything alternative in terms of actual wrestling compared to the WWE as of late, it just seems very much like an "A leads to B" type of matches lately. TNA never used to be like this, and if anything, it seemed like they just let their guys go out there and bust their ass. Maybe I'm wrong but has it became different? And I dont know who's fault that is either, it may not neccessarily be Mantels. Also, they have no excuse for giving some of these matches more time. Someone else noted there hasnt been a 20 minute match in a long time and thats true. I dont think its much to ask to have a handful of longer matches a month as long as its a big match that is warranted. Ultimate X 2 for example. I'd much rather see less match filler a week, and have 4 or 5 longer matches a week. Can they fucking eliminate the recaps from the weeks before finally too? Thats getting old, especially since most of their base get these shows every week AND they have a 30 minute countdown that shows most of the same stuff even before the show starts.