Styles

Here's the full news report from www.tnawrestling.com: TNAWRESTLING.COM MIDWEEK NEWS REPORT Following Sunday's Destination X Pay-Per-View and Tuesday's Impact taping at Universal Orlando Resort, there are several news items to report. Here is the midweek TNAWrestling.com news report: - Tolerance for pain...Jeff Hardy and Abyss have it! During their Final Assault match, Abyss dislocated one finger and sliced open another while powerbombing Hardy through a table. With his finger hanging to the side, Abyss grabbed it and immediately popped it back into place. The monster was wearing a splint and bandages on his hand the following day. Then there's Hardy, who after being slammed into the pile of tacks, needed assistance from exiting the arena by referee Rudy Charles. On his way to the medical doctor, Hardy was stopped by a fan who asked to get a photo with him. Not only did Hardy oblige, but then spent another three minutes talking to the youngster - with the tacks still in his bloody back! A few feet later, Hardy was in such discomfort that Sean Waltman began picking the tacks out of his back. Hardy made it to the doctor's table a few minutes later - and his back looked like it had been smashed with a meat tenderizer on Tuesday at the Impact tapings. Backstage footage of Hardy following the match will be included on the future "Destination X" DVD. - After the Pay-Per-View, cameras were on hand in Jeff Jarrett's locker room to capture the victory celebration with the NWA World Champion, The Outlaw, The Naturals, Chris Candido, Lawyer Daggart and of course, their newfound associate The Alpha Male Monty Brown. The footage will air this Friday on Impact. - Tiny The Timekeeper, who manned the bell for all of TNA's Wednesday night Pay-Per-Views in Nashville, visited Universal for the Pay-Per-View on Sunday. Everyone in TNA was happy to see Tiny again, and Jeff Jarrett personally asked him to return to the bell that night for the broadcast. Like clockwork, Tiny didn't miss a beat (or ring) during the Pay-Per-View! - TNA newcomer Shocker will be in action this Friday on Impact, taking on David Young. In addition, we'll hear from The Alpha Male Monty Brown for the first time following his actions on Sunday! - Savio Vega, Shane and Rey Gonzalez from Puerto Rico's IWA promotion were backstage at Tuesday's Impact taping in Orlando to meet with TNA management. On April 15,16,17 and 18 (IWA's biggest shows of the year), several TNA superstars will compete during the nightly events, including NWA World heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett, Abyss, America's Most Wanted and Team Canada. - TNA offices expect to take stock this week of December's Turning Point DVD, available soon in the ShopTNA.com merchandise area. The DVD will include exclusive backstage shot footage during the show, including AMW and Triple X receiving medical attention following their bloody brawl inside the Six Sides of Steel. - TNA's May Pay-Per-View is title "Hard Justice", set for May 15. Expect a press release on the event to follow, as well as some big news and plans for TNA's June three-year anniversary Pay-Per-View event. - Raven and Terry Taylor recorded special bonus commentary on Tuesday afternoon for the upcoming "Nevermore: Best of Raven" DVD. The bouts including special commentary are Raven vs. Wildcat Chris Harris from May 2004 and Raven vs. AJ Styles for the NWA World Heavyweight Title a month later. For their first time calling a match together, Raven and Taylor did a great job - including a bit of humor (albeit twisted) from both.

My first thought was "Big Bossman will debut..." and then I remembered...

Just saw the show. I'm not going to try to say this was a good show overall, as the undercard especially was very weak and did not live up to the last few shows, but there were a few highlights... -Ultimate X challenge! This is TNA's ace in the hole. They can put on the shittiest shows imaginable, throw an X division match out there for a half hour and all of a sudden you have no choice but to go thumbs in the middle. Very well layed out and excecuted match. Skipper and Daneils' interplay was fun. The Best Moonsault ever spot from the middle of the wires was incredible. The ending was a little lame (a trend for the night) but the anticipation to it with both of them climbing up and coming down was excellent. Oh got to mention the STO off the wires, that was great too. Daniels should do good with the belt. -Hardy and Abyss had another good brawling match. It's a shame they couldn't interact with the amusement park itself but it's dark out and they probably wouldn't be allowed. Hardy's insane swanton off those metal beams on the wall gets 2nd for spot of the night. That was insane and looked like a legit 15 feet up. Kudos to Hardy for taking the back bump into the tacks too. Sick visual with the bloody puncture wounds. Don't see why anyone would want to take that though... -SHOCKER~! That dive was sweet. I've never seen him before but read a lot about him. Great pickup for TNA. -DDP and Jarrett had a decent title match, but once again the interference and crowd brawling is just beyond cliche. Jarrett does find yet another strange object to incoporate into his match with the swivel chair. That was funny to watch him spinning around. Never saw the Brown turn coming. They were leading us on with BG James the whole time. Hopefully this leads to Brown turning on Jarrett sometime in the near future, but who knows at this point. I like Brown as a deranged heel better anyway. as for the bad, the undercard was pretty brutal...Phi Delta Slam vs. DOD felt like it went on for an hour before it mercifully ended, the booking was way overthought in a lot of cases, like the Outlaw/Nash finish and the Trytan debut was just horrible (never mind nearly killing Brown on the press slam) and I don't know what drugs Dusty Rhodes was on to come up with that ending. Overall, a thumbs in the middle show for TNA. I can't in good conscience reccomend a replay like I did the last 3 shows, but the Ultimate X challenge saved this one and is worth seeing along with Hardy/Abyss and a decent Jarrett/DDP. My star ratings (which everyone loves so much to yell at me about, even though it's my opinion) Team Canada vs. AMW/3Lk: ** Chris Sabin vs. Chase Stevens: *1/2 Raven vs. Dustin Rhodes: *1/2 PDS vs. DOD: DUD Trtyan vs. Monty Brown: -* Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss: ***1/2 Outlaw vs. Kevin Nash: *3/4 Ultimate X Chalenge: ****1/2 Jarrett vs. DDP: **1/2

Daniels will be fine. It's not about limits, you don't have to be a "high spot" wrestler, and it's in fact better to be well rounded and able to work every style like Daniels can. Plus he has lots of charisma and can cut excellent promos. You used Red as your "prototypical" X champion, but I don't agree, as Red can only do big spots, can not hold a match together in terms of telling a story, has no personality and can't cur promos. It brings the X division down to WWE Crusierweight levels (with flashier moves). Daniels upgrades the belt and in many ways outclasses the NWA champion...

Hi, Al! We largely agree actually. The lineup is definitely a force, and I agree is slightly overrated but if everyone hits to their potential, 1-9 it's dangerous. Brian Roberts, finally having the 2nd base job for himself really brought out the hitter in him last year and he has good speed too. Matos has amazing speed and excellent defense but needs to show he's a major league hitter. He did that in 2003, posting an over .300 average but injuries caused him to fall off last year. Same with Jay Gibbons who is projected to hit 8th in this linup and showed 30 home run/100 RBI power 2 years ago, it's just a matter of injuries clearing up. Larry Bigbie is improving every year and is already getting comparisons to a Paul Oneil type who can hit for average, decent power and steal some bases. As for the middle of the order, Rafael Palmeiro should do better then last year now that the pressures of playing 1st base will be lifted. He went into a LONG power slump last year until we moved him to DH late in the year and all of a sudden he went on a tear. DH will be his primary position this year so he can just concentrate on hittting and not worry about the wear and tear on his knees. Hopefully something similar will occur for Javy Lopez, who had a fine season last year, but his power may have suffered from being asked to catch the most games he has in his life. He's asked manager Lee Mazzlli for more rest this year and the working plan is to make Geronimo Gil Rodrigo Lopez's personal catcher, which is a system that worked well for Javy in Atlanta. Melvin Mora is just one of those late boomers and as long as he can avoid injury should post his same all star caliber numbers of the last 3 seasons. Miguel Tejada is simply the man, and an RBI machine. Then there's Sammy Sosa, the new intangible. From coverage of Spring Training, Sosa seems happy, re-energized and has a chip on his shoulder in a good way. He's out to prove he's not washed up and is still an elite player. I'm not saying 1998 numbers, but he's apparently been crushing the ball in ST, so 40+ home runs and 120+ RBIs in this lineup is not out of the question. I look for him to bounce back huge. The pitching, like you said, is still a big question, but I agree is underrated. Since we replaced the incompetent Mark Wiley with guru Ray Miller last June at pitching coach, the O's pitcher's ERA dropped over a full run and from that point on were the 2nd lowest ERA in the AL. From the All Star Break they had the 4th lowest ERA. Overall they ranked 1st in terms of pitching turnaround from that time. Although neither is an "ace" Sidney Ponson and Rodrigo Lopez are both work horses who will keep the team in games. Ray Miller jokes "give us 8 runs and we'll be fine". That's what having so much offense afford you, a little extra room for error in the pitching. Otherwise, I agree Daniel Cabrera needs to control his walks but he's been flawless so far in ST which is an excellent sign and Erik Bedard is the one everyone looks to break out but he needs to prove he can go deeper in to games. Bruce Chen is an interesting addition. He pitched sparkling at the end of last year when he was called up and has been flawless in ST and bar none the most impressive of the "bubble" candidates, so hopefully this will finally be his breakout year. The most important overlooked point on the Orioles is the BULLPEN. In the first half of last year we were IN many games even though out starting pitching was not good but the albatross known as Mike Dejean would come in and seem to ruin every game for us. He's gone. In his place, dependable vets Steve Kline and Steve Reed (who posts the best ERA in Coor's Field last year!) Not to mention emerging phenom closer BJ Ryan, who was unhittable by lefties and darn tough on righties. Form phenom closer Jorge Julio moves to setup and they are joined by dependable long men John Stephens and Rick Bauer. There's even more pitching depth in camp and likely at AAA. If our starters can just hold it together for 6 innings, and our potent offense scores some runs (which they should) then the bullpen should come in and really do it's job. I truly belive our bullpen is top 5 in all of baseball. With that said, I have no dillusions. This is not a playoff team in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox. Will I still root them on and probably fool myself when they go on a winning streak? Oh, sure. But the reality remains they need to get their first winning season in 7 agonizing years before playoff talk starts. I think this year will be a statement and an improvement and that's a big first step. I look for a winning year, maybe a wildcard tease, and ultimately a 3rd place finish. Oh, and in case you want the projectives from CBS Sportsline, here you go PROJECTED LINEUP 1. Brian Roberts 2B 2. Melvin Mora 3B 3. Miguel Tejada SS 4. Sammy Sosa RF 5. Rafael Palmeiro DH 6. Javy Lopez C 7. Jay Gibbons 1B 8. Luis Matos CF 9. Larry Bigbie LF Rotation 1. S. Ponson 2. R. Lopez 3. D. Cabrera 4. B. Chen 5. E. Bedard

Def. gotta go to Ozzfest this year to see Sabbath and Maiden. Rob Zombie is headlining the second stage too. For someone who's never been to an Ozzfest how does the second stage concept work? Is it physically a second stage that plays before (or during?) the main stage acts, or is it all on the same stage but the "second stage" bands go on earlier in the day?

That's a great story if it's true. HHH would have asked the waiter to quiz them on who their favorite wrestler is and who the greatest of all time is before he paid the bill...

Indeed: So just fill in Sanchez's spot with either Monroe's or Logan's in the lineup for those of you keeping score. (What kind of a name is NOOK anyway?!)

Meltzer: Ok, please tell me they taped this and will be releasing it for our viewing pleasure in some form soon. I don't know what I want to see more, HHH taking the DDT or Flair fleeing from the snake...

PROJECTED LINEUP 1. D'Angelo Jimenez 2B 2. Austin Kearns RF 3. Sean Casey 1B 4. Ken Griffey Jr. CF 5. Adam Dunn LF 6. Joe Randa 3B 7. Jason LaRue C 8. Felipe Lopez SS Rotation 1. E. Milton 2. P. Wilson 3. R. Ortiz 4. A. Harang 5. B. Claussen There's some serious power in their lineup if they can just STAY HEALTHY which seems to be impossible for this team. Their pitching is still lacking and they're in a really deep division so, they'll pretty much be battling for 4th place, I place them 5th.

Could you, like post the relevant part, because I'm not sifting through that board. EDIT: NEVER MIND. It's not a work because a work would be used to lead to a match and on screen feud. It hasn't been acknoledged on screen, Edge is in his own match. Matt is being kept away and both major newsletters swear all their sources say it's not a work.

Tony Mamaluke has signed and agreed to reunite with Little Guido...

Hmmm...maybe they've made up or something...

Marty was looking real good out there. How old is he now? If he has a good match with Angle too I think WWE should def. give him a contract. Give them a good veteran hand to work the midcard on Smackdown or something...

What'd he say?

It's just Spring Training...

Who, Suppan? I haven't heard anything about him being hurt.

Jeff Suppan

He's serious about that trade? Goodness...

THAT'S IT I'M TRADING MY WHOLE TEAM FOR KEN GRIFFEY JR!!! JUST FILL OUT THE REST OF MY TEAM WITH DEVIL RAYS!!!! cool. Good work, boss.

Well this has turned ugly. Flik, relax, no one's pissed at you. You don't have to dismantle your team just to placate one person. Cena's Writer has already said he'll give Cartman Wade Miller, and would selecte Brande Backe. That solves the issue. If you want to step down as Comissioner, that's your choice, and thanks to Harley for picking it up.

Heights and most bugs...

Exactly, Agent. Playing in the minors would be an experience that teaches them them dicipline and how to be a team player. It's like college only without the bs classes. Install good coaches with good teaching skills (great spot for recently retired vets from your organization) to develop your team. That way they come into the NBA humbled and matured and coached well and won't try to play like it's a streetball exibition...

NBA teams should have a minor league affiliate like in MLB. Draft your player, if you think he needs more experience, put him in your minor league team and call him up when he's ready. This helps with roster depth too. None of this 10 day contract BS. You could take chances on guys from Europe and undrafted players with potential and develop them until they're ready. I don't think the NBA should owe anything to the NCAA. Once a player is 18 they should be able to make the choice whether to attend college or not. I do think to help with maturity, dues paying, skills development and experience level, minor league affiliates are a great idea, though.

Haven't seen 45, but it seems like a skippable show, 46 is a good show, just a disappointing ending to the main event. Otherwise, I enjoyed it, 48 was ok, I still mark for the end of the World Title Match and Ken Shamrock fights if you're in to him. 50 I was at live, and besides the main event being changed on the fly do to injury this was a good show, worth getting. St. Pierre/Hughes alone gets a reccomendation.