King Cucaracha

Huzzah! Also, huzzah for not being in the Cold Front Classic. I just remember that I hadn't PMed anyone about not being in it, but 'tis all good.

This message brought to you by a PROUD X-Division Champion who certainly didn't do the exact same thing to that belt, The 70's Dude ladies and gentlemen. Although, I too would support any Alf Title aspirations.

On the subject of ROH, I want Final Showdown simply for the Joe/Evans/Ebessan/Delirious match. But, out of interest, is the rest of the card worth the price of the DVD?

I have to completely agree with Z on the limb/neck work. My fear is that if I don't include it and my opponent does, markers may count it against me...because, to be fair, you rarely get to hear what the markers are actually looking for. --insert apparantly customary smilie here--

1- Samoa Joe 2- Kenta Kobashi 3- Christopher Daniels 4- Austin Aries 5- Shawn Michaels 6- Kurt Angle 7- CM Punk 8- AJ Styles 9- Homicide/Bryan Danielson (Tie) 10- Jimmy Rave With James Gibson, Spanky, Roddy Strong and Colt Cabana on the 'almost' list and KENTA and Mistico slottable wherever for people who actually have/do see them regularly enough to rate them.

To be fair, Rio was a more than decent replacement for Stam. What's happened this season, I have no idea. I think the reception he got when he stalled for so long on contract talks really got to him...and rightfully so...although he's never really been 100% consistant. Ronaldo is a decent player. But he's not the right player when Ruud is up front though. Beckham leaving was the beginning of the end of the glory era though. True. Well, Van Der Sar's been very good this season. If anyone is or was going to be a replacement, Van Der Sar has to be high on the list. Amen. Having Ronaldinho in the team would have plugged the Beckham gap and then some.

Well, if they haven't been heard about or seen, how do they warrant him being WOTY? Benoit's Rumble run wasn't memorable at all. He hung around for a long time and then suddenly got dumped out with no hype or no build. Completely anticlimactic. Cameos in Elimination Chamber and multi-man Ladder Matches, a WOTY does not make. To be honest, I'd have HBK high on any WWE WOTY list too, if only for making Hogan watchable. Plus, HBK/Shelton probably tops anything Angle did with anyone else during the year.

If we're naming people as WOTY of the year on past accomplishments alone, mark me down for Ric Flair as 2005 WOTY. I honestly couldn't name three, memorable Benoit matches from the entire year. To say he's on a par with Joe over the entire year is preposterous, no matter who works more dates where.

Even that's not 'bad' though. Infact, I like Joe on the mic. He's got that "why do I need to get worked up, it's obvious I'm gonna kick your ass" vibe about him. The promos he cut on the Necro Butcher in IWA:MS were pretty awesome.

I'm sure I could write a few matches if needs be, seeing as I'm heading the Tag Division and all. Glory By Anarchy are more face than heel, btw. Infact, I should have edited stats by now to make them faces, but apparantly I haven't because I am a boob. Also, isn't the Anderson Cup for the #1 Contendership at Anglemania this year? If it is, then that means no NNMX (who, granted, aren't there) and no Usual Suspects (who are on the possibles list), right?

If we're going by Meltzer, only one guy should be in the running and that's Joe. He's had two ***** matches by Meltzer's reckoning (vs. Punk, vs. Kobashi), not to mention the Triple Threat Match at Unbreakable. He's been consistant in both ROH and TNA for the whole year. I can't see as there's many more candidates. I don't see enough of Kobashi (some, but not enough) or Mistico (none at all) to comment on them. Angle hasn't really had any stand-out matches besides the matches with HBK, so I certainly wouldn't consider him. Punk and Gibson had great half years but then disappeared. Spanky the same, except he's on Velocity, which sadly seems like a good thing compared to the other two. And to be honest, the Gibson/Spanky matches just aren't the same when the entire build was "Hey, we don't have to worry about road agents, we want to wrestle without limitations, Smackdown sucks" and then a few months later, they both saw the money signs again and went back on pretty much everything that was said. As for Danielson, it's hard to nominate him when he had so much time out. The Homicide series was good, but I don't think it was worthy of either being WOTY. The Taped Fist Match was such a goofy stipulation, seeing as about half the roster had come out with taped fist for their matches before Danielson and Homicide even came out. The FCA Match was great. The Lumberjack Match was odd because of who the lumberjacks were (or rather, weren't). And the Cage Match was a little disappointing, apparantly. I'd place Austin Aries higher than Danielson. I can't remember him having a bad match in ROH.

In that case, "Some Brit nobody's ever heard of" > Christian. Also, why the fuss over the name? What's wrong with Jay Reso as a name? Hell, if they're desperate to use Christian for some reason that I really don't see, why not just call him "The Christian" Jay Reso. I'm pretty sure Vince hasn't copyrighted Christianity and it's followers yet.

Glory By Anarchy can be HI-YAH reps. Also, Wright and Bohemoth.

...ask Hawke. Hell, I thought the deadline was last night. Good job I wasn't given the ending and decided to rush something in, eh?

So who says "You don't wanna rub these Dicks up the wrong way" first...Tazz or Cole?

Jericho should have released the Walls and taunted Orton for missing, only to turn around and get nailed with it anyway. But I doubt that would have gone down too well.

A1 ~ Apparantly, he was getting a lot of buzz when he was in BCW. Haven't seen a lot of him, but I have no real problem. Hate to use the 'casual fans' phrase, but Team Canada need someone like A-1 who's more physically intimidating if they're to come off as any sort of force. He'd be better in a bodyguard role with the occassional match, probably. Abyss ~ Love the guy. The problem over being a Mankind rip-off is obviously going to affect how he's seen by newer viewers coming over from watching WWE, but that aside I'd have no problem with him as World Champion. He's decent in the ring at the very least, great with the right opponent. He's one of the few guys in TNA to even have a distinctive character. AJ Styles ~ Thumbs up, just keep him off the mic. Sure, he's 'spotty', but he's entertaining. Alex Shelley ~ They're wasting him. Shelley's proven he can be a great character as well as a great wrestler from the Generation Next break-up/excommunication in ROH. I think the only time they've done anything really worthwhile was the first match when he returned, with Shocker. He can be a dick heel. So, let him. It's not like the X-Division is over-run with them. "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown ~ Ugh. Sorry, not a fan. I actually don't mind the POOOUUUNCE~! It's just the rest that I have no particular care for. I don't get the gimmick direction. I don't get the whole wiping the forehead on the ropes thing. His catchphrase sucks. His mic-work isn't great. And he's a less than stellar worker. Putting the World Title on him isn't going to do anything to help the 'we are the alternative' claims that TNA are making. Andy Douglas ~ Like Coffey said, "I can't tell him apart from his partner." Hell, the other day, it took me the best part of a half hour to even remember their names. Not innoffensive, just there. Apolo ~ Don't care. Austin Aries ~ Really highlights the problem with trying to use the entire ROH roster as a sub-division. He's lost in the shuffle because he's competing for time with probably twice the top-line roster as in ROH, with less TV/event time. If they give him something to work with, he'll be big. One of my favourite workers in North America at the moment. Like Shelley, could be something big if they let him. Lose the Crucifix Bomb though. BG James ~ Name value? The New Age Outlaw routine got stale 5 years ago, minimum. But, he's still popular with the crowd I guess. As long as the fans in the arena want a NAO reunion, they should keep him around and milk it until it dries out again. Bobby Roode ~ Decent worker, decent look. Decent. Does no harm as part of Team Canada, but doesn't really need to be pushed too actively as a singles worker. Cassidy Riley ~ That's Raven's lackey, right? Pass. Where's Stevie when you need him? Chase Stevens ~ See Andy Douglas... Chris Harris ~ I never, ever, got the hype on AMW. I've seen two legitimately good matches from them that I can remember and that's it. His singles run was dire too. Like The Naturals, only with more exposure and a magnetic grip on the Tag Titles. Chris Sabin ~ Still a fan. He's kinda got the been there, done that vibe at the moment. A heel turn would do wonders, assuming he can work heel. David Young ~ Meh. Eric Young ~ He's probably, out of all of TNA, the guilty pleasure 'like him but not quite sure why' guy for me. Bit goffy when it comes to selling, but that's probably part of the reason I like him. Young and Roode as a team are more interesting than The Naturals and AMW as far as I'm concerned. "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels ~ Christopher Daniels > Chris Benoit. What more do I need to say? Gail Kim ~ The next Rey Mysterio! Oh...wait. Nothing wrong with having a cute Asian chick on the show I guess. James Mitchell ~ Perfect manager for Abyss. James Storm ~ See Chris Harris. Jeff Hardy ~ He'll always bring in his own little fanbase. Whether that's good of bad is up to personal opinion I guess. He's clearly lost the passion for the business he once had and his body can't take the kind of punishment that got him over in the first place anymore. The way he walks now scares me. In that kind of 'man, he really shouldn't be doing this, he doesn't look healthy' kind of way. Does he really need to be a wrestler still? Dunno. Do TNA need him as a wrestler still? Unsure. Jeff Jarrett ~ I'm not one of Jarrett's biggest detractors, but I'd never call him main event material. He's watchable, but not in the position that he's currently in unfortunately. Jerrelle Clark ~ Bump-O-Mania! Never going to make it as big as AJ or Daniels...or even Sabin...but it doesn't hurt to have him around for spotz now and then. Johnny Devine ~ Pass. Don't even remember the guy. Kevin Nash ~ Can. Can him now and can him for good. Kip James ~ Apparantly a legit, nice guy. Gets a lot more criticism than he really deserved and I always listed him as a guilty pleasure worker. Problem is, I wouldn't really miss him if he were gone. They need to hurry up on the NAO reunion while it's still wanted. Konnan ~ Popular enough and never had a big problem with him but like Kip, wouldn't miss him where he to go. The SHOE~! owns The POUNCE~! Lance Hoyt ~ The second coming of Test. That's not a good thing. Matt Bentley ~ I really don't care anymore. I never had as big of a problem with him as Michael Shane as many seemed to, but he's not really needed as a face and Shelley can play a better dick heel. Petey Williams ~ Love the finisher (yeah, I said it CC). Valuable to TNA and he's more than a one trick pony, which he never gets a whole lot of credit for. "Primetime" Elix Skipper ~ Cage walk aside, he's always been 'the third Triple X guy' and nothing much more. Always be popular, if only for the cage walk. One of the few guys with half decent music. Raven ~ Worth keeping if only for the promos. In terms of match quality, he needs to be put with someone who can carry the workload a little more than a Rhino or a Monty. He's certainly not a lost cause or ready to be thrown on the scrapheap though. There'll always be a role for someone like Raven. Rhino ~ The title reign killed him. Roderick Strong ~ Don't believe the hype, man. I dunno, I like Strong but in terms of comparing him to everyone else who's employed because they're 'awesome in the Ring Of Honor', I don't like him. As a singles wrestler, he's going nowhere fast in TNA because the X-Division's just too crowded and he'll always be behind certain others. Doesn't mean he's not a good worker. Watch his match with Aries at Unbreakable. Best course of action- HIRE JACK EVANS and stick them in the Tag Division. Ron "The Truth" Killings ~ Never really bought into the hype as much as...well, 90% of the board seemingly. Entertaining, valuable member of the roster, should be doing more...agreed. I'm just not a massive fan. Definately not clamouring to see him as 3 time NWA World Champion. Hate to repeat myself, but HIRE JACK EVANS and let them feud over who can dance best or something. Sabu ~ As long as his body holds up, I guess there's something for him to do. Needs Fonzie as a manager if they even plan on making him more than 'that guy you remember from ECW who's going to come in and go through some tables for your enjoyment'. Samoa Joe ~ Best worker in North America. For a bigman, he's completely unselfish in terms of selling too. I'd keep him in the X-Division for a while so he can have some good matches before he goes after the World Title. He needs to turn face by then, because it seems the entire World Heavyweight Division is made up of monster heels, ECW garbage wrestler faces and Jarrett. Joe would freshen it up, but getting a stellar match out of it will be tough. Shark Boy ~ Does no harm. That's all I've got. Simon Diamond ~ You know, I'm not bothered and I never really was. I thought the "Simon Says" stuff was cute in ECW but other than that I've never really had a strong opinion either way. Sonjay Dutt ~ Entertains me. At least he does something to stand out from the crowd, which is something he needs to if he's not going to get mic or character time (which, lets face it, he isn't). Sonny Siaki ~ He's just kinda...there. Not bad but not all that great. Can't honestly see anything for him. Team 3D ~ I still maintain that Bubba is one of the most underrated character guys there is. He plays a great heel and he's a very good face too. D-Von's always just been 'the other guy' as far as I'm concerned, at least until Bubba had the face run and it didn't work. They work in TNA because they're recognisable and they're clearly not selfish. The Tag Division isn't brimming with guys for them to work with and get great matches out of though. Traci ~ Get her away from Bentley. Traci'd do Gail Kim's role just as well, if not better, than Gail Kim. As it is, they might as well use her as the counter to Gail and manage 3-D. At least that way she'll be doing something.

One issue they have to work out in the sound. Shows I've seen recently in the New Alhambra Sports and Entertainment Center (let's get the name right people. ECW is dead. If anything, it's the CZW Arena nowadays), the sound has been terrible and you can't hear the mic work properly. Obviously, TNA has a bigger budget than any of the other shows staged there, but they need to consider it. Also, jesse, guys like Kip and Hoyt will definately be in for the Philly treatment. Jarrett'll love the idea of getting mega heat, sure. But maybe he won't be so big on the idea when he's spent 5 minutes waiting for the fans to stop chanting so he can talk. 3LK will be in trouble, except probably Killings. AMW, definately. Wouldn't surprise me if Monty got a strongly mixed reaction too, seeing as he's pretty crap in the ring and all. Then again, for a house show, things like that won't matter too much. It's if they tape the show they might have the problems.

Crisis? "Bollocks!"

'Tis true.

The first month was too long for my liking, but maybe that's just me. Lame excuse, I know, but I just don't buy Ruckus as World Champion.

So, I was the only one who wasn't blown away by Joey Styles at Taboo Tuesday? Maybe it was just because it was odd hearing him (over)hype the WWE product the same way he did ECW, I don't know. He's an improvement on Coach, sure. I didn't think he was as excellent and mind blowing as people are saying though.

KNK...to be fair, most people would consider Benoit/Dragon as ***** before they even stepped through the curtain. Benoit would also be a bigger money maker for ROH, because Kobashi can only make sporadic appearances, where-as Benoit *could* become a regular for the company. In which case, he would draw something approaching Kobashi interest each time...plus, they can build feuds to improve the drawing potential. And Benoit as a ROH regular can't do anything but raise the profile of the company as a whole. Kobashi's great for one/two shots, but Benoit would be the better investment. As for whether he goes, I'm still leaning towards him staying. Not because the WWE value him so greatly as some people are saying, but more to stem the flow. First Jericho left, then Lesnar didn't come in, Christian left...if they lose Benoit as well, four moderate/pretty big losses will add up to a very big loss for the company, regardless of how 'valuable' each one is individually. Personally, I'd love Benoit to go, because at the moment he's not able to be the best wrestler in the world. On 'form', Christopher Daniels has been a better wrestler this year than Christopher Benoit has. That won't change if Benoit stays. He's won the Title, he's main evented Mania...he doesn't have anything to prove in the WWE now. Maybe he thinks he has something to prove elsewhere.

Both a-okay from me.

Seems somebody didn't learn from The Johnsons.