The Thread Killer

Here's my take on the show, since I watch NWA-TNA every week, no matter what (and I actually PAY for it too.) If you don't like it, then don't read it...sucka. NWA-TNA PPV March 17th, 2003 Live From Nashville, Tennessee Opening Match Frankie “The Future” Kazarian vs. “Prime Time” Elix Skipper During this match, Mike Tenay announced that the TNA X Division Champion “The Future” Chris Sabin is injured and will be on the shelf for an undetermined amount of time. That sucks, because Sabin RULES. This match between Frankie and Prime Time worries me, since both of these guys are in my opinion, capable of very good matches when they are in there with somebody real good, that can “carry” them. The question: Can they carry each other? The answer: No. Prime Time reminds me of RVD, in that he can hit some AWESOME spots, but his overall “flow” leaves a lot to be desired. He's one of those spot-rest-spot-rest guys. Frankie is kinda bland, although his “Battle For The Future” feud with Sabin was great, and produced some very solid matches. The story to this match is that Frankie is all mad (GRRR!) that he was left OFF “Team NWA” for the Americas X Cup, so he's wanting revenge on Prime Time, who was on the team. The match had a few good bits, such as when Skipper did his patented “walk the ropes into a hurracanrana.” The match ends suddenly when Skipper gets reversed it into a roll-up small package, and EVIL Frankie pulls the tights for a pin. Too short to be be too offensive, but not a great match. Afterwards Frankie sandbags Prime Time from behind, but Team NWA Captain Jerry Lynn makes the save. My hero! Backstage Interview Scott Hudson with Glenn Gilberti, Michael Shane, David Young, Swinger, and Kid Kash. Nothing of note here, just hyping up the Contender's Gauntlet later on. I hate Hate HATE Glen Gilberti. Seriously. He is the biggest waste of fucking air on the planet. He needs to just go away. On the other hand, Kid Kash (as always) brings the awesome as a heel. In Ring Interview Mike Tenay with the “DOA” (Director Of Authority) Vince Russo. Russo hypes the Main Event with Wildcat vs. Jarrett tonight. It will be fair, blah blah blah. Raven interrupts, with Sabu in tow (WHOO HOO!) and asks the age old question that we ALL ask in our lives... WHAT ABOUT RAVEN? I LOVE how ever since Raven came to TNA, he's been sticking with this “It is my DESTINY to be NWA World Heavyweight Champion” angle, and he has NEVER let it go, not ONCE. Anyhow, Raven is all pissed. He points out that he beat Shane Douglas in their feud, he ran The New Church out of TNA, he ran Vampiro out of TNA, and now he's run CM Punk out of TNA...so where's his World Title Shot? Russo tells Raven that there will be a 8 Tag Team Tournament to determine new champions starting next week, and Raven & Sabu are the Number One Seeded team. Raven is all like “I'm a singles wrestler and Sabu can take care of himself.” (I would hope that somebody who is homicidal and genocidal CAN take care of themselves...otherwise what's the point?) In an effort to appease Raven, Russo offers him a spot in the gauntlet, and Raven is all like, “No way unabrow, I don't need to prove myself.” Russo tries AGAIN by offering Raven spot in the #1 contender match with Styles vs. Abyss. Raven is all like “Nuh Uh, gimmie gimmie gimmie me me me.” Raven says Harris isn’t ready, and to give him the title shot tonight. Russo says NO and Raven talks about how he got held back by politics in WCW, and he got held back by politics in WWE and now he's getting held back by politics in TNA. (Fucking REPUBLICANS! FIRST IRAQ AND NOW THIS! THIS IS ALL FOR OIL! I BET JEFF JARRETT HAS OIL!) Raven says that it's obvious that Vince Russo isn't paying attention to him, so he's going to do something tonight to make SURE that Russo does pay attention to him. (Sniff Sniff. Smell that kids? I smell a RUN IN!) This segment was wicked awesome, since it was vintage Raven on the mic, and you can't beat that. My only problem is, I really hope they aren't trying to turn Raven heel, because he's WAY too over to do that. The fans were chanting “What About Raven” and it sounded like they WANTED Russo to take the World Title Shot away from Harris and give it to Raven. Backstage Interview Scott Hudson with “The Alpha Male” Monte Brown Hey do you guys know who Monte Brown IS? Me either. Actually, it was a really good promo though, and he bragged about running ICP out of TNA, which got him some good heat. Turns out Monte is a former New England Patriot in the NFL, and he's been a Pro Wrestler for about 5 years. He has a good look, and he's freaking HUGE. My only problem? The man is wearing WAY too tight Leopard Skin Print tights. Today's lesson kids? NEVER wrestle in something you wouldn’t wear as underwear. Second Match “The Alpha Male” Monte Brown vs. Chris Vaughn Holy crap...for some odd reason, this Vaughn kid is POPULAR with the Asylum fans. That's odd, but then again, consider the fact that in the front row, in CLEAR view, we can see: 1)A white guy with a HUGE blond mullet, and KISS T-Shirt. 2)A guy wearing a “John Deere” cap, and missing some teeth. and... 3)A really fat woman who was jumping up and down a lot for the pretty boy wrestlers. The only thing worse than a stereotype is a stereotype that gets proven to be TRUE. Anyhow, for those of you that don't know, Don “Heavy D” Harris (aka: One of the guys in DOA in the WWE and one of the guys in Creative Control in WCW) is the head of security in TNA, (called “The Blackshirts”) and all of the other security guys are generic skinny young bump machine pro wrestler wannabes. Vaughn is one of them, and the Asylum LOVES him. So Monte Brown is a HUGE power guy, and he basically squashes the hell out of this kid, hitting him with something called “The Pounce” which is a kinda spear/shouldertackle, and two NASTY looking powerbombs. Brown goes over big, and then Don Harris runs in at the end, to save the kid from a beating, setting up a match between the two next week. This was a harmless match, which did it's job of putting Brown over, and setting up his match with Harris. Backstage Interview Scott Hudson with A.J. Styles. I was very distracted during this interview by the fact that A.J. Styles had a HUGE clump of hair standing straight up on the back of his head, which, when combined with his Georgia accent made him sound and look exactly like Alfalfa from The Little Rascals. I was expecting him to sing and have bubbles come flying out of his mouth. No, I'm not joking...he really did. Watch the replay if you don't believe me. Anyhow, he's all goody two shoes in this promo. Yes, Chris Harris deserves his title shot, and he's ready for Jeff Jarrett tonight, and yes, poor Raven DOES deserve a title shot, and no, he doesn't talk to Vince Russo, who used to be his manager when he was evil A.J., because why would he? He's GOOD now. I don't know what the point of this interview was, other than to make me laugh because of A.J.'s hair. If that WAS the point, then by all means, it was a success. Third Match “The Franchise” Shane Douglas vs. Cowboy James Storm Hmmm. How can I put this properly? This match...let's just say... SUCKED. Seriously. Both guys were moving in super slow motion, and the worst had to be when they fucked up an Irish Whip and ended up playing ring around the rosie in the middle of the ring. It was BAD, like really fake looking bad. Anyhow, Traci (Douglas' valet) interfered but accidentally cost The Franchise the match, so he went apeshit on her, and started screaming, and then Michael Shane (the third member of the “New Franchise” stable) came running out, and they all stared at each other, but then made up. And...drum roll... Nobody cares. They suck as a stable, and they suck individually, and no stupid heel or face turn is going to stop that. Backstage Interview Scott Hudson with Jeff Jarrett Jarrett is blathering on about a bunch of nothing, when Goldylocks walks by and walks right into them. Goldylocks is doing some scorned woman gone crazy angle where she walks around backstage babbling into a cel phone and screaming at people not to look at her. The point of this segment was that... Jarrett says that Abyss doesn't WANT to be the Number One Contender, but he doesn't notice that behind his back, Abyss is staring at the NWA Title Belt, and patting it like a puppy. (Jarrett thinks Abyss is just patting HIM on the back.) Then after Jarrett walks away, Goldylocks stares at Abyss real weird. My prediction, is that she's going to start managing Abyss and doing the “Beauty and The Beast” angle like they did in the WWF with Tori and Kane. This would actually WORK, because Goldylocks is great on the mic, plus she's hot, and Abyss doesn't speak English all that well. Fourth Match “The Gauntlet” to determine the rankings for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Here's how a Gauntlet Works. Two guys start fighting, and then every 90 seconds, another guys comes down. You get eliminated by being thrown over the top rope. It's just like a Royal Rumble, except when you're down to the last two...it's a normal match. First guy in is Simon Diamond, who starts off with David “The Master Of The Spinebuster” Young. Simon tosses Young out with NO problems, and then in comes Kid Kash. Kash and Diamond have a nice little back and forth go at it, when in comes D-Lo Brown! D-Lo and Simon double team Kash a whole bunch, and Kash bumps and sells like a mofo. They toss Kash over the top rope, but he does the classic Ricky Steamboat “skin the cat” move, hooks D-Lo around the neck and eliminates him. (Now you will see a BUNCH of people online freaking out and complaining that TNA is burying D-Lo, but the fact is that he works EVERY tour for AJPW so it's very hard for him to be involved in any long term angles with TNA, since he's in Japan more than the states. So think of that before you bitch...sucka.) Next in is Sonny Siaki and he comes in like a HOUSE OF FIRE BY GAWD! Sonny uncorks a shitload of moves that I had NO idea that he even knew. Seriously, when did this guy learn to not suck, because he looked really damn good in that six man two weeks ago, and now here. Suddenly, in comes RAVEN and gives Siaki the Raven Effect DDT, and eliminates him, and it's bye bye Mr. Siaki! Tenay does a great job of reminding us that Siaki has always been one of Russo's favorites, dating back to the Sports Entertainment Xtreme stable, right up until now, and that's why Raven targeted him, to get Russo's attention. Damn Tenay is good, that's how you sell and angle...instead of babbling about pet coons and government mules and scalded dogs. Now Glenn Gilberti (who I hate) is in, followed by Konnan who immediately came in and took out Kash. K-Dawg celebrates and before you can even say “Yo Yo Yo let me speak on this” he gets eliminated by Gilberti (who I hate). Thankfully, Diamond eliminates Gilberti, which is good, because I hate him (I don't know if I mentioned that.) The next man in is Michael Shane, followed shortly thereafter by Ron “The Truth” Killings (aka: K-Kwik to you WWE fans.) Tenay mentions that The Truth has been in a Tag Team for ages now, but is a former World Champion and is hungry to get back into the title hunt. By process of elimination, your last man will be Swinger. Swinger sneaks in early, jumps Diamond from behind, and tosses him over the rope. Swinger and Shane gang up on The Truth, but he's on fire tonight, busting out highspots left right and center, and he eliminates Swinger. We are now down to Shane and Killings, and this is a normal match now. The two men trade moves, with Ron Killings getting the upper hand, when out comes Shane Douglas. The sound you are now hearing is everybody losing interest. Douglas jumps up on the apron, and tosses his patented length of Steel Chain to Shane, but Shane didn’t want it, and throws it back? The Truth takes advantage, hits Shane with a sit out brainbusta, and pins him! More dissension in “The New Franchise” ends the match, but I still don't care. HERE are your NEW TNA rankings! Number One Contender: Winner Of The Styles/Abyss Match Later 2) Ron “The Truth” Killings 3) Michael Shane 4) Swinger 5) Simon Diamond 6) Glen Gilberti (who I hate) 7) Konnan 8) Kid Kash 9) Sonny Siaki 10) D-Lo Brown 11)David “The Master Of The Spinebuster” Young Backstage Segment Vince Russo confronts Raven (with Sabu) Russo is way pissed at Raven for interfering in The Gauntlet, and he would like Raven to leave, now. Raven says he will leave, but not because Russo wants him to, just because he feels like it. Fifth Match: Ladder Match to determine the #1 Contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship “The Phenomenal” A.J. Styles vs. Abyss This is the fifth time these two have fought, and it's ALWAYS a good match, which is odd considering how different they are. They had a straight up wrestling match back on 11/19/03, which was sweet. Then they fought again on 02/18/04, which was a good, if not somewhat unspectacular match. Then on 02/25/04 they had a VERY good Tables Match, followed by a Falls Count Anywhere Match on 03/03/04. This is a ladder match, with a contract on a clipboard suspended high above the ring. Let me tell you something people, these two busted ass and put on one HELL of a match here. Some highlights: A.J. does a wicked 450 from the top of the ladder A.J. actually manages to nail Abyss with the Styles Clash Abyss throws A.J. headfirst into a chair propped up in the corner and... Raven interferes, distracts A.J., which gives Abyss the chance to push the ladder OVER, which causes A.J. to LAND HEAD FIRST on ANOTHER LADDER outside the ring. We are talking a serious FOLEY STYLE HOLY SHIT bump here. I bet we see a million replays of this next week, rightfully so. Thanks to Raven, Abyss is your new #1 Contender. They show a video package to hype the main event, and after that, we see a huge brawl in the parking lot, between A.J. Styles and Raven. Styles is some PISSED at Raven for costing him the #1 Contender Spot, and with good reason. The whole purpose of the Gauntlet tonight was to establish the Rankings. Now, A.J. is NUMBER TWELVE behind David Freaking Young! Styles keeps screaming at Raven: “You wanted Russo's attention? Well you got MINE!” Ladies and Gentlemen, we have ourselves a FEUD! Sixth Match: MAIN EVENT for the NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP “Wildcat” Chris Harris vs. Jeff Jarrett© I really like how TNA makes their world title matches seem like an “event” with special introductions and whatnot. Between that, the rankings, and the fact that the NWA World Championship has been a title for 50+ years, it really makes these matches fun, and the belt seem important. Thanks to that, the crowd was AMPED for this match, which is not easy to do in the Asylum. Up in the crowd, we saw Abyss holding the number one contender contract to his chest like it was his baby, and we also see “The Truth” watching intently. They do the standard back and forth move deal, and when they go outside, Jarrett does some good heel work, and gets up in the face of The Wildcat's family. Jarrett does some stalling, so Cowboy James Storm runs in and throws him back in the ring, and gets ejected for his trouble. Lots of old school back and forth wrestling (gasp!) which ended up with Jarrett slapping on the figure four, after Harris misses a Top Rope Leg Drop. They did a great old school figure four exchange, and ended up both grabbing for the ropes. Russo came to ringside to watch, holding a towel, which he was about to throw in for Harris, when Harris got to the ropes. Harris started to hit all of his best moves, included a suicide dive to the outside, a LONG HIGH vertical suplex and a nice spear. Then, the REF BUMP! Russo sends in a new ref, but Harris kicks out of a belt shot, which I totally didn't expect, and we got into the nice “OH JUST A TWO COUNT” portion of the match. Both guys kicked out of each other's finishers, and the match was dead even, when the replacement ref got bumped. Harris had the match WON, and the original ref was awake and making the count when...Raven interfered and pulled him out! In the ensuing chaos, Jarrett managed to grab his guitar, get in his patented guitar shot on The Wildcat, and...one two three...Jarrett retains! After the match Russo grabbed the mic and said Harris should have won, but he would NOT overturn a ref’s ruling. Russo announced that Jarrett’s next title defense would be in the BIGGEST CAGE EVER! The question is...against WHO? Abyss? The Truth? And what about Raven? It was also announced that next week there will be a Six Man Elimination Match to decide a NEW Number One Contender to the X Division Title...which will feature the return of THE AMAZING RED! WHOO HOO! So that's my recap. It was a great show, all in all. There is no denying that TNA was in a slump in December and January, but with the new monthly X Division Show (next month's was announced tonight for April 7th) and shows like this one, they’re on the right track. - Dave

Abyss is now the Number One Contender. Ron "The Truth" Killings is the Number Two Contender. A.J. and Raven are now feuding.

But my crawlspace smells like limestone!

*Laughs nervously and quickly removes clown makeup*

Hey CWM, did you want to come over to my house and watch some wrestling videos? We could just chill you know, since you're underage. But I would kiss you.

Yeah Maeda kicked him right in the jimmy. You ever see that match Sass? I was going to order THESE TAPES from Tabe, but he probably wants MONEY for them or something. I wouldn't mind seeing his stuff from the UWF, just because I have a shitload of his TM stuff from NJPW.

Nope. I think the one taped show is a GREAT idea, since as others have said, it will force them to book at least one good show a month, since spoliers will be available, and will avoid ordering it if it sounds like it sucks. That's not true. I, and at least a couple of other TNA fans I know stopped posting here because of Dave O'Neil: Asshead. I wasn't going to get into an argument with some idiot every week who didn't even watch the damn show, yet seemed to think he knew how things were going from reading The Torch. I love TNA, and I would love to discuss TNA with other fans, but I'm not going to get in flamewars with people who don't even WATCH the show, yet still seem to think they are qualified to make judgments on the quality. I have not watched the WWE since Summerslam 02. This is why I don't post in the WWE folder here. I wish people who don't buy TNA would follow the same idea. Having said this, I am not a blind TNA mark. They make mistakes, and lots of em. I thought having Shane with the X belt as long as he did was insane. He's okay at best, and with guys like Sabin, Ki, and Daniels around...you just DON'T give a guy like him that long of a reign, I don't care if he's Shawn Michaels cousin, or Lou Fucking Thez's illegitimate lovechild. He ain't that good. There is no denying that the whole Mantell experiment has failed. When he came in, and people were blaming every little problem on him about two seconds after he got hired. I gave him time, and I have not been impressed with what I have seen. I think old Dutch does need to go, or pull his head out of his ass. One of the two. The only think he did smart, was realize that people hate Jeff Jarrett, even though he is in his home state, so stop trying to make him into a face. People KNOW he runs the comapny, and they KNOW that he's an ass, so he stopped giving him the Jesus Face Push, and made it okay to hate him. Think about it, Vince Russo's last show was really the show when he stopped playing tweener, and went full on heel. Let's be honest, the only reason Russo took a backseat and Mantell came in, was to appease Hogan. Hogan wouldn't work with Russo, so Jarrett and Son had to get somebody else to write. At least it wasn't Gilberti. As soon as Russo got involved again, you saw improvements in the continuity, segments, and overall flow to the show. His whole "Crash TV" approach makes for compelling television, as long as he has Jerry Jarrett to keep him in check, and stop his more ridiculous ideas. If not, I'm sure Lolipop would be X Champ by now. January was a shit month, but there has been a big improvement this month. I think with Panda's money, Jerry Jarrett making sure things don't get too insane booking wise, and Russo doing a lot of the writing with input from some of the talent, TNA still has the potential to be a success. This whole "They're losing money, they have two weeks to live" and/or "Panda is losing money OMGLOL" shit is so STUPID. FIRST: As it has been pointed out elsewhere, when a big company has diverse interests, it can actually be an ADVANTAGE to have one division LOSE money. Why? Two words: TAX BREAKS. Companies that open a new business arm and lose money can be elligible for huge tax breaks and small business loans and other financial incentives. It is not even unheard of for a company to deliberately lose money in order to GET these breaks. Panda might be losing money on TNA NOW, but in the long run, or April, they will still make out okay. SECOND: A lot of people don't seem to understand that TNA doesn't need to clear a zillion bucks to be a success. They only run one show a week. Their talent is not exclusive to their payroll, meaning they are not the sole support for these guys. They don't bear full responsibility for a guy's full time work, like the WWE does. If they clear even an infantismal profit on that show, they can keep going for quite a while. Look at all the other SHIT that gets on PPV. If the Lingere Superbowl and fluff like that can get on, TNA can stay. THIRD: A lot of companies don't make ANY money for the first 3-5 years. There are always the exceptions, especially with hi-tech stuff, but most small companies don't take off right away. TNA might go tits up, but just because they are barely at the break even point right now doesn't mean that they will. It won't take a miracle to keep them afloat. FOURTH: The whole "companies only exist to make money" argument is stupid. Any business man with half a brain could take a look at the pro wrestling industry, and tell that it is NOT in a financial upswing right now. Time/Warner just dumped WCW for NOTHING, so Panda knows that they ain't going to get rich quick...or ever. This means one of TWO things. Either they need and WANT TNA to lose money (just not all of it) or they actually LIKE wrestling and want to be in the wrestling business, regardless of how long it takes them to make a profit. Why do people open their own small business? To make money? Sure, but also because they have found something they LOVE, and want to do it all day, for a LIVING? Has it ever crossed anybody's mind that MAYBE just MAYBE the people at Panda who sunk the dough into TNA did it because they KNEW they could afford it, and they actually LIKE the idea of being in the wrestling business? People loving wrestling, and wanting to do it for that reason? Nah, couldn't be. The bottom line is this: TNA isn't perfect. Sometimes, they even SUCK. However, at least they are TRYING, and I applaud them for that. Also, they are showcasing young talent like Sabin, and many others, including international guys now, who would NEVER get exposure otherwise. This is why I will continue to shell out my 10 bucks every week, and to hell with everybody who doesn't, or gets them for free, but then sits here and hopes the company fails.

And another thing...why can't I get no Tang around here?

PAINT MY FENCE~!!!

The exact same thing happened to me. I gave him a plate of blintzes to paint my fence...and I'm still waiting. DAMN YOU HOFFMAN! PAINT MY FENCE!

Listen dude, as a fellow Canadian named Dave who is a recovering alcoholic, I think we should stick together. So far as I know, we are the only two Candian guys named Dave who are ex-drunks on this board. As far as all of the other stuff, just remember, there are two sides to every story man, and I'll leave it at that. My joke about your job was not in the greatest of taste either, so we'll just call it even, and focus on the REAL enemy here. Hoff.

Never shut up about my job, huh? I think I've maybe mentioned it here at TSM once, if that. I did talk about my job all the time at WDI, when I posted at WDI. At that time, I was among friends, and that's what one does when they are among friends...talk about their lives. That was WDI, a long time ago. What that has to do with this, I don't know. (Please note that the last two lines rhymed.) I did write a very long post about it over at WDI, when a kid that I worked with was killed. I can be a real glory hog that way. If you think that by talking about what I do for a living with my friends is a ploy for sympathy or attention...then you quite simply don't know me. I'm going to explain this to you for the LAST time, and maybe this time, you'll LISTEN to me. Really listen. WDI belonged to Dutch. The server it was hosted on belonged to me. I NEVER wanted WDI on my server. EVER. I didn't want to control WDI, because I didn't LIKE the way things were going there. I didn't want to pay to host it. So I asked him to MOVE WDI. He DID. Is that such a hard concept to grasp? Where I made a mistake, was asking him to do it in PUBLIC, not in PRIVATE. That was wrong of me. People like stardust who know both myself and Dutch talked to me about it. That is between ME and DUTCH, and with all due respect, I don't think it's YOUR place to judge me for it. Dutch is a very nice guy. I don't disagree with you, and I never have. But do you think you MIGHT be over-reacting just a BIT? First, how can you "dislike" somebody you don't even KNOW? Second, WDI is alive, and well, and as we ALL know, can be found HERE. I didn't destroy WDI, I didn't even hurt it. I asked it to move. Remember back when you "invaded" WDI, and got banned there? I was an admin there at the time, and I don't recall that I busted your chops all that much. I don't know that I ever have. If you want to dislike me, fine go ahead. I assure you, I really couldn't care less. It might bother me if I knew you, even as an online friend, but I don't. But for you to try and take shots at me for talking about my personal life online, is a bit odd, when one looks at your history here. That's what I found ironic about you sniping at me. So as you were. Carry on.

Pehaps, but in this case ironic applied.

Uh...maybe I missed something, but why would I need to "get back at you?" Did you do something to me that I missed? As far as ME looking for attention and sympathy...well that statement coming from you is somewhat ironic, and lets just leave it at that. I made a mean-spirited joke at your expense, which you didn't care for, you called me a fucking loser in retort, cool. What that has to do with something from months ago that I don't know about with you, or my job...I don't know.

Wait a minute... You have to write REPORTS about how you asked the customers if they "wanted fries with that?"

I feel bad for you guys. I got the 10:30 p.m. show on Viewer's Choice and there was not one technical problem, it was just like any other broadcast. I wouldn't have even known there had been any problems had I not read about it here.

Hey Doc, in my opinion, you're smart and kinda sexy. Now give me my two pins, dammit.

That sounds like a great idea for a column, I would be happy to contribute to that. As far as a roundtable, that I could do. I know there are some great MMA fans around here who could also contribute, including old Jacko here. (Yarr.)

Add me to the ranks too, bps. Laz, I have to say this. Your bitching in this folder about TNA used to drive me bonkers, so I didn't read your column. This week, I thought the show was about a 7/10, so I read your column, just so I could see how negative you were about what I thought was a good show. I found out that: a) You agreed with me. b) You're are a pretty damn good writer and c) You put way more work into your recap than half the dorks at the so called "big sites." Nice work. I went in with a negative attitude towards you prepared to dislike your column, but your skill and impartiality won me over. Nicely done, young man. You got one hell of a column there.

I just wanted to say that I think John has done an outstanding job as the MMA writer and I really liked his new UFC Preview. I used to hold this position myself here at TSM when I did the "Tap Out Wrap Up", but I just don't have the time to write detailed previews and reviews like I used to. I think John is a great writer, and a great guy, and I wish him all the best as the TSM MMA writer. I still love MMA as much as I ever did, but with my day job and other writing responsibilites at Shoot Project I just don't have the time to do it, and give it the time, effort, and insight that John does. I hope to still contribute to TSM in the future in some capacity, but for now it's great to see that TSM MMA fans still have a column to read...one that is probably better than mine ever was. Kudos John, and good luck!

Not for a while. The AMW vs. "The Naturals" feud was furthered tonight when they stopped AMW from helping Watts in the Main Event, and handcuffed them to the rails. So I assume this angle will keep them occupied for a few weeks at least. AMW has fought The Redshirts for the past three weeks, so I think they will give that angle a rest for a while. Meanwhile 3LK looks to be feuding with Douglas and Shane. The logical first challengers for The Redshirts are Diamond and Swinger, since they wouldn't sign the oath of loyalty to Callis and Jarrett.

Don't believe everything that you read. I've seen every show since December 2002 and never missed a week. They have been in a slump for quite a while now, but this was a very good show, The Main Event notwithstanding. The best thing was the PACING. The show was VERY well put together. The segments flowed into the matches, and were not bogged down by long segments. The only segment that went long was the ICP vs. Gilberti and Young segment, and the ICP are so INSANELY over in the Asylum, that nobody seemed to care. It was a very good show.

There are a few problems with that argument. 1) McMahon didn't create Goldust. Russo did, with input from Runnels. The whole "quoting from movies" in promos thing was Runnels idea, as was the name Shattered Dreams. From an artistic and creative standpoint, that probably gives them as much right to the gimmick as it does McMahon, and if they actually wanted to spend a million bucks and years in court, they could fight it. McMahon knows they won't. The Ultimate Warrior did. So did The British Bulldog...and McMahon actually gave him and Dynamite that name. Smith just took co-credit for the idea, and copyrighted it, so he could still use it in WCW and elsewhere. 2) If McMahon wanted to be civil about (I know he won't...but he COULD) he could sell the gimmick to Runnels, or charge him "rent" on it, just like HE had to do to use the name "Hulk" for years with Marvel Comics. 3) Even if McMahon DID come up with the gimmick, Runnels made it work. If he had no talent and charisma, it would have flopped like 99% of the other gay stereotype characters that have been used in wrestling. McMahon owned the Diesel character, but who made it work...Kevin Nash or Glen Jacobs? When an actor puts his own thought and talent into a role created by a writer, doesn't that give them SOME ownership of the character? 4) McMahon could have a trillion dollars or a buck fifty. He's still a douche.

Dang. My first post in ages...and within mere seconds, somebody makes an age joke. DAMN YOU KIDS!

I resent that. Comparisons to me make you "cool." I'm the coolest person in school. My mom told me so.