Michrome

Why does Meltzer and Keith praising it make a difference? Keith doesn't know his ass from Indy wrestling, he is worthless in terms of Indy and Japanese reviews. Meltzer, on the other hand, has been on the ratings bong for a few years now. With Dave it seems that as wrestling quality goes down, he gives out higher ratings easier. I stopped caring what he rates things when he gave Mutoh-Kawada ****3/4

I don't watch. I read the results and laugh my ass off. I download the shows later in the week to watch the good matches. If Jeff Jarrett deserves the world title, than anyone does. Honestly, name one thing Jarrett has over Punk. Interviews? Hell no. Ringwork? Hell no. Wait, let me guess, he's more "well known." Ever since the morons at TNA got duped by Hogan into thinking he was actually trying to help them, they've changed the entire structure and direction of the show for the worse. AJ is going nowhere, and is stuck in tag team matches weekly with no direction at all. Hey, maybe he'll get a shot at Jarrett next week and lose again! How you can point to one silly rope-climbing contest and claim that the X division is as good as ever is really beyond belief.

I'd rather step on dry shit than wet shit, but then again, I'd rather not step on shit at all. Nobody is buying these shows, the matches are terrible (save MAYBE one per show), everything is based around Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles is beyong buried, CM Punk is being horribly wasted, and the X Division is nowhere near what it once was. I blame Hogan.

This company is so dead in the water.

Is anybody watching?

I've seen enough Michael Shane lately to say that he doesn't really *suck*, so to speak, he just doesn't fit into the X division. For example, I recently watched AJ Styles vs. Michael Shane from IWA: MS "Stylin and Profilin", and the match was fantastic. It was a totally different match than AJ usually works, but it ended up being better (IMO!) than the much hyped B-Boy vs. Chris Hero match on the same card. Michael Shane's style lends itself to the 20+ minute match he had with AJ in IWA:MS, and when he does it within the frame of 10 minutes, it usually just seems slow and boring, with no payoff.

I can only imagine how badly buyrates are slipping, judging just by the slowdown in this forum. A few months ago, in November, this place was a hotbed, but now it's practically dead thanks to uninspiring shows, bad matches, and pathetic angles.

IWAMS released a "best of 2003" DVD set today.

A few months ago I would have agreed, but there's no sense in advertising at this point, the show is *so* bad. When (if) they catch fire again, then do some advertising, because at this point any new viewers will leave in a week due to the shitty product.

Honestly, I think TNA should try to make Xplosion more of a first run show, like Hardcore TV...1 or 2 matches a week, with lots of quick promos building up things. Even though Sunshine doesn't penetrate very far, Fox Sports Digital picks up a lot of it.

Why do it in May? Currently there aren't any programs with real momentum that would warrant a big blowoff in May, unless they catch fire with something all of a sudden. Sometime in the next 2-3 weeks we'll see Jarrett-Styles, then probably Jarrett vs. transitional opponents over the next month, all while building up Raven. After he wins the feud with Punk, he can set his eyes on Jarrett and go for the gold at the May PPV. The question is whether or not Raven vs. Jarrett can draw a damn thing again. If they go for it in May, they basically have to abandon Raven-Punk right now. When I think of a card sans Hogan... Jarrett vs. Raven Styles vs. Sting Ultimate X 3 (You know they'll do this) Sabin vs. Juvi the rematch Abyss vs. Someone.. AMW vs. XXX ..... I honestly don't think a card like that has a chance in hell of drawing.

Good news for TNA, but it won't help *me* see it

I wouldn't watch it if it was free. Are they trying to channel Thunder these days?

I just finished watching Winter Wars, and I thought it was darn good. Hero-Styles is near ****, and 2 of the 3 Jacobs-Shelley matches were ***+.

This just can't happen, it would kill Benoit's heat and re-establish him as a loser. Look at what happened to Goldberg: The fans at Summerslam were RABID for him to win...the fans at Unforgiven didn't give a shit. You have to strike while the iron's hot, and holding it off one more month will just kill things for me. Why can't HHH ever lose first?

Frankly, I think it got killed even more by what followed. The loss to Goldberg clean, the lack of any meaningful feuds or programs this year since the one with Shawn, and most of all, getting his ass whipped by Steve Austin weekly with no payoff. If there is any justice in this world, Jericho will make Austin tap out to the liontamer at WMXX.

It died a long time before that. You should learn like the rest of us that it's useless to get your hopes up for a company that will never deliver.

Frankly, rick, I think you're getting ahead of yourself. There's no need to deride the quality of that title when Benoit isn't even going to get it anyway. Let's think of this logically. WWE decided they were going to move someone from Smackdown! to Raw to face HHH at Wrestlemania, and they chose Benoit. Why? I mean, nobody thinks a Benoit-HHH feud will light up ratings and buyrates, and it's not exactly the dream interpromotional match they will make it out to be. The logical choice, if you wanted to truly create a new star is John Cena. Benoit has reached a level of overness that he has maintained through main event feuds and midcard feuds...fans respect him, but they don't pay to see him. It's not his fault, he's been booked like a loser and a chump, but it's the way it is. Cena, on the other hand, has momentum. Well, at least his pops do, even if his raps seem to be getting worse weekly. HHH clearly has management convinced that if he wins all the time, his big job to a new young star down the line will be a big deal. Why waste it on Chris Benoit, who probably has a year or two left in him? Do you think the WWE really cares enough about his hard work over the years to actually give him a meaningful title run? Hell no. Benoit was picked to move because HHH can soundly beat him at Wrestlemania without being accused of killing the heat of an up and coming star. Benoit has lost clean so many times, and still retains credibility with fans because of his work, so I'm sure he'll recover from it just fine. Hell, they may even give him the title at Backlash for a small token run until HHH gets back from making a movie. It should be interesting come Royal Rumble time next year. Can they salvage Jericho as a main eventer and put him over Hunter? Or will they pull the trigger on Edge or John Cena? Or will they switch Eddie over to be beaten by HHH?

I'm sorry, but anecdotal stories don't cut it. I have a mark friend that only watches Raw to see Steve Austin kick random people's asses. No matter how much advertising they do, if the show doesn't improve tenfold, they won't keep new viewers. They had a lot of advertising for the 1 cent show, and completely blew any momentum they had after it.

Is it 4 singles matches?

Depends what best means. Most readily available to watch? Sure. Best wrestling? Not a chance in hell.

I remember when Hogan channeled Ultimate Warrior in his promo about the Yapapi Strap match with Flair. A classic Wrestlecrap moment.

Shrug, I hate both TNA and WWE, but I hate TNA more, mostly because they charge 10 bucks a week and still suck. Plus, with the roster they have, the shows should be so much better than they are. About ECW, I don't know if it's fair to say WWE workrate was better in 96. Outside of Shawn's matches, and Bret-Austin at Survivor Series, the wrestling sucked dick in 96 WWF. From 97-on, I agree entirely, ECW was pretty bad. At least you can fairly say that ECW had better workrate in 95. WWE is pretty unwatchable for me at the moment, but hopefully things will get better. I just can't understand TNA marks bashing the hell out of what WWE does on free TV when they pay 10 bucks weekly for the same thing.

I continue to hope for business to go south for the WWE, so Vince decides to make major changes.

The economy is irrelevent (and improving). He will be a permanent guy for Zero-1, and that coupled with US Indy dates inbetween tours will make him more money than he made with WWE.