CubbyBr

This could be a blessing in disguise for The Truth. He could really step into a main role by being on the "TNA dream team" with Styles and Brown. I'm thinking that they're going to stick Jeff Hardy in that slot though.

Crowd divided right down the middle..."Let's Go AJ" Followed by "Let's go Petey" chants.

To add to BrokenWings' commentary... D'Amore said that if Petey Williams doesn't regain the X-Division title then D'Amore will leave TNA and go back to Canada.

Crowd was hot for Jackie and it was better than I expected.

I'm in chicago too...i saw it the week before but this week the college football game was on. Trying to look for reply times but no luck.

I don't get how someone with that much of a biased opinion can be taken seriously. All he does is go on this forum and say the same thing about TNA every time. Yeah, its his right but it says something bout the person when he spends a lot of his time on a forum dedicated to a promotion he can't stand. In the last line I was referring to Road Dogg. So when the creative team can't get a certain talent over then it's the fault of the talent? I don't buy the argument of 'there's no way to get them over" when I see Road Dogg and even Konnan in TNA and they get mad pops. I find the whole 3LK stable pretty cool in that it's three guys from completely different backgrounds able to bond and work together. It's something new for Road Dog and even though his promos are the same, he's put in a different situation and is over again. It did big business, I can't deny it, but I believe it was because they were riding a wave. If you look at some of the internet articles from back then you'll see that people were complaining about the stale product. There was hope going into the Fully Loaded PPV (which I'll admit was good) but then those three guys that were being elevated (Jericho, Benoit, Angle) were all pushed back down to the midcard. Let's see...McMahon screwing Rock out of the belt at Mania, Shane McMahon the special referee at Backlash with Rock/HHH, McMahon's big group with HHH at the head going after Rock, Shane vs. Rock numerous times, Vince promising that Rock will never be champion again. Souds very familiar. I liked the early X matches within the context of that show because it had other storylines/angles within the show to balance it out. I can't watch a full show with stuff like that because I'll get bored with it like I got bored with the recent ROH DVD I bought "The era of honor begins." I'm not saying a match CAN'T BE GOOD without a story, not at all..I'm saying that I, personally, get bored after a while with stuff like that. Doesn't mean I hate it..it's just not my cup of tea. I would rather have matches with stories leading up. I can still be entertaining by random matches as long as its in a context of a show with other stories/angles so its not JUST random matches with guys I don't know. If its a show with just random matches with no stories or angle then I can't get into it. My bad, he was teaming with Taker again. And then he feuded with him AGAIN two or three months later. With Snow/Bossman - yeah it was terrible but I can atleast picture to guys wanting to kill each other over one of their animals being abused by the other guy but I can't picture two guys wanting to kill each other over spilled coffee. -Bossman/Big Show - happened after Russo left -Young/Henry - started about right when he was leaving, the birth of the hand was not Russo either -Nothing wrong with the feud over the DX name IMO Jericho wasn't ready? Maybe not to be world champ but definitly to be in the main event. HE was ready to be in the main event ever since he was challenging Goldberg in WCW. They needed fresh main eventers yet the creative team didn't put them in those slots. Bottom line is that the only new star WWE made in the first 2 and 1/2 years after Russo left was Kurt Angle. I'm talking about a star that was taken seriously on the level of Rock, HHH, and Austin. Then it was Brock Lesnar but he was pushed too soon and couldn't handle it. Proof? I doubt Hunter had enough pull in the fall of 2000 to just end a hot storyline like that.

No need to even take that comment seriously...Complete and utter biased...nuff said. No argument that BIlly Gunn, Road Dogg, and Godfather aren't the greatest workers but they were over as hell when Russo was writing and were part of what made the shows entertaining. The thing is...they weren't even really buried...its just that the "genius" creative team couldn't get them over again. And don't give me the dead weight argument because if that were the case, guys like T&A, Too Cool, Rikishi and others wouldn't have been used either. Creative couldn't get the guys I mentioned over so they weren't used- period. What did he do in TNA? Well, he's over to start with...something he wasn't in WWF2000. They were striving for that. And Rock/HHH was already done to death and completely stale. Same thing...1999 it was McMahon/Rock vs. Austin. 2000 it was McMahon/HHH vs. Rock. The buildup to Survivor Series was tremendous as well. Was there crap? Sure but no worse than the stuff like the stinkface match between Patterson/Briscoe in 2000. Looked it up and found a bunch of your old replies (with no facts behind them) from old threads. Not irrelevant at all...you claim (since you obviously know everything) that I hate wrestling when the fact is I hate it when wrestling matches are just thrown out for no reason between guys I don't know that go forever. I loved the early X-Division matches from TNA. I'm loving the great tag action in TNA right now. If I didn't know the guys and they were just thrown out there with no story every week then I wouldn't have liked it. Just because I don't like pure marathon matches all the time doesn't mean I hate wrestling at all and you're a moron if you think I do. Now go ahead with your immature cop-out response of... "you hate wrestling." KOTR where he was nothing but a McMahon lackey and was basically slopped in there. Don't remember the other PPV he main evented...probably because I didn't care like many others. And, oh yeah, I forgot that epic feud with Kane/Y2J over spilled coffee. Hogan/Andre type heat in that one. lol: They were riding a wave that was soon to run out. If you look at columns on the internet from back then it was the general consesus that the product was stale. Jericho/Benoit feud was good because of the wrestlers involved. Creatively, it didn't touch any of that stuff from 98 that I mentioned. And that's why it got stale by Summerslam. You're right...Rock v. HHH EVERY SINGLE WEEK and it was stale as hell. They didn't push any new talent in the main event during that time (exception of angle) and some guys that did get the shot were pushed right back down (Benoit, Jericho, etc). The fact that they didnt make any new true main event superstars that year (besides Angle) came back to bite them in the ass in the coming years. My bad..it was a shitty ending. A feud that could have gone on for 6 months ending like crap because creative couldn't do anything with it. WOW, the originality around here. I could've sworn you and Mike were one person for a second. 1999- HHH just starts main eventing, Benoit and Angle aren't around, Jericho hasn't even been in WWF for a month. He just entered the fed, he was feuding with Shamrock and they put him with Finkle to build on his WCW persona, which was hilarious and a lot more entertaining than the Jericho of today.

That quote right there just shows how biased you are. Monty Brown has more charisma in his pinkey than Batista has in his entire body. As far as the in-ring wrestling, Batista's been doing it for longer than Brown so you can't really compare. Forgot who I was talking to...Mike, who thinks anyone who doesn't churn out a ***** match is dead weight. Guys that were a lot more over in 1999 than 2000. As far as Kane...not only was he depushed but he was, creative-wise, shot in the head by that writing staff. Deny it all you want but it's the truth. My bad..it was so boring and crappy that it felt like six months. In terms of making money and entertaining people, you're right, it was nothing like Austin/McMahon. It was a failed attempt to copy Austin/Rock that flopped completely. Sure...they were a lot more creative than "wrestler A bumps into wrestler B backstage and they feud." Especially the period from about Summerslam of 1998 to WM15 which had some of the most creative stuff ever. Rock heel turn, Rock vs. Foley, etc, etc. So much thought being put into the storylines that the shit in 2000 wasn't even close to the same level. Missed the ending that never happened. It totally fizzled and had no ending. I'm sure you'll deny it but that's what happened. A feud ending in a no contest with nothing resolved...real good. Can you spell COP-OUT? Wow, you're a moron. I hate matches with guys I don't know and with no story behind them just being thrown out there. I think its boring and I can't get into it. Wrestling, the way it should be, with a good story/feud that closes with a awesome match is what I like. I'm sure this will go into one ear and out the other but that's fine. Yeah, Finkle and it was funny as hell.

Double-Post, my bad Go back and watch the tapes. He wasn't Austin-like over but he was more over than in 2000. You're actually serious, aren't you? X-Pac, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Godfather, Kane... The only striking flaw? I guess you don't consider running the same Austin v. McMahon storyline, except w/Rock in place of Austin, for six months a flaw. Yet anything TNA does is the "worst thing in wrestling history." I guess when they start their feuds off with someone spilling coffee on someone else, they'll reach WWF2000 greatness. The biased in every single thing that you write on the this board is just fucking ridiculous. You talk about how Russo never ended his storylines yet you wet yourself at the thought of WWF in 2000. Where was the ending to the Rock/Benoit feud in 2000? Where was the ending to the Angle/HHH/Steph story? Where was the ending to the HHH/Jericho feud? As far as building up feuds, they had almost zero creativity during that period. For almost every PPV, their big push on the Raw the week before was a slopped together tag match featuring the top two feuds that had no reason for happening. Edge/Christian was creative, I won't deny it. But what did they do with the Hardyz that was so cutting edge? Put Lita with them? WOW. Having the Dudleyz to work with didn't hurt either. Boy, you hit the nail on the head. Because I thought the storylines were boring in 2000 that means I hate wrestling. Boy, you're not only an expert at what draws in wrestling but you can read other peopl'es mind and know what they like and hate too. Yeah, putting two of the best wrestlers in the world into a long feud just oozes creativity. you don't get the fact that I'm not saying the wrestling was bad...the reason why the matches were happening, the storylines, sucked for the most part. The only creative STORYLINE they started, Angle/HHH/Steph, never had an ending and ended up sucking.

Go back and watch the tapes. He wasn't Austin-like over but he was more over than in 2000. You're actually serious, aren't you? X-Pac, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Godfather, Kane... The only striking flaw? I guess you don't consider running the same Austin v. McMahon storyline, except w/Rock in place of Austin, for six months a flaw. Yet anything TNA does is the "worst thing in wrestling history." I guess when they start their feuds off with someone spilling coffee on someone else, they'll reach WWF2000 greatness. The biased in every single thing that you write on the this board is just fucking ridiculous. You talk about how Russo never ended his storylines yet you wet yourself at the thought of WWF in 2000. Where was the ending to the Rock/Benoit feud in 2000? Where was the ending to the Angle/HHH/Steph story? Where was the ending to the HHH/Jericho feud? As far as building up feuds, they had almost zero creativity during that period. For almost every PPV, their big push on the Raw the week before was a slopped together tag match featuring the top two feuds that had no reason for happening. Edge/Christian was creative, I won't deny it. But with did they do with the Hardyz that was so cutting edge? Put Lita with them? WOW. Having the Dudleyz to work with didn't hurt either. Boy, you hit the nail on the head. Because I thought the storylines were boring in 2000 that means I hate wrestling. Boy, you're not only an expert at what draws in wrestling but you can read other peopl'es mind and know what they like and hate too. Yeah, putting two of the best wrestlers in the world into a long feud just oozes creativity. you don't get the fact that I'm not saying the wrestling was bad...the reason why the matches were happening, the storylines, sucked for the most part. The only creative STORYLINE they started, Angle/HHH/Steph, never had an ending and ended up sucking.

OMG you're so friggen biased its not even funny. Yeah, they did stuff with some stars but they took others that Russo got over and couldn't come up with shit for them. Val Venis, D'Lo Brown, Mark Henry and other guys that were over during Russo's run were told that creative had "nothing for them." And let's not forget, WWE had an advantage in 2000 that Russo didn't have in that they had a lot more good talent in the ring (Benoit, Jericho, Angle, Guerrero, etc.) The shows in 2000 were completely boring and stale. The only original thing they started, Angle/HHH/Stephanie didn't have an ending at all and just fizzled. It was nothing but Rock vs. HHH for the 183882 time with McMahon being the evil boss.

The Rock storyline leading up to Survivor Series 98 is definitly and exception. Awesome piece of writing with an incredible swerve payoff that no one saw coming. All the pieces fell into place and it was just a real good story. Not Really. The product became very stale around WM2000 because they stopped pushing new talent, which Russo was a huge advocate of. I'm not saying Russo's stuff was great but he brought WWE its higest ratings and most interest. You got any proof of that? When I used to go to live events in 1999 I saw just as many Sable signs as I did Austin signs so don't tell me no one showed up to see Sable or Goldust, etc. Austin/McMahon was the main thing, no doubt, but not the only thing.

It would still mean something if built up right.

This is the kind of mindless bashing that just pisses me of. Who said that Xplosion was going to be made into the better show? What was said was that Xplosion would get upgraded with better matches/interviews in order to promote the PPV more and get it into more markets. What was also said in the Observer was that once the monthly PPV's would go into affect, Impact would become the main show and have the bigger matches instead of the squashes they have now. No one ever said XPlosion was going to be the main show or better than Impact yet you just assume it, state it as fact, and start bashing away when you don't know jack shit.

You're right, Strummer. Konnan and BG will never be 5-star workers but they're getting a lot better in the ring and are more motivated. They really pop the crowd and are a good addition to the tag division.

I think the buildup for Rock/Austin @ WM15 was slow burn. Rock won the title at Survivor Series with McMahon screwing Austin in that whole master plan deal. Austin chased Rock for 4 1/2 months (going through Undertaker, Big Show, etc)before finally beating him at Mania 15.

I agree that this is the best way to go. It's the logical next step and I'm glad it's happening. I gotta believe, though, that they're working on a better/longer timeslot for impact to help build the PPV's. I don't think an hour a week at 3:00 P.M. is enough TV time to advertise a monthly PPV for 30 bucks.

As far as Meltzer- it's just biased on his part because Russo works there and it's been obvious since 2002.