Hunter's Torn Quad

Federline is Raw.

Congratulations to TNA for turning Joe vs. Angle into just another match. I didn't think they could do it. Didn't see this:

According to Cornette, the serious heat began over the way the Gangsta's left SMW for ECW, with Heyman apparently having something to do with the Gangsta's walking out of the group early and not putting over Tracy Smothers and Tony Anthony on the way out. There was also the deal where part of the agreement of getting Cornette to come into ECW for one-shot was openly making amends with Dennis Coraluzzo and allowing ECW wrestlers to work for Coraluzzo and it wound up with Heyman only shaking hands with Coraluzzo in front of only Cornette and then claiming to everyone Coraluzzo broke their new agreement, and the way Heyman conned Cornette, through an unwitting Chris Candido, into sending him SMW tapes for footage of Tammy Fytch that Heyman wanted to use for the episode of ECW on TNN where she did that teary eyed interview talking about her many problems, and Heyman sending the tapes back late and not paying the agreed upon money for them.

Two additional pieces of news: Dixie Carter not only expected a response from WWE over the VKM stuff but also that a match would be worked out. The Naturals are no more it seems:

Around the time of Havoc, the decision was made to just get the Hogan match done with and then absorb Warrior's contract and let it run out. The best being that I think Warrior managed to get himself a better deal before the Havoc match. In any event, I don't think much thought was given what to do with Warrior after Havoc, because the main reason he was even brought in was for Hogan to get his win back.

That's the key to whether this is a momentary rise or something long term. If the rating goes back down next week, then the .2 bump could be down to the baseball angle or coming right after the PPV. In which case, it's not something to really shout about. Now, if it stays at 1.2 for a month or so, then you can celebrate.

What was Brandon Vera doing at the EXC press conference? Last night's UFN got a 1.3, which is good considering. I enjoyed UFN for the most part, and I loved the main event. The only fight I didn't really like was the Koscheck fight. Can't wait for someone to KO him into oblivion.

That's why.

NOAH announced the foreign talent for their next tour and we have the latest sign of the working agreement with ROH: -Doug Williams (All shows) -Nigel McGuinness (All shows) -Dakota (All shows) -Jay Briscoe (All shows) -Mark Briscoe (All shows)

For the two or three of you interested, here are the RSPW Awards for the year:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BJKVM33P Fabulous Rougeaus Brothers.

Some of the highlights of my Black Friday fun: Better Than Our Best: Jimmy Yang vs. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels This was a good four-way match, with Joe and Styles working very stiff with each other. Joe was the standout performer of the match. Yang didn’t take as much of a backseat as you might think considering who was involved. There were some nice spots, with Yang showing great agility and flexibility that you’ll probably not see out of him for a while, if ever again. After the match, Joe called out Bryan Danielson to demand ‘his’ belt back. Danielson came out and showed why he’s such a great heel and also very underrated on the mic with how he mocked Joe, tried to get the crowd to chant against Joe and was generally a complete dick. Blood Generation vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong This was a great tag match that went around 20:00 and saw great teamwork from the BG crew and Aries take quite the beating, even suffering a broken nose. Lance Storm vs. Bryan Danielson This was a good technical match, with Storm working a far better than he was allowed to in WWE. If you’re a fan of Storm and want to see what he can do without restrictions, then you’ll want to see this. Homicide vs. Colt Cabana This was an excellent streetfight. A wild brawl with some crazy spots, this was very intense. They stayed almost entirely within the ring or the ringside area, which is actually a refreshing change from most streetfights where they go all over the building sometimes just for the sake of it. The visual highlight was sea of chairs getting thrown in by the fans. Highlights of the actual brawling saw Cabana throw rubbing alcohol into the face of a bloody Homicide which Homicide sold like a trooper and Cabana superplexing Homicide onto the sea of chairs. If you want snowflakes, I’ll go with ****1/2. Time To Man Up: The Briscoe’s vs. KENTA and Davey Richards This was a great tag match that went around 20:00 with the Briscoe’s showing why they are a tremendous team and have improved immeasurably since their last run in ROH. The match was very stiff and very hard hitting and you really got a sense that this match was important because of how much intensity everybody showed. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles A good match but not the best you’ll see from these two. Joe was probably holding back a little as he was going 60:00 the next night with Danielson. Still, this was better than a lot of what you’ll see elsewhere. Unified: Jimmy Rave vs. Davey Richards This was good match, almost entirely down to Richards, who continued to show why he’s getting the strong push he is. If the Pure title was still around I’d see Richards was a good bet to get the belt from McGuiness, but as it is he’ll have to ‘settle’ for an ROH World title run in about twelve to eighteen months. The Briscoe’s vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong This match was fantastic. There was so much great teamwork from both teams, intensity that just grabbed your attention and a rabid crowd going nuts for everything in the home stretch. These are definitely two of the best tag teams of the year, and this is easily one of the best tag team matches of the year. For snowflakes, I’ll go with ****1/2. Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson This was a wrestling war. The match was fought under Pure Title rules, and the story of the match was Danielson trying to get McGuinness to use up his three rope breaks, which would allow Danielson to use the ropes freely. The match was intense like the tag match but in a different way. Whereas the tag match was both teams going all out with the big moves, this match saw Danielson and McGuinness go all out with stiff wrestling. The “ouch” moment was late in the match when Danielson pulled McGuinness head first into the ring post three or four times and McGuinness’s head hit the post full busting him open legit. The crowd was going mental at this point just going nuts for Nigel and wanting him to win, but it was not to bed and Danielson won with repeated elbow strikes to Nigel’s head as he had his arms tied up. A definite Match of the Year candidate, ****3/4 in snowflakes, and you have to see Nigel’s post-show promo in the back which has a close shot of a huge lump on his head from he hit the ringpost. Epic Encounter II Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness – 2/3 Falls This was another tremendous match but it was totally different to their Unified match. The Unified match was William Regal vs. Fit Finlay where this match is Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair and I would actually call it a modern day version of some of the Steamboat vs. Flair matches. It featured excellent wrestling as well some great heel work from Danielson. Danielson grabbed a headlock on McGuinness and while you initially had a number of people chanting boring, Danielson not only told those fans that he was going to keep the headlock on for the whole match but after ten minutes of working in and out of the hold he had the whole crowd popping huge every time he went back the headlock. It was great. And what made it better is when he had got them popping for the headlock he teased going for it again and then went to a reverse chinlock just to fuck with them. But it gets better. When he grabs the chinlock, McGuinness actually chastises him and says, “They asked for a headlock. Know your wrestling.” Not only is the wrestling and the ga-ga great, but the story of the match is great. There are spots in it that play off of their previous matches including recreating the finish of their first Title vs. Title match and the big spot of their match at Unified where Danielson pulled McGuinness head first into the ring post. The match went the full 60:00 with each man getting a decision, with Danielson’s coming via a small package, which is how he beat McGuinness in their second singles match. The match was Steamboat vs. Flair because it was two guys going out there and wrestling for 60:00. No gimmicks, no bullshit, just two guys who wrestled and made it mean something. Snowflake time: ****3/4. Gut Check Jim Cornette promo This is Cornette’s promo to explain his turning on Homicide at the Cage of Death match. It’s almost 20:00, but it’s a fantastic promo that sees Cornette explain in a very logical manner why he turned on Homicide and hates the fans that turned on him for it, but also why he hasn’t turned on anybody else. It’s a great heel/not heel promo because Cornette makes a credible argument for why he’s turned against Homicide and the fans who he feel turned against him but why he hasn’t turned against anyone else. It’s great because not only do the reasons make sense for the character but it’s believable as to why he would turn on Homicide and some fans but not on anyone else or the rest of the fans. Top notch stuff. The Briscoe’s vs. Homicide and Davey Richards Another fine tag match featuring the Briscoe’s, who may be the best tag team of the year. The Briscoe’s showed great teamwork and some fine double team moves. Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana 2/3 falls This was Danielson’s second 2/3 falls in consecutive days and like the one with McGuinness they played off of their previous matches but the match itself told a completely different story allowing for two completely different matches. This match had the stipulation that if Cabana lost he couldn’t get another title match while Danielson was champion, but also that if the 60:00 time limit expired with only one fall taken then whoever had that fall would be declared the winner and would be ROH World Champion. Their previous title match at ROH’s 100th show saw Danielson pin Cabana in just five minutes, so this match saw Cabana score the first fall in just five minutes. Not only did it play off of their last match but it also put Danielson in the position of having to play catch up for the rest of the match as if Cabana won another fall or the match went to the 60:00 time limit then Cabana would be the new ROH Champion. The story played out for the rest of the match with some great antics from both men and also the crowd; after Danielson did his “I have till five” bit some of the crowd chanted “same old shit” and another part of the crowd responded with a “it still works” chant. The match got incredibly heated as it hit the 55:00 mark with the crowd going nuts for Cabana’s imminent title win. And then, at 59:45, it happened. Danielson distracted the referee and nailed Cabana with a punch to the groin. A small package later and Danielson tied the match 1-1 with literally seconds to go. Needless to say the Chicago crowd was pissed. The match wasn’t quite as good as the one the night before with Danielson and McGuinness, maybe around ****, but it told a very good story and Danielson did a damn good job considering he severely injured his shoulder at around the 9:00 mark. Glory by Honor V – Night One Samoa Joe/Takeshi Morishima angle This was notable for the reaction. It was set up with everyone on the roster, including ROH and NOAH wrestlers who weren’t wrestling, surrounding the ring for Bruno Sammartino’s appearance. After Bruno had left, the wrestlers returned to the back. Joe and Morishima bumped into each other as they went to aisleway at the same time. They each offered to let the other go first but they bumped into each other again. After a few seconds of arguing, Morishima shoved Joe who, after shoving back, rolled into the ring and as he dared Morishima to fight, the crowd went completely apeshit. They went crazier for this angle, when few of them would have been that familiar with Morishima, then just about any other angle in ROH and almost any match in ROH history. It was like they knew they were seeing the start of something special, which they were, as the idea is for Joe vs. Morishima to be the big dream match in 2007. Samoa Joe and Homicide vs. The Briscoe’s This was a really good match with the usual intensity and physical action you’d expect from those involved. It’s almost a broken record at this point, but The Briscoe’s are probably the best tag team of the year for 2006. They have the teamwork down pat, they have the intensity, and they can have a good to great tag match with just about any team. Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA This was their first singles match in ROH, and it had the story going in of KENTA having two pinfall wins over Danielson, coming in a tag match and as part of a three-way. The match was great with Danielson working around his injured shoulder which also played into the story of the match. The big spot was KENTA hitting the Go To Sleep, which he used to beat Danielson the previous two times, and Danielson getting his foot on the ropes to break the count. Danielson winds up winning with Cattle Mutilation, and both men get a big standing ovation from the Manhattan Ballroom. ****1/2 of goodness. Motor City Madness Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries This was a fine match, maybe not great, but still very enjoyable. The funniest part was Danielson, who had to wear Bob Backlund-like trunks due to his regular gear going missing, mimicking Backlund’s weird walk, where he walks across the ring while squatting. The match was enjoyable and so were Danielson’s heel antics. Samoa Joe and Homicide vs. The Briscoe’s – Falls Count Anywhere The match started in the ring as normal but the fight, and this is what it turned into, soon went to the floor. Chairs were flung about with wild abandon as all four men sent the crowd scattering in all directions to avoid getting hit with, only the chairs, but anything else they could get their hands on. The war made its way to the parking lot and one of the Briscoe’s did a shooting star press off of a truck onto everyone else as well as security. Joe immediately started screaming about his knee being injured and was taken away, leaving Homicide to be dragged back to the ring by the Briscoe’s who got the win with spiked Jay Driller. This was a very wild match and you can do worse than check it out.

Did you forget that Dish Network did carry Turning Point? Exactly. They went right to the biggest feud they could do with Angle. Anything else is going to seem like a step down now.

--The preliminary diagnosis of Samoa Joe is he suffered a third degree MCL sprain on Monday night when he delivered a kick during the tag team main event of the second show taped. It's still early to know how long he will be out. He's expected not to wrestle until the ROH shows at the earliest. And Impact did another 1.0.

Terry Gordy.

New match for Armageddon: Paul London and Brian Kendrick against William Regal and David Taylor.

One of the latest Observer's says Torrie is dating one of the Spirit Squad, or at least she was a couple of weeks ago.

Wrestler of the year: Samoa Joe. Tag-team/Stable of the year: LAX. Something special that has managed to not be screwed up. Match of the year: Joe vs. Styles vs. Daniels II. Best heel: Scott Steiner Best face: Sting Worst wrestler of the year: Lance Hoyt Best PPV: Bound for Glory Worst PPV: Slammiversary Biggest disappointment: Vince Russo coming back/Jeff Jarrett regaining the NWA Title

I know a handheld version exists, but I don't think a commercial version does.

Rating was a 3.8

It was.

That's what I like about Meltzer, he's so unbiased. The quote in the article: No mention of Russo's booking quality is made in the section of the article that talks about Heyman and TNA. Meltzer just says that with Russo having only just been brought in it's unlikely he'll be removed anytime soon and then mentions the numbers falling as what it would take before Russo is removed.

According to the latest Figure Four Weekly, the original plan for Survivor Series and the match with the DX, Punk and Hardyz team was for Matt and Jeff to be the sole survivors. However, Hunter got it changed so DX would survive too, and at that point they decided to just let the whole team survive and CM Punk was spared as well.

The question is if Orton can actually make it to a WM singles match main event at the fourth time of trying. I'm guessing no.