Hunter's Torn Quad

Let's try and keep things civil, at least. As for Santino, the best spot for him is the one he's in now, as it makes the best use of his limited ability. When his act gets tired, then see if they can retool him and move him on up. I doubt it'll happen as I think he's just too limited in terms of in-ring talent, so he'll probably be turned into a sidekick-type once the comedy stops being funny.

From another board: Reports declare more people are there than for Misawa. Take that for what you will. PPV is called TAKE NO PRISONERS (first person to make the obligatory no buys joke wins the thread) 1) Davey Richards d. Dingo by submission with a kimura 2) Sara Del Rey d. Kylie Pierce after kicking her in the head. Went under a minute. 3) Tyler Black d. Delirious, Claudio and Shiosaki by pinning Delirious with a Pheonix Splash. Black goes on to the main event to challenge Nigel for the title. Also in the biggest news of the show Black finally has some music, instead of that stupid bint screaming. 4) Kevin Steen d. Roderick Strong by pinfall after a package piledriver 5) Jigsaw and Ruckus d. Adam Pearce and BJ Whitmer after Jiggy rolled up Whitmer. Post match Kingston just jumped Jigsaw and a pull apart brawl occured. Ruckus stood to the side, shaking his head. Sabian and Joker are in the house, however the fans didn't know who they were so the angle didn't really get over. ROH fans are too smarky and not smarky enough. STOP PRESS: Turns out it could have been Robbie Minero and not Joker that accompanied Kingston. Huge difference I know. During the pull apart, AOTF, Daizee Haze, Lacey, and Briscoes battled out from the back, leading to... 6) Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe d. Joey Matthews and Necro Butcher when Jay hits a J-Driller on Joey, while Mark hits a splash off a scaffolding onto Necro through a table. One of those matches where they spend most of the match in the corwd so the majority of fans don't know what's going on and neither do the DVD viewers because they don't light the crowd. Mark fucked up the side of his face and was bleeding buckets, but soldiered on. INTERMISSION 7) Bushwacker Luke d. Shane Hagadorn via pinfall after a DDT, performed while Shane's feet were draped across the top rope. Crowd wasn't into it apparently. The Sweeney Show is now up. Sweeney calls out the Hangmen 3, and the decision is made for the factions to merge. Then Erick Stevens comes out, and demands a match with Daniel Puder. Sweeney negotiates, and we get... 8) Brent Albright d. Erick Stevens via pinfall when Sweeney distracts Erick, leading to a half-nelson suplex. Also bad boy BJ decides he would rather not be part of the superstable and gets beaten down. Albright does not participate in said beating. Hangmen 3 are dead, long live SnS Inc. 9) Bryan Danielson d. Austin Aries via submission with a seated fujiwara armbar. Said be very good. I know, you're shocked. Aries turned down Danielson's handshake post match, so apparently they've remembered about that storyline. 10) ROH World Title: Nigel McGuinness d. Tyler 'The Main Event' Black via submission with THE ARM SUBMISSION. According to reports they did a really good job of drawing the crowd into the match. Nigel hit Tyler with a chair, earning Black some big babyface support. Black survives all Nigels bombs even kicking out of a Jawbreaker lariat. Nigel kicked out of Tyler signature moves too. Apparently it was great live, but I wonder if it will come across well on PPV. Lots of kick outs scream overkill to me. Still Tyler was mega over so a star could have been made. Cue him jobbing out to Brent Albright next month.

WWE might have burned Jeff's house down The paragraph in question, because the article itself is terrible on every level: As for money, it's not what you make, it's what you save, and Jeff seems to have done that part. Financially, he would appear to be secure for the time being, but money isn't what Jeff needs most right now. It'll help for sure, but he needs emotional support the most. Not only is he losing out on a probably low six-figure chunk of change, but he's lost his house and everything in it, including his dog, and that's going to take a strong willed person to get through without cracking.

No Samoa Joe?

I don't doubt that the plan was for Austin to win the WWF Title in his home state, but nothing says it had to be his only title shot. In fact, it makes more storyline sense that he gets screwed out of his first shot and somehow is forced to enter the Rumble to get his next title shot. Not only does he overcome the odds, like a classic babyface, he gets to finally corner the heel in his own home state. What better way to ensure the biggest pop, and buy rate, by having Austin finally beat up the heel he's been chasing for so long, capture the WWF title, and give the stunner to the bitch who will have been a thorn in his side all the while, and in his home state to boot. Big deal if Austin's first title shot isn't in Texas. Just as long as he wins it there in a storyline that makes sense. Sucks for his ego, but sometimes that's just how it goes. You spend a year or so on top of the pile, then move down a few places so others get a run and things remain fresh. In any event, I think with him looking for revenge against Stephanie and Kurt, he'd have been, at worst, the number three babyface. And sometimes, as mentioned, you have to drop down a few places so others can get a run and things can be kept fresh. Hunter was on top for over a year, and it would have been time for a change. Looking back, that would have been another good time for him to turn babyface. But the love triangle predated that, and that particular time the fans were already dying to get behind him, with circumstances that I daresay would have made his face turn a lot hotter.

I would be against Cena being the one to end the streak for two reasons. First, he's over enough and doesn't need the rub that ending the streak could give; better to give that honor, if it ever is given, to someone who is on the verge of becoming a superstar and would benefit tremendously from it. Second, I think it would be a push too far for Cena for some people would backfire. Cena's not liked as it is, but having him end the Undertaker's streak is liable to get him very negative heat, and not the kind that turns into money. Ending it in Houston is liable to start a riot, though Cena vs. Taker at a Houston Wrestlemania would ensure some incredible heat when they get into the nearfalls and it seems like the streak is going to be broken.

No, they didn't. The angle wasn't exactly planned out to great detail, so it's not like HHH had to be heel or even involved in the storyline to begin with. In fact, a heel Kurt Angle would have made a far more logical mastermind, because he could have explained that he set it up because when he came into the WWF he saw Austin as the top guy and knew he had to take him out to reach the top. With the angle being not planned out to any great detail, it's debatable than any one person was 'supposed' to be 100% behind it. Why? A red-hot Kurt Angle with a freshly turned super bitch Stephanie at his side would have made for a far more compelling storyline than what we got. Not only would we have actually got a resolution to the storyline, because there would have been no issues over Angle losing clean, but they would have had the makings of a huge pop when Austin finally got his hands on Stephanie. Actually, not a whole lot of that time period was planned much advance, so it's not like they would have been ruining any long-term plans had they turned HHH face.

Kenzo was going to come in with the Hirohito gimmick and be pushed as a top heel right away, and headline a few PPV's against Benoit. Then the backlash against the Hirohito gimmick happened, plans got shelved, and he never came close to the main event. Jindrak was going to be in Evolution, and they even taped vignette's for him as part of the group. Then they saw him wrestle.

Even if Joe does win the title, the reaction is going to be more relief and surprise that TNA did something positive than excitement that Joe won the big one. This would have meant so much more a year ago. In any event, assuming Joe is winning, they appear to be trying to book him very strong from here on out; witness the finishing sequence of the six-man, where he took three big moves and kicked out and then, when Tomko hit the big clothesline, Joe popped right back up and immediately applied the choke. Joe should only beat Sting once. Well, once this time around. People wouldn't reject Joe beating Sting once, but twice? That is very liable to backfire with how much TNA fans like and respect Sting.

My thoughts on Bret vs. Shawn Bret and Shawn worked very hard, but they had a terrible crowd, a terrible announcing team, and there were just so many little things that dragged the match down. Rock vs. Hunter was a better match, but it wasn't great by any means. The crowd were a lot more receptive to the match and were into both men which helped. The commentary was very good, with Ross and Lawler doing a nice job of telling the story of the match.

Some notes from the Observer: Brian Gewirtz came up with the Wrestlemania Rewind idea. The current plan is for Umaga vs. Batista to have a controversial ending, with Umaga going to Smackdown to continue the program. The changes to the Hornswoggle angle are as a result of ongoing campaigning from "almost everyone" in creative, regarding the time wasted on the angle and the generally poor quarters the angle had been doing. It was thought that Vince would keep going with it just to prove people wrong, as many had been adamant from the beginning that it was a bad idea. The writers were also complaining about having to come up with show long material every week to keep the angle going, when they didn't think it was building ratings and that it was taking time away from things that could help PPV. While not outright saying the angle was wrong, Stephanie was diplomatically expressing concern about where the angle could go in the long-term. The industry news section on WWE.com was a Vince call. Michael Cole was replaced as the top guy on the website by a new editor, who suggested a number of 'wacky' ideas to Vince over the site, all of which were nixed. Vince then decided that WWE.com was going to be the destination of every wrestling fans who want real news. One person was hired to be in charge of the Industry News section, described (to Dave) as a casual fan who is a fish out of water in his position. The stories he picks to post have to be cleared by creative so the wrong story doesn't get posted. Punk is back the doghouse for the same reasons he's always been in and out; they don't like his style, they think he's a mark (which Dave describes as "the all encompassing term when you can't really point to anything but someone bugs you because he acts like he's a star when others think he's not"), and he's got bad agent reports over his work, with him being called inconsistent and sloppy.

Hunter coerced Stephanie into hitting Angle low so he could win. Fans were dying to get behind Hunter and Stephanie turning on Hunter would have made her and Angle incredibly over heels and Hunter a top babyface. But instead we got the first major example of ego overriding business.

A highlight reel finish to NOAH tag title match

Mecca truthiness Chazz edgehead69 MVP jericholic82 dustinbeaverton Vanhalen Enigma majormayhem1 EHME/Simon Brigante Kawalimus Marvinisalunatic Flairfan MOD BRACKET/FINALS! Cena's Healed Pec Mole

canadiandestroyer213 Mecca dx1997 truthiness Bruiser_Brody Chazz Superjerk edgehead69 MVP Matt Young KingPK jericholic82 dustinbeaverton Razateca Bix Vanhalen Battlenuts Enigma pbone majormayhem1 EHME/Simon Brigante C-Bacon Kawalimus TaigaStar UsethesledgehammerUh Marvinisalunatic Cheech Tremendous flairfan Cena's Healed Pec Illustrious One Downhome Mole I guess we know who'll make the staff final.

Except people were emotionally invested in that angle, and when it ended so badly, it turned a lot of people off. If this angle ends as badly as the Kurt/Stephanie/Hunter one did, I doubt we'd get the same reaction.

canadiandestroyer213 DrVenkman PhD Mecca Bob Barron dx1997 cabbageboy truthiness Jericho2000Mark Art Sandusky Bruiser_Brody Chazz Nate Superjerk the walkin' dude edgehead69 Cartman Man Who Sold the World MVP Failed Bridge Matt Young KingPK Scroby Czech Republic jericholic82 dustinbeaverton Narcoleptic Jumper Razateca foleyfanforever88 Bix Kinetic Hawk 34 Vanhalen Battlenuts alfdogg Y2Jerk Enigma milliondollarchamp pbone JNNews majormayhem1 EHME/Simon Adebisi Jingus Joey Bagadonuts C-Bacon Kawalimus Giuseppe Zangara TaigaStar Iggymcfly Usethesledgehammeruh NYU TheShooter MarvinisaLunatic Cheech Tremendous gary floyd twiztedmind Flairfan MOD/ADMIN BRACKET Vote for One of three Mike treble Cena's Torn Pec Tzar Lysergic Smues IllustriousOne Kahran Rasmus Milky Korova Downhome alkeiper Mole King Cucaracha For the Mod/Admin bracket, I'd have ensured Mike and I were kept apart until meeting in the final, so there would be some doubt as to who might 'win'.

So, in amongst all that pro-Russo nonsense, is there any kind of defense of the current TNA direction? Or is talking about the subject at hand a little hard to do when you can't defend Russo, or the rest of the TNA writing team?

Yes. They were in the 35,000 range. PPV buys have unceremoniously sagged in the last 18 months. Because Dixie thinks Russo was the man responsible for the WWF's success in 1998, and he can duplicate that success with TNA. She doesn't know or realize that not only was that success a team effort, edited by Vince McMahon, but that Russo is greatly overrated. Nobody was acting like that, but exaggerations make it easier to try and put forward a losing argument. The results discredit everyone, not just Russo. But making it seem like a direct attack on Russo does make it easier to try and cloud the issue. The issue being that the current direction just isn't working.

How's it working out for them? Well enough that they just had their biggest financial year ever. Evidently, their TV is doing a good enough job at getting their top talent over that the merchandise is flying off the shelves and PPV's, while not at their peak levels, still bring in the money. And just for laughs, here are the PPV numbers, via the Observer, that reflect the result of the booking of Impact for much of the last year and a half: December 2006: 35,000 for Turning Point (Joe vs. Angle) Turning Point was the last PPV in 2006, the rest are for 2007 January: 34,000 for Final Resolution (Joe vs. Angle) February: 23,000 for Against All Odds (Angle vs. Cage) March: 36,000 for Destination X (Joe vs. Sting) April: 35,000 for Lockdown (Team Angle vs. Team Cage) May: 21,000 for Sacrifice (Angle vs. Sting vs. Cage) June: 22,000 for Slammiversary (King of the Mountain) July: 15,000 for Victory Road (Joe and Angle vs. Team 3D) August: 26,000 for Hard Justice (Joe vs. Angle) September: 17,000 for No Surrender (Angle vs. Abyss) October: 36,000 for Bound For Glory (Sting vs. Angle) November: 27,000 for Genesis (Sting and Booker T vs. Angle and Nash) With numbers like that, for a TNA fan to knock the booking of WWE TV from a business standpoint, a phrase about glass houses and bricks comes to mind The only thing? How about a change in direction? Their current one, the one they've had for that last 18 months since Russo came on board, has helped do a number on PPV buys. Sure, TNA are doing, on the surface, good numbers for Impact, but when it comes to converting those TV viewers to PPV buyers, they're failing badly. Assume these main event faces show up, what, in the last 18 months, have the writing team done to show they would know what to do with them? In January of 2007, Joe vs. Angle did 34,000 buys. By August, this writing team had done such an effective job with both men, that the same match drew 26,000 buys. And that was with all four titles being at stake. And they did such a great job with making the titles, and their holders, seem important, that when a match with all the TNA titles were on the line headlined PPV, it garnered a miserable 15,000 buys. You seriously think a writing team that shows such woeful results can make TNA a legitimate contender to WWE? They're lucky to make TNA a contender to ECW.

The fact they want to be a wrestler over being an actor isn't the argument. The argument is, and always has been, choosing wrestling over an acting career, specifically an acting career that is, at the very least, moderately successful. Once more: You really think most wrestlers wouldn't give up the constant travel, the bumps, the politics, the being away from home so often and all the stress that puts on a relationship, when they have an alternative that provides comparable money, if not more, and has less of the travel, none of the bumps, less of the stress and politics, and the bonus of not being on the road all the time and away from their family? I won't say that all wrestlers would give all that up for a much better alternative, but to say most wouldn't is just ridiculous.

There are plenty of people who would rather be wrestlers than actors, but that wasn't the argument being made. The argument was a wrestling career vs. a movie career. And whilst most aspiring wrestlers would choose the WWE contract over the movie contract, if we're talking a low-end deal, when it comes the one career versus the other, I refer you to my earlier post: And if the movie career is skyrocketing, like Rock's is, you'd find even less wrestlers who would choose wrestling over the movie career.

It's worth bearing in mind that this interview was done before the Royal Rumble - I have the interview audio from The Sun's Wrestlecast podcast feed and Cena kayfabes about not being able to come back for Wrestlemania in an in-ring capacity. Chances are that at that time, Rock wasn't even on the table for Mania as far as Cena knew. It's also worth bearing in mind that given Rock's schedule, WWE would have approached him months ago about doing something for the HoF, so as to avoid any potential schedule conflicts. It's also no secret that WWE have long wanted Rock to do something with the HoF and induct his grandfather, father or the Wild Samoans.

Flair pinned Garvin with a simple cover after hotshotting him into the cage, and pinned Jarrett with a small package. I remember the win over Jarrett for two reasons. First, there's a fan in the front row who is only half watching the match, even facing away from the ring for most of the match, and when Flair wins he gets this look of total shock on his face. Second, the announcers don't put it over that strongly at first. Why? Because nobody told them Flair was winning, and they thought it was a mistake.

From the Observer spoilers: It'll be interesting to see if this plays out as it reads.