Hunter's Torn Quad

Some people really are desperately wanting to believe that Cena isn't on something. The injuries you see in wrestling that are commonly associated with steroid use, or the use of other muscle building drugs, include pectoral tears, as well as tearing of the triceps, biceps and quadriceps. Not everyone who suffers these injuries are on steroids or other such drugs, but far more often than not, if one of these muscles gets torn, especially torn clean off the bone, then it's very likely they're on something and as a result have overdeveloped the injured muscle to the point that injury is likely. Of course, you can be clean and still overdevelop the muscles, but it's not often you see someone clean overdevelop the muscles to where they can tear right off the bone. I'm all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, but given that Cena's physique has remained pretty much unchanged even while having an incredibly grueling schedule, which itself should have raised eyebrows, and then he suffers an injury that is typically a sign of the use of muscle building drugs, it's a pretty safe bet that he's on something, or many things, and it's finally caught up with him.

The irony being that Eric talked to Dave all the time during the Monday Night Wars era.

I think fans are so desensitized over the use of Eddie to try and get heels over, that this aspect of the storyline will either backfire or, more likely, have no effect at all. That said, what exactly about this would have Vickie betraying Eddie? Her having another relationship? The only way this part makes her a heel is if she hooks up with Chavo.

Have you tried getting offline then signing back on? Depending on your ISP, that can change your IP and, at least with Megaupload, allow you to download more often.

They get angry because they're actually thinking about something other their own entertainment, and are taking into account what would be best for the company they support. The fact that these fans do get angry about something they'd pay for being given away for free is a good thing, because it suggests that they would, in fact, pay money to the company for something. When fans stop getting angry about something they'd pay to see being given away for free is the day to start worrying, because indifference is so much worse than anger. At least if they're angry, it shows they care.

I seem to have a good memory for WWE history, but Fink joining DX? Was this some sort of skit I missed or something? Please refresh me. Jeff Jarrett cut Howard's hair in the build up to Jarrett's hair match with X-Pac. When it came time for Jarrett to get his hair cut, Howard Finkel was brought out to mock Jarrett, and he did the crotch chop with them. Nothing ever made DX look cooler...

A match that could have been great had they been given longer than 13:00 and not had to rush through the match as fast as they could.

Calling someone an 'indie worker' appears to be the catch-all term for someone deemed too green for prime-time, either in talent or look.

Jericho has been gone for two years and is fresh again. If the put him right at the top, and treat him like a top guy, he'll be accepted as a top guy.

The rating, via Dave, was 0.9

Tazz's reputation for being a badass was purely down to his gimmick and how he was booked. A number of wrestlers around at the time have said that Tazz was nowhere the badass he was portrayed as being, but because of how he was booked and how he was able to get the gimmick over, he got the rep of being real shooter. I'm sure Tazz was tough, but not as tough as his image suggested.

Brutal sounding KO kick

I don't think the incident in question happened after the N2R, but there was heat over the match because everyone was so intent on getting their spots in that ego's were bruised when the inevitable clusterfuck happened. The incident between Van Dam and Tazz took place backstage after a Van Dam match and Tazz had been bad mouthing Van Dam while it was going on. Van Dam got to the back, heard about Tazz bad mouthing him and asked Tazz, "Which hand?". Tazz asked him what he meant, and Van Dam slapped him. Van Dam repeated the question, but Tazz backed down.

Come on now. Jericho was way over with the crowd throughout 2000 and most of 2001. He more then rebounded from his first few months in the company. Awful booking during his 2nd heel run/title reign is what he never recovered from, but even then he was still more over then most of the mid carders today and still will be when he returns. Big crowd reactions, which Jericho did get, doesn't mean someone is over in the sense of being accepted as main event player. Jericho was never treated as a main event player, and even during his run as Undisputed champion it was made clear that Jericho was second-tier talent.

If Kurt really wanted to fight, he'd have done it by now. Kurt obviously likes MMA and would definitely like to fight, but I think he also knows that his physical condition, especially his neck, is such that his chances of doing even reasonably well are remote at best, especially when you consider the added physical toll he'd have go through in the months of training required.

From PWI: Before the taping began, they filmed a segment of Karen Angle entering the Impact Zone with security. X-Division Champion Jay Lethal defeated Havok in a non-title match. Christopher Daniels came out and watched the match, then after the bout picked up the X-Division belt and tossed it to Lethal before leaving. Kurt Angle came to the ring, wearing a shirt from the school that Sting's son goes to. Angle gets on the mic and says that Sting's son is a good football player. Angle said he did what he did to Sting's son for two reasons. One, is because Sting touched his wife, and the two, because he wants the old Sting back. Angle said he wasn't leaving the ring until Sting comes out. Karen Angle came out and said the last week has been the worst of her life. She asks Kurt how he would feel if Sting did this to their children. Angle says that he'll decide when he's gone too far, and said that Karen needs to decide if she is with him or not. Then they argue over whether Sting really slapped Karen or not. While they argue, Sting appears on the screen. Sting says that Karen is just as responsible as Kurt is for what happened, and that Kurt crossed the line when he put his hands on Sting's son. He said the "old Sting" will be at Bound For Glory, and he will "take everything" from Kurt Angle. It then appeared that Sting dropped down from the rafters, but it was just a dummy. Sting said he would appear when he wanted to, not when Kurt Angle wanted him to. Robert Roode defeated Petey Williams. After the match, Roode held Petey and wanted Traci to hit him, but she wouldn't. Kazarian came out, and Roode left, leaving Traci in the ring. Roode told Traci to leave the ring, but she hesitated before Roode grabbed her and pulled her out of the ring and made her go to the back. Team Pacman defeated Elix Skipper & Senshi. During the match, the referee prevented Pacman from doing anything physical in the match, since he wasn't tagged in. Skipper had Killings pinned, but Pacman threw money at him, "making it rain". This distraction allowed Killings to get the pin on Skipper. The Steiners come to the ring, and Rick Steiner gets on the mic and says there are a lot of "wannabes" trying to rattle their cage. He said at Bound For Glory, we will see where Team 3D is on the food chain. Scott commented how Team 3D had been bragging about taking the Steiners out, but they are still standing. Scott said they didn't want to wait for Bound For Glory. Scott said Team 3D were "Bingo Hall Backyard Wrestlers" and vowed to make them bleed. Scott said Bound For Glory is special because it is in Atlanta where the Steiner Brothers got started, and after the match they are going to have a party and roast two fat pigs, Team 3D. Amazing Kong defeated Gail Kim. The other members of the women's division came out and watched the match. They did a Peep Show segment with Christian Cage, with the ring decorated like a luau and Tiki Bar. Christian and AJ Styles came out wearing Hawaiian shirts. Christian said that his show was a forum for TNA stars to come out and speak with him. Christian said he would get the answers to all the tough questions. Christian said he had a special theme tonight for his first guest, and that people will think he is crazy for having this person on, since this person wants to kill him. Out came Samoa Joe. Christian said he was going to put his differences with Joe aside for this interview. Christian noted that Bound For Glory will be the third time they meet in a singles match, and that Christian won the prior two meetings. Joe said that he was already bored with Christian's segment, and that the fans were telling him the match strategy, as they were chanting "Joe's Gonna Kill You". Joe said the whole segment was cliché, and that Christian has lost his edge. Joe called him an a******. Christian said he didn't like the way Joe was acting, and that he went through a lot of garage sales to find the decor for the segment. Joe said that Christian's winning streak will end at Bound For Glory, and that Christian will end up in a hospital. Christian said that Joe might be mad at him for what he has done in the past, but he only wants to have a competitive match at Bound For Glory. Christian has AJ Styles pour Joe a drink. Christian said he wanted to toast Joe and said their match will steal the show at Bound For Glory. Joe went after him, but Christian ran out of the ring. Styles his Joe with a ukulele, but it had no effect. Matt Morgan came out and carried Styles away. Christian threw a drink in Joe's face and hit him with a coconut. The segment ends with Christian standing over Joe. Raven & Black Reign defeated Rhino & Abyss in a no-disqualification match. They used weapons and brawled all over the building. Jim Mitchell came out and Abyss was going to chokeslam him into thumbtacks, but Raven stopped him and gave Abyss a DDT into the thumbstacks. Raven went for the cover, but Black Reign broke it up for some reason. Rhino went to check on Abyss, but Abyss didn't realize who it was and hit a Black Hole Slam on Rhino and then Black Reign covered Rhino for the pin. Kurt Angle & Team 3D defeated LAX & Junior Fatu. Matt Morgan was the special enforcer for the match. Early in the match, Brother Ray and Devon blew their noses in the flag. Some masked Latino Nation members ran out, but Morgan made them return to the back. Angle hit Homicide with the Angle Slam for the three count. After the match, Kurt Angle called out Sting, while the members of the Latino Nation checked on LAX at ringside. Sting appeared on the screen and said he would wait for Bound For Glory. Then he said maybe he wouldn't wait, and one of the masked Latino Nation members turned out to be Sting, attacking Angle and putting him in the Scorpion Deathlock. Sting then got on the mic and said this was his ring, and he was saving the rest of Angle for Bound For Glory. They filmed a TNA Today segment, with Kurt Angle chasing off Jeremy Borash and taking over the segment. They taped a match for the Road To Bound For Glory special, with Roxxi Levoux defeating Traci Brooks. Robert Roode was at ringside with Traci, while VKM was with Roxxi. Roode yelled at Traci during the match, and shoved her from the ring apron at one point, costing her the match. Roode then left without Traci. They taped an Xplosion match with Eric Young, Chris Harris, Shark Boy and the Motor City Machineguns defeating James Storm, Jimmy Rave, Lance Hoyt and the Voodoo Kin Mafia. It was a comedy match, with Young pinning Rave with a rollup. From WO: Half of the arena was empty, a far-cry from yesterday when it was SRO. 1. Black Machismo d. Havok in a nontitle match. Pretty much the same as their Xplosion match taped yesterday. Daniels was out watching the match and had a staredown with Lethal afterwards. -Kurt Angle comes out in a football jersey, presumably from Sting's son's high school. Promo was very hard to hear. He called out Sting. Karen Angle shows up and the two argue again. Sting shows up on the big screen, mentions "what Kurt did" at his son's high school and says he's ready to fight. A Sting dummy drops from the ceiling and Angle falls for it. Sting says they will fight tonight on his terms. 2. Bobby Roode d. Petey Williams. More tension with Roode and Traci after the match. Kaz runs in and Roode bails. As Kaz goes for another handkiss, Roode pulls Traci out of the ring. 3. Team Pacman d. XXX (Senshi and Elix Skipper). Pacman threw a football into Senshi's balls and almost landed an elbowdrop until the ref stopped him since he wasn't legal. The finish was Pacman distracting one of XXX by making it rain with a bunch of $1's and Killings scored the pin. Team Pacman threw the money to the crowd.The Steiners come out to congratulate them and then call out Team 3D. 4. Amazing Kong d. Gail Kim. All the other women in the PPV match were ringside. Everyone acted afraid of Kong after the match. -Jeremy Borash tells everyone that if they boo Christian hard enough, some people will be chosen to go backstage. -Christian Cage and AJ Styles came out for a "Peep Show" with the ring made up for a Samoan party or something. Cage's guest was Samoa Joe. They go back and forth about the match at Bound For Glory. Cage proposes a toast, so Styles pours them two glasses of Margarita mix. Joe throws his into Cage's face and they have a brawl, destroying the set. Matt Morgan comes out and carries Styles to the back. Cage grabs a coconut and lays Joe out with it, although it didn't break. 5. Raven & Black Reign d. Rhino & Abyss in a No DQ tag match. They brawled all up and down the side of the building with people. Tables, garbage cans, and thumbtacks. Abyss took a DDT onto thumbtacks and got them all around his eye. Completely ridiculous thing to take when no one will remember it the next week. Reign pinned Rhino. 6. TV Main Event: Kurt Angle & Team 3D d. LAX & Junior Fatu. Another strong TV main event. Morgan was ringside as an enforcer and at one point kicked out a bunch of LAX Nation. Ray and D'Von gave Fatu a ridiculous looking 3D. Angle pins Homicide with the Angle Slam. After the match, LAX Nation comes back out to help LAX to the back, but one of them was Sting disguised and he laid out Angle and put him in a Sharpshooter, which he messed up when first applying. Quick thoughts: The live show's flow isn't bad, but I have no idea how it will translate on TV. No one except maybe Team 3D is getting any actual heel heat from the people in the iMPACT Zone. The dueling chants almost every match is very annoying. TNA could stand to get away from this crowd.

1.1. PWI Outside of people just not caring about ECW, was there something major on other stations that would explain such a terrible number?

Complete Details from TNA Impact taping for the episode that will air on 10/4: *Rhino defeated Black Reign. Raven came to the ring during the match as Rhino was preparing for a gore. Raven pulled Reign down to save him from the gore. Rhino took out Raven and got the pin. Raven got involved after the pin and there were a series of run-ins involving Abyss, Jim Mitchell, Sting and Havok. No Judas Mesias. Sting was left in the ring when TNA champion Kurt Angle appeared on the screen from Sting's son's school and said that if he had a son, he wouldn't miss his football games like Sting is tonight and said he was going to stay there and watch the game, trying to get inside Sting's mind. *Backstage, Team 3D attacked X-Division Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt as they were being interviewed by Jeremy Borash backstage. 3D dragged them into the ring and said they would keep attacking everyone on the roster until they got a title shot against Team Pacman. Shark Boy tried to make the save but was put on a table. The table collapsed. They hit a Dudley Death Drop through a table on Lethal. *Gail Kim defeated Jackie Moore. Christy Hemme and Roxxi attack Kim. *TNA Tag Team champions Team Pacman defeated Team 3D by DQ when VKM attacked Ron Killings. The Steiners come out and 3D leave. *Eric Young wins a Gauntlet, defeating James Storm. *Samoa Joe & Junior Fatu & LAX defeated Christian Cage & AJ Styles & Senshi & Christopher Daniels (with Elix Skipper) when Joe pinned Senshi with a muscle buster in eleven minutes in a good match. No other backstage vignettes aired. Xplosion: *Eric Young defeated Jimmy Rave. *Jay Lethal pinned Havok.

I'd like to get interested in this, and it does seem like something interesting, but the problem is that this deal will end in one of two ways. WWE will either fuck it up out of incompetence, or ego will get in the way and it'll be kept in the midcard while the real stars stay on top. The inevitable aside, if it's Sid, then he'll get the big nostalgia pop on his return and then mean less and less with each passing week. If it's Jericho, then he'll get huge reactions until Hunter decides he wants Jericho to be his bitch again. Shouldn't all he need to pass is a friendly doctor?

I think the main positive, and possibly the only one, is that TNA seems to have resisted the urge to cram four hours of stuff into their debut two hour show, which was a real possibility. Otherwise, it's the usual TNA, with a reliance on overbooking, run-ins and vignette's, which doesn't really make them stand out from WWE, and that's the main thing they needed with their two-hour debut. I think it's definitely a mistake that the first match people will see on a two-hour Impact will feature a bunch of run-ins and overbooking, when the better move would have been to feature a strong match featuring the X-Division Champion and hyping up that this is the type of action you can't see on other wrestling shows. I guess it was more important to make Jay Lethal look like a total goober and make his big win over Kurt Angle mean even less than it already did. Speaking of Angle, he really should have appeared live for this one, even if it were just to cut a promo. At the very least, they should have done something to emphasize their world champion and make him look like he was the best in the world.

Payout information: Keith Jardine ($14,000) def. Chuck Liddell ($500,000) Forrest Griffin ($44,000) def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua ($150,000) Jon Fitch ($44,000) def. Diego Sanchez ($22,000) Lyoto Machida ($50,000) def. Kazuhiro Nakamura ($20,000) Tyson Griffin ($24,000) def. Thiago Tavares ($9,000) Rich Clementi ($24,000) def. Anthony Johnson ($5,000) Jeremy Stephens ($6,000) def. Diego Saraiva ($3,000) Christian Wellisch ($14,000) def. Scott Junk ($4,000) Matt Wiman ($16,000) def. Michihiro Omigawa ($5,000) I don't believe this includes any bonuses for Best Fight, etc, or the PPV bonus that the main event guys usually get.

This is TNA, remember? What's to say, other than it's the usual TNA. At this stage, you know what you're going to get. TNA aren't going to change, even though they need to. We should have a Spot the Logic Hole contest for Impact.

Mesias is a AAA worker first and a TNA worker second. If any company has more of a say over what he does, it's AAA because that's who his primary employer is. And with TNA taping their first two two-hours Impacts this Monday and Tuesday, this couldn't have come at a worst time for them, because they'll be without a guy they're wanting to give a major push to.

Update on Mesias, and it's not looking good, at least in the short term: Three weeks before he can even begin rehab, and even then no telling of when he'll return. I imagine TNA are less than thrilled right now.