Hunter's Torn Quad

From the latest Observer: The booking team is Russo, Mantel and Jarrett, with Jarrett steering things and Russo and Mantel pitching ideas. The TV is written by Russo, with Mantel helping. The idea of Russo merely being a 'consultant' has turned into a joke, with Mantel calling Russo "consultant" as a rib. Bryan Alvarez pointed out on one of his radio shows that if it looks Southern then Jarrett probably booked it, if it looks like something that would happen in Puerto Rico then Mantel probably booked it (a lot, but not all, of the Abyss storyline Mantel did with Abyss in Puerto Rico), and if it makes no sense at all, then Russo probably booked it.

*John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels for WWE title I see this getting 35 minutes, including the match, with the actual match itself going around 25 minutes. It'll be really good to great, and I think anything less than **** will be considered a disappointment. It will likely be gimmick free for the most part, and Cena is good enough that in those types of matches he can be carried to the level of who his opponent is, and with Shawn Michaels as his opponent it'll mean the match should easily be really good, but like I said, anything less than a really great **** match will be considered disappointing. I'll say Cena retains clean with the FU. *Batista vs. Undertaker for World title This will need a ton of gimmicks, because Batista is terrible. It's laid out to be a "powerhouse brawl", which should hopefully play to Batista's only strength and that's his power moves. Because of the nature of the match, and that Batista is involved, it should not go more than 15 minutes, because anything longer than that runs the risk of exposing just how bad Batista really is and that Undertaker is carrying him. Anything other than Undertaker going over clean would be insane. Though, I expect Batista to be kept strong, not least because these two seem to be headlining the Smackdown post-WM house shows, so I can see him kicking out of the first tombstone before going down to the second. *Bobby Lashley w/Donald Trump vs. Umaga w/Vince McMahon losing second gets his head shaved by referee Steve Austin Is there anybody who seriously thinks Trump is getting shaved? Umaga is losing, Vince will try to get out of having his head shaved, eat a stunner for his troubles, and get shaved bald, with much comedy and greatness from the ensuing Vince expressions. *Money in the Bank ladder match: C.M. Punk, Edge, Randy Orton, King Booker, Fit Finlay, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy Mr Kennedy appears to be the favorite to win, and I'll pick him too, though Edge might also have a chance. Of the other six, The Hardy's, Booker, Punk and Finlay aren't winning for different reasons, most of which you can work out yourselves, and Orton might have had a slight chance, but I think the SI piece might have done enough to put those to rest. *Chris Benoit vs. MVP for U.S. title If Benoit is moving to Raw, then MVP wins. If not, then I expect MVP to win anyway, but it could go either way. *Great Khali vs. Kane -*** *Melina vs. Ashley for women's title -**** *Tommy Dreamer & Sandman & Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Elijah Burke & Marcus Cor Von & Kevin Thorn & Matt Striker It should be a fine match, nothing that good or bad, and it'll likely end with Burke getting the win for the New Breed. As for which Original drops the fall, you can make a case for any of them doing the job, so it's even money on which one does it.

I think that was the plan until the rasslin' fans turned on her. Hemme was intended to be the heel. The idea behind Hemme being the heel is that she represents the women who the wrestling fans can't get and so the fans are supposed to hate her because of that. The storyline is one of Russo's, so if it doesn't make sense, now you know why.

Almost any wrestler with name value, however small, will get a reaction when they return after a long break, especially when put in the babyface position of making the save. The real test is when Jarrett isn't new and isn't in set up spots to get the big pop.

The reason it's a knock is because Vince is trying to recapture the late '80s/late '90s (the eras of Hulk/Austin-Rock) on Cena's back. It's a stupid knock. Big deal that Cena isn't a Austin/Rock/Hogan level draw. Almost nobody will get to that level again. Cena is a big enough draw that he makes WWE a ton of money, and makes himself a ton of money.

Why do people use the fact that Cena isn't a Austin/Rock/Hogan draw as a knock against him? You're comparing Cena to a level of popularity that you rarely see, and will be lucky to see anytime in the next fifty years.

Where did this news come from? I saw it myself, but don't recall it coming from anywhere of merit.

I'm stunned that anyone would still have faith in TNA to do anything approaching the right thing for business. I fully expect Jarrett to be the babyface to finally dethrone Christian. He might not get on the first try, because he'll went to keep the program going for as long as possible, but come the blowoff Jarrett will hit the Stroke and get his toy back.

New Japan and NOAH have weekly TV shows featuring matches from the most recent tour. New Japan occasionally do have PPV's while NOAH will sometimes show their bigger cards live, but neither happens very often. I think All Japan has a monthly TV show rather than a weekly one. DDT is very much a sports entertainment style promotion; they once had a ladder as Hardcore champion (seriously). You won't get a lot of great wrestling with DDT, but you will get tons of goofy entertainment. Steroid usage in Japan isn't is prevalent as it is in the US, but it does happen. I think it's mainly down to Japanese fans being into an athletic look rather than being into physiques; as long as the wrestler looks like an athlete, they don't mind if he doesn't look like a bodybuilder. The main drugs of choice in Japan are painkillers and alcohol; a number of the bigger Japanese names are notorious drinkers. It's all down to the physical style and blocking out the pain. PuroresuDVDSource are usually good to go with. PuroresuDVDSource

It doesn't matter who the source was for the story, it's still an insane mindset to have towards criticism.

From this week's Observer, about TNA's reaction to what the fans had to say about Against All Odds: So, if you didn't like AAO, then you're on WWE's payroll. Which means at least a few people here need to see if their paycheck has arrived this week.

The Electrified Cage match was announced at the tapings to be taking place at Lockdown.

They wanted to build towards the title change taking place at Wrestlemania X. And it might have, had Lex not bombed royally.

Meltzer

Not buying the PPV's, I can tell you that.

To shed some light, the recent Observer said that the TNA booking team were apparently upset with Joe's remarks at an ROH show about tripping over some bad booking, so his job to Tomko and getting laid out three times were their revenge. It was also hinted that he might not now get the NWA Title either.

Joe losing makes his loss to Tomko even more stupid than it already was. Remember when Joe was special?

Btw, Joe might not be getting the NWA Title, so be prepared for a crowd revolt.

TNA's most devoted fans want Russo gone. I can't wait to hear how that gets spun.

Wrestlemag

Don't forget to mention they gave away Christopher Daniels return with no build.

With each passing month, the traffic in the TNA PPV threads falls to even lower levels. You usually get someone giving semi-ongoing commentary of the PPV's, but even that isn't happening for what is likely to be a PPV that'll get in the range of 20,000 buys. Why aren't the people who speak so highly of Impact in here talking about the PPV? Surely such compelling TV should have made them want to put down the money for this PPV?

What Raw have you been watching? You must have some strange definition of the word "caring", because the people haven't come close to not caring about Cena.