Hunter's Torn Quad

G1 Semi-Finals Satoshi Kojima defeated Koji Kanemoto 15 minutes, 41 seconds with a lariat. Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Giant Bernard in 11 minutes, 13 seconds with the Anaconda Vice. G1 Climax Final Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Satoshi Kojima in 27 minutes, 36 seconds with the 'Original TTD' to win the tournament. Tenzan winning makes no sense. With Kojima beating Tanahashi, would it not have made sense to put Kojima over so that Tanahashi could avenge his loss against Kojima and look even stronger when he did so? Why is Tenzan even in the finals? Tanahashi was meant to be this bright light to lead New Japan out of the darkness, and he doesn't even get to the semi's let alone the finals? The booking was terrible and it's hard to continue to care about New Japan when they make such a mess of something that should have been so simple.

Reactions aside, Cena's segments on Raw spike the ratings and even pull in over a million new viewers from time to time. I'd say that means his run at the top is working. Part of the problem is that with regards to wrestling fans tend to put wrestlers in one of two categories with regards to drawing power: Hulk Hogan and Failures. That isn't an accurate way of categorizing it at all. Just because somebody isn't The Rock, doesn't mean he can't draw. You would think that people would have the common sense to realize that you don't have to draw Austin/Rock level numbers to be a success. Those two, and Hogan, drew numbers on a level that very few will ever do, and to label Cena a failiure because he can't draw what they did is absurd.

Or they could put on a PPV and make money from it instead. You mean 40,000 buys will be HUGE? No match in TNA can draw over 50,000, maybe 40 but not 50. TNA is in a unique position where putting their big matches on free tv(with good build up,not like Steiner vs. Christian that only had a one week notice) will help them build up their young stars better. I predict that in two months, BFG will do around 45,000 buys. Really, Samoa Joe beating JJ in a clean,hard fought match in front of millions viewers LIVE on tv would have a bigger impact than putting it on ppv for cheap change. If the rumors is true about TNA getting a live two hour special on Monday in September when WWE Raw is on delay,WHY NOT? They can do the rematch at BFG and get the same amount buys. You mean 40,000 buys will be HUGE? If it's Joe vs. Sting, which I believe it has to be because that match will mean a hell of a lot more than Joe vs. Jarrett, then I think, with the right build, it could do TNA's best buy-rate in a long time. TNA is in a unique position where putting their big matches on free tv(with good build up,not like Steiner vs. Christian that only had a one week notice) will help them build up their young stars better. In theory, putting big matches on TV to build stars is a good idea, but not at the expense of matches that need to be saved for PPV. Joe's big title win is one of those matches. Really, Samoa Joe beating JJ in a clean,hard fought match in front of millions viewers LIVE on tv would have a bigger impact than putting it on ppv for cheap change. Not anytime soon. Right now, TNA is getting a base viewership that doesn't move a whole lot. A big Joe match on TV right now won't mean a whole lot. Down the line it probably would, but not right now. If the rumors is true about TNA getting a live two hour special on Monday in September when WWE Raw is on delay,WHY NOT? They can do the rematch at BFG and get the same amount buys. Doing a big rematch so soon after the initial encounter would not get anywhere close to the buys the very first encounter got. The big buy rate off of a dream match comes from the first time it happens, not the second, because the first time it happens is when it means the most. The second time it happens doesn't mean quite as much as the first time because you've already seen the match in question. Hogan vs. Michaels got around 560,000 buys. If they had done a rematch the next month, guaranteed it wouldn't have got anywhere near that number of buys. Do that rematch now, long after the first match, and it would have a far better chance of getting a strong buy rate than if the rematch was held the next month.

Or they could put on a PPV and make money from it instead.

Tanahashi not making it to the final is a big surprise and I cannot get the logic behind this. Tanahashi was meant to help get New Japan out of the darkness from Lesnar leaving, and they treat him like this? Stuff like that makes it very hard to care about New Japan when they do something so stupid. Kanemoto going the full 30:00 with Nagata is a surprise and an unexpected push for Kanemoto. FINAL POINT STANDINGS A BLOCK - Kojima (7 pts) -- #1 seed - Giant Bernard (5 pts) -- #2 seed - Tanahashi (4 pts) - Liger (2 pts) - Nakanishi (2 pts) B BLOCK - Tenzan (8 pts) -- #1 seed - Kanemoto (5 pts) -- #2 seed - Nagata (4 pts) - Makabe (3 pts) - Yamamoto (0 pts) G-1 SEMI-FINALS - Hiroyoshi Tenzan (B Block #1) vs. Giant Bernard (A Block #2) - Satoshi Kojima (A Block #1) vs. Koji Kanemoto (B Block #2) G-1 Final Tenzan/Bernard vs. Kojima/Kanemoto Unless New Japan loss their mind in this tournament, again, then it'll be Tenzan vs. Kojima in the finals. I think they should put Kojima over so they can build up to Tanahashi avenging his tournament loss, which would begin to make up for Tanahashi not making it to the knockout stage. There must be a record level of disinterest in this years G1.

Reactions aside, Cena's segments on Raw spike the ratings and even pull in over a million new viewers from time to time. I'd say that means his run at the top is working.

Vince wanted Sid specifically to face Hogan in the main event at WM VIII. Justice had a very good deal with WCW lined up when Vince called him up, and Vince promised Sid the WM VIII main event against Hogan to get him to jump.

I think it's more than a little unfair to use WM 19 as a piece of evidence against Lesnar's ability to draw. Lesnar might have been in the official main event, but the most pushed matches of that WM were Hogan vs. Vince and Austin vs. Rock. If Lesnar vs. Angle had gotten a real WM main event style push, then you could use it as evidence against his drawing ability.

Shawn getting $1.5M a year is going to do wonders for morale.

The spot Hogan gets heat for took place the month before at the Clash. Hogan took Vader's powerbomb and popped right back up. The only problem was Hogan had agreed beforehand to sell the move and his popping up was unplanned, except by Hogan. Vader kicking out of the legdrop during the Superbrawl match was fine because it was agreed upon by all beforehand. Hogan popping right back up from the powerbomb was not. That is why Hogan got heat for it, and it was heat he deserved.

I know it seems impossible to believe today, but back then Vince really did plan that far ahead. And more than just the WM V main event was planned in advance. Vince had Warrior eyed up to take the belt from Hogan at WM VI before Hogan had even won the belt from Savage.

The Eddie Memorial Raw. And Cena pinned Orton clean in the first SNME back in March.

Jeff Hardy is seen to not care about wrestling. If wrestling fans think a wrestler doesn't care (see; Lesnar, Brock or Goldberg, Bill), then that person usually becomes the focus of insane and inane hatred, regardless of whether they are any good or could be used to make a boatload of money. Not to say Jeff is either any good or could make a boatload of money, but if fans thought he cared about wrestling there would not be this insane hatred of the guy. That said, he really shouldn't be brought back if he truly hasn't cleaned up.

For sure it won't have the same zing it could have given they've wrestled each other a few times and Cena even pinned Orton clean in one of the matches, but I think it could, given the right build up, be their best prospect for a big money match that doesn't involve bringing back Austin, Rock, Hogan or Lesnar.

I know WWE would love Cena vs. Orton, as that is their big future money match. Failing that, I can see them resorting to Cena vs. Batista, which would have the atmosphere but would suck donkey balls for quality.

Flair, Arn, Tully and Ole. The first (sort of) and the best incarnation. Tully and Ole, but more Ole, get overlooked by a lot of people. Tully gets overlooked as far as his promo ability goes because if Arn Anderson being in there, but Tully was just as good as Arn on the mic. Ole Anderson falls into the same trap; a lot of people just do not realise how great Ole is on the mic. It's understandable with Flair and Arn there, but it still sucks that Ole never seems to get the recognition he deserves. Of course, both Tully and Ole were very good in the ring as well. Mongo was the drizzling shits and was the worst 'Horsemen' ever, with Paul Roma coming a close second. Roma was a million times the worker Mongo was, though that isn't saying much, but he had less than zero credibility, and his inclusion sullied the Horseman name almost as much as Mongo's inclusion did.

POINT STANDINGS Tenzan won as expected, Kanemoto and Nakanishi's wins were only mild surprises, but Kojima beating Tanahashi is a big surprise in that you would have expected New Japan to keep Tanahashi strong seeing as he is meant to be helping New Japan springboard out of a dark period. A BLOCK - Kojima (5 pts) - Tanahashi (4 pts) - Bernard (3 pts) - Nakanishi (2 pts) - Liger (2 pts) B BLOCK - Tenzan (6 pts) - Kanemoto (4 pts) - Nagata (3 pts) - Makabe (3 pts) - Yamamoto (0 pts) The next matches are: I think Bernard will beat Liger, Tenzan will beat Kanemoto, Tenzan will beat Makabe and most likely Kojima will beat Nakanishi.

That explains why the crowds are so electric for the D-X skits and Diva Search, and all the dead heat during matches like Benjamin-Michaels on Raw last year, and Taker-Angle on Smackdown this year. Wrestling fans want wrestling, no matter what Russo, Stephanie, or the failed sitcom writers want us to believe. When was the last time WWE scored a 6 or 7 in ratings with just "wrestling" Like it or NOT....Russo's concept is what brought the bucks in and the record ratings. People want action/crazy storylines/interesting characters. They don't want a 20 MINUTE match on TV filled with rest holds. The minute a rest hold is put on or the match goes on more than 5 minutes....the remote is clicked to another channel. The biggest ratings might have been scored with Russo's crap, but the company's biggest year financially was 2000-2001, when the wrestling was probably at the best level it's ever been for the company.

Sid kicked out of the legdrop because Papa Shango missed his cue to get to the ring. Sid only kicked out because he was meant to be DQ'd and not pinned and he really had no choice but to kick out. Sid was kept around for a while after WM VIII, even though he failed a steroid test just before the event. He wound up walking out not long after during a house show run against Warrior as he was unhappy over, not only Warrior winning so quickly, but also Warrior kicking out of his powerbomb.

Nakanishi losing to Liger isn't a surprise when you consider he was the one to put over Kanemoto two years ago in the G1. Bernard winning isn't a major surprise as it did seem likely that Tanahashi would have at least one loss in order to set up a future title match. The double count-out finish for Nagata vs. Makabe is disappointing, as it would have been better, and gone over better, if it had gone the full 30:00. POINT STANDINGS A BLOCK - Tanahashi (4 pts) - Bernard (3 pts) - Kojima (3 pts) - Liger (2 pts) - Nakanishi (0 pts) B BLOCK - Tenzan (4 pts) - Makabe (3 pts) - Nagata (3 pts) - Kanemoto (2 pts) - Yamamoto (0 pts) The next matches are: I think Tanahashi vs. Kojima might go to a draw or we'll see Tanahashi win. Bernard seems likely to beat Nakanishi, Tenzan is sure to beat Yamamoto while Makabe vs. Kanemoto could go either way.

The two main bits on TNA from this weeks Observer are that Sen Shi is a lot closer to signing his deal, and the heat with Monty Brown continues. It's due both to his not signing a new deal and also that they want him to change his promo style to being more serious and less goofy but he still goes out and does them goofy anyway.

Austin is never coming back full time. His neck is screwed up so much that he might have one match, maybe two, left, but that is it.

Triple H lost to Umaga but Umaga was not put over at all. Umaga would have lost if not for Vince pulling the referee out and he only hit his big move when Triple H was distracted. Hunter did the job, but there is a big difference between doing a job for someone and putting them over.