Dangerous A

If the show is slated for 8-9 as rumored, it won't run into those shows because they start at 9. (not sure about Scrubs, but sure about Earl and Office)

If you looked up the term "cold and detatched", you'd find a picture of the McMahon Family.

Boo fucking hoo. That's the sentiment. If people are really upset with Eddie exploitation, why don't they step up and say something or do something about it? If it means that much to you, why don't you ask for a release? Or step up to the McMahon family and say enough is enough, you need to knock it off. Guess it's easier to just clam up, bitch under your breath, and collect that check? Yes, I know Vince and Co. hold a lot of the guys livelihoods up and if they speak up, they'll be buried or whatever, but c'mon. Nut up.

This has got to be the dumbest thing I've read on the internet in about a year or so. Just, wow. Unbelievable.

According to Meltzer, TNA is $25 mil in the hole right now.

Where did you hear that? I know when they started on Spike, they were estimated anywhere from $20-25 Million in debt. Perhaps the DVD and Video game deals have brought in some money? Still, I'd like to know where they are operating in the red at.

I think they booked Rey to win the Rumble to exploit Eddie some more and did it with no intention of putting Rey in the ME of Mania. Vince and Co. still have Eddie on the brain and since his death was on their watch, the company tries to babyface themselves by constantly acknowledging Eddie with the thinking that they are remembering Eddie and memorializing him when all they're doing is exploiting him. Rey is a great character who doesn't need to harp on Eddie's memory, but there is the 'E' there to capitalize on the man's death. The story of the smallest superstar chasing after a dream is lost because Vince wants exploitation. WM looks very weak and I can't believe they cut the legs off a Rumble winner like they did. Too bad Rey isn't a foot taller, eh?

I totally agree, Carnival. TNA needs baby steps here. Gotta crawl before you can walk. I'm just hoping that the booking puts guys like Sting in position to draw not just ratings, but money from more ppv buys because TNA is still running in the red and needs to show some growth before the Carters pull the plug.

Bobo is on to it. Even if TNA were to get a 3.0 rating, they still get zero ad revenue dollars. They have more eyeballs watching the tv, which is good. However, are they convincing any more of those eyeballs to order a ppv, which is one of the major revenue streams for TNA.

From what I read, Bentley and Shelley were putting together their match and Shelley suggested some stuff that Bentley wasn't down with, words got exchanged, things got heated, and both had to be separated. Seems Bentley has some Hickenbottom in him.

If they hire Christy Hemme for anything more than $25,000 a year, they're smoking rock.

I predict Kurt Angle will be out of action by the midpoint of the year and won't be coming back until 2007 or he'll be forced to retire. He's just in too bad a shape.

Actually, I like Bruce Mitchell but that's about it from the Torch staff.

Update on tickets for the TNA house show from the Observer site....

From what I gather of the HHH/HBK-CM Punk stuff... Punk was doing a dark match before Raw. He got little to no reaction. He also worked and did stuff that he usually does on Indies and ROH. When he got to the back HBK, HHH, and Michael Hayes told him that he wasn't working and that his match looked like he was imitating a wrestling match instead of just having a wrestling match. The thing is, no one knows how they approached Punk. Tone means everything. Perhaps they came to him in more of an advisory/give you a tip for the future tone. Maybe they brow beat him to knock him down a peg since Punk did have a rep as an internet darling. Recently, it's come out that Stephanie has nicknamed him "King of the Indies" and while I don't know the tone she calls him that in, I'm banking this is more insulting than complimentary. HHH and HBK are probrably not wrong in their assessment. Punk doesn't have much of any experience playing in front of a crowd of more than 1,000 people much less 5-8,000 people at a live Raw show. However, Punk wasn't going to get much of a reaction anyway because 95% of their audience has never heard of CM Punk and aren't going to give him much of a chance coming out cold with no intro or background. I've been to a ton of shows and opening match who haven't been on tv have the shittiest job in wrestling because they get the brunt of the "Boring" chants and that is mostly because no one knows who they are, so why invest any of your time in them? That said, his style isn't going to be very applicable in WWE land. Just simple fact. He has to narrow down his moveset to ones that he can execute crisply just about everytime. In ROH/Indie land, he has carte blanche to do whatever he wants in the ring. HHH and HBK probrably took this chance to both educate Punk that this isn't going to fly here and at the same time humble him since he did have a bit of a rep coming in.

I wonder if Wally and Co. will be available tonight versus The Kings and the debut of Ron Artest?

It's called nipping a problem in the bud before it even starts. I'm not even sure it's a conscious effort on HHH or HBK. It may just be an instinctive defense mechanism.

A five star match?

Threat to their spot, threat to get over without the WWE machine push, you know, a threat.

Why is it stupid to think HHH would become a good father? Just because he held talent back in his career in wrestling, he wouldn't care about the beginning of starting up his own family?

Angle is a face now. They have booked him that way since the switch back to SD. Further proof bob is onto something in regards to WWE not knowing exactly what it's going to do. Also, the Observer and Torch have said since the injury to Batista, Vince and WWE Creative have blown up their original Mania plans and are going in a different direction, hence Angle-sudden babyface.

I'm not saying Edge is a great champion. He's only just been in this new spot for a few weeks. I'm saying Edge is a fresh face on top who is over and it may have some legs if they keep with the momentum. I'd like to think WWE would see that one of the reasons the Rumble is a successful draw is because it directly effects WM, which is two months out. Perhaps if they'd take a look outside their box that long term booking and planning and giving fans something to look forward to down the line is better for business long term versus hotshotting things, which is good short term, but can burn fans out in the long run.

It's PWInsider. Take this with a boulder of salt.

Edge is the fresh face on top. This is Edge's first brush with the title and I think that coupled with the fact that he is a good heel (I still think he needs more work on the mic) and the Rumble build up, Raw is experiencing the upswing that it is. Kane is going to start getting a push here soon because of his movie coming out in May. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see him main event Backlash. I think they'll tease dissention among Kane and Show at the Rumble. They'll lose the tag belts, then they'll face off at WM, where Kane will get the win. Edge vs Show would work as a TV program, but I don't think it'll work as a ppv draw. The Edge dynamic is really intriguing because Edge is a heel. Cena is hated by over half the audience and HHH is a heel who has no desire to turn face. HHH is preparing to become a father though (expecting in July) and he may scale back his role to focus on being a daddy. (which is a good thing)

I'm not sure if you are a Raptors fan bob, but I'll just tell everyone that if Chris Bosh doesn't re-up with the Raptors, it'll set them back another 5 years.