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I think it's definitely on the list of "turns no one cares about." I wouldnt call it earth shattering. i think there's one side of creative that relies too heavily on heel turns and makes it important and another that see it as inconsequential and one of those "throw it up there and see what sticks" scenarios. I dont see anything involving Eugene as long term like Goldberg or Austin, but more "this guy's not injured so we'll give him something to do," on the level of the Haas/Viscera storyline that everyone loved so much. You dont really see long term planning in things like character development with a losing streak and things coming to a head. You could look back and say there was some thought into it, but you could also see they could have put another match in that segment and forgotten about it the next week and never visit it again.

Sting should have worked out a Montreal double cross swerve with Abyss and the ref to find a way to get himself pinned instead of that lame-o Russo finish. You know a company's in the toilet when a big star who some would argue is/was overpushed and overpaid says "let me lose clean to help the company and they reply "No you must lose by STUPID DQ" Is that another master plan to become big: we'll force our top guys to refuse to lay down for others and we want them to be selfish and protect their spots? that's a great idea. I was never a huge fan of using Sting so much in the first place but once the deal was done i was hoping it would be for longterm growth and i was also looking forward to a little break from Jarrett in the top spot for a while. It's not even the new year yet and alot of the longterm planning theyre known for seems to be out the window. It pains me even more that they have someone willing to work with and put over other talent no questions asked and they still screw it up.

The Borash thing is weird because its one of those news items that has nothing to do with the product, will not affect anything at all in the least, but it's reported on because it shows that companies make weird decisions that dont address any of the big problems. He was one of those Russo lackeys that did whatever the company told him to, he just wanted to contribute, even back when wcw was dying. The only thing that struck me as noteworthy is wwe would see him as goodlooking and talented and try to replace Lawler with him. Every company has to have their token broadcasting guy that everyone hates but the company thinks they love: Cole, Grisham, Justin Roberts (who?) even the Miz for god sakes A problem they DO need to address which is the case since the beginning: Tenay and West are trying to do the exact same thing which isnt working. People who dont know the backstory about Tenay really dont like him for his look and his yelling. He's stated what he likes about his job is he gets to say exactly what he wants. That's his only selling point is that he knows alot of stuff so why doesnt he just say it and leave it at that. They dont need to outyell each other. I loved West when he didnt know what he was talking about but he'd go crazy. Now that he knows the product and understands the business he does a better job with the schilling. He doesnt need Tenay to do the same. Tenay should never have to raise his voice ever. Interesting point is West was actually hired by Russo for some strange reason which I actually give him credit for, just for trying something different. He would be an interesting test case as he knew nothing about wrestling they just threw him into it and I'm convinced he understands it better than Russo now. Being a new fan in the past he could plainly see what was going on, trying to find logic and sense, and he knows now to say 'this shit dont make no sense.' When Russo has a parting of ways (hopefully) I can TOTALLY hear him and all Russo apologists saying, even years from now," he's responsible for the biggest tna ppv buyrates in history, why dont u people leave him alone and give another 6 figure contract." This will become fact over time so i want to put it on record now that i disagree.

Isnt Serotonin the chemical that helps you fall asleep? That sounds more suited for the James Gang

He mentioned something about the title being dead when they're put on the show in the midcard. Well it hasnt happened yet but I think it looks bad if Show as the champ has decimated them so much he has to feud with someone from Raw and still lose. Another thing is all the rosters are pretty thin but ECW being one hour makes them lesser in value and they actually have so little guys they dont look like they could have a 2 hour show, let alone a 3 hour ppv. When the show was first announced they went on a spending spree for talent and ended up jobbing out 80% of the roster. They technically dont even have a midcard because it's just the main eventers and a dozen jobbers.

TNA thinks it has the wrestling war won. They've got LAME-o James gang acting like it's 1999 and now theyve got the wrestling audience from 2004 locked up (what a horrible year 2004 was) or as I like to call it the Era of TOMKO. they've already got Roode as their version of MVP All they need now is LUTHER REIGNS, and Vince will personally call them to concede defeat, lol.

I wonder if someone mentions to Vince Monday afternoon on his lunch break trying to book the greatness that is Raw that theres another ppv in 5 days with only one match announced and he panics and just throws all the other rosters in to 'save' the ppv.

Wouldnt it have been a better choice to have Angle face smaller opponents at first and build up the the Joe match? They could have extended the Joe streak another 6 months. Now he seems like just another guy, and who on the roster can they build another match with Angle that will be hyped just as much if not more? There are still matchups I'd like to see as a fan but none, aside from guys that Jarrett's already beaten, that wouldnt seem like a step down from Joe.

I think it's a pretty good gimmick, as I've seen Sabin wrestle for the past 4 years and everytime I see him I forget what he looks like. A large majority of unknowns could benefit with some Peanuts character development.

I thought Vince doesn't do 'dildos,' just like he doesnt do murder/rape.

most of this we saw last week. what's the deal with Regal beating up the tag champs all the time? whose idea was this Kane/MVP feud? it just came out of nowhere. Maybe MVP was the fake kane Odd that Raw got the big Survivor Series push and this got none of that. They need to freshen up the world title scene. Booker's ok with the comedy but he needs to beat some of the younger babyfaces clean more often.

was this show actually live? cant tell between that and the taped ones Lashley first used the dominator when he debuted. Michael Cole's commentary: Lashley with a dominator-like maneuver!! Hardys match was good, but there was no storyline reason for it, as neither are on the show and they didnt play up the SS teams like they did last night. I dont even think they advertise ECW on Raw much aside from the generic ad they aired before the debut about a new breed. (whatever happened to more vampires and going into other dimensions? thats why ratings are so low) Sabu highlight clip after he gets squashed by Umaga. Come on. love the BigSHow comment about Nassau being 5 years behind (because of the what? chants) when wwe is actually 10 years behind. I dont get why hes doing the mic work himself and Heyman just stands there. Whats the point? The EC montage looks like it has way too many pedigrees and superkicks in there. Definitely loud TNA chants in the last few minutes of the show. The crowd was totally dead for RVD's comeback and started coming around before the TNA chants. Man, they must have been worn out from that MVP/Kane cage match, lol.

Surprised they didnt have these guys wrestle 3 times in one night.

It's amazing that there's so much common sense in that article and it's pretty much what any fan would say and agree with. So nobody's gonna listen. ECW's been pretty consistent since the first month, they just lost a lot of steam because its not a big deal anymore, they really did morph into a heat or velocity type show. if they would move the cruiserweights there i think theyd be used better. but i think that's part of the problem: anything more wrestling-oriented is a B-show like smackdown, because anything where wrestling is the focus becomes that way, not by intention, but because vince ignores it. you could argue they depushed rvd and sabu, and with angle gone, they werent getting a major push from the other shows or ppvs. there was nothing done to replenish the ranks or move anyone up the card. so having less ppvs and tv time puts them at the bottom of the barrel from the start. Another thing is: what is the point of this show? it started off as an idea for an internet show but it was pushed more when Vince saw potential for money, but where is that money? 2 ppvs a year but besides that there are no more house shows. Plus they throw them on to tapings of the OTHER shows so no one is really PAYING for the ecw name. so where's all the potential money? Did they bring back the company to sell a couple hundred tshirts? i wish it was covered in this forum but there was a couple of observers a while back about some things Kevin Dunn said (that were totally stupid of course) about ecw not drawing fans because its not enough like wwe or fans dont know its a wwe show. (yeah it's just a coincidence this totally separate show just happens to love the Marine so much they air those stupid commercials just like the other shows.) Storm hit the nail on the head when they try to bring in old and new fans and are doing the opposite (which can be said for any decision theyve made in the last 5 years) If Dunn and any other idiots think the problem is not being similar to wwe instead of trying to be different then how come all the shows where they had Taker, Kane, Khalli, Batista, DX, and Cena didnt get double the ratings? Who are these weirdos that watch no matter what and why cant they get more weirdos to watch? I think we're screwed either way. it's not like the other shows where you can complain and stop watching. Low ratings and attendance will just put the blame on the talent and Heyman, when the reality is all the wwe-style elements are what is turning off fans. And if they go even more in that direction that ecw wont be recognizeable from the other shows and the ratings still suck they'll blame the fans and say theyre stupid for not wanting the ecw thy're giving them. The only guarantee is Vince wont take the blame for anything.

the mvp gimmick wouldve been okay for him, considering how little you'd have to offer a tna guy to sign. and wwe just loves those insider gimmicks. that's why Rico and Simon Dean were/was so successful. as i usually state on moving talent, put him ecw or smackdown, where you dont get buried that much because the shows avoid Vince's radar.

Angle actually sold too much for Abyss, even more than Joe did. But the show ended with 2 fat guys beating him up, so days before the ppv the title challenger looks weak, Joe looks like a generic heel who wouldnt normally team with anyone to beat someone up, and Angle is Just Another Guy. and Abyss is used too much as this tough guy cause hes the biggest guy in the company so its no problem to build him up strong but no one thinks of him as a champ. And he doesnt need it, so its not a big ppv draw anyway. I blame that for the fact they called Christian's title run a failure cause even though the buildup was good it was still a formulaic title defense for babyface champ Chris Gen. I still dont know how anyone would think it would be good to give it back to Jarrett but thats for another time. They could do almost as well as last month's ppv if they made it Sting/Christian instead, but neither guy would should lose, so Abyss is the fall guy again, which makes it likely another non-finish for Angle/Joe. And I found it hilarious the end montage where they showed all the big stars that were in tna but they would put their NAME on the bottom so you would know who they were (e.g. MACHO MAN, URLACHER) but in between they would put the guys most people who never watched wouldnt know (like Jay Lethal), but DIDNT put their names, so any potential new viewers still wouldnt know who they were. Genius

It's obvious Russo spent much of his writing career thinking about clever abbreviations, which is why Big Show and Misfits in Action generated so much money over the years. Russo draws money. And I find it hilarious that everyone screams at wwe to wake up, that it's not 1997 and TNA joins in on the fun, telling them it's 1999 They need a new stable to fill in the words for L.A.M.E.

I dont think Vince even watches Smackdown anymore, even though he's supposedly at all the shows. Im just glad he lets the B show have actual wrestling, as when both shows were bad when they first split 4 years ago, it was atrociously bad. I figured if Smackdown was considered a ratings success or at least stayed the same, Vince would either: make Smackdown worse, make Raw worse, or both. The benefit of him not caring about SD much is that he wont mess with it. Raw is doing a good job of sucking, so it'd be interesting if the ratings gap would become huge between the shows, and he'd have to concede that his Russo-like style isnt right for wrestling anymore. The Rey world title push was one of the worst in history next to the Benoit push, and now I find out the original plan was for him to have been buried even worse. No wonder he never said no to all the past horrible booking ideas, look at how worse it coulve been. I pretty much led a Smackdown boycott in '04-'05 when he was pushed as the main guy. I was happy when they moved him down to 'feud with Boogeyman' status. Now it seems they wanted to push him even longer than they did. If his back didnt get messed up I couldnt watch either show. I like him as an announcer but as the top wrestler that just screamed 'B Show' to me. Also, as an announcer he puts over SD as the A show, where Batista does the opposite. Everyone on that roster knows it's the B show, but they know it's better even though theyre ignored. But Batista knows it's getting ignored but actually believes Raw is a better show and wishes he were still there. I'm sure he'd do GREAT if he was still there. They'd push him just a cut above Eugene as a babyface, cause there's no way they'd let a guy that actually gets majorly loud cheers get pushed as much as Cena does. Hope Lashley does go to ECW. I wouldnt worry about a title push. They just need more talent over there. There was a time many years ago when Federline would be too low a celeb to be associated with wrestling but now theyre at the same level. WCW would shell out for big names as well as nobodies. Just the fact that WWE pays Federline is pretty much desperation level. The only positive is you genuinely want to hate this guy. And they desperately need guys that people boo more than Cena. I wouldnt say a run as a heel would be as bad as the Austin one, because it makes sense to turn someone who's getting loud boos. Austin couldnt help getting cheered so that naturally made a heel run a disaster for him as well as for anyone booked as a babyface against him. Cena does a better job on the mic, since he gets loud screams and cheers and the rest of the crowd doesnt pay attention. His wrestling is what gets him the jeers with his Warrior-like moveset. Outside of Kfed, Nitro and Edge are the only guys that get in there and get more boos than Cena does. Although there were many occasions when everyone in the match is getting booed. And I wouldnt say Edge did a better job in getting Cena over than Jericho, Angle, etc.; I think it's the fact that Edge was lower on the card before the Cena feud, and the others were already maineventers with Cena as the new guy, so the fans naturally took to cheering the other wrestlers. Only Vince would think the divorce news is a positive. Any idiot sees that as the beginning of the end of publicity coverage for Federline. Maybe only half of fans care or remember about the match. Is the buzz all through Thanksgiving and Xmas gonna be "Cena/Kfed I cant wait!" I dont think so. People had more interest in that fake Kane storyline. A month from now. you'll be lucky to get a small blurb about 'this guy is canceling concerts so he's resorting to wrestling to make ends meet.'

I dont mind the ego thing as it wouldntve worked if he said: "Hi im old and washed up and work for a new company called TNA, it's a play on words, and its a bunch of old and washed up guys and guys you've never heard of." The whole credibility thing isnt relevant since everyone lies in wrestling anyway. The stuff he said about his last years with the company makes sense and he was speaking pretty truthfully about it. I knew someone was gonna ask about angles he didnt like and I knew he was gonna mention Sharmell and that beastiality crap. Hilarious. Is Vince the one that was on painkillers? I have to know who the ELITE EIGHT are that also failed the drug tests.

We're luck Cyber Sunday was just last month and not several months ago, or they would be able to see the low buyrate and nix the whole interbrand matchups and blame Smackdown and Ecw for not drawing. I dont even know why Im excited about these matches and I didnt give a crap about the champion of champions ME last month. I'm programmed to only care about the big star world champions right? A wildcard or jobber Survivor match would be cool, but I think anymore would kill the crowd if they spread out the undercard too thinly. Benoit/Guerrero sounds heatless. They couldve teased that more by adding them to the Dx match or insert them and take out Hardy and Helms. Cena and MVP in the same ring... who says dream matches dont exist anymore?

I'd rather have them wait for Rey to come back, win from Booker and then feud with Batista. Booker's got a big stripe on his back that says TRANSITIONAL CHAMP just like the one Edge had. He needs to have a meaningful feud with someone and I dont think he cares about having good matches with Batista. Theyre better off having Finlay on ppv but I dont think they see him as a competition or a draw so the whole feud is only playing out on tv. Whatever happened to the rumor of Lashley requesting a move to ECW? Did he get his wish?

Punk should ask permission from Triple H if he could do a Pepsi Plunge in the match. Nah. better not

I think they wanted a 3 brand show, maybe theyll try even more but I doubt it, and they wanted the champs for other matches. So this is a secondary matchup and the secondary feuds on the other shows are so below the radar compared to Raw. Theyll probably due a skit where DX didnt even know Helms still worked there. I thought that pic was a photoshop joke someone made, I didnt know it was real. It looks a standard tag match with the others as lumberjacks. Even with Hogan and Warrior as captains they never had pictures that big. HELMS and NITRO are the only champs in this match I was cringing thinking they were gonna do DX vs Rated RKO (stupid name) and McMahons. They may have Punk look strong going in to the ECW ppv (for like 30 seconds) Theyll have Matt eliminated in the first 5 minutes. Here is YOUR SOLE SURVIVOR: mike knox.

i thoroughly enjoyed those kurt angle commercials

IRS and Steamboat in the same ring. what a great show.