Corkscrew_Senton

That last part is just stupid, the WWE belt is bigger. The AWA belt was gigantic, much larger than the WWF belt in comparison during the late 1980s. It's true that it made no ratings impact, but that might be because TNA does a terrible job advertising itself. The appearances on ESPN and Sports Illustrated were the first most people heard of TNA, but TNA itself did next to nothing to capitalize on that. As for agitating TNA marks, I can't really comment on that. I'm a TNA fan, dunno about mark. It didn't bother me. It was a relatively short match and it didn't steal time away from more important angles. With that all said, yes, Impact as show of the year is surprising. I in general can't stand WWE but thought Smackdown was by and large better.

Have you seen Corino lately? He's got a rather large gut and his work in the ring isn't anywhere near what it was in 2000 ECW.

CMLL is stuck in a rut. The top-to-bottom wrestling is better than AAA's but the scene is stagnant. The luchadores who are over have basically been in the same spot since 2005 (Wagner, Mistico, Los Perros) and the new stuff CMLL has tried has bombed. There's Elektro who got shitcanned, Bronco who got REALLY shitcanned, and even Rey Bucanero's tecnico turn didn't pan out because he's just not the same without Ultimo.

I'm surprised the baseball stuff got considering for worst promotional decision. That got TNA some positive mainstream attention.

The Cibernetico/Muerte casket match was a way to get Banderas out of Mexico for awhile so he could work IWA in Puerto Rico. I'd like to see him in TNA with LAX but I don't know if that MTV promotion would allow it. As for Cibernetico, it's interesting seeing someone call him stale. He's actually so hot that the original plan was for the Hell Brothers to be rudos, but he and Chessman were so over they had to scrap that and make them tecnicos. In '07 they'll likely be joining up with the Octagon/La Parka side to feud with TNA invaders.

HAHAHA. Flair doesn't really get the difference between on-screen characters and off-screen actions, does he? Having interviewed him for a feature I was writing a couple years ago, I can say with great confidence that you're damn right. The man is just always ON. It's uncanny. I talked with a couple other prominent figures that day, and you could tell they're very different people from what they portray on TV. Flair? Hell no. He lives the gimmick. He came strutting through the doors, hair fixed up, toothpick in his mouth, custom suit on and I felt like he was cutting a promo on me at times. Still have the interview on tape, and the "Woooo!" he gave me is easily one of the top two or three highlights of my career. The company I work for does online video content for college sports, and we have Flair being interviewed on the sideline of a South Carolina football game. He's wasted off his ass and is totally in Nature Boy mode. Cuts a program about why USC is the best college football in the nation, and why Steve Spurrier is coach of the year, complete with WOOOOOOOOOOOOOs.

My thoughts exactly. Things were looking up so much after the 2-hour special in November. I still tune in to Impact, something I can't say about Raw or ECW, but Smackdown is starting to surpass it. Things are moving at lightspeed and I don't like that.

RE: Hawk 34 While the idea of Edge going over Undertaker at Wrestlemania is a great one, do you honestly believe Taker would put someone over at 'Mania? I can't imagine he'll ever lose at WM, instead retiring with that undefeated streak as a sort of feather in the cap. And as for Monty Brown, yeah he's got the body type Vince likes to push to the moon, but being a former TNA guy I can't imagine he'll be much more than a jobber. Maybe he'll be fed to Umaga, but I doubt he'll get hyped into the Rumble, and strongly doubt he'll bounce a number of entrants.

Completely agree.

Did the LAX segment remind anyone besides me of the Austin - Pillman gun angle? Very dark, edgy segment. I liked it. Overall it was a good show, probably the best two hours of free wrestling in quite some time. I agree with Badboi, it was a testament to how TNA could really benefit from another hour.