From the Inside

[JoeDirt 0]

The views expressed in the following article do not necessarily reflect

the views of TNA Entertainment, its employees, or its parent company.

Although it often fails at doing so, it is meant for the sole purpose of

entertaining the readers on NWATNA.com, and the author's minimalistic

group of friendly professional acquaintences.

 

Ah yes... After several attempts at rekindling the inspiration for writing again... I once again feel compelled to attempt to entertain you with some whitty reparte' and random observations. Here we go...

 

Styles / Abyss was the best match of the week on any wrestling show in North America. They tore it up Wednesday. Great stuff.

 

Luger showing up was certainly unexpected. Styles had pinned the Total Package back in December.

 

I eagerly approached Raven with the news that I felt the video package I did on him Wednesday was some of my best work... A claim which he argued with later in the evening. Oh yeah Raven? Well, with the vast array of computer crap I'm learning... Don't be surprised one week to see your head superimposed of the naked body of the newly engaged Star Jones. Maybe he'll like that better.

 

In the realization that wrestling writers are now so paranoid about being worked that they will call "work" on any "incident" that happens right off the bat, I am just going to go ahead and declare the whole CM Punk/Teddy Hart incident a total work. Now I cannot be accused of getting "worked" and rest easy at night.

 

While I am at it, I would also like to call work on last year's American Idol, the 2000 Presidential Election, and the Brutus Beefcake Boston subway incident.

 

I've noticed a lot of veterans call work on almost anything from hockey fights to politics, claiming that we are all getting swerved on what is really goin down. I'll never forget when Bam Bam Bigelow told me "life is a work, kid" before a show at the Canseco Feildhouse in Indianapolis. I really haven't been the same since.

 

On the flipside, there are people who come along in our lifetime that thrive on contriving a good work. Chad Damiani (from WCW live fame) worked angles all the time. I've written about the time he faked an injury at a nighclub, only to later come back and perform "one more dance" for the concerned, but delighted crowd.

 

My favorite though was when Chad was hosting a party at his place in Philadelphia. I had to bail early from the party to catch a flight, and he was growing more and more concerned.... as the party was filling up with a very conservative yuppie crowd, and this attempted shindig was getting extremely boring. The party needed some spicing up, so he contrived an idea that the two of us would get in a very heated verbal exchange in front of everyone and I would storm out of the party telling everyone off. Since I had to leave and was not likely to ever see these people again, I was game. We bid farewell to each other prior to, and then headed out to the living room where we started yelling at each other, as I stormed out with my bags yelling horrible curse words at him

as I slammed the door. The partygoers in attendence were stunned. I wasn't even out of the complex when my phone rang. After the incident, he excused himself from the living room, and called me from his bathroom with the news. Mission accomplished. He even went as far as to use my verbal tyraid to garner sympathy from the females in attendence. Good move.

 

Maybe inspired by a Scott Steiner angle on Nitro, A girl I know very well once faked being handicapped to get into Nitro at Club La Vela in Panama City, going as far as to rent a wheelchair for herself and sister becuase the only good seats were in the handicapped area. You could

almost say she worked an angle on the nighclub's security. Imagine the shock when the same girl was seen dancing at the same club later in the night. Its a miracle!

 

Speaking of which... on my official top ten ten list of headlines I thought I'd never see, "Brutus Beefcake causes Anthrax scare" may have landed the top spot. Unless Kamala wins Olympic gold in figure skating, or the Iron Sheik gives birth to a horse, I doubt we'll see an easier shoe-in for the Hot News Kliq's bizarre story of the year.

 

Hats off to Jake Roberts for clinching the "Can I be a bigger heel?" He has been accused by authorities of starving his snake Damien to death. Think of the money that snake brought him over the years taking Polaroids at the gimmick stand at indy shows. Even worse, think of where all of that money went. Obviously not towards snake food.

 

Let's all say a quick prayer for Frankie that Koko B Ware is making a comfortable living.

 

I have two snakes of my own... A Python named Pete and a Milksnake (brings all the boys to the yard) named Dirty...as in, ya heard me, dirty? That's street lingo I am lead to believe. He's a worker" too, as his only defense is mimmicking the visually similar, but much more poisonous Coral snake in an attempt to scare off possible attackers. That's almost gimmick infringement. He fires up like he's Greg Gagne and I look at him like... you don't scare me beotch... Just be lucky I

don't starve yo' ass Jake Robert's style. That usually settles him down.

 

Many noticed the decision by Vince Russo to take off the dancing girls. I would say this... I'd much rather have the fans watching our finishes than our women (no offense to our gals), not to say they won't have a place on the show. It appears Lollipop has grown a little star struck with the afro-stylin' Jonny Fairplay.

 

I read tons of reviews on our show from last week, and the only one I really agreed with was

Dan Miller's review. Sure I am seeing it from the inside out... But after reading some reviews. It is obvious to me there are those on the outside looking in with a more skewed view of things than anything I am seeing. One guy even recently pontificated his ideas on what needs fixing in TNA, and as it turns out he doesn't even watch the show. Bottom line? Wednesday night was a great show with great storytelling featuring a hot main event between two of our homegrown stars... Now, back to my skewed views...

 

More new business folks in attendence Wednesday night. It is no longer an "if" but more of a "when" to me when discussing TNA acheiving a more prominant position in the entertainment world. This summer should be interesting.

 

I loved the Russo Jarrett segment from Wednesday. Sure its wrestling... but like the development of a character, some of the best stuff comes from real life, magnified. Russo is a different person as of late and the stuff with Jeff came off great.

 

I was on hand to cover Jeff Jarrett's successful NWA World Title defense last night in San Jose. I hadn't had the chance to see much West Coast talent, and there were some great performers on Kurt White's Big Time Wrestling show.

 

I sat next to the inventor of the Garden Weasel gardening tool on the flight out here. He must not have collected too much ching from his invention as he was flying Southwest.

 

A seemingly gascious wrestler I met while out here in Cali declared it 100 percent acceptable to pass wind on an airplane because no one would realistically ever say anything on a vessel completely filled with strangers. Futhermore, the statment was made with an even more bold

follow up declaring it "even more acceptable" on a crowded plane because there would be more people to point fingers at in case a "Who farted?" inquiry began. A very coy observation, indeed.

 

My wonderful mother reads this column faithfully to find out what is going on in the life of her baby boy, mainly because I don't feel like talking shop to her on the phone most of the time. I must have gotten my hereditarily inspired thirst for hot news from her. I'll never forget the time Vince Russo's mom called into WCW Live to see if he was ok after Vince got beaten up on a Nitro. Anyway, ma turns 60 in a few weeks... so I'll take this time to wish her a very Happy Birthday, with the hope that she enjoys her autographed photo of Father James Mitchell I had framed, as well as the copy of "TNA's Bloodiest Brawls" on DVD.

 

Watched the Monday Night War DVD. I enjoyed it. Contrary to popular belief about WCW, the only losers in the Monday Night Wars were the people involved that didn't save their money.

 

Looking back, we really had it good in WCW, even if I couldn't tell you who my boss was for the majority of my 3 years in with the company. I think the whole thing will just make me appreciate TNA's success in the future all that much more.

 

The Insane Clown Posse consistantly rave about Chris Sabin, AJ Styles, and Mike Tenay. They know their stuff. I do my raving too.

 

Alex Marvez has done a great story on Don West. West has been parodied by name on Saturday Night Live 3 times by Will Farrell for his amazing pitchman delivery.

 

Larry David's agent guy from the Showime's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (great show... a perennial favorite of Glenn Gilberti and Raven's as well) told a story on the Tonight Show last week about doing standup comedy in a seedy dive bar at 3am on a late Sunday night, only to be saved from a

ranting lunatic heckler waving around a giant sexual aparatus (his story, not mine) only to be rescued by none other than King Kong Bundy, who physically disposed of the heckler in no time. Great story. I love Bundy. Always have.

 

Hats off to Team Canada's Petey Williams who filled in for Teddy Hart with about 15 minutes notice to kick off last Wednesday. I love how America's X Cup has brought a big influx of talent to the X Division. My vote for breakout star so far is the incredible Hector Garza. He's good. Damn good.

 

Team Japan will debut this Wednesday, likely captained by Nasawa. This is a concept that will likely continue as the trends have shown a great response from our fans to these one-night special events.

 

This Wednesday back on PPV we'll see Abyss and a partner of his choice taking on AJ Styles and a partner for the tag team titles. Russo has also promised a surprise for Jeff Jarrett, in addition to another test for Chris Harris, who gets his NWA World Title shot on March 17th. ICP returns as well... Plus tons more.

 

Thanks for reading.. See ya back on PPV Wednesday.

 

Jeremy Borash

[Silence 0]

One guy even recently pontificated his ideas on what needs fixing in TNA, and as it turns out he doesn't even watch the show.

Sounds like Dave O' Neill got caught.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I have two snakes of my own... A Python named Pete and a Milksnake (brings all the boys to the yard) named Dirty...as in, ya heard me, dirty? That's street lingo I am lead to believe. He's a worker" too, as his only defense is mimmicking the visually similar, but much more poisonous Coral snake in an attempt to scare off possible attackers. That's almost gimmick infringement. He fires up like he's Greg Gagne and I look at him like... you don't scare me beotch... Just be lucky I don't starve yo' ass Jake Robert's style. That usually settles him down.

For some reason, imagining Kermit Borash saying that to one of his fellow reptilian friends makes me life.

I read tons of reviews on our show from last week, and the only one I really agreed with was Dan Miller's review. Sure I am seeing it from the inside out... But after reading some reviews. It is obvious to me there are those on the outside looking in with a more skewed view of things than anything I am seeing. One guy even recently pontificated his ideas on what needs fixing in TNA, and as it turns out he doesn't even watch the show. Bottom line? Wednesday night was a great show with great storytelling featuring a hot main event between two of our homegrown stars... Now, back to my skewed views...

And again, Corey Lazarus gets hosed...I WILL NOT BE DENIED! Expect a a few Lazarushes of the TNA eps Dames missed (like a few of the September/October '02 shows, and a few sporadic ones here and there). I think I'd have more fun doing a Lazarush for those, too.

[Guest TDinDC1112]

The guy he is talking about who doesn't watch the show is Dave Scherer from pwinsider.com.

 

I think Scherer is great is usually right on the money, but Borash is right here. Scherer doesn't watch the show, which I don't understand. Meltzer watches everything out there because his job is to cover wrestling. I don't know how Scherer can get away with only watching WWE. He lives in ROH's back yard, yet doesn't go. He lives in 3PW's backyard, yet doesn't go. He never watches TNA because he doesn't like it. I don't know, it just seems odd.

[Michrome 0]

He's right about Scherer not watching the show. Buck Woodward watches the show every week, and basically says the same thing. Hell, 95% of people watching the show are saying what Scherer said, to dismiss it because Scherer doesn't watch is absurd. Borash is back on the bong, all he needs is a TNA live show.

 

All signs are pointing towards buyrates being consistently well under 10,000 for the first time in their history. Cable sources of Scherer, Meltz, and Keller are all saying the same thing--buyrates are on a downward trend. They need to right the ship instead of "feuding" with internet writers.

[JoeDirt 0]

He's right about Scherer not watching the show. Buck Woodward watches the show every week, and basically says the same thing. Hell, 95% of people watching the show are saying what Scherer said, to dismiss it because Scherer doesn't watch is absurd. Borash is back on the bong, all he needs is a TNA live show.

 

All signs are pointing towards buyrates being consistently well under 10,000 for the first time in their history. Cable sources of Scherer, Meltz, and Keller are all saying the same thing--buyrates are on a downward trend. They need to right the ship instead of "feuding" with internet writers.

How long has Mantel been in charge of the writing now? Haven't buyrates pretty much been going down since then?

 

And it still pisses me off that when they were going to have BFG they were going to promote it will Joanie Lauer and Randy Savage. Christ, make stars of YOUR OWN that people want to see.

[Guest TDinDC1112]

If the buyrates were good, we'd know about it b/c TNA would've told us.

[Chunk 0]

If the buyrates were good, we'd know about it b/c TNA would've told us.

Not directly aboue buyrates, but they did do something like this a week or so ago.

 

Don West basically showed off the newspaper and TV coverage that Johnny Fairplay had been getting, in connection with TNA. They also showed some news footage featuring Brian Urlacher and his appearence on TNA.

 

The basic gist of it was "Everyones talking about TNA!". When in fact, the buyrates tell a completely different story.

 

Just giving an example of how TNA mentioning how succesful they are could mean absolutely nothing!

[justsoyouknow 0]

Larry David's agent guy from the Showime's "Curb Your Enthusiasm"

So I guess I'm just imagining the HBO logo at the beginning of the episodes?

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

Hmmm, someone who doesn't watch the program bitches. OK, makes me satisfied.

 

 

RoH is the biggest piece of shit I've never seen. Everyone in the promotion sucks balls when it comes to entertainment, and their champ is fat-ass Samoan who can't do dick. [/bias-asshole mode]

 

Sorry, RoH is only other Indy in US that people give a rats ass for.

[Guest TDinDC1112]

What is wrong with you?

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

What is wrong with you?

Hmmm, someone who doesn't watch the program bitches. OK, makes me satisfied.

 

 

RoH is the biggest piece of shit I've never seen. Everyone in the promotion sucks balls when it comes to entertainment, and their champ is fat-ass Samoan who can't do dick. [/bias-asshole mode]

[Guest Jay Z. Hollywood]

Sorry, RoH is only other Indy in US that people give a rats ass for.

CZW, PWG, NWA Wildside, IWA Mid-South

 

ANY of those sound familiar?

 

If you're serious, that's an equally ignorant statement.

Edited March 2, 2004 by DuskTillDawn

[Guest Markingout]

I hope no one really belived BBCW.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

Sorry, RoH is only other Indy in US that people give a rats ass for.

CZW, PWG, NWA Wildside, IWA Mid-South

 

ANY of those sound familiar?

...OK, ones that I'd care about if I had the money to buy the events on DVD.

 

I heard of CZW and NWA Wildside, but other 2 I have no clue.

[JoeDirt 0]

Sorry, RoH is only other Indy in US that people give a rats ass for.

CZW, PWG, NWA Wildside, IWA Mid-South

 

ANY of those sound familiar?

...OK, ones that I'd care about if I had the money to buy the events on DVD.

 

I heard of CZW and NWA Wildside, but other 2 I have no clue.

PWG's really good - check 'em out at prowrestlingguerrilla.com and buy a DVD!

 

*done shilling*

[Michrome 0]

This thread is unbelievably retarded. Almost as retarded as discarding valid criticism of the product that regular watchers constantly make because a nonwatcher made them. Almost.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I don't care if he is right on the money...watch the show before you pass judgment. I don't go around commenting on yet another predictible episode of Smackdown if I haven't seen the show.

[Guest Coffey]

I don't care if he is right on the money...watch the show before you pass judgment. I don't go around commenting on yet another predictible episode of Smackdown if I haven't seen the show.

Exactly, and that's the end of that conversation.

 

My vote for breakout star so far is the incredible Hector Garza. He's good. Damn good.

 

Well, you're blind.

[Michrome 0]

It's not the end of the conversation. You cannot discard a valid criticism of the show because a guy who didn't watch made it. The criticism remains valid, TONS of people who watch it weekly say the same thing. MKJ and Buck Woodward, who both watch the shows, made similar criticisms, but now Borash can just dismiss them as invalid because Scherer made them without watching the show.

 

If someone who didn't watch Russo's WCW in 2000 because it was so terrible did a column pointing out exactly why it was terrible, right on the money, it would be perfectly valid, because the points are correct. Nothing like deflecting an argument by attacking the source.

[Guest Coffey]

You absolutely can discard it because he's basing his opinion on other people's opinion. You know, forming your OWN opinion does still have some worth in this life contrary to popular belief amonst the IWC.

 

TONS of people who watch it weekly say the same thing

 

Which is exactly why he says it. He's a fucking sheep. God forbid he watch it and have a different opinion. You can't please everyone all the time. No matter what it is. Hell, despite their popularity a lot of people hate The Beatles too.

 

If someone who didn't watch Russo's WCW in 2000 because it was so terrible did a column pointing out exactly why it was terrible, right on the money, it would be perfectly valid, because the points are correct

 

That is absolutely, 100% untrue. It would be speculation on their part. Even if it happened to be true, it wouldn't have any meaning because coming from them it would be hearsay.

 

 

Like I said, the conversation is over. If you think their opinion is as valid, let alone more valid, then you're either thick-headed or you're in denial.

 

How can something be bad when you've never experienced it? Things don't become bad by default. You have to conclude that you, personally, aren't a fan. I'm not a fan of Survivor. I never watch it. So, if I say the show sucks does that mean my opinion on Survivor is valid? Absolutely not. Especially not to someone whom has been faithful to the show. It just means that I don't have as much experience with it. It's not bad because I said so.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

This is ridiculous.

 

A criticism can't be valid if you don't watch what you're criticizing.

 

It can be accurate...but not valid.

 

This is why the english language has more than one word in it.

 

Everyone who watches it and says this...they're opinion is VALID.

 

Anyone who doesn't and has an accurate take on what's going on...that's great...but it lacks validity.

[Michrome 0]

It is perfectly valid, because he reads recaps of exactly what happens. He knows what is going on with the promotion, and is familiar with it, without watching the show. Just like I can say an Indy show looks terrible, and why, by looking at results, he can do the same.

[Guest Coffey]

He's basing his opinion on other people's opinion. Everyone is biased to some degree. So, if he is basing his opinion on the biased opinions of other people, what do you think the result is going to be?

 

That's right. His opinion will become the biased opinion.

 

It's like when Scott Keith likes a Chris Benoit match. Even if the match has blown spots, odds are he's going to rate it too high simply because Benoit was it in (see tonight's tag match getting ***). Thus, he is biased towards Chris Benoit. Now, if you didn't see the show and you just read his biased report, you'd be going around praising it when you hadn't even seen it. Well, what if you watched the show and didn't think it was as good as he said? What if you thought it was better?

 

THAT is why it matters. Everyone has different opinions. Just because some people think one way, doesn't mean that it's the only way to think. That's why majority has a word that means the opposite of it.

 

Take a boxing match for example. If you didn't see it, you can't really talk about what happened. But, if you read the results and see that X wrestler knocked out Y wrestler you could come to the conclusion that X wrestler won. That is accurate. What you can't say is that X wrestler kicked Y wrestlers ass. Why? Because you didn't see it. You don't know if he kicked his ass. Maybe he just had a good round. Maybe a cut opened up too much and affected wrestler Y's vision?

 

The same with wrestling. If you read results that say "this match was bad" that doesn't automatically mean the match was bad. It means that to that particular person it was less than appealing. You could have completely different views. That's how validity comes into the arguement.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

This is really dumb.

 

It's the equivalent of someone telling me a movie was good...and then reading a good review...and then me going out and telling everyone how good the movie was.

 

It doesn't make it wrong...but my opinion certainly isn't valid.

[Guest Coffey]

Especially when you're praising it and someone says "What was your favorite part?"

 

Either you're going to reply with an "I don't know" or "X was my favorite part." In reality, X is someone elses favorite part.

 

X: "What was your favorite scene in the movie?"

Y: "I don't know, I haven't seen it yet. I just read it was good."

X: "You're an idiot."

[Michrome 0]

You're still missing the entire point of the problem with Borash's column. He's doing exactly what he and Bob did on WCW Live. There would be hundreds of criticisms on WCW, but they'd find one they could discredit, and try to lump all similar opinions into it. All he needs now is a radio show where they can defend god-awful shows.

 

If I see wresting results, and it's a bunch of matches that look terrible, I'm not going to watch, and I'm still going to know that the show was shit. If Don Harris and Ron Harris have an ironman match scheduled, I know it will suck without seeing it. When I read results and see Jarrett completely dominating a show, and sucking the life out of it, I know it will suck, and then I download it, and yep, it sucks! When I see results, and no matches get decent time at all, I can validly complain about short matches without seeing the show, because no match going over 12 minutes remains a fact, whether you've seen it or not.

[Guest Goodear]

In other words, no good can come from Lex Luger.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

It is perfectly valid, because he reads recaps of exactly what happens. He knows what is going on with the promotion, and is familiar with it, without watching the show. Just like I can say an Indy show looks terrible, and why, by looking at results, he can do the same.

OK Dave O'Neill.

 

 

How can ANYONE say their opinions are valid when they are using someone else's opinion?!!

 

Thats like saying if someone read my RoH earlier (which was a SARCASM JOKE!), and have never watched it, can say it sucks too without any reason.

[Michrome 0]

Lex Luger is old, and sucks. I can make that comment without seeing TNA this week, and it will be perfectly valid, because everyone knows this is the case. If you have to watch TNA to figure out whether or not Lex Luger sucks, I wonder if your opinion is valid.