Is this something new, or something we have seen before?

Hello all

So as I was watching wrestling this week, I saw something that caught my attention on WWE. I am really trying to be unbiased, and write about all wrestling and not just WWE, but I have not seen much in the way of TNA for me to comment on, and there are no other companies on TV. So it is hard for me to keep up with them without me going on line and finding out some behind the scenes information that this blog is not based on. I write this from my own point of view. I try not to read too much of anyone else’s online stuff, because I don’t want my blog to become that.

So this week I was watching WWE, and was starting to notice something. I am noticing that they are starting to do something that is maybe four years past due. They are trying to turn a character around. I for one do not know if they will be a success. As I stated earlier, this move would have been better served if they would have done it four years ago.

This week on RAW, Jack Swagger beat Zack Ryder for the US championship. Well, after that John Cena spoke to the RAW General Manager, John Laurinaitis. Cena asked if he could have a match with Swagger. The G.M. agreed and they were set. Swagger was in the ring, and Cena came out to meet him. But instead of them having a match Cena beat the crap out of Swagger. He got to a point where it looked like he almost snapped. He picked up the steel stairs and almost bashed Swagger’s head. Then there was a video from Kane, telling Cena to embrace the hate.

From all that happened on RAW, it looks to me that the WWE is looking to turn Cena in to a heel. As I said earlier in this blog I think it may be a little late to be making this move. There was a time when he was so hated (for lack of a better term) that they could have turned him bad, and made him a huge star. But they waited too long.

Back in 2004 after he won the US title at WrestleMania, he was one of, if not the most popular superstar in the WWE. He was different, and cool. He came out every week in a different sports jersey, and later that year he even created his own US title spinner belt. It seemed like a very natural move to make him the face of the company.

After the very next Mania, they did just that. Cena was the WWE champion. Created a brand new spinner WWE title (which is still being used today, though it does not spin), and was off and running. In his 1st reign as the WWE champion he defeated just about everyone they put in front of him, for almost a whole year. He beat Kurt Angle, he retired Chris Jericho, and he even won an elimination chamber match, after he was one of the 1st two men to enter (which up to that point no one had ever done). And it lasted for a long time (almost a year).

After his 1st reign lasted so long, the only man to beat him, Edge, had a title reign of less than a month. Cena won the belt back and people started to turn against him. We as fans were getting tired of seeing Cena have matches with other wrestlers who were better than him, but always coming out in the end.

Over the years more and more people started to turn against Cena. This would have been the perfect time to turn Cena heel. Instead of making him almost superhuman. As I talked to some of my friends who were wrestling fans, someone compared him to Hulk Hogan. That is a perfect comparison. Hogan would have title so long, no one else had a chance to become the champ, and become a star. The same thing happened when Cena was the champ. This should have been the time when they turned Cena heel. If a heel keeps winning the title we all watch to see him lose. But with Cena being a face, we still wanted him to lose. Also, Cena is so good on the mic; he would do a great job. Think in the same mold of CM Punk, this past summer, how they gave him the mic, and it was TV gold, it would be the same if Cena was a heel.

It does seem like WWE is going to make this move. But I am not sure if it will have the same success as Hogan going heel. That was something we thought we would never see. We did not think we would see the greatest wrestling hero of all time, turn into a villain, and spit in the face of all of his fans that he worked for years to build up. But because it was new, it worked. But would it work now. Remember, they tried it with Stone Cold Steve Austin, but that did not work so well. Eventually fans came back. Now I think this will work for the people out there who were fans, but now hate Cena, but in the long run, I think they’re just a little too late.



AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The Enforcer!!!!!

Hello all

This week as I was watching wrestling I noticed that WWE is getting ready for the Royal Rumble. As I have told you all before, this is my favorite time of the year. It means we are getting close to WrestleMania. Along with the Rumble, there are a few other things that have come out to symbolize that it is Mania time. One thing that I have started to look forward to as well is the announcement of the WWE Hall of Fame inductions.

This past week on RAW they did something that I don’t think they have ever done before. They have chosen to announce 2 inductions on one show. The 1st person they showed was Edge. I do have some question about that. Not that I don’t think he deserves to be there, because I do. I think he is along the lines of Shawn Michaels, and Brett Hart. A guy who did everything you could do as a tag team wrestler, then won the intercontinental championship, and waited a long time before finally winning the WWE title. He would go on to become a multi-time world champion. His career was cut short because of injury. Now my only question is, is it too early to induct him? I mean he just retired last year. But I will save that, maybe for another blog.

The next induction was not for a person, but for a group of people, “The Four Horsemen”. It is very obvious that the Horsemen are very deserving of their spot in the Hall. During Ric Flair’s introduction speech, Triple H said that he should have his own wing in the Hall. Well if that’s the case, then there should be a “Faction’s Wing” in the Hall, and of course the Horsemen would have their own.

Every one of us wrestling fans at one point or another (if we were old enough) was fans of the Horsemen. They were the best talkers, best dressers, and more importantly, the best wrestlers. If not for the Horsemen, there would be no NOW, or DX, 2 factions that changed pro wrestling.

Now, I know everyone was probably Ric Flair fans when he was a part of the Horsemen. He was their main guy, the world champ and a legit main eventer. But I will be doing my blog today about a guy who should, himself, be a Hall of Famer. A guy who has been a tag team champion in every company he has been in, and though he never won the world title, he is still someone who deserves the respect that one would get as a champion. And this man is “The Enforcer” Arm Anderson.

Anderson started off his career in 1982, working for a few indie promotions, before winding up in Southeastern Championship Wrestling, an NWA affiliate. He worked there and won their tag team titles a few times.

In 1984, he went to work for Jim Crockett Promotions Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, which we all know as the precursor to WCW. While wrestling there, he caught the eye of very experienced wrestler, Ole Anderson. Though they have a few striking resemblance, and they wrestled as brothers, they really are not related. Ole liked what he saw in Arm, and he was in need a new tag team partner, since his partner, Gene Anderson (who was really not his brother either), was retiring.
The newly formed team became known as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, which was the name of the tag team of Ole and Gene. They work extremely well together. So well in fact, that it took them no time to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles. The team was becoming a dominate force, but they were starting to develop some new enemies. The Road Warriors and the Rock and Rock Express. But the tag team was not the only enemies they made, because they started to make enemies of Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA, 2 of the biggest single competitors in the company at the time. Lucky for them, they got some help from 2 other guys who had similar enemies, Ric Flair and Tally Blanchard.

These 4 started to work together a lot. They also did a lot their interviews together. They would run in on each other’s matches to help the other hold on to their titles, or to beat down the good guys. One day as the 4 of them were doing an interview, all 4 men draped in championship gold, Arm said a statement that pretty much gave them their name. He said (and I am paraphrasing) Not since the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse have so few men, done so much damage. From that day forward the 4 men were known as the 4 Horsemen.

The original Horsemen would go on to have some of the more epic battles with those wrestlers I mentioned earlier. Ole and Arm were front and center in the tag team division. Arm also was trying to make a name for himself in the singles division, in the beginning of 1986; he won the World TV championship. So the 4 horsemen were riding high, until Ole and Arm lost to the Rock and Roll Express, at Starrcade 86’. After that Pay Per View, the Horsemen decided that Ole was the weak link in their chain, and decided to replace him with Lex Luger.

After losing his TV title, and tag team partner, Arm and Tally Blanchard decide to form a tag team to bring the belts back to the Horsemen. They did that, defeating the Rock and Roll Express in 1987. Though the Horsemen dominated the NWA (and the world of pro wrestling for that matter), Arm and Tally both felt they were under paid. So they both decided to move to New York (what everyone in the business referred to the WWE at that time). Their last match as NWA champs was against that Midnight Express in September of 88.

Arm and Tully went to the WWE and became known as the Brain Busters. In WWE they were a very formidable tag team. Remember back in those days, the WWE had plenty of tag teams that could give them a good fight, and vise verse. The Rockers, The Hart Foundation, The British Bulldogs, Demolition, just to name a few. And the Brain Busters were a team to be reckoned with. They climbed up the WWE tag team ladder, and even won the titles from Demolition. They held those belts for 3 months, before they dropped back to Demolition. They both decided they wanted to go back to Jim Crockett Promotions (which was now WCW), but Tully failed a drug test, and never got a chance to come back to the big time as a pro wrestler.

Anderson came back and set his sights on the WCW TV title. He won it in January of 1990, and held it till January of 1991. He lost the belt to the “Z-Man” Tom Zenk, and won it back a week later. Then he lost the belt again to a former tag team champ, and his future tag partner, “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton.

After losing the TV title, he would go back to tag team wrestling. From 1991-1997 Anderson held the tag titles with 3 different partners and also became a member of another successful faction, the Dangerous Alliance. Anderson may have gotten his shot at the WCW title (I mean David Arquette won that title), but Anderson’s body broke down on him in 1997.

Anderson stayed on WCW television all the way until before the company went out of business. He was on one of the biggest rating nights that WCW had ever had, the night the 4 Horsemen were reformed, with a whole new cast, except for Ric Flair, of course. When WCW was purchased by WWE, Anderson became a road agent for WWE, and he still does that now, as well as mentoring some of the up and coming talent now.

I think Arm Anderson is one of the more underappreciated guys to ever lace up boots. As a multi-time champion, holding every belt in WCW except for the US and World titles, I think he is one of those guys who should have, and maybe even would have, been given the title and a chance to carry the company. Maybe back in those days they did not understand that these former tag team guys, who were not very big, were still great workers, could tell a story, and could keep the prestige of the world title. Despite him never winning a world title, I think deserves to be a Hall of Famer, all by himself.


AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLIIIIIINNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

What makes these guys so special?

Hello all

First I would like to wish everyone a happy holiday season, whatever you have celebrated over the past few weeks since the last blog. And Happy New Year to all of you out there. So now it is time for a new blog.

As I have been watching wrestling this past month, I noticed something that made me wonder. Even as I was watching it with my wife, I wondered out loud about something that was happening and she even asked the question that became today’s blog topic. About 3 weeks ago on Raw, CM Punk started off the show with announcing the results from the championship matches at the TLC Pay per View. He won his match, Zack Ryder(the self-proclaimed internet champion) became the new US champion, CM Punk defended his WWE title, and after the World Heavyweight Title match, which was won by the Big Show, Daniel Bryan cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, and become the new World Champ.

So as I was watching these guys, I realized they all had something in common, they are all in the positions they are in because of their popularity with the fans. I have watched these 3 guys since they have all been in WWE, and I can’t say that any of them have had break through moments in the ring, as far as their wrestling. So it is their popularity which has gotten them through the glass ceiling to being at or near the top of the WWE. But why?

We all know why Punk is suddenly so popular. Most of the wrestling fans out there are sheep and will follow anything. I have done 2 blogs on how subpar I think Punk is, so I will not dive deep into that, but I will debunk his claim as being the best wrestler in the world. Beside his match at SummerSlam, I cannot tell you when Punk has had a good match. And that match was with the man I call “Mr. Pay per View”, John Cena. Punk has been on Raw, has been on ppvs, and has done everything he could, but I don’t think he is anywhere near the best in the world. I don’t even think he is the best wrestler in the in the WWE. Even my wife who loves Punk’s “tell it like it is” persona, thinks his wrestling is boring.

Bryan is a very different story. Bryan is an international sensation. He actually started at Shawn Michael’s old wrestling school. Then he made his debut in WWE on the former secondary shows “Heat” and “Velocity”. Not catching on there, he then went to Japan and worked with New Japan Pro Wrestling. He wrestled there for years, making a name for himself by winning the IWGP Jr. Tag team titles. After he was done in Japan, he went on to become one of the “Founding Fathers” (or at least that is what the fans called him), of Ring of Honor. In ROH Bryan became a big Indy star. In 2005 he won their World Title. From the 2005-2009 Bryan wrestled all over the world, but did not get a shot at the big time, until WWE NXT. NXT was a reality wrestling show, where they had wrestlers come on and compete for a WWE contract. Though Bryan did not win, he was a part of the original Nexus. During the Nexus’s initial take over, at the end of Raw on June 7th, Bryan attacked the ring announcer Justin Roberts, choking him with his own tie. This was deemed too much by the WWE and they fired him. After that Bryan went back to the Indy’s, wrestling in the NWA, even challenging their world champ Adam Pearce. Amid plenty of backlash from not only the fans, but John Cena, the WWE brought Bryan back, and gave him a big push as the US champ. After a successful reign as the US champ, he won the Money in the Bank match for SmackDown this year, and just cashed it in. As you can tell, this has been long overdue for a guy like Bryan. And after the Big Show finally defeated Mark Henry, Bryan cashed in his briefcase, and became the new World Champion.

Zack Ryder is a totally different story. Unlike the other guys in this blog, he has not had a major stint in the Indy’s. Ryder started out as a tag team wrestler, with Curt Hawkins. During “Armageddon” 2007, the duo helped Edge win the World Heavyweight Championship. Then they formed a faction with Edge Chavo Guerrero, Vicky Guerrero, and Bam Neely, called La Familia. Hawkins and Ryder won the Tag Team titles at the “Great American Bash” 2008. This would prove to be the height of their career as a tag team, because they lost the titles 2 months later, and both were put on the backburner. Both decided they would go to the internet to make themselves popular. Where this failed for Hawkins, It soared for Ryder. Ryder reached new heights with his internet shows. He is big on Twitter and YouTube. So much to the point that he crowned himself the internet champion. After becoming famous on the internet, Ryder started appearing on Raw, and becoming even more popular. Crowds would cheer “WE WANT RYDER”. In the “Survivor Series” this year, the Madison Square Garden crowd was chanting that, after the main event. Even the Rock said he loved all of Ryder’s stuff. This meteoric rise got even bigger when “Long Island Iced Z” won the United States Championship, at the TLC, Pay per View.

I think it was kind of ironic that these 3 guys opened the show on that Raw. They have a lot in common. It is amazing to see how they have all worked to get to where they are. I personally wonder are they on top because they have been the hardest workers and it is their time, or are they on top because they have the people on their side. Don’t get me wrong, it is very important to have the fans behind you, but should that be the only factor in determining who should wear the gold, and who shouldn’t. I could name you at least 10 guys who have never achieved what Punk has and they are 3 times the wrestler he will ever be. Again, I wonder if they have done all the right things and made it up to the top, or if they have found their niche and are using it to their full advantage.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLLLLIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gifts for everyone!

Hello all

Well here we are a week away from Christmas. As some of you may have already done, it is time to shop for gifts. I know that there are a lot of you out there who haven’t figured out what you should get that special someone for Christmas. What if that person is a wrestling fan, what then? Well luckily for you, I am here to let you know what to get that wrestling fan of yours. I will break down some of the items that every wrestling fan cannot do without. Trust me, as a wrestling fan, I know exactly what they would want. And I have to apologize; most of these things I am going to talk about are about WWE. I don’t really know much about the other organizations, beyond what I see on TV, and read on the internet.

1st let’s start off with the DVDs. There are plenty of DVDs. There is one for every Pay per View. If you have seen or have been to one, and you want to add it your collection, then I highly recommend it. There are also DVDs about the wrestlers and about certain situations. I just got the “Brett Hart vs. Shawn Michaels” DVD, and I loved it. I will be buying the new “Stone Cold” DVD (as if I need to say why), and I would also like to get the “Randy Orton” DVD. If your fan has anybody who is big star that he might be a fan of, there are plenty of DVDs for him. Some of my favorite DVDs that I own, are all of the WrestleMania, all of Stone Cold’s, both of Shawn Michael’s, Brett Hart’s, and the “history of” DVDs about the WWE championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, and the Intercontinental championship. As far as some of my favorite matches, I watch “Unforgiven” 2002, the WWE title, Hell in a Cell match, between the Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar. I also like “Unforgiven”, 2005, WWE title, “I quit” match between John Cena, and JBL. I like the Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at Mania 25. And I like pretty much any Elimination Chamber match. If you have a DVD nut out there, that should help them.

Next are books. Books are always a great gift. Wrestling books are no exception. They take you deeper in to the world of wrestling a lot more than the DVDs do. I have read a few books and have learned a lot about some of my favorite performers. It is great to know exactly what they were thinking when they did what they did. How they felt leading up to their favorite match, or how they felt before they did the most famous, or infamous thing of their life. Or even what they were thinking when their world was crumbling around them as they were going through some kind of person turmoil. I have read the books of Stone Cold (naturally), Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, both of Hulk Hogan’s, and I am starting to read Eric Bischoff’s right now. I would also like to read the book on the history of the WWE championship, Brett Hart’s book, and the death of the WCW. If you know of any fans who want to know the ins and outs of the business, the real story, then buying those books would be the way to go. And if you get them on paper (not electronic), they will be pretty cheap too.
Last but not least is the stuff. I started off thinking about video games, then I thought about action figures, then I thought about the toy belts, then the replica belts, so I figured I would make this last part about all of them. Now, if you are not looking to spend all of your money, then I would not recommend the replica belts; not with a week before Christmas. Now if you had some time, then we can talk about it. So let’s talk about the video games. I have been a gamer for most of my life. Some of my favorite wrestling games were on the Nintendo 64. You have WCW vs. NOW revenge, which is awesome. You have WrestleMania 2000. But since most of us don’t have those systems, I have to say WWE Smackdown, has been the best wrestling game out there. TNA came out with a game, a few years ago. It was not good. I would not waste my time trying it out if I were you. Take my word for it. Now let’s talk about some of the action figures. They are coming out with some of the coolest figures you could ever want. Now they have them in event specific costumes. Meaning if you have ever seen a superstar in a special entrance, then most likely there is an action figure for that. From Mania 22 there is a figure for Rey Mysterio, and also one for Triple H. For the collector you would be buying for, they would love it.

So we I have given you plenty of options. Now you should be able to get something for that special wrestling fan out there. If you have a lot of money, go for the gusto. If not, go for an action figure, or book (remember people are not buying hard copy books anymore so they should be pretty cheap). I hope you enjoyed this little blog that is off of the beaten path. I will try to write a few more blogs this week, because like I said last week, I have a lot on my mind I would love to blog and get your opinions.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLLLLIIIINNNNNNEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Hall!

Hello all

I will be doing something a little different this week. Since I did not write a blog last week, and I have some ideas just floating through my head, and because I would like next week’s blog to be a shopping guide for those of you who want to buy either yourself or your loved ones a wrestling themed present. And the week after that, I would like to do a yearend review, as I see it. I will be doing a few blogs this week. I will do one today, and maybe 2 more before the year is out.

With that said, let’s get started with today’s blog. I was watching wrestling a week or so ago, and something stood out to me, that made me want to know something. “Rowdy Roddy Piper” was in during the 1st segment. He was having a “Piper’s Pit” segment. His guest was John Cena. He was talking to Cena about the fans, and was wondering out loud to Cena, if the crowd’s lack of appreciation for him was starting to get to him. They went back and forth about it. Then Piper did something that started the wheels in my brain turning. Piper took off his Hall of Fame ring, gave it to Cena and said you will receive one of these someday. That got me wondering, this is a conversation we have in all other sports, but we don’t have it in this one. Well today let’s have it. And I mean a conversation, so let’s go back and forth with this. And I am not going to limit this to just the WWE. So let’s think about this, who are the future Hall of Famers.

I guess we will start off with guys who are not in yet, but are sure fire no brainers. I guess we could start off with a guy who has been the measuring stick for the WWE (and I will start with the WWE because they have been around the longest, and are the most credible), the Undertaker. Beyond him being undefeated at WrestleMania, he has long been the most respected man in the WWE. Taker is a 7 time world champion, a 7 time tag team champion, and has been involved in some of the more remarkable matches in WWE history. Ironic enough most of them have been “Hell in a Cell” matches. The 1st ever Cell matches with him and Shawn Michaels is my favorite match of all time. This was the introduction of Kane into the WWE, and it was a battle between to WWE staples. It was contested at the “Bad Blood” PPV. Of course we cannot forget the Cell match at King of the Ring in ’98, when he threw Mankind off the top of the Cell. Then there was the Cell match between him and Brock Lesnar, where believe it or not, Taker came up on the wrong end. Beyond Taker, there is another guy who has been with the company and has done everything one cold do; that man is Triple H. H has won the WWE Grand slam championship (which was all of the titles the company had to offer at the time he won them), he was the 2nd undisputed WWE champion, he is the 1st recognized world heavyweight champion in the WWE, and he has been the leader of some of the greatest factions in WWE history. Triple H is a no brainer. The next guy is known as a wrestling machine, Kurt Angle. Angle has done everything one could do in the wrestling world. He has won championships in college, the Olympics, at the world championship games, and in pro wrestling. He won an Olympic gold medal, is a 12 time world champion and has even been a MMA fighter. Angle is one of a few men to find success in both WWE and TNA, winning both world championships multiple times. If just these 3 men went into the hall by themselves it would be a star studded class.

Now let’s think of the guys who are pretty much there, but they are not quite the no brainers the others were. Let’s start off with a guy who could have been in the no brainer category, but I knew he would be better suited for this one, even with all of his accolades. John Cena. I am sure this will not be the most popular one, but it must be said. Let’s leave out the fact that Cena is a 10 time WWE champion (that is a record), a 12 time champion overall (one less than Triple H, and 4 behind Ric Flair), but let’s look at the fact that when Cena was given his opportunity, he ran with it. He grabbed a hold of that brass ring and never let it go. He has been everything a WWE champion is supposed to be. He draws big numbers every week. He is “Mr. Pay per View” (I coined that here at this blog), and he also gives a lot of his time outside of the ring. Like it or not, Cena is a 1st ballot Hall of Famer. The next guy I can think about is someone who came on during the latter part of his career, which just ended. He revolutionized the ladder match, even making the TLC match popular. He is Edge. Edge was a multi time Intercontinental champion, a 14 time tag team champion (record), and an 11 time world champion. He has had some of the best matches of his time, especially as the champion. Unfortunately his career came to an end after Mania this year, due to injury. But Edge has had a career that warrants hall of fame mention. And next we have someone who I am not really sure if he is still in wrestling or not. He left for a little while, and then came back, and now he has left again. His name is Chris Jericho. Y2J is a guy who has done it all in the business, and has done it on every coast. He was big in Mexico and Japan, before he made it big here in the states. He is the only man to wrestle in WCW, but win the WCW championship in WWE (I know that is confusing). He is also a grand slam winner, he is a 7 time tag team champion, a 9 time IC champ (record), and he is a 6 time world champion including, being the 1st ever undisputed champion in WWE history. Y2J has done everything one can do in WWE. He is not one of those guys that come to the top of your mind when you think of hall of famers, but he needs to be thought about when it comes to the hall. And speaking of guys who need to be thought about, there is a guy who I am not that fond of as a wrestler, but he has the stats to prove he belongs. Jeff Jarrett. I know he hasn’t won a world title since he has not been in charge at TNA, but you have to give him credit. He’s not just a former TNA champ, but he was also a 4 time WCW champ, a 6 time TNA-NWA(back when the NWA was a part of TNA) champion, and he is a 6 time WWE IC champion(even though his last time reign was ended by Chyna). So I think Jarrett deserves some credit for being the man that he has been in the business, and for helping start an organization that can compete head to head with WWE.

So I have laid out some names for you guys. I really would like this blog to be interactive. I would love for you all to tell me what you think. If you want to take one of these guys off, let me know, and tell me who we should add. I do think the 1st group is no brainers, but if I need to add to that list let me know. And of course I think the second list of guys belong, but if you want to add, let me know. Let’s keep this one going for a month, and see what names we can put in there. I won’t veto anyone; I will ask you to explain your choice though. So here you are, this one is all yours. Let’s make something happen.

Why?

Hello all

This week as I watched wrestling, I had a visitor, my wife. She is not the wrestling watcher, so for her to sit down and watch it with me was a treat. As we watched the shows this week, she noticed there was a difference. She noticed as we watched Impact Wrestling this week that something was missing. Her exact words were “Is this the minor leagues”? I said “No this is TNA”. “Oh this is TNA. This is so much different than the other one you watch. Why is it so different”? I have a few theories that I will discuss today.

1st, I think a lot of the writing could use an update. A lot of times when I watch TNA, I feel like I am watching USWA wrestling, AWA, or Jim Crockett Promotions (the old WCW). It feels like old archaic wrestling. Back in those days in JCP (Jim Crockett Promotions), and even in the early days of WCW, Dusty Rhodes had a long stint as the head booker. This basically means Dusty was in charge of deciding who was going to win and how. During these times Dusty would always have the heels win by using some kind of foreign object. He’d hit the baby face in the head, then throw it out of the ring, and would always win the match. This was awfully predictable, and boring (if you ask me). This would be known as the Dusty Finish. I am noticing this same pattern in TNA. During the match we were watching, the heel hit the face with something (that did not look that big or heavy) that knocked him out cold, and of course, the heel won. To me this is a big reason why they are different, the Dusty Finish.

The next thing that I think makes a difference is the fact that TNA’s tag line is “This is where wrestling matters,” but I see more cutaways from the action than I would expect in a show that claims to be all about the wrestling. Everyone who reads my blog knows I am not doing this to kill anyone, or to act like I could do better, I just have opinions and want to put them out there for others to read. Anyway, I know that cutaways, run INS, and promos are all a part of pro wrestling, but I would think that they would want to focus more on the wrestling than the buildup. They have a lot of good wrestlers, why try to make them characters, or even superstars. That is not what you do. That is not what is going to make you catch up to WWE. You have to focus on your strengths, and their strengths are wrestling.

Lastly to me one of the main problems at TNA is the matches. I have to admit, the matches on Impact Wrestling every week leave a lot to be desired. In fact I have to say there are matches every week that I wonder why they are even having them. Who cares about them? This past week, 2 matches stood out to me. The 1st one was Gunner vs. Garrett Bischoff, yes Eric’s son, and no he is not a wrestler. He was a referee. No he does not look or seem like a wrestler, but for some reason they decided this would be their next to last match. That is a spot that reserved for good matches. And to top it all off, the former ref who can’t weigh more than 150 pounds, beat Gunner, a former TV champ, and someone in the “Bound for Glory” tournament. He was in the running to be a main eventer. But that is not the worst part. The worst part is the main event of the evening was an elimination tag team match. To be honest, I can’t tell you all of the participants in the match. And the thing that confused me the most was, if you are going to have an elimination match, shouldn’t there be something that the winner gets? A title shot? A chance to choose the stipulations of the next match? Even a chance to choose your next opponent? I just didn’t understand the point behind the main event. This makes me not care to watch TNA at all.

All and all there are a lot of things about Impact Wrestling that makes the show unwatchable. These past few things I listed were just the tip of the iceberg. I could go on and on. With that being said, I think there are a lot of things they do right. But there are things that they do that make them look amateur. This past episode was a small sampling of what happens when all of that talent goes to waste, when people don’t know what to do, with everything they have. I know they are trying to compete with the big dog, but if they focus on what they do best, they can rise above where they are now……A distant second.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLLLIIIIINNNNNNEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Foley is reading it.....shouldn't you be?!

Hello all

So this past week I was watching RAW and they had a very clever angle. They brought back Mick Foley for one of the most successful segments to ever be on RAW, “This is your life”. The original segment was on RAW in 1999 (which still is the highest segment of RAW ever). Foley was excited about him and the Rock winning the World Tag Team championships, and was showing his appreciation to the Rock for being his partner and his “friend”.

Last week Foley tried to do the same thing for John Cena. This segment was not quite as funny, but still entertaining. Foley brought out a few people from Cena’s life. But the friends and family that Foley brought out did not show the same respect for Cena. The thing that got my attention was something Foley said in the beginning of the segment. In the beginning, Foley said John Cena may be the best WWE superstar of today. He said he was one of the most well respected men in the business. From the main eventers to the jobbers (guys who always lose), Cena shows every man the same respect. But it was what he said earlier that caught my attention. When he said Cena has had some of the best matches he has seen. Does that sound familiar to any of you? For those of you who have read my blog (which I hope is a lot more than 5), you will remember that I wrote a blog about how great Cena has been on Pay Per View. So that tells me one thing, Mick Foley is reading my blog. Shouldn’t you be? Mick Foley will be the blog topic today.

Foley started out as a wrestling fan, who famously hitchhiked to Madison Square Garden to see a Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, steel cage match. He began training in 1983, working in a lot of the small promotions for almost an entire decade. Then in 1991, he made his debut in WCW. He started as Cactus Jack and had a few epic matches with Sting. He was the original extreme wrestlers. Back in WCW he would do a lot of work outside of the ring. He would drop flying elbows on wrestlers (including Sting) outside the ring, on the concrete. Foley had a pretty good run with WCW, then he went to ECW. In ECW, Foley got his chance to really get extreme, and help popularize the extreme movement that was ECW. But Foley did not get much of a run in ECW. So he left there and went to Japan, before he got his chance at the big time.

In 1996, Foley made it to the WWE. In the early part of his WWE career, he was not as big of a star as I’m sure Vince McMahon thought he would be when he brought him in. Foley started out as “Mankind”, I guess a take off of the Hannibal Lecter character from “Silence of the Lambs”. Mankind would have a few good matches, battling Vader, and even fighting Shawn Michaels for the WWE championship, but he still not did not get the respect he deserved. Foley would go back and forth as this character, Cactus Jack, and a 3rd Dude Love. Foley seemed destined to be a mid-carder until the match that changed his life. In 1998 Foley finished a feud with the Undertaker. They had every kind of match you could imagine. So what match would they have to end it all? Hell in the Cell. This is the famous Cell match where Taker throws Foley off the top of the cage. 16 feet in the air, on to an announce table. But that was not the end of the match. Later in the match, somehow Foley got back on top of the cage, only to get choke slammed through it by Taker.

After this you would have thought Foley was done with wrestling, but no. As a matter of fact, this was the beginning of Foley’s rise in popularity. Fans were starting to make signs that read “Foley is God”. And they would all rush to their feet when his music would play. And while doing this, Foley’s character became more of a baby-faced character. He would get on the mic, and speak. He would do segments that really showcased his personality. McMahon even came up with a title for him, and made him the 1st Hardcore Champion. This did not satisfy Foley because he set his sights on the WWE title. After he got screwed out of the WWE title by the Rock and McMahon, he made it his mission to win the title. On an episode of RAW that aired on January 4th 1999, Foley defeated the Rock for the WWE title. During an episode of Monday Nitro, which was WCW’s rival show, the announcer gave away the surprise that Foley would win. Instead of it making more people stay, it made everyone tune in to RAW and watch Foley win the WWE title. Foley would go on to become a 3 time WWE champion and would have a long run with the company, until he left for what seemed like greener pastures at TNA.

After arriving in TNA, Foley hit the ground running. He joined the company in 2008, and got involved in a big storyline between Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle. Foley also stared working with “the monster” Abyss. Abyss seemed to have a lot in common with Foley, and Foley was acting as his mentor, coming out to the ring with Abyss and even giving him his signature look, the plaid lumberjack shirt. Later with that company, Foley became the top guy, defeating Sting (déjà vu), to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. After losing the title to Angle, Foley helped bring some of the former ECW guys to the company, and even helped them have their own ppv named “Hardcore Justice”. After bringing all of the old guys back to TNA for another shot at glory, Foley was used sparingly on TV until he asked for and was granted his release from the company the past summer.

I know Foley is not exactly reading my blog, but he should be. There is great stuff here. But on a more serious note, Foley is one of the innovators in this business. He ushered in the Hardcore Era. All of the stuff that Jeff Hardy, Dudley Boys, Edge did when he was popularizing the TLC match, even fans of the ECW movement, owe a debt of gratitude to Mick Foley. He was the common man, who worked his tail off, and rose to the greatest of heights in this business, becoming a multiple WWE champion. Not because he was a good politician, but because he gave everything he had in that ring, and in doing so he captured the hearts of millions. And in the process lost a few teeth, brain cells, and part of his ear.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!