My Top 10 Favorite Raw Moments

Well folks, tonight's the night. This has been built up for quite a while and I admit that I'm actually looking forward to watching RAW tonight. I'm sure this is one the WWE will be going all out for, and many surprise appearances will be in store. WWE.com has been counting down RAW's greatest moments of the last 15 years. I'd like to share my favorites with you…

10. Intercontinental Title Battle Royal

This was the 20 Man Battle Royal for the vacant Intercontinental Title from 1993. While Bobby Heenan's Bastion Booger jokes would have been reason enough to rank this #10, this would be the shot in the arm of the singles career of Razor Ramon (aka Scott Hall.) He and Rick Martel would co-win this and meet next week for the title with Razor coming out on top. That win was the first of several Intercontinental Title reigns for "Da Bad Guy," and while Scott Hall is nothing short of sad nowadays, he was one of WWE's major players in the early years of the Raw era.

9. ECW Invades (Part 1)

This may not seem like that big of a deal now with ECW as a 3rd Brand, but tuning into Raw during the attitude era and seeing Paul Heyman was a pretty big deal at the time. ECW was invited to show up and give WWE fans a taste of extreme, as ECW stars wrestled each other in 3 matches of the Raw telecast. It was pretty surreal seeing The BWO, Little Guido, Taz, Mikey Whipreck, Tommy Dreamer, and D-Von Dudley on Monday night programming. The highlight of this, of course, was Sabu appearing and jumping off of the RAW letters in the entrance way onto Team Taz. I, for one, was very excited to find out that this angle will be a featured as of the 15th Anniversary Best of Raw DVD coming out later this month.

8. Edge's Birthday

One of my favorite backstage segments EVER… Edge, Christian, Kurt Angle, and Triple H sitting around in a locker room celebrating Edge's birthday. What made this so awesome? Theme music played via kazoo by Christian with Edge covering the vocals. This continued on for a few more weeks with the Canadian duo paying homage to Chris Benoit and Crash Holly using this method. For this initial segment, however, these four played off of each other perfectly, and was one of the early stages of developing Edge & Christian's personalities.

7. Replay of Hart/Smith from In Your House

My memory isn't kicking as to when this actually occurred, but it was sometime between the night after and two weeks after the December 95 In Your House Pay Per View. It was pretty awesome of them to do this, as they aired the WWE Championship Match between Bret Hart and The British Bulldog in its entirety. It doesn't hurt that the match was pretty damn good, too.

6. Mike Awesome wins Hardcore Title

The Hardcore Title, held by Rhyno, was under 24/7 Rules at the time. Rhyno is shown walking backstage when all of a sudden he gets blindsided by Mike Awesome who promptly pins him to win the Hardcore Title. Why was this so important? Mike Awesome was a member of the WCW roster. This Again, my memory isn't the best but I think he laid Rhyno out with a chair then put him through a table. Regardless, this is what kicked off the WCW Invasion, and while that failed in the end, this moment was at least pretty intriguing.

5. DX Parodies The Nation

One of the all time classics. Jason Sensation playing Owen Hart, Triple H as the Crock, and X Pac as Mizark Henry were all very humorous. While this opened up a can of worms to let them think they could recreate the awesomeness of this by doing impersonations of the Corporation and more recently The McMahons again, this was something that I remembered and people were talking about for a very long time.

4. ECW Invades (Part 2)

This almost would have ranked higher on my list had it not turned into "The Alliance" by the end of the show, but the night that Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam debuted on Raw was pretty sweet. Kane & Chris Jericho were facing Lance Storm and Mike Awesome of WCW when they attacked. Members of the Raw roster (The Dudleys, Tazz, Justin Credible, Rhyno, and Raven) came to make the save, only to realize that they were all former ECW wrestlers and lay the boots to Jericho & Kane while Paul Heyman reveals it all as an ECW Invasion. For me, this was one of the most unbelievable moments I had witnessed in wrestling. They were sitting on a gold mine with this, but somehow they managed to screw things up royally. Just like they did again in 2006...

3. Lita & Trish Main Event Raw

These last 3 are kind of feel good moments for me. Lita and Trish Stratus had countless battles between one another and at this point were capable of putting together a pretty kick ass match. The bookers had a pretty good feeling that they would and let them go out there and close out the show in December 2004. The feel good moment stemming from this is the faith in these two to run with the ball. They delivered, and while Lita fucked up her neck in the process, she beat Trish to regain the Womens Title. While Lita winning the title initally from Stephanie McMahon in the Main Event of Raw in 2000 felt pretty good too, this felt a little more special headlining the show considering there was no one in the match named McMahon.

2. Eddie Guererro Tribute

While his death was a tragedy, the Raw where they paid tribute to Eddie was a special night. Seeing Raw stars vs Smackdown stars was a treat, as was Chris Benoit going over cleanly on Triple H. The match that stood out, however, was Shawn Michaels vs Rey Mysterio. They had a great match, and Shawn did the selfless thing by putting Rey over clean. To me, that win helped legitimize Mysterio as being able to hang with Main Eventers on his way to winning The Royal Rumble and eventually the World Title.

1. Mick Foley wins World Title

This was the ultimate feel good moment, as nobody saw it coming, or at least until they posted it on Wwe/f.com and Eric Bischoff blurted it out on Nitro. Foley had already gotten screwed over by the Rock at Survivor Series and Rock Bottom, and got screwed one more time this night by Shane McMahon in a match against Triple H. Frustrated, Foley did the only thing he could... hold Shane McMahon hostage in order to get one more rematch with Rock later that night. After some help from DX, the unthinkable happened, and Mrs. Foley's baby boy was the WWE Champion. Contrary to what Bischoff believed, it did in fact put some asses in seats, and some viewers on the TV.

A lot has happened in the last 15 years, but Monday Night Raw is still around, and will most likely be around another 15 years from now. I'm looking forward to seeing what they end up doing for this, to see will become of the Evolution Reunion, to see if Carlito will win the Intercontinental Title as part of the agreement for him to stick around, to see the return of Sunny, to see what will most likely be the second coming of the Gimmick Battle Royal… WWE can easily bounce back from Thursday's ratings loss with a good number here. There's enough hype surrounding Raw tonight. Here's to hoping they deliver, and here's to hoping for one more feel good moment for Monday Night RAW...

More on This Story...

It’s All About the Wrestling: Building a Better Tomorrow

TNA is in a spot right now I don’t envy. Their World Title is vacant and they are having a King of the Mountain match at June’s Slammiversary. This in itself isn’t a problem; the crowning of a new champion is always exciting for fans. The problem is that TNA is overflowing with main event talent. While the WWE struggles to fill their main events due to a massive rash of recent injuries, TNA could go weeks without having to use the same two guys in a main event. On the surface this seems like a good thing but it actually places TNA in a bind.

TNA has an opportunity here to advance their brand and build it for tomorrow all at the same time. Having Angle, or Sting, or Jarrett, or even Christian win the title places TNA in a holding pattern and they won’t be growing. The time is ripe for a new champion. The time is ripe for Samoa Joe to hoist the belt in the air and carry this fed on his back like he has been groomed to do.

I myself am not a big Joe fan but one cannot deny his immense talent. If TNA wants to advance their brand beyond, they need to do something new. They need to tell the old brood (Angle and crew) that now is the time of Joe. Now is the time of Styles. These guys are TNA wrestling. Let them carry the load. Allow the veterans to work with younger up and comers building for a better tomorrow while also making your mid-card stronger.

Admittedly two of the big guns have already begun doing this. Sting recently had a long feud with Abyss and is now set to feud with Christopher Daniels. Jeff Jarrett recently began working with Robert Roode and “Showtime” Eric Young. These guys showing an ability to step away from the main event only strengthens TNA.

I’m not suggesting that these big guns stay out of the hair of the champion’s hair either, because they need to be showcased as well. Just not all at once. Now is the time TNA, now is the time to move forward, move forward and build a better tomorrow.

I would also like to extend my deepest sympathies to Jeff Jarrett and his children as they cope with the loss of his wife and their mother, Jill.

As always you can e-mail me with your questions, comments and flames at pwp.chris@gmail.com. I’ll catch you next week.

More on This Story...

Scorekeeping: Sacrifice

TNA’s Sacrifice pay-per-view took place this past Sunday and it needed to continue the momentum built up by TNA over the last few weeks of good Impact shows.

Opener: Chris Sabin vs. “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt

If there is something that TNA has done well over the last two pay-per-views it is open the show with a very good match. It was a little odd that despite having two X-Division matches on the card they led off with the championship but the move was one that quickly brought you into the show. All three competitors were flying all over the place with insane high impact moves, surprisingly Chris Sabin retained the X-Division title. B+

Mid-Card: Robert Roode vs. Jeff Jarrett

Staying out of the main event circle and working with up and comer Robert Roode, Jeff Jarrett got his biggest crowd ovation in a long time. It helped that the storyline for the match was actually well fleshed out, something a lot of the matches in Sacrifice benefited from. Both Roode and Jarrett put on a very well wrestled match, with Roode getting the overall win. “Showtime” Eric Young came out to Jarrett’s defense after the match receiving quite the crowd pop as well. C+

Mid-Card: Christopher Daniels vs. Rhino

Christopher Daniels has had a massive transformation from a couple of months ago. He is still the great wrestler he was but much like AJ Styles he has had a personality shift, unlike Styles I don’t think it suits him. His opponent Rhino has feuded extensively with Daniels’ former partner, Styles, so I knew what to expect going into this match. As expected Rhino had the large size advantage but being the lumbering fool he is allowed for Daniels to get the slip on him and win the match via shady means. Much like Rhino’s matches with Styles, Rhino extracted revenge after the match. C

Mid-Card: Basham and Damaja vs. Kip James

Early in the show they showed a clip of the Outlaws (err… VKM) getting attacked by Basham and Damaja and Road Dogg was rushed to the hospital with a head injury making this a handicapped match. Billy held his own against Christy Hemme’s clowns for a good while but eventually succumbed to their greater numbers. Lance Hoyt came out to defend the Bad Ass after the match had been decided. C

Gimmick: Texas Death Match

Last month at the Lockdown pay-per-view James Storm and Chris Harris were involved in one of the worst matches I have seen in my life, the Blindfold Cage match, so I was really apprehensive about these two squaring off again in another gimmick match. Much to my surprise these two put on one of the best Hardcore matches in recent memory. The blood was flowing, there were tables, there were chairs, there were beer bottles. The two were a bloody mess by the end but unlike last month when the chants of boring and “Fire Russo” were flooding the speakers this time only chants of “TNA” and “This is awesome” filled the crowd. Harris got the win after smacking Storm over the head with a bottle but I don’t think it would have mattered who got the win because the match was that good. B+

Mid-Card: Jerry Lynn vs. Tiger Mask vs. Alex Shelly vs. Senshi

This match introduced TNA to Japanese sensation Tiger Mask. I personally think this match, while note being anywhere as good as the X-Division Title match, should have led off the night. Like most matches involving the X-Division this match was filled with crazy moves and lots of highflying action. Tiger Mask had some great moves but looks only slightly less ridiculous than Shark Boy. I hope they aren’t planning on pushing his character too far as it doesn’t really fit well with TNA’s overall persona. Jerry Lynn got the win by rolling up Alex Shelly. C+

Mid-Card: Team 3D vs. LAX vs. Scott Steiner and Tomko

I don’t like three-way tag matches. I particularly don’t like three-way tag matches for championships but I can see why they wanted to do it this way because Team 3D and LAX was getting old. I have said recently I like the teaming of Steiner and Tomko but it seems like that dysfunctional pairing has come to an end as the two could not get along during the match and it turned ugly afterwards. The match itself was OK, it was nothing special but nothing overly good about it either. The best thing about the match actually took place after the match when Steiner and Tomko arguing over their defeat, after Tomko was pinned by Brother Ray, went to blows and Rick Steiner came out to help his brother. I’m hoping Rick is around for a bit as the Steiner Brothers are one of my favorite tag teams of all time. C+

Mid-Card: Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles

Pitting these two against each other is never a bad idea. Problem was I don’t remember anything memorable from this match. It was well wrestled but then again when isn’t a match with these two well wrestled? I honestly just don’t remember anything special about this match. C

Main Event: Christian Cage vs. Kurt Angle vs. Sting

I had some problems with them pitting these three against each other as I felt it was time for a solo championship. After watching the other two titles not change hands during the show I felt that Christian would retain which was what I wanted anyway. All three put on a fantastic match but the ending knocks it down a peg. Sting has Christian pinned, Angle has the ankle lock on Sting and the three count for Sting comes in a moment before Sting taps out (to a new referee). Somehow though Angle gets the title. I’m sure they will address the situation on this weeks Impact but the ending left a bad taste in my mouth. B

Overall TNA put on an entertaining show. Score wise Sacrifice comes in just short of Lockdown with a 2.61, although unlike Lockdown the matches were consistently good but there was less great moments. The biggest difference I saw was the storylines actually playing well into almost every match, which is a big improvement over past TNA shows. More on This Story...

It's All About the Wrestling: Double J, The Macho Man, Showcasing and Sacrifice

One of the great things about being a fan is that we can change our mind when the wind blows. A few weeks ago I wrote an article entitled “Two Words, One Man”, which heralded the dreaded return of Jeff Jarrett. The entire article was about how I despised him. My hatred for him was not born out of his being a heel character because I have never liked Jeff Jarrett. That did not change when he returned from his self-imposed hiatus to become the fifth member of Team Angle at the TNA Lockdown pay-per-view. That did not change when he gift-wrapped a title shot for Sting at the Lockdown pay-per-view. It did not even change when he cut a heart felt in ring promo after Lockdown. No, I hated Jeff Jarrett but something happened and now I can’t help but like the guy.

Sure his storyline for the upcoming Sacrifice pay-per-view is a little weak but it is good to see Jarrett helping to push to promising young guys, Robert Roode and Eric Young, instead of pushing himself. Double J’s tenure with TNA has been pretty much been Jarrett himself pushing the Jeff Jarrett agenda. This new willingness to help make the overall product better is something that can be respected and appreciated. And boy was that guitar shot to Ms. Brooks sweet.

While Jeff Jarrett has a long history in both TNA and wrestling in general, one young TNA star doesn’t have any legacy to pull off of so he has adopted a fantastic gimmick, all the while putting on a tribute to one of the best wrestlers ever. I am speaking about Jay “Black Machismo” Lethal. Lethal is quite the promising young star and has recently been highlighted in TNA’s X-Division because of his new Macho Man impersonation. I’ve heard many people complaining about the gimmick, calling it stupid and the like, but really the gimmick was stupid when the great Randy Savage did it.

My only complaint with Lethal is that he doesn’t pull off the flying elbow drop quite as well as Savage did. The real Macho Man seemed to be able to suspend himself in mid-air as he came in to drop the elbow, an even more impressive feat when you look at his size. Lethal though is much, much smaller, yet he seems to fly twice as fast towards his awaiting prey. Regardless with a little more work, and maybe a valet, Lethal could really take off with this gimmick. It’s nice to see TNA showcasing some of their young talent.

Black Machismo though isn’t the only one TNA should be showcasing, they should be featuring their X-Division more and not in goofy gimmick matches that make little to no sense either. What TNA needs are more matches like the Alex Shelley/Chris Sabin vs. Black Machismo/Sonjay Dutt tag match from the last Impact. From the fantastic teamwork to the insane moves, this match had it all. It had everything wrestling fans truly want, because it was real wrestling. If TNA wants to bring in more fans they need to showcase these types of matches on a more frequent basis.

Recently Brother Ray (of Team 3D or the Dudleys, take your pick) said that TNA seemed to be trying to hard and should maybe take a “less is more” approach. I have to totally agree with him. In the recent months TNA has been trying to fit as many of their stars on Impact, in the short amount of time they are allotted each week. Not enough story and not enough wrestling equals a less appealing overall product. If TNA could give us a tag match like the one from this past Impact, the product as a whole would be better for it

If the overall product is better, the buy rate for their pay-per-views will be better and that is where TNA needs to make up ground. Sure they don’t have the install base that WWE has but because of this they need to up the percentage of people who watch their product and also buy their pay-per-views. The upcoming Sacrifice pay-per-view should be a something good for those that do buy TNA pay-per-views though.

This Sunday (Mother’s Day), TNA will put on the Sacrifice pay-per-view. All three championships will be on the line. Unfortunately all three championship matches will be three way dances so TNA will be flexing their gimmick muscle yet again. The X-Division championship will be up for grabs as Chris Sabin defends his title against both Jay “Black Machismo” Lethal and Sonjay Dutt. The NWA tag titles will be on the line as current champs, Team 3D battle against former champs LAX and the dysfunctional team of Scott Steiner and Tomko. While Christian Cage must defend his world championship against both Kurt Angle and the Icon, Sting. The most interesting match to me though is the mid-card bought between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. Both these guys exemplify what TNA is striving to be and I expect this match to be the best of the night.

As always you can e-mail me with your questions, comments and flames at pwp.chris@gmail.com. I’ll catch you next week with a score sheet for Sacrifice and another It’s All About the Wrestling. More on This Story...

It's All About the Wrestling: Cutting Ties, Gimmicks and the Frankensteiner

I know that's a mouthful up there but I didn't have a catchy title for this little bit.

TNA has severed ties with the popular independent promotion Ring of Honor, as well as other indy promotions. Many are taken aback by the decision to sever the ties as many top name stars have wrestled on the indy circuit in the past. A scheduled return of Samoa Joe to ROH had to be canceled. While I understand the fans being upset, I also totally understand the business side of it, and TNA could not with any sense of growing their business allow their stars to continue to perform in ROH.

Ring of Honor recently announced that they were going to start PPV services as well as video on demand. Would Vince allow Triple H and HBK show up at an Impact PPV? Hell no. So why should TNA be expected to allow their stars to perform on a competing promotions PPV? They shouldn't. While we as fans want to be entertained and given the best possible product for our money, TNA, ROH and WWE are all still businesses out to take a piece of the pro-wrestling money pie.

Speaking of money, as some of you know I bought the Lockdown PPV. The whole PPV is a giant gimmick, every match takes place inside the six sides of steel, so why do we need to pile gimmicks on top of gimmicks? Electrified cage, blindfolds? Who needs this crap. Team 3D and LAX did not think the match was going to work and guess what? They were right. It might have worked in 1987 but not in 2007. So after an entire PPV filled with gimmicks we return to normal at the Sacrifice PPV right? Well not entirely. Sacrifice is going to feature not one, not two, but three triple threat matches (a triple threat of triple threat matches) as well as a Texas Death Match (whatever the hell that is).

One of those triple threat matches at Sacrifice will feature Scott Steiner and his new tag team partner Tomko. Since Steiner returned from his short hiatus I have been very impressed with his in ring work and partnered with Tomko he has actually strung together a few really good promos. Not only that but at the Lockdown PPV he busted out the Frankensteiner and he says its out of retirement. This turn of workmanship is a good thing for TNA and hopefully he will keep it up.

One last thing before I close out for the week. I only caught the last 10 or 11 minutes of Impact this week but what I saw (The Angle/Sting vs. Cage/Styles match) was very good. Cage and Styles work very well together and I still think that the plan is once Christian drops the belt to team the two of them together as a tag team and make a run at bolstering that division. Overall it was just good old school wrestling which is what TNA does best. More on This Story...

TNA: Wasted Opportunity

Wasted Opportunity. That is what TNA should have called Impact last night. Now don't get me wrong, I thought Impact was very good last night, one of the best of the year thus far. TNA did a lot of things right last night. Most importantly they got the wrestling right. Yeah, there were three crap finishes but the matches before the finishes were actually really good. The promos didn't run on too long and were funny and entertaining while advancing the story lines but they primarily focused on the wrestling.

But they missed an opportunity to do something which just isn't done much anymore. They missed the chance to have a major title change hands on prime time television. For too long now, both in the WWE and TNA, title changes have been reserved for pay-per view events. Yeah, every once in a while a belt changes hands but it doesn't happen often and when it does the fed plays down the title change. Last night TNA had a great opportunity to do something special and advance the storyline going into the Sacrifice PPV. Yet they screwed the pooch.

Do I think Sting should be holding the number one contender's slot when it is pretty apparent they want him working with the younger guys to help them get over? No. But they made their bed at Lockdown by having him get the win, so why not advance your storyline in a positive manner? I mean they set it up perfectly. Angle and Sting attempt to settle their differences the old fashioned way. Christian and gang interferes, brutalizing Angle. Cornette then books the title match for the main event that very night.

By having Sting win the belt on Impact would turn some heads. But instead they take the well worn path and have Angle interfere allowing Christian to keep the belt. This sets up their triple threat match for Sacrifice, which leaked only a couple of days after Lockdown. But if Sting had won the title the triple threat match could still have been had and I think it would have been much better. Bear with me a moment longer and let's say Sting won the title. Sting offers Angle the title shot based on the events from Impact. Christian complains he should get his rematch. And poof, there is your triple threat match and it comes off of a nice gesture to the fans as well but instead we get more of the same. What a waste.

On a side note, the man who boils my blood, Jeff Jarrett got his largest crowd pop in years when he came out to help Eric Young and the guitar shot on Ms. Brooks was priceless. If they plan on having Double J work with the younger stars, much like their plan for Sting, then I think even I may be able to stomach him. More on This Story...

Soup Du Jour

“Show me that smile again. (Show me that smile)
Don't waste another minute on your cryin.
We're nowhere near the end (nowhere near)
The best is ready to begin.

Oooohhh. As long as we got each other
We got the world spinnin right in our hands.
Baby you and me, we gotta be
The luckiest dreamers who never quit dreamin.

As long as we keep on givin
We can take anything that comes our way
Baby, rain or shine, all the time
We got each other Sharin the laughter and love.”

Who would have ever thought years ago that three guys posing as extreme vampires would be the future of wrestling? Not this wrestling fan…no way. But it’s only appropriate to use the theme from “Growing Pains” to describe the collective careers of Edge and Christian.

Its hard to not picture Edge with his devilish smirk grinning at Christian after they won the tag team titles for the first time. At that time you had to think that their combined careers were no where near the end. Oh yes dare I say it the best is yet to begin.

As long as they had each other (and either Gangrel, R.E.C.K., The Ministry [which later sold out to corporate sponsors], or even Miami ink’s favorite customer: Tyson Tomko). They had the world in their hands in 2006; when both Edge (WWE) and Christian (NWA) had won the Crown Jewels of their respective companies. With wins over “chump stains” John Cena and Jeff Jarett. Edge’s belt did spin!

They were the luckiest of dreamers who never did quit dreaming. Christian most likely did the best for his career when he bolted for TNA. While Edge got to have “Live Sex Celebrations” on Raw. Nevertheless, I’d rather be a perennial contender than to hold the breath taking breasts of a retired Diva.

They’ve kept on giving blood sweat and tears from tables, ladders, and chairs. They took every opportunity that came their way. It’s a shame now that they don’t have each other. Because I know I’d be sharing in the laughter and love.




Baby, rain or shine, all the time, that is why you have to have nuts to make the soup du jour!

This is for those fans who have flash photography as well as flash shockwave!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cpYPCBdbOk



Lyrics taken courteously from Blackcatter's World of Tv Theme Songs Lyrics http://www.cfhf.net/lyrics/growing.htm More on This Story...

I Like TNA

There, I said it, not that I was holding it in.

Every Thursday night, I park myself in front of the television (sometimes at differing times) to watch my favorite hour and only hour of wrestling programming each week. Go on, ridicule me. Mock mercilessly. I'll take it gladly. Because while Impact may not boast "Total Nonstop Action" (despite its name), this is the best wrestling on TV. You will mock me and say WWE puts on a better show but I shall strike you down like the inglorious bastards you are.

TNA is more Extreme than ECW (a brand that is a disgrace to the original name) and implements better storylines into four hours of monthly programming than the entire WWE does in 20. TNA does all that and puts on a better monthly pay-per-view than WWE does. A McMahon vs. Trump feud? This is what Vince feeds his followers? I'll take a Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle feud any day of the week. I'll even add an extra day to the week, just so I can take it again.

By the way, I'm Chris and I'm one of the new writers here. As you may or may not be able to tell, I am slightly slanted towards TNA. This slant mostly came after a couple years of, outside of Wrestlemania, being away from wrestling all together. News hit me that Sting was about to get a push to win the NWA World Title and I sat down to watch the drama unfold. Yes, I am a big Sting fan and you can hold him directly responsible for my renewed interest in Sports Entertainment. Regardless, I started watching TNA religiously at its ever changing date and time. What caught my eye though was the quality of the matches, and I'm not talking Sting's matches here either (I'm such a mark for him that I would watch him wrestle a ham sandwich and would find it entertaining as long as he put said sandwich in the Scorpion Deathlock). No, instead I was introduced to the likes of AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin and Samoa Joe not to mention a host of other X-Division stars. These guys were doing things that I hadn't seen, well some of it since never.

Not only that but TNA had a host of big names stars in addition to Sting, including Christian Cage, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, The Dudleys (under the guise of Team 3-D), The New Age Outlaws (in the guise of the James Gang, since changed to the ridiculous Voodoo Kin Mafia) and Raven (once again being grossly under-used). This was like a dream fed for me, some of the best from WCW and the Attitude Era WWE, the only thing that was missing was Chris Jericho and I would cream my pants.

But enough about the roster because this is about wrestling and TNA did it better than anything I had seen coming out of WWE. It seems sometime around the end of the Monday Night War Vince forgot that one of the W's in WWE was for wrestling. TNA doesn't even have a W and I was getting more wrestling and better quality out those matches than what Vince was producing up the coast.

Let's not even start on the PPV quality. On second thought let's. What TNA really excels at is their PPVs. Given three hours uninterrupted to play with, they make a real wrestling fan like me smile. Sometimes it even brings a tear to my eyes. I watched Genesis on November 13, 2006 and while it didn't quite live up to the two previous TNA PPVs I had watched (No Surrender and Bound for Glory), when compared, head to head, with WWE's November 26, 2006 Survivor Series TNA takes the cake. Nothing on the WWE card compared to Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle. I know, I was there in the Wachovia Center struggling to stay awake with the rest of the crowd. I myself am more pumped up for TNA's Lockdown PPV, taking place in a little over a week, than I was for last Sunday's Wrestlemania. The more I think about Wrestlemania, the more I am disappointed.

Sure TNA needs improvement but some of the fun is seeing what sticks and what doesn't with them. I mean really Elevation X was a complete joke but something the WWE would most likely not even attempt. At least TNA took a chance, something the WWE seems unwilling to do. Cena, Undertaker, Lashley? WWE these are your champions? Christian Cage has more charisma than those three do in his left finger and is arguably a better wrestler than all three.

As I said improvement is needed, as well as a two hour show, but overall TNA gives more in it's limited time than either RAW, Smackdown or ECW. Oh and before you go on about how ECW has the same amount of time TNA does, please know your role and shut your mouth. ECW has the same amount of time to prepare for, at best, a couple of PPV matches not an entire card, so it's nowhere near the same.

Anyway those are my two cents. I like TNA and I'll obnoxiously tell you about it. More on This Story...

The Return of Crash TV

Vince Russo has returned to wrestling, bringing back a formula he popularized during the late 90's wrestling boom, Crash TV. Under the watchful eye of a supervisor like Vince McMahon, Russo thrived.

However his exploits since have led many to wonder exactly how much of the success of the Attitude Era can be attributed to Russo. The more power and control given to Russo without someone like McMahon to keep him in check usually meant more mind-numbing garbage for wrestling viewers to struggle through. So the question I pose is, how much "Impact" can TNA have with Vince Russo in charge?

****Warning: Spoilers Ahead****
It should have been the greatest night in TNA history up to this point. TNA was about to go prime time, and this was no reference to Elix Skipper. After four long years, this was the opportunity these guys had been waiting for. TNA was no stranger to new audiences. After making moves from Nashville to Orlando, Pay Per View to Fox Sports Net, and Fox Sports Net to Spike TV, TNA has had to reestablish their show for different audiences over and over again.

For this reason alone there was great reason to have faith in the product TNA would provide on this night, but TNA had an ace up their proverbial sleeve. In addition to their strong core of talent they had built over the past four years, they had just procured one of the most valuable talents in the wrestling business from their main competitor. TNA had signed a multi-time former world champion and olympic gold medalist, Kurt Angle, and on this night, he would make his in-ring debut.

The show begins with several of TNA's hottest home-grown commodities. LAX, AMW, and Samoa Joe highlight the beginning of the broadcast. Joe, who has been undefeated for 18 months may not look resemble the prototype of what the future of this business has been believed to be in the past, but he certainly has made a connection with fans.

Based on their styles, he is the perfect opponent for Kurt Angle. TNA recognizes this, but rather than create a slow build that ends with big money, they give it a little over a month to develop, and throw it on the Genesis Pay-Per-View, referring to it as the "Dream Match of the Decade."

It is hard to argue that Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle is one of the most highly anticipated matches of the year in either promotion. It may be the most highly anticipated match in TNA history. Still, this decade has presented such highly anticipated matches as NCAA Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Olympic Champion Kurt Angle, Best of the 90's Shawn Michaels vs. Best of the New Milennium Kurt Angle, as well as Hogan vs. The Rock and Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels.

This is not to make an argument that TNA should reference the competition (although they have proven time and time again that they love doing so) or that they shouldn't pull out all the stops to put their own product over, but still, whether casual fan or smart mark, the idea that this is the "Dream Match of the Decade" seems a bit contrived, especially with rumors of a Hogan/Austin match surfacing every so often. In reality, it's not the dream match of the decade. Angle himself has been in two bigger in the last 5 years.

In the meantime Kevin Nash is in the bathroom with Austin Starr and Alex Shelley. We later find out that Nash is naked, as he does his most tiresome promo since the dying days of WCW. Unfunny and uninteresting.

At the end of the show Nash namedrops Shawn Michaels in his promo. If only this was the only reference to HBK on the show. As Kazarian is in the process of cutting a promo about himself, Matt Bentley, and Johnny Devine, we get a very confusing TNA-tron for the Voodoo Kin Mafia, which I wrongly assume will be the name of the movement Kazarian is referring to.

Instead, it turns out to be BG James and Kip James, who are "back in black" after quitting a week earlier. It seems they are spinning their wheels as new shirts and bandanas, and a really hideous dye job to Kip's hair don't appear to be the answers to their struggling careers. It's obvious where this is going, as it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that VKM are Vince's initials. Wrestling is famous for these types of ribs. Virgil, Ted Dibiase's slave shares his gimmick name with American Dream Dusty Rhodes' real name. Later when he moves to WCW, he is renamed Vincent. They spit the names Paul Levesque, Michael Hickenbottom, and Vince McMahon in an awkwardly forced attempt to be controversial.

Let me bring some war to Brian James Armstrong and Monty Sopp. If you are going to talk about Degeneration X, talk about their history in correct terms. Degeneration X was created while The Roadie was attempting to live off the fact that it was he who really sang, "With My Baby Tonight" and while Billy Gunn was managed by the Honky Tonk Man and billed as Rockabilly. Both men should have probably been released, but it was decided to throw them together. I give them both a lot of credit for making something out of nothing.

However, I give Vince McMahon more credit. Later, as singles wrestlers Vince again tried to make something out of nothing by pushing them both, even going so far as making Gunn a King of the Ring winner. However, his sheer athleticism which was always pushed by Jim Ross would never allow him to break through to become a bigger superstar. He remained on the WWE roster longer than most, and was repackaged all the way from a Smokin Gunn to being "The One."

At one point his theme music said he was an Ass Man, but he proved he could be even gayer with tag partner Chuck. What does he have for his long and moderately successful WWE run? A lot of bitterness. The New Age Outlaws were able to get over in WWE, and due to Shawn Michaels back injury and a returning X-Pac, they were able to get a run in Degeneration X. With a few catchy phrases and the ability to leech off of something that the fans already supported, they had a great run.

In TNA under a multitude of names, gimmicks, and storylines, they have not been able to get over. That my friends, is no fault of Vince McMahon, Paul Levesque, or Michael Hickenbottom. The angle seems amatuerish, and the unhealthy obsession of the Voodoo Kin Mafia on their more successful counterparts up in Stamford makes the whole TNA product look second rate.

Christian Cage and Rhino attempt to save the show with a fantastic, albiet overbooked, cage match. Bolt Cutters, Strait Jackets, and Chairs, Oh My! They use a fairly standard finish, used by Snuka/Muraco and Austin/McMahon. Still, it looked great. These guys are what's right about TNA right now, but the problem is, they are WWE midcarders. Don't get me wrong, I like them both. I am a huge Christian fan. Still, no matter how much I wished for him to be a World Champion over the years, when he finally got his chance, the fans lamed out and the reign went flat.

Styles, Daniels, and Sabin wrestle next. Daniels wins the X title by pinning Sabin while AJ is outside dealing with Christian Cage, who by all means shouldn't be able to even walk. Russo thinks the best thing for the X Division is turning Sabin and Styles heel apparantely. He also is fond of jobbing out Sabin.

We then go to some remote location where LAX is ready to burn the flag. They hand the blow torch to Petey, which I love, because it seemingly is them wanting to commit the dirtiest of deeds, but pass the actual responsibility off to Williams. Williams then goes on to give one of the lamest speeches I have ever heard, proving he is no Patrick Henry. Hell, he's not even "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. It will always be a concern to me what would have happened had Williams not been handed the blow torch.

Would he have had his opportunity to go all Susan Powter and stop the madness? LAX gives him the beatdown. Then, lacking any true emotion, and appearing pre-taped, Tenay gives us a monologue that was better rehearsed than most plays I have seen.

I guess you can't spell Tenay without TNA, but you should be able to find two asses to fill seats for a national primetime broadcast who are better than Tenay and West. Tenay has long been an IWC favorite because he knows the names of moves and recognizes things that have Mexican and Japanese origin, but Tenay is incapable of generating the proper amount of emotion to get anything over.

One can assume that Tenay's boring demeanor is the reason for the hiring of Don West, who can best be described as being constantly on a bender. Stop screaming at me you big fat oaf. You almost make me miss Mark Madden. Ok, that was a little harsh. What would be wrong with having Cornette and Scott Hudson in the booth. At least with them we might be able to get past the Tony Schavonie "This is the most important night in wrestling history" schpiel that Tenay seemingly picked up and passed along to West. Tenay is wrestling's smartest dose of dramamine, and West is a caffiene-infused idiot. Those who thought the two would make a great pair were sadly mistaken.

West is so idiotic, you might have thought he was booking this garbage. No, that honor is all Russo's. Number one contender Abyss vs. the debuting Kurt Angle. Some would think you have to give them props for actually giving us a finish. The finish? Put the debuting Angle over the number one contender.

Yeah Yeah, I know, it's Kurt F'N Angle. Regardless, Abyss needs to be built as a serious contender to the World Heavyweight title to help sell this pay per view on Sunday, and it's hard to believe it when he's losing on Thursday night. He didn't just lose even. He tapped out.

Ah, but wait, we still got Joe vs. Angle to anticipate, right? Wrong. We get it right here on free tv, three nights before the PPV. Joe loses credibility by teaming with Abyss to handle an already beaten and tired Kurt Angle. This is obviously to set up Sting taking out Abyss, but still... Sting chases off Abyss, as Joe hooks submission moves on a lifeless angle. Backstage, in one of the most assinine moments I have ever seen, Sting is now hanging upside down in some sort of cartoon bear trap while Abyss is gently hitting him with a baseball bat. Wow, craptastic.

On to Genesis:

Before the PPV, Robert Roode loses to Eric Young. Pre-Russo, they were going in the right direction. He was a hot free agent, with various managers courting him, a throwback to my favorite wrestler ever, "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Lance Storm had his fair share to say about TNA's shoddy booking on his website in reference to this Roode angle. He ends up choosing Traci Brooks, and since has basically become a jobber. He now has dissention with Brooks. Who cares? Roode deserves better.

VKM squashes the newly repackaged New Movement. Well, that was a waste... They use HBK and Triple H's moves. Well, whoopdee crap. This angle is horrible, and can't possibly go anywhere that gives VKM or TNA for that matter the upper hand. For those who think Vince, DX, or WWE should acknowledge this on their shows, you are crazy. WWE would generate twice the audience TNA already has for them if a third of their casual audience flipped the channel because someone chose to acknowledge them.

DX has bigger fish to fry in the form of Edge and Orton. They have no reason to worry about VKM. It would be the equivalent of being 30 and hearing that some dude you went to high school with was talking shit because you stole his girlfriend 15 years ago. Just the mere fact that DX blows it off makes them look big time compared to VKM.

Later that night, Christian Cage defeats AJ Styles, and Styles continues his heel turn. Didn't Russo attempt this with Styles last time he was there, and didn't it fail? Didn't Russo also turn Goldberg for the sake of turning Goldberg? AJ's style won't work for a heel wrestler, and I don't see them toning him down any. Him and Daniels are more interesting as rivals than enemies.

Russo is grasping at straws to present the type of product he is used to, which is face vs. heel. That will involve throwing a lot of shit at the wall til something sticks, and that could involve a lot of failed heel and face turns that seemingly make no sense.

LAX defeats AMW, but it's all for not. AMW could be tag champs, but not LAX. Cornette comes out and strips them for attempting to burn the flag and beating up Petey Williams. If they don't hand over the belts, they will be fired. If wrestling were real, LAX would say F U to TNA and take the belts up north and lay them at Vince McMahon's feet. Normally this wouldn't matter, but this is coming from a company who loves worked shoots and loves referring to the WWE constantly.

Abyss defeats Sting via DQ, but becomes TNA champion. This is such a lackluster way for someone who has been with TNA for so long and has been so deserving to win the title. This is worse than Kane winning the belt and losing it the next day. I understand that this is a TNA rule, but no one will accept a champion that wins the title under these circumstances as being a true champion ever.

Even if Abyss holds the belt for two years, we will remember that he won it because Sting got disqualified. Now, in the first PPV after the relaunch, we have two titles marginalized. Three if you count the fact that Daniels didn't actually beat former champion Styles to win the X Division belt, but won it in a three way by pinning Sabin.

Now it was time for what is supposed to redeem this show. The intrigue is somewhat lost as the match was booked immediately upon Angle's arrival to TNA, Joe has basically been turned heel, and they basically were able to go for 20 minutes on free TV three days before, showing how they would counter each other's finishers and the like.

Joe didn't pass out while in the Ankle Lock, or even get pinned in a quick roll up. He definitively tapped out to the ankle lock. What if Joe had not given up, but could not continue? I know it's Kurt Angle, but regardless, this feud should have been booked to make money. TNA's insistance on instant gratification was a huge mistake.

Now, the great thing about TNA is that you can see into their future, up to three weeks, and while attempting to spare specific details so the show remains interesting, I do want to highlight some of the Crash TV that TNA is dishing out this month.

Highlight the following if you wish to read it:

- Sting is booked as Jesus Christ, as his disqualification is the equivalent of Jesus destroying the marketplace in the church before he was crucified. He will spend the next three weeks trying to show Abyss the light.

- Christian Cage comes to the ring in full Sting gear and mask, leaving us to wonder where in the hell the Sting Gear Warehouse for Wrestlers is located, as this is like the millionth time someone has worn his exact stuff to the ring. Russo loves dressing guys up as Sting, but he's not the first.

- Eric Young wears a turkey suit. Hooray for the Gobbledy Gooker.

- Eric Young, the misfit of TNA, defeats "wrestling's hottest prospect" Robert Roode again!

- All American Boy Petey Williams and Jim Cornette sing the Star Spangled Banner together. There is a lot of junk about flags to come.

- It is announced that Joe and Angle will meet again, and again it will be rushed to the next Pay Per View.

- The Voodoo Kin Mafia spends their frequent flyer miles to cut a promo in Stamford. Get over it guys, seriously.

- The first two weeks main events end in no contests. Russoriffic!

- We refer to Abyss by his real name, thus breaking kayfabe on one of the only characters in wrestling with any mystery to him. How about we take your mask off next week, Chris?

- Styles finishes turning heel, despite the fact that it will never work.

- Abyss has a shocking secret in his past, that somehow Christian knows about. I assume the bookstore he stopped at to read about Abyss' past is next to the Sting Gear Warehouse.

- Angle beats Joe again, as they face off the week before the PPV, again. Welp, no reason to buy this PPV either.

So TNA has effectively ruined some title belts, ruined some big money feuds, ruined some great babyfaces by turning them heel, and ruined some great heels by making them suck. All the action will be brought to you by your favorite commentators Don West and Mike Tenay, and everything you will see has to be coming from the mind of Vince Russo. TNA has a lot of problems right now. They certainly need a problem solver.

Oh yes, there is more crap to highlight below:


NEWS FLASH: TNA has signed Problem Solver Tyson Tomko. Somewhere, Tomko and his mom rumored to be the only two people really happy about it.

Thank you Mr. Russo for single-handedly steering TNA directly back to the minor leagues. Thank you Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter for allowing the return of Crash TV.

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