http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?6426-JohnnyV123 Wrestling News and Discussion - eWrestlingNews.com Community en Wed, 22 May 2013 06:19:09 GMT vBulletin 10 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?6426-JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45260-Wrestlemania-XXIX-Review-Best-Part-Worst-Part Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:22:21 GMT Hey! What do you know I watched a full WWE PPV live for the first time in probably 10 years and it happened to be Wrestlemania! I've been keeping up with the stories, watching stuff on the youtubes, and was interested what they were going to deliver especially with a surprisingly short build for the biggest PPV of the year. Going to give some general thoughts and then a best part and worst part of each match.

The crowd-Maybe I am being unfair by remembering Miami's awesome crowd last year, but this crowd was not very good at covering up creative's faults. They were almost entirely dead for a few matches and had some odd reactions. I'll get to them as I go through the matches.
Best part: Rock reaction. Nice gigantic pop for the man
Worst part: Del Rio reaction. Near silence for the world heavyweight champion. Ouch.

Sheamus, Randy Orton, and Big Show vs. The Shield-I liked this match for the most part and the crowd seemed into it too. I liked when Show speared The Shield as they went for the triple powerbomb even though he botched it a bit. Shield get the victory in a surprise to very few while Show chooses to not break up the pin.
Best part: Sheamus removing Rollins vest and clubbing him repeatedly in the chest then doing the same to Amrbose.
Worst part: The odd ending. Why did Show when confronting Orton choose to turn around and punch an already battered Sheamus in the face if he was going to KO punch Orton after anyways? It looked awkward and the crowd was sort of confused but did give Show a good boo.

Mark Henry vs. Ryback-This match lived up to expectations and sucked royally. Most of it was clubbing blows and rest holds. Shocker that Henry won though.
Best part: Okay it was cool when Ryback picked up and walked around with Henry for a shell shock....but the match was already over. Plus if they were wanting to create a "Wrestlemania moment" they shouldn't have had Ryback show 2 minutes before that he could lift and hold Henry over his head. The fans didn't pop as big as they could have because the match didn't build to the moment.
Worst part: Ryback looks like he's escaping from a bear hug and for the third time Henry pulls him back in. The crowd starts chanting boring. Deservedly so.

Kane and Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston Tag Team Championship Match-Need to spark life back into the crowd? This was the match to do it. Quickly paced match with a lot of action and cool spots. Team Hell No got massive love from the crowd. Big E held his own in his debut. Impressive triple back breaker on Kane that he held onto for all three. Good false finish with Ziggler hitting the Zig Zag and then trying to use the MITB briefcase to win only to taste a chokeslam and flying headbutt. Bryan gets the crowd chanting and gesturing Yes! at the end which looked very cool.
Best part: Clever moment at the very beginning recreating the previous Wrestlemania where Sheamus beat Bryan in 18 seconds. This time Dolph kisses AJ Lee and turns around to a huge kick in the head from Bryan and looks like he may get the three count. Started off the match on a roll.
Worst part: Nothing with Hell No breaking up or even having tension between them? I didn't care too much because I enjoyed the match but hasn't this what we've been building to and wouldn't Wrestlemania be the place for it to happen?

Fandango vs. Chris Jericho-The actual real debut of Fandango (strange that's two in one night for their first match in WWE at Wrestlemania)! I liked his entrance he pulls off the whole professional dancer gimmick well even if it's a bit silly. Jericho's entrance fun to see as well. Match was okay but marred by a few botches especially at the end when Jericho awkwardly bent over to allow himself to be pinned. I did expect more from this but it's passable. Crowd wasn't loving or hating it for the most part but did boo Fandango and popped a few times like when Jericho went for the walls so not too bad. Fandango with the win.
Best part: When the crowd was in danger of not caring about this match Jericho jumped on the turnbuckle jumped towards Fandango who was on the ring apron and got kicked in the face causing his forehead to bleed. Ow.
Worst part: The end of the match. Not only was it botched with Jericho sort of missing the Lionsault and sort of Fandango putting his knees up then Jericho having to lean down from the walls of Jericho to get rolled up, but it's a roll up win in Fandango's debut. Wouldn't that have been a great time at Wrestlemania to show what his finishing move is? I'm nitpicking a bit because this really was not a bad match but I thought this was a bad moment.

Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Jack Swagger World Heavyweight Championship-So....Swagger gets no entrance? Don't even tell me it's a timing issue with all those promos and time wasting segments. At least Zeb got a chance to talk to try and get some heat with the crowd but it didn't work too well. Then Del Rio has no grand entrance either! The match was okay but it felt very quick and the crowd was not into it, which definitely hurt. It's a shame because they actually tried to have a unique story for this one. I think a lot has to do with Swagger coming back and getting pushed to the top too quickly he hasn't had enough time to build heat. Del Rio wins in a cool clamp on of the cross arm breaker and as he's celebrating in the middle of the ring after the match when suddenly....Dolph Ziggler does not come out and cash in his briefcase. Hm. Okay....
Best part: I guess the in ring action. Listening to the crowd alone you would think this match was horrible but it really wasn't. Some of the teases between the men's finishing holds and Swagger's gutwrench powerbomb were highlights to me.
Worst part: The crowd ruined this match. Really. Del Rio got NO reaction when introduced and I was surprised. They were cheering for Ziggler throughout the match and did not pop for many of the big moves. Unless my ears deceive me they were even starting to boo at the false finishes whether it was favoring Swagger or Del Rio because they wanted the match to end.

Undertaker vs. CM Punk-Living Color started this one off with a bang performing Cult of Personality live. Awesome! A lot of the times when they do these live performances of the theme songs it sounds worse but this one really got me into it. The crowd was definitely into this one with some dueling chants even, which was nice but I felt really let down by the match. It wasn't bad, but by Undertaker, CM Punk, and Wrestlemania standards this was not very good either. Again, maybe I am being unfair comparing it to Taker's last few Wrestlemanias. First off, they tease old school with Taker missing it, Punk hitting it on Taker, and Punk getting crotched trying for it again....but where was Undertaker doing it?? That's what people want to see the crowd was ready to pop big for Taker hitting it. I'd forgive it if I was going to see Taker wrestle before next Mania. He also teased but didn't hit his flying dive to the outside. If you can't do it don't pretend like you can. Punk had bad luck with tables again in this match with the announce table not breaking for his flying elbow drop. That looked painful and I'm curious if the somewhat hurried finish was because of it. Taker wins with the tombstone without too much trouble. Disappointed there wasn't more with Taker going after the urn..considering it was the entire build up to this match...but it makes some sense with Heyman's increased involvement in the next match. Notice Taker got a bit misty eyed after the match probably thinking about his lost manager.
Best part: Probably Taker going for the last ride and Punk hitting him with the urn. It was never going to lead to a 3 count in a match like this without being a G2S but it was still a good moment.
Worst part: That awkward moment where Punk hit? or not hit? the G2S and then Taker bounced off the ropes and tombstoned him. The announcers were confused whether Punk hit the G2S or not and so were the fans.

Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H No Holds Barred If Triple H Loses He Retires-Neither man got as big of a pop as I was expecting but hey we're supposed to hate Lesnar right? What the hell was Triple H walking out under?? Does that have anything to do with his character? Anyways, looking at some comments it looks like I'm one of the few who did....but I loved this match. Lesnar wrestled a bit rather than just throwing punches and hitting an F5. Side note: Are they not allowed to say german suplex or belly to belly anymore? Michael Cole called them throws. Ugh. That table from the Punk Taker match broke with a Lesnar suplex to Triple H which was good to see. HBK being sort of scared of Lesnar was a nice touch too. Lesnar is about to finish Triple H when HBK tries to superkick him, only to eat an F5. After multiple kimuras and a sledgehammer shot Triple H pedigrees Lesnar on the steel steps for the win.
Best part: Triple H powers out of a Lesnar kimura lock to lock one of his own in. Lesnar calls Heyman for help and Heyman comes to the ring with a steel chair only to get sweet chin musicked by Shawn Michaels.....and the match still didn't end there! Brock did great teasing the tap out. Good stuff.
Worst part: I want to say Triple H winning. The crowd wasn't really behind him and seemed half wanting Lesnar to win. It was a good match but overall pointless. Lesnar was not buried by this match...he fought off an extended kimura by slamming Triple H on the steps multiple times and only lost after getting hit by things that in real life would kill someone. Still, would have preferred Lesnar with momentum because Triple H doesn't need it one iota. This was a very self serving move by Triple H.

The Rock (c) vs. John Cena WWE Championship-Holy crap did Cena get booed. It's one thing for it to happen in Chicago against CM Punk but Rocky isn't from New York. Dang. WWE are stubborn to have never turned this guy heel. Rock gets a huge pop and I think we know which side the crowd wants to see win. Match was...well okay it's what you expected. Standard is the way I'd put it. They hit their few signatures on each other with not much else going on. Cena wins the belt after the fiftieth Attitude Adjustment. Crowd seems partially disappointed but mostly cheers for the match. Very smart that Cena walks out of the ring with the belt and lets Rock stay in the ring to get some love. Notice how Rock meets Cena at the entrance and the crowd shows them both love yet when Rock goes back in the tunnel and Cena holds up the WWE championship the boo birds come back in force. Hahaha.
Best part: The Rock goes to hit the five knuckle shuffle on Cena and Cena pops up and hits an AA, mirroring last year. Cena only gets a close two count. Fans loved it.
Worst part: The last ten minutes of this match. Okay guys, just because those are your finishers does not mean those are the only moves you can do. The last ten minutes of this match were all either Rock bottoms, AAs, five knuckle shuffles, or people's elbows with nothing else mixed in. A bit of that is good but it should not be that long of the match.

Overall, it was a decent show but it didn't feel like Wrestlemania. I'm trying my best to not look at it from a smark perspective and if I take out knowing 100% that Taker, Cena, and Triple H were going to win I think the show does a little better in my eyes. Still, Rock and Cena had nothing going in their feud but respect for each other. Gag me. The redemption vs. greatness thing did not really sink in. Taker and Punk's build focused almost entirely on the untimely passing of William "Paul Bearer" Moody but it didn't feel like that's what the match focused on or even that Taker was trying to go over the top to ruin Punk for his disrespect. Make Taker not pin Punk after a tombstone, a last ride, and a chokeslam and make the announcers sell that Taker wants revenge so much he's not focusing on winning the match which could get him into trouble. Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar was entertaining to me but really the build was no different than Summerslam. ADR vs. Swagger never got over because Swagger only had 2 monthsish to get over. I think it would have been excellent had he been given time. Fandango vs. Chris Jericho didn't have much going for it which is okay for the lower card but it didn't make me think "Wow! I have to see Fandango now!" The tag team championship match did its job I don't have much to say. Henry vs. Ryback sucked. It just sucked. Henry winning is a shocker but neither deserved a win after that performance. Sheamus, Orton, and Big Show vs. The Shield was fine in the ring but it did nothing to advance what The Shield is about and Show turning? was random. Wasn't he a bad guy like 2 weeks ago? The extensive promos really hurt the show as well. Have one video package for Cena and Rock...not two or three each.

The problem was Wrestlemania is supposed to be the ending and the beginning of the new wrestling year. The feud between Triple H and Lesnar came to an end and Cena's next title reign, which looks exactly like his previous title reigns, has begun. That's about it. That is one of the problems of having guys like Taker or Triple H win. They win and they disappear. This show was about what most expected based on the lack of build. I think it will be a while before I am invested enough to watch another WWE PPV. ]]> JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45260-Wrestlemania-XXIX-Review-Best-Part-Worst-Part http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45127-TNA-Impact-Review-3-7-13 Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:08:50 GMT Got bored of not seeing an Impact review on here recently so I'm deciding to write one of my own! If only I had gotten to the name Sudden Impact first...:)

How was the go home show to Lockdown and the Impact Zone's swan song? Let's get to it.

The Crowd 5/5
The crowd was rocking tonight and it got me pumped to watch.

Austin Aries promo and Aries vs. Hardy 3/5
This seemed a bit random for both men. This has nothing to do with the tag title belts that Aries is defending on Sunday...which by the way no Bobby Roode the whole show?!...and the feud between Hardy and Aries seemed to be over. Good but not great match to start the show and then....BOOM! Matt Morgan nailed a vicious looking Carbon Footprint on Hardy to end the match and then looked to follow it up by doing it again with Hardy's head against the ring post before Bully came to make the save. Again, I am a bit confused why this happened when Morgan has nothing going on at Lockdown with either of these two, but he did look impressive.

Sting Promo 4/5
Short, sweet, and highlighted the importance of each guy on Team TNA going into Lethal Lockdown with a high intensity. Good job Stinger.

Brisco Promo/Angle Confrontation 4/5The video package highlighting the feud between Brisco and Angle had very little to go on but was excellent. Brisco made some mistakes during his promo so he struggled to get the crowd going. When Angle hit the ring he was broken up by D'Lo Brown, Al Snow, and someone else. Angle realized D'Lo was in the ring and started yelling "That's him!" before getting kicked in the groin by D'Lo. Even though the surprise was spoiled for me ages ago it was still an awesome reveal. D'Lo did a great job in his promo that followed and questioned whether Sting could trust his team.

Sting vs. Devon 3/5
Is it just me or does it feel these guys keep facing each other over and over? This was the first in a best of three series to see who gets the man advantage at Lockdown. Sting actually seemed to have an extra pep in his step which was good for only a fiveish minutes match. Nothing special but a "fan" threw his beer in Sting's face allowing Devon to slam Sting into the post and finish him off with a big boot in the ring.

Gail Kim/Velvet Sky backstage 2/5
They can do so much better. At least Gail reminded us of the story of referee Taryn Terell favoring Velvet. Gail just stood there looking dumb after getting slapped.

Gutcheck Deliberation and Elimination 3/5
Danny Davis needs to not interrupt. Did they really have anything bad to say about Ivelisse? Very surprised they picked Lei'd Tapa to go face the judges, but it was a tough choice. Lei'd brought something different to the table. Also, Taz cracked me up talking about getting fired without notice and "that's real nice go break the girl's heart in front of everyone"

Chavo, Hernandez, and Velvet Sky vs. Daniels, Kazarian, and Gail Kim 4/5
I really enjoyed this match. It had some good spots and some great double team offense between the tag teams including a spot that Chavo and Hernandez did that I haven't seen before. Also, fun to see the girls mixing it up with the guys a bit in one of these mixed tag matches with both gals tripping up their opponent and Gail landing some cheap shots. Gail pins Velvet after Eat Defeat

AJ Styles Update 1/5
Maybe that's being unfair but was that short clip necessary? I guess it reminds us AJ is still around and luckily he will be back next week.

D.O.C. and Garrett Bischoff vs. Samoa Joe and Magnus 3/5
Match 2 of the best of 3 so we knew already and that Joe and Magnus were going to win. Still, we had the trust storyline to be concerned about and it made sense for these two to not trust one another given their recent feud. Kudos to Tenay for reminding us. Painfully slow to watch when Garrett was in the match and got some well deserved "You can't wrestle!" chants. Match picked up when D.O.C. came in and hit some great body shots. Joe gets the hot tag takes out Garrett and works with Magnus to hit some of their signature tag team moves. Finish got a big pop and it was cool to see them celebrate their win.

Kenny King Promo 3/5
Not much Kenny could do without an opponent for Lockdown to focus on in his promo. RVD maybe wanting his rematch for the title? Talked about doing anything to keep his title. Effective.

Sting/Eric Young Backstage 5/5
Nice to see EY play serious and deliver a convincing message to Sting to be picked for the rubber match, but gets passed over for James Storm. Ouch.

Gutcheck Decision 3/5
Lei'd Tapa got a huge negative reaction, which fit for her character that's a natural fit as a heel. Nice Bill Moody tributes from Prichard and Al Snow. Tapa needs to work on her talking but she's right in that she shows a lot of potential as a wrestler after only two years. Tapa gets the contract. Yay.

Robbie E backstage 1/5
How do I take him seriously? While the breakup between the Robbies was built up well that does not mean a match between them was. I know there's only so much you can fit in a show but if you don't put them on the go home show then why use all the other time on the show leading up to their breakup?

James Storm vs. Mr. Anderson 2/5
This was the rubber match for the man advantage at Lockdown. Score might not be entirely fair because for the four minutes that the match did last it was good. Still, they were building to the importance of this man advantage so much that it seems odd to have it be decided so quickly. Lots to fit into the show tonight. Storm lost when Aces and Eights came out for the distract. Aces and Eights with the man advantage for Lockdown.

Bully Ray/Jeff Hardy face off 3/5
At first, Bully started this off well talking a bit about their history but I wish he would have gotten into how special it is they both moved from being tag team guys to main eventers. Then he said he was proud of Hardy. Hardy reciprocated and said he was proud of Bully too. I'm with Taz, too much butt kissing. Hogan comes out for some reason and cuts a weird, short, and mistake-filled promo on the title match. The Aces and Eights come out and so does Team TNA to have the predictable brawl to end the show.

Overall 4/5
The show definitely had flaws especially in some of the promos but at the same time this is two weeks in a row they have focused on the story and build to matches. It's a good thing. Strange to see no Rob Van Dam after losing his title, no Bobby Roode for the second week in a row, and no Rob Terry, especially when the last two have matches at Lockdown. Nothing they have done so far has really interested me in the title match unless they pull some sort of twist at Lockdown. They are being too nice to one another. The Team TNA vs. Aces and Eights had a great build this whole show and it will be interesting to see if any of the Team TNA members....maybe Eric Young?....turn on their own team. The D'Lo reveal was done well. No X Division match build again is disappointing. ]]> JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45127-TNA-Impact-Review-3-7-13 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45001-Grading-TNA-s-Booking-of-Every-Roster-Member-Part-2 Sun, 17 Feb 2013 01:06:14 GMT *Madison Rayne*-Madison is talented but right now is at the bottom of the Knockouts division. Story with Earl Hebner went nowhere except to... Madison Rayne-Madison is talented but right now is at the bottom of the Knockouts division. Story with Earl Hebner went nowhere except to introduce Taryn Terrell and she hasn't been involved in much since. Tag team with Gail Kim might be picking up. Again, TNA's lack of commitment to the women (remember, you're not WWE, the women draw) being a cause. She should be seen more.
Score: 2/10

Magnus-Guy is a beast and a good power wrestler. Seems okay on the mic but has no real gimmick except "Hey! I'm British!" That doesn't work. I did like his feud with Samoa Joe but it's disappointing to see his character not progress in any way. Could be a main eventer if they get him a better persona. At least they put him over on the UK Tour which was smart.
Score: 4/10

Matt Morgan-Morgan is one of those guys you don't have to fake anything with. He looks like he can beat anyone. Good wrestler but hasn't gotten to show it much since he's been back. I liked him taking Hogan's cape from Wrestlemania 3. So he comes back wanting to impress Hogan and he goes out there and squashes people with the carbon footprint either during or after their matches and crushes Doug Williams in a match of his own....but then gets beaten by Chavo and Hernandez twice and disappears. Argh! They better have future plans for this guy.
Score: 2/10

Mickie James-Would take me a long time to get tired of seeing her wrestle especially against Gail Kim. Great babyface knockout with a country gimmick that works and a great theme song. I was glad to see her rise to the top of the division but then not get the payoff with winning the title. She does deserve a run in the future though. Right now unfortunately not doing much.
Score: 6/10

Mike Knox-Wait who? Oh right that guy who got unmasked in Aces and Eights and we were supposed to care about knowing who it was but didn't at all. At least Garett Bischoff and Wes Brisco got some mic time after being unmasked to explain themselves. Haven't seen anything impressive from this guy in the ring and given no reason to care by the writing staff.
Score: 1/10

Mike Tenay-Always excellent at presenting history between two guys on commentary and what matches mean to each of them but he needs to get amped up about the bigger moves more. That was something Don West was great at bringing out of Tenay and while he's no Jim Ross he still does a fairly good job.
Score: 7/10

Miss Tessmacher-Was not a good wrestler when she started out and she has really improved. I like her entrance and theme music. Not sure how I feel about the lesbian moves and her version of the stink face but at least they get a crowd reaction. Thought her feud with Tara should have ended in a much bigger fashion and it was just kind of another match. Somewhat disappointing. Still seeing some of her but again not doing too much.
Score: 5/10

Mr. Anderson-His microphone thing still works but it shouldn't be his ONLY thing. Feel like his addition to Aces and Eights was because they had nothing else for him to do. Has not done anything too memorable lately although feuding with Angle was looking promising. Really bothered me that his decision to join Aces and Eights never was something he officially agree to he was just kind of like oh well I like this, so yeah I guess. Should have been something like attacking one of the good guys to solidify him as his decision to join the group.
Score: 3/10

ODB-I like her with EY but she's been a jobber with nothing to do while waiting for him to come back. Strange when she is one of the champions in TNA. She is someone who I think is due for a character change after doing the same thing for so long. I get that not everyone can be at the top of a division but that doesn't mean they have to always lose.
Score: 1/10

Rob Terry-Still not quite there on the wrestling but Bigger Rob's got a good look. Also, not a good or at least confident talker. I admit I laughed when he won the Bro Off between Jessie and Robbie E it was fun to see Robbie T with some character. Looks like they are doing a jealousy story between the Robbies so he's in the middle of a character transition. Waiting to see where it goes.
Score: 5/10

Rob Van Dam-Seriously, has RVD EVER done anything differently? Same moves, same hand gestures, no gimmick. It works and I do like his moveset even though he's very often not clean. Harder to get a really good match out of him these days. I'm fine with him being X Division champ but can't he please get into a feud where he acts like he cares?? Really needs a good feud with something based outside of just the wrestling aspect in my mind. Someone making something personal would be big.
Score: 4/10

Robbie E-As far as wrestling goes he seems like he's too anxious a lot of the time. Just watch one of his matches and how he moves about and you should see what I mean. He can talk although he doesn't have much that is interesting to say. The Jersey Shore gimmick is fine and I enjoy watching The List but feel like he should be able to do better. Weirdly rare that he competes in tag matches with Robbie T for two guys attached at the hip. I guess since he isn't all that great I'm fine with where TNA have put him.
Score: 7/10

Rockstar Spud-Judging on limited evidence but Spud can go. Not only that but he has natural charisma along with a great entrance and seems like he can talk too. Very, very stupid to have his Impact debut to be interrupted by the Robbies, throwing one punch to Robbie E, and putting Rob Terry's hands in a "let's rock" position. Why not a match after that?! Guy could be huge in the X Division but I hate how he debuted.
Score: 2/10

Samoa Joe-Great in the ring and good on the mic, it's almost impossible to book Joe correctly unless he's in the main event scene. Another guy being held down with his involvement in the Aces and Eights storyline while not having a specific feud with anyone in particular. At least he's on TV.
Score: 4/10

Sting-Very badly needs to add some moves to his offense in the ring. It's all punches, Stinger splash, and Scorpion Death Drop. Was really hoping for big things in his return maybe a return to the old crow gimmick but he came back with the same Insane Icon thing which does not work so well. His charisma carries him almost completely these days. It's fine for him to be involved with the Aces and Eights and in the background of the Hogan drama but wrong for him to look so dominant.
Score: 1/10

Tara-Acting like a needy celebrity A lister does not play to her strengths but she's had a good run as a heel Knockouts Champ and I like all the stuff she does in her entrance with Jessie. Obviously still a very talented wrestler. Very silly when she's name dropping hanging out with Brad and Angelina or whoever else but I guess it fits the gimmick. A longer feud with someone, again not based on the wrestling, could do her wonders.
Score: 7/10

Taz-Joined Aces and Eights and has been working as a mostly heel commentator. Surprisingly not only crediting the bad guys however like most heel commentators do and still says his wacky Tazisms. Disappointing he will never get his comeuppance like what happens to the best heel managers. He's also been mostly annoying in his bickering with Todd Keneley.
Score: 4/10

Todd Keneley-Has fit in seamlessly into the commentating group and I think been a good addition. Taz has given him a really hard time and the three of them need to work on who talks when so they don't interrupt each other. Still needs to get more excited but his play by play has added to the show like every good commentator should.
Score: 8/10

Velvet Sky-Came back and looked good in the ring. She doesn't have much of a gimmick except shaking her booty (not that I'm complaining about that part). She is also lacking on the mic and very repetitive. She keeps repeating how she is more focused than ever and how 2013 is going to be her year. I also don't think her finisher is over. Again, as I've said for most of the women, she needs a real feud and not just compete in matches to have matches. Does deserve a turn at the top of the Knockouts ladder so I don't mind her being pushed there.
Score: 7/10

Wes Brisco-I liked how Wes was brought in through Angle and then competed on Gut Check, which was one of the better Gut Check segments even though it was completely scripted. Haven't seen too much of him in the ring but so far looks promising. I think they could do a cool story with him acting like a privileged brat because of his lineage but maybe that's just me. Another wait and see what they do with him guy.
Score: 4/10

Zema Ion-Really underrated as a wrestler. Fluid, high flying, and plays cocky very well. I like his Z hand motion he makes and think the hair spray thing makes him stand out even if it's a bit silly. Not a great talker but not bad either. Very disappointed that the storyline of him breaking people's bodies never went anywhere because that submission finisher of his looked sick. Seemed to fall off the face of the Earth for a month after he lost the X Division title but looks like he is back and about to start a feud. Needs some sort of catchphrase to get himself over more but can't deny his wrestling ability.
Score: 7/10

Hope I got everyone. Let me know in the comments who you agree/disagree with.

For emphasis, I am repeating this....this is NOT a grade of how good a wrestler is it, this is a grade of how well TNA has used the wrestler based on how good they are. Keep that in mind! ]]> JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45001-Grading-TNA-s-Booking-of-Every-Roster-Member-Part-2 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45000-Grading-TNA-s-Booking-of-Every-Roster-Member-Part-1 Sun, 17 Feb 2013 01:04:16 GMT In a previous post a while back I gave my thoughts on TNA's storylines at the time along with a grade but now I want to expand on that a bit. This time I am going to grade the company's use of every single active member of their roster and give a short blurb on the positive and negatives in the way they have been used in recent months along with some likely suggestions for improvement.

Before we get going it is important to note that the grade does not reflect the actual abilities of the wrestler. For example, if a guy who should be main eventing PPVs gets booked as a jobber then that is a low score even though it is not that wrestler's fault. I am including nonwrestlers in this also. With that being said, here we go!

Abyss/Joseph Park-The Joseph Park lawyer character brings me back to when I was a kid in the early 90's and most wrestlers had silly gimmicks. I like it. He gets a great reaction and it's been fun to see him act lost in the ring or even trying to get into it. On the bad side, what happened to his search for his brother Chris...you know...Abyss? He dropped it after fighting Bully Ray which made no sense. Plus, the seeing his own blood and unleashing the beast is fine but it's annoying no one has mentioned it to him to get his reaction.
Score: 7/10

AJ Styles-I really liked AJ's work in the ring right before facing Daniels "for the last time" when he kept messing up. It was different, interesting, and cool to see his signature moves going awry. The worst year of his life storyline worked well. I don't think his reaction to losing to Daniels made complete sense considering he beat him only a month or two beforehand in the last man standing much but I am interested to see how he comes back. Big negative is that AJ Styles has not been on television!!
Score: 7/10

Austin Aries-Great to see that they have kept A Double main event relevant because there was a legitimate worry that he would sink back to the midcard after losing the world title. Fun to see him and Bobby Roode work together (sort of). I like them as tag champs. It's a good sign for him when he's over enough that he has trouble making the fans hate him even though he's acting like a jerk. One problem with his booking is I think his title reign was too short.
Score: 9/10

Bobby Roode-Again, smart they kept him as a main eventer after losing the title. Has not done much outside of bickering with Austin Aries but it's been mostly fun to watch. Weird that not even a comment came out of Roode betraying Aries in the triple threat match at Genesis when Roode moved Hardy out of the way when Aries went for the 450 splash. The next Impact they acted like that never happened. Interested to see what "going for all the gold in TNA" will mean. Sort of in limbo right now but hopefully we'll see what's next for the It Factor soon.
Score: 8/10

Brooke Hogan-Well, nice to finally see her do something meaningful with marrying Bully Ray and causing friction between Hulk and Bully. She's been mostly a non factor as executive in charge of the knockouts which is frustrating in comparison to someone like Karen Jarrett. She has been okay on TV (much better than Claire Lynch at least) and does fine in the segments bossing the knockouts around, so there's that.
Score: 4/10

Bully Ray-Hard for me to deal with him not being a bad guy because he was over as hell as a heel. As a good guy, brings a great intensity to his interactions with Hogan but has also shown the slightly softer side with Brooke, which I don't mind. Has seemed important while not needing to be in many important matches which is a great quality. Brought down slightly by his involvement in the Aces and Eights story which has lacked focus. Deserves to be in the world championship scene and isn't yet.
Score: 7/10

Chavo Guerrero-Good that he is in the tag team division and don't mind him and Hernandez as a pairing. Problem is that Chavo isn't over. His moveset is almost completely copied from Eddie's and has done the same few moves every match which is disappointing because Chavo can be a good worker. He is also hampered by having to be the voice of his tag team because Hernandez is no good. Unmemorable run with the tag team belts.
Score: 4/10

Christian York-I think it's awesome that York got a contract especially when he was on the first ever TNA show. Solid wrestler although at times goes too slowly trying to not screw up a spot that is supposed to be quick. He is also not a good talker. It was stupid for TNA to put him in matches with Bobby Roode and Jeff Hardy right away from a perspective of getting the crowd behind him, although he did show he could hang with them. I did like his role in the recent X Division tournament losing to RVD in the final at Genesis, which the Impact Zone crowd deserves blame for not reacting better to. Not on the UK Tour so maybe lost a little momentum.
Score: 5/10

Christopher Daniels-He has lately been the most entertaining thing about Impact Wrestling in my opinion. Gets great heat from the crowd regardless of where they are, has a great entrance, catchphrases, is still an excellent wrestler, and gives us many reasons to worship him now. He was great with Kaz as the World Tag Team Champions of the World and TNA has recognized his talent by giving him plenty of mic time along with a recent world title shot in an entertaining TV match. Only drawback right now is he doesn't have a next feud yet.
Score: 10/10

Devon-Devon has done an admirable job being the voice of Aces and Eights when they are full of guys who are not good talkers. Hard to remember that he is the TV champion since he never seems to defend it. Gets good heat but (and this is a theme with all the Aces and Eights) looks so weak because he loses all the time. How have they not built more to a feud between him and Bully??
Score: 4/10

D.O.C.-I will give the guy credit that for a huge man he can move around in the ring. Moveset seems limited to brawling type punches, a big boot, and a chokeslam. It really needs expanding. Has a good look to him but like every Aces and Eights member has been booked weakly and loses all the time. If they want us to care about these unmasked members TNA needs to make them threatening.
Score: 3/10

Doug Williams-I think last seen getting squashed by Matt Morgan. Based on his talent he deserves better but can't really blame TNA when they have him working for OVW as a trainer. Should appear on TV a bit more often though.
Score: 6/10

Eric Young-Funny working with ODB, and I get why he had to be written off TV to do his Animal Planet TV show, but why is he still not being seen?? Seems like a giant waste.
Score: 1/10

Gail Kim-Exactly how she should be booked when she is out of the Knockouts title picture. She is in matches and winning often to keep her looking strong while also losing to the women that are the number one contenders to make them look even better. Unfortunately, because TNA has now gone to having only one segment for the Knockouts, there is no time to build a non title based side feud for her.
Score: 10/10

Garett Bischoff-I liked him being put as an underling to Kurt. It was a way to keep him involved without having him do much. Although at the same time I was thinking.....do something! He had no character at all which drove me crazy. Wondering how strong he will be booked (betting not very) as a part of Aces and Eights. He seems okay in the ring but needs to add signature moves before he can really be judged. If that move he did to Angle was his finisher I liked it. Putting him in Aces and Eights is like a cop out to giving him an actual gimmick. I have more hope for him than most other people. At least they didn't give him a title run or else someone would have rioted.
Score: 4/10

Hernandez-Has a cool moveset (loving the extended suplex he's been doing lately) but man is he careless sometimes. Lack of ability on the mic is why he's stuck in the tag team division and unlikely to ever break into the main event. Probably a smart choice by TNA. Still feel they could do more with him as a singles competitor for something like the TV title though because Super Mex is entertaining in the ring and believable as a strong competitor.
Score: 7/10

Hulk Hogan-Yeah, he's not a wrestler but he's still insanely over and he draws ratings so you can't blame them for having him featured. Guy can still talk with the best of them. I don't like when they treat him as some powerful force when he can barely walk at times.
Score: 8/10

James Storm-Great at hyping up the crowd even if it's the most generic stuff about drinking beer and kicking butt. Don't think his wrestling style always fits his character (throws too many kicks for a brawler!). I like that he's been on TV a lot because he deserves it but they seem to be fitting him into everyone else's story right now. Randomnly teaming with Hardy or Styles or Velvet Sky a few times then going on to something else. Fighting someone for a week then moved elsewhere. Even Hogan admits they dropped the ball a bit with not pushing Storm to the top when he was so over in his return. Didn't like the tease of him winning a #1 contender's spot then losing it on Impact. Waiting to see what they do with him next.
Score: 6/10

Jeff Hardy-A lot of people on this site seem to have this big problem with him but "The Charismatic Enigma" gets the loudest pops of any wrestler in TNA from his creatures of the night (whatever that means), has a cool gimmick, is a fantastic wrestler, and sells the most merchandise for the company. Not great on the mic but can be intense enough. Sounds good enough for world champion for me. They have booked him to be very resilient which happens with a lot of top babyfaces. The man still puts on some great matches. Would like to see his next feud get more personal but that's just nitpicking from me.
Score: 10/10

Jessie Godderz-One half of Hollywood's power couple is a joke but the Mr. Pectacular moniker works for him. Needs some more signature moves in the ring but I like his intensity. Okay talker. Mostly a jobber and more of a manager (cheater) for Tara right now than a real wrestler. However, that's where he should be while he works on his in ring technique.
Score: 8/10

Joey Ryan-Here is some bad booking. Joey Ryan was over a bit with his 87%ers gimmick and interrupting Gut Check and it was fine for him to be teamed with Matt Morgan. I don't mind, but I don't think the sleaze gimmick is great but at least he's a good talker. But why did he get an X Division title shot almost immediately? Why did they get a tag title shot immediately?? It made no sense and similar to Christian York you don't let the guy establish himself if you're going to have him lose those matches. Right now doing absolutely nothing.
Score: 1/10

Kazarian-Great wrestler who can handle himself on the mic and half of the best tag team in wrestling today. Relegated to being the #2 in his tag team because when he competes in singles matches lately he always loses. Thought that Daniels was carrying Bad Influence on the mic until Kaz did his AJ Styles impression which was hilarious. Think he deserves to be booked slightly stronger.
Score: 6/10

Kenny King-Very good in ring performer whose gimmick seems to just be being cocky. Haven't heard much of him talk but he's done fine when he has. Another guy who got his first X Division title shot way too quickly. I liked him being a sore loser to Christian York at Genesis. Feud that seemed to be bubbling in the X Division with him, Ion and others got interrupted by the TNA UK Tour so it's wait and see for what happens next. Still feel like something is missing with this guy.
Score: 7/10

Kurt Angle-I don't think I have to mention his ability in the ring or on the mic. I will say in the ring he could do with adding a new move now and then because it's ALWAYS the same stuff from him. Angle's currently out of the world title scene which is a good break after being in it consistently for so long. Hurt by being involved heavily in the Aces and Eights storyline because that just hasn't progressed. Why did they target Kurt originally? What is the group even trying to do? Keeps getting hurt too.
Score: 5/10

Agree/Disagree? Be sure to check out part 2 for the rest of the roster. ]]> JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45000-Grading-TNA-s-Booking-of-Every-Roster-Member-Part-1 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?43528-Grading-TNA-s-Current-Storylines Thu, 23 Aug 2012 08:40:39 GMT TNA currently has a lot of stories going on for a two hour weekly show so I thought I'd go through them and give each of them a letter grade as to how well I think they are going.

Bobby Roode losing the TNA World Championship to Austin Aries

Story: After breaking the record as the longest world champion in TNA history Roode lost the title to Austin Aries at Destination X and now because he lost to Aries again at Destination X cannot have a rematch as long as Aries is champ. Difficult to tell if this story is completely finished or if Roode will find a way to weasel back into a title shot.

Grade: A-

The buildup to Destination X was great and really reestablished the importance of the X Division title in TNA which many credit for the original success of the company. Now once a year the current X division champ can cash in that title for a world title shot making the title more important. The matches between Roode and Aries at Destination X and at Hardcore Justice were fantastic although the build up to the rematch at Hardcore Justice was lacking a bit hence the minus.

Bound for Glory Series

Story: 12 wrestlers compete in a points based round robin tournament for a world title shot at Bound for Glory. Competitors include Samoa Joe, James Storm, Rob Van Dam, AJ Styles, Bully Ray, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson, Christopher Daniels, Magnus, The Pope D'angelo Dinero, and Robbie E.

Grade: B

Almost feel like TNA is giving too many big matches for free by doing this but it has led to some very entertaining fights on Impact and on PPV. Started out far too obvious that they were pushing for James Storm to win and even more obvious that he would be facing Bobby Roode and win the championship at BFG but now it's more up in the air with Aries winning the title. Like the idea but it hasn't built or furthered many feuds (besides AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels) and had too many matches where its guys who like each other.

Joey Ryan

Story: Joey Ryan became the first wrestler on Gut Check to not receive a contract who has continuously made videos railing against TNA and the Gut Check judges while trying to rally the 87%ers who voted for him to be approved. He has shown up to disturb future Gut Checks and even punched Al Snow in the jaw.

Grade: B-

Talk about taking a storyline slowly! I think by the 8/23 Impact this will have been 4 months in the making without really accomplishing much. I give it a lot of credit for fooling me into believing Joey Ryan's complaints were real for a week or two but now I don't really understand where it will go. Maybe a match with Al Snow for a TNA contract? Could be good for Joey Ryan building some heat but also has a chance to make us go who cares??

AJ Styles/Dixie Carter/Claire Lynch/Christopher Daniels/Kazarian

Story: Daniels and Kaz claimed that AJ was sleeping with Dixie Carter and provided photos, a voice message, and video of AJ going into a hotel room with Dixie as proof which caused Dixie's husband to punch AJ. Dixie and AJ disproved their affair with help from Claire Lynch who was an addict that they were both helping to get clean. Then Daniels claims instead that AJ is the father of Claire's baby and has photos of the two of them in bed together. Styles wins a match with the stipulation that if he loses he will admit he is the father and if he wins he will take a paternity test to find out the truth.

Grade: D-

What a train wreck of a storyline. I tried to defend this story originally by saying that it will come out eventually that AJ and Dixie really did have an affair which could have been taken interesting places. Instead that first part which was dragged on for weeks seemed like a complete waste of time when Claire Lynch was introduced. She's a terrible actress even for wrestling and it doesn't seem like there is any way this will lead to anything relevant. Sounds like the storyline should finish on this next Impact thankfully. Still....it did lead to some great Styles vs. Daniels matches so no failing grade but you gotta feel like there were a lot of better ways to get to that.

Bully Ray/Joseph Park/Abyss

Story: Lawyer Joseph Park, the brother of Chris....you know, Abyss, appears questioning Bully Ray about his brother's whereabouts since Abyss' last match was with Bully. Eventually Bully Ray admits he was responsible for what happened to Abyss and leads to an anything goes match between Bully Ray and Joseph Park. Abyss appears to help Park win. In the rematch between Bully and Park with Abyss banned from ringside, Park loses but after seeing his own blood after the match goes into a trance and gives Bully Ray the black hole slam before snapping back into reality.

Grade: B+

Such a great story. The Joseph Park character who is obviously Abyss has been so entertaining in his attempt to be obviously inexperienced like not knowing how to step through the ring ropes, how to throw punches, or what to do with weapons. He started off as a meek unwilling to fight lawyer and then gained courage to stand up to Bully Ray. This is a very risky story to do since if the fans don't care about what's happenin the matches will get no reaction but it has worked perfectly. The fans have been into it and kudos to them for chanting "that was you!" when Park did the black hole slam and was denying involvement. So why not an A grade? Where has this story been the last few Impacts!? Bully Ray is now involved with Aces and Eights which makes him unavailable for this one and I think is getting it sidetracked.

Aces and Eights

Story: A gang of masked wrestlers has attacked and ambushed Hogan, Sting, Angle, and others while disrupting other matches on Impact. Their calling card is a poker hand of Aces and Eights. Impact wrestlers have started to defend against their attacks. Bobby Roode insisted that James Storm was the leader of Aces and Eights but the group attacked Storm on the last episode.

Grade: A

It's early yet and there is still potential to screw this up but this angle is going wonderfully. They are taking it slowly and have been able to keep the identities of the members secret so far while keeping the motivations and leader of the group a mystery and keeping them a constant threat in the background. The Aces and Eights look intimidating enough and not knowing who they are and what they want while having the Impact superstars blame each other has been great so far.

Madison Rayne/Earl Hebner Relationship

Story: Madison Rayne had a secret crush that she was telling other Impact wrestlers about which was revealed to be referee Earl Hebner. Hebner has since helped Madison win all her matches including against Miss Tessmacher for the Knockouts Championship. In her last match, Hebner was banned from refereeing it by Brooke Hogan and replaced by Taryn Terell who is now going to be the regular Knockouts referee.

Grade: C-

Okay I admit I laughed when Madison went to kiss Hebner for the first time since her crush being Devon made just as much sense (he was in the first match Rayne came to watch from the ramp). The relationship led to some okayish screwjobby wins for Rayne that did not go over too well with the live crowd but at least it was a legit storyline for the knockouts. Still, with Rayne winning the title and Tessmacher quickly winning it back it seems like a cheap way to introduce Terrell and interrupt Tessmacher's title reign.

TV Title
Story: Supposed to be defended weekly now on Impact currently interrupted by the BFG series. Devon has held the title since March.
Grade: C
Devon can wrestle just fine but can't point to any memorable moments in his reign.

Tag Team Title
Story: Daniels and Kaz won the belts from Angle and Styles when it looked like Kaz may turn face and changed his mind. No references to AJ and Kurt's tag team after they lost the belts even in their BFG series match.
Grade: C+
Daniels and Kaz work well together plus at least they have their "World tag team champions of the world" moniker they are saying now and have been on TV a lot together. Tag division in TNA currently dead though so belts are useless.

X Divison Title
Story: Zema Ion won Ultimate X for the vacant belt and defended it against Kenny King at Hardcore Justice in a match that had very little build besides a tag match. Hasn't been heard from since.
Grade: B-
Aries made it great again but Zema Ion needs to do something to define himself. Still, X Division is about the matches more than the story and they have delivered recently.

Knockouts Tag is a currently dead belt so auto grade of F.

Just so I'm not accused of forgetting only other worth mentioning is Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. Kid Kash/Gunner which may or may not be over? Not much of a story.

Thanks for reading let me know the grades you would give the main storylines! ]]> JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?43528-Grading-TNA-s-Current-Storylines http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41854-WWE-Can-Return-Prestige-and-Meaning-to-Each-of-its-Titles Thu, 31 May 2012 09:38:46 GMT I am here to present you with a very very original idea. WWE's title belts mean almost nothing anymore! I'll give you time to let that completely and totally unique idea sink in.

Kidding, of course. Many people have realized the same thing and have talked about it in passing in blogs and comments so it got me thinking of ideas how WWE can restore the luster to each and every one of those shiny golden belts.

Disclaimer: To some of this you should respond with,"Well, no crap everyone knows that," but hopefully certain ideas come off as new.

So let's get started!

Divas Championship

The women's division in WWE is a complete mess. It's so frustrating to think how talented many of the women in wrestling are today or tuning in to TNA to see former WWE employees Mickie James, Gail Kim, Winter (Katie Lea) and Tara (Victoria) putting on highly entertaining matches, sometimes even two a show, and then watch other highly talented women in WWE get TWO minutes for a match TWO more minutes to further a storyline and boom that's it for the show.

How do you expect the Divas championship to mean anything??

Two easy fixes for this one.

1. Give the women more time! I don't want to keep going back to TNA but they have shown that women's matches can be just as good as men's matches without needing some kind of sexy gimmick to fuel interest and that they can keep or even increase ratings.

2. Storyline. The most common error wrestling companies make with women's wrestling is they don't give us reasons why the women feud. The challenger wanting to win the championship is the blandest form of storytelling. The WWE has been inconsistent with this one but usually they come up with some sexist story for the gals. "I'm hotter than you so I deserve the title." "You shouldn't have been around my man so I want to fight you."
There's plenty of ground to cover. Have the women refuse to wrestle doing a promo together over equal rights treatment or interfere in men's matches until they get kicked out of Raw or even sent to prison. That leads into some kind of feud with Johnny Ace's women enforcers like a Beth Phoenix or Eve Torres. Have Kharma get into feuds with someone who keeps calling her fat and ugly and that she doesn't fit the role of what a Diva means. Then, rather than making her squash them like an angry heel make her question herself causing her to lose some matches and after some months of this she finds how to be happy with just how she is and comes out with a confident and even slightly self centered gimmick (think like a female spin on Mark Henry's sexual chocolate but less about sex). It would be completely different and unexpected while reflecting real life issues like bullying.

Tag Team Championship

This is one I know the WWE is trying hard to work on but I feel they are overlooking a couple big problems that they unintentionally created for themselves. Shame because the tag team division used to be so deep.

1. Branded Tag Teams-This is the one they know about and are trying to change...I think. Think about the best tag teams you remember. I come up with names like The Steiner Brothers, Hardy Boys, Dudley Boyz, Edge and Christian, New Age Outlaws, Legion of Doom (Road Warriors), The Hart Foundation, Harlem Heat, Motor City Machine Guns, and there's plenty of other great ones which I was too young or not alive to remember. Look at the teams closer. Almost all of them have a connection whether they have the same clothing like Legion of Doom and the New Age Outlaws or are relatives like the Steiners or Hart Foundation or like the Motor City Machine Guns share a common hometown.
Why this works I have no idea but maybe it helps fans recognize hey these guys wear the same clothes they must be on the same team! WWE at some point got into the very bad habit of pairing together random competitors and pushing them as a tag team. WWE is starting to rebuild the division (and therefore the title) with teams like the Uso's or Primo and Epico but they are a long way away right now.

2. Established Tag Teams are Better than Singles Competitors Who Form a Tag Team-WWE is very guilty of violating this and putting over the singles competitors. If you want to make the tag team titles mean something treat tag team wrestling like a special skill and have the announcers sell that fact, which was something I remember WCW being very good at getting across. Say stuff like "Oh these men know each other so well they have an instinct of where the other is going to be at all times" and compare it to new teams inexperience together. John Cena and Randy Orton may be great singles competitors but if they ever team up they shouldn't be able to beat a team like the Uso's. The psychology of the matches should also play up that fact with the established tag teams using unique double team moves and the typical singles competitor guys looking a little more lost in the ring or getting into more trouble by not tagging. Make it extremely rare that a tag team loses to guys like this. If you want the titles to have prestige make it seem like something not everyone can accomplish.

Intercontinental Championship/United States Championship

I am lumping these in together because to me they are equalish titles and have the same problems and possible solutions.

1. Demote one of the Belts or Combine the Titles-This is tough because it's really difficult to not bury a title when you are trying to establish a clearer hierarchy of belts but one of these needs to be better than the other and the WWE needs to decide or one of them needs to go. You should never have two belts that mean exactly the same thing. I associate the U.S. title with WCW more than WWE and so I'd go with the Intercontinental belt as the number two belt in the company.

2. Give the IC Title Holder an Auto WWE Title Shot if they Hold it Long Enough-If you are going to keep both belts around make having them be something special. Something like if you hold the Intercontinental title for more than 100 days you automatically get a WWE Title shot. This is a good way to put over the WWE title while at the same time giving the Intercontinental belt more meaning. It also creates some interest in the length of a title reign and drama with matches like at a PPV when a guy has held the IC title for 95 days and needs to hold out for a week to get his WWE title shot. It's not like that means you have to put the WWE title on him if he gets the shot but it's a good way to get a high midcarder into the main event scene or at least test the waters to see if they can handle it.

3. Do Something Different for the U.S. Title-I haven't intended to talk so much about what other companies are doing or have done in the past but TNA just brought back a great stipulation for their TV Title. It has to be defended on Impact every week. It's an excellent way for the belt to stand apart from the others and would work even better for the WWE since they can have it defended on Smackdown one week and Raw the next and switch whenever they want to. That's really the only idea I can think of at the moment.

World Heavyweight Championship

Man The Big Gold Belt is a beautiful thing to look at. I only have one fix for this one.

1. Get Rid of It!-If anyone ever bought the idea that Smackdown and Raw were two separate entities that idea has been lost for a long time. It is the dumbest idea for there to be two top belts in a company and most of the fans know and the wrestlers know that the real deal is the WWE Championship. So what is this belt? It's considered a top belt but it isn't the top belt and it has no weight minimum so it isn't a real Heavyweight title, and it isn't a secondary belt because that's the IC and U.S. titles. This has got to go if we want to bring back meaning to belts.

WWE Championship



Ignoring the stupid design of the belt, this is the big one in WWE and possibly the one with the least amount of problems...possibly. Still, nothing is perfect so here is a suggestion or two to keep the belt's prestige in tact.

1. Give the Champion an Aura of Control-A great way to enhance what the belt means is to act like because that person won the title they are now in charge of more aspects of the company. I thought this was never better when Triple H held the belt in 2000 as the leader of the Corporation. You felt each show that they had control because they had the title in their group and that the group would be weakened if he lost it. It needs to be that way with a lot more WWE title holders. Pretend they get more control over booking matches especially if it's a heel champion booking for a face. Have some champs able to partially influence the refs to favor them instead of their opponent or able to be very picky when they want to defend their title in the month.

2. Long Uninterrupted Reigns-Not EVERY reign can be this way but man is there some garbage in the history of this title. Most recently, CM Punk defeats Cena for the title and "leaves the company" so they hold a tourney on Raw and crown Rey Mysterio champion 8 days later. The same night John Cena wins the title from Mysterio (less than one day title holder) and CM Punk comes back to defeat Cena AGAIN 20 days later at Summerslam to have rightful claim of the title where Alberto Del Rio instantly becomes the champion by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract then in 35 days loses the belt to John Cena who holds the title for only 14 days before losing it back to Del Rio. What. A. Mess.
Long reigns are good for the stability of the belt and pushing a guy. It's okay to have short reigns once in a while to keep the fans guessing but do not make that the norm especially if it's like the mess in the paragraph above.

Final General Ideas

1. Long reigns are good for ANY belt

2. The Cruiserweight Championship is probably a good title to bring back and a lot of people are talking about it lately. It gives some wrestlers who have no direction currently a place to go to build the division

3. If you got rid of the Heavyweight and U.S. Titles you could replace them with a new title that was like a Specialist Title where every match the champion defended the belt in has to be some kind of gimmick match-Submission match, 2 out of 3 Falls match, No DQ match, I Quit Match, Street Fight, Steel Cage match, Ladder match, Tables match, Chairs match, Falls Count Anywhere match, etc etc. It'd be defended only once a month to keep those kinds of matches fresh but it would make that title interesting. Of course, there's always the Hardcore or European championships too but I can't see either of those coming back anytime soon.

4. Announcers have the important job of hyping up the belt and making it seem like a very big deal. Some of that happens now but it's nowhere near where it should be. They need to talk about getting into the WWE Hall of Fame one day and how the person they are talking about will be judged on how long and how many times they held the title.

So that's my suggestions thanks for reading let me know what you think and tell me what you would do for the titles. Thanks! ]]> JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41854-WWE-Can-Return-Prestige-and-Meaning-to-Each-of-its-Titles http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41809-5-Ways-TNA-Could-Ruin-Impact-Going-Live Sun, 27 May 2012 22:09:31 GMT Next Thursday TNA Impact takes its weekly show live at 8 PM. While this is definitely a good thing and many positives can come from this show I... Next Thursday TNA Impact takes its weekly show live at 8 PM. While this is definitely a good thing and many positives can come from this show I wanted to make a list of decisions they could make to screw it up.

5. Sting winning the TNA World Title-Sting is returning in the first match of the night against champion Bobby Roode. Roode just became the longest reigning champion ever in TNA which was handled brilliantly last week with giving AJ Styles the chance to defend his record in a great first segment of the show that had Hogan choosing between Hardy, Angle, Styles, and Bully Ray to end Roode's reign which you should watch if you haven't seen it. I can see it being tempting to take the belt off Roode to show that this is the kind of unpredictable thing that can happen on our weekly show but putting the belt on Sting is showcasing the past and not the future and not what Impact needs right now.

4. Having no OMG Segments-The greatest thing about going live is being able to surprise the fans. If I remember correctly last time Impact went live on Monday nights they introduced Rob Van Dam which was a good idea but then had a mess of an end segment with a bunch of people running in that didn't really make sense character wise. Still, just look at the late 90's era for inspiration. You'd have Sting coming from the rafters to save the day, Austin coming in to beat up everyone and have a stunnerfest, buses and limos exploding, Stone Cold being arrested, etc. Those are the kind of moments outside of a match that get you to go wow I wonder what they are going to do next week. Impact doesn't usually have these so it's something they are going to have to change if they really want the viewers to come in.

3. Don't overuse Hogans-Hulk Hogan still has his place in wrestling. Having a legend like him works with a certain crowd. But another crowd (a lot of the IWC) despises Hogan. The important thought is that he is no longer a wrestler so do not give him too much time that takes away from wrestlers. Brooke Hogan is also making her debut on the show which I could see going over either way. She has come off really well in interviews so far and has the good idea to start having women's wrestling more storyline based. I was very skeptical originally but she might do fine. Still, she is not going to wrestle so feature her lightly.

2. Don't bring out the stars-Bobby Roode and Sting are guaranteed to appear. This is good. Bring out the other big time guys and gals too. AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Abyss, Rob Van Dam, Bully Ray, Mr. Anderson, James Storm, Christopher Daniels and Kaz, Gail Kim, Mickie James, Eric Young, Tara (if she's around??), The Pope (I hope), Crimson (I guess), and maybe King Mo if he is debuting. We don't need to see Robbie E and Rob T or Garett Bischoff. Live TV time is valuable especially on the first day you can't waste it on any but the best. Leaving them off would be a big mistake.

1. Lack of standout matches-Sting vs. Roode in a Lumberjack Match is a great idea. What a better way to set yourself apart from WWE than having SOME specialty type matches oh and not being scared of blood. I'm not really promoting hardcore matches because once you take the focus off of the wrestling and onto the weapons you are diminishing the talent. But what about a No DQ match where you might see someone grab a chair or choke someone out with the microphone cord or fight outside of the ring or in the back or be put through the announce table. It won't happen this week but keep a ladder match or steel cage in mind. I know you have to save your best stuff for PPV but based on the buyrates for TNA PPVs lately they need something on TV to get people excited about paying money to watch the pay per view. Plus, if people start hearing about TNA having matches weekly that are amazing more people are likely to tune in. That's sort of what got them going in the first place. ]]> JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41809-5-Ways-TNA-Could-Ruin-Impact-Going-Live http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41639-The-Art-of-Booking-a-Squash-Match Tue, 08 May 2012 05:20:19 GMT (This blog is part inspired from WrestlingzPoster's blog about why Ryback, Brodus Clay, and Lord Tensai are boring.)

Squash matches are a tricky business. The usual idea behind them is that you are trying to make the winning wrestler look dominant, powerful, unstoppable, etc. Sometimes, it's used as a sort of punishment or weakness match meaning that the winner isn't necessarily being made to look powerful but the loser is meant to look bad (e.g. JBL vs. Rey Mysterio at Wrestlemania).

The tricky part about it is in gauging how the fans are going to react to it. There are positives because if you are trying to push a certain wrestler or sell a wrestler's new gimmick that maybe now he's meaner or more monster like (think recent Mark Henry) a squash match can be effective. But in another way you are robbing fans of a legitimate match so you have to make having a squash match really count for both wrestlers involved and it can't be a complete squash against someone that's over.

That's exactly why Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania failed as a squash match. Daniel Bryan was the World Heavyweight Champion meaning in the supposed pecking order he's the second highest wrestler in the WWE. Plus, he's over with a lot of the fans as a great technical wrestler and it's a PPV and it's the biggest PPV and for those in the know it was the match we got robbed of seeing last year at Wrestlemania as the dark match! It's all been said before but this is the absolutely wrong way to do a squash even if it had the unintended positive effect to make Daniel Bryan more over.

Now, there's addressing the problem with Ryback, Lord Tensai, and Brodus Clay. Brodus Clay started squashing people in the fall of 2011 which has sadly continued up to now, Lord Tensai debuted in April squashing everyone the same month that Ryback debuts and squashes everyone. Most of these have been against jobbers (yes I know Tensai faced Cena but that's about it for non jobbers) so it doesn't violate the Sheamus/Bryan rule of not squashing someone super over so what's the problem?? Too much squash! When you do anything over and over again it gets old. All three of these wrestlers are squashing people at the same time and it's making WWE television not fun and it's not a surprise anymore. A big part of the fun of wrestling for many like myself is seeing a well worked match where I'm not sure who is going to win in the end. Squash matches can be fun but you can't oversaturate TV time with them (and also consider diva matches last 2 minutes which might as well be squashes).

Personally I think a squash match works best when it's an "almost squash match." If you have never seen Goldberg's WCW debut against Hugh Morrus or Brock Lesnar's early matches like his match against Jeff Hardy check em out and you'll see what I mean. The person being squashed gets in some offense but the squasher looks completely dominant. Both Hardy and Morrus were relatively over in their matches which made the domination by Lesnar and Goldberg respectively seem even greater.

But then it became about seeing someone who had a legitimate chance to take them out and that's the biggest problem with Clay especially since he's been doing this the longest with no threat to his domination. When no one that is being squashed gets any offense in the squasher ends up doing the same three or four moves with no variation and it gets stale to see.

The point is, we get it that these guys are strong from the squash matches now let's see them face some real competition, maybe versus each other would be an interesting twist.

Thanks for reading let me know what you think in the comments! ]]> JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41639-The-Art-of-Booking-a-Squash-Match http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41249-Why-the-PG-Era-is-Underperforming-vs-The-Attitude-Era-Pt-2 Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:28:41 GMT In part one, I talked mainly about how I think The Rock vs. Cena match is not creating the type of buzz it should be because of them not acting like... In part one, I talked mainly about how I think The Rock vs. Cena match is not creating the type of buzz it should be because of them not acting like the characters that made them great. Now I want to talk about the WWE in a broader sense in another hotly debated topic on the merits of the PG Era vs. The Attitude Era.

Neither of these eras has an exact start date but we know what they are all about. The Attitude Era was in your face pushing the limits of what you could do on TV with more swearing, sexual storylines, and hardcore matches. The PG Era cleaned that stuff up with more family friendly entertainment toned down the content in the promos etc. This is another thing where we know why it happened. The limits had been pushed already there was nowhere else you could really take stories that hadn't been done and to avoid the kind of backlash that occurred from situations like Chris Benoit and steroids.

But why isn't PG working as well as the Atittude Era? Again, there's a ton of valid reasons brought forward to explain it like you're only appealing to kids and alienating all the fans who gave you record ratings or (this one bothers me so much) that kids who were wrestling fans just grew out of it. I feel a big part of PG not working is the massive reduction of characters.

For a second let's go back to the time before Attitude. I have this great card collection that I think originally belonged to my older brother of the early 90's WWF. There's Koko B Ware with his parrot on his shoulder, Brutus the Barber Beefcake with a huge pair of shears, Jake the Snake Roberts with what else but a snake, Ravishing Rick Rude, Big Bossman in his police uniform, Macho Man Randy Savage with his sunglasses and colored tassles, etc. Just from a picture on a card, you get some sense of these wrestlers characters. It was a ridiculous but entertaining pageantry.

It worked at the time but then came something new to make it almost look foolish. The Attitude Era. Some say it started at the Austin promo at King of the Ring, Degeneration X, the Montreal Screwjob, Austin beating Michaels at Wrestlemania but it was a dramatic shift but the two most important parts of the previous time remained. There were still characters and the wrestling at that point had never been better.

Just think about all the characters. Kane, Undertaker, Golddust, Mankind, Val Venis, all of DX, The Brood, Owen Hart, Lita and the Hardy Boyz, The Nation of Domination-D Lo Brown, Mark Henry, The Rock, Farooq, the rest of The Ministry, Droz, Prince Albert, The Dudleys, Kurt Angle, The Godfather, Jeff Jarrett, The Headbangers, Right to Censor, etc. Even if not all of these were well received most had a look and some defining characteristics that made them stand out just like the previous era. The only difference was that more of these characters were controversial as well as adult themed storylines.

There is some undefined period in the 2000's after the Attitude Era ended but before the PG era began maybe sometime in the Invasion angle where characters started being eliminated. It seems like an odd place to put blame but part of me blames the success of Brock Lesnar, Batista, and Goldberg in WWE (and slightly Bobby Lashley). No real character but definitely all had the look of a badass. WWE it seems started to feel you didn't need character to push guys just make the ones who were the biggest tough guys and the ones who were smaller quick speedy wrestlers. They wasted (or are wasting) plenty of talented guys by not giving them a character. Seriously, how many wrestlers just come out in a pair of trunks nowdays? What does that tell me about them at all? Absolutely nothing.

To combine with this, the PG Era eliminated the hardcore element or ANY blood from ever being on the show which whether you like those kinds of matches or not you have to admit they are a change of pace from the rest of the show and stand out.

So now you have a product where wrestlers don't have a look, don't have a character, and don't have hardcore matches. The biggest shame about this is I'd argue the pure wrestling has never been better. If you are young and if you support the PG Era you probably look back on the wrestling of the 1980s and early 1990s and go how could people enjoy that? Wrestling is so much better now! Well, I agree. The wrestling is more fast paced and exciting but the emotional investment is so often missing from the WWE these days. They don't give me reason to care about what happens in the match other than picking my personal favorite. No stakes. And that is all built on character development.

Characters are what in the end makes a good television show. The action is nice, but if you don't have characters your show is not going to be any good and that is what is missing from the WWE. ]]> JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41249-Why-the-PG-Era-is-Underperforming-vs-The-Attitude-Era-Pt-2 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41240-Why-The-The-Rock-vs-Cena-Match-Is-Underperforming-Pt-1 Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:37:06 GMT Lately a lot of blogs have been put up trying to explain why The Rock vs. John Cena match at Wrestlemania lacks that spark that it should have. Some... Lately a lot of blogs have been put up trying to explain why The Rock vs. John Cena match at Wrestlemania lacks that spark that it should have. Some have argued that it's because it has not included anything real to give it depth like the CM Punk alcoholic father storyline or that the two have not had any physical confrontations or even that The Rock isn't trying. While I think those things might be a part of it the real missing piece is the characters are missing.

Do you remember why The Rock and Cena were enjoyable in the first place?? No, it wasn't when Rock debuted as Rocky Maivia smiling all the time with that crazy hair and goofy ring gear. It was when he became a no nonsense villain in the Nation of Domination turning his back on the fans who chanted that he sucks then furthered in the Corporation where he called himself the People's Champ with Vince. For Cena, it wasn't when he was The Prototype before he hit WWE or when he first debuted as just some random wrestler fighting Kurt Angle. It was when he became a rapper and cut some of the more entertaining promos of the time having rap battles with other WWE wrestlers.

All that has been thrown out the window. John Cena's character eventually became Super Cena! who would get the absolute crap beaten out of him for the majority of the match and then somehow do his moves of death and win. The Rock of course tried to drop The Rock from his name of Dwayne Johnson so he could be taken seriously as an actor (some take that as a slant against wrestling but can you blame him for wanting to be known as himself in a non wrestling profession?)

Now they are facing each other at Wrestlemania. WWE is trying to hype this as the greatest match of all time but it isn't working. Why not? Because we aren't seeing the build up to the characters The Rock and John Cena. We are seeing Dwayne Johnson and John Cena as themselves making fun of each other in their promos. Everyone knows about the real tension they have with each other but it isn't creating a good thing on television. It's making them try to one up each other by embarrassing the other and making jokes rather than building kayfabe tension that we as the fans get to see. Rock shouldn't have been smiling at all and Cena shouldn't just be laughing it off when Rock makes fun of him.

The rest of the Wrestlemania card doesn't hold up much better. How many guys on the card are just getting by being tough guys or on wrestling ability alone. Sheamus? Tough guy. The Great Khali? Tough guy. Kofi Kingston? Good wrestler. Randy Orton? Tough guy. Big Show? Tough guy. Chris Jericho? Good wrestler. It's shocking how many of them have no character really with notable exceptions like Santino Marella, CM Punk, and Undertaker but even CM Punk's truth speaking straight edge stuff seems to be toned down and I can't remember the last time Undertaker really acted like The Deadman.

The dream match people want to see for Wrestlemania is John Cena vs. The Rock in the way we loved them best. Both were very over with fans and would be taking this match seriously so it plays out on TV. We got that with Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock which became one of the greatest matches in Wrestlemania history mostly off of crowd reaction based partly on respect for their legendary careers but also the characters they kept while building towards the match. We are getting a watered down version in The Rock vs. John Cena match because WWE forgot the importance of characters.

To be continued in a related part 2 where I talk about how characters are the reason the PG era is so bland for so many of us compared to the Atittude era.

Thanks for the read make sure to comment below! ]]> JohnnyV123 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41240-Why-The-The-Rock-vs-Cena-Match-Is-Underperforming-Pt-1