Random wrestling thoughts

[Stavros]

So it basically comes down to "He's a great wrestler and a good talker and there's basically no-one better than him on the Smackdown brand right now from a skills perspective, but we don't see him as a main eventer".

Fuck this company.

[JackFetch]

He doesn't draw ratings like Orton. He doesn't sell tickets like Orton. It makes sense.

[Guest]

... you know business has been sucking for years, right?

[SuaveStar]

Video from the Smackdown taping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6FuHJ7BwEM&feature=player_embedded

[SuaveStar]

Double post due to two different topics:

Word going round, is that TNA wants to change their names to iMPACT wrestling.

At Tuesday's TNA iMPACT! tapings from Orlando (set to air next Thursday, 5/2), Mick Foley was revealed to be the person from "the network" that has been keeping Hulk Hogan in line.

Foley came out and interrupted a promo by Immortal, informing them that TNA iMPACT! will now be known as "Impact Wrestling" - and the show will be "all about wrestling" - a clear jab at WWE, which has been distancing itself from everything "wrestling" in recent months.

Later in the show, they actually re-shot the entire segment, with Mick Foley saying that the show is no longer "TNA" - but "Impact Wrestling".

This led to some confusion as to whether it was the company name that was changing - or just the name of the television show.

In response to the confusion - Hulk Hogan tweeted the following on Wednesday, which appears to indicate that the "TNA" name is no more:

"No TNA. only IMPACT. HH"

[Guest]

Honestly, the more I think about this, the more pissed I get.

In 2011 Cena and Orton are the champions on each brand. Roster depth is the absolute worst it's ever been. Guys like MVP and Low-ki quit the company and would rather to go to Japan and make no money than deal with the bullshit. The developmental system is completely fucked and hasn't produced any home grown talent of note since they cut ties with Ohio Valley. The only stars they've created are The Miz and Alberto Del Rio; one guy that had the title for eight months but never beat anyone clean, and the other who is already back to feuding with Rey Mysterio on Raw.

What if Orton gets injured? Who do they have to carry the ball? Christian? They killed him. Danielson? They never gave him a chance. Sheamus? Killed him. Barrett? He's not ready and his momentum is gone.

Every time I tell someone I still watch wrestling, they look at me like I'm an idiot. With each passing year, it gets harder to justify why I still bother. Part of me wishes that this company would die, cause I honestly think that's what it would take for them to change their ways.

[slothian]

He doesn't draw ratings like Orton. He doesn't sell tickets like Orton. It makes sense.

It's a bit hard to compare if Christian's reign lasts less than a week. I do my annual WWE catch-up between the Rumble & WM and even now, Randy Orton is a shitty character and a shitty wrestler. If he wasn't a "third generation wrestler/superstar" that was in with the right people, he'd not amount to anything.

[JackFetch]

The WWE has numbers we don't, like who sells the most merchandise, who gets the most fan mail, who gets more people at autograph signings. They know who makes them more money, and Christian isn't it. It's not that big a deal. He was champion once, and now he can always step back up if they need him to.

[Guest]

WWE just cut their dividend in half and PPV buys are in the toilet. Merch sales are the only factor you named that matters and even then, it doesn't lead to long term business growth. I don't know why you're pretending that they're infallible when there are major issues industry wide when it comes to planning for the future. Orton is going to sell the same number of shirts with or without the title. So is Cena.

Christian losing the title isn't the problem. The problem is that it's one bullshit move in a very long trend of them.

[JackFetch]

Where did I say they are infallible? I only said they know more than we do. They know what makes them money and what doesn't, and obviously Christian doesn't.

[Guest]

Except, it's not obvious. At all.

He had the belt for two days. He wasn't even given a chance.

[Aaron Robinson]

Not to be rude guys, but we are talking about an event that hasn't been shown on TV yet!

[Guest]

Oh yeah? You say that to my face!

[SuaveStar]

After watching her on Smackdown, I have to say, I am loving how WWE are booking Kharma so far. She's just coming in, and taking down one diva at a time with her butterfly slam thing, that looks lethal.

I do wish she could still have the Awesome Bomb, but the slam is also looks like something that would legitimately knock you out.

[Guest]

Watching CZW Best of the Best 10.

The way the tournament works, all four first round matches are Elimination 3 Ways, then the semis and finals are singles matches. Sounds weird, but it works when you have 12 people.

Akuma vs Jonanthan Gresham vs Zack Sabre Jr

Akuma is the only guy here I know. He's from CHIKARA, comes out to Nightwish and his valet is really hot. He also looks like Krillin.

This match was a mess. Lots of weird 3 person spots that you could tell sounded better when they were planning it out in the locker room. Gresham looks to be about three feet tall, so everything he did looked weird. Sabre is a guy from Germany, apparently can't speak English too well since they kept mis-communicating (checking Wiki, he's apparently from England, so no clue what happened here). Gresham pinned Akuma with Indy Move #8897. Sabre then won with an armbreaker after a million kick outs. Apparently these guys thought they were working the main event of Mania instead of an indy opener. This is the kind of match that people that hate indy wrestling think all indy matches are like. Off to a bad start.

Adam Cole vs Johnny Gargano vs Kyle O Reilly

Cole is the only guy I know here. He also has a hot valet. Seems to be a trend.

This was a lot better and should have been the opener. Just from an execution standpoint, these guys are miles ahead of the earlier match. I counted at least 13 head kicks. Would have been nice if any of them were sold, but this isn't the audience for selling much of anything. Gargano is decent, played the serious babyface in spite of a his Jersey Shore gimmick. That was a bit weird. Cole is fantastic and O Reilly is solid all around. O'Reilly made Gargano tap with a guillotine, then Cole pinned O'Reilly with his move (a reverse DDT, strangely enough.)

Brandon Gatson vs Daisuke Sekimoto vs Chuck Taylor

I know Gatson and Taylor. Gatson is a former breakdancer turned wrestler that moves great for a relatively big guy. Taylor is one of the best comedy workers on the indies. Sekimoto is a Japanese power lifter type, which is refreshing in this environment. All three guys are awesome. Sekimoto pinned Gatson after suplexing both him and Taylor at the same time, then pinned Taylor with a German. Loved this because they didn't go crazy and try to do too much. Great exhibition for Seikmoto mostly.

[Guest]

Sami Callihan vs Jake Crist vs AR Fox

How best to describe Sami Callihan? Take a random emo kid, put him in an ugly singlet and tell him that pro wrestling is real. He's apparently one of CZW's most popular guys and I really don't understand why. He's a weird looking little guy that hits people way too hard. AR Fox is a smooth high flyer with some charisma. Jake Crist is entirely forgettable.

Fox really seems like he could go somewhere. Everything he does is spot on and he's constantly trying to get the crowd involved. Crist was eliminated when Callihan made him tap with a really long leg lock, then did the same to Fox. Wrong guy won here.

Looking to be an obvious Cole vs Callihan final.

Briscoes and Devon Moore vs Philly's Most Wanted and Robert Anthony

Briscoes are the tag champs and Anthony is the CZW champ. All titles are on the line. I hate stipulations like this.

Briscoes are the only guys here I know. How they're not in WWE or TNA right now, I'll never know. Jon Moxley was signed though, cause that makes sense.

Moore beat Anthony with a shooting star. Yes, he won the World Title in a 6-man. Moving on.

[Guest]

Zack Sabre Jr vs Adam Cole

I get to see Cole's valet again. That's a plus.

Sabre was a bit better here. Helps that he spent most of the match selling his knee. Of course, that went out the window when he made his comeback with a primarily knee-based offense. As expected, Cole won with his finisher in about eight minutes.

Daisuke Sekimoto vs Sami Callihan

This was mostly Callihan getting the shit beaten out of him and screaming a lot until he won with his leg lock. Utter bullshit, this was. Cole better win this thing.

[Guest]

Danny Havoc vs Jun Kasai

This is for the Ultraviolent Title, which is a deathmatch belt. Kind of amazing that there's still a demand for this kind of thing in 2011. Lots of broken glass and stupidity. Havoc won after knocking a good five years off his life. I hope it was worth the $80 payday.

Sami Callihan vs Adam Cole

This was all kinds of backwards. Cole's valet inferered near the end so Callihan kicked her in the face then tried to break her leg. Hell of a babyface there. Would it have been that hard to have another girl run down and make the save? That bothered me. Cole then avenged the assault on his girlfriend and won the match, which would have been great except Cole is the heel. At least the right guy won.

I officially never need to see Sami Callihan wrestle again. Adam Cole is too good for this place.

[Professor]

Speaking of finishing DVDs, I am finally done with the Chris Jericho set. And I have to say, the matches kinda let me down. Don't get me wrong, I love Chris Jericho. However, some of the match choices seemed odd. I get wanting to have some less than awesome matches on the set because they are important points of his career, but still. It is still a very good set tho, just not the awesomeness that I was hoping for. Also, watching the documentary right off of reading his two books was probably not the greatest of ideas.

[Guest]

They're really reaching a point with the DVDs that it's hard to find stuff they haven't already put on a bunch of other discs. It's also why they haven't been releasing new stuff at such a constant rate as they have in the past. Outside of a War Games set, I think every major star and concept has been done at this point.

[Professor]

I agree on the lack of major stars that do not have their own DVD sets. But I was shocked when a Big Show set came out. And, just from my experience at work, I have sold out of it three times at work. That never happen for any WWE release.

I would really love a Jerry Lawler set, as I think his Memphis stuff alone would be worth the price.

[SuaveStar]

I agree on the lack of major stars that do not have their own DVD sets. But I was shocked when a Big Show set came out. And, just from my experience at work, I have sold out of it three times at work. That never happen for any WWE release.

The Big Show DVD was actually enjoyable. It wasn't fantastic, and the documentary is short, and a bit shit, but the matches were mostly enjoyable.

[SuaveStar]

[Stavros]

Zack Sabre Jr vs Adam Cole

Sabre was a bit better here. Helps that he spent most of the match selling his knee. Of course, that went out the window when he made his comeback with a primarily knee-based offense. As expected, Cole won with his finisher in about eight minutes.

I've seen Zack plenty of times over here and never quite been sure of him. He has skills for sure and can hold his end up with the right opponant, but he reminds me of a strong-style Bambi when he gets into fighting spirit mode. That being said I really liked his performance at Chikara's King of Trios, I do think he's getting better. He got his rep in the UK primarily by having great matches with Bryan Danielson. I think that's why so many over here overrate him, Bryan could make almost anyone look good.

[Guest]

PWG DDT4 (Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament)

Another tournament show, this time with tag teams.

Brandon Gatson and Willie Mack vs The Young Bucks

The Young Bucks are TNA's Generation Me. They are fabulous heels. Willie Mack is a fat high flier, which works for me. Fun opener. There were at least two or double team moves here that I'd never seen before. The Bucks won since they're practically main eventers in this company.

The RockNES Monsters vs The American Wolves

This my first time seeing the Monsters. They have a sort of Bill and Ted gaming nerd gimmick. I like Eddie Edwards quite a bit and don't hate Davey Richards as much as I used to. This was basically a prolonged squash. Probably a bit too long since there was no way the Wolves were losing.

Kings of Wrestling vs The Cutler Brothers

Claudio should be in WWE right now. Hero has improved a lot. He actually has gear this time. Heard good things about the Cutlers, but they were just bodies here. Kings won with a double boot to the face.

Briscoes vs Kevin Steen and Akira Tozawa

Tozawa is crazy good. Very expressive and really gets American style. Steen has always been weird to me. Works his ass off, but everything about him screams indy. His bad genetics don't help I'm sure. A fun match. There was a spot in the middle where Tozawa and Mark Briscoe stopped fighting to see who could yell the loudest. You can get away with this kind of thing on the indies. Steen and Tozawa won, which was a nice surprise.