Ahem….
Sorry.
You need some one to cover Raw on Monday night?
I might be able to crack it.
My emailnis zepolmas2k22937@yahoo.com
Let's talk.

My brother described "The Avengers" thusly: "The pinnacle of American cinema has been reached. There's no reason to make another movie in this country ever again, as it's going to be all downhill from here." While I'm pretty sure that this comment shouldn't be taken literally, I absolutely loved the movie. I've never been able to stand Scarlett Johanssen, but I can't criticize anything about her portrayal of Black Widow. Who knew that the funniest scenes in the movie would involve Hulk? I said it after "Thor" came out, but once again, Tom Hiddleston shall be mine, oh, yes. That last extra scene was GOLD! Not a word was said, nor was it needed.

Who did Natalya refuse to sleep with? No, seriously. What's been done to that woman's career has to violate the Geneva Conventions.

Why do so many people hate Sheamus? Sometimes, I feel like I'm one of three people on the planet who don't. Sure, he's been dull at times, but that's more the lousy booking than him. "Irishing up" has to become a thing.

BORK SMASH =

Sandow's action were perfect. Absolutely perfect. Love this guy already. Ryback? Not so much.

Great review, as always, G-Money!

It wasn't a terrible episode, but there was some very questionable booking, IMO. I enjoyed NXT matches much more this week, to be honest. In part because Tyson Kidd is given two segment matches almost every week. It's a shame hardly anyone watches that show, because that's where he truly shines.

The Anderson/Hardy one was brilliant, though. And the Sin Cara/Evil Monkey one.

I like Teddy Long, I genuinely do. I had hoped that he would go off of tv after losing to Team Johnny, be gone for at least a few months, and return with a vengeance at a storyline-appropriate time with a tweaked character. Alas, such is not to be.

At least ex-Claudio is now on tv!

Khali gets regular matches and victories, and Tyson Kidd makes other people look good once in a while. Boo-urns!

Slater seems to have enshrined himself as the go to job guy for the company. To be honest, I dug him with The Mouth of the South last week, but you know I'd probably mark out for anyone Hart manages.

The tag division, and the word "division" is a word that really shouldn't be used here, has been at such a low for so long I question why titles even exist. It's not that I don't want to see it exist. I just question their motives.

Why is Heath Slater on tv? No, really.

Words cannot describe how much I loathe the "tag team champions get dominated and cleanly beaten by two random singles guys who are paired up for the first time" thing. They just can't. Tag team wrestling is its own art form, and should not be treated as a stepping stone or a filler act.

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Slammiversary IX-review[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Impact Wrestling or how I see TNA in theory pt 1[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » ThinkSoJoE’s Thoughts: Rumble edition![...]…

That dancing gif RULES!!!

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Wonderpod Episode CIII[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » TNA "Lockdown" Review[...]…

A thought.

There's more nepotism in Pro Wrestling I think in part as a result of the kayfabe era, and that many of the kids growing up are eyeballing MMA over it.

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » RAW 12.13.10[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » WWE RAW results 8/15/11[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » More WWE Slammy Awards![...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Why TNA is Dead to Me[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » “CM Punk Is Not Impressed”[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » WWE RAW results 2/8/10[...]…

I don't expect to see a change either. It's just an issue that has struck me as more and more obvious every time I watch "Once Upon a Time." The whole "Hey, wrestling should be doing this too." Sure, the execution of these things might be different for a weekly wrestling show than for a traditional tv show, but the overall concept should still be the same.

I ceased getting ROH on tv when they left HDNet, so I've seen little since then. I'm thoroughly intrigued by both the Wrestling Revolution Project and (shockingly) TNA's Ring Ka King. My brother showed me the trailer for the former and the first episode of the latter during a lengthy discussion of them at his comic shop, and I'm now officially intrigued. Most of my wrestling-watching may be done over the internet now. Honestly, Ring Ka King is everything that Impact should have been. From the ridiculously over-the-top Bollywood entrance to roughly 36 minutes of in-ring action for a 43-minute show to a clear focus on the titles to my above Point #3, Ring Ka King is thoroughly enjoyable. It makes the state of Impact even sadder to know that TNA can do something right.

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » WWE RAW results 8/15/11[...]…

The problem is, it isn't wrestling anymore, and it's not for people like us. Kids these days don't want storylines. They want different things to happen each week to their favourite characters. Some good, a little bad, and the good guy comes out in the end. Back in the day, Matches for WrestleMania started five months in advance, and continued on. These days they barely go a month. the whole Rock/Cena nonsense isn't really a storyline, as the Rock isn't even there. Sure, they had the match at SSeries, but where's Rock now? Nothing makes sense, and storylines will continue to not be there in the big two until they do a massive clean out of writers and staff, and get people who know about wrestling, to write about wrestling.

There's a reason ROH has the best storyline G, they have someone who actually knows what wrestling is, and writes believable wrestling storylines to go with it, and that's Jim Cornette. Maybe TNA could actually start writing storylines now they finally got rid of Russo. Then again, this is TNA.

The trailer for Wrestling Revolution Project intrigues me. I had a long chat about it with my brother at his comic shop, and he showed it to me. I'm now officially very interested. I also had no idea how good TNA's Ring Ka King was. Between not getting ROH on tv in my area anymore and discovering these two things, I'm feeling that the bulk of my wrestling-watching may be over the internet from now on.

Fans not only accepted but embraced Sting's transformation into his Crow persona and his lack of talking or having matches for a year. Sure, that was '95-'96, but that it happened at all proves that taking over a month to do something can pay off.

I agree that this is an epidemic that is hurting both the WWE and TNA. Outside of the Rock/Cena program, very little seems to have an end goal of long-term story telling. And even that program is easy to criticize in many areas.

TNA had gold in their hands with the Storm/Roode program, and killed it due to, well, let's just call it "rumored" stroke of Hogan. And even afterwards, when they kind of had the chance to save it, they've been hotshotting that program by giving it away for free without ANY promotion on television. If you are going to book towards TV, and not PPV, at least take advantage of how to bump ratings.

The absolute best storyline on TV is on ROH, even though hardly anyone watches it. That's the Kevin Steen/Steve Corino/Jim Cornette feud that is almost two years in the making. Sadly, if a tree falls in… yeah, just the squirrels hear it, and they can't communicate this to humans.

While I can't argue with your points, it's something that I don't think we'll see a change in anytime soon. And that sucks. Until Jeff Katz wrestling revolution drops (and I really hope it's available in my market), true serialized wrestling is sorely lacking. I'll give credit to the Bryan/Show program (which might be dead in the water tomorrow night… but even I have a concept that can save that I'll save for the BWF Radio show when we get there). I also think that the Kaz/Styles/Daniels program has legs over on Impact if they at least give it a little more attention. The slow turn of Daniels on Styles has been many months in the making. There is some hope, just not a New Hope. Why? Because TNA went and completely fucked up the Star Wars episode. Typical.

NITPICK: I hate the WWE's complete lack of grammatical skill in allowing the intro graphic for the Usos to read "The Uso's." Apostrophes imply possession. The Uso's what? Their car? Their dog? Their hair? Yeah, I know, nobody cares. My mother is an English teacher. It bothers me.

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Smackdown: 08/26/11 Seat Filler Diary 3[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » WWE RAW results 2/15/10[...]…

Ha ha! You really did not like the opening segment. I didn't make it through the whole episode myself last night, caught up in the AM. R Truth was awesome, but hear you on that now having read your perspective. The theme of the night, essentially, booked themselves into a corner. They have all competitors facing each other in singles bouts, but this meant two options. 1). Clean finishes (making one person look weak)… or 2). Non-finishes (which we would complain about with 3 of them). They should've used this time to use enhancement talent and put ALL 6 over as legitimate participants in the Elimination Chamber. That way, one would believe any of them could win. I totally forgot this was the Go Home RAW, which in itself says something.

It's about damn time Cole sides with Bryan. Here, I think they finally smartened up. Cole used to be good with Taz just prior the ECW program being brought back. I think this is the first time in a long time I have something positive to say about Cole.

LOL, you tore Eve and Cena a new one for their soap opera garbage tonight. I don't disagree, because this episode stunk of the cliche of serial daytime television. I was entertained, but not impressed. The Caveman jaw references!! Hey, B.C. called, they want their stone unicycle back! Ha ha! In all fairness, we both know Eve can wrestle… she just can't act. Wet-paper bag, etc.

RAW tonight did not convince me to shell out for the PPV. Sure, I got my Monday fix… but Smackdown really REALLY needs to deliver to the smaller audience to garner buy rates. Good review, man!

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » WWE SummerSlam 2011 Results[...]…

P.S. It's Damn.. not Damned. There's a difference.

Thanks for making the tag and putting up the Stampede Stuff around these parts, Patman Picks shall return !!!!

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » WWE RAW results 8/17/09[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » TNA iMPACT results 4/5/10[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » RAW 1.10.11[...]…

Sheamus's "new move" looked strikingly like the Air Raid Crash (I think that's what he called it) that Alex Shelley used to use. The angle at which Sheamus holds the opponent is less extreme, but after rewinding it and watching it four times, it looks like the same move. I could be wrong.

Consider this. The most talked about thing in the WWE since the Punk promo in July, was the cryptic videos that led to the return of Chris Jericho. Initially, the first couple of weeks had the segment cut into the programming at moments when people would be fast forwarding, off to the bathroom, hell, maybe even on Twitter. The announcers and the program did not even acknowledge these segments had occurred. And take a wild guess what WAS trending, and WAS being talked about with much excitement among the IWC immediately afterwards? Since many people missed the video's debut, it was those who did see it that drove traffic over the internet to those who missed it.

Great article, CC.

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » The life of a WWE seat-filler[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » BWF Radio Episode 7[...]…

"PWInsider.com is reporting that former World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry suffered what is believed to be a hyper-extended knee at this week's Smakcdown tapings. The injury occurred when Henry was throwing a punch, and his knee moved forward before he completely planted his foot. Henry had been working through a groin injury over the past few weeks.

The finish of Smackdown had to be changed on the fly due to the injury. Originally, Daniel Bryan was going to attack Big Show with a chair after Show got Henry down. Henry would then make a comeback, chokeslam Bryan and leave him in the ring. The show would of ended with Henry splashing Bryan, leaving his ability to defend his championship in doubt on Sunday."

Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed Laurinaitis no-selling the fact he was about to have his skull caved in.

I missed the herniated disc aspect on Zack Ryder. I totally agree, that is a good save!

I don't mind seeing Tatsu tag with Santino, but your point made me laugh.

While the show was decent (sans a complete replay of the Kane/Ryder match), the treatment of Natalya and McIntyre was kind of pointless. Natalya is in the doghouse, and lord knows why. Guilty by association? And with McIntyre… I don't get how this is helping get him over. It reminds me of what they did with MVP and his losing streak. Reverse Goldberg angles do not help.

Alex Riley trying to dance with Brodus Clay was really fun. Less fun, however, is the introduction that the two Funkettes have been giving him lately. It's too long and drawn out, and neither woman has a solid grasp of effective enunciation. Yes, I've taught Speech (among other things) for 13 years, and that sort of thing annoys me. The opening of Clay's music is good enough to get the audience going.

I got put in my place on last week's podcast over the Drew McIntyre thing, but once again, I'm saying it. What's the point of any of this, aside from certain people getting off on punishing and humiliating him? Who benefits from this angle in any way? The audience hasn't been presented with much reason to side with him and want him to keep his job. They might if some manner of video package had been done detailing his previous in-ring successes and some in-character personal commentary. Likewise, the audience hasn't been presented with much reason to hate him and want him fired, either. Replaying his most vicious moments and portraying his attempts at redemption as insincere would have helped. It just looks like no one has the slightest idea of what to do with McIntyre, so they're doing this "just because." Usually, I'm just happy to see the wrestlers that I really enjoy on tv at all, but in this case, I'm not so sure.

A broken back for Zack Ryder is now a herniated disc. Nice save, WWE. I had time to change into pajamas and use the bathroom, and when I came back in the living room, the were STILL replaying the Kane/Ryder/Cena stuff from RAW. Too much.

When did Yoshi Tatsu get so much bigger than Santino? He's been on Superstars for so long that I haven't seen him wrestle in ages, but I did not remember him being that big.

Tamina is awesome, but Natalya deserves so much better than this.

Everything that you said about Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan, and Big Show. I thought that Kaitlin turned heel on AJ. Hmmm….

I had the same thought as you did. "Please not Hogan, please not Hogan, please not Hogan!" Who else could it possibly be, though, to get that reaction from Eric Bischoff? We're sunk in that regard.

Alex Shelley looked like he'd never left the ring. I can't wait to see him and Aries mix it up. Xima Ion's new persona has been panned as far too "over the top" and generally awful by almost every wrestling site, but I don't see the problem. It's been quite enjoyable so far. For one thing, he actually HAS a persona, unlike Jesse Sorenson and several of the other guys. He's thoroughly into it, much like Brodus Clay. Sure, the "not the face!" bit has been done before, most recently by Cody Rhodes, but who cares? Finally, some sites complain that the "arrogant pretty-boy" gimmick shouldn't be used on a funny-looking guy like Ion. Why not? That's part of the fun. He's no Austin Aries, but Xima Ion is actually a bright spot in TNA, and they certainly need as many of those as they can get.

It is rather sad, though, that I watched a match featuring Xima Ion, the man to whom I often referred as Juan Epstein, the Puerto Rican Jew, on the day that the actor who played Juan Epstein on "Welcome Back, Kotter," died. RIP, and wherever you are, I'm sure that you'll have a note. Signed "Epstein's Mom."

I didn't mind Truth facing Miz. It was the only event we've seen building to the RR that was for positions in the Rumble. Now we know #1 and #30.

In turn, this eliminates Jericho entrying at 30th, and Orton for that matter.

I also think this is the end of Jericho's "quiet time." Obviously, he broke his silence at the end. But he did all the silent things I can think of that he had not already. Talkshow segment, T-Shirt Gun, filmed the crowd through the camera… nothing left to do…

Other than that, a fun show. As lousy as a blindfold match is, I almost choked on my tea when Santino blindfolded the cobra. That was gold!

I like the teaming of Joe and Magnus, but if they're going to be tag champs, do it now. Morgan and Crimson do nothing for me.

I hear that Alex Shelley is returning and making a beeline for Austin Aries. Sweet merciful jeebus, let this be true! Why Shelley hasn't been used makes no sense. If he was injured as well as Sabin, then I've never read about it. Aries/Shelley gives me a reason to live.

Also, I am frustrated that my computer problems somehow prevented the Brodus animated gif from appearing in this article initially. Problem solved… twice.

While I have no use for Heath Slater, I want to see Justin Gabriel in a feud with Tyson Kidd. Their styles would mesh well, and something drawn out over a few months would be fun to watch. Werewolf? Hadn't thought about that one, but I can see it. Still like the guy, whatever species issues he has.

Cody Rhodes's best line was right after he said "pull an Ultimate Warrior," when he chuckled and said, "That could mean many things."

Did you guys notice the odd editing cut immediately following the Tamina/Natalya match? There's a close-up of Tamina in victory, and we see Natalya lying still in the ring. Instantly, Wade Barrett's music plays, and the cut to his Tron footage shows (if you look really hard) Natalya staggering to the back around the side. If you don't notice her, it looks like Wade Barrett is doing a run-in at the end of a Divas match, for some reason. That's funny all by itself.

Rant. AJ was adorable when she first came in, and many guys I know find her one of the most attractive Divas on the roster. Possibly one of the most attractive females in wrestling. I had a hard time looking at her last night because she's so thin that every rib pokes out. She looks anorexic, or at least extremely unhealthy. She was always tiny, but this was really uncomfortable to watch. No blame is being cast, but AJ needs to look like a healthy and athletic human being and not a skeletal clothes rack. Rant over.

Huzzah, Brodus Clay!!!

The GIF of the old lady at the soccer game is the greatest thing that I've seen today.

Ricardo Rodriguez. If you don't love him now, then you have no soul.

I make no apologies for loving Brodus Clay's debut. I don't care who he ripped off. It was a total surprise, he looked like he was having a blast with it, and I was very entertained. "Oh, my bad!" before mowing someone down will catch on. I hereby acknowledge the change in Brodus Clay's name from "King Hippo" to "the Funkasaurus."

Edge. I was teary. His dvd comes out the day after my birthday. Supposedly, that's to tie in with the release of a WWE Studios movie that he's in. I just hope that they aren't inducting him early (instead of waiting until Mania returns to Canada, as I had read) just to tie in with the release of a WWE Studios film. Either way, he belongs there, and he is missed.

Not a great RAW, but there were some strong moments.

The fans made him leave… feeling a little veclempt… talk among yourselves…. here's a topic… "…"

I don't think "veclempt" is word either, but Mike Myers would argue otherwise. First words should be after he wins the Royal Rumble (although WWE will likely make me sad and give it to a "surprise" returning Orton).

I loved the story….

I may a tiny minority, but I really liked what they did with Kane. Kane and Taker are the only ones who can even attempt the supernatural stuff, and there is a time and place for that sort of thing. How is the fire shooting up from under the ring legal and following code at all? I have a little bit of knowledge of matters pyro, as I have crossed paths with a few licensed pyrotechs in a theatrical capacity, but I don't know enough to understand how that last bit could possibly have been cleared as safe. Does anyone have any input on that?

Its difficult to find informative and precise info but here I found…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » iMPACT: 01/20/11[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » WWE RAW results 11/29/10[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » iMPACT: 01/20/11[...]…

Yeah, I loved the opening segment, and the PPV surprised me as well. Sure, there were moments that were completely out of left field and/or terrible… depending on what you like. Overall though, it's sad they didn't book this show with much enthusiasm. It was worth a buy.

Not sure about the Kane/Cena program. Feels like a holding-pattern program to keep Cena towards the ultimate goal of the Rock match.

Here's hoping we get a boxing match for no other reason than the obvious next Monday! Good review Justin!

I very much enjoyed RAW. I'm a very happy WWE fan right now. I think all of the people with titles are the people that deserve to have them. Zack Ryder EARNED his US Championship. A year ago he wasn't being used at all, so he went out and made a name for himself. Daniel Bryan and CM Punk EARNED their championships by toiling in ROH and proving to everybody that they are some of the best wrestlers in the world. Hell, Punk took home 5 BWF awards yesterday including Wrestler of the Year.

I found myself smiling as RAW came to a close tonight. Hopefully I still will be by the next episode of BWF Radio on January 8th.

Also, CM Punk is determined to fulfill his own destiny that he will do every job on RAW if need be. Tonight, he opened the introduction (of himself, even though we knew it was him) of the show. I don't think he's been the time keeper yet, but there's not a lot of checkmarks on that list now.

<img alt="" src="http://gifsoup.com/view6/3240883/end-o.gif&quot; title="start" class="aligncenter" width="320" height="179" />

One) JBL held the title for nine months before Cena's long reign of over a year (just thought I'd throw that in there)
Two) There's nothing wrong with 'hot-potatoing' the title as it was put. Remember when The Rock and Mankind were feuding late-1998 to WM 1999. I thought that was well done throughout. It helped get mankind over once again, and it made the massive Corporation look weak at times, which is what's needed. So personally, there's nothing wrong with it.. if it's done right.

Just a few of my thoughts.. nice to see there's no editing, and it's a lot easier than that time I tried it over.. was it MSN Messenger? and I had to type and edit the whole thing.. that was a pain. This was not. Good work.. keep it up!

That's hilarious, I'm dying.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction:

watch?v=0GRQhuj7g7Y

The Knockouts division is still all about Karen Jarrett. Until that changes, I do not care what happens.

Devon's "kids" are not seven years old. That they are still being described by the announcers, and behaving, as young and impressionable children is pathetic and sad.

Not, however, as pathetic and sad the opening segment with Dixie Carter was. Leaving the wrestling fan part of me aside for a moment, and speaking purely as a female, that segment was more offensive than the trash with the Knockouts washing cars. Dixie, the supposed head of the company and person in charge of everything, looked terrified and sad, as though she were about to burst into tears at any moment. She never said a word, and allowed Sting to speak for her. She was treated like a delicate creature in need of protection. As much as I loathe and despise Stephanie McMahon with an unholy, fiery passion of burning, there's no way that she would ever have allowed herself to be portrayed on tv as so weak, ineffective, and generally out of her element as Dixie was here. If anything, Dixie looked like a complete joke who has no business being involved with a wrestling company in any capacity. Then again, that may have been the point all along, and she just didn't realize it.

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3. http://wonderpodonline.com/?p=8063 be happy I didn't post this on the BWF last week.

5. Any particular highlights of stories he wrote? Curious, RIP regardless.

I really enjoyed the Roode family interviews. At first, not so much, but as they progressed it became clear how they were developing his character and providing an answer to how he could go 180 from face to heel. In fact, by the end of the show (watched over two evenings, so maybe that influenced me), I looked at it as possibly one of the highlights of the year. Very well done.

The Rob Van Dam match was depressing to watch. First off, there were three guys named Rob involved here. BOO! RVD used to be one of my absolute favorite wrestlers. At this point, he's mailing it in. Depressing.

Austin Aries and Kid Kash might be a bit early, but I'm just going to enjoy the interplay for what it is. Best part of the show, IMO.

The clause "Steve" put on Jarrett getting involved in the mainevent was that there would be negative implications towards Jarrett if he interfered. Ok… so… obviously this was a predictable run in waiting to happen… but WTF? The implications end up being that Jarrett faces Hardy, and as you note, if Jarrett wins Hardy is gone… but if Hardy wins, he gets a title shot. So Steve is basically giving Jarrett the opportunity to finalize what he has been petitioning for in the first place? WTF? Yes, I realize Hardy is going to win (and hate this aspect too), but HOW ON EARTH IS THIS A NEGATIVE IMPLICATION?!?!?

Great review Mr. Pintnoir. We need to get you on the new BWF Radio before the PPV with Drowgoddess so the three of us can run down the card if possible. Hit up the facebook group and let's see if we can make that happen?

Also, I will be posting this identical comment on both sites. Great review, dude!

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Smackdown 8/20/10: Del Rio Should Have a Personal Referee Too…[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » WCW Nitro Results 3/26/01[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Is John Cena Homophobic?[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » WWE RAW results 2/8/10[...]…

7. Seems like sooo much longer.

5. I never was able to get that cassette since my family liked good pizza when I was a kid. Fortunately I still have my two DVD's that that franchise gave away as a promotion about 7 years ago. The first film was epic. The second was fun, but did not age well. I still have my original Eastman and Laird issues in near mint.

8. I sincerely hope that Mick is good. Part of me worries they will try to make him look bad because of his TNA tenure.

7. He was Champion at Night of Champions in September, when he lost it to Henry. Henry defended it against Orton at Hell In A Cell in October. So about 2 months.

1. All of you guys and girls here at BoredWrestlingFan.com. If it weren't for the amazing staff I have here I probably would've gotten bored with, and killed off, this project a long time ago. I consider each and every one of you a friend and I'm proud to have you all on board here at BWF.

2. CM Punk. The top seller of merchandise in the WWE and deservedly so. The fact that he's finally the WWE Champion and it looks like he may have a decent run with the belt this time around is icing on the cake for the man who has undoubtedly been the hottest commodity in all of professional wrestling since this past summer.

3. Zack Ryder's push. I started watching the Z! True Long Island Story around episode 10 and haven't missed one since. I'm wondering what Zack's Dad is going to do now that John Morrison most likely doesn't work for the WWE anymore.

4. Twitter. Not the #WWE #RAW #TheyreForcingThisCrapOnUs twitter stuff, but the wrestling FANS on twitter, and the wrestlers themselves. The fans, because when I'm on a bus on Sunday nights heading to work and can't watch the Pay Per Views, I know exactly what's going on because of the wrestling fans I follow on Twitter. The wrestlers, because a lot of them like to interact with the fans. Over the past several months I've gotten responses from Honky Tonk Man, Blue Meanie, Taz, JBL, Mick Foley, John Cena, and Hulk Hogan – and those are just the ones I can think of at the moment, I'm sure there's more.

5. ROH finally being on television in my market without having to pay extra for the channel it's on. Hell, I could get rid of cable and still choose between Saturday and Sunday viewing of ROH. Now, if only someone would buy them some damned lights and make it look like a show that belongs on network television. ECW was on at 2 in the morning on MSG, they could get away with dimly lit arenas.

6. Cody Rhodes finally breaking out of his shell. The days of "Boring" Cody Rhodes are long gone, and he's become a great part of WWE Television over the last year or so. Speaking of…

7. Mark Henry, World Heavyweight Champion. The period of time between this past WWE Draft and now has been Mark Henry's best work, period. He's been there 15 years, and he's finally looking like the dominant force that he's always had the potential to be. I'm proud to say that I was in the arena cheering him on when he finally won the title at Night of Champions, and I'm glad he's been booked as a strong champion.

I agree with you on so many of these that creating an entirely separate list will be challenging.

What am I thankful for in the world of wrestling? Ring of Honor, CHIKARA, and SHIMMER are definitely on my list, as are CM Punk, Sheamus, and Mark Henry’s title reign. As those have already been mentioned, I think that the remainder of my list would read:

1. The Bored Wrestling Fan site and crew: The original gangstas got together on another site, and then launched into our own little corner of the internet. While my actual involvement in terms of writing contributions has varied over the past year or so, the camaraderie has never waned. ThinkSoJoe, JT, Gee, Legend Killer, pintnoir, AlyKat, and the master of this very site, Mr. Ruff, are all people whom I consider to be friends, even if we’ve never met in person. I heart you guys!

2. Justin Gabriel, Drew McIntyre, and Kofi Kingston: RAWR! Yummy. That’s why.

3. Zack Ryder’s internet success: Though it may have spawned Vince’s Twitter obsession, I’m quite thankful that Ryder’s internet video series helped propel him to a higher spot on the WWE ladder. That it was all of his own creation makes it even better. The whole story is just such a great one, that when the so-called creative team has nothing for you, you go out and get yourself over on your own. You know, as was originally intended.

4. Dragon Gate USA: I’ve yet to watch a boring show from these people, and love having it as an alternative. How can anyone NOT love Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa, Masato Yoshino, PAC, or YAMATO? Speaking of….

5. YAMATO: As the DGUSA champ for most of this year, he has been glorious to watch in the ring. [SPOILER ALERT] Now that he’s no longer the champ, I’m very curious to see what he does.

6. Austin Aries: I’ve been a huge fan of his for years, and his run as X-Division champion in TNA has given us one of the few watchable segments on the show. While I hate that he has to be part of such a sinking ship because WWE would not choose him for an NXT season, I am glad that he has been able to showcase his athletic and performance skills so well in TNA. Now, if only they would just let Alex Shelley feud with him instead of the weird 4-way that has been going on….

7. Cheerleader Melissa, Ayako Hamada, Daffney, MsChif, Natalya, Beth Phoenix, and Amazing Kong/Kharma: For existing, and for not being Divas, regardless of the company for which they work. These are all wrestlers worthy of respect by any standard, and athletes that I, as a female fan, can actually enjoy.

Next?

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » TNA iMPACT results 4/5/10[...]…

You keep writing'em, I'll keep reading'em.

Also, feel free to send some turkey dinner my way if possible!

[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……

Wait…. what? The Jonah Hill show on Fox was supposed to replace the SImpsons? No. Bad Fox! Ignorant Fox! You cannot replace a show with that tenure. If you are not a fan of the show and reading this, that's ok. But to ignore the cultural significance of the program and it's history? Wow.

Good use of the audio from the Youtube video audio

Sin Cara. Where do I start? THIS guy was the biggest Luchador in Mexico? He's the sloppiest lucha libre style worker I think I've ever seen – and I watched WCW in the mid-to-late 90s. I was excited for Mistico to come to WWE, but after seeing him a couple of times, the only time I liked Sin Cara after his debut was when Hunico was under the mask. And we all know Hunico isn't going anywhere, except maybe the unemployment line, because they're not doing shit with him except sticking him with a gimmick TNA has done to death.

Did I hear Booker T call Zack Ryder "Z-Ry?" I guess that begs the question, what the hell happened to Alex Riley?

Anyways, I digress. I'll agree with you 100% Justin, this RAW was solid until the end completely ruined it.

As you were.

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Slammiversary IX-review[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » RAW: 12/27/10[...]…

8. I've said it before, and I still mean it. Cody's blending the best aspects of the "Dashing" Cody Rhodes character with the "Phantom of the Wrestling Ring" persona, and it could be the best thing he's done yet. I loved the Dr. Doom voice as much as anyone, and it isn't totally gone. The whole thing is clearly a work in progress, and he hasn't quite reached the mark yet. Even if I really am the only one on BWF who likes where this is going, I do concur that judging it now is premature.

Overall, Smackdown exemplifies so many things that are wrong with RAW. We all know, and have discussed this a bit. After the fallout from Survivor Series, and depending what actually happens, we should get to this on the radio show this week perhaps.

Justin Gabriel IS dreamy. That can be said now that he's apparently not with my nemesis any longer, and has recovered from the psychological trauma that affected his judgement.

Big Show is at his finest like this. Playful and happy most of the time, but able to get menacingly quiet and serious when the need arises.

I wanted to mention this on the podcast, as I seem to be the only person holding this opinion, but I really like where Cody Rhodes seems to be going. Sure, his Dr. Doom voice was great, but he seems to be working at combining the best elements of "Dashing" Cody Rhodes and his Phantom of the Wrestling Ring persona. It's clearly a work in progress, but I've enjoyed the past two weeks of it. The paper bag bit was what really hurt him.

Despite the flak that I give most of the Divas, and certainly the NXT ones, I genuinely like AJ and find her the most talented and interesting by a mile. Natalya was absolutely brutal with that Sharpshooter, and I wish that more time had been devoted to replaying that moment and making it seem like a bigger, more dangerous deal than they did.

Way too many security pull aparts on this show. I too was confused by the Devon/Pope storyline reboot. Wasn't this resolved? I didn't mind the Knockouts, there were some decent spots between Tara and Mickie who can both wrestle when given a decent opponent. I do completely agree that the music they play at the end of the show is ridiculous and kills any serious mood one should have when that is the point of the final segment.

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » TNA Wrestling BaseBrawl results – 6/18/11[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » TNA Wrestling BaseBrawl results – 6/18/11[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Retro Post – Toys! Toys! Toys![...]…

As for Matt Dawgs, I've been reluctantly scrolling through his stuff lately. In part due to his lack of spoiler warnings, and in part due to his gimmick being kind of lackluster with Impact lately…. if he posts anything at all. I realize that I am just as guilty as anyone of being jaded. But Impact isn't THAT terrible. I think I've come to accept the show for what it is. Austin Aeries and Kid Kash are brilliant lately, BTW.

I still remember when the H-Core's were shitting all over the Black album back in the day (I'm guessing you gents and ladies probably heard that too). It's funny with music pioneers… you invent a genre (or make it famous). Then if you decide to play within new genres, you're a sellout. But if you stick with the same thing over and over again, you're an uninspired hack. Meh. Metallica has nothing to prove, or apologize for. I might criticize them in the future, and you can call me on it… at the end of the day, I'm more interested in their evolution regardless if I like it personally. Haven't heard the new stuff, but I'm sure some people were up in arms over Johnny Cash's version of Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage" from the Unchained album.

If you haven't heard that cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtbuUlSGXzc

2. I don't think they do remember, actually.

6. I remember when Metallica fans called "Load" the worst one of their albums.

10. I don't understand what the WWE is doing with this storyline, but agree that him cashing it in would have been a loss.

2. I'm very VERY surprised they didn't drop them on SmackDown. Monday, I guess.

7. I recorded it but I haven't watched it yet. I may give it a shot when I get home if I'm awake enough. Which I probably won't be since I've been up for 17 hours right now and still have 7 1/2 hours left of work.

9. I was going to say that I KNEW Epico had to be a Colon, since he looked almost identical to Primo.

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » TNA Wrestling BaseBrawl results – 6/18/11[...]…

And yes, there was lots of action and the wrestling and wrestlers worked hard. No argument there.

My issues are going forward. We did not get our Cole/JR segment (half the reason I wanted to watch, after wanting to see how they were going to use the Muppets). All we got was more cheap shots at JR. If you enjoyed that part, I guess we will have to agree to disagree on that regard.

None of the outcomes of tonight make me want to watch Survivor Series though. They've still got time to change my mind building towards it.

If everything not involving a Muppet was cut out and shown like a throw-back 80's Halloween special, the little kid in me would have LOVED to have watched this show…. But if it was actually on on Halloweed IN the eighties, I would have been trick or treating. "it's candy time… I'm missing nothing important other than Muppets," I'd think to myself. Candy would have taken priority over life itself at, let's say anywhere between 3 and 11 years old?

Why does the Rock need to tag with Cena when Cena took out both of his competitors tonight? It's kind of like what Kevin Nash says about wanting to break his contract with TNA and return in last year's Rumble. I've heard him say a number of times he was billed to come back and team with Angle, but then saw Angle take out all of the opposition stable… so why would Angle therefore need Nash?

WWE has been TNA'ing themselves lately just as much as Impact.

Meanwhile, at ROH….

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Slammiversary IX-review[...]…

There’s not each and every day which i didn’t visit your weblog, it’s just so enjoyable and positive to be around day in reading through your notions and your articles. Continue posting you have me hook my friend….

I didn't think RAW was terrible last night, certainly a massive improvement from the dreadful one earlier this month. I enjoyed the fact that the WWE is kayfabing a 6 week injury angle on HHH due to the sledge attack. Keep him off TV for a while…

Didn't mind Super Dave getting destroyed by Punk verbally either.

8. I have the DVD, got it the day it came out. Love it. They just re-created one of those on tonight's PPV, BTW

We're back to this again with Beth and Natalya? I've never understood it, and I still don't. Why are they dressing up and being model-y, when that's what they profess to despise? Why do they talk instead of destroy? Granted, I have absolutely LOVED the submission hold that forces the Barbie dolls to scream and cry. The problem is that it has been too little, too late. Good booking would have made Eve afraid, or at least wary, of confronting those two at all, let alone by herself. As it stands, Beth and Natalya haven't been portrayed as that much of a threat in terms of actions. They really shouldn't be talking much at all, and simply tearing people apart. That IS the story that the announcers keep telling us that we're seeing. I'm just not seeing it.

Dolph is fantastic. I never thought that I would enjoy him as much as I do. Two matches in a ppv. That's quite a nod to him.

I agree entirely with everything that you said about Cody Rhodes and his promo ability. If he could just make the laugh sound less forced, he'd be just about perfect. Orton is even more painfully lacking in comparison. Unfortunately, no one cares.

A thousand times "yes" on the mask versus mask match. That should have been the main event, hands down. The terrible storytelling that brought us to that point is hardly the fault of the wrestlers, and if they were going to have the match purely because they were in Mexico, why not pull out all of the stops and blow the roof off of the place?

Shakin' my head. (No gimmick infringement intended.)

In all fairness, the first three talking segments were necessary to address… at some point. First, Hogan's return to the "old version" had to be discussed. There's ten minutes. And since Hogan ceded control of TNA (what happened to the Network?), the return of power to Dixie needed to be talked about too. But why tonight? Seriously, build her appearance to next week and hype it. Let the Network book tonight's show in a position of temporary power, which could be the opening segment of the show the following week. Have her appear and announce that she will book the show until someone else is deemed more appropriate (yes, it would be like RAW, I know)… give it a week or two… then announce Sting and/or Hogan in the role. Hogan would be better, and it could play off of Immortal chasing him for three weeks.

The confrontation between Angle and Roode was also necessary, and this face off could have closed the show. Keep the contract stip, but have no resolution. Have Roode and/or Storm go at Angle, then have D-Lo, Snow, etc do the pull apart as we fade to black. People would want to see what's going on next week.

Again, if they spanned these three promos out this would all still work. You could have Roode and/or Storm cut a promo on Angle next week (who shouldn't even show up) about being a coward, hiding behind stipulations. Here you could have Storm challenge Angle to show up the next week and address his challenge. Remember, with my proposal there is still no one in charge.

In the third week, have Angle show up and deny Storm of his challenge to open week 3. More confrontation with no resolution (trust me with this). At the end of this show, have Dixie appoint Sting and/or Hogan as in charge of Impact, leaving another cliffhanger where viewers are left wanting to see what this new era of TNA will bring in week 4.

Finally in week 4, NOW you have Hogan/Sting book Storm and Angle for the next PPV.

Instead, they crammed it all into the first 40 minutes of the show. Meh.

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » RAW: 12/27/10[...]…

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » Special Feature – WrestleMania X-8 review[...]…

I was mildly entertained by the show, but this review is all you need in case you missed it. I would have watched House live, and recorded RAW. More FFW options! Hell, I don't even follow House.

Then Roode lost to close the show. It's clear that the program is oriented towards it's television audience, for good or bad. How can a fan not leave with a bad taste in their mouths?

I won't bring up spoilers… sigh.

I agree with you on almost every point. That the once-proud Knockouts division has now become a vehicle for Velvet Sky is flat-out sad. How long has it been since any of the women on the show had something to do other than shout "bitch," "slut," and "whore" at each other, or speak in degrading sexual terms of one another? I can't remember either. I enjoy Madison Rayne in small doses, but even she wrestles circles around Sky. Honestly, we're supposed to side with someone who gets taken to task for being cheap, slutty trash just minutes after said someone makes a bump-and-grind entrance on the ring rope that would make many people uncomfortable? Uh huh.

No wonder that Samoa Joe is rumored to be reaching out to WWE. They're ignoring him, insisting that he's too fat and sloppy to ever look like a Superstar. Then they push Brodus Clay. Go figure. If the Usos get fired over the DUI of one of them, then perhaps WWE will consider taking Joe anyway. How much worse could it really get for him?

I have not felt so repuled and ill in a very long time as I did when I read that Roode was scheduled to win, but Hogan got the finish changed at the last minute because HE doesn't think that Roode is ready or is The Man. WHAT THE HELL????? That makes me want to kill things. Orange, wrinkly things. And other things that listen to those things.

Nonetheless, Robbie E is not even in Ryder's league at this point. For a brief stint early on, Robbie was good for a parody role. But how far can one go with a parody. Ryder now has the benefit of depth of character, and an actual fan following outside of the normal product. If the WWE is smart, they should not muck with it one bit. I wouldn't push him beyond a possible U.S. or I.C. title picture. Let him work with that crew for a while and continue to develop.

Hated the finish of the X-Division match, but otherwise was a fun watch.

As much as I think that Angle/Roode and Daniels/Styles will deliver, I can't justify paying for this Sunday's show.

I am much more curious how the change with Russo will affect next week's episode more than the PPV. This will be the first episode in lieu of this event.

I do agree, the opening was entertaining. Why? Because I've never seen that before. Even amid the many plot issues that got us to this point, the impromptu approach to make a show happen was enjoyable. I also thought that Cena, Sheamus, and Punk all gave reasonable and fairly logical explanations as to why they would side with HHH. Not perfect, but still true to their history and characters. Punk is, and will continue to be, a face to the WWE universe for some time to come whether we like it or not. The guy is leading sales at the WWE shopzone, and we all know that the WWE doesn't shy away from dollar signs. Sheamus is an enigma to me, I don't understand how his turn happened. Whatever, I can deal with it. And all negativity aside, he's been very good at it. And John Cena is… well…

There was a way they could have done this rushed, haphazard storyline better last night. In a perfect world, ROH would have invaded and volunteered to perform for the crowd. But we all know that would never happen. The next best alternative? Or should I say, the NXT best alternative would have been to use the rookies in that role. It would need a very simple explanation. These guys are fighting just to get the opportunity to be on the show, and if the hippies in the parking lot can't handle the job, they are more than willing to work.

I realize that it would be a huge gamble for the WWE to have an entire episode featuring the few NXT guys, and wouldn't expect them to go for the entire 2 hours. But why not take the opportunity to put some new guys over? God forbid… I could fantasy book the show for the next year, but I think that would be pushing it. Let Sheamus and Cena finish their match. 20 minutes filled. NXT guys come out (there's only two really left) and Titus and Bateman (face versus heel) cut their offer to join, then have a match. 20 more minutes covered. Punk could be joined on commentary by Sheamus, Cena, or HHH. Doesn't matter, just let them do colour and Punk could easily carry the load on play by play.
For the final quarter of the first hour, you could easily have some cuts to the rally in the parking lot and interview the guys about their grievances. Then… ugghh… have McMahon come out to start the second hour (they were going to do this regardless).

Instead we get McMahon cutting the Sheamus/Cena match off almost immediately and the rest is a crappy show. Seriously…. they could have salvaged a little bit, given some new guys time, and maybe even taken something positive out of this rushed angle…

Long live ROH!

This was a great episode and Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong stole the show. What a match! Can't wait for next week.

BTW, what is it with Jim Cornette and "Express" tag teams?

I didn't expect to see a championship match so early into the launch, but it was a great TV match. It's a shame the time slots are muddled amid the markets that receive the show. Let's hope as time progresses that changes too.

3. I wouldn't expect anything more from TNA.

8. anybody stupid enough to marry him deserves it.

3. As happy as I am to see this happen, it's not the magic bullet that many people believe it to be. TNA has quite a lot of issues to overcome, two of which just re-signed contracts.

8. I feel sorrier for their mother.

9. I'll definitely check this out. I've been a huge fan of his for years, and if there's one thing that I wish I could have seen live and in person, it would be his starring role in the "Jekyll and Hyde" Broadway musical. His run was short, but he was said to be good in it.

The funny thing is that I would rather hear Henry and Show talk, but watch Orton and Christian wrestle. I am turned off completely by Orton's promo's lately. He might as well just appear as a "tweet" and get that crap off the television. I have little confidence or desire to shell out for the big men when they face off as well. It's too bad we can't genetically splice the positives of these three together and create a fantastic talent, huh?

Finally, it's nice to hear from my favorite Drow. I miss that Goddess!

Spot on about Beth and Natalya. This match is what the past two months should have been like. While I freely admit to loathing Kelly Kelly with an unholy fiery passion of burning, since she is now the be-all and end-all of the Divas division, and must be Cena-esque in her presentation, how can anyone not see that her chasing the dominant heels who destroyed her and took her title, only to be thwarted at every turn by their physical superiority, makes a much more interesting and compelling story for her, as well as for her fans?

Jeebus, Orton bores me! Why is he so popular?

The Show/Henry promo exchange was great. One of the best in some time. Henry is a better talker than I ever would have given him credit for. Was this in him all the time, or is he channeling fifteen years of frustration? Actually being able to ignore the HHH/power struggle storyline for five minutes was refreshing.

I hope I'm wrong. I sincerely do. Little would please me more than TNA being a consistently good show. I just believe that the people who view Russo's demotion as the end of all of TNA's problems are mistaken.

Bischoff on the other hand, I don't mind. In fact, if they are going to have a non-wrestling authority figure, he's a pretty decent candidate… although I think pushing Cornette away is their loss and ROH's massive gain.

Brother Love is being reported to be the guy behind the Bobby Roode push over the last 5 weeks. So things are already looking better!

Will the announcers at Bound for Glory call Bully Ray and Mr. Anderson's bout as a "Philadelphia Falls Count Frickin' Anywhere Match"? I thought Bully Ray was even better in his role opposite the contrived delivery of Ken. Bully's interview later with Wayne Arnold was gold.

I loved Kid Kash's beat down on the garble-mouthed Kendrick backstage. For a short segment, I felt it portrayed Kash's character perfectly as a no-nonsense heel. He slapped the THC right out of his mouth!

Some guy named Hank Higgins, retired tonight. Never heard of him… but I did notice the legendary Murphy in one of Higgin's TNA highlight videos. Murphy's ability to occupy space on camera… well, it just gives me shivers thinking about it.

All in all, I enjoyed watching this week. I wasn't thrilled about anything involving Crimson or Gunner (I never am), but I did like the way Pintnoir broke it down.

As much as I really enjoyed the visuals of the camera men putting down their cameras, this was the only part that was lost on me. With other cameras remaining on, and someone in the production truck changing the angles, it kind of failed to imply that even the crew was all walking out. Only some of them did. While J.R. seems like the best choice as the last to leave, it should have been the crew. After J.R. leaves, start putting cameras down and after a couple of them, cut to static or a blank screen. I know I'm nitpicking, but I think that would have been a better ending.

2) Chest Flexor runs Flexor Industries, which is pretty much the big heel group of AIW. Shiima Xion, Bobby Beverly, the Chad, Jessicka Havok, Allysin Kay, and I think Low Rider's part of it too.

3) Your deep seated hatred for Josh Prohibition, who is all types of awesome and trained a shitload of people on this card, (including Gregory Iron) irks me, but it's beside the point.

4) The heel announcer actually has a deep history with Faith in Nothing (he was their manager), which he was playing to. Including the end where he didn't speak at all, only coming back to mention 'Think he needs an agent' to cover up how much this match really bothered him. The moments of

Between Cena, Orton, Kelly, and HHH, my interest in WWE has waned severely. I'm saving some cash for a few DGUSA videos, particularly the YAMATO vs. Austin Aries main event that was said to be epic. I watch the programming, but most of the content is either fast-forwarded or used as background noise while cleaning. I'm so disappointed with the E. They really seemed to be going somewhere positive.

I enjoyed this episode, and Pintnoir's style of review of it!

[...]BoredWrestlingFan.com » The life of a WWE seat-filler[...]…

6. clap clap clapclapclap SUPER CENA. I've said it before, I'll say it again. I'm a fan of John Cena the person, but I dislike John Cena the character, and I've flat out told Cena that directly on Twitter – it got me retweeted to Cena's 901K+ followers.

10. Who cares about that show? I stopped watching in November and don't feel like I've missed much of anything.

11. I forgot all about the show last night. I was jamming with some friends on some Nirvana tunes. I DVRed the second local showing of it earlier tonight and I'll watch it with my wife in the morning when I get home from work. I'm excited that I actually get to watch ROH, but I've seen the production values on the new show. ECW looked better at 2AM on Saturdays most of the time. Still, I'm sure that the wrestling will make me forget all about that (much like ECW did back in '94).

6. At the pace he's been going at, Cena looks to be a lock. I don't want to see anyone beat the record though.

8. Just wait until we get a third!

10. If it continues, I will be moving over to Smackdown.

11. My programming schedule says that I get it too, but it airs very late tonight. I'm looking forward to rooting for Nana and the Embassy on a more regular basis. I'm also really interested in how the Steen angle is going to play out. I wonder who at the BWF is going to review it?

This should have been Bobby Roode's show, and it wasn't. AT all. Yes, he had the match of the night (the only match worth watching), but tonight should have made him a main-event star. I am frowning. See?

You guys are the first to support the shredding of Jeff Hardy on tv that I have seen. Every other place is decrying it as a horrible thing, and insisting that he should be built up instead. The logic seems reasonable enough: ripping Hardy a new one makes TNA look even dumber for bringing him back, and a "road to redemption" saga requires a sympathetic character. That said, I really enjoyed it, largely because it came from AJ Styles.

We shall not speak the name of the main event program.

Some people enjoyed the Sting/Flair match. I did not. I was bored. So I'm probably writing these reviews at the right website. I can see where nostalgia would dictate otherwise. You and I might be in agreement, yet I suppose we all need to take what we enjoy out of this product for what it is.

However, for those in the know (and I WILL NOT post spoilers here)…. this main event program is about to take a Twist for the Turrible. Look it up if you must know.

5. I don't want it to move to Tuesdays, I'm actually going to be home on Fridays starting mid September.

6. I liked Hunico as Sin Cara the one week I actually managed to watch SmackDown. I thought it was a lot better than Mistico, but what the hell do I know? Personally, I still wish they would turn the fucking lights on during his matches.

5. With the UFC moving to Fridays on FOX, that's competition that WWE doesn't need on a tough night to get eyeballs on the program. The only reason I watch on Friday is due to my work schedule which leaves little time and energy to bother going out. Tuesday would be a welcome change.

6. Outside of actually going to the ring and unmasking the guy, or taking the PWI reports for their word, Hunico is "wider" in build. Also, when he donned the Sin Cara mask, he integrated the Lionsault spot into the matches which we also saw twice. If this type of stuff happens regularly with either of the two luchas, you've got to wonder how the WWE can confidently put Sin Cara on a PPV….

3. I don't think they do. The crowd in Calgary for the better part didn't either. Me? Yep. Yawn.

4. LET ME ENTERTAINMENT YOU!

5. I don't know who we saw last night, but hot damn, that Sin Cara fucked up his spots that they refilmed elements of the match 3 times. I'll talk about this more on the SD review Friday (Seat Filler #3).

7. Johnny Ace's new gimmick? That's the rumour.

8. Sadly Zeke will face The Mediocre Khali on Smackdown…. ughh….

10. It would certainly hide Henry's slow and lumbering style if it goes that way.

Oddly enough, Jeff is tweeting that he is going to be back on Impact at some point soon.

I refuse to live in a world where Mexican America are the tag team champs.

That laptop GIF is great!

So a company that can't pay the guys that it already used (cough…Jimmy Yang…cough) or the people it already has on the roster who aren't named Hogan, Bischoff, Flair, Sting, or Kurt Angle, just hired five more X-Division guys, most of whom no one knows. Ok….

Sweet baby Jeebus, this was bad. The only things about which I remotely care are Samoa Joe taking out everyone in the absurdly convoluted BFG tournament, and the possibility of Austin Aries winning the X-Division title from Brian Kendrick, and starting on a feud with Alex Shelley. That's all.

If HHH speaks truthfully, and did not text Nash to do what he did, then Stephanie was my choice as well. If Nash is lying, and never got a text, and someone else sent it, then several suspects exist. I've never been a Nash fan, and even allowing for that prejudice, I think that Punk absolutely destroyed him on the mic. If Nash's involvement turns out to be the way that McMahon influence pushes itself to the forefront of a story that never needed it, and distracts from the true point, I'll not be surprised.

D-iz-amn, Beth Phoenix!!! I've seen Natalya dressed up before, but not Beth.

Is John Cena serious? Sure, it was a believable and intense speech against Del Rio, but when EVERY single winner of MITB has cashed in his title shot in the exact same way, Cena's noble indignation seems silly. The way that Cena was talking, Del Rio was the only person ever to do such a thing. I was ready to go along with whatever he said, but in terms of content, that was just stupid.

I completely agree with the ridiculous amount of commercials on a PPV. They can't justify this. Nope.

Orton/Christian was excellent. I'm still not sick of this program, especially if they keep delivering like this. Let's toss'em in a cage for a blowoff? Rematch clause should technically be available, and the rest books itself. Maybe another Edge cameo will be involved, but it won't be necessary.

Outside of the overbooked finish, Cena and Punk put on a pretty fine match. Kevin Nash was a surprise (one that I hope is explained as I just started up my recording of RAW moments ago). Del Rio made sense to cash in here, but it doesn't work outside of the Nash interference (which doesn't make sense… just yet).

Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly should not have gone over. That was stupid. Sheamus and Henry could continue, I suppose… yawn. Unannounced 6 man tag match? Yay?

The best surprise was actually getting exactly what we needed out of the Bryan/Barrett story. Great booking, and it was done simple. There is no reason to overbook here. Barrett can easily make a case to Bryan to put his briefcase on the line… although I wouldn't do it right away. Bryan can refuse initially and remain a face just by noting that he already promised the fans he would cash it in at WM and doesn't want to rob them (or be seen as a liar). Employ the KISS method of booking here, have Barrett harass him for a month or so by constantly attacking him until Bryan concedes and puts the case on the line to end it.

Also, is there anyway to post a blog in sections, rather than having to post two blogs? What I mean is.. I separated the first opening, from the rest, and if I could separate the second opening and make it like a third section of the blog, that'd be awesome!

I must admit that I chuckled at the "Jose and Jos-B" bit. Didn't it sound like Jarrett was saying "hosebeast" when he said "Jos-B?"

The abundance of Hooters commercials during TNA programming coincides with Brooke Tessmacher's push. Hmmm. I stand by my previous statement that they should introduce her as "From the Hooters on Kirby Drive in Houston, Texas."

If Mexican America had gotten involved in the Jarrett segment, they would have been faces by default. I wondered about that as well. The whole thing just proves that elderly Hector is better for the Mexican people than that group is.

Christy Hemme is improving on her announcing as well. She's dragging out the names of the wrestlers more than she was. Good for her.

You get a pass because the article made me chuckle. That, and I can't afford to fly to the southern hemisphere.

Regrub

Secondly, I found the trades you mentioned. I would mention them here, but, a new column would be better.

The "technical difficulties" around the sixteen minute mark are a tribute to current Diva/Knockout matches. Clever, eh? We rule like that.

It's always interesting to see what the last thing the FE wrestlers do on TV before they are gone. Kozlov had a match on NXT against JTG. Kozlov went over JTG, then grabbed a camera and planked on top of JTG while taking a photo.

And I quote…

"Watch any match I've worked in the last year and tell me I wasn't one of the best in ring guys in the company. I'm just saying!"

I really enjoyed Teddy Long's new personal assistant. Woo woo woo, you know it.

THERE CAN NEVER BE ENOUGH LIMES! NEVER! Actually, no… too many limes for sure. Sheamus face turn? Looks like it…

Man, I was hurting last night. Too much… too much wrestling, err… drinking… err… wrestling? Ha ha!

1. YES!!!!! YES!!!!! A thousand times yes!

2. I never cared for that franchise, but I saw "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2." It was great, considering all the material that had to be cut, but the point of mentioning it is that your comments about 3D versus 2D apply to this film as well.

5. Not so! I loves me a thinking heel, and Christian was glorious in exploiting Orton's "anger management" issues. Christian versus Daniel Bryan. Huzzah!

7. Yes, we do! Somebody make Good Humor stop being obnoxious.

9. I had this very discussion while watching the show. If you ever needed an example or definition of "the It Factor," just watch that tag team. Gabriel clearly has "It." Slater clearly does not.

My biggest problem with Sky as the focus of the decimated Knockouts division (aside from the fact that she was by far the weakest link in the ring) is that she has given fans no reason whatsoever to support her. Anyone who doesn't want to have sex with her is left wondering "Why?" On-camera, she is still the shrill, self-absorbed, overly-aggressive, hateful, bratty Barbie doll that she was before. She does the same provocative ring entrance that says, "You want this, don't you, but you'll never have it because you aren't good enough," and that's supposed to make us like her? If they truly wanted fans to believe in her in a non-sexual way, they would dress her in more practical ring gear, cut the sexpot entrance, and focus on promos and segments that prove her desire to change from eye candy to a legitimate wrestler. We've seen none of that.

Hmm… a screen cap… like this one? Happy days, happy days…

I agree that Sin Cara is a polarizing wrestler. I am a fan, but know some of the crew hate that guy. Fair enough, you make a good point about the CMLL matches. The bout with Kidd was pretty decent, well at least to this fan of the flippy floppy.

I hate being a pessimist, but I have this bad feeling that Destination X will easily trump the 8000-12000 PPV buys of the current average TNA, but not garner enough to make the difference. I hope I'm wrong (and will be happy to admit it later).

One article pointed out something that has long gnawed at me. The writer said that, even in the glory days of the X-Division, TNA has never clearly defined what the X-Division is. What does it really mean? The slogan used to be "It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits." Ok. In practicality, it was a lightweight division, featuring mostly guys 6' and under, weighing less than 230 pounds. Yes, Abyss is the champion now, and Samoa Joe was involved in some of the X-Division's finest moments, so the X-Division clearly can't be a division based purely on weight. Some viewed it as a division based on wrestling style, with a focus on athleticism and techniques from all over the world. The problem there is that the implication is that this "style" is not effective in the regular and heavyweight scene. If TNA can't define the X-Division, they certainly can't promote it. How do YOU think that the X-Division should be defined? I honestly don't know.

LOVE the "Assassin's Creed" GIF! That series is worshiped in my house, as Xander wants to be Ezio.

I cannot believe that Roode, Samoa Joe, and the Pope are all scored at 0. With all the guys that they're hopelessly misusing, and the new blood push goes to Crimson and Gunner? Sheesh.

So despite a bs win by using a chair, Velvet Sky may still have to deal with ODB and Jackie because they can just ignore the match stipulation of never coming back? Um, ok….

@Joe. I knew you'd like that. I'm just lucky it wasn't a Scott Norwood link lol. I dicsovered that 'training' video last night, and in actual fact, I was more distracted by PHHHHIIIILLLLLL KKKKEEEESSSSSSSSSEEEELLLLL, I wasn't bothering with the column, but that shouldn't surprise anyone.

I saw my name highlighted as a link. I HAD to click it. Saw that the title of the video was "History Will Be Made – Brett Hull," and I started saying "oh, you mother fucker." Then I saw the punchline. Love it.

And yes, I will put over the video you posted about how to be an NHL Defenseman. Especially the verse about the Sabres, lol.

Thanks for visiting LK, it's always a pleasure!

I'm still trying to block out the national shame Vancouver provided the international media about my country… [hangs head]

The actual Buddy Holly was the man.

I seriously need to start following that blogesalming. Great vid's! Ha ha, Pronger and Edmonton, matched in 2005!

Well, I liked reading this hockey post, but you already knew that. As much as my team (Oilers) and yours have a long standing rivalry, I feel bad that the Stars picked up the cancer that is Souray. They buried him in the minors for having a poor attitude… maybe not as bad as what Avery brought to your club in that failed experiment (and classic sound byte!). We'll have to see if the burial humbled him. Realistically, he only had one good season with the Habs… then did ok in Edmonton until he kept getting injured.

There was a number of questionable signings thus far. The Flyers plan baffles me… they are almost a totally different team. I agree that the Wild should be better. Buffalo looks SCARY now, but having an owner who is willing to spend is great thing for Sabre fans. It is going to be a very interesting season of hockey with the number of shake ups, as well as the possibility of the US not having the NBA and NFL seasons. Sadly, we're already hearing grumbling about another lockout for the NHL with the nature of these frontloaded contracts in the near future.

And thank you. It was fun to be back.

I absolutely agree with you on the Vickie Guerrero thing. She's lost a ton of weight over the last few months and there is no need for, as you said, a face commentator mocking her weight. Yeah, sure, she's still a little bigger than most of the Divas, but she's closing in on a few of them.

I did very much enjoy the commentary last night. The two bickered a little bit, as they should, but they were informative and put over the storylines and the wrestlers. I wouldn't put King on the level of JR or The Professor just quite yet though.

Sorry, Niki_Sushi, you brought back old memories!

One thing I noticed that bugs me severely, that nobody else probably even caught, is that the right side plate on the WWE Championship reads "WWE HAMPION." Seriously. Go back and watch Cena's opening monologue, and pay attention. The C is gone. I hate that kind of stuff. I'm a huge mark for championship belts, and I hate when I can see something wrong with them.

Flo is SOOOO not talking to R-Truth. She's so out of his league, insurance questions or no.

"… Don’t get me wrong, okay. I believe that women can wrestle very well. I just don’t believe these women (and Eve) can wrestle well. That’s all."

Yes. This. This times infinity. Although, I must insist that if Eve were allowed to actually WRESTLE, with a ground-based submissions style that highlighted her jiu-jitsu training, she could be much more impressive than WWE has allowed her to be. Hey, any chick who chokes out Matt Hardy (or taps him, I can't remember which it was) for being a douchebag gets an A in my book!

Your probably right about the Kelly Kelly thing, which is BS. She has the right to live her life anyway she wants to no matter how people don't agree with it.

2. I'm not thrilled about the fact that I read the spoilers for tomorrow night's RAW. The timing kinda pissed me off too, but oh well. I'll still watch and enjoy the show, even despite the fact that I actually saw the YouTube video of the final segment.

3. I'm completely in agreement with this statement. I've been watching Mark Henry since he joined the WWE, and this is the best I've seen him. A sustained push and perhaps a title run in the near future is definitely something I'd like to see happen for him.

4. The repercussions of Orton saying something about Kelly Kelly are going to be Kelly Kelly losing the title and then getting future endeavored. Orton can pretty much say anything about anybody and get away with it. Like Cena, he's virtually untouchable.

BTW man, what was up with the typos in #3? Celebrating a bit early?

I love the retro wrestling on my weekends! I am secretly rooting for Bad News here. I'm totally all in making this series a regular. All and any retro promotion videos would make for good stuff from the staff?

The Sheamus run-in, the Christian/Sin Cara match, and the Daniel Bryan/Ted DiBiase match were the only worthwhile parts this week. Perhaps it's just by comparison to the firestorm that was RAW, or that so many of my favorite people have left for RAW, but this show provided a much higher "meh" factor than usual.

That dancing husky head GIF is amazing! I had a dog that looked so much like that. I had to give her to my brother and his wife when I downsized to an apartment. I can still visit her sometimes, though.

I'll comment on Runjin Singh's promo. I wish he had taken one or two sentences to explain why Mahal's threats of divorcing their sister would BE so terrible in the first place. Most North American audiences will simply think, "So? Divorce is nothing. Let him divorce her, he's treating her badly anyway. Why would anyone take that?" What he said was fine, but lacked a way to connect the concept to the audience and make them care.

Christian's line about not being able to see in these stupid lights was gold!

Great review!

No animated-a-tron-G-pictures here… a couple comments!

Long night, late watch… less commercials too…

Anyone who was unsure of the blatant ripoff last week can be assured… Joker. I like insane Sting though. I am wrong? Retarded bad funny awesome? Does that adjective string apply. Steiner/Sting main event was a poor choice though. I read somewhere they combine for 100 years of age. Wow.

Your Pope, My Pope, THE Pope (special guest referee) declares DG FTW over Shane Carwin!! Not this time. I still think you can take him…

I enjoyed the flippy floppy X-Division match. Yeah, lot's of rehashes. I think those become obvious hints to the returnees, as who will go to the PPV. If they are too cartoony… But the flips? And the flops? I love that stuff, I always do. Acrobats, Ninja Turtles, Tony Hawks (yes, I realized I pluralized Tony Hawk…).

I'd say we're batting under .500 tonight…. but at least we got more match time without the breaks, but it also allowed them to cram even more talking segments…. I'm over-saturated….

I absolutely hate the fact that my curiosity got the best of me last night and that I bothered to read the spoilers for next week. I wish I were still able to sit here right now and wonder what really happened. Of course, WWE's wording of Punk's "suspension" pointed in the worked shoot direction anyway.

Rather than tell my wife that I KNOW it was a work (though, from what I'm hearing, Punk was told to say whatever he wanted and they'd cut him off if it got out of hand), I told her why I THINK it's a work – and that was something that is mentioned in this article: He didn't mention TNA.

Ring of Honor gets it's shout outs on WWE every now and again, and Hulk Hogan has never REALLY been off limits. Paul Heyman gets referenced subtly from time to time, and Brock Lesnar almost came back to work a match with Undertaker earlier this year. At the time you're watching the show live, however, you don't think about these things. When he said that John Cena was almost as good at kissing Vince McMahon's ass as Hulk Hogan, my jaw dropped and the words that came out of my mouth were probably "holy shit!"

I made a very conscious decision sometime over the last few months that I wanted to watch wrestling – and particularly Monday Night RAW – as a fan again. It's things like this that make me glad I made that decision. I completely drop off the grid from 9PM EST Monday until I get to watch the entire show later in the night. It's not exactly watching it live, but I don't know what's going on until I see it for myself, and I love that. CM Punk, being one of my top 5 (and top 2 active) wrestlers, cutting the promo that he did was a mark out moment for myself. Shoot? Work? In the moment that I was watching, it didn't matter. And that's what being a fan means to me.

You also point to some of the more classic shoots of the past, but note that this is 2011 WWE… his microphone would have been cut much earlier if they wanted it cut. And there lies the rub. That, and the fact that they taped next week's RAW last night as well… so…. let's just forget that there are spoilers out there… Let's just suspend disbelief and revel in one of the best moments in Professional Wrestling history for a week, shall we?

Awesome writeup Justin! Spot on, I've read and heard from people who barely watch WWE (if at all) also intrigued by that segment. I stayed up way too late as well….

The downside was that I almost had it spoiled via social networking, knowing Punk was going to do something. Hell, a friend of mine (the guy who hooks me up with the WWE seatfiller gig, and NOFX tix this Thursday!) phoned me up asking what in the hell just happened as he had skipped the last hour to go for a bike ride with his kids. As a result, I was watching this show in anticipation of the final segment… so I think I would have enjoyed the whole show more if I had been left in the dark.

And then after Punk's shoot/work, I promptly forgot everything that had just happened and rewatched the segment two more times. Thank goodness for this review to remind me of the other things that happened on the show! Enjoyed HBK and DDP, and oddly enough, Mark Henry! I know, right? Mark Henry?!?! Ha ha!

Also

"The guy’s probably a closet arsonist."

BWUH-HAHAHAHHAHA!!!

Not really, actually. As much as I wax nostalgic for the days of the original ECW, these two will not recapture their past glory in a TNA ring.

Backwards is the way to describe the story for the Christian/Orton show. As long as the matches continue to deliver, I will try and forget how askew the booking has become. Kind of like Tom Petty, it seems that Vince won't back down… fuck. Let's hope this rolls into Summerslam if nothing else happens. Orton will likely win the whole way through. His beard has magical powers, or so I'm told.

While polarized at amongst this IWC thing that Lance Storm questions even exists (which in itself is a poke at the obvious retarded 10%'er argument… cough cough…Eric Bischoff…cough), I've enjoyed Sin Cara. But I love the flippy-floppy shit. And if the WWE fucked up their online voting system and want to give us Bourne/Cara on RAW… sign me up.

Rhodes/Danielson was the best match of the night, agreed!! I missed the idea Booker T mentioned about the loss/win effect on the purse. A page out of boxing and MMA. They should continue this idea, DG. Good call!

I also enjoyed the Uso's adapting their entrance towards their cultural heritage. This was very cool, and it completely caught me off guard when it happened. My main concern is the lack of a tagteam division to work this into, because they don't seem to have one in the WWE. I wish they had started with this gimmick at the start and just skipped the Santino/Tamina crap altogether.

"Look, Mark Henry can never be RKOd. The man has no neck!"
True! The Kool-Aid Man of Pure Evil has no neck either, just a jug with a handle. Speaking of handle, give the man a manager. The manager could take the RKO. May I suggest Estrada? He's back, ha ha!

Regardless of what we may think of the show, Gee and I have a cunning plan. Even if you don't personally care about the show, we should all buy the ppv. In groups, alone, whatever. Why? The Hogan/Bischoff regime may have finally decided to make an all-X-Division ppv (which had been talked about for years, but had never happened) with the idea of deliberately underpromoting it (even by TNA standards), so that when the low buyrate numbers come in, they can use the excuse of "Numbers don't lie, no one wants to see the X-Division or have any of you guys pushed, good-bye." If we all buy the show and "Destination X" scores the highest buyrates in months, then it's a slap in the face to those who destroyed the once-mighty X-Division. Hey, it's a thought.

Aside from that, I really hope your point about the XD PPV is not the case… but sadly, the pessimist in me thinks you might be right. The funny thing is that their PPV buyrates are already absolutely terrible, so if they were to make that argument and succeed… well… I don't have enough hands to facepalm myself accordingly. I might actually pony up and buy this PPV in protest?

James Storm is Redneck Jesus.

After that promo, Beer Money might not be contractually obligated to break up and feud in order to go after the World Heavyweight title. Wouldn't THAT be refreshing?

The laws of physics disapprove of the Knockouts tag team match. Velvet and Hooter's Waitress should not be able to take solidly-built women like ODB and Jackie off their feet so easily with weak clotheslines. Anybody get a count on the "bitch" and "ass" tally for the women tonight? Overkill.

I totally expected Dakota Darsow to win. His dad was in WWE, for heaven's sake! Nice surprise there. Zema Ion must be referred to as "Juan Epstein" from now on. This is the sort of thing that could have really brought in viewers, had it been properly promoted. Last week, three guys who USED to work for TNA were fighting for a ppv contract. This week, it was three indy guys who had never worked for TNA. Next week, it's three more guys who used to work for the company. Video packages and interview clips that ran for a few weeks before the matches would have brought in some viewers. I hope I'm wrong, but I have a sick feeling that there's a reason why "Destination X" is only now being used as an all-X-Division ppv. It was talked about for years, but never done quite that way. If Hogan/Bischoff/Jarrett et al put together this ppv with the idea of deliberately promoting it even less than usual, and then use poor ppv buyrate numbers to justify cutting the X-Division entirely and not pushing the guys who were in it because "numbers don't lie, no one wants to see this," would you truly be shocked? Sure, all of TNA's ppv numbers are bad, but that has never stopped the powers that be before.

I want to buy an analytical commentary on "The Art of War" for whoever is writing Abyss's material.

Also, clicked that CNN link, and the very first image is three figures I own!

Three hour RAWs are the hardest to get through, and only half the time actually deliver. I'm sorry I missed bits of it, and so glad I missed other pieces of it. Jeez, it sounds like a train wreck…

Hopefully, after the RAW Roulette crap is over, we can go back to wrestling? Yeah, I didn't think so either.

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2/3. They didn't riot in either Miami, Boston or Dallas. Kudos! I enjoyed following both series.

5. Me neither.

7. HAHAHAHHAHHAA!! Yes, why yes he does.

12. I'm almost convinced that we need to see a Piper's Pit on every go-home RAW.

14. Yes, this was mindbogglingly lazy booking. Are they convinced that their audience only one of the two shows? They claim this once in a while, but I call bullshit.

The Usos being off for a while have been repackaged, perhaps a fresh run will help a bit. But as you pointed out, they need a division for it to work. I'm going to try and be optimistic on this one.

Mahal looked good, not great. I'll be patient with him…

Too bad Big Show didn't consider filing a lawsuit of his own for being RUN DOWN BY A CAR! I call bullshit on that segment. I enjoyed watching Mark Henry get destroyed, and whatnot, but damn… I guess only heels can afford lawyers? I don't like this lawsuit storyline.

For the main event, I liked how Orton hung his belt on the overturned table. Nice visual. I completely agree with you that Sheamus having this match and losing made little sense. Sure, it gives Christian a win (satisfying a number of fans, including me). Nonetheless, why bother burying the guy here? Smells like a Sheamus interference at the PPV costing Christian the win… and putting those two guys into a feud. I hope that doesn't happen because I'd rather see Orton/Christian carry forward through to Summerslam, but I have this bad feeling it ends Sunday.

Great work as always DG! Barkley says hi!

I will try my best to keep Daff's in my reviews, and if I miss it, please call me on it. I'm still very angry about the handling of her injury. And on a similar note, while I rip on Jesse Neil regularly… did you hear about him being successful with his application for food stamps? Seriously, this happened. Just ask RowdyRodimus, he was involved by accident in a Twitter misunderstanding with the guy. Crazy small world, folks. And it's rather sad and telling of the state of this company's pay.

Holy crap, I made a lot of spelling and grammatical errors in this review! Ugh…

Aries/Kash/Rave was great, spotfest editing or not. For a guy in his mid-40s, Kash looks really good and can still go. No mention made of the previous connection between Rave and Christy Hemme? Boo. Aries may not be concerned with ROH and its new tv deal because he left it for Dragon Gate USA after Gabe Sapolski was removed as head booker. I have no idea what his situation is, but he may not be ABLE to go to ROH again, nor may he want to. Still, I find it hilarious that posts are made about Aries pursuing non-wrestling interests after leaving Dragon Gate USA, and then he immediately shows up on TNA tv. He sure came to the right place to pursue non-wrestling interests!

Christy Hemme's announcing bothers me. She says the names of wrestlers too quickly, as if in normal conversation. Draw them out a bit, and give them more attention than the rest of the sentence. Do what Jeremy Borash does.

A "real female wrestlers" versus "perceived eye candy" feud would be fantastic if the Knockouts division still had the depth of talent to pull it off. I've complained about it many times before, but I'm not offended by the constant shouting of profanity and terms like "whore" as much as I see no reason for it on the level that it happens. Legitimate promos would make all the difference in the world here. Yes, such promos can be cut while pummeling the daylights out of one's adversary in the backstage area.

Gunner and Crimson? Yawn. THOSE are the non-WWE-and-WCW guys that TNA means to push? Jeebus. Mexican America is beyond dreadful. I like the tag team of the Itas, but Hernandez and Anarquia have got to go. When you gain an international reputation for hurting people in the ring through your incompetence and you don't care at all, or your green-ness causes injury to an athlete the caliber of Chris Sabin to the point where he's out for over six months, you don't need to have tv time. Or a job in a wrestling company.

I agree, it was overall a pretty packed episode. I enjoyed much of it, although some parts were hard to keep focused on. For me highlights were CM Punk/Stone Cold backstage playing off of the "What?" and straight-edge life style. Clever, solid dialogue. I am never disappointed with Roddy Piper, and here he delivered for me. The aspects of teasing the heels like Truth and Christian were well played out, and I even care a bit more about the PPV this Sunday. They are competing with it being my birthday though, so we'll see if I catch the event.

12. then second I saw Sin Cara was basically doing the same stuff as Rey Mysterio, I was like ok not a fan. The thing with my DVR is that it only screws it up between the 20-40 minute marks no matter who is on, this week wasn't the first time. I did see the cody segment just haven't seen Fight Club to get the references..

I haven't had the chance to watch the card. Now, I know which matches I will bother watching. Damn, you've picked up your game Mr. Pintnoir. So Bully Ray wins, and puts ketchup on everything near him. Angle and Jarrett go where they should. Gun Money ain't that bad. See, this is why I love the BWF.

Naturally. Of course old school memes still apply: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JMOh-cul6M

8. I'm definitely considering picking that one up tomorrow. I love it when WWE lets us get a taste of their former competition in DVD form. The Rise and Fall of ECW, The Monday Night Wars, and The Rise and Fall of WCW are three of my favorite DVDs in my collection.

12. Dude, I'm so over Sin Cara. I was so excited when he debuted, but YAWN. I'm still waiting for somebody to explain to me why they don't bother to turn the lights back on for his matches. I got it when they did it for Kane when he debuted, but this is just plain stupid. I'm willing to bet that your DVR made you miss out on Cody Rhodes' transformation into Tyler Durden. He told Ted DiBiase "It was only after I lost everything that I felt free to to anything," and apparently also used the phrase "Premature enlightenment." Fight Club references on SmackDown!

3. YES! LOVED IT!

5. For a company that needs to build new talent, god forbid you take advantage of a guy whose built hype on his own.

9. I'm sure it's a writer monkey's best attempt to… umm… I've got nothing.

12. Both matches were probably what you'd expect them to be. Sucks about the DVR, I've had some issues with mine that do not make sense to me. Frustrating.

Nonetheless, I don't want to copy/paste comments… never dig that. I will reiterate that I enjoyed Pintnoir's rundown of iMPACT Wrestling this week. After watching, then reading, I think anyone who missed the episode (or chooses not to watch) will get a pretty fair assessment of what happened. It's easy to rip on this program these days, it's harder to try to be objective. It's always a challenge.

As for a weekly basis.. probably not. But a random rant here and there.. I could do that.

We definitely miss our weekly dose of LK around here. Glad he at least pops in for anniversaries, lol

I think that nintendo bought out SEGA that's why there is no new console.

I could so be a Power Ranger if I wanted to. Did you know that the current season portrays them as pirates? They're pretty awesome. Gokaiger!

Cheers to everyone involved, past and present.

I just don't like Sin Cara because I don't like the flippy floppy guys.

Sadly, etc.

You've got to wonder if we witnessed the cusp of a modern female wrestling division just prior the Bischoff/Arnold/Hogan (Free Bird Rule) in TNA, and not the current products' reboot. Turrible? Mostly yes. I try to take the positives out, because this pessimist holds onto an optimistic dream.

G SMASH!!! G ENTER HULK-G MODE:

Dear TNA (err… imPaCt WreStLiNG): I can download better porn if I want to. Or whatever you call yourself next week. Also, pay Daffney's medical bills. Jerks.

Anyone else notice Ms Tessmacher saying (inaudible) after she saved Velvet, "Jesus Christ, what the fuck was that?" That made me laugh.

ANDERSTING! Love it!

Overall, I thought this episode was pretty decent. Some good matches, and I especially liked the not so great Muta. Young did a fine job with his impersonation. It was nice to see Shelley again, and the way he came into the program may have been cosmetic as DG notes, but certainly made me smile. I'm also saddened to hear that Sabin is out, what can you do?

Angelina talking (BOO!) was a letdown. I don't hate the gimmick, but speaking kind of ruins the point. And I didn't care for the power struggle part at the end.

Well, I shouldn't be surprised. Bischoff has said recently that 1) the changes made to "Impact Wrestling" were almost entirely cosmetic, and nothing will change regarding the on-air product, and 2) that ratings and numbers don't lie, and that the 10% of TNA's audience that is internet fans who hate everything have to get over themselves, accept that they and their desires are irrelevant, and that the remaining 90% loves what they're getting. This show certainly reflects that. Does anyone watching care in the slightest about a Hogan/Bischoff vs. Foley power struggle and subsequent firing? Of course not.

Please don't think that I'm being dismissive of your ideas. I've just lost all hope that anything like you describe will ever take place in TNA.

@DG – you know, the gents at WPO would probably have an aneurysm of awesomeness (if that's possible) if you ever wanted to talk/write about Star Wars. Or anyone else reading my inane comments, for that matter. I am a fan, and grew up with the franchise… but damn that crew love it over 'round them parts.

13. Money does NOT buy championships. The New York Rangers had Jagr, Messier, Gretzky, and a host of other top players a few years back, and didn't even make the playoffs.

14. Interesting factoid – the two other times that Canada hosted the Olympics, the host city's NHL team won the President's Trophy and the Stanley Cup that same season. Vancouver is four wins away from continuing that tradition.

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5. I agree. This was dumb. Just plain stupid.

11. You think she'll get an Oscar nod this time?

13. Anybody but the Heat. Also would like to see Dirk prevail with the Mav's here.

14. While I am hoping for a dramatic series, I've always rooted for Western Canadian NHL teams (as long as they are not playing against my Oilers). Vancouver all the way! Malhotra is likely to return from his eye injury in the series too, which is awesome for the team. Not only is he a reliable third line centre, he is perceived by the team as a huge morale booster in the locker room.

Abyss quotes "The Art of War" a great deal lately, but the context in which he quotes it indicates that he either hasn't actually read it, or he doesn't really understand it. It comes off as if someone who has heard of it, but never read or studied it, told him to reference it. History geek out.

To clarify, it isn't swearing in general with the Knockouts that has bothered me. It was that every Knockout, particularly Velvet Sky, swore constantly and for no real reason, and it came off as forced and artificial. Sometimes it works, and ODB is a character whom one would expect to use crass and crude language. This exchange was a real missed opportunity (not to mention cut too short), proving that the promo is a dying art. ODB could have gone a more articulate route with some variation of "the hot chick cost me my job because keeping her on tv was more important to the company than letting me wrestle, she can't wrestle and she never could, she only has a career because people want to see her naked, she's an insult to real female wrestlers who don't coast through life on their looks, no one will ever take you seriously as a wrestler and they never have, and any wrestling success you've had is due to your tag team partner carrying you." If Velvet had actually sold the beatdown and become an emotional wreck, and then felt compelled to prove that those claims weren't true, we could have had an interesting program with depth and character development. The best heels, like Jericho and Punk, are the ones who speak the truth that you don't want to hear.

As for Drew…. Mmmm Drew.

A shout-out from the Boss! Yes! I'll have you know, however, that I've mostly gotten over the other issues, and now simply pray for Matt Striker to shank him in his sleep and return to his rightful place at the announce table. Even without my legendary personal bias at work, Booker is dreadful. Away with him.

I'm waiting to see what happens with Kharma before hating on it, but this could go poorly. We shall see.

When did Drew McIntyre get pyro???

Orton/Christian was fantastic! That is EXACTLY what we needed. It's far from over, unless WWE hates us.

My only problem with tonight's show is, how is it fair for the referee to assist in a victory? Particularly since when Stone Cold gave Jerry Lawler a much smaller assist at WrestleMania, the Anonymous RAW GM reversed the decision.

Where that leaves Mexican America, Jordan/Young, and other teams miring in obscurity, I'm not sure. Perhaps it would be better to have the other teams do the enhancement role to build up competition towards a number one contender match?

I shall try to find out more about how this all affects SHIMMER, and report back.

Fuck yes.

"When I win, it's for real. When I lose, I'm takin' a dive."

All the same, of all the great Macho Man moments that I remember, the one that will always be first in line was the opening of wedding gifts. "A blender! OOOOH, YEAH!!!" I'm chuckling over it as I type it. As one of my friends just said on my voice mail, "There are not enough Slim Jims in all the world to fill the hole in my heart."

Yeah, Crimson\’s sham of being undefeated is a result if him having around three matches or so…

From what you wrote, and over reviews I\’ve heard, somehow the Jarretts versus Angle/Chyna match was one of the better bouts on the card. I was surprised by this, and have to wonder if the ninth wonder is going to stick around as opposed to being a one-off. Hmm…

Good stuff Pintnoir! I liked this write-up.

I'm kind of pulling for the Bulls myself. Like the style they play, good team approach.

I know that feeling. I think you're going to like it here bro. We don't toss those labels 'round these parts very often… and the odds are the target really, really earns it.

I'm enjoying this series quite a bit already. I wasn't sure what to expect at first, but now I think I'm on this bandwagon. The points made about Orlando Jordan are well grounded. I've never understood why Jordan has gone along with the overt portrayal of his sexuality. Personally, I really don't care what the wrestlers do with their own time in that regard. Sure, I get the idea of shock factor, but the Hogan/Bischoff era presentation of him is not shocking. Even more so, it's more stupid and face-palm-inducing than shocking. It's certainly disrespectful as well. In his WWE era days, I felt Jordan was decent in his role with JBL. I was never blown away, but he was given a pedestal to stand on beside an established wrestler, which would at least showcase his potential. TNA… err.. iMPACT could have easily repackaged him into a serious role in a tag team. But they screwed up Eric Young as well…. so…. sigh. Speaking of which, Young gets too much hate on the internet for his willingness to go with the flow. I wonder if these two can ever be repackaged?

Great debut for a series, and I am interested to see where you go with this. Tonight will be the first PPV for the new direction the company proclaims is all about wrestling. I don't have much faith that it will be a huge step forward, mostly because it has come to light on Thursday. They have many wrestling fans to convince that they are serious. I had a back and forth with a man named Joe between Thursday/Friday about this. I think that the best thing they can do is make one significant power move… something that makes fans feel like they really missed out on a moment at Sacrifice… something that will make them WANT to tune in. I agree with you that the change should be over the course of the next while post-Slammiversary. Doing a complete overnight reboot would stink of WCW in it's dying days, a stench this show truly reeks of. No, it's not a reek of awesomeness…

Sincerely enjoyed Bryan and Sin Cara. My only concern was the face versus face side of things, but the two delivered a fantastic bout. Chavo was indeed distracting at times, but fortunately I was able to block out Kerwin White's commentary due to my fascination with the lighting used. I watched this twice.

I'm on the fence with Khali bit. I realize that the potential is to have a feud over managerial rights to the giant, and the argument against the current arrangement will be how this bonafide monster is being depicted as a joke. That would work, on paper. The problem will lie in the delivery… for now, I am entertained. Not a Khali fan though, but am a fan of logical and well delivered stories.

It should be a good run towards the title match at the next PPV. Christian and Orton have the old shaky alliance going as both are positioned as faces. I'm guessing they will keep the title on Orton at the PPV and set up some kind of heel turn for one of the two. That is if the plan is to continue the feud through the summer. God help us if this ends two Sundays from now. The main event tonight was surprisingly good, and great point on the two most dramatically different skin tones being represented in our heel team.

Great review, as always, DG!

Another excellent review, good sir! Daffney GIF? Check. "Heeltastic?" Check. I shall allow your assessment of the former "Some Internet Guy" for now, but the name returns if he slacks off again.

[youtube]M4BZw1349EA[/youtube]

They tend towards doing the opposite of the WWE on every level. This on I also hope they stick to.

and I remember that goal on poor Vesa Toskala. Remember the one in the Olympics on Tommy Salo that bounced off his mask, landed on his back, and bounced into the net, giving Belarus the improbable win over Switzerland?

Anyways, here's hoping that TNA can actually pull off being a "wrestling" show every week. That's where the money is going to be for this company, not stupid storylines.

It was certainly great hearing from you throughout the night during WrestleMania, as is starting to become a tradition. One of these years we'll be drinking and watching the show in the same place!

Sin Cara's debut impressed me, but since then it's been "meh" for me.

Edge came as a shock to all of us, and I found out in a very similar manner to the way you did, though I was on a bus headed to work instead of at a poker game.

Ha hahahaha! Well put!

I'm sooo looking forward to the return of "KONG MAD, KONG SMASH!!!"

Most people seem to have less of a problem with Christian losing the title and more of a problem with the rushed way that it was done, as if the WWE Universe would collapse upon itself and result in instantaneous bankruptcy if Orton didn't hold it NOW. I would like to think as _G_ does, but my optimism in matters wrestling has worn thin to the point of nonexistence.

I was thinking that Sangrieto looked familiar, but couldn't place the guy. The mask covers all the hair, but his style and gait… It kind of makes sense as to why Red was part of Kendrick's angry Job Squad for the tapings.

All in all, I enjoyed tonight's episode for that match, and Roode's promo. I don't think it was as boring as past episodes have been, but certainly nowhere at the level of the Pre-Hogan/Bischoff period. If I was able to predict things, I'd start a death watch for the show. Apparently the Carter Matriarch is in charge of the budget of the program now, which is a sign that Panda Energy is starting to show concern (for good reason). Perhaps the Network angle is inter-related?

Roode is awesome. But we already knew that. Oh, sorry –

If Sangrieto really is Amazing Red in a mask, as I've heard, does this mean that he'll get more of a push than he usually does?

"Puppies in snow" > everything

My chagrin just fails to grasp the point of overdoing the Knockouts' swearing on the level that they do. It just seems so forced and fake, particularly with Velvet Sky. Like hot chicks can't string three words together without two of them being profanities. We get it, you aren't PG and sexy women cursing gets you off. Stop trying so hard!

Nothing means anything on this show. Not titles, not alliances, not characters, not wrestling, not anything. That's not me being smarky, or harping on the negative, that's me shaking my head in disappointment and disbelief. There is not one compelling reason to watch this product. TNA is now every Adam Sandler movie of the past several years. A guy gathers his friends, throws together a sketchy reason to be on camera, and proceeds to have a good time with his buddies on camera before presenting it to the public as a legitimate product. Despite Jeff Jarrett's assertions, TNA is boring beyond comprehension. One would think that jaded cynicism would have rendered this statement void, but the idea that someone writes this mess isn't nearly as appalling as the idea that other people approve it to air. Until the bubble bursts, more dreadful is all that there will be.

Loved Kharma here. I think this is a case of so far, so good. I actually didn't mind Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly being left in the ring unscathed. In fact, it sends a message that she is no threat to Kharma… but her time is coming.

As for the failing of Incredible to make the show, that does suck for the fans. It doesn't bode well for him taking future dates, unless he has had communication with the promoter as to a legitimate good reason to no show.

The brand t-shirt thing was a bit odd, aye…

Say what you will about his ability to run this country, but damn, can he deliver a joke.

When Sin Cara's lights stayed on for his entire match, I was reminded of New Jack in the original ECW, and "Natural Born Killers" playing for his entrance, the entire duration of the match, and after the match. Hey, it was funny!

It would be expecting far too much from WWE in terms of character development, but consider this. The Great Khali has been the dancing and lovable "Punjabi Playboy" for ages now. Jinder Mahal could turn out to be a dastardly heel who views Khali's fun-loving nature as a Bollywood stereotype and a disgrace to the Indian people and men like himself who have worked so hard to get past such stereotypes. It's a thought.

Layla! Layla! Layla!

Someone help me locate the ninjas who kidnapped Samoa Joe and held him hostage for weeks. I want to persuade them to take Cole.

I enjoyed the Sin Cara match.

Why was everyone still wearing their brand's T-Shirts? I know it's the fallout from the draft, but that seemed awkward to me as a viewer. There's some WWE propaganda out there claiming that 70% of viewers of either brand do not watch the other show. Really?

Jinder Mahal is an FCW guy? I was wondering what that was all about. Do you think they will pigeon-hole him into a Bollywood character? I guess I shouldn't be shock(master)ed if they do.

A BOO to the bookers for making Christian look second rate, I concur.

@Pintnoir – I did skip talking about a lot of vignettes, but indeed this episode was less cluttered than normal. Matches are appreciated, but the matchups themselves tended to feature lackluster combinations. I will credit Gunner for being watchable this week, albeit much of that was likely due to Daniels. I think that what TNA is leaning towards, is the big-man fetish that has been an issue of many fans of the WWE over the years. There needs to be more opportunity for flash and energy matches. The mainevent I found passable at best. It didn't seem like anything was advanced, and the chemistry between this particular three wrestlers may have been the reason. I suppose there will be folks that would disagree with my take on this week's episode, I readily admit I went in biased and negative. This is in part, a direct result of the write-as-I-watch approach… if I'm in a foul mood already….

@DG – Sabin is hurt? So, he joins the list of guys and gals who will have to pay their medical bills. After debating and talking with various folks from the information presented about TNA recently, I've certainly become biased watching. I will still watch, but will certainly talk about the tag team idea.

Side note. Chris Sabin injured his knee in that match because his opponent was out of position to take the top rope clothesline or whatever the move was. Add this to the flaming pile.

I can't believe that I'm saying this, G, but perhaps you and I can come to a tag team arrangement involving these reviews. Purely because I hate to see you suffer so. We'll talk.

I also noticed a lot of great cruiser calibre fellows ended up on Smackdown. Bryan, Cara, Tatsu, and Kidd all fill out that side of things. God forbid they consider using those guys in that capacity over there… even though I am pretty sure it won't happen. A smark can dream, can't he?

Seriously, I agree with Pintnoir in principle, but WWE has to have Divas on both shows. As pathetic as the "division" may be, a wrestling show without hot chicks would not go over well with most people.

Agreed! Drew McIntyre, Beth Phoenix, and Jack Swagger on RAW are all good moves that actually have my interest. I would LOVE for McIntyre to prove Booker T wrong when Booker essentially said on "Smackdown" that McIntyre couldn't hang with the big dogs on RAW, and would seriously have to step up his game to fit in if he got drafted. Shut up, Booker.

Pass!

In all fairness, my take is based on what the fed will do with the guy. I hear Trips is behind the talent development side of things these days, and this is his "project." As Mistico, before the WWE, this guy is unquestionably fantastic. But it's obvious there's some rough edges in his matches as he adjusts to the "WWE Style" (nothing horrible… yet). And it was the "yet" that scared me, but seeing he got "drafted" to Smackdown, they can edit out any mistakes if need be.

I'm also glad that Mysterio went the other way in the draft for Sin Cara's sake. The guy will likely get more match time on the Blue brand as that show tends to lean heavier on wrestling, and less on talking. And with the rumored panic about Smackdown's roster needing more faces, he could benefit by default.

Also, the Cena double swap was ridiculous. It makes all past drafts make no sense. If you could redraft the same guy twice, then why wouldn't one guy keep getting drafted back and forth (e.g. The Rock back in the day)? Why would that silly HHH draft turn into a trade? I know I am overthinking this a bit, but seriously. Doesn't. Make. Sense.

Great write up AK! Thought you vanished, glad to see you back reviewing RAW!

This was such a letdown, the Cena-swapping in particular. The draft concept could be one of the high points of the wrestling year, and it's a piddly throw-away thing. How hard would it be to treat it like a real sports draft instead of the weird quasi-lottery that it is? Instead of rushing into a ppv right after Mania, start setting up for the draft after Mania and skip the ppv that month. Have matches on both shows to determine numbers of draft picks, round choices, possible immunity from trade, title options, and whatever else would be worth it. Maybe even a match to determine which show actually hosts the draft, to make it seem like two equal teams are involved. Yes, I know. Focus on the shifting of alliances and whether or not wrestlers on one show would actually unite for the good of their brand, or whether manipulations and screwing one another over would happen. That sort of thing should take a good month, not be tossed out there on tv in one night with no build or explanation.

I'd watch the daylights out of that.

Just a quick aside – in the first article about TNA's workers; conditions, I particularly loved this quote, because it's SO TRUE:

"Interestingly, one half of the duo, Simon Rothstein currently works in the TNA U.K office having left his job with The Sun for a position with them. Oh, well: it's not like The Sun had any journalistic integrity to lose anyway."

As a trainee journalist here in the UK, I can't underestimate how true that statement regarding The Sun is.

Plus, the interview with Matt Bentley that was quoted, was particularly disturbing:

"Yeah…There’s no (drug) testing. And until recently…we only just got tested for blood work. Which I think is long past due…you know, the amount of diseases and stuff. And you’re asked to bleed on somebody, you don’t know what your talent has…you know, somebody is carrying something, they’re liable to give to someone else…(that was) the only testing that has ever been done, and that was four or five months ago."

There are no words to describe how stupid, disgusting, and downright dangerous that is.

And the part about Angelina Love's concussion at Lockdown (was that 2009? I remember seeing the bout in question) and how soon she was put back into action…

I think the thing that worries me the most is, I worry for the health of a number of guys who I really love watching perform: Brian Kendrick, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Chris Daniels, AJ Styles… to name a few.

The fact that it seems pretty common knowledge that TNA are quick to punish performers for refusing to bleed/work dangerous spots says it all, really.

And, more to the point about Daffney… She is one of my favourite female performers in the entire industry, and it galls me to think of how she has been treated.

There's no way I could go back to supporting a company like this. Sure, a lot of this *may* be unsubstantiated or unconfirmed, but you know the old saying, right? There's no smoke without fire.

I'm kinda shocked to say it, but I hope TNA runs straight into the ground. For the sake of their performers, if nothing else. I can't watch this promotion again.

Sin Cara/Mistico is an entirely different wrestler. There is HUGE buzz on him. I've had followers ask me when Sin Cara's match is on Raw. I have a new follower who speaks Spanish that all we talk about is Sin Cara. The buzz is out there. He has the potential to be what Rey was in '96. The guy is insane in the ring.

I enjoyed the Rhodes/Rey segments. And yes, while the BPs already did this, it was not enough to make me enjoy it any less. I was hoping Rey would take time to heal than advance this storyline further, so hopefully after the next PPV he does exactly that.

When they first announced the Corre was defending all their gold, my initial thought was that they were all losing and being future endeavored… which didn't happen at least with Barrett. I didn't get the finish in his match either.

Barring the "Lita" bit, I really got into the whole retirement segment and Edge's appearance to help put over Christian (which he shouldn't need… but the twelve year olds still barely know who he is). I don't know where Edge goes after the ER PPV, but if Cole indeed goes the manager route, I'd love to see him jump into a commentary role one day.

Thanks again for reading Pintnoir! Also, hit us up whenever you like if you want to contribute!

I don't mind Sarita and Rosita. Rosita still comes across a little awkward at times, but for a girl who fits the model-build she's vastly superior to many. Sarita is great, I love her style (except when she does Eddie's little saunter-dance). The stable is a poor choice on so many levels. I realize they want to give an identity to the group, but this approach is beyond a stereotype. It's just dumb. I refuse to learn how to spell Anarwehtskdfhjkfas's name until he gives me reason to care. I don't mind wrestler's borrowing from each other, but to be such a cliche…. I'd rather watch Kerwin White, actually.

It is true that Daffney is suing TNA, and it is true that Rosie Lottalove injured her in that tryout match. Beyond that, there is no way to know if the rest of the article is true or just speculation – but to be honest, I doubt TNA wants people even speculating about that.

I hope Daffney's lawsuit runs the company into the ground.

I hated that title from the instant that I saw it. It plays off the title of a 1970 movie called "Two Mules for Sister Sara," starring Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine. MacLaine plays a nun called Sara, who is rescued from Mexican bandits by Eastwood. Both prove to have secrets, but they end up becoming friends. Eastwood's character in the film is named "Hogan." Draw your own conclusions.

I read in several places that leaving TNA was not Jay Lethal's decision. They seem to have cut him. I stand by my Facebook assertion that they couldn't afford to pay for the real Nature Boy while keeping such a fine impersonator on the roster. We can rehas this all day long, but TNA should have been centered around Jay Lethal and guys like him, as opposed to Sting, RVD, Matt Hardy, Flair, Rob Terry, and the like. Yes, I know….

Sarita and Rosita are a good tag team. Mexican America is a terrible stable. Hernandez has less charisma than a dead armadillo, and can't talk to save his life. The other guy is Anarchia, not that it matters. Xenophobia, they name is TNA. In 2011, that's pathetic.

Is Steiner a heel now, or is he just Steiner being over doing whatever he wants to do, whether it makes sense or not?

Miss Tessmacher? Are you serious? Good lord, what a joke! Again, notice the awkward and unnecessary swearing by a hot chick for no real reason. I'm calling it now, that Kurt Angle's "mistress" will be the former Serena. She had a try-out match at that taping, I believe.

I hate the Hervey-cam endings. Just end the show, already. It kills it, and there wasn't much to begin with.

1). See I'm patient, but I know they are not. And that is what really sucks here. The trampoline is cool, but only with the specific camera angles on TV and the hope he lands it. They should drop this ASAP, just go to the ring.

2). Couldn't have said it better. So I won't try.

4). I want Diamond Dallas Page to respond, just because. Didn't catch that one by Angle. I love how people forget that if they Tweet, the world can read it. I shouldn't laugh at the ignorance, but seriously… society has latched onto social networking quicker than realizing what they say publicly. Even though I am doing the same thing here, DERP!

5). Don't die in the ring Angle. Crazy, Twitter-retarded, and/or given-enough-to-us.

6). I really want to see their contracts, job descriptions, etc. It adds a whole new level to the trainwreck. Still watching this Thursday, because I am sadomasochist? No, that's not the word I was looking for…

7). Some Internet Guy tweeted something along the lines of being a friend on the way in, and on the way out. Or something to that effect. I'd do my citation from either PWI or Angrymarks, and whatnot, but I am far too lazy to do my homework. I agree with you, albeit I do not know where Lita stands on the subject. I do know the dirtsheets mentioned that the affair ordeal did influence her decision to leave. Ahh… the rumours. Either way, I agree with your sentiments on the affair. I found it interesting that Edge brought up the live-sex story with Lita in his retirement speech. PG TV I suppose.

8). I wonder if they are just going to get rid of the Corre in entirety. I would like to see a Bourne/Gabriel program too. God forbid we had a light-weight division… I'm not holding my breath for Vince to change here though. Last time I did that, I died again. I hate when that happens.

9). ROH.

Stellar work as always, G!

I too was wondering what had happened to Drew McIntyre. Despite the loss, he did look good, so hopefully, all is not lost for him.

Kelly Kelly. Blech.

Cody Rhodes's promo was great. Have I mentioned just how much I'm into this gimmick? In the past five minutes?

Anyone who didn't choke up just a bit during Edge's speech has no soul, and I do not wish to know them. That is all.

"Sting interrupts. Looking magical with his shiny red robes. He plans on casting a delay-fireball, I’d bet."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! This. Gaming references rule!

The Daffney GIF is much appreciated. I think of her every time "zombie" is said regarding Angelina Love/Winter/Velvet Sky as well. We love you, Daffney!!!

Winter's completely calm delivery of "Good luck with that, sweetheart," and the accompanying smirk were more intimidating and indicative of aggression than Velvet's shouting "bitch" at her. I stand by my previous statement on Sky's language.

"The Hogan Show" made me ill. Sure, they had more wrestling, but we've reached the point where we're essentially congratulating TNA for remembering to wear pants when leaving the house, or tying shoelaces properly. All we ever hear about are the outside projects from the people who were supposed to be leading TNA to a glorious new future. Bischoff and Hervey just got a new deal with Tru TV for another show. Hogan pimps a show about midget wrestlers more than he ever has TNA. We all know that no one in the Hogan/Bischoff/Hervey/Flair camp ever cared anything about TNA, but one would think that Bob Carter, at the very least, would see this complete failure to even promote the current product due to a focus on outside projects as grounds for immediate dismissal. People who have jobs do what they are hired and paid to do, and everything else has to come on their own time. Is anyone else as bothered by this as I am?

I'd love to hear your reasoning for homosexuality being "entirely unnatural".

And I really don't understand how the thought of a child growing up with two loving parents could make anybody "with a brain" stick to their stomach. Who cares if it's two dudes, or two women? Would you rather a kid grew up in abusive foster care, or ended up on the streets?

(Obviously, that last comment was a joke, and was in no way intended to undermine the genuine emotion of the topic at hand.)

Obviously Edge gets my vote for first place in the Power Poll.

I'm shocked…

Great job as always, G!

All of the twelve-year olds must have been stoked to hear Cole refer to their current favorite show, Dallas… ha ha! Good call!

We'll have to wait and see where the Edge/Del Rio program goes from here. Probably we'll get a tag match next (again)?

One of these days, I think we need to bring back the DrowGoddess for ONE-MORE-MATCH!!! Or review…

The Generation Me split would actually mean something, had they been given enough airtime to let fans actually give a flip about them as heels first, and slowly start showing the sibling rivalry develop. The idea itself is perfectly valid, but at least one solid tag team title reign should have come first. Losing the belts could have set off the feud, with big brother blaming little brother for getting pinned and costing them the belts.

Oh, the days of Gail Kim and Awesome Kong….

Arrogant jerk stoner RVD > laid-back, relaxed, and groovy stoner RVD.

There is absolutely no way that anyone watching this show on tv could possibly care about anything at all happening on it. It can't even be viewed as trainwreck bad, and thus having a certain "guilty pleasure" appeal. It's straight-up boring bad. The energy to hate it can't even be summoned. All the same, I have still watched it (sort of), and eagerly anticipate these reviews every week. Your effort does mean something!

The Briscoes vs. the Motor City Machine Guns, Ring of Honor, 4/19/08: I saw this match live. My birthday present to myself in '08 was to fly from Houston to Chicago and see the MCMG (my most highly favored of all tag teams) fight the Briscoes in ROH. This was the second match of what was meant to be a longer series, but when TNA stopped allowing talent to work with ROH, no further matches ever happened. Words do not do justice to the brilliance of this match. When Chris Sabin flipped over the referee's back and landed on his feet on a chair in the audience, the place lost its collective mind. The audience was so hot for both teams, which made the experience all the better. Because the MCMG were a special attraction, they weren't expected to win. That they did was the cherry on top of a sundae made of awesome. This match was as close to wrestling heaven as I have ever been.

Kota Ibushi vs. El Generico, Ring of Honor, 4/19/08: Yup, two matches from the same show. I had heard all manner of amazing things about Kota Ibushi, but had never seen any of his work. His match against Generico was the fourth and last of his brief US tour, and it was the only victory he scored. There's something magical about seeing a wrestler perform live for the first time, and knowing right away that he would be one of your favorites. This was one of those times. Ibushi is like a breathing anime character, and has to be seen to be believed. I met him and shook his hand after the show. Sweet!

KENTA vs. Davey Richards, Ring of Honor, 4/3/09: This was during Wrestlemania weekend of Wrestlemania 25, in Houston. This match defined what ROH is all about. It was for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight title, and the "disgruntled and disrespectful former student vs. the mentor who still has a few tricks up his sleeve" story was in full effect. So many true near-falls, and not just two-counts! Emotional, engrossing, and hard-hitting.

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, Summerslam, 1994: Best cage match ever. Sure, nobody fell from the top through a table, but it wasn't necessary. The story of two real-life brothers fighting each other, particularly when both were able to perform at such a high level, was particularly compelling.

Austin Aries vs. YAMATO, Dragon Gate USA, 4/2/11: Wow. Just wow. Watch it and see. I love both of these guys, and this match is a fantastic example of why.

TLC tag team title match, Summerslam, 2000: The first and best. Edge and Christian, the Hardys, and the Dudleys could do no wrong. Replicating this match has always failed, because there was something very special about it.

Ultimate X match for the X-Division title, Final Resolution, 2005: AJ Styles, Chris Sabin, and champ Petey Williams proved that every X-Division match and every match involving smaller and more athletic guys isn't a mindless spotfest. Storytelling, psychology, character, artistry, and athleticism are all on display here. Watching this match triggers such outrage over what TNA has been and could have been, and what it is.

I think that this is the first article in the history of this site where anything CZW has done has been praised instead of mocked. So, congratulations on making history!

God, I've seen so many great matches over the years it's hard for me to pick my favorites. Then again, I don't go by how great the match is technically like so many others do, I go by how involved I am in the match and if I really care about the outcome. If I can go against knowing it's a work and get pissed or celebrate over the finish, then it was a great match IMO lol

At least we get Sin Cara’s debut on RAW!

I was wrong.

“I rewatched a bunch of this over the last week. And it was a pretty damn good show. There were a few matches that were nothing special, but with the TLC, Rock/Austin, Benoit/Angle, Hardcore title, Taker/HHH, and yes, the Gimmick battle royal, I was sated as much as I was the first time around.

What I really liked here, was the historical perspective you make following the review. It’s cool that we started this Celebration of Professional Wrestling with the anniversary of the final Nitro, and you capped it off with the anniversary of the WM that followed immediately after. And, that the rematch they neglect to mention with Taker/HHH is later today…

Will we see the start of a new era of wrestling tonight? I don’t know, but we could sure use something to shake things up. I’m not saying there is anything terrible about the current product, but it would be fantastic to see the youth movement go full tilt tonight at WM27 (where possible, of course). Now would be a great time.”

I'm forever spoiled because this was my first live Wrestlemania. If you listen carefully to the dvd, you can barely hear the "Die, Rocky, die!" chant that we started. There was a tiny wizened man next to us who was the biggest Austin fan on the planet. Watching him attempt to jump up and down and scream with almost no teeth, or functional joints, was priceless. I refuse to accept that it has been that long! Stop making me feel so old!!!

I understand they want WWE to grow beyond wrasslin', and they still feel the stigma of wrasslin', but this is just plain dumb.

Although, it did answer my question of 'What in the hell is Kofi gonna do at 'Mania?' Now l'm just left wondering about the Sinister Scotsman…

I dug Cody's dark towel over the head look. It made him come across as more despicable and sinister in his promo work, and ring entrance.

Good news! There was an "attack" by the Corre on Kozlov over the weekend. This takes Vlad out of the match, and his replacement is Kofi Kingston. While this changes things a bit, allowing for some more high flying on this matchup, I still think the result will be the same.

I understand they want to be perceived as creating other things than wrestling, especially with the films and books. But that is not the answer. It'll be interesting to see if they launch a propaganda campaign on the show? Perhaps the "Get the F Out" will be rehashed.

I'm not sure what Daniels is up to coming back. Perhaps it literally came down to money between TNA and ROH? As much as I doubt he will get to show off his deep skill set in the current version of iMPACT, the foolishly optimist wants to hope he gets that opportunity. At least in the storyline perspective, they put him with the right faction here.

I couldn't agree more about Wayne Arnold. See, if his job is to toss bullet-points at people while they cut promos, then they need to mute/cut his audio out of the segment. If he is supposed to be an actual interviewer, as you point out, it is incompetent. While I'd argue they should just let Borash do the interviews, the Reaction-style of camera work won't mesh with the traditional interview segments. I wouldn't mind them presenting the two styles during the program, just don't try to make a hybrid of the two.

Just, wow.

Your nomination for sainthood will arrive shortly. New lows are reached every week, whether one believed it possible or not. I look forward to this review so much every week, but your suffering cannot be imagined. Thoughts I had while watching, in no particular order:

Stop the HD super-close-ups on Angelina Love. Please. I really like her, but I can't defend this.

Someone in power must have decided that hot chicks swearing is sexy, because Velvet Sky has quite the potty mouth on tv. If it came off as a natural thing, like when Austin did it, I might not care, but it honestly seems like a deliberate effort is made to cram as many swear words into Sky's promos as possible. I find this unnecessary.

Since no one watches TNA, no one cares that their inappropriate treatment of homosexuality is vastly more offensive than WWE's. I'm not opening that can of worms again, so don't start a flaming comment war over it, but what happened tonight was appalling. They don't have the top good guy and face of the company directing that treatment at a target audience of kids, that's about it. Taz and Tenay should be ashamed of themselves.

DANIELS??? WHY??? Why would you do this to yourself, Daniels? It can't possibly be worth it. You should be playing Spider Jerusalem in a movie instead.

Jason Hervey is the most obnoxious and incompetent "interviewer" ever. Someone should kick his teeth down his throat. Really, he's terrible.

*bows*

Since I watched this late, after working a ridiculously long day with a terrible head cold, I must have FFW'd through the Abby to the HOF announcement. I heard about the video package snub, although I think they only have a little bit of footage available from the WCW and Stampede promotions…. yeah, you'd think they could've put at least 30 seconds of stuff. On the same token, I am very happy that they are at least recognizing people who never worked under the McMahon banner.

Yeah Aly, I was put off by Vickie pinning Morrison as well. I understand why they did this, but do not like how it comes across on a guy who should be higher elevated.

On DG's point about Kong, perhaps after Mania that will be how they debut Kong. That would work quite well into the storyline if Cole is exiled to Elba… err…. Smackdown and kept away from Lawler? Post draft (which is pending). I could see this rude interruption-angle carry over towards Backlash (or whatever the hell they call it these days). This could be a throw-back to Kaufman oddly enough, starting with the King!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I had to wipe my eyes there.

The Cole/Lawler segments are going on for too long. I get it, I get it, but they could be done in half the time of Cole didn't repeat himself a dozen times. Speaking of Cole, does anyone else think that his constant interrupting of the Divas matches is building to Awesome Kong smashing him. I'd much rather have seen her as part of Punk's "new Nexus" under the name of Faith, but that group has clearly ended. Yes, she'd be better as a monster heel turned loose on Kelly Kelly or something, but I do wonder about where all this is going.

It'd be like the NHL turning round and saying 'Actually, no, we're not an ice hockey organisation. We put on entertainments.'

Yawn. Wrasslin' doesn't have to be a dirty word, I dunno why the 'E are so intent on making it appear so.

12. Kill me now.

On points I agree with you, however. This is an overly PC time and watchdog groups go overboard. However, I will have to point out that despite a growing presence of homosexual relationships in the media, nobody is forcing you to have one. There’s no reason to disrespect a person based on their choice of partner. Rich isn’t going to judge you for liking women, and just because he’s gay doesn’t mean he’s going to come on to you of you’re sitting next to him at, say,a WWE live event. Closed mindedness and short sightedness is not going to make homosexuals go away, so you might as well join us in the 21st century and realize that people are people.

7. Husky Harris already has a new gimmick. Check it on YouTube. He is now Axel Mulligan, in torn jeans and t-shirt, and a mask. While at first he may look like "a poor man's Mankind," I think that this may actually work for him. His physicality is great, and he uses the Whippersnapper as a finisher. I'm not crazy about the mask, but the rest of it is rather good.

9. Agreed. Hopefully this is the start of his ascension.

We love you, JT, and no one on BWF will object when I say that we're all here for you, we'll miss you while you're gone, and your eventual return will be welcomed with almost Rock-like support from all of us. Except for that Kennedy git, I hear that he hates us gingers.

That is all.

Humor is relative, as we all already know, but I really don't think that anyone here (no clue about your Facebook messages) thinks that there are "sacred cow" topics, or that sexual humor is objectionable. The focus seems to be that in this one particular context, involving this one particular person and this one particular type of gay joke is irresponsible.

Or I could be misreading everything.

I'd love to tell GLAAD to just shut the hell up and go away, be homosexual and realise that jokes are made about everything.

Also, CM Punk is still a face to me (so maybe I'm misguided).

Consider yourself bullied. Luvs ya, Jamie!

Perhaps some of you could make light-hearted references to my bad typing, before I have a go at you for "bullying" me.

Kids around the world are killing themselves because they're bullied for being gay. We're never gonna reach a level of tolerance if being gay is still viewed as an effective insult – especially by the 'goodie' to the 'baddies'.

And, it's a positive outcome, too – there's not been a big war of words, things haven't gotten ugly. If this means the WWE will help tackle homophobic bullying, then that is a fucking amazing thing and I am chuffed to bits. It's about time the wrasslin' world pulled its weight promoting LGBT diversity.

I forwarded this on to PinkNews.co.uk. I felt so cheeky e-mailing them, but I'm really pleased about what has happened!

It seems they've only taken notice this time because so many people have blown the proverbial whistle (careful, now…).

Any victory is a victory, I think, and this is a big one. Let's just hope they pull through with the campaign!

Holy crap! Unexpected response from the WWE, I'm glad they're actually doing something about this.

I'm glad this didn't turn into some sort of wrasslin' witchhunt, but I'm equally glad that there are so many people who are as fed up as I am with this casual, 'only joking!' approach to homophobia. It has no place on TV, let alone PG programming.

This is the kind of progress we need. Rational progress. I'm proud to be part of the voice (albeit a drop in the ocean, at that) which has led to this.

I do have to admit that I liked the visual of the team of Hernandez with the Itas as they entered. Who let Hernandez near a mic? At least Konnan could speak effectively, in his way. Nice move by Winter on Rosita for the win.

Did Jarrett look like he got hit in a bad way? Watch the guitar shot again, it looked like Angle hit him with the edge instead of the flat side.

AJ is out now? Jeez, TNA is actually in worse shape now talent-wise than it was after the Main Event Mafia screw-up.

At least I still have my dvds of times when TNA wasn't horrible.

I can't put an angrier face on about Daffney. Fucking weak. One of you guys or gals best hold me back….

I think at this point, it's either a public burial… or, booking stupidity. And time will tell. He was sent home. If he was this out of it, as loosely said, was this not recognized from the get go? If is was not, and a complete last minute realization by management due to Hardy hiding or something, then it's all Hardy's fault. But then, wouldn't he be outright fired for fucking up the mainevent of a PPV. And yes, I realize it seems TNA gives a fuck about buyrights…. :p

So that makes no sense. Thus, you'd think that bookers could "tweak" the mainevent and involve Kennedy/RVD as a last minute triple threat? All you have to do is say something like "Hardy was attacked by a group of babies and is unable to perform." Card subject to change… so in it's place we bring you a triple threat match! Yeah, no one wants to see the mainevent changed the day of the PPV, but dude… seriously. That is how they ended the show.

Yeah Drow, that shit is fucked up. And I for some reason want to watch this Thursday… sad really.

It's time they cut the bullshit and put their foot down, hard. Not only is this affecting their product and fanbase, but this is about Hardy's health, too. I'm not a fan of his at all, but I don't want to see the guy kill himself.

Had no idea about the Daffney situation. Sickening.

Great article, with more of saying what really needs to be said!

Snooki gets a Wrestlemania spot and payday? Yeesh. Somewhere, Baby Jesus is crying. Celebrities at Mania are a tradition. Haven't we learned NOT to put them in matches? I had so hoped for Lita to team up with Trish.

I really hoped that Sheamus would win, partly because I'm sure that everyone expected him to lose, then turn up on "Smackdown." I read that on the house show circuit, he has dropped the "King Sheamus" name and look, claiming that while King Sheamus lost all of the time, the Celtic Warrior won. Does this mean that Kevin Dunn's power trip is over for the moment?

2.) Ugh

3.) I used to like Cena when he was doing the rapper gimmick. In fact, I actually own a copy of "You Can't See Me." But his rap this past Monday was absolutely terrible.

5.) I actually watched The Chaperone last night on Netflix. It had it's funny moments, and the plot wasn't as lame as it sounds. Personally, I enjoyed it. I issue a challenge to my fellow Bored Wrestling Fans to watch this and not think to yourself something along the lines of "Oh shit, there's the angry Triple H face – those guys are in for it now!"

6.) Applause! Now if we can get Chris Candido inducted…

7.) I'm always down for a JBL appearance!

9.) I was there the first time he did it!

12.) I've been on the Cody Rhodes bandwagon for a while now, and this is by far the best he's ever been. Looking forward to seeing him face Mysterio at 'Mania!

2. I don't expect her to be too involved with the show, but record all wrestling always.

7. Me too. The JBL swerve was well executed. I would have liked him to poke fun at Del Rio in some capacity based on their ring entrances though…

10. King Hippo does indeed look like the Sub-Zero Goalie killer! Good call. Man, Clay has many alternate identities.

14. Considering how badly he's been handled… well, pretty much since he won the King of the Ring, Smackdown would be a good move. I'm guessing that he'll jump, but this could have been done with the pending brand draft.

3. Lamer than a horse with no legs.

4. I know! I understand not wanting to draw attention to it, but pretending that these two have never met at Mania before is silly. They could acknowledge it, and point out that HHH is not the same guy that he was then. They don't have to make a big deal about it, or focus on it, but ignoring it looks bad.

6. Huzzah! Now, if they would just follow Gee's idea and let Ron Simmons induct her…. Gold, I say!

10. All hail King Hippo!

12. Absolutely! I never would have picked him out as the one I'd want to see out of the three members of Legacy. I like being surprised in a good way. It should happen more often.

15. Those of us who watched the Brood in person are feeling really ancient right about now.

McRibs. Yep. Layla needs to run fast, fast away from the periodic McDonald's food item (comes with compulsory Johnny Cash CD by default).

He totally called him King Hippo… I wonder if you punch Clay in the stomach, if his pants fall down and he has an X-shaped bandage over his belly button…

Sarcasm aside, I agree… not a bad show at all. It featured matches. Actual matches on a wrestling show. For that, I enjoyed ending my shorter-than-normal weekend. Also, for those not in the know…. DG FTW.

I like your list, all could be worthy nominees. The pessimistic asshole in me thinks that we will see something along the lines of what DG mentioned though. I hate being so cynical about this, and Trish would be ideal since they have access to her right now, at least if they go the route of a Diva.

Like I posted on the Illustrious Mr. Ruff's other site, I'm absolutely thrilled about this induction. Sunny was the first woman in wrestling that I actually wanted to be. Of course I adored Miss Elizabeth, but in an older sister, Princess Diana kind of way. Sherri Martel made me shake my head. Missy Hyatt gave off a trashier vibe (no insult meant by that) than I liked at the time. Sunny was it for me, precisely because she looked like a perfectly natural person one might meet on the street. Smokin' hot, but a real person. Her charisma, energy, and enthusiasm were contagious. She definitely set the standard for Divas.

I personally hope that the entire current Diva roster does NOT induct her. That just doesn't sit right with me. Most of them probably have no idea who she even is. I'd either like to see Trish Stratus do it, as the best Diva since Sunny, or someone who had a personal relationship with Chris Candido. Either of those would be good.

She also brought, as you noted, a natural look to beauty that is surely missed in the modern era of female wrestling in the WWE. It's sad where we gone since then however.

It's a shame Candito can't induct her…

I can't use the shut up hooker line every week, Madison Rayne has to earn it. When I wince from her voice, I know she has achieved this honor.

I'm going to spend Sunday watching "Victory Road." Oh, not this one. No, I'm watching the dvd of the 2008 "Victory Road." The one in Houston that I attended. The one with the World X Cup. The one that wasn't a pointless waste of time. The one that people actually knew about.

The Knockouts tag team champs are Angelina Love and Winter. Agreed, Winter's entrance was great. I want the Itas to win the belts, I think. Sarita and Rosita must now be referred to as "the Itas."

"Shut up, hooker!" makes me laugh every time.

However, I enjoyed the Rhodes/Mysterio program being furthered the way it went down on Friday. Accordingly, I too look forward to Captain Charisma! I'm down with the Peeps. It was nice to see him sneak onto RAW this Monday as well.

While I wasn't terribly crazy about this episode, it did the little things right. As a result, the build to WrestleMania is doing quite well this year, no?

I'm sure I've used it before, and I think Miz actually was calling his fans that back in the Miz & Morrison days if I'm not mistaken.

Cena's "response" was terrible. Just plain lame. Rock wins again, and he wasn't even in the building. Yes, I know that this is the main point used against him. So what?

The Sin Cara video package and the Taker/HBK package were tremendous! When WWE wants to do a good one, they do.

7. I absolutely, positively, LOVE the newfound dark side of Cody Rhodes. He's been absolutely brilliant the last three weeks. I love the Phantom of the Opera vibe he's got going on, it's just so different than anybody else at the moment.

11. If I'm not mistaken, Justin Roberts introduced the video to the live crowd by telling us that The Rock was coming via satellite from his house in Miami, not L.A. I know on TV they said L.A. though.

Until then, it's to the YouTubes for this G. Happy to see the IWC grow stronger via collaboration Mr. Ruff!

2. He's far from the level of his dad…. yet.

3. I agree with you and DG on this one.

5. I laughed my ass off last night at Cole running around the ring doing the airplane gestures. This is a fantastic way to use both guys, or so this smark thinks.

7. Me too. Mysterio handpicked Rhodes for this, which is awesome. I'm still not a fan of the son of a son of a plumber, but shit like this is making me into one.

9. Speaking of number 8 in your list, I want to see this combined with 9… AT Mania. Fuck I miss the cruiserweight division. And no, not Sheamus.

12. He's said he should be healthy by WM. I realize a lot of people are concerned about having too many gimmicks at WM. I am as well, but at the same time I really want to see a MitB at the PPV. With Christian and Morrison in it. AND if number 9 doesn't happen, put both Bourne and debut Sin Cara in it as well. Hell, put all of the Corre in it as well and you have 4 heels and 4 faces AND all of these angles have a place on the show.

JT FTW!

3. I wondered that as well. No one seems to matter in the group, it's all about who leads it. Punk is a fantastic group leader, but he hardly needs them. Despite the new shirts, I think Nexus is done.

7. I absolutely LOVE this! The best part is that everyone can see that Cody's face looks exactly the same as it did before Rey kicked him. The "unbalalanced" aspect of the whole thing is really working for me. I know that I've already done it, but I take back every negative thing that I ever said about Cody Rhodes. The "Dashing" gimmick has completely changed him, in all the right ways.

8. The key here is "let." I've only seen a little bit from Mistico, but if the only changes that Vince makes are a slightly different mask and making him speak English, then amazing things are in store. If they try to force him into the "WWE style" in some form, then I shall not look forward to it.

Agreed most strongly on all points. ROH has always delivered, particularly on ppv. I regularly find solace in my entirely-too-huge collection of ROH dvds, when I want to continue being a wrestling fan, but can’t deal with the other options on tv anymore. SHIMMER provides the female side of the ROH equation. Three years ago, when I was actually able to do so, I flew from Houston to Chicago for an ROH show because the Motor City Machine Guns were fighting the Briscoes on it. I’ve never done that for any promotion, not even for Wrestlemania. That show turned out to be the “Tag Wars 2008″ dvd, and was, at that point, the best live event that I’d ever seen. The two shows that ROH did in Houston on Wrestlemania weekend for Wrestlemania 25 were nothing short of brilliant, particularly the Friday night show. I’m quite put out that ROH won’t have tv anymore through HDNet, but sincerely hope that they can find some other way to share what they have to offer.

In a perfect world I would proof read this response, and utilize my delete/backspace key, and not type this sentence. But, it's TNA! What can you do?

I treat this show like a drinking game, and your comment made me laugh… None of the rules imply taking a drink, rather what I am forced to include in the review itself (although I admit I generally HAVE to drink while watching this show).

Not true. A couple of months ago on a Raw, R-Truth told Alberto Del Rio to "go home". In Arizona. With intent.

Liked that you dug the flowers/Sting point. I kept thinking about old school video games that emulated mortar fire during that segment! Loves me some physics and the bomb's arcs of descent. Sting would totally "bat" the flowers out of the air mid-segment like Clinton batted Jennifer's accusations like a bullet to the heart of Lee. Wait. That sounded callous. I blame the burtation/"Bart"ation this show just gave me. I am expected to think at work, can I file recreational hazards as a reason I need coverage?

In fact, he has the same name as Neo from The Matrix – Tom Anderson. Which, of course, makes me wonder when TNA is going to have the dude that played Agent Smith come out and have a segment with Mr. Anderson. Ugh. I'm glad I don't watch this crap anymore.

This episode seemed the most entertaining TNA broadcast in some time… Not that that's saying much, mind!

I completely agree about CM Punk – he was on the button about Cena! Between that, and his current feuding revolving around him being the victim of a vicious assault back in '08… Non-wrestling fans would definitely see things a little differently.

Some people have suggested that Cena's promo on Monday night was intentionally bad; that the writers are doing their best to get his detractors riled up, to emphasise the difference between The Rock and Cena's fanbases. Whether there's any truth to that or not… There are still plenty of ways, as you said, to insult people without resorting to gay jokes!

Again, thanks for commenting – please stick around! We love having people like you get involved.

…But yeah, double standards are dumb. Though they also did the "Mickie James is Psycho Lesbian for Trish" storyline as well, so it wasn't that ALL lesbians were great, though I'm sure plenty of men enjoyed it.

Like people have said before, using "gay" as an empty insult means you're really just grasping at straws. Whether its Cena himself or the Creative team, I'm not surprised either way. There were a million other valid insults you could use against Miz/Riley/Rock, but they had to choose the one that was completely irrelevant and technically not even an insult.