Official WWE/TNA Wrestling Thread

By all accounts, Steiner is on his way out. Though his work ethic has been great lately, he is still every limited in the ring and in character. Joe not being on the PPV was odd. Just very odd. Figured he would have at least a backstage segment...and he still holds a title shot. So maybe they turn Joe again and have him square off with AJ. I think Borash getting fired is a huge FAIL and Bubba is refusing to do his job. Seems Bubba was supposed to be in on The Band's angle, but has fallen out of favor due to his negative comments on Haitian relief. He now says he is done with TNA. Should be mildly interesting to see what Hogan has to say on this, since they are best friends. Bubba is calling out Eric and saying he is out of control. Yet, Bubba is a hot head and is known to be out of control himself.

the sit down Brooke chants last night were hysterical. Daniels jobbing to Val was HUGE! I can't call him by his real name...he is still Val to me. Val is a good worker, but I think he just got a bad rap in WWE. However, he is past his prime and Daniels is looking like he will now be the crybaby who can never get a win.

 

Something to keep in mind about Venis/Daniels. Val is exactly 11 days older than Daniels, so saying he is past his prime may be accurate, but then again you could say the same about Daniels then. Daniels just seems younger since Val has been on our national radar much longer. I have known Daniels since 2000 when we used to ride the road together on occasion. He is one of the legit good guys within the industry and I always root for him. It doesn't look good for him in the Hogan era though, at least not initially.

 

...and it looks like Flair is not going to honor the retirement. Wrestling in Australia was one thing, but he said he would honor it in America. Guess not...

"The basic idea backstage within TNA with Ric Flair is for him to give rubs to other stars, starting with AJ Styles. According to TNAWrestlingNews.com, this will eventually lead up to Ric Flair vs. Sting. Flair wanted to be a heel again because he prefers being in that role."

 

So much for pushing the young talent in TNA....

Reading the spoilers from tonights taping.

Pope losing to Orlando Jordan after coming off a loss at the PPV to Wolfe.

Nasty Boys beat Nash and Young when they pin Young.

YIKES!

http://www.tnawrestlingnews.com/headlines/265862568.shtml

 

I hate the idea of the Nasty Boys being in TNA. I really don't think they have anything to contribute. Also, storyline wise, they showed up at TNA and couldn't get in, only getting in once Bubba snuck them in. How is it possible for them to be wrestling with a contract but not Hall and Waltman?

And Jordan is another one who, is okay in the ring, but isn't on par with Pope. TNA should really take a look at some of their own talent (I consider Pope one of theirs as they have done more with him than the WWE ever has) and basically tell Hulk/Bischoff, that these guys are our future, build WITH THEM.

For me, it would be:
AJ Styles
Samoa Joe
Christopher Daniels
The Pope
Desmond Wolfe
Hernandez
Homicide
Motor City Machine Guns
Matt Morgan
British Invasion
and Generation Me

The older guys should be used to build these guys up. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

I didn't see RAW last night but read the results. A few things that popped into my mind:

-I think the WWE is trying to do a bait & switch with the whole HBK vs. UT thing. I think HBK will win the Rumble but not announce if he's going to fight UT at WM until after the Feb PPV. There I think Triple H will win the WWE title in the Elimination Chamber and HBK will announce he's going to face Triple H instead.

-Jack Swagger should find a way to get released by the WWE and jump to TNA asap. It's clear that they don't have faith in him (seriously he's jobbing to Mark 'I've been in the WWE for over 12 years and have never gotten over' Henry now) anymore.

 

Buuba the Love Sponge vs Kong: Real fight

AngryMarks.com has a report from today's Bubba The Love Sponge show. Hulk Hogan was a guest today, and they discussed the real reason Bubba was sent home, Awesome Kong apparently beat him up for the remarks he made in regards to Haiti. Here is what was said on the show…

Bubba: She was wearing wrestling gear, and she came in on me and sucker punched me right on my left cheeck, and I was like, what's going on... then she came out me again, hit me again in the mouth, and she goes, "This if for Haiti! This is for Haiti!" and I'm lke "What is going on?" Finally I put my left hand out and push her away from me, and she comes at me again and I just cover up, because I cannot fight back on a woman. Not only will I be fired from TNA, which I probably am, but my radio career is gone if I take a woman out!

Hulk Hogan: I tell you what, after what happened, if you had clocked her you'd have got away with it. What nobody knows, and this is the real truth, that there were certain people there... she should get off the property, she should be fired immediately, that's it. It was so violent. You could have actually lost an eye, you could have had your teeth knocked out. But, to give you your creedo, you are the one who said not to fire her.

As I EXCLUSIVELY noted earlier, Awesome Kong did attack radio show host and TNA backstage personality Bubba the Love Sponge at yesterday's iMPACT! taping in Orlando. Kong was reportedly upset due to the "F--- Hati" [sic] tweet Bubba posted on his Twitter account over the weekend. She has been taking part in fundraising efforts for the relief fund for Haiti, which was rocked by an earthquake last week.

I'm told the fight had to be broke up by several people backstage.

Bubba was sent home from yesterday's taping, as was Kong.

A source within the company notes that Bubba has major heat in the locker room.

 

whats with his **** haiti tweet?

 

See for yourself ... http://twitter.com/BTLSRadio

 

awww he's an ******* I see.......

 

Bubba is part of the "shock jock" radio dj's (I hate that term). So him saying that about Haiti is nothing shocking if you know his style of radio/personality.

It would suck to see Awesome Kong get fired or depushed because of this, but I have a feeling that that is exactly what is going to happen.

 

As much as I am a Hogan fan he seems to be a cancer to organizations now. He takes all he can from them and then he abandons ship.

 

shock jock or not doesn't really justify what he says, or an of them for that matter. just because you're paid to push the envelope, doesn't mean when you push it in the wrong direction or to far, fans shouldn't be allowed to call you an *******.

 

I appreciate Hogan as an attraction in the 80s. I finished up his Unreleased DVD set a few weeks ago and while the matches are cookie-cutter, I was still captivated. As a draw and attraction, he'll always be unparalleled in my eyes.

The problem is that Hogan the promoter or booker is much less appealing. I disagree with his statements. Often times the come off as contradictory, even sometimes in the same interview. I think Hogan has contributed to the problem largely, by bringing in "well known" folks rather than building new stars through cutting-edge storylines and good matches. I think one of the big reasons that WCW failed was due to Hogan's refusal to lose clean to Sting after a year of buildup. That's a microcosm of what's wrong with his approach, as he felt fans would want to see Sting chase him longer. Heck, they're reusing that now and it's 2010, something like 14 years after the creation of the original nWo. I just completely disagree with his entire approach.

I don't have a problem with the Howard Sterns, Opie and Anthonys, or Don Imuses of the world. I do think it's in awful poor taste to denigrate an entire country that suffered such a loss of human life.

 

Agreed. I don't think Hogan has done a single thing in wrestling without putting his best interests first. In the end if it doesn't benefit Hogan than he won't be on board even if it's the better thing to do for the business side of things.

 

The other problem is that Hogan continues to see himself as a main-event level draw, even though he really hasn't been relevant since WM 18 vs. The Rock. One byproduct of the overinflated ego is that he tends to look out for himself first ... meaning he's getting a disproportionate amount of revenue compared to the other guys on the roster.

 

Exactly and what happened after that match? He was hot for a month, won the title from Triple H and then no one cared about him anymore.

 

Well, in all fairness, he tried to put the Warrior over, and actually put in a great match to do so and lost clean. He was to pass the torch at that point, but Warrior proved to be so damned unstable that they had no choice but to go back to Hogan.

But other than that and possibly losing clean to Goldberg years later, I can't really think of too many instances of him putting the business first.

On the other hand though, can you blame him? We are talking about a business that can drop you cold one day out of the blue. The whole nature of it is pretty much corrupt and loaded with politics. No insurance and no guarantee of the next day and, quite frankly, I would try to hold on to all I got too. Yes, it is narrow sighted and could potentially clip earnings down the road, but I understand it on some level too.

 

I have lots of friends who made it to the big show, only to dropped just that quickly...and never get out of the Indy circuit again. It is a cruel business and if you are at the top of the game....you try and do what is right for the business...but you come first. Only a few have ever been in that Hogan position. Seriously...Hogan, Flair, Austin, Rock, HHH. Nash had a lot of control and say, like Taker, but they aren't in the same air as those guys. Cena is close, but he doesn't want that power. He will do right by the business, period, and will try to stay on top as long as he can. Before Hogan, nobody other than Andre or Bruno really carried that clout in front and behind the curtains.

 

You forget that he agreed to lose to the Warrior because he was going to film a movie for the whole summer and Vince didn't want his champion out of action that much. Also Hogan was promised a rematch with the Warrior in which he'd get the win back.

The Goldberg thing I do give him credit for because it was his idea to drop the belt to him, however he was pushing hard to be the one to finally end his streak in return for him dropping the belt.

And yes I absolutely blame him. We aren't talking about a Randy Orton or Jericho or even a Kevin Nash type, Hogan was the man and nothing was going to stand in his way. He was huge so him not winning a Royal Rumble wouldn't have been a big deal while someone like Mr. Perfect winning it it could have put him over big time (which happened in the 1990 Rumble when Hulk refused to let Hennig win after it was decided months ahead of time). Also the crap he pulled with Sting at Starrcade 1997. There are also tons of instants of him using his power to push guys down the card that he felt threatened by like Savage, Jake Roberts (who he had turn face), Piper and even Flair. Hell even Triple H knows (most of the time) when it's right to do a job to help push a wrestler. Who has Hogan ever helped out by jobbing and thus pushing to the next level?

 

I think it is revisionist history to say Hogan has never given the rub to anyone. It is popular to bach Hogan because, yes, he HAS been a political giant when it comes to backstage politics, and it appears that this TNA experiment, at least frommy perspective, is turning out to be an awful failure (despite me actually liking the PPV), but to say he never helped bring people a long isn't accurate.

I already cited to examples in Warrior and Goldberg. Both were given instant credibility in the eyes of fans by beating Hogan. Also, I defy anyone to tell me that Randy Savage didn't get elevated as a bonafide main eventer due to his association and ultimately feud with Hogan.

If you think about it, how many top wrestlers "made" other wrestlers? Outside of maybe Flair, I can't think of too many examples for any of the other top guys either. Not Austin, not The Rock, not HHH, not HBK and not Hart, Sting, Luger or Savage.

Hell, even the Undertaker hasn't made sustainable main eventers off of his career. Hogan can pretty much take credit for three, which is saying quite a bit. All three of those names are historical names within the context of the sport. I am sure the argument is coming that Goldberg was built up as a monster prior to Hulk and as was Warrior and Savage, but they all needed a signature win or feud, and Hogan gave them that. Hell, you can throw Piper into that as well since Hogan and his mainstream press are pretty much responsible for Piper becoming asfamous as he was...twice (he did it again in WCW).

Hogan is by no means perfect, and I am of the opinion that less of him is more, at this point. I think the Sting/Starrcade debacle was completely screwed up. Sting should have gone over clean and probably somewhat easily, seeing as how they built him up. But WCW was crazy like that. They ended Goldberg's streak with Kevin Nash on a cheapshot from Scott Hall and had David Arquette and Vince Russo as their world champions.

In other words...they were ******ed like that.

 

I'll make comments after yours because you have some good ideas/thoughts and I don't want to miss any.

Again though with Hogan, he only put the Warrior and Goldberg over because he was promised things in return. Hogan was off making a movie at the time and wouldn't be around the whole summer and he was promised to get his win back at the next WM. For Goldberg he asked to lose to Goldberg only in exchange for him to be the one that ended his streak. In both situations the ends justified the means for him. I do give him credit for laying down clean to both guys though but still 2 guys in over almost 30 years is a terrible track record. And he did end up getting his return win on the Warrior when he brought him into WCW for really no good reason except to stroke his ego. There were a lot of guys Hogan could have made huge like DiBiase, if he was more of a team player. There's a reason why Hogan's best friends are rejects like Beefcake, Duggan and the Nasty Boys because they were never a threat to him.

Yes he did give credibility to Savage by hanging around him but Savage was already super over since he was so different compared to anyone else at the time. Hogan helped push him no doubt but when it came down to it, Savage was always second to Hogan and Hogan never let him get any higher. And how many times did Hogan lay down for Savage in either the WWF or WCW? After Savage was champion for a full year and did pretty good business he was depushed and the only time Savage got another chance was because Hogan was retiring after WM8.

Hell just look at WM4, 8 and 9 that Hogan was in but not the champion or fighting for the belt. He ended up being the main focus at the end.

This isn't true with The Rock or Bret Hart. The Rock helped make Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle and Mick Foley. The Rock also had no problem losing to Chris Jericho multiple times back in 2001-2002 to try to get him over. The Rock always did the right thing for business and I don't recall any times where he refused to job or drop a title. He even lost to The Hurricane (!), do you think Hogan would have ever put over the Red Rooster? Bret Hart pushed Austin to the next level as well during their feud. Bret also tried to put Bulldog and Owen over but they just were never able to get to the next level but Bret was willing to work with them. Bret also made everyone he fought look good and really only refused to job to HBK that ruined his rep but Bret was always game to help people. Hogan never would have done the stuff Bret or Rock did.

But I agree with you on Austin, Triple H and Shawn Michaels (pre-Jesus HBK that is). But that's because those guys were almost as bad as Hogan was. Austin refused to do jobs or work programs with guys left and right. And Triple H just flat out refused to do anything that made him look bad. Although you can make the arguement that HBK helped Triple H on a smaller Mega Powers type scale when he formed DX and let Triple H hang with him. I will also say that Shawn and Kevin Nash both helped each other get over to the next level together with their slow burning angle in 1994/95.

I'm not sure why you even included Luger's name on the list though. He was never a huge superstar that carried the company nor a good enough worker.

Also I think you're forgetting Andre The Giant who helped push Hogan even more but laying down for him with a bad back to boot.

The Undertaker is kind of a different as he's a historical figure but never really drew when he was given the ball to run with. Plus he was never in a position to really put people over besides Mankind (which he did) and Brock Lesnar (which he did too). He usually fought big guys that were brought into the WWF with the sole purpose of fighting him or he fought guys that were already main eventers and over.

Piper was over in the NWA before anything with Hogan. Yes Hogan helped Piper become a national name with the Rock'n Wrestling era but Piper was a draw well before Hogan came into the picture.

Yeah clearly WCW had it problems but Hogan didn't help them any but he wasn't the only problem they had. I think if you're playing the blame game with WCW you should look at a combo of Hogan, Bischoff, Nash, Kevin Sullivan, Vince Russo and all of the powers that be that kept changing positions to be in charge there.

 

Pretty good Raw overall tonight. When the guest host seems to get it, it makes the show so much more enjoyable. I have to admit, I didn't think that that guy was gonna work, but he pulled it off.

I think my only real beef with tonight's show was how it ended. Sheamus gets more comfortable inhis role every week seemingly, but I would have had him to a backstage segment earlier in the night of him arriving. They ask him what his thoughts are on having to face Cena tonight. He kind of laughs it off and declares that he can beat Cena anytime, anywhere, anyway he wants. I would have then had him declare that he will win by Knocking Cena out cold outside the ring and simply having his arm raised via countout. By having him declare this and then going out and noig it, it would have helped him tremendously in my opinion.

I then would have kept the match the same but have Cena lose via countout, THEN have Orton hit the RKO on Sheamus. As Cena slwoly climbs back into the ring, have Orton stalk him too, only to be interrupted by Kofi Kingston who brawls with Orton...who is then joined by Cody and Ted...who are then engaged with HHH and HBK, while others like The Miz, Henry, MVP Swagger and a few others fight in and around ringside.

It would have been a cool visual and helped promote the two of the top matches on the card (the Rumble match itself and the WWE Championship match).

But other than that, I liked the card tonight. Good guest host, a couple of good matches and some storyline advancement towards Wrestlemania.

 

Some small news:

-Apparently the Honky Tonk Man turned down the WWE's offer to be inducted into the HOF, according to him on his website.

-Chris Jericho and Shane "Hurricane" Helms were arrested last night for being drunk. Helms is also being accused of punching 3 people in a taxi, including Jericho and a woman.

 

The Honky Tonk news makes me mad because I don't think any of us tagged him when we were talking about this a couple of weeks ago. He is a good candidate I guess. I also get his logic, although I have a feeling this has more to do with him demanding more money and the WWE telling him to get bent, essentially. I actually worked a show with Honky and he is a legit nice guy who pulls no punches about the industry. Ever since, I have been a fan of his.

I saw the Jericho/Helms news this morning. Seems like a non news story to me, although I can see Helms being punished for this. Matt Hardy was apparently with them too but ran away (thus furthering my opinion that Matt Hardy is quickly becoming worthless).

 

Agreed I saw Honky's name and said to myself why didn't we think of him. He deserves to be in. And you're probably right about him wanting more money, he seems to me as someone who thinks he was much bigger in the industry than he actually was, but I guess you can say that about 90% of the wrestlers.

I think Helms might have screwed himself as I'm sure the last thing the WWE wants is bad press of a wrestler punching a girl. I wouldn't be surprised if he got canned over it, its not like he's a big part of the company anyway.

I think both Hardy boys are worthless, I used to be big fans of both but Jeff seems like an ungrateful time bomb and Matt just seems like a whiny baby.

 

Helms was also involved in Chistopher Daniels D.U.I. a few months back as well, as I learned today. I suppose the good news for him is that if/when the WWE fires him, TNA will absolutely pick him up for no other reason than that he is a name. I didn't realize that he is 35 already. Wow.

 

TNA could do a 3 Count reunion with him and Shannon Moore! I smell ratings!

 

Since you loved it...we gonna kick it for ya 1 more time!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzNvcfmSgDw"]YouTube- WCW - 3 Count - I Can't Get You Outta My Heart[/ame]

 

I actually used to chuckle at that gimmick. Good find.

 

So who does everyone think is going to win the Rumble this year? For me I was going to say Shawn Michaels but for some reason like I mentioned earlier I can see a DX split and the tension starting here with one member eliminating the other in the Rumble. Then at Mania having Triple H with Vince in his corner vs Shawn Michaels with Bret in his. Also I also would have liked to see Christian win the Rumble but that is highly unlikely so I am going to say for some reason Kofi Kingston will win the Rumble.

 

I think the winner will either be Triple H or Shawn Michaels, which is the obvious choices, but either way those two will probably be the final 2 in the ring.

And I've been saying for years that one year a random up and coming mid carder like a Kofi or Christian should randomly win it to give the event unpredictability even if they end up losing the title shot at WM on a RAW or the Feb PPV but it will never happen.

 

You guys do know its fake right?

 

Nope, but thanks for ruining it for us now.

 

OK...here is who it will NOT be:

Edge: I expect him back tonight, but he will not win since they have been building him vs Y2J.

Y2J: See above.

HBK: Great story if he wins? Yes. However, they can still get him vs Taker at WM without him winning tonight.

HHH: Way to obvious. Though I think a program with him and Shemus is in the works since they are road buddies.

Christian: He is already the ECW Champ and Vince has no plans for him to ever get over on a main card.

Kofi: He isn't a main draw. They are still building him and it is just way to early to give him that rub.

Cena: Been there, done that. Plus there is nobody really for him to face yet at WM. They are trying to figure out his program.

Legacy: Neither of them get the shot and we see the end of Legacy tonight as Ted throws out Randy and Cody.

Miz: Would be a damn good win and would totally piss off the crowd. I could see him winning. However, I think him vs MVP is going to be a great program and that means both of them can't win.

So who will win?

None other than....Batista. Nobody will have seen it coming and he will end up losing his title shot in a match vs HBK at Elimination Chamber. HBK will then be able to wrestle Taker at WM. Win-Win without having HBK win the Rumble.

 

I don't want to see undertaker take on hbk. Thats just me. I like your legacy angle. And the miz winning would be awesome, but I don't think they will do that. I actually would like to see a sheamus orton battle for a bit. It would be interesting to see.

 

Who is Jiz?

 

your porno name? oh wait thats eye eetjiz

 

Who will the final 5 participants be in the Royal Rumble tonight? so far 25 have been announced.

I would say that John Morrison and Drew McIntyre have to be in. I am guessing that Edge makes his return tonight and that Booker T makes his return to the WWE tonight as well. that leaves us at 29. So who is #30? I am shocked that Koslov isn't listed, but I guess they can't put the entire ECW roster in the Rumble. So if it isn't him...it has to be a surprise entrant from the past. A WWE Legend.

RVD? No...I don't think it would be him.

The very first Rumble winner...Hacksaw Jim Duggan? Nah. Been there, done that.

Ron Simmons. DAMN! that would be sweet, but won't happen. Same for JBL.

So who could it be? Maybe Vince will try and target someone that is on the TNA radar....the Master and Ruler of the World: Psycho Sid! yeah...I went out there and said it.

Then again...there is always Doink the Clown.

 

I could actually see Edge making a surprise return and winning the Rumble by last eliminating Jericho (after they team up to get rid of DX). Jericho could go nuts and cut a long promo about how Edge screwed him as a partner and in the Rumble and say that Edge was never officially listed as a Rumble entry so it could be null and void which could lead to an EC match and Jericho and Edge could cost each other the shot with HBK winning and putting up his career for a title match against Undertaker.