6/5/2014 3:52:50 PM

Quote :

"Fare thee well for the time being, Impact by Bryan Alvarez I was thinking about this, and I don't believe that in the 19 years I've been writing this newsletter I have ever boycotted a television program because it sucked so goddamned bad. That changed this week. After all these years, TNA Impact finally broke me. The show on Thursday night was up there with the worst pro-wrestling programs I've ever seen in my life. It might have been the worst. Maybe, top-to-bottom, objectively there has a worse show historically. But no show ever caused me to command a one-month (at the moment) boycott before, so I think the evidence is in that this was the worst pro-wrestling show I've ever seen. I don't care if this is "my job," or if people want me to watch it and suffer through it so that they don't have to. I don't care. At the end of the day, while it is my job, it's also my company, so I can make my own decisions, and my decision is that I am not watching Impact for at least one full month. I had considered watching the PPV next Sunday since a PPV is more important than television, but come on now. No one is buying this PPV, and the idea that I'm going to have to pay $34.95 for it is reason enough to skip it. I'll be 39 years old when that show airs. I don't need this in my life. There is plenty of actual pro-wrestling to watch. The more I think about it, the less guilty I feel about not watching this product. Even if one were to argue that this is "my job," technically my job is to watch all the major pro-wrestling shows on US television, and you know what? At this point it is tough for me to classify Impact as a pro-wrestling television show. I don't know what the hell it even is. It's a variety show that features people fighting, only part of which actually takes place in a pro-wrestling ring, and none of which anyone could possibly care about because the majority of the characters are so completely unlikeable, and the shit they do makes no sense. I read an article on why it's tough for the people writing Impact. It was written by Vince Russo. Yeah. So, as one would expect, it was filled with 9 million bullshit excuses. I liked the one about how the building at Universal Studios is not a good building for wrestling because so many tourists show up. I was unaware that pro-wrestling fans were restricted from attending. That's like saying the crowd at Full Sail University for NXT sucks because only college kids go. Except it appears plenty of wrestling fans manage to attend at Full Sail, plus the NXT crowds almost never suck. It is ironic, because Russo claimed that the crowd sucked because sometimes Impact had to tape one and a half shows per taping. Last time I checked NXT taped four shows per taping. They seem to be doing all right. Come to think of it, they're doing great. Russo claimed it was tough because you had to balance everything out to make sure people weren't involved in too many segments on a particular show. I nearly pissed my pants reading that. I saw EIGHT STRAIGHT SEGMENTS involving talking on Thursday night. EIGHT. You can read Vinny's review, but I think I saw MVP in at least five different segments on one show. Maybe ten. I lost track. Russo had his usual litany of excuses. At the end of the day, it all boils down to this: the show sucks. Everything about it sucks, with the exception of some talented people who actually try to have good matches. There is zero understanding of what pro-wrestling is or why people—live or on television—would want to watch the show. They have no idea how to build interest in any of the matches or feuds, they have no idea how to pace a show, they have no idea how to make characters likeable or dislikeable. Russo ranted about fact vs. opinion. This is not opinion. This is fact. The quarter-hour ratings plunging throughout the show is an embarrassment. The buyrates are an embarrassment even compared to THEIR OWN BUYRATES several years ago, and they are ONE-TENTH what they were getting during their peak (60,000 for two Joe vs. Angle matches). Their house show attendance is an embarrassment. This is not fact vs. opinion. What they're presenting is not what people want to see. And don't even get me into the MVP vs. Dixie Carter storyline. I'm pretty sure this is the only storyline I've ever seen in my entire life where there is no way more than one single solitary person (Dixie Carter) could possible care about it. To think this worst Impact ever went off the air with the tease that the Dixie vs. MVP war was going to escalate. Who gives a fuck? As a viewer, I hate them both. Two heel factions, two completely unlikeable groups of people, WHO LARGELY DO NOTHING BUT TALK TO EACH OTHER INCESSANTLY ABOUT SHIT NOBODY CARES ABOUT, are going to war, and I'm supposed to care. LOL. I have better things to do. You should too. It's summertime. Enjoy the cool Thursday night air. Read a good book. Chat with your loved ones, enjoy a light meal. But don't watch this show. "

6/6/2014 11:38:43 PM

^I think he's putting it mildly.

For real, wave the white flag, tna is dead. I only hope wwe with find sympathy for the few talented wrestlers they have and give them a shot.

6/9/2014 11:02:14 AM

I started watching TNA in 05/06, and I loved the X division, and tag team focus. Everything seemed to be well written too, with Team Canada, Paparazzi Championship Series, and so forth. But once Vince Russo got the book, it's been downhill.

6/9/2014 12:20:46 PM

I remember watching when Christian (Cage) was champ, they had Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Abyss...but then it became more and more WWE Washout Wrestling with Angle, Booker T, and all of them showing up. I stopped watching around the time they started the Main Event Mafia, and apparently all I've missed is a bigger shitshow than WWE has become. Buh Buh Ray Dudley is a main eventer? MVP is a main eventer? Jesus. someone pull the plug

6/9/2014 1:55:02 PM

To be fair, Bully Ray really stepped up his game when called upon. And Angle can still go. But the neutering of Samoa Joe is one of the great travesties in modern wrestling. I got comps (of course!) for the TNA house show they did downtown in 2012, and Joe's work was the best on the show. I had forgotten how good he can be. Sad times.

6/9/2014 2:03:16 PM

I've tried several times in the past few years to give it a shot. That guy's rant about Dixie Carter is spot on. Every time I turned it on the angle was about her, and it was terribly done. ROH is way better than TNA, and Jeff Jarrett's new promotion can't be any worse once it gets going.

6/9/2014 2:40:26 PM

looks like DBD will be vacating the title. any favorites other than Cena/Orton?

6/9/2014 4:22:09 PM

Rollins would be a good bet right now.

Quote :

"I started watching TNA in 05/06, and I loved the X division, and tag team focus. Everything seemed to be well written too, with Team Canada, Paparazzi Championship Series, and so forth. But once Vince Russo got the book, it's been downhill."

The guy that booked before Russo is a Canadian named Scott D'Amore. No inside info, but I have a hunch he's going to book Jeff Jarrett's new promotion because they interview him on Jarrett's site.

Think the worst thing that ever happened to TNA after Vince Russo booking and Dixie Carter as a TV character was all these WWE castoffs that came in. Some of them: Angle, Christian, Bully Ray, have been good. Others: Booker T, Kevin Nash, I'm looking at you, saw it as a paycheck. They could've gotten far more motivated wrestlers for much cheaper. Best it has been in recent times to me roughly coincides with Bobby Roode's and Austin Aries' title reigns.

[Edited on June 9, 2014 at 4:45 PM. Reason : /]

6/9/2014 4:42:59 PM

I sort of enjoyed Nash's ridiculous mentor character in TNA. There was some backstage stuff there for a while (Backlund springs to mind) that was so insane it was genuinely entertaining.

6/9/2014 4:52:36 PM

And at 8:03pm on June 9th, 2014, Daniel Bryan was stripped of the title.

ladder match at Money in the Bank is for the title, so far the entries are Alberto del Rio, Randy Orton, and Sheamus

so let's review Daniel Bryan's 3 title reigns:

Quote :

"-pins John Cena at WrestleMania, holds belt for 5 minutes when Triple H who was the ref turned heel and pedigreed him so Randy Orton could cash in his briefcase and win the title -pins Randy Orton in a fast count by the ref at Night of Champions last September, stripped the night after by Triple H due to the controversy of the fast count in a deal Triple H in storyline brokered -beats Batista and Randy Orton in a triple threat match in the WrestleMania main event, was supposed to have a title defense against Batista, that fell through when Batista didn't want to, was off TV for a couple weeks due to in real life his wedding to Brie Bella and the death of his father, put into a very lackluster feud with Kane, pinned Kane at Extreme Rules which is the only title defense he's ever had, and has sat out since then due to neck surgery"

they're really close to killing this guy if they're not careful

[Edited on June 9, 2014 at 8:33 PM. Reason : /]

6/9/2014 8:08:52 PM

Hulk Hogan had more types of match finishes than Sheamus does.

6/10/2014 1:29:12 PM

the guy that wrote the rant about TNA Impact above also co-authored "The Death of WCW"

they're releasing a 2nd edition of the book in October with expanded stories and details, comes in at about 500 pages

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1770411763/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1770411763&linkCode=as2&tag=deathofwcw-20

Quote :

"In 1997, World Championship Wrestling was on top. It was the number-one pro wrestling company in the world, and the highest-rated show on cable television. Each week, fans tuned in to Monday Nitro, flocked to sold-out arenas, and carried home truckloads of WCW merchandise. It seemed the company could do no wrong. But by 2001, however, everything had bottomed out. The company — having lost a whopping 95% of its audience — was sold for next to nothing to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. WCW was laid to rest. What went wrong? This expanded and updated version of the bestselling Death of WCW takes readers through a detailed dissection of WCW’s downfall, including even more commentary from the men who were there and serves as an object lesson — and dire warning — as WWE and TNA hurtle toward the 15th anniversary of WCW’s demise."

[Edited on June 10, 2014 at 11:32 PM. Reason : .]

6/10/2014 11:30:57 PM

WWE just future endeavored the following:

Drew McIntyre
Jinder Mahal
Aksana
Curt Hawkins
Theodore Long
Brodus Clay
Camacho
Evan Bourne
Yoshi Tatsu

Jinder, Yoshi, Hawkins, and Aksana all added nothing; Bourne was always hurt/high; McIntyre makes Rusev seem charismatic; I don't know what a Camacho is; and they screwed up Brodus Clay big time.

Sadly, there will be no more tag team matches, playa!

6/12/2014 11:57:06 AM

6/12/2014 12:43:43 PM

THREE ONE AND A HALF MAN BAND

also, at least they kept Zack Ryder

woo woo woo, you KNOW it

6/12/2014 12:53:01 PM

JTG survives the cut again.

6/12/2014 1:52:23 PM

http://twitter.com/employedJTG

6/12/2014 2:45:35 PM

JTG either really knows who killed Benoit and his family, is in a relationship with Pat Patterson, is the RAW Anonymous General Manager, or developed the WWE App

6/12/2014 2:53:09 PM

or perhaps Vince is afraid of having the hood brought to him

6/12/2014 2:58:50 PM

Nope

JTG released:
http://www.wwe.com/inside/wwe-releases-brodus-clay-evan-bourne-curt-hawkins-other-superstars-june-12-2014

[Edited on June 12, 2014 at 4:21 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2014 4:20:44 PM

Quote :

"jtg1284: Damn ! Why I pick up my phone !"

lololololol

6/12/2014 7:26:13 PM

6/12/2014 7:39:53 PM

that's actually a ton of guys considering they've not released anyone in forever

-Mahal, Aksana, Brodus, Camacho, JTG I never saw anything in
-Hawkins was okay, but they never used him
-they'd given up on McIntyre after grooming him to be a main eventer before he was ready previously, and I guess they correctly realized Heath Slater was the most talented member of 3MB
-Evan Bourne was his own worst enemy with his drug test failures and they never used him again afterward, imagine he'll be back in Ring of Honor pretty quick
-Yoshi Tatsu is like a Tyson Kidd in a good worker but that they'd never use, he'll get a job back in Japan (if Kidd wasn't married to Natalya and occasionally on Total Divas I expect he'd've been let go as well)
-Teddy Long was still employed?

I'm kind of sad 3MB is no more. They are great jobbers.


Actually everyone I saw in my first-ever wrestling match in WWE live is now unemployed by the company:

Yoshi Tatsu & Trent Baretta vs. Tyler Reks & Curt Hawkins

[Edited on June 12, 2014 at 9:46 PM. Reason : /]

6/12/2014 9:34:59 PM

http://www.lolwrestling.com/how-long-has-jtg-been-employed/



JTG was employed by the WWE for:

07 Years, 30 days, 00 hours, 25 minutes, 12 seconds


with the caption: "Join us at http://www.lolwrestling.com/radio/ this Sunday for the memorial service"

[Edited on June 12, 2014 at 9:54 PM. Reason : /]

6/12/2014 9:53:35 PM

they also released this referee



I think he's the one that completely botched a tapout finish in a match with Natalya on live TV



[Edited on June 12, 2014 at 10:07 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2014 9:56:22 PM

some more 3MB:

6/12/2014 11:20:29 PM

Goodnight, sweet prince...

6/13/2014 4:43:42 AM

a video tribute...to 3MB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR8BwzkTvcY

6/13/2014 8:10:23 PM

These are the two advertised matches for the WWE house show in my city tonight that they're pushing on their TV ad:

-Sheamus vs. Kane for the U.S. Championship
-Cesaro vs. Rob Van Dam

6/15/2014 6:16:53 PM

first 3 matches of Raw:

DQ, countout, DQ



Heath Slater made his babyface turn in a pre-match promo vs. Rusev.

Rusev squashed him in 34 seconds.

And then Stephanie projectile vomited onto Vickie Guerrero.



[Edited on June 16, 2014 at 9:44 PM. Reason : /]

6/16/2014 9:34:32 PM

Someone let me know when Daniel Bryan comes back, I'll be watching 90s PPVs on the network.

6/17/2014 7:33:28 AM

projectile vomit? yup, glad I decided not to watch.

6/17/2014 7:36:20 AM

A whole bunch of ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ last night

except for Stardust

6/17/2014 8:19:10 AM

Look, I know they gotta cut ~40 minutes for the Hulu Plus version of Raw, but they cut StarDust. WTF.

6/18/2014 2:01:12 PM

Ring of Honor running a normal PPV tomorrow night from Nashville.

Quote :

"ROH debuts on regular PPV on Sunday at 8 p.m. from the Nashville Fairgrounds. The show is also available on iPPV at http://www.ustream.tv/ringofhonor ACH vs. Takaaki Watanabe vs. Caprice Coleman vs. Tadarius Thomas vs. B.J. Whitmer vs. Tommaso Ciampa - Winner is in line for a TV title shot Jay Lethal vs. Matt Taven for TV title with Truth Martini handcuffed to the ring post Roderick Strong vs. Cedric Alexander in a submission rules match Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Hardy & Michael Bennett Kevin Steen vs. Silas Young Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian for tag titles Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin for ROH title"

a very well-done preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V4i8jaC64U

[Edited on June 21, 2014 at 9:57 PM. Reason : .]

6/21/2014 9:30:18 PM

your new TNA Champion from Impact Thursday night:

6/21/2014 10:13:43 PM

black lesnar?

6/21/2014 10:15:32 PM

I guess so.

(Bobby Lashley.)

I'm finishing up watching the ROH preview link. If you don't want to watch all of it, start at 43 minutes in and watch the angle they did.

6/21/2014 10:29:14 PM

Eh, Lesnar has had some excellent matches in his career.

Lashley hasn't.

6/21/2014 10:36:18 PM

Has Lesnar had Bob Costas on a WWE PPV talking about his future greatness?

(anyone else remember the Cena-Lashley title match? they built up Lashley HUGE, WWE actually brought in Costas to talk about Cena and Lashley building up the match, said it would be the first match of many between the two, and Lashley within a year was gone for MMA)

6/21/2014 10:43:05 PM

Vickie Guerrero is gone forever. Stephanie signed a match at the start of the show between the two where if Vickie gone she's fired. The match was who got put into the tub full of mud, Vickie went in it, Stephanie did an exaggerated "na na na hey hey goodbye", Vickie turned around, and put Stephanie in the mud. Then did a shimmy to Eddie's music as she left on the stage. Stephanie then slipped in the mud about four times.

But Stephanie since she quit dealing with Daniel Bryan has become a complete caricature.

Ladder match for WWE title Sunday: Del Rio, Orton, Cena, Sheamus, Reigns, Cesaro, Wyatt, Kane
Money in the Bank match for the briefcase: RVD, Ambrose, Rollins, Swagger, Ziggler, Kofi, Barrett
Usos and Wyatts for the tag titles
Paige and Naomi for Divas title

Damien Sandow this week dressed up as Abraham Lincoln. He then lost to Big E who then cut something I think was meant to be a promo before Rusev killed him. This show has really gone to shit post-WrestleMania.

[Edited on June 24, 2014 at 12:35 AM. Reason : /]

6/24/2014 12:20:33 AM

are they trying to set up a Reigns title run and an Ambrose/Rollins MITB win in order to have a Shield vs. Shield title defense somewhere down the line? I could see Reigns getting inches to the belt only to come up short setting up his first big push in the main event scene. Then again, i haven't been watching lately, just reading the recaps and this thread.

6/24/2014 7:53:27 AM

Yeah, since Wrestlemania I've been fairly bored with the product outside of a few things. But it's been worse since DB has been gone & Shield breaking up. It's mostly background noise for me now, and I've been going to bed in the 10pm hour if the main event is MEH, and I'll just read the recap the next morning.

6/24/2014 8:13:46 AM

I somehow keep finding at least 20-30 minutes of content a week to keep me recording Raw. This week, it was Barrett-Ziggler and more Stardust. A one minute segment of the Rhodes brothers was better than over 2 hours of the rest of Raw. True story.

Also, I didn't find it particularly entertaining, but it was appropriate for Vickie to go out on something really stupid and embarrassing.

6/24/2014 12:53:27 PM

Also, I still don't get the obsession over Paige. I don't watch NXT, so I have nothing to go on except for what I've seen on Raw. She may very well be a talented wrestler, but she certainly isn't living up to the hype people have given her. I admit the majority of it probably isn't her fault (sub-par opponents, not as much match time, etc.), but that commentary w/ Cameron during the Alicia Fox/Naomi match was PAINFUL. I think it would do her good to turn heel and develop some personality, but that's just my opinion.

6/24/2014 3:23:31 PM

The Rhodes Scholars, after the breakup:

Sandow fails to cash in on MITB, then is relegated to being a glorified jobber, losing the majority of the time, his new gimmick to attract heel heat by wearing ridiculous clothing and costumes based on what city or what partner he has for the night.

Cody Rhodes goes through his losing streak too, being the 'weak link' to the Rhodes Brothers. Decides to change his gimmick to Stardust, wearing ridiculous clothing, changing his moveset a bit, and having Goldust be the normal member of the team. But at least he's winning.

Sad to see how they've turned out in the course of a year.

6/24/2014 6:47:12 PM

^^ The commentary was painful, but there's not much to bounce off when the heel is just saying "whatever" to everything.

Since Paige isn't "scary" like Daffney, her gimmick is that she can wrestle and she's pale. Her entrance is about as low-energy you can get, which is an extra bummer for someone with such great music.

Some people cut her some slack since she's only 21, but the flipside of that is that she's been wrestling since she was 14.

I agree that they 20-30 minutes of good wrestling show every night keep me engaged. And every week there are another 2-3 really great promos on the app (this week was Ziggler and Ambrose).

Hopefully the MITB matches will deliver.

6/24/2014 7:37:21 PM

It was stupid to give Paige the title her first night in the company. She has no character for people to know unless they watch NXT and they haven't given her a storyline based around her other than Alicia Fox going nuts at losing.

I doubt Reigns is winning the title at Money in the Bank since I know who's getting a title shot at Summerslam and I don't see the WWE killing one of their key stories of the year in such a matter. It's too early for him anyway.

I'm afraid I've got some bad news:

Quote :

" It's far too easy to write that I'm afraid I've got some bad news, but Bad News Barrett, after getting on a roll with his catch phrase and IC title win, suffered a shoulder injury tonight in Pittsburgh. We don't have details, but Barrett suffered an injury that seemed to be serious. He was clutching his shoulder and swearing loudly, very similar to when he had an injury that required surgery a few years ago. An "X" was thrown up immdiately and medics came out and helped him to the back. "

[Edited on June 24, 2014 at 10:19 PM. Reason : .]

6/24/2014 10:17:07 PM

^I'm with you on the title match. Between the uncertainty of Bryan's return, plus MY CLIENT getting a title match at Summerslam(I assume that's who you meant considering he's on the damn poster), this isn't a good window to put the belt on an up-and-coming guy before you'd have to kill him(Bray or Roman ain't beating Bryan or Lesnar in a title match this year).

6/25/2014 1:52:47 PM