unfitfinlay

I'd imagine WWE's interest would depend entirely on how much it's going for. It isn't like it's WCW or even ECW. The vast majority of WWE fans don't know TNA even exists, and a lot of those that do think it's crap. Is TNA being on the network really going to convince anybody to sign up?

I think it would have far more value to whatever company took over the time slot. Having footage of your stars in the ring Hogan, Sting, Hardy, etc, would be huge for a new company trying to establish themselves, not to mention the possible merchandising aspect.

Is it a possibility that this is more a contractual issue rather than Spike not happy with TNA’s ratings, i.e. “You lied to our executives, so we’ll not be renewing your deal.”

It's probably a combination of both.

When Spike picked TNA up, it probably looked like a company with a lot of potential. It had some recognisable stars, a lot of talent that hadn't been exposed on a national stage before and would appeal the huge amount of wrestling fans that stopped watching after WCW died.

Instead, ratings are still in the same area that they've been since 2006. Spike gave them two hours, helped them sign Hogan, Bischoff, etc and moved them to Mondays, all of which were supposed to "take them to the next level" and all failed miserably. Spike have obviously identified Russo as a reason for this and asked Dixie to keep him away, and she flat out lied to them about it.

It's a real shame but what on earth was Dixie expecting?

Because they're blatantly employees that's why. There's a reason why John Cena can't turn up on Impact on his (rare) days off.

Well, yes, but it means nothing until it's proved in court and that'll never ever happen. The only people who have even tried were Raven, Kanyon and Mike Sanders and it got dismissed almost immediately. They'd held onto the belief that WWE might bring them back for so long that the Statute of Limitations ran out and WWE didn't even have to acknowledge the real issue.

It would take someone in the prime of their career, with enough cash to fight a long legal battle AND enough social responsibility to see it through to the end and not take an out of court settlement. Can you think of anybody in the entire industry like that?

Thing is, they would have to do this sort of a thing if they actually acknowledged that their "contractors" were in fact employees. This way it's at their discretion and can be withdrawn, a bit like their medical care.

Plus they'd have to pay decades of back taxes, fines and likely a few civil lawsuits from wrestlers and/or their families as well.

Doesn't this weaken the argument that the wrestlers were contractors rather than employees?

 

I'm amazed that the big wrestling companies are still getting away with this to be honest.

Why? The wrestlers that it would benefit don't have a pot to piss in and the one's that have the cash to challenge it don't give a fuck. The U.S Government don't seem particularly arsed about it either, judging by the results of their Post-Benoit investigation.

After SummerSlam 92, they seemed like a pair of old relics in every run they had. Savage and Hogan updated their look in that era and switched to playing heels. Road Warriors should have tried the same thing. They should have joined the Corporation and sold a bit. I dont even think Hawk wanted to wear the crash helmets because he was so stuck in the old LOD way. They needed to try something completely different. But they never. Its amazing how they weren't any use to anyone by 1999. WCW didn't even want them back and they were desperate by then. A massive fall from grace.

I've never really thought about it but, you're spot on. Their main value for a decade was that they were respected legends who would get a good reaction if they were brought in as a surprise. They definitely had an inflated sense of their own worth as well. They could've made a fortune in WCW during the NWO days if they hadn't insisted that they be paid more than everybody but Hogan.

Those chants only got going because they put him on TV and you'd get CM Punk and John Cena referencing him in promos. You don't get over solely on your own, and he didn't either. He got over to a degree through his youtube show, but its when they started showcasing him on Raw when he started to get the big chants. And it showed that when they stopped putting him on TV, he popularity died because all his popularity was was a fad. There was no hijacking shows like when CM Punk left. Ryder disappeared and they forgot about him.

See, for some reason I remember the chants, and signs etc starting well before he got on RAW. Wasn't he one of the most followed Twitter personalities in WWE when he wasn't on TV? I'm certain some of his Youtube shows were getting more hits than a lot of WWE's own content as well.

I'm not saying that WWE didn't run with it for a while but it was getting to the point where they couldn't really ignore it.

I wouldn't agree that his popularity died because they stopped putting him on TV either. It died (or at least became critical) before that, when they made it clear to everybody that he simply wasn't worth cheering for.

Zack Ryder could never have been more than a mid card comedy act and nor should it be. Ryder himself caused this bymaking his character such a massive geek in things he made himself. He was a geek. Geeks shouldn't be on, or anywhere near the, top.

Oh absolutely. He could've at least have BEEN a midcard comedy act though, rather than the "Is he still employed"? level that he's at right now.

You do know all that merch he sold wasn't manufactured by him, right? They put all sorts on the market and his made far more money than someone of that level of talent had any right to. If they wanted to, he could have been in FCW as soon as the gimmick got over. But they didn't. He had a nice little run and his act totally ran its course.

Wouldn't that have just made the "We Want Ryder" chants worse? I seem to remember a few segments being hijacked by those.

I don't think anybody is saying that Zach Ryder could've been the next Cena or whatever but that storyline killed him, and it just seemed so unnecessary. It's not like Cena or Kane really benefited from it did they? Eve wasn't exactly a great long term investment either.

Bryan'll be okay though. He's been turning shit into honey since he got to WWE.

No idea why they kept him doing the same move after they changed it back to it's original name.

 

Because he'd won the world title and won WrestleMania main events with it and it was an established part of his act?????

 

But surely any act can be ammended over time?, if a decent amount of time was spent getting another finishing move over he could very well be using that finisher to win main events it doesn't have to be an stf.

Well, yes, but why bother? The STF is already over as a finisher and is completely safe and painless for both Cena and his opponent. What's the point in spending time replacing it?

I'm only at stage now of trusting a fart. Those starting Sunday, start early

 

How long did it take to kick in for you? I drunk the juice at 8PM and nothing really happened until an hour ago. I've been about four or five times since then and the rumbling in my guts is making me think that I've got a long night ahead of me. :-(

Did you eat anything for dinner or have a big lunch? The more food you have in you the longer it will take I've found.

That could be it. I also used concentrated Prune Juice which could explain why I never really got the effects that you and Louch described. Well, either that or my guts are just totally fucked up, which is a real possibility.

I'll try and pick up some of the proper stuff and give it another go. Might join in on Sunday if I'm not working early doors on Monday.

I'm only at stage now of trusting a fart. Those starting Sunday, start early

How long did it take to kick in for you? I drunk the juice at 8PM and nothing really happened until an hour ago. I've been about four or five times since then and the rumbling in my guts is making me think that I've got a long night ahead of me. :-(

I'm convinced reading Bret's book and Meltzer's issues regarding it and the Wrestling With Shadows documentary, Vince wouldn't have doubled crossed anyone else but Bret. It would never have got to that point. Hogan, Austin, Warrior all would have just walked before it got to that stage. Vince didn't have to do it to him. Not for money reasons (he offered Warrior a massive long term deal a fortnight after and offered Tyson $3.5 million to do Mania). And you could have got the belt off him in the weeks leading to the match, or the night after. To me it was always that Vince had mastered the art of playing Bret. He knew this would have got to him badly.

Wasn't that because the companies financial situation had changed from when he told Bret to go to WCW? I seem to remember reading that Vince told Bret that things had changed and they could honour his deal. It might've been solely so he could say "We tried to keep him", without actually making much of an effort, but they did at least talk about it.

You are right though. For starters Vince would've taken the Belt off anybody else as soon as there started being an issue. Bret had a ridiculous sense of loyalty to Vince though. I remember an interview with Davey Boy where he talked about the Hart Family all basically bullying him into not jumping to WCW in 1996.

At least Mick Foley is only a disappointment in the eyes of the fans who put him on a pedestal too much in the first place, he still goes home to the wife and 10 kids he's devoted to, Ric Flair is a complete disgrace on multiple levels.

I think Mick's burgeoning seediness is funny, it's so awkward and white knighty it seems almost less creepy than a non sexual fat old insecure tightwad.

You're comparing two very different people though. People loved Flair because he was the best wrestler in the world, even if he was a bit of a dickhead. People loved Foley because he was funny and seemed like a humble, likeable bloke who knew his limits and didn't have an ego. Flair's decline has definitely been sad, but it's been a natural progression of him living his gimmick 24/7. Foley hasn't so much declined as apparently become a completely different person and that's why there's so much more hatred towards him than Flair. I mean it has been so severe that it makes you wonder if "Jolly Old Mick" ever actually existed in the first place.

I agree with the majority about that last segment.

It was just...odd. The Shield didn't benefit from it, the eleven other blokes certainly didn't and Evolution coming out was pretty redundant since the Shield had already been battered. I mean, isn't Triple H thinking that the Shield are unstoppable the whole point of him reuniting with Batista and Orton in the first place? Why is he bothering when he can just book them in ludicrous handicap matches from now on?

I think Jerry Lynn was always going to be fucked in WWE to be honest with that roster and then the buyout.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Jericho, Benoit and co all hated him as well. Something about him faking an ankle injury when he was Mr J.L in WCW?

I don't think Paige's win is comparable to Lynn's anyway. Lynn won the Light Heavyweight Title on a Pay Per View pre-show, at a time when just being in the Light Heavyweight Division was a total kiss of death. Paige, on the other hand, beat the longest reigning Diva's champion ever on arguably the biggest RAW of the year. They've obviously got plans for her.

I thought it was really good RAW and really set up the next few months. Evolution vs The Shield, in particular, is going to be cracking.

Surely the only interested parties are going to be Viacom and Vince? Why would anyone else be interested in buying something with such a low potential for profit? And to be honest if Vince wasn't in the picture Viacom would be just as well allowing the company to fold, picking up the assets on the cheap, then starting from scratch.

Is the potential for profit really that low? They were apparently making money before they took Impact on the road, and that was with Pay Per Views that didn't draw, House Shows that weren't properly advertised and free admission to TV tapings. If they could make money despite glaring issues like that, imagine what they could do if it was run properly?

Of course it's more than likely they'll end up with someone, like the Carters, who'll look at the money WWE makes and assume TNA will make the same if they just do the same things.

Daffney sued TNA last year and was the closest person to get someone to look into the wrestling contract issue. If someone looks into wrestling contracts, WWE are going to have pay out huge money to ex employees and current ones.

Absolutely. They'd also face a huge fucking bill for all the taxes that they've avoided paying for decades. It would be a complete disaster for them.

I can't believe Joseph Park is in an undercard comedy tag team with Eric Young. Surely he'd be better off as Abyss if this is all they've got for him on the biggest show of the year?

I think its a shame that AJ hasn't had the opportunity to have decent feud with Jeff Hardy as that had to be considered a dream match at one time. I'd like a Styles-Aries program too which I think TNA have been daft to hold back. Other than them things I can't see a lot for Styles in TNA now to be honest, not much that'd cause

much excitement anyway as he has done everything multiple times.

 

It would be a shame for TNA to fuck him off though and I can't see it happening as according to Magnus' FSM column, hasn't Samoa Joe been offered a new deal? Joe and AJ have to be of the same worth to TNA really and I can't see Joe being the more favourable of the two amongst management.

They won't "fuck him off". They're skint and are gambling that, as his expiry date gets closer, AJ will cave and accept a low offer rather than take his chances on the Indy scene and/or WWE developmental. It's a shite way to treat a guy that's literally been there from day one but it's hardly unexpected.

It's definitely been shit since Aces & 8s started, so that's over a year isn't it? I can't remember much before that I enjoyed as I'm sure it was all that "do the right thing AJ" stuff. The only time in the immediate past I can remember TNA being any good were the start of the Joseph Parks storyline (which dragged and fizzled out), and Austin Aries' rise to the top.

I disagree.

I really enjoyed the Aces and Eights storyline. At first. It's just dragged on far far too long and the pay offs have been really disappointing. An Aces and Eights member has been unmasked! Who could it be? Oh, it's, erm, Mike Knox.

Last years Bound for Glory was one of those occasions when they really should've just done the obvious and had Bully turn to help Aces and Eights gain "free access" and had Bischoff and Jarrett reveal themselves as the masterminds behind it. All three had logical reasons for being involved (Bischoff and Jarrett are both banned from TNA and Bully was an Immortal die hard.) and Bully immediately going for the Title, Hogan vs Bischoff (in promos obviously) and Angle vs Jarrett would've been vastly more entertaining than what actually happened. Plus if they kept the rest of them (Knox, Gallows, D'Lo, Brisco etc) under masks and kept making out that they were a legitimate biker gang that Bischoff and Jarrett bought their way in to then you keep their mystique and even have the possibility of them turning babyface.

Actually come to think of it, Abyss was also Immortal so I assume the original plan was for him to "remask" at Bound For Glory and join Aces and Eights as well. I'll give them a pass on that one though since he was so great as Joseph.

Just watched the last segment of Impact on youtube.

It was really badly executed and made no sense at all. If Tito doesn't work for "Impact Wrestling or Spike TV" then why is he allowed to just wander down the ramp? Who cued up his theme music? Why's he even GOT theme music for that matter?

That said, I don't really hate the idea as much as everybody else seems to.

TNA are obviously high on Rampage. He's in their top babyface stable and they're presenting him like he's a top guy. The only problem is he is basically untrained and, even if they put him in with one of their best guys, him actually wrestling could end up being a disaster. On the other hand, you can't keep him OUT of the ring for that long because eventually people will notice that the "heavy hitter" isn't actually "hitting" anybody. Plus they've got this cross promotion deal with Bellator which I'd imagine Spike are pushing quite heavily.

If Tito joins Aces and Eights (or forms his own stable with whoever else is actually left on the roster) then you can keep him out of the ring as well and slowly build towards Rampage vs Tito on a Bellator show as "Aces and Eights vs The Main Event Mafia". It'd literally be a Pro Wrestling build up to an MMA fight, which would certainly be unique. It won't make TNA any money, granted, but if the fight draws for Bellator then it'll only help TNA's relationship with Spike.

Of course, knowing TNA, I can't discount the idea that they'll just throw Ortiz and Rampage in a wrestling match on Impact. Probably next week.

Wasn't it an interview he did with Canadian t.v in the wake of the Benoit murder-suicide. Also gave the brilliant "I wasn't violent, I mean I put a shotgun under her chin once"

It was CNN actually. It was the same one that edited Cena denying that he's on steroids to make it sound like an admission of guilt.

Watching the I Quit Match between Mick Foley and Ric Flair and it's the most bizarre booking ever. If it was a double turn, it would have been pretty good. But this was the feud ender. Foley takes a massive bump, the doctor says "he's done" and rings the bell. Flair says "Fuck that" and beats him up some more when he cant really defend himself. Foley refuses to quit so Melina (who ran to help him) does and is crying. Flair refuses that and then goes to batter Melina and finally Foley quits.

 

Following that, you've got a heel Flair who'll do anything to win, and a face Foley & Melina friendship. But instead, you've got Flair remaining a face, and then Melina turning on Foley the next night. It makes no sense at all. I have no idea who booked it but it was baffling.

 

That whole period was pretty mental. There were tons of matches with mental bumps and barbed wire boards around that time. It must have been averaging 1 a pay-per-view from Wrestlemania through to Summerslam and then a good few ECWs in between.

I could be wrong but I'm fairly sure that Foley wrote in the Hardcore Diaries that he booked that whole feud. He was quite proud of it too for some reason. Personally, I thought the face/heel dynamic was off for that whole feud. I mean it started because Foley aired a legitimate gripe with Flair in his first book (and put it across in a fairly respectful fashion) but Flair just came off like a cunt when he responded in his own book. The whole "glorified stuntman" thing was just obnoxious as fuck. Why not respond to his criticism rather than just shit over his whole career?

I doubt it'll happen but I think it'd be kind of fun if the next Doctor was John Hurt, at least for a little while. They are going to have to reveal the terrible thing he did at some point and it'd be a nice swerve if it happened in the near future rather than the past.Granted, the Doctor shouldn't really know about his future incarnations but considering that Smith's about to meet Tennant and he knows where he's going to be buried, it shouldn't be totally out of the question.

Someone's had their knuckles rapped.

 

Jay Briscoe @jaybriscoe84

 

I feel very strongly about how and who should teach kids about certain things but I showed poor judgment by using that analogy and I'm sorry

I don't think he quite understands what an "analogy" is.

His Twitter has disappeared now as well.

Today, one of my "friends" actually suggested that more people will "get into" rape and paedophilia to avoid paying the Bedroom Tax.

In regards to Hulk Hogan why didn't Vince keep the Hogan/Flair match off the house shows and have their first ever meeting at a major PPV?

 

From what I've heard this was McMahon being an arse. The dream match everyone wanted to see, WCW would've killed for and here's McMahon saying 'I don't care - it's going on a house show, because I can!' how true that is I don't know.

To be fair, the only event that really deserved it was Wrestlemania, which was the original plan, and house shows were where they made the majority of their cash back then, yet were never acknowledged on TV (Undertaker lost loads on the road but was still being billed as Undefeated). Vince probably figured that they could run the match in some big markets early on, with Flair challenging Hogan, without harming Wrestlemania, which would've been Hogan challenging Flair.

Of course Wrestlemania then went tits up when Hogan decided to leave, which I've always assumed was the reason for the switch to Hogan vs Sid and Flair vs Savage.

Fucking hope Lashley's not on the cards. He's absolutely worthless. Looks like a baby, can't talk, can't really work. He doesn't bring anything to the table whatsoever.

 

Not surprised if they've resigned RVD but can't think he's really worth it. He doesn't really have much name value left thesedays so unless they've resigned him on a smaller contract (which I doubt) he's probably not gonna be worth the spend.

I agree totally.

Neither of those guys should be Main Eventing but neither of them is likely to sign up for midcard money, especially since RVD'll probably get a decent offer from WWE.

Lashley is just a big bloke who briefly got shoved down our throats years ago and then disappeared. I'd be surprised if he was able to get any kind of reaction at all if he returned to either of the Big Two. He adds nothing and they've got better than him already under contract and not being used.

They didn't really need to change anything. I don't think anyone particularly cared if the X-Division had rules or not. It was one of those kayfabe-skirting things people were happy to ignore, I think.

 

If they really felt they had to, they should've just made it a special stips matches-only belt. That's all it would really need to keep it in line with the old "no limits" idea (marketing-wise, obviously - if it was really no limits they'd just make it a hardcore belt).

I've never really understood people's problem with the X-Division. In kayfabe terms, it's a Promotion building a Division around people who've got similar styles because they think that they'll have really entertaining matches together. They can't stop other people from entering but they are few and far between because that's not the point of the division. Abyss and Nash were blatantly trolling when they entered, for example.

The Three Way idea seems really short sighted to me. Surely constantly having three ways is going to get old quickly and make it extremely difficult to build up and blow off feuds?