Hey there everyone. Welcome to another edition of Around The Ring. I finally decided to write up another column. Lets get to the first 10 people who got the last Brainbuster correct:

Matt Ridgeway, Tony Scipio, Armin Legg, Jim Roberts, Jeff S, Michael Carman, F. William Richard, Parker Bradley, Greg D Roy, Joel Alpert.

Congrats to you above to all of you that answered correctly. I was so surprised to come back from vacation to find SO many answers!! Thanks for making it such a success!

Also...Around The Ring now has a MySpace!! Check it out at http://www.myspace.com/aroundthering. I will be posting my articles on the blog and maybe on occasion, my own personal thoughts. Speaking of vacation, you can read the wild goings on of travelling by bus from Worcester MA to North Carolina. Word of warning, don't take the bus if you can help it!!

And don't forget to check out the new poll I placed on the main page of my site at http://www.aroundthering.com . Be sure to check it out!!

One of my loyal readers by the name of Jimmy D attended a TNA event. He sent me the results of the show and some pics he took. I posted the results on my site and you can check the pics out here

http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk58/Jimmy_D2008/TNA_Wrestling_June_20_2008/

Now on to the meat and potatoes...

First off...it completely kills me to say this. I can't stand the guy...but I guess I have to give him his props. I can't believe I am saying this, but is Edge one of the best heels of his generation? I mean other than the time when Hogan turned heel and joined the NWO, I have never heard a crowd boo someone for so long. I am referring to the Friday after Edge beat The Undertaker for the World Title. Heck, he hadn't even come out yet, and the crowd was boo'ing him out of the building. Vickie Guerrero, who was already in the ring, couldn't even say anything hardly as the crowd was so loud.
And even after Edge came out the boos and catcalls continued.

Is Edge that good? Or does the crowd really and truly hate this man? I don't think Edge is deserving of this title, but to me it's like WWE looked around and had no one better as a heel, so they gave him his shot. I just think what would make it work better is if it wasn't like a cheap imitation of Ric Flair and The Horsemen. The fact that Edge needs all these cronies around him to protect him and interfere on his behalf. I don't know. I just know I don't like it.

Million Dollar Mania. The fact that you have to bribe people to watch your show is sad. Vince...if you didn't buy out all your competition, maybe you'd work harder for your ratings and people might watch. Then you wouldn't have to be shelling out your millions to the crowds. And why do I have a feeling this whole thing is fixed anyways??

I was all ready to give WWE props for the episode of Raw two weeks ago when they actually had a match in the first few minutes of the show!! Then they turn around and go right back this past Monday to a 12 to 14 minutes rambling between Cena and Triple H. I know they need to hype the upcoming PPV, but is there really a need for the talking at the opening of the show??

What is going on with the WWE Tag Team Division?? Is there even a Tag Team Division? There are tag team champions... Morrison and Miz are champs and Holly and Rhodes are champs, but how many people realize it? And if you do realize it, are you excited by their matches? Week in and week out I see Holly and Rhodes having matches that elicit little to no reaction from the crowds. It is sad really. The only team that seems to get the crowds going is Cryme Tyme. Remember the days...20 some years ago when WWE...or then WWF had loads of teams?? And the crowds were behind them...for better or worse? Teams like the Samoans. Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson. The Hart Foundation. Demolition. The British Bulldogs. And the list goes on. Now, they have nothing worth anything. It is sad.

I wasn't going to write about the draft but decided to postpone the column until after the draft. What can I say?? I think the biggest surprise was Jim Ross going to Smackdown. I guess he has to go their to make the wrestlers look good. But what were they thinking putting Michael Cole on Raw on Live TV??? The second surprise for people, which if you think about it isn't a surprise, is HHH going to Smackdown. Now he can spend more time with his wife...what's her name...lol.

One of the good things I can say about WWE is new comer Evan Bourne! What is this guy doing in WWE?? He belongs in TNA. He is an incredible athlete!! He and Kofi Kingston would make a great tag team.

I saw a tidbit recently that said that ECW is the highest rated show on Sci-Fi channel. Is this a good thing?? I mean really, I barely watch Sci-Fi channel. I watch Ghost Hunters and ECW and I have heard that Ghost Hunters is the number one show on Sci-Fi. But isn't that like being the number one show on an old UHF station in a town somewhere?? Woo Hoo. Would ECW be the number one show on any other channel? Kind of sad that ECW is getting almost the same ratings that Heat used to get...but ECW is being beaten by TNA!!!

Speaking of TNA...they are back on track with matches from the opening of the show!! And if you missed it, you missed one of the best matches I have seen in awhile. It featured Motor City Machine Guns vs Team Japan aka Speed Muscle. If you haven't seen it, you can check it out here on You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hngCMt72ifI

I was absolutely blown away by this match and definitely better than anything I have seen in WWE in recent years.

Abyss has made his "big" return and looks even bigger if that is possible!! He looks a little slower though...maybe like the Big Show, he needs to tone down some.

Saw a preview of the new TNA game...looks really good. Might have to run out and buy that since I only have Raw vs Smackdown 2006!!

According to reports I have been reading, it appears Kurt Angle's health is not in the greatest of places. I am wondering if his neck injury is back and he may need another visit to the doctor that patched up his neck several years ago. Hopefully he can avoid surgery however and just take some time off the tv and house shows...just putting in the occasion appearance to rest him up.

I disappointed to read that Bobby Lashley is leaning against going to TNA and would prefer to work indy shows. I guess that works out better for the indy feds, but not so good for the TNA group that can use more names.

I was just reading that while over in the UK, TNA drew some good size smaller crowds. Between 3 shows, they drew a total of around 6600 people. Not bad for an over seas tour of a smaller promotion. I believe the more they do, the bigger the crowds will get. And if they keep up the matches like Motor City Machine Guns and Speed and Muscle...look out!!

I noticed that WWE's Night Of Champions PPV is coming up this Sunday. I will post my predictions on my site later this week. So check back to

http://www.aroundthering.com under the news section for my predictions.

Now onto...

***The Last Brainbuster***

Q: Before Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made The Rock nickname famous, who was known as The Rock in the 1980’s?

A: There were two correct answers actually. Don Muraco and Ole Anderson.

***This Weeks Brainbuster***
(Be sure to send all answers and/or comments to ericknudsen@aroundthering.com. Remember to include your name.)

Q: Only person to ever hold the European heavyweight title 4 times & never lose it?

Well that's it for me. Thank you for joining me for this edition of Around The Ring. I am Eric, that’s my opinion and I am standing by it!!