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Well, it's 2 weeks after WrestleMania and everyone survived. Not unscathed, but survived. We had the fireworks mishap (I'm glad no one got seriously hurt), power outage (We didn't miss much in the Playboy Bunny match anyway), Nipplegate, a pretty serious backstage theft ( including Matt Hardy's wallet and passport as well as Batista's $35,000 watch), and even the stupidity of the other local wrestling organization. All in all it wasn't to bad of a show. Definitely not the best ever, but not even close to the worst.
But before I get started I have a huge bone to pick. TNA is really turning into a piece of crap as a company. Nothing against any of the great talent they have. But to put someone's career and livelihood on the line just to get some cheap publicity is total horse crap. I'm referring to TNA showing Robbie Mcallister at a Impact taping. He was visiting friends and was there as a fan. There was no company involvement. Then the nerve to brag about him being sent home from WrestleMania weekend the following week on Impact. How can you look at yourself and say I made my company better by taking away a wrestlers dream. All wrestlers dream of WrestleMania. Say what you want, but it's still the "BIG SHOW". Robbie did get sent home and missed the whole WrestleMania weekend. On top of being fined $5000 from WWE. Have some class TNA. That is just as tasteless as when Eric Bischoff gave the results of Monday night Raw live on Nitro. The only difference, is WCW and WWE were actually competitors. WCW wasn't some second rate wannabe wrestling company. TNA can talk all the crap that they want, and their mouthpiece, Kurt angle, has a mouth that just doesn't stop. But look at the numbers. Rating wise, TNA is barely carrying the ECW brand's jockstrap. Both Smackdown and Raw have a minimum of twice as much viewers. You guys are no more then the corner Coffee shop trying to compete with Starbucks. Plus your just absolute idiots for even trying to compete. Just put on a good show and succeed. Then maybe in 10-20 years you will be at a level that can compete with the WWE. In a nut shell, keep your mouth shut until your company is on the New York Stock exchange.
And another thing. Quit trying to make people think you have some sort of mixed martial arts feel. I love watching UFC, WEC, Pride Fighting, and all kinds of mixed martial arts. But you can't mix it with pro wrestling. It will just ruin the sport of MMS. Unfortunately, when pro wrestling starts getting involved with thing the first thing that every sports writer says is the sport is automatically rigged. Just like pro wrestling. Just look at the XFL. It didn't fail because it was a bad product. It failed because Vince should have stayed in the back and never brought any of the WWE into Football. It is an unfortunate stimulus that comes with Professional Wrestling. Not to mention TNA wants to be more stiff and "realistic". Why do you have to take a good show and say, listen guys, I want you to hurt yourselves and shorten your careers for our company. Brett Hart has always took great pride in knowing that in his 20+ year career he never injured one person. Believe it or not that is the whole magic of wrestling. Take it from a wrestler, there is nothing better then hearing a crowd gasp and think you were just broke in half. I loved getting the crap beat out of me in the ring. But we never tried to hurt anyone, and never wanted to. But we sure as hell wanted the fans to think we did. I took a lot of pride in the art of pro wrestling. TNA needs to run a wrestling company. They should take the lead of successful companies. Not failed ones. When I watch Impact that is what I see. It reminds me so much of WCW. Well, you guys are a decade to late. It's time to wake up to reality.
So next week on Raw they are bringing back King of the Ring. I guess they need someone to take over King Booker's ridiculous royalty character. I'm not sure any of the wrestlers involved really needs that gimmick. Chris Jericho, Umaga, Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, Batista, Big Show, Triple H and MVP are going to be the participants. No reason for Michaels, Batista, Jericho, Punk, or Triple H to win it. They don't need to be running around with a stupid royalty bit. Sure Triple H is the "King of Kings" and maybe they will want to just run with that. But completely unnecessary. That leaves MVP, Umaga, and Big Show. I think the title would just look dumb on Umaga. Put a crown on a beast that doesn't even speak. Big Show I can see. They don't want to give him a title, so they just make him the King. He can wear his crown as his belt. And lastly, MVP. He might be able to win. Then he can lose to Matt Hardy. Matt Hardy would become the US champion while MVP remains the king. I'm not sure why they didn't include Finley or Mr. Kennedy. They would make great Kings. But no matter how it turns out, I just don't see the point of it. Especially a last minute things. I mean doesn't "King of the Ring" deserve a little more then one weeks worth of promotion. Hell, it used to be a Pay-Per-View. Then again, maybe I just overanalyze things.
I've been thinking about something lately that I wanted to run past you readers. What would you thing about CM Punk turning heel. I think it would be great. I don't know how many of you watched him when he was in the independents and in Ring Of Honor. He was a great heel. Maybe he could go back to his bleach blonde hair and black eye liner. He can be so vicious in the ring. Not that he isn't tough now. But when your a heel you can turn it up a notch. I don't know, it was just an idea that has been floating around in my head. But I think the biggest problem with the idea is that Punk's shirts and paraphernalia sales are just incredible. I'm not sure the WWE would want to take that big of risk by turning him into a heel.
Congrats should go out to Festus. To earn a main event spot is quite an honor. Then to face the Undertaker is even more of a compliment. When I first heard them announce the match I figured it would just be a stomp. But they put on a great 10-12 minute match. Festus should go out and buy himself a big steak dinner and celebrate. I think the fans really like Festus. All of us have that monster inside of us. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just turn it on and off just with the ring of a bell. Festus is one of the better character ideas that has come out the WWE creative teams lately.
Now on to Joey Styles. In my opinion ECW has lost it's voice. Nothing against Mike Adamle, I'm sure he's a great guy. Hell, ex-pro running back in the NFL and has plenty of TV experience. Plus Joey is doing something that he excels at even more then announcing. He's working on the WWE website. Joey was the co-owner of the original ECW website and 1wrestling website. So I think he will do well for himself and I think that the WWE website will improve also. I guess the harsh reality of it all is just watching what I remember as ECW disappearing. All we have left is Tommy Dreamer and Stevie Richards. Then Tazz behind the mic. But even they are a shell of what ECW was. Not saying they sold out, they just evolved with the times. Hopefully the old ECW will never be forgotten.
Before I get out of here I want to shout out to a reader and fellow wrestling fan. His name is Robert Murphy from Portland Oregon. Let me explain a little. 2 weeks ago my grandfather underwent surgery to remove a cancerous growth. They actually found a second one during the surgery. Well a week before his surgery I received an e-mail about my column. To make a long story short, Robert just happened to work at the same clinic that did my grandfather's operation. I know it probably sounds silly, but it just felt good to know that I kind of knew someone there. My grandfather spent 2 days their after the surgery and is home now recovering. The surgery went very well, and he's his stubborn old self. So thanks for just being there, Robert.
Until next time, everyone take care. Feel free to send me any comments, questions, or bitches. STAY COOL!
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