I don't watch Tuesday night WWE NXT every week, not even every other week. It's a rough hour of wrestling programming to watch. Each episode is comprised of only 2 matches. The rest of the show is crammed with interviews, flashbacks and clips of RAW and Smackdown. The matches are usually pretty good but the show suffers from all of the filler material and the horrible announcing of Michael Cole.
I'm assuming the winner of the show will come down to Kaval and Michael McGillicutty. Both of these men deserve a WWE contract. Yet, it's 2 of the other remaining contestants that I would prefer to discuss today: "Showtime" Percy Watson & Husky Harris.
Husky Harris - I love you. The son of future WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda is a gifted athlete in his own right, proving it by his successful collegiate football career. His promos are really solid but his in-ring work is incredible. For a chubby guy, his matches are quick and fluid. He's good enough to go high impact or high flying. Not many men as young as him can provide a match that believable. He reminds me of a young Adrian Adonis, before the gay gimmick and the huge weight gain.
"Showtime" Percy Watson - I hate you. I hate your guts. You can't wrestle a match that anyone would pay to see. You have an impressive physique, but that's it. Your wrestling ability is non-existent. Your gimmick is the worst I've seen com down the pike in a long, long time. You wear red eyeglasses while you wrestle and say"Oh yeah!" every 60 seconds. So annoying. I don't want to see you ever again on my television screen, in any capacity. Go away. You suck.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
'Cuz Disco Says So: TNA sucks and other thoughts (Pt. 1)
Okay, so I don't watch TNA. Every time I think something on TNA could possibly be cool, they screw it up. For instance, this whole ECW angle that's been stewing for months. Now it's just a "one more time" nostalgia show? Suck it, TNA. I didn't see Hardcore Justice but I'm going to spoil it for you right now. RVD defeats Sabu with a five-star frog splash. (As if you didn't see it coming!)
No one is bringing up the obvious: It AIN'T ECW IF IT AIN'T AT HAMMERSTEIN! That's why No Way Out (2006) was so f'n good -- the big WWE stars finally went to ECW's turf and the fans went mental! I've never seen John Cena so hated and it felt so good...
Anyway, I'm too lazy to write an organized, concise, well-written column like Chico or Biggs so I'm just gonna list a bunch of observations from around the WWE Universe. If you don't like it, well -- you can suck it too -- everybody knows wrestling fans can't read...
BREAKING NEWS: Tyler Black from ROH and Wrestling Society X signs a WWE Developmental contract. Why didn't TNA pick TNA up? Simple -- they're too busy booking the Sabu vs. RVD Geritol match at Hardcore Justice instead of giving guys like Jay Lethal somebody to work with in the future. WWE has been shrewdly locking up all the best talent, so when TNA's fascination with nostalgia finally subsides most of the TV-ready talent will be gone. The young wrestlers left will command top-dollar due to relative scarcity, just adding to TNA's woes.
NEXUS 7: Nexus is great. Good unified look, good frontman, good name (very Blade Runner-ish, 7 Samurai, Magnificent Seven). It serves WWE on a lot of levels, for instance, fast-tracking 6 guys to network TV performance levels, creates a feud for Cena, gives Bret Hart a way to help "save the day," and builds Barrett into a great heel. If they do this right -- and I'm not sure WWE has the guts -- Nexus wins at Summerslam and RAW has to live through the Nexus' tyranny until the Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania. I also think (well, secretly hope) Bryan Danielson is the "anonymous RAW General Manager", which plays into the "big picture" that Barrett keeps alluding to.
CHAVO GUERRERO: Got his first win in months recently against JTG on WWE Superstars. Nice to see him get some sort of push. His music is still terrible, though.
KINGSTON/ZIGGLER TITLE CHANGE: Kofi's frustration with Chavo's cousin-in-law "The Cougar" Vicky Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler has boiled over. There's been talk of a heel turn for a while from Kingston but this is a good compromise. Matt Stryker telegraphed his new aggressive angle to the audience, saying something like, "This is not the smiling Kofi Kingston we used to know." So, hopefully the "smiling Jamaican" gimmick will be end and he'll get a new pair of trunks.
COTTONWOOD ELIMINATED FROM NXT: Eli Cottonwood, killed by a mustache.
(To be continued)
NEXUS 7: Nexus is great. Good unified look, good frontman, good name (very Blade Runner-ish, 7 Samurai, Magnificent Seven). It serves WWE on a lot of levels, for instance, fast-tracking 6 guys to network TV performance levels, creates a feud for Cena, gives Bret Hart a way to help "save the day," and builds Barrett into a great heel. If they do this right -- and I'm not sure WWE has the guts -- Nexus wins at Summerslam and RAW has to live through the Nexus' tyranny until the Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania. I also think (well, secretly hope) Bryan Danielson is the "anonymous RAW General Manager", which plays into the "big picture" that Barrett keeps alluding to.
CHAVO GUERRERO: Got his first win in months recently against JTG on WWE Superstars. Nice to see him get some sort of push. His music is still terrible, though.
KINGSTON/ZIGGLER TITLE CHANGE: Kofi's frustration with Chavo's cousin-in-law "The Cougar" Vicky Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler has boiled over. There's been talk of a heel turn for a while from Kingston but this is a good compromise. Matt Stryker telegraphed his new aggressive angle to the audience, saying something like, "This is not the smiling Kofi Kingston we used to know." So, hopefully the "smiling Jamaican" gimmick will be end and he'll get a new pair of trunks.
COTTONWOOD ELIMINATED FROM NXT: Eli Cottonwood, killed by a mustache.
(To be continued)
Saturday, August 7, 2010
WCW 2010
"those days are over, Kev. We passed the torch..."
Really? Well Nash, Hogan, Sting, Jarrett and Biscoff really have a way of showing up and taking away TV time from the very guys they keep saying TNA is all about. How long can this stuff go on? Let's review: Pope's push=over, Nigel McGuinness=not on TV in a month, Samoa Joe=suspended. And who would like to see the Nature Boy in a street-fight? Answer : NOBODY wants to see Flair in a streetfight...he put Lethal over, just let it go. Isn't that what having a stable like Fortune is all about? Shouldn't Flair be above sullying his hands with a New Jersey street thug. That's Kazarian's job...
Focus groups said that fans wanted to see ECW. OK, I understand that. ECW was great. I am in my mid-thirties, and I witnessed argueably the greatest period in wrestling history. ECW was a huge part of that. ECW changed history. But it's done. It's like watching a 50's rockabilly revival show at CBGB's in 1977: ECW changed wrestling, and wrestling has already moved on and done something else. I love ECW, and I still don't want to see Sandman, Sabu, Shane Douglas, Amish Roadkill, Jerry Lynn, or New Jack...the reason these guys didn't move on and succeed in other promotions is that they weren't that good in 1999. Hardcore Justice takes away from the young guys in TNA. Period. The only person I want to see from ECW is Paul Heyman, and that's because I know he's smart enough to book for the future , not for the past.
This week's TNA had one foot firmly planted in WCW's and ECW's past, and it stunk like yesterdays garbage. The past few weeks I felt that touches of nostalgia here and there didn't effect the overall product...but this week was different. The Wolfpack paint on Sting spoke VOLUMES. Please do not reform Wolfpack....it didn't work in 99, it won't work now. If you are over 45, GET OUT of the ring at TNA and please pass the torch, for real, and stop holding these poor, hardworking kids down. Do your job, put them over, become a road agent, and reminisce on what once was.
Really? Well Nash, Hogan, Sting, Jarrett and Biscoff really have a way of showing up and taking away TV time from the very guys they keep saying TNA is all about. How long can this stuff go on? Let's review: Pope's push=over, Nigel McGuinness=not on TV in a month, Samoa Joe=suspended. And who would like to see the Nature Boy in a street-fight? Answer : NOBODY wants to see Flair in a streetfight...he put Lethal over, just let it go. Isn't that what having a stable like Fortune is all about? Shouldn't Flair be above sullying his hands with a New Jersey street thug. That's Kazarian's job...
Focus groups said that fans wanted to see ECW. OK, I understand that. ECW was great. I am in my mid-thirties, and I witnessed argueably the greatest period in wrestling history. ECW was a huge part of that. ECW changed history. But it's done. It's like watching a 50's rockabilly revival show at CBGB's in 1977: ECW changed wrestling, and wrestling has already moved on and done something else. I love ECW, and I still don't want to see Sandman, Sabu, Shane Douglas, Amish Roadkill, Jerry Lynn, or New Jack...the reason these guys didn't move on and succeed in other promotions is that they weren't that good in 1999. Hardcore Justice takes away from the young guys in TNA. Period. The only person I want to see from ECW is Paul Heyman, and that's because I know he's smart enough to book for the future , not for the past.
This week's TNA had one foot firmly planted in WCW's and ECW's past, and it stunk like yesterdays garbage. The past few weeks I felt that touches of nostalgia here and there didn't effect the overall product...but this week was different. The Wolfpack paint on Sting spoke VOLUMES. Please do not reform Wolfpack....it didn't work in 99, it won't work now. If you are over 45, GET OUT of the ring at TNA and please pass the torch, for real, and stop holding these poor, hardworking kids down. Do your job, put them over, become a road agent, and reminisce on what once was.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Extreme Letdown
God what a lovefest TNA just was...there is no "invasion", just an upcoming ECW farewell PPV. Wasn't that One Night Stand in 2005?
This smacks of emergency re-writes by Russo and Co. Didn't just last week Abyss beat up some meat and declare that "they" would change everything. I guess "they" didn't sign Paul Heyman. I doubt that Abyss would be "paving the way" for a one off PPV. Abyss was not on TV tonight, and that speaks volumes. It says to me that not signing Heyman and Dreamers torn MCL forced the hands of TNA creative to do something to salvage the angle. Damage control.
You know, even with Heyman, I wasn't too excited by an ECW invasion. It was certainly interesting , and having Heyman control booking would have positive long term benefits. But I read something last week that opened my eyes to another possibility so awesome it makes the IWC wet themselves with delight and makes the ECW invasion look as tired and stale as some have suggested any incarnation of it would be...what if the "they" that Abyss has been talking about wasn't ECW at all but...Ring of Honor?!
Now it has been said that Jim Cornette would have to be dead before he would work for Dixie Carter and Vince Russo, but money talks in this business and for ROH being on Spike would be money in the bank (no pun intended). I'm not sure how anyone in the company could turn down that kind of exposure. It makes almost so much sense that it probably can't happen, but it would be an absolute coup for TNA and probably save Vince Russos job. Imagine it....Daniels comes back to TNA to take vengeance for AJ turning his back on him....the shit writes itself. AJ vs Daniels, Lynn vs RVD, Steen vs Joe, Ares vs Hardy, Briscoes vs MCMG, Strong vs Angle....the list goes on and on.
I mean...TNAs core audience is hardcore wrestling fans and WWE PG era defectors....they must know that anyone with a computer and the ability to type "Samoa Joe" into Google will see his name linked with ROH wherever they look. Kayfabe cannot be maintained in the Internet Era so why even try. Embrace your talents origins and use it to your advantage...nothing propels a storyline like a little history. Dixie Carter mentioned in her promo tonight that for wrestling, Hogan was the '80s, and ECW was the '90s. The '00s are ROH.
This smacks of emergency re-writes by Russo and Co. Didn't just last week Abyss beat up some meat and declare that "they" would change everything. I guess "they" didn't sign Paul Heyman. I doubt that Abyss would be "paving the way" for a one off PPV. Abyss was not on TV tonight, and that speaks volumes. It says to me that not signing Heyman and Dreamers torn MCL forced the hands of TNA creative to do something to salvage the angle. Damage control.
You know, even with Heyman, I wasn't too excited by an ECW invasion. It was certainly interesting , and having Heyman control booking would have positive long term benefits. But I read something last week that opened my eyes to another possibility so awesome it makes the IWC wet themselves with delight and makes the ECW invasion look as tired and stale as some have suggested any incarnation of it would be...what if the "they" that Abyss has been talking about wasn't ECW at all but...Ring of Honor?!
Now it has been said that Jim Cornette would have to be dead before he would work for Dixie Carter and Vince Russo, but money talks in this business and for ROH being on Spike would be money in the bank (no pun intended). I'm not sure how anyone in the company could turn down that kind of exposure. It makes almost so much sense that it probably can't happen, but it would be an absolute coup for TNA and probably save Vince Russos job. Imagine it....Daniels comes back to TNA to take vengeance for AJ turning his back on him....the shit writes itself. AJ vs Daniels, Lynn vs RVD, Steen vs Joe, Ares vs Hardy, Briscoes vs MCMG, Strong vs Angle....the list goes on and on.
I mean...TNAs core audience is hardcore wrestling fans and WWE PG era defectors....they must know that anyone with a computer and the ability to type "Samoa Joe" into Google will see his name linked with ROH wherever they look. Kayfabe cannot be maintained in the Internet Era so why even try. Embrace your talents origins and use it to your advantage...nothing propels a storyline like a little history. Dixie Carter mentioned in her promo tonight that for wrestling, Hogan was the '80s, and ECW was the '90s. The '00s are ROH.
TNA 7/22
I try, I really do. I try to watch TNA wrestling in it's entirety and I really want it to do well. It's tough, really tough to watch. They take most of their really talented guys and put them in a match with some shitbum. Or they throw some stupid gimmick or stipulation on the match to excite the crowd. If they use these gimmick matches less often, the audience might actually care about what's happening in the ring. I can't get pumped up about an A.J. Styles vs. Tomko -Pizza-on-a-pole match. How about Kurt Angle vs. Kazarian in a Bathroom Stall Brawl?
Right now, TNA is the highest rated and most watched show on Spike TV. They should take advantage of their comfortable position with the network and just shove good wrestling matches down our throats every week ala ROH. They have the talent to do it. Instead, they're feeding me crap every week and letting it slip through their fingers.
TNA for 7/22
A.J. Styles vs. Rob Terry for the TNA Global Championship. Match lasts literally 3 minutes with The Freak hitting Styles with power moves. Terry has the moveset of The Ultimate Warrior so it's no surprise that they copy the ending of the Wrestlemania 5 Warrior/Rick Rude match with Kazarian playing the Bobby Heenan role. Styles wins the title.
TNA Knockouts tag team match. Hot chicks that can't wrestle. Somebody wins and there's a chick with a motorcycle hiding her identity by wearing a helmet. I can only hope it's a woman that can wrestle a good match. Mickie James?
Kurt Angle vs. Hernandez. Hernandez sucks. Angle carries the match and makes it tolerable. At least he's rewarded with a win for his effort.
Kevin Nash appears looking more and more like Jerry Garcia. He calls out Jeff Jarret and talks about Sting and Jarrett taking dumps. Seriously. No reason for this segment.
Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy. Very good match that ends in a time-limit draw. The only problem is that it was a 10 minute match. Two of your best workers trying to get the viewers into the second hour of the show and you end the match after 10 minutes! Gay.
Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan. The arena audience might actually be sleeping during this match. Crummy match. Anderson wins and people yawn. Too bad, because I like Matt Morgan.
Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns in a street fight. Apparently it's match #2/5 in a series. Don't get how BM won the first match yet they're not the champs going into match #2. Whoever wins 3 matches in the series is the champ? I thought that was for vacant titles. Match is actually really good with Beer Money winning following a ref bump and fake beer bottle over the head. I'll bet my bottom dollar the Machine Guns win the next 2 matches to push it to match #5.
Dixie Carter appears dressed like a hussy. Are we suppose to take a 46 year-old woman serious as President of the company when she dresses like a college chick complete with tons of make-up and attempted cleavage. She brings out Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, Rhino, Raven and Stevie Richards. Hurts that they can't legally use ECW, so these guys are "hardcore" and "extreme". Dreamer takes the mic and basically craps on the reincarnation of ECW and asks for just one night to show everyone how it used to be. Dixie Carter tells him to go ahead and get it done. This angle peaks my interest only because of the success of the One Night Stand pay-per views.
I really can't see how someone could watch this show as it happens without the the benefit of fast-forward. DVR TNA and watch the 2-hour show in an hour if you care about yourself.
Love,
Chico
TNA for 7/22
A.J. Styles vs. Rob Terry for the TNA Global Championship. Match lasts literally 3 minutes with The Freak hitting Styles with power moves. Terry has the moveset of The Ultimate Warrior so it's no surprise that they copy the ending of the Wrestlemania 5 Warrior/Rick Rude match with Kazarian playing the Bobby Heenan role. Styles wins the title.
TNA Knockouts tag team match. Hot chicks that can't wrestle. Somebody wins and there's a chick with a motorcycle hiding her identity by wearing a helmet. I can only hope it's a woman that can wrestle a good match. Mickie James?
Kurt Angle vs. Hernandez. Hernandez sucks. Angle carries the match and makes it tolerable. At least he's rewarded with a win for his effort.
Kevin Nash appears looking more and more like Jerry Garcia. He calls out Jeff Jarret and talks about Sting and Jarrett taking dumps. Seriously. No reason for this segment.
Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy. Very good match that ends in a time-limit draw. The only problem is that it was a 10 minute match. Two of your best workers trying to get the viewers into the second hour of the show and you end the match after 10 minutes! Gay.
Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan. The arena audience might actually be sleeping during this match. Crummy match. Anderson wins and people yawn. Too bad, because I like Matt Morgan.
Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns in a street fight. Apparently it's match #2/5 in a series. Don't get how BM won the first match yet they're not the champs going into match #2. Whoever wins 3 matches in the series is the champ? I thought that was for vacant titles. Match is actually really good with Beer Money winning following a ref bump and fake beer bottle over the head. I'll bet my bottom dollar the Machine Guns win the next 2 matches to push it to match #5.
Dixie Carter appears dressed like a hussy. Are we suppose to take a 46 year-old woman serious as President of the company when she dresses like a college chick complete with tons of make-up and attempted cleavage. She brings out Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, Rhino, Raven and Stevie Richards. Hurts that they can't legally use ECW, so these guys are "hardcore" and "extreme". Dreamer takes the mic and basically craps on the reincarnation of ECW and asks for just one night to show everyone how it used to be. Dixie Carter tells him to go ahead and get it done. This angle peaks my interest only because of the success of the One Night Stand pay-per views.
I really can't see how someone could watch this show as it happens without the the benefit of fast-forward. DVR TNA and watch the 2-hour show in an hour if you care about yourself.
Love,
Chico
Friday, July 16, 2010
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