I really enjoyed the Britt Baker vs. Bea Priestley match from Full Gear. The only real complaint about the match itself was that I felt like Bea tapped out too quickly to the Lockjaw. I'd have liked to see her struggle for another ten or fifteen seconds.
But, what the fuck was up with the Brandi/Kong deal afterwards?
Bea Priestley was really the only member of the women's division that was established as a heel. She'd just lost to her rival, by tap out. Why completely bury her by feeding her to Kong? Why couldn't they do it to Emi Sakura after she'd lost to Riho? Aside from the pin on Riho last week, it's not like Emi had anything going on.
Friday, November 15, 2019
Friday, November 8, 2019
Almost Elite Women
Disclaimer: I’m obviously writing this on 11/8/19, the day before the Full Gear PPV. If the show or booking does anything to prove me wrong here, I’d be ecstatic to make a post, or send out a tweet, declaring myself to be wrong.
It’s hard to not compare NXT to AEW. They’re on the same nights at the same times, they both started by catering to the internet type fans who want to see great wrestling, but have had to adjust that mentality for being on a national cable network, trying to also get casual wrestling fans to watch. Since the “Wednesday Night War” started in October, AEW has had the edge as far overall ratings, and also with the coveted demographic, but both shows had been trending down. Until this week, when AEW saw an 8% increase and NXT saw a monstrous 40% increase. It’s easy to see why. WWE had been putting NXT guys on Raw and SD, and people tuned in (or tuned back in) to watch NXT to see what was happening next. It’s a luxury that AEW doesn’t yet have, since they only have on show on TV, and have their YouTube show “AEW Dark” and also the “Being the Elite.” Two shows on YouTube only, versus a show on the USA Network and Fox, which do you think more people can watch?
This is also true of the women’s division in AEW versus the WWE/NXT one. The ‘women’s revolution” has been going for almost five years now. We’ve seen the women being used much more prominently in recent years, getting their own Royal Rumble, their own Elimination Chamber, being in the main event of WrestleMania this year, and now gearing up for the first ever women’s War Games match. Once again, it’s not an entirely fair comparison. This all didn’t happen overnight for the WWE, they’ve spent years cultivating their rosters, and washing away the memories of the “Diva’s Division” where PPV shows featured bra and panties matches and lingerie pillow fights. AEW is starting from the ground up. But, I think it’s pretty hard to look at the landscape of the AEW women’s division and not feel let down.
History has shown that it’s not hard to book women wrestlers in a manner to get them over, and make people want to see them. There’s a reason Lita vs. Trish was able to main event Raw for the women’s title in 2004. There’s a reason that the Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong feud in TNA was often the high rated segment of the show. In both cases, they were made to feel important, and as a result, people wanted to see it. However, this isn't the case with AEW it seems. To paraphrase Bubba Ray Dudley, if AEW was the program or flyer to a wrestling card the women's division would be the fine print at the bottom that says "Plus, one other exciting match!"
In their roughly six month history as a promotion ( starting from Double or Nothing), AEW has managed two establish exactly two women wrestlers. Dr. Britt Baker, and Riho. All due respect to Jim Cornette, who clearly isn’t fond of them using the Japanese talent. But, I have no issue with it. It’s never a bad thing for talent to be able to work in front of new crowds, and it's not bad to let fans experience different styles. He may very well be correct that Riho will never draw a dime in this country. But, it’s 2019, it’s long gone by the wayside of certain wrestlers being counted on to draw crowds. I went to NXT shows in 2015 and 2016. The only thing I knew about ahead of time were some of the wrestlers, and I knew that from reading the results from the show the night before, since I knew the lineup wouldn’t be drastically different.
Just for fun, let’s look at the lineup for Full Gear and see where the women are positioned.
Britt vs. Bea being put on the Buy In is absolutely infuriating. Their feud has been the only real feud that the AEW women’s division has had (Allie vs. Brandi seems to have fallen by the wayside). From my review of the women’s tag match from the Fight for the Fallen buy in: “The exchanges between Britt and Bea hints at something bigger happening between the two of them later on.” - Indeed that’s what happened. Bea helped eliminate Britt from the women’s battle royal at All Out, costing her the chance to be the first AEW Women’s Champion. Since then, they’ve wrestled in two tag matches, once on AEW Dark, and then on AEW Dynamite. There was a chance for something to happen when Britt wrestled Jaime Hayter (Bea’s tag team partner in Stardom) on Dynamite, but nothing happened. Plus, on AEW Dark, there was a great video and promo from Britt Baker to build up to this match.
The buildup for the women’s title match? After the match was announced, Sakura pinned Riho in a tag team match this past week. As Brian Last put it: If wins and losses matter, why is Emi Sakura getting the title match? Her overall record is 2-2, with one singles win. Further more, the tag match that Emi pinned Riho in was Emi and Jamie Hayter vs. Riho and Shanna. Why not add Britt and Bea to make it a trios match, and then build anticipation to two matches instead of just one? If Emi Sakura isn't available to be on TV regularly, why put her in the title match on the PPV?
While we're at it, let’s see what the rest of the women’s roster (according to AEW’s roster page on their website) has been up to.
Allie: Seemed to be headed to a feud with Brandi, but it looks like it’s been dropped. She’s been a regular on AEW Dark.
Awesome Kong: She’s settled into the role as Brandi’s enforcer, which is perfect. She’s probably the most established member of the women’s roster, which is the best reason to use her sporadically.
Brandi Rhodes: From my review of Fight for the Fallen: “I can appreciate that Brandi wants to wrestle, but, if this is any indication of what to expect from her matches, then it ought not be a regular thing. She’s perfectly useful as a mouthpiece or as an authority figure.” It looks like someone seems to concur. She inexplicably attacked Jaime Hayter backstage, and has done a couple of vignettes. I think she’d be great as the heel authority figure, running the division with an iron first. But, they need to get it off the ground sooner rather than later.
Hikaru Shida: Like the other Japanese talent, sans Riho, she seems to be used sparingly. Seeing as she pinned Riho in July and has 3-1 record, maybe she ought to be challenging for the women’s title tomorrow night. She was on Dynamite last week, and put in a good showing against Shanna.
Leva Bates: The librarian gimmick is death. She’s made a few Dark appearances.
Nyla Rose: Talk about a missed opportunity. She hasn’t been on Dynamite since the decision match for the title on the first episode. She’s the perfect monster heel in the Awesome Kong and Nia Jax mold. She dominated the women’s battle royal at All Out. Since losing to Riho on the first Dynamite, she’s all but vanished, aside from a couple of matches on Dark (seeing a trend?)
Penelope Ford: She’s hardly been around. She did two matches. Guess what show?
Sadie Gibbs: See Penelope Ford, only she was also in the battle royal at All Out, so she’s had three matches instead of two.
Shanna: Put in a good showing in her debut against Shida two weeks ago. Her coming back last week is a good sign. But, that’s more about how little the women have been featured, rather than how good she is.
Yuka Suzuki: Like Sakura and Shida, she’s barely been used.
Also, Jamie Hayter has had two appearances on Dynamite, one of which was against the good Doctor, in her hometown nonetheless. Mercedes Martinez was a surprise appearance at All Out, and worked Dark this week. Aja Kong made a surprise appearance at Fight for the Fallen, and hasn’t been seen since. While Aja is obviously going to be expensive to use, and limited in what she can do, both Jamie and Mercedes would be good pickups.
There’s over a dozen women on the roster, and a two hour show can only accommodate one match? The women’s title match at the PPV has no reason for happening, and the only anticipation to it comes in the tag match *after* it was announced? Why should anyone care about the women’s division when only Riho is being used regularly on Dynamite, and the rest are regulated to occasional matches on Dark?
I think AEW absolutely has the talent roster to have a good women's division. But, between the division as a whole being used sporadically, mostly being booked in a 50/50 manner (if you look at their records as of today, only Riho and Baker have standout win loss records, because they've had the most matches), and the matches seemingly being treated as one-offs with precious little in the way of feuds, angles, etc. Then AEW has a long way to go before they can even hope to being compared to the WWE and NXT divisions. At best, they're ahead of the WWE divas of the mid-late 2000's, if only because they treat the women like athletes and wrestlers, but, that isn't a particularly high bar to clear.
It’s hard to not compare NXT to AEW. They’re on the same nights at the same times, they both started by catering to the internet type fans who want to see great wrestling, but have had to adjust that mentality for being on a national cable network, trying to also get casual wrestling fans to watch. Since the “Wednesday Night War” started in October, AEW has had the edge as far overall ratings, and also with the coveted demographic, but both shows had been trending down. Until this week, when AEW saw an 8% increase and NXT saw a monstrous 40% increase. It’s easy to see why. WWE had been putting NXT guys on Raw and SD, and people tuned in (or tuned back in) to watch NXT to see what was happening next. It’s a luxury that AEW doesn’t yet have, since they only have on show on TV, and have their YouTube show “AEW Dark” and also the “Being the Elite.” Two shows on YouTube only, versus a show on the USA Network and Fox, which do you think more people can watch?
This is also true of the women’s division in AEW versus the WWE/NXT one. The ‘women’s revolution” has been going for almost five years now. We’ve seen the women being used much more prominently in recent years, getting their own Royal Rumble, their own Elimination Chamber, being in the main event of WrestleMania this year, and now gearing up for the first ever women’s War Games match. Once again, it’s not an entirely fair comparison. This all didn’t happen overnight for the WWE, they’ve spent years cultivating their rosters, and washing away the memories of the “Diva’s Division” where PPV shows featured bra and panties matches and lingerie pillow fights. AEW is starting from the ground up. But, I think it’s pretty hard to look at the landscape of the AEW women’s division and not feel let down.
History has shown that it’s not hard to book women wrestlers in a manner to get them over, and make people want to see them. There’s a reason Lita vs. Trish was able to main event Raw for the women’s title in 2004. There’s a reason that the Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong feud in TNA was often the high rated segment of the show. In both cases, they were made to feel important, and as a result, people wanted to see it. However, this isn't the case with AEW it seems. To paraphrase Bubba Ray Dudley, if AEW was the program or flyer to a wrestling card the women's division would be the fine print at the bottom that says "Plus, one other exciting match!"
In their roughly six month history as a promotion ( starting from Double or Nothing), AEW has managed two establish exactly two women wrestlers. Dr. Britt Baker, and Riho. All due respect to Jim Cornette, who clearly isn’t fond of them using the Japanese talent. But, I have no issue with it. It’s never a bad thing for talent to be able to work in front of new crowds, and it's not bad to let fans experience different styles. He may very well be correct that Riho will never draw a dime in this country. But, it’s 2019, it’s long gone by the wayside of certain wrestlers being counted on to draw crowds. I went to NXT shows in 2015 and 2016. The only thing I knew about ahead of time were some of the wrestlers, and I knew that from reading the results from the show the night before, since I knew the lineup wouldn’t be drastically different.
Just for fun, let’s look at the lineup for Full Gear and see where the women are positioned.
 |
Britt vs. Bea being put on the Buy In is absolutely infuriating. Their feud has been the only real feud that the AEW women’s division has had (Allie vs. Brandi seems to have fallen by the wayside). From my review of the women’s tag match from the Fight for the Fallen buy in: “The exchanges between Britt and Bea hints at something bigger happening between the two of them later on.” - Indeed that’s what happened. Bea helped eliminate Britt from the women’s battle royal at All Out, costing her the chance to be the first AEW Women’s Champion. Since then, they’ve wrestled in two tag matches, once on AEW Dark, and then on AEW Dynamite. There was a chance for something to happen when Britt wrestled Jaime Hayter (Bea’s tag team partner in Stardom) on Dynamite, but nothing happened. Plus, on AEW Dark, there was a great video and promo from Britt Baker to build up to this match.
The buildup for the women’s title match? After the match was announced, Sakura pinned Riho in a tag team match this past week. As Brian Last put it: If wins and losses matter, why is Emi Sakura getting the title match? Her overall record is 2-2, with one singles win. Further more, the tag match that Emi pinned Riho in was Emi and Jamie Hayter vs. Riho and Shanna. Why not add Britt and Bea to make it a trios match, and then build anticipation to two matches instead of just one? If Emi Sakura isn't available to be on TV regularly, why put her in the title match on the PPV?
While we're at it, let’s see what the rest of the women’s roster (according to AEW’s roster page on their website) has been up to.
Allie: Seemed to be headed to a feud with Brandi, but it looks like it’s been dropped. She’s been a regular on AEW Dark.
Awesome Kong: She’s settled into the role as Brandi’s enforcer, which is perfect. She’s probably the most established member of the women’s roster, which is the best reason to use her sporadically.
Brandi Rhodes: From my review of Fight for the Fallen: “I can appreciate that Brandi wants to wrestle, but, if this is any indication of what to expect from her matches, then it ought not be a regular thing. She’s perfectly useful as a mouthpiece or as an authority figure.” It looks like someone seems to concur. She inexplicably attacked Jaime Hayter backstage, and has done a couple of vignettes. I think she’d be great as the heel authority figure, running the division with an iron first. But, they need to get it off the ground sooner rather than later.
Hikaru Shida: Like the other Japanese talent, sans Riho, she seems to be used sparingly. Seeing as she pinned Riho in July and has 3-1 record, maybe she ought to be challenging for the women’s title tomorrow night. She was on Dynamite last week, and put in a good showing against Shanna.
Leva Bates: The librarian gimmick is death. She’s made a few Dark appearances.
Nyla Rose: Talk about a missed opportunity. She hasn’t been on Dynamite since the decision match for the title on the first episode. She’s the perfect monster heel in the Awesome Kong and Nia Jax mold. She dominated the women’s battle royal at All Out. Since losing to Riho on the first Dynamite, she’s all but vanished, aside from a couple of matches on Dark (seeing a trend?)
Penelope Ford: She’s hardly been around. She did two matches. Guess what show?
Sadie Gibbs: See Penelope Ford, only she was also in the battle royal at All Out, so she’s had three matches instead of two.
Shanna: Put in a good showing in her debut against Shida two weeks ago. Her coming back last week is a good sign. But, that’s more about how little the women have been featured, rather than how good she is.
Yuka Suzuki: Like Sakura and Shida, she’s barely been used.
Also, Jamie Hayter has had two appearances on Dynamite, one of which was against the good Doctor, in her hometown nonetheless. Mercedes Martinez was a surprise appearance at All Out, and worked Dark this week. Aja Kong made a surprise appearance at Fight for the Fallen, and hasn’t been seen since. While Aja is obviously going to be expensive to use, and limited in what she can do, both Jamie and Mercedes would be good pickups.
There’s over a dozen women on the roster, and a two hour show can only accommodate one match? The women’s title match at the PPV has no reason for happening, and the only anticipation to it comes in the tag match *after* it was announced? Why should anyone care about the women’s division when only Riho is being used regularly on Dynamite, and the rest are regulated to occasional matches on Dark?
I think AEW absolutely has the talent roster to have a good women's division. But, between the division as a whole being used sporadically, mostly being booked in a 50/50 manner (if you look at their records as of today, only Riho and Baker have standout win loss records, because they've had the most matches), and the matches seemingly being treated as one-offs with precious little in the way of feuds, angles, etc. Then AEW has a long way to go before they can even hope to being compared to the WWE and NXT divisions. At best, they're ahead of the WWE divas of the mid-late 2000's, if only because they treat the women like athletes and wrestlers, but, that isn't a particularly high bar to clear.
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Trying TNA Again
I actually did enjoy the blogging about early TNA. But between the awful GWN app, and other things, I sort of fell out of it.
Well the Global Wrestling Network is dead. In it's place in Impact Plus! (Or maybe it's supposed to be Impact + - who knows?). I loaded it on the Roku and logged into my account (which carried over from GWN) and THE APP DIDN'T CRASH RIGHT AFTERWARDS!
It'll be a week or so before I can actually subscribe again, but it's a step in the right direction.
Well the Global Wrestling Network is dead. In it's place in Impact Plus! (Or maybe it's supposed to be Impact + - who knows?). I loaded it on the Roku and logged into my account (which carried over from GWN) and THE APP DIDN'T CRASH RIGHT AFTERWARDS!
It'll be a week or so before I can actually subscribe again, but it's a step in the right direction.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Laptop issues = No All In
After finishing the Rev Pro show, I'd planned on reviewing All In. Unfortunately, those plans got derailed Tuesday night when my laptop went to shit. Blue screen of death, no troubleshooting nor YouTube tutorials are able to fix it. So, All In is going to be on hold indefinitely. At least I made it through the summer with my attempts to stay current/relevant.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
TNA PPVs #14 and 15
It occurred to me that in my rundown of the stuff from the first 10 TNA shows, I somehow forgot to list Puppet the Pyscho Dwarf's antics. Namely beating off into the trash can and pulling the gun on Jeff Jarrett.
I wouldn't say I forgot. I like to think that my brain just blocked it out.
GWN also sent me the form email letting me know that they're aware of "issues" with the Roku app and that it will be fixed over the course of later updates.
- Truth cut the mother of all promos on BG James!
- The NWA Tag Titles match being a tables match somewhat makes up for the copout last week with the table not getting used.
- Jerry Lynn's awful song is just a loop of the phrase "Born and Raised in the USA"
- Styles winning the #1 Contender's Match tells me the Styles/Lynn feud will continue.
- Styles goofing around during his interview was reminiscent of the Shawn and HHH when DX was first formed. I wonder why, bro?
- This Brian Lawler and his girlfriend storyline is fucking stupid!
- I have to admit, Sara Lee beating on Bruce with the umbrella made me laugh.
- It's nice to see Lynn get his win back over Truth to defend the X-Division Title, but was the interference from Low Ki necessary? How about Truth tries to cheat and it backfires?
- "Head of Security" Don Harris needs better screening for the guys he hires. They all get beaten up by the wrestlers.
- Elix Skipper is an awfully random partner for Brian, after he was teaming up with Disco the week before. Although, it's an improvement in the workrate dept.
- Jorge Estrada actually looked really good in his match with Kid Kash. I'm impressed.
- GWN is also censoring crowd signs! The offensive word in questions seems to be "Gay" based on a camera shot where the sign was visible off to the side. Really, Anthem?
- It's nice of TNA to promote other NWA indys and where their guys are going to be. But, do they really need to tell the whole country that AJ Styles will be at the West Virginia County Fair?
- Overall, this is the first time it feels like storylines are progressing. There are viable title programs for the Tag Titles and the X Title. This Jarrett and friends vs. Hall and friends feud keeps Jarrett busy and away from the NWA Title picture. I'm sure Estrada vs. Siaki will happen in a week or two.
- The visibile signs this week include "Bruce Swallows" and "Jeff Jarrett Has No Penis" - but the word "Gay" is unacceptable on this app!
- Elix Skipper doesn't have the voice for color commentary, but his worrying about what he's going to tell his wife when he comes home empty handed (for being taken out of the main event) was funny.
- It's one thing for Jarrett or Ron Harris to beat up all the TNA security guys. But, Elix Skipper can even whoop them all?
- - Nothing says "National Powerhouse" promotion more than a promo being cut in the shitter. Complete with the cameraman visible in the reflection of the mirror and a Koala Kare Baby Changing Station in the shot.
- Truth beats Low Ki and is jumped by a guy in white pants, a white hoodie, and a white ski mask. Did nobody think that a guy in all white attacking a black man might not be the most tasteful idea?
- SAT vs. Elvises to decide the next tag title challengers is OK with me. Even if it delays the inevitable Siaki/Estrada blowoff.
- Ron Harris is the new Cactus Jack, losing tag team matches and beating up his partners. Although it would help if he wasn't teamed up with someone that we'd never seen before.
- David Young looked amazing. Why bring him back all new and improved just to job him out? Siaki had already made his presence known on the show. Shit, they could have thrown one of Heavy D's useless security guys in some tights and had him go out for six minutes to let Young show his stuff.
- It's nice to see the screwed over babyface get some justice for a change, when Bullet Bob gives Jerry the X Title back. But, it screws the fans who paid for this show to have the match negated and then told to pay for it next week.
- So, after all the shenanigans during the main event, Jarrett's group of friends include Truth, Skipper, and Lawler, which is still one too many to feud with Hall, Syxx, and BG. I think Skipper will be getting the short end of the stick again.
I wouldn't say I forgot. I like to think that my brain just blocked it out.
GWN also sent me the form email letting me know that they're aware of "issues" with the Roku app and that it will be fixed over the course of later updates.
TNA PPV #14
- Truth cut the mother of all promos on BG James!
- The NWA Tag Titles match being a tables match somewhat makes up for the copout last week with the table not getting used.
- Jerry Lynn's awful song is just a loop of the phrase "Born and Raised in the USA"
- Styles winning the #1 Contender's Match tells me the Styles/Lynn feud will continue.
- Styles goofing around during his interview was reminiscent of the Shawn and HHH when DX was first formed. I wonder why, bro?
- This Brian Lawler and his girlfriend storyline is fucking stupid!
- I have to admit, Sara Lee beating on Bruce with the umbrella made me laugh.
- It's nice to see Lynn get his win back over Truth to defend the X-Division Title, but was the interference from Low Ki necessary? How about Truth tries to cheat and it backfires?
- "Head of Security" Don Harris needs better screening for the guys he hires. They all get beaten up by the wrestlers.
- Elix Skipper is an awfully random partner for Brian, after he was teaming up with Disco the week before. Although, it's an improvement in the workrate dept.
- Jorge Estrada actually looked really good in his match with Kid Kash. I'm impressed.
- GWN is also censoring crowd signs! The offensive word in questions seems to be "Gay" based on a camera shot where the sign was visible off to the side. Really, Anthem?
- It's nice of TNA to promote other NWA indys and where their guys are going to be. But, do they really need to tell the whole country that AJ Styles will be at the West Virginia County Fair?
- Overall, this is the first time it feels like storylines are progressing. There are viable title programs for the Tag Titles and the X Title. This Jarrett and friends vs. Hall and friends feud keeps Jarrett busy and away from the NWA Title picture. I'm sure Estrada vs. Siaki will happen in a week or two.
TNA PPV #15
- The visibile signs this week include "Bruce Swallows" and "Jeff Jarrett Has No Penis" - but the word "Gay" is unacceptable on this app!
- Elix Skipper doesn't have the voice for color commentary, but his worrying about what he's going to tell his wife when he comes home empty handed (for being taken out of the main event) was funny.
- It's one thing for Jarrett or Ron Harris to beat up all the TNA security guys. But, Elix Skipper can even whoop them all?
- - Nothing says "National Powerhouse" promotion more than a promo being cut in the shitter. Complete with the cameraman visible in the reflection of the mirror and a Koala Kare Baby Changing Station in the shot.
- Truth beats Low Ki and is jumped by a guy in white pants, a white hoodie, and a white ski mask. Did nobody think that a guy in all white attacking a black man might not be the most tasteful idea?
- SAT vs. Elvises to decide the next tag title challengers is OK with me. Even if it delays the inevitable Siaki/Estrada blowoff.
- Ron Harris is the new Cactus Jack, losing tag team matches and beating up his partners. Although it would help if he wasn't teamed up with someone that we'd never seen before.
- David Young looked amazing. Why bring him back all new and improved just to job him out? Siaki had already made his presence known on the show. Shit, they could have thrown one of Heavy D's useless security guys in some tights and had him go out for six minutes to let Young show his stuff.
- It's nice to see the screwed over babyface get some justice for a change, when Bullet Bob gives Jerry the X Title back. But, it screws the fans who paid for this show to have the match negated and then told to pay for it next week.
- So, after all the shenanigans during the main event, Jarrett's group of friends include Truth, Skipper, and Lawler, which is still one too many to feud with Hall, Syxx, and BG. I think Skipper will be getting the short end of the stick again.
Friday, August 10, 2018
TNA PPV's # 11 and 13
TNA PPV #11
- Was Goldi Locks always such a wise ass? If she was, I don't recall it from the previous shows. At first it was funny "Does Sonny Siaki need a Q-Tip?" but she doesn't need to lip off every time she interviews someone.
- I like the Hot Shots as a team. Stevens and O'Reilly aren't amazing workers, but they make the gimmick work.
- I'm still in awe over how well Wolfie D pulls off Slash. I can seriously picture him as some kind of Mortal Kombat character. It's miles away from PG-13.
- Flash Flanagan is wasted as Kobain. He had the look that the WWF liked, he could talk, and he could work, but they never picked him up. He could have been a catch for TNA. But, he was tight with Cornette, so I'm sure you know how Russo felt about him.
- This is hilarious. The app bleeps the crowd when they swear. They chant "You Suck Dick" at Bruce and "She's a Crack Whore" at April Hunter, and both of the swears get bleeped. It's super distracting, and impossible to follow the commentary. It's one thing for TNN to do it to ECW or USA to the WWF. But this is like Netflix censoring The Ranch!
- Ron Harris and Brian Lee as disgruntled vets who want to be champions is perfect. Except that they dwarf damn near the rest of the roster.
- Is this angle with Brian Lawler and his girlfriend supposed to be some sort of rib about Jerry Lawler and the Kat from the year before? Because it's a year too late!
- It's obvious who's under the Bullet mask. He almost did both of the Road Dogg's trademark spots and had to stop himself from giving it away. Bob Armstrong is a fucking bad ass for blading like that!
- This 3-Way Ladder match main event is EXACTLY how to made the X-Division Title seem like a big deal!
- I don't know if it was the promotion or the PPV company who decided to not run a show on 9/11/02, but I applaud them for it. After the WWF's tribute show the year before, complete with Stephanie's gaff about Vince's indictment, TNA takes the high road.
The 12th PPV was the X-Division Special, with no new matches.
TNA PPV #13
- The concept of the tag team gaunlet for the gold is interesting, and, if nothing else, it's consistent. As a bonus, none of the tag teams are burying the match.
- The Dustin Diamond boxing segment actually doesn't seem too out of place, if you're old enough to recall his antics on VH1's celebrity bootcamp.
- Why the nonsense of three way matches with two winners? They already did a stip two weeks before with the future AMW winning a four way tag match to give Harris the last slot in the gauntlet. There's no reason to do a 3 way match, where the losers are out of it. Why knock the Hot Shots out of it? Was the match going to be incomplete without Jimmy Rave and Wylde included?
- The Bullet is unmasked and it's no surprise who it is. But, why the name BG James? They're calling his father Bob Armstrong, so why not Brian Armstrong?
- Bruce gives the random blonde chick the powerbomb and Tenay comments that Bruce probably isn't fond of that position. I wonder who came up with that line, bro?
- The use of Scott Hall has just been baffling to me. He's easily the biggest name on the roster right now, and came to TNA fresh from the WWF. I can only assume they had reservations about his sobriety and/or reliability.
- I'm fine with Harris and Storm winning the tag titles. I'm not fine with the finish. Teasing the fans with a big table spot and then bait and switching is bad form. Harris and Storm being undefeated is a fine reason for them to be champs. They also get some credibility by beating the team with fifteen years experience.
- The X-Division coming out to cheer on Jerry Lynn as he challenges Killings is a cool moment. They put their issues with each other on hold, for the good seeing one of their own win the big one. You would think it would be Styles that screws Jerry over, but it's Siaki. I wonder if that means the Lynn/Styles feud is over?
- One thing I noticed on the last show, and continues here. They seem to be breaking the shows up into segments, sort of like chapter breaks on a DVD. I guess it's at certain intervals. Even during a match, there will be a short spell of a black screen before the match resumes.
My Experience with the Global Wrestling Network - Intro and TNA PPV's 1-10
I recently bit the bullet and decided to sign up for the Global Wrestling Network. I was never able to watch TNA until they went to Fox Sports in 2004 and then Spike in 2005. By 2007 I didn't particularly care to watch TNA, aside from a few hyped matches, and their 2012 PPV run. I always used to hear great things about their 2002-04 PPV run from the Asylum. I picked up the first ten on VHS in 2004 or so, but never saw anything else other than what they put out on DVD. So, when GWN announced the complete run of the Asylum PPV shows, I knew I was going to check it out sooner or later.
I opted for "later" until GWN was on Roku, to go with my other wrestling apps. That was my first mistake. The Roku app doesn't fucking work. I open it, go to sign in to my account and the app closes. I emailed their support about it, and haven't heard back yet. But, someone posted a screen cap on FB saying that they're aware that the app "has issues" and are "constantly" working on it. So, I apparently didn't wait until "later" enough. So, since I'd already signed up, I installed it on my Xbox, which I could have done months ago.
The idea for this is something akin to my friend Bob Colling's ongoing series where he watches monthly blocks of CWA TV. But, instead of recapping monthly, this is going to be on a show by show basis, although only actual shows. The X-Divison special and One Cent PPV's will not be included. And, it's more about what I think of them, rather than what happens. I'm starting from PPV #11, since I don't especially feel like rewatching the first 10. But, I'll give a brief listing of things I recall from them.
- I love the continuity of using the statue from the old CWA/USWA TV opening, before having it explode and going into the intro proper. A nice throwback to the old promotion, but showing that TNA is wrestling in the 21st Century. Remember I said that, because there isn't much more that's going to be positive.
- The first PPV opens with Jeff Jarrett saying the Battle Royal concept sucks, and babyfaces Scott Hall and Ken Shamrock agreeing that it sucks. Way to put over your own match!
- Fuck everyone and anyone who had anything to do with this Toby Keith bullshit!
- Gimmicks like The Johnsons, The Rainbow Express, and the Flying Elvises. Russo's fingerprints are already present!
- Cheex. Sounds like more of Russo's nonsense.
- Bruce as Miss TNA. Alan Funk is a team player, that's all I can say.
- The Dupp Cupp is stupid, but it's harmless fun.
- Ed Ferrara can go take a flying leap. Don West sounds like the second coming of JR next to him.
- What was the point of this whole Ryan Shamrock angle?
- Ron Killings took the ball and ran with it. I had no issue with Shamrock as champion, but putting it on Killings was the right move!
- Jerry Lynn and AJ Styles as tag partners and then feuding over the X-Division Title is more of Russo's trademark stuff, tag partners who can't get along. But I like their feud.
- Jerry Lynn's entrance music is awful. After an entire career using quasi-death metal tracks, they give him this generic country/R&B type of music that doesn't suit him at all.
- Brian Lawler should have dropped everything do do with Grandmaster Sexay and gone back to being "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher.
- Sonny Siaki's first singles match after establishing his over the top character involves him putting over Slash. I love Wolfie D and I dig the Slash character, but there wasn't anyone else to job to him?
- The Nashville crowd loves Athena!
I opted for "later" until GWN was on Roku, to go with my other wrestling apps. That was my first mistake. The Roku app doesn't fucking work. I open it, go to sign in to my account and the app closes. I emailed their support about it, and haven't heard back yet. But, someone posted a screen cap on FB saying that they're aware that the app "has issues" and are "constantly" working on it. So, I apparently didn't wait until "later" enough. So, since I'd already signed up, I installed it on my Xbox, which I could have done months ago.
The idea for this is something akin to my friend Bob Colling's ongoing series where he watches monthly blocks of CWA TV. But, instead of recapping monthly, this is going to be on a show by show basis, although only actual shows. The X-Divison special and One Cent PPV's will not be included. And, it's more about what I think of them, rather than what happens. I'm starting from PPV #11, since I don't especially feel like rewatching the first 10. But, I'll give a brief listing of things I recall from them.
- I love the continuity of using the statue from the old CWA/USWA TV opening, before having it explode and going into the intro proper. A nice throwback to the old promotion, but showing that TNA is wrestling in the 21st Century. Remember I said that, because there isn't much more that's going to be positive.
- The first PPV opens with Jeff Jarrett saying the Battle Royal concept sucks, and babyfaces Scott Hall and Ken Shamrock agreeing that it sucks. Way to put over your own match!
- Fuck everyone and anyone who had anything to do with this Toby Keith bullshit!
- Gimmicks like The Johnsons, The Rainbow Express, and the Flying Elvises. Russo's fingerprints are already present!
- Cheex. Sounds like more of Russo's nonsense.
- Bruce as Miss TNA. Alan Funk is a team player, that's all I can say.
- The Dupp Cupp is stupid, but it's harmless fun.
- Ed Ferrara can go take a flying leap. Don West sounds like the second coming of JR next to him.
- What was the point of this whole Ryan Shamrock angle?
- Ron Killings took the ball and ran with it. I had no issue with Shamrock as champion, but putting it on Killings was the right move!
- Jerry Lynn and AJ Styles as tag partners and then feuding over the X-Division Title is more of Russo's trademark stuff, tag partners who can't get along. But I like their feud.
- Jerry Lynn's entrance music is awful. After an entire career using quasi-death metal tracks, they give him this generic country/R&B type of music that doesn't suit him at all.
- Brian Lawler should have dropped everything do do with Grandmaster Sexay and gone back to being "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher.
- Sonny Siaki's first singles match after establishing his over the top character involves him putting over Slash. I love Wolfie D and I dig the Slash character, but there wasn't anyone else to job to him?
- The Nashville crowd loves Athena!
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