2010- How I felt TNA vs WWE stacked up

I used screen capture for this post

Spudguns!  You all know that I am Team TNA.  And more specifically Team MotorCityMachine Guns!    Even before they were officially a tag team I was 100% behind both Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin.  I'm a tag team addict to say the lest.
So, you would think that I would love every second no matter how bad it was of TNA's shows.  Well, not so fast there.  You also know from my silly posts over the years (those of you who read my main blog) that I refer to my addiction to wrestling like a relationship.  2010 had me not feeling the love from my team and nearly asking for a divorce.

I actually found myself enjoying WWE more in 2010.  Mostly because of Season 2 of NXT, Raw having Sheamus, and Smackdown having both Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler.  I also thought the announce team of Josh Mathews and Todd Grisham and Matt Striker to be more comforting then having to listen to the ones over on TNA's Impact. Not to mention the badly done interview styles of Jason Hervey .... I kept waiting for someone to force feed him a stepped on chocolate bar like in Monster Squad now that would have been funny!

The year of 2010 started off with the return of the Monday Night Wars.   Jan 4th and to say the lest, it sucked goat balls.  It was down hill for TNA for months.

TNA's scores:
* Seriously, the only hot spot was indeed the Best of 5 that MotorCityMachine Guns!  and Beer Money Inc had during the summer for the belts.
*I did like the storyline Abyss was given of being off his handle.
*Putting the TV title on Douglas Williams was brilliant as well.
*Letting Jay Lethal be Jay Lethal and giving him back the X belt. 

WWE's scores: 
*NXT Season 2 was fabulous. It brought up some interesting talent.
*Putting CM Punk on the announce team for Raw was also a score as he brought both a grounding to the booth and some long over due comedic verse.
*Nexus in general was brilliant, giving a chance to make some of the Heels have a reason to turn Face for a few months.
*Alex Riley, or as I have been calling him, The Bore-Spore, has shown that he's got what it takes to become a major talent.
*Alberto Del Rio came out of almost nowhere and just dominated the scene. I haven't seen a Heel with that kind of in ring skill in years. The fact they made him a Pro for Season 4 of NXT shows he's got the goods, and I'm betting his Rookie will be on Smackdown soon.
*KnuckleHead  the movie.  Oh my god.  I can not remember the last time there was a movie released with a WWE wrestler in it that was good.  This might actually be a first for them in that regard.
* The PG era.  Most likely the most brilliant move they've done in over 20 years. It forced them to cut back on the crap and actually increase the wrestling and therefore push the guys who actually have the skills and talent to wrestle.
*Moving Edge to Smackdown, strong bold flavour there.
*Putting a belt on Dolph Ziggler. He's one of the most solid wrestlers in the business at the moment. Brilliant, simply brilliant move.
*Bringing in Daniel Bryan.  You just can not hate this guy, he's too good.  It's also nice to hear the WWE giving on air credit to guys who have been in the business for years in other companies.
*Sheamus.  The first time I saw Sheamus over a year ago on Raw I was hit by lighting. I remembered some of his indie stuff that I had seen online, and having seen him on in a documentary. All I have to say is what took WWE so damned long to get him? He's a Heel you love to hate and has the talent, the mic skills, the look the voice... sorry bit of a drool fest here for him. 

WWE's Failures:
*Kaval is one of the most talented wrestlers around, but yet they fail to use him for anything other then jobber of the week.  He should have been given a bigger push.
*Micheal Cole and his damned computer.  Stop it. Just dump the computer stuff and shut Cole up.
*Edge and Kane's comedy soap opera.  That was just alot of wasted time.
*The Tag Team Division.  It is a mess. They're going to need to do a hell of alot more clean up still with this.
*Cody Rhodes and his dashing crap. Just drop the gimmick and wrestle

TNA's Failures:
*Reaction. It's like it just did not have it's identity in place until the last four episodes.
*Changing the TNA belt to fit Jeff Hardy's personality. Frealing stupid frealing move. Just bad.
*Bringing in Jeff Hardy. I understand you wanted to pull fans from the other company but I don't like him. Nor do I feel you have been using him properly. If you were going to build things on his name, then you should have done it differently, and made him more independent from any factions.
*Robbie E and Cookie.  Just bad. You should have left them as Orlando's gay-bi-fruit flies. They are just annoying now.
*The whole thing between Flair and Lethal.  It was just pointless. Jay Lethal needed a push I understand that, but dropping him into that gimmick right after letting him be him again after what; nearly four years of being Macho Man, it was too much sugar coated crap ontop of sugar coated crap.
*London Brawling. Miss Matched at best. That's a fashion don't ontop of a bad mistake.
*A.J. Styles as the mini Flair. It was not even laughable it was that bad an idea. And don't even get me started on the Flaired version of Styles' robe.
*Not having JB doing interviews backstage this year.  When fans think of the VOICE of TNA they think JB
*Hulk Hogan. It was just... I'm not even going to waste my breath complaining other then to say ... frealing stupid putting that old goat on air.
*Taking Shark Boy off air.  Fans love him, bring him back to Impact!
*Mr. Shelley, Mr. Sabin... getting rid of the red pants. 

That's how I felt about our love affair this past year. Every relationship has it's rough patches, so here's hoping the romance gets better in 2011. Kiss Kiss Noise.
Love Ardeth Blood

NXT for the week of Jan 5th 2011

This was the first week of eliminations.

So they announced right off the top that the title this time around that the winner of NXT 4 will be allowed to go for is the Tag Team belts, and that Rookie will be doing so with the Pro that taught them.
I understand that they are trying to prove me wrong (this post here)  but I'm not too sure that; that is the way to do it. 

The first match was an over the top battle royal where the Pro who wins may trade their Rookie if they feel the need.  That's interesting....  And double or nothing it would seem as Alberto Del Rio's spot was taken by his personal ring announcer... and was the first one out of the ring.
Daniel Bryan was the next to be tossed out of the ring.
R-Truth was the next to be tossed out of the ring.
Both DiBiase and Chris Masters were tossed at the same time.    Dolph Ziggler wins the battle.
And Ziggler did the smart thing, Trading Jacob Novak for Bryon Saxton...

Match 2 was Jacob Novak (now with Chris Masters) vs Bryon Saxton (now with Dolph Ziggler) and the new Pros in their corner.  Saxton got the win.

The first challenge of the night was a mic battle.

• Johnny Curtis had to battle against Brodus Clay.  Clay sucked so bad he was booed by the entire audience and dude... I could have done better. There was no real thought to his jibs, no rhythm, no style.  Curtis was a bit quicker on the thinking but still lacked something.  Then Curtis punched Clay in the face. NICE!  Brodus Clay was sent to the locker room and Johnny Curtis moved to the next round.
•  Derrick Bateman had to battle against Bryon Saxton.  Bateman was fairly quick, not really all that funny, but he managed to put in one zinger.  Byron Saxton ... um dude yeah... The crowd response was fairly even. Byron Saxton was sent to the locker room and Derrick Bateman went to the next round.
• Jacob Novak battled against Conor O'Brain.  The second that Novak picked up the mic he was drowned out by the crowd booing him... and I agree with the crowd on this one. Conor O'Brian went for it, comedy, quick witted, and got the biggest pop so far in this from the crowd.  Jacob Novak went to the locker room and Conor O'Brian went to the next round. 
• Johnny Curtis had to insult both and made the hair dis...and didn't have any time left over to battle O'Brian.  Derrick Bateman was up next and did a crap job.  Conor O'Brian was last and went for the comedy again which was different and caused the other two rookies to have to take a double take.  Which is a good thing, it means he'd be able to get into the heads of everyone.  The crowd was only slightly louder for O'Brian giving him the win in this and 4 points. 

Match 3 was Johnny Curtis vs Brodus Clay.  Clay got a win.

The  1st elimination of the season was up and Jacob Novak was the first to be tossed from NXT.

Thank god. 

The next elimination will be in two weeks, and all the points the Rookies have earned will at that time be reset and they will start fresh at zero.

TNA Reaction for Dec 23rd 2010

Originally posted on my main blog on Jan 4th 2011

Yes, they finally posted the show on the Spike site... over two weeks late.

We pick up in the middle of a match between MotorCityMachine Guns!/RVD/Matt Morgan  vs Jeff Hardy/Abyss/Beer Money Inc.   This is for the tag belts, and if anyone pins anyone, the MMG loose.  Chris Sabin pinned Robert Roode keeping the tag belts.

Cut to camera 1  Matt Morgan talking about getting a title shot.

Cut to camera 2 Mr. Anderson talking about how he may not be a "good champ"  ... um okay

Cut to camera 3 A.J. Styles talking about how he's got to win his match for the tv title or he will be out of Fortune.

Cut to camera 4, Jeff Jarrett talking about his MMA challenge.

Cut to camera 5, the Knock Outs talking about the twist in the their tag teams.

Cut back to camera 1, Morgan talking about his recent match with Hardy and having been screwed over.

Cut back to camera 2, Anderson talking about how things have gone for him recently.   Then it went back and forth between Anderson and Morgan for the next few minutes.

Cut to camera 6, Jeff Hardy saying how he's running things.

Cut back to camera 1, Morgan talking about how he's involved with charities on his time off and how he'd be a better face for the company.

Cut back to camera 2, Anderson saying how he's sick and tired of seeing the people in charge who are.

Cut back to camera 3, A.J. Styles talking about his iron man  match with Douglas Williams.

Cut to camera 7, Douglas Williams giving his side of the match. It went back and forth between Williams and Styles then for the next part of the segment.  Both wrestlers saying they wish they had a few minutes extra in that match.   Could we be seeing the return of the  A.J. Styles we all remember?  Here's hoping

Can we get rid of whatshishandle that does the interviews on this show?  I think bringing in J.B. for Reaction would be a better bet. 

Cut back to camera 4, Jeff Jarrett saying how he hopes everyone is finally taking him serious about his MMA.

Cut back to camera 5, Velvet Sky talking about having gotten sent to the hospital. And the rest of the Knock Outs talking about how the tournament got a face lift.

Cut back to camera 3, Styles putting a cap on his feud with Williams.

Cut to camera 8, Kazarian... Kaz... The KazzyKatman (oh yeah you got an internet nic name from me be scared) talking about how Styles should be on top of the company.

Cut to camera 9, MMG, Alex Shelley talking about how they are the best and that; that is because they work their asses off day in and day out.

The last two minutes was just a peek at the next episode which will be a recap of 2010

This was a weak episode.  Reaction gets a D- this week from me

 

My Views on WWE NXT for the week of Dec 29th 2010

We opened with the return of R-Truth and Johnny Curtis his Rookie coming to the ring dancing. Which, we would find to be a foreshadow of things Johnny Curtis would ... try to do later in the show.
Curtis had a match against Dolph Ziggler in a Rookie vs Pro match.  Curtis looked at one point like he had the match wrapped up but he took too long on the top turnbuckle and it cost him giving Ziggler the win. 

Second match was Derrick Bateman vs Conor O'Brian (yes I spelled it wrong the other week) Bateman comes across  sloppy in his moves.  Conor O'Brian won and looked extremely impressive, very smart with the dragging on the arm from outside the ring.  I think the mix of O'Brian with Del Rio is a brilliant move, as Del Rio himself is one of the strongest in ring personalities going in any company right now. 

This week's first challenge was the power punch.  While Matt Striker was explaining the rules, he had to scold Bateman and Curtis for goofing around and he did it without missing a breath. Gotta love Matt Striker. The idea was to not just get the highest score BUT to beat the record -of 896- that was set by Bore-Spore Alex Riley back in season 2, in order to get a bonus point; which no one was able to do.

• Bateman had 750 score
• Curtis had 814 score and in the lead
• Byron Saxton had a 625 score
• O'Brian had a 531 score
• Jacob Novak had a 721 score
• Brodus Clay had a 636 score

This puts Johnny Curtis in the lead with 2 more elimination points.  Matt Striker got the lines of the night with both his Brother Love remark when Novak handed over the white jacket and shutting down Byron Saxton in mid speech for saying "lubrication"

Josh Mathews was playing the angry announcer this week with a side order of disgust.  Hey, isn't that my theme? 

Byron Saxton then went up against DiBiase in another Rookie vs Pro match.  Something happened with the audio crew during this match as the boom mic picked up in volume and the announce team lost sound for a bit. Brodus Clay who is DiBiase's Rookie, made a mess of things casting the match for DiBiase. Saxton got the win by a dq.

The second challenge was a talent show... um... dude...seriously WHY??????? this was just a painful painful ten minutes.  They did not take it seriously and the announce team all three of them, Striker, Mathews and Todd Grisham were shaking their heads in disgust. 

• Derrick Bateman said he was going to do a poem... um all you did was make me want to rip out my eyes and ears
• Johnny Curtis said he was going to dance.... um he forgot to use the fairy dust before hand, but he did bring a yellow ribbon.... was he going for the laughs cause if he was he missed it by like five miles- he continued to play with his ribbon in the dark behind the others for the next few minutes. Yes hinting at a few dirty jokes here
• Byron Saxton threw a preppy sweater over his shoulders and started to read a ... fairy tale.  Oh my god please shut up! Just shut up.  Everyone booed him. Matt Striker had to rip the microphone out of his hand after the buzzer went off.
• Conor O'Brian tried to tell jokes.  The voice was good, the material not so much.  BUT if it was an impression of Andrew Dice Clay ... still off the mark by a mile. 
• Jacob Novak... vogued and posed for the crowd.  I am still tasting the vomit. People were throwing clothes at him wanting him to cover it up.
• Brodus Clay tried to do the impossible by making Micheal Cole look cool.  Dude, little hint, the Goddess herself could not make Cole look cool if she froze him in ice for all eternity.  

The audience picked the winner and it went to the lest vomit worthy talent joker... Johnny Curtis.
Then a brawl started and Clay destroyed everyone.

Voting opened this week and Yes I voted...

Pssstt... Riley what's in the case?

Since it's the holidays, I thought I would post something light.

I made a comment last week about how Bore-Spore Alex Riley was still carrying around the old red beat in Money in the Bank briefcase that had belonged to the Miz.   Well as of the Christmas Eve episode of Smackdown,  Riley was carrying a brand new silver briefcase of his very own.
I want to know what's in it. 

I know when Riley started out, his main gimmick was "The Varsity Villain."   BUT cause I'm who I am, I think my Bore-Spore is actually a secret geeky-nerd.  
Yes indeed I do.   So I think, like all good little geeky-nerds, what he's got in the shinny silver case is in fact 100% geek approved. 

Item #1 - An autographed photo of William Shattner. 

Item #2- A mixed CD of old 80's heavy metal bands

Item #3- A well worn copy of  Save the Assistants by Lilit Marcus

Item #4- Empty mini bottles of whiskey that you get on flights (oh come on it was a ready made joke)

Item #5-A rejected design for an Alex Riley tee that simply says "Bore-Spore" in a blood red splatter on an off white that reminds you of those old Hammer horror films on the front and A-Rye on the back

Well, that's what I think he's got in that shinny new case.

Anyways, hope everyone has a safe New Year.  See you all in 2011

My Views on WWE NXT for the week of Dec 22th 2010

We had the wheel barrow race this week, with the added weight of the Eagle. 

• Johnny Curtis - he started off too quick on the draw insert dirty joke here but was given a second shot and ran it in 13.0 seconds
• Jacob Novak - 12.8 seconds
• Brodus Clay - 13.8 seconds with the Eagle falling out
• Coner O'Brian  - 12.7 seconds
• Bryon Saxton - 12.5 seconds
• Derrick Bateman - 12.5 seconds

This lead to a tie breaker between Saxton and Bateman. 

• Bryon Saxton - 13.1 seconds dropping the Eagle
• Derrick Bateman - 12.0 seconds again causing the Eagle to fall out.   Bateman got the win

Todd Grisham played the part of Heel Master and all I have to say is... DO IT AGAIN!  Heel looks hot on Grisham

First match of the night was between Jacob Novak and Johnny Curtis.  Note* Because of an injury R-Truth who had been Curtis' Pro has been replaced it seems by JTG*
Novak got the win with a cheap shot.

We then went into a round of Hot Seat Trivia

• Johnny Curtis had 4 points 
• Jacob Novak had 10 points
• Brodus Clay had 2 points 
• Coner O'Brian had 2 points
• Bryon Saxton had 6 points 
• Derrick Bateman had 9 points 

Even though Novak had more right answers Bateman got the win because of the fact each time one Rookie got a wrong answer he was eliminated from the Trivia Game and the next Rookie standing in line got to start with a fresh topic.

Second match was a mixed match = Brodus Clay/Maryse/DiBiase vs Chris Masters/Bryon Saxton/Natalya    
Saxton got the pin for his team.

Voting starts I think next week (?) for who fans want to see removed from the show.   I am going on record saying the Two Rookies I want to see win season 4 are   = Johnny Curtis and Coner O'Brian. 

The Rookie I want to see tossed from the show cause I think he's crap is Derrick Bateman

Program note *  Canadian viewers - The Score will be airing next week's episode on Dec 29th 2010 at 7pm

My Views on WWE NXT for the week of Dec 15th 2010

Yes I know I'm still a week behind.

We opened with a... karaoke challenge.   That's my kind of challenge. 
#1-Conor O'Brian  went first and had to sing Sheamus' song.   Oh MY!  my ears are bleeding.  Dude, more Cher less Axl Rose.

#2- Derrick Bateman sang Miz's song. All I have to say is that Tom Araya is not exactly sweating or anything.

#3- Jacob Novak sang Dolph Ziggler's song.  Cats are covering their ears right now. 

#4-Brodus Clay sang Cody Rhodes.  He sort of spoke it and not even tried to sing it.

#5- Johnny Curtis  sang Randy Orton's song. The crowd went nuts when that was announced. Um dude, just cause you're singing Orton's theme does not mean you need to pretend to be him, though I'm sure your little snake dance on the canvas took some energy.  At lest he didn't take himself so damned seriously as a few of the other guys did. 

#6- Byron Saxton sang HBK's song.  He's got a voice.  Too bad they gave him that song. It was the wrong key but... the dancing was not needed.

I have a feeling there are alot of Pantera fans in that list of Rookies.   Bryon Saxton won this one.

We had a tag team match,   Chris Masters/Bryon Saxton vs DiBiase/Brodus Clay.   Ironically, DiBiase was looking decent in this match.  Maybe DiBiase has been reading what fans have been saying and actually gone back to training?  DiBiase got the win for his team.

The obstacle course was the second challenge. It was worth 2 points. 

• Jacob Novak  ran it in 37.9 seconds
• Byron Saxton ran it in 1.02 minute
• Conor O'Brian ran it in 42.7 seconds
• Derrick Bateman ran it in 5.7 seconds
• Johnny Curtis ran it in 34.8 seconds  and was disqualified  for falling off the beam
• Brodus Clay was also disqualified for tossing the stuff around and putting his hands on the ref

Johnny Curtis was given a second chance and ran it in 31.4 seconds and won it getting 2 immunity points.

We then had a match between Albert Del Rio vs Derrick Bateman.  Alberto Del Rio won with his cross armbreaker.

Okay, I have to say this,  I like the idea of Dolph Ziggler being unsettled over the idea of Jacob Novak hanging around Vicky.   I just wish Vicky would get a new necklace.