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Pro's from the Palace (#192) - Palace Report: Benoit, WWE, TNA, ROH |
» Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
» On Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at 10:18 PM EST
When you sit back and look at everything that's transpired over the past few weeks since that sickening revelation of the passing of the Benoit family, you sit back and wonder what is the current condition of the world we live in. While the actions allegedly taking place are rephrensible and completely beyond reproach, the backlash of the situation has turned the wrestling world on its ear and taken an already tarnished industry and made it the virtual laughing stock of the entire world.
Nobody wants to find out who took this 7 year old baby's life more than the entire world does, but the facts are, we may never know what transpired that day, or that weekend, or whatever, and to speculate anything about anybody and any events that may have caused Benoit to do what he did is ludicrous, and bluntly proposterous. Nobody can tell, not by brain tissue studies, forensic evidence, or any other bull-blank method of examination what demons were going through the head of this man to have him allegedly cause these catastrophic acts. Hypothesizing to put blame is wrong. Looking back on the scenario and saying what if is wrong. There are three dead individuals, and there should be closure for the family, for the fans, and for the competitors that knew, worked, and loved these people. Hopefully, someday it will happen, but for the life of me, I personally doubt it.
As difficult as it has been for me to get back in to the swing of writing columns, I am going to attempt to do just that by moving forward. With that being said, I want to address a report I read regarding something about questions about the pushing of Lashley on monday night and Batista this past friday night on Smackdown. While I may have personal reasons against any Batista push, the facts remain is WWE did this because A) Lashley is the most likeliest next candidate for the WWE title, and B) Batista is still a main event draw, regardless of whom is World Champion. Any corroboration that could be made between pushes for these two men, and the Benoit tragedy is absolutely absurd. Has this era gotten so paranoid that because of a tragic circumstance that is now unavoidable to be compared to that the entire industry has to change its practices to avoid eventual twists and turns back to the nightmare that won't go away? Like I said earlier, it's time to move on, and I hope, I pray to anybody that would listen that moving on is what happens. But, as I also said before, I doubt its going to happen anytime soon.
Now, since I watched Raw from bell to bell last week, I have to say that I was very impressed. I am not a huge proponent of the beat the clock routine, but the show was very tight. William Regal should be placed back in the position of 'authority' figure because his mike skills are second to none, and he can fight too, ala a "troubleshooter" role like what they have down in the developmentals. The beat the clock matches were entertaining and intense, to say the least. A small critique would be that I would've liked to see the members in the challenge not know who they were facing, as Kennedy and Lashley obviously did. Speaking of Kennedy, its obvious he's not ready to come back yet, and that's just foolish for him to do this type of skit he did with Super Crazy if its going to potential be damaging to his already injured tricep. However, all things considered, he appeared to be OK from the skit, and it was absolutely freaking classic in its eventual result. Lashley's spear of Shelton Benjamin in midair was just unreal, and although Jim Ross was going to sound like he was going to have an aneurysm pushing Lashley during the final segment, I have to say, the man knows how to fight. He may not know how to talk worth a damn, but he knows how to fight. I have to give the man his due. Also, on the final segment, it was a devastating looking spear he gave Cena, and the absolute perfect way to end the show. I haven't seen a spear like that since Rock got taken out by Goldberg. Classic stuff.
Triple H vignettes. Didn't realize they needed to promote him like the rest of the stars of WWE. I thought he was above that. Interesting.
I didn't watch ECW this week, because two matches in an hour is just wrong. An hour show, fine, don't do the TNA thing and cram a million personalities in one show, but give us some more wrestling, please? And the draft was supposed to be relevant for putting some new faces on the shows, so what do we get for a pick your poison match, CM Punk vs. Kevin Thorn for the millionth time. Hey, I'm a Punk fan, and I am impressed by Thorn, but isn't the objective to try and make some new matches here? I'm not going to disparage the quality of the matches, because like I said, I didn't see them, but the deal is, the draft wa supposed to change things up, and although I am seeing some of it on Raw and Smackdown, there hasn't seemingly been much change on ECW. Time frame aside, there should be some new storylines now, hopefully. Ok, enough about WWE lite. Moving forward.
What is TNA trying to prove with this supposed IWGP title win for Kurt Angle in Japan over MMA/pro wrestler/NFL player Brock Lesnar? It's obvious that this is not the legitimate IWGP heavyweight title, as I have read in all sources that follow New Japan Pro Wrestling, and the fact that TNA is promoting Angle as the IWGP Champion is selfish at best. If I was TNA, and wanted to get a global audience, I would put Angle in the ring with current IWGP Champion as recognized by New Japan, Yuji Nagata, and see who wins. Worst case scenario, Japan is introduced to TNA. Best case scenario, the world is introduced to New Japan. With the way this is set up, you have legal troubles iminent, a miniscule tie to the NWA, and more letters than you can shake a stick at. As far as I can see, it's a desperate ploy for publicity, and one I don't think is a wise choice to make.
Victory Road is a week away, and this main event still has me annoyed. Not for having Angle and Joe team up, because that's going to be entertaining to see these two try and co-exist, but the eventual possibility of one of the members of 3D being either X Division champion or World Heavyweight Champion is so impossible it makes the match a joke. There's no way in hell that Brother Ray is set to be a singles world champion in TNA, nor Brother Devon as X Division champion, and you can reverse that till you're blue in the face, the facts still remain. I myself have a better chance to be X Division champion in TNA than Ray or Devon do, and I'm walking around with a pacemaker in my chest at 35 years of age, for the love of all that's blank. (I'm censoring myself, this is a family column.)
Let's move on. I'm disappointed with Ring of Honor's choice for their new Long Island venue. While I have no personal issues with the Deer Park Community Center, the venue is significantly smaller than the Sports Plus Event Centre, and I don't think its going to be able to house a full blown ROH crowd. While the crowds for the ROH Sports Plus shows were not sell outs, there we significant in nature, and I find it hard to believe that a significant number of individuals are not going to attend this show in the end of July with the card that's been stacked because of the move to a new venue. I really do hope ROH knows what they're doing, because the possible backlash of disgruntled fans could be significant for this promotion in this market, especially with pay per views on the horizon.
On this point with the new ROH venue, I hope I am wrong. I really do. But I am fearful of going to the show now because of this concern, and when I emailed ROH asking them this very question, I got no reply back. So either A) they think its going to work, and I'm talking nonsense, or B) they think its going to be a smaller crowd, or C) they don't give a damn. Who knows. One thing is for certain, I got an alternative now, so if they screw me, I'll screw them right back.
Quick plug for my friends from WSU, they hold an all women's show on July 14th in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey. If you want information, drop me an email or visit my myspace blog, the information is listed there. I'll provide the info for anyone who's interested.
Wrapping up, I have nothing to add from the DVD collection yet, I am still enjoying the JAPW show I picked up at the last WSU show, and the TNA House Show from 2006 in Philly when Angle made his return to the old ECW Arena. I am looking to pick up the last show from Deer Park from WSU, which had a very enjoyable card on it, including one hell of a six man match for the belt. But, rest assured, the collection will continue to grow.
Lastly, I want to thank everybody for their thoughts and opinions on the Chris Benoit situation. I have read them all, and I am fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to share with so many wrestling fans on this tragedy. Rest assured, your words did not fall on deaf ears or eyes. I hope all of us can move forward and get back to being entertained, which is the eventual wish of any fan of pro wrestling.
I continue to invite anyone to come on board my myspace page and chat with me there, or feel free to drop me an email on any subject. I hope to hear from you all soon.
That's it, everybody. Thanks for reading. I hope everybody has had a safe and happy 4th of July.
Click here for my myspace.
Click here to email me.
NOTE: The views expressed in this column reflect only those of the author, and do not reflect the views of any member of the administration of this website.
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