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Pro's from the Palace (#224) - What goes down in 08 @ WWE, ROH & TNA? |
» Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
» On Tuesday, December 25, 2007 at 5:18 AM EST
First off, a very happy holiday to each and every one of my readers. I hope it's healthy, and it's a lot of fun for each of you. Speaking for me, here's a little touch of something to keep the home fires burning, I hope.
I am going to write the "Palace Awards" in the coming days, but with that, I'd like to consider some potential future ideas that could come down the pike for the WWE, TNA, and ROH. I hope that this may give you guys enough fodder to come to the Palace Empire, and debate these ideas, however insane they may be.
Ring of Honor
I'll start small first. With the forthcoming PPV coming down the pike, Nigel McGuinness's health being a question mark, and his soon departure for Pro Wrestling NOAH for a tour, I am not going to be the least bit surprised to see a title change come out of Manhattan. Whether I see it saturday night vs. Austin Aries, or there's some cockeyed way to get it done come Final Battle, this would be the weekend to do it, and it'd lead up to a tremendous amount of unpredictable conditions throughout the company. If I had to guess, I think Aries would win the belt this saturday night, and then have the following come down the pike.
Danielson vs. Morishima has to end, soon. Why? Because Danielson is busy elsewhere, and Morishima has some more committments coming in NOAH. However, I suspect that once Dragon returns from his committments, he'll be in line to take the belt back, probably from Aries. Aries vs. Dragon is definitely a main event level title match, and if Danielson, or should I say, when Danielson slays the monster Morishima, that would be more than enough to get him a world title run again. I'm not sure where else they would go, and if they're serious about doing these "second coming" runs as world champion, nobody else is more suited to take the belt than Dragon, if and when Aries beats Nigel this weekend.
Moving quickly to the tag team division in ROH, it's kind of muddled right now with faction warfare. That's not to say that there wouldn't be some major league matches for the Briscoes with any combo of the Age of the Fall, the Vulture Squad, Hangmen 3, Steenerico, or anyone else crazy enough to team with Delirious. It's definitely time to consider putting the Briscoes back in to the realm of the hunters, but the question is, who is ready to take the reins as the hunted. Answer: I don't know. The Briscoes are SO over at ROH shows that it may very difficult, if not nearly impossible, to get the belts off them for a long period of time.
I hope that there's more Japanese puro that comes to ROH. Perhaps some defenses of the Dragon Gate titles, we've had one of those already, and definitely some more GHC title defenses. It's new, it's fresh, and it's unique, and that's going to keep me coming back for more with this company. End of story.
I don't really see a bad side coming for ROH, if the roster continues to develope like it is. If it gets plucked any more by WWE or TNA, when they scooped Sydal and Rave and Cabana, well, who knows?
Total Non Stop Action
It's going to be absolutely impossible for me to try and forecast what's bound to happen in TNA in 2008. Why? Two reasons.
1. It's always so damn unpredictable, more on the lousy side.
2. Because of what's been happening, I haven't been watching. I still follow, but you know how much good that does when you try to write these types of forecasts.
With that being said, I'd like to re-form this and say this is what I'd like to see TNA do with the upcoming year.
First and foremost, we need better storylines here. What I mean is simple. Let's get back to what this company can do. It has a roster of personnel that can bust their asses, even the ex- WWE guys. They're trying too much to be the entertainment aspect of the product, where I think they should focus more on the wrestling. From a sheer wrestling perspective, I think TNA could out wrestle WWE. However, I believe change should start at the top, and the creative suits at the top of TNA need to be reshuffled. I don't think that it's working.
Look, it's not smarks like me that think that. Check out Lance Storm's commentaries on almost a regular basis. One thing you have to say about Storm, he may not have had the charismatic career in WWE, but his mind is one of the best out there when it comes to the business, and I take his commentaries to heart when I see them at stormwrestling.com.
I'd like to see the re-emergence of the LAX as a dominant tag team. They're that good. I'd like to see the X Division be what it can be, and not a stepping stone for guys who have lost their passion to compete, ala Kevin Nash and/or Team 3D.
No, I can't prove that, but you cannot tell me, with any conviction, that there isn't something better for these guys to do than to stomp on guys three quarters smaller than them? I think there is. It's not my job to determine what it is, though, it's TNA's, and that's where they're faltering.
Angle's gotta` be taken out of the high spot, if only for a little while, just to change things up. We've had so much Kurt and Karen that the world is going to hate them, bad hate, really fast, if it hasn't already happened. I'm not going to be the mark and say Joe has to win the belt, because honestly, if he hasn't gotten the belt yet, I doubt he ever will. I would suspect Booker would get it next, and it's viable, because Booker could carry the company.
Bring back Chris Daniels, for the love of all that's holy. Get him in the fold, and do it now. "Firing" him is a dumb idea.
I question why TNA wants to do more business with Sting when they have all these younger named talents, granted not as well known as Sting, but still, however, if Spike is so adamant to keep Sting on the roster, what can I say? I would like to see him drop some of the religious tones to his feuds, ala the matches he had with Abyss, but I've been down that road already, and I won't go through it again.
I need to see AJ Styles return to the wrestler he is supposed to be. Not the goofball character he currently portrays, but the WRESTLER the fans of him know he can, and should be. That has to happen. And it has to happen immediately.
I really am intrigued with this TNA vs. New Japan feud idea coming in January. I have kept track of the card, although my source has vanished, but hey, the card sounds good, and I'm really curious to see how they go forward with this. IF done properly, it may be the flick of the match needed to bring TNA back to serious prominence.
As for potential new champions, like I said, I suspect Booker will take the World title from Angle. God knows who'll win the tag belts, that division is such a mess. The X Division title will remain with Lethal until he actually can get the belt back, ??????, sigh, and then maybe I could see a newbie like Shelley take the belt. (Newbie from a sense of never winning the title.) Women's title, it's painfully obvious there, at least, for Gail Kim it is. Awesome Kong is the uncrowned TNA Women's Champ. She's a beast, and that's being polite. Wow.
World Wrestling Entertainment
I'm not going to take the time to rip anyone here. I have to believe that WWE will figure out how to take the positive vibe they got from the tribute show last night, and continue its momentum in to 2008. With the loss of Cena till close to after Wrestlemania, it's going to be difficult in the beginning of the year to see how things pan out. It's obvious Cena's mark on the company is apparent.
You tell me how else you're going to get Michaels out of his house, Jericho to agree to come back now, and JBL to come out of retirement. Regardless of how Jericho's comeback has been portrayed as of current, the fact that three major players in the attitude era came back to active competition shortly after Cena's injury shows how much the company was leaning on Cena for a foundation. With that foundation gone, WWE has had to dig down for some main event calibre talent to fill in the void.
I'm kind of saddened by Jericho being bounced out of the title picture so quickly, but I think this feud with JBL will be very good. Both men are experts on the mike, and eventually, their ring work should catch back up to themselves, and we should see some good product here. Orton will probably have some midcard challenger come down the pike for the next PPV, or perhaps the beginning of the babyface title reign of Triple H. We all know H is due for the title, and I suspect with JBL coming to the brand, H's eventual heel turn will be put on indefinite hold, because two heels of that immense ego qualities will cancel each other out. Besides, H vs. Orton, with the roles reversed, is definitely something to see.
And here we go, I said it elsewhere, I'll say it here. Book it now. WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 24 in Orlando, Florida. Triple H defending the title vs. John Bradshaw Layfield. Mark it down, right now. It fits the puzzle, perfectly.
The tag team scene continues to be a major cluster. I REALLY like Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes as tag team champs, but who else is there, outside of Cade & Murdoch? There are some legit tag teams on Smackdown, but not many out there on Raw that I can think of . There was Haas & Benjamin, but Shelton has gone in to obscurity on ECW, and hence, the team is done, again.
Can we see the Highlanders get a run? Possible. They haven't wowed anyone significantly since joining up with the big roster, but hey, the time may be now or never. Time will tell.
The IC title seems to have been placed on the back burner while Jeff challenges for the big prize. Anyone with a pessimistic approach will say Jeff loses the challenge at the Rumble, and then, from there, probably renews business with Mr. Kennedy, in a do or die feud with Kennedy for his life at WWE. Kennedy needs to impress, big time, and his star is dropping hard. He could slip in to this setup to try and get him back in to the swing of things, at Jeff's expense. I am happy Jeff has gotten this push, but I don't see a pay off in the near future. Hopefully, I'm wrong.
Women's title, Beth vs. Mickie is one I hope will continue for some time, leading to potentially a three way for the title at Mania with Phoenix, James, and the former champ Candice Michelle. In the meantime, the two best candidates to be title holders are fighting for the belt, and if I'm WWE, I keep it that way, for the forseeable future.
Smackdown. Edge vs. Taker for the World title at Mania. Mark it down. Matt vs. MVP at Mania is a lock if Matt comes back in time. I don't know his schedule. I won't be surprised either if he does come back in time that MVP holds the US title until then, and then drops it to Matt. Expect time fillers to go down until then for the World Champ and US champion. I doubt anyone else will provide serious challengers. That's it for the two main belts on Smackdown.
A friend emailed me with a hell of an idea for the vacant cruiserweight title. Turn it in to the ECW television title, or a bi-brand TV title would also fit. It'd be good to show off both shows more prominently both on tuesdays and fridays. It's too creative, so it'll never happen, but hey, one can dream, right?
Uncrowned tag champs are Jesse & Festus. The team is terrific. I like the gimmick, and I suspect they'll take the belts from Miz & Morrison in the near future. They're already fighting for it, and it's been fun to watch. Deuce & Domino would be well served for a change of scenery to Raw to run roughshod over that division, but when London and Kendrick went there to get a shot, they got steamrolled, outside of a three day reign as champions, and I don't know how D&D would fare there as well, but they need to do something, because jobbing to Festus in a Santa outfit is just out of control, if you ask me.
ECW, Initially I thought Shelton Benjamin was the uncrowned ECW champion, but now, it's perhaps going to be Mark Henry before maybe having Bobby Lashley come back and feud with Henry and reclaim the land of extreme as his own. Who else would be able to take Henry down, unless you give Dreamer a shot to do it, as the absolute underdog. Personally, Punk has been a good champion, but the brand is in trouble. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it's folded before 2008 comes to a close.
My time is getting short, so let me run out of here. I offer debating forums available via my blog and "empire" at Mikesiciliano.blogspot.com.
Email links are there as well.
I'll write my Palace Awards before the end of the year.
Till then, to all my readers....
Season's Greetings.
NOTE: The views of this column do not represent those of the administration of this website.
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