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Pro's from the Palace (#245) - Palace Report: WWE, TNA, ROH, ECW... |
» Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
» On Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 12:58 PM EST
It's kind of tough to go in to the realm of wrestling lately when the product seems almost stable. Nobody's really pushing hard upwards or downwards in any of the three brands and because of the complacency, it makes it tough to pull a column out when you're someone like me.
But, there's always some way to pull it off. And here's my attempt.. Note the word, attempt. It's time for a Palace Report. A little touch of here and there in all the companies..........
First, Michael Hayes gets suspended for calling Mark Henry the N-word. First, does Hayes have a death wish? I mean, if Henry didn't realize how much trouble it would get him in to do bodily harm to someone in management, he could've killed Hayes. But, nevertheless, what I am troubled with is someone in a position of power thinking they're above the world, and above the product, and if Michael Hayes is spouting this type of garbage to Mark Henry, God knows what he's done beforehand, or before he got caught. It makes me think that the product as a whole suffers when the attitude of the men responsible for writing it is sub-standard. And by this account, if it is true, makes me think that this is going to harm the product in the long run, as it has to have an effect on people down below Hayes in the chain of command. After all, they're all human beings.
And, speaking to Badstreet specifically. You're an idiot. Fly right, make your millions, and change the world. Pissing off the boss in that company is pretty much bluntly signing a death warrant or a suicide pact with the devil himself.
Ok, let's move forward.
It appears AJ Styles & Tomko were stripped of the TNA Tag Team Titles because Tomko chose a payday in Osaka, Japan a day before Lockdown, therefore missing the TNA fanfest the day before Lockdown. I'm curious. I don't know squat about the inside tracks of the contractual obligations of TNA talent, but why stop the man from making a payday? Is TNA booking every single member of their roster at these fanfests? Truth be told if they are, that's overkill. I doubt you'd have a lot of people at that convention looking to meet Travis Tomko. I don't deny Tomko's right to get a full payday from his gig in Osaka, and TNA shouldn't either. You wanna discipline him, fine, but in the meantime, by this discipline, you hurt the product, and you hurt AJ Styles too, a man who's been with the company since day one.
You've got this ridiculous stipulated thing they're going to try and describe tonight on Impact, I won't say what it is, because I don't want to take the stigma away of being called a spoiler, and you've got AJ and Tomko flapping their arms in the breeze now looking for a storyline. Everything else in TNA seems to have found a bit of a niche storyline wise, and the champs were the champs. They were set to go up against LAX, which would be AMAZING, and first rate product if you ask me, but now, TNA throws a tantrum, and because of TNA"s tantrum because someone didn't follow the company line, not just one person is hurt, three people are hurt. Styles, Hernandez, and Homicide.
If you guys are familiar with me, I have a soft spot for Homicide and Styles, so this thing bothers me. Discipline is one thing, but to do it and harm the product is something totally different. I think TNA dropped the ball here in a really big way.
Before I finish, I read a report that Homicide and Hernandez are not happy with the way they're being booked in TNA, & WWE has interest. As a unbiased, oh, forget it, WWE, SIGN LAX. IMMEDIATELY. I would KILL to see Homicide and Hernandez run rampant in WWE, and I would absolutely go ballistic for Punk vs Homicide in a WWE ring. I only hope that if that dream does occur, that WWE doesn't dilute it, although I think they probably would.
Moving forward...
Keith Olbermann of MSNBC named JBL the worst person of the week because of his shilling of his energy drink and his work with FOX News. Hey Keith, do us a favor, go up against someone who can actually talk at your level. Because ever since you went to news, your credibility has gone in to the toilet. All I see is someone trying to make a living, and I don't see problem one with that. But, in this oversensitive world we live in now, we all have to follow the lines of political correctness. Harumph.
The King of the Ring tournament last week. What sort of idea is WWE planning with the Raw GM being the King of the Ring? Regal was and is PERFECT as the Raw GM. Yes, Regal can play the royal gimmick up as well as anyone, also, but frankly, he is best served for the product as the GM of Raw, and if he is taken out of that role to further play up the role of King of the Ring, it's a loss for the product, and for Raw as a whole. I still believe there should have been a prize at the end of the rainbow, for putting those eight men through a potential 3 matches in one night, there should have been a title shot, or something like that.
Who wouldn't have wanted to see Punk custom make the robe and crown to fit his character? I would have loved it.
Kudos to WWE for the title change they did in the woman's division. It was done flawlessly. Mickie James looked like she couldn't do it, that she couldn't beat Beth Phoenix with throwing every little thing and then some at the Glamazon. All of a sudden, on a major Raw, she pulls the miracle off. It really heightens the prestige of the women's title, and kudos to WWE creative for doing this one right on the button, from where I sit, as an armchair booker.
I have no comment on the use of the presidential candidates on Raw this past week. I'm surprised that all of them agreed to appear in some facet. I think it wasn't a smart idea for the politicians, but by the fact they all did it, I doubt there's going to be any effect. Once again, the Deity of WWE pulls the wool over the world by pulling this one off. I am stunned it happened, although not entirely moved.
I'm at a bit of a crossroads right now with the Ring of Honor product. May 10th is right around the corner, and ROH is going downstairs in the Manhattan Center to the Hammerstein Ballroom. It's one of those venues that I HAVE TO attend a show at once before I die. However, I seem to be having trouble pulling the trigger to do it. I don't know what it is. I have some scars from the problems I had back in the day on the ROH boards. I have some problems with some of the booking that's transpired, specifically what they're doing with Austin Aries and the ROH World Champion, and I am becoming increasingly disgusted with the ROH fan base as a whole, as they appear to sound more and more like an elitist group of hypocrites.
While saying all of this, it has nothing to do with the talent in the ring. I would love to see Morishima and Necro Butcher beat the high holy crap out of each other, and seeing Strong, Stevens, and Shiozaki in an FIP title match will be most interesting. Also the other NOAH talent on tap for the show is top rate, that being Naomichi Marufuji. I don't know, it's a tough call for me, but I'll make one soon.
I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't comment on Joey Styles' removal from the ECW announce team. I did not see Mike Adamle's first ECW, but I did watch the vids on WWE.com. Wow. How bad is this going to sound? I figure that Styles now is probably saying, "Hey, I'm getting paid, and I have to be on the road half as much as I used to be." He's probably kissing his sister thrilled about this. Tazz is probably like, "Damn, I gotta carry this guy like I did the guys I choked out in the ring? Terrific, why don't I just choke this guy out?" And Adamle looks like Butt Head from the Beavis and Butt Head cartoon right at school when the teacher asks him a question. "Duh...."
It's pathetic. But what's even more pathetic is Paul Heyman. I read Heyman's columns on Joey Styles' removal, and Ric Flair's retirement. Talk about a bitter bitter man. Please, Heyman, do us all a favor. If you're such a damn genius, go create yourself a new ECW, and take it to the levels that you think it should be, so you can shut Vince's mouth. Because frankly, nobody, and I do mean nobody, wants to read your ramblings on a british website about the trials and tribulations and all the bull that is being done in World Wrestling Entertainment. Oh, and one more thing. If I was retiring from doing something I loved for 36 years, I'D CRY A LOT TOO.
Speaking about mouthpieces, I want to say that I miss John Bradshaw Layfield on the color commentary of Smackdown. Jonathan Coachman is obviously on the way out of the WWE, as his performance on Smackdown recently has been, to say the least, poor, and to say the most, awful. I had comments in my head that I wanted to put down in a column, but didn't get the chance. However, I can tell you a handful of times, I sat at my television listening to this commentary, and wondered what the hell type of punishment Coachman would have to endure for blathering whatever he did. Because I can bet your bottom dollar, as well as mine, that he's pissed off a few people with some of the idiocy that's come out of his mouth recently.
Two questions about Backlash as I close this out.
Is Matt Hardy finally going to break the glass ceiling and win the US championship, and substansially end his near 10 month rivalry with MVP?
Is Big Show and Great Khali's match going to be as ugly as me when I wake up in the morning?
I'll answer the first question this weekend with the picks column for Backlash. The second answer is a resounding and emphatic YES. And that's not an insult to the Big Show.
I'm done. Thanks for reading.
Click here to email me.
Click here to check out my blog and the Palace Project websites.
NOTE: The views of this column do not reflect those of the administrator of this website.
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