Notes from the Nosebleeds #49
January 16, 2010
By: Matt O’Brien of WrestleView.com
Main Entry: 1note
Pronunciation: \ˈnōt\
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): not?ed; not?ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French noter, from Latin notare to mark, note, from nota
Date: 13th century
1 a : to notice or observe with care b : to record or preserve in writing
2 a : to make special mention of or remark on
? not?er noun
Ah, notes. The human mind has constant thoughts blowing back and forth like a war of giants. Sometimes the healthiest cure for a war in the mind is to put those thoughts elsewhere?in a note.
The classic and tired saying of ?the more things change, the more the stay the same? has never been truer in the world of wrestling than it is right now in TNA. Hulk Hogan comes in with a promise to change the company only to bring in the old NWO and the Nasty Boys. If anyone remembers the old WCW theme for the Nasty Boys, start singing it to yourself now. W?re the boys?We?re the Nastyyyy Boooyyyys.
Waiting until the last show before a pay per view to announce the big attraction matches like TNA has done for this Sunday’s Genesis is reminiscent of WCW’s 1999 Spring Stampede. Ironically, that show ended up being one of the best pay per views they put on that year in terms of wrestling quality.
What the Tonight Show is to comedy, Raw is to wrestling. With all the controversy surrounding NBC’s late night lineup, one must wonder what would happen if Raw ever had to move to another night. The show survived a switch over to TNN and later back to USA. After several years on air Raw has definite staying power, yet should Raw ever switch over to Tuesday, Wednesday or even Saturday, the damage could be significant. Monday nights are a staple in wrestling. Regardless of what some may think of the most minor of significance a move would do to Raw, wrestling would change unquestionably should that ever happen.
Sheamus vs. Randy Orton and Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio at Royal Rumble? Does anyone remember the last time we saw a pay per view in which the two title matches featured a baby face vs. baby face match and a heel vs. heel match? Two very odd yet two very interesting matches. If there was ever a time to try such a formula, the Rumble is the best place.
Picks for the Rumble winner are wide open this year. Last year it was clear that Orton would be winning the match. This year, it could be anyone. Possible candidates range from veteran and past winners such as Cena, HHH and Shawn Michaels to younger guys such as Dibiase, Kingston and CM Punk. Regardless of what the title match for Wrestlemania will be, be it Sheamus ?HHH or Sheamus- Cena, or even having Michaels use a Rumble win to claim a match with Taker, having one of the veterans go over thirty men would be anticlimactic. A pick way the hell out of left field would be much more interesting. Having a Rumble won by Jericho, then using it to keep himself on Raw by targeting the WWE champion would make for great TV; especially should Sheamus drop the title at February’s Elimination Chamber to say?Big Show. What about Mark Henry? He’s been around for years and deserves a reward for his hard work and dedication. Henry going toe-to-toe with Sheamus or Randy Orton may not be a tremendous scientific confrontation, but much more welcome than a Cena- Sheamus rematch or a Triple H title shot. Should they worry about buys, there are plenty of big names on the show that can go at it without a belt on the line.
Rumors hit the net this week that Mania may showcase a hair vs. mask match between CM Punk and Rey Mysterio. If Punk loses, can he please shave his chest hair instead?
Last week’s Nosebleeds featured analysis of the Raw vs. Impact Monday. This night was huge for wrestling and brought out passion in wrestling fans that was unexpected. Yet all these fans feel something important and their reactions to January 4th are important since they are the ones who determine a company’s success based on what they shell out to WWE and TNA. Below are a couple of the emails that came in.
From Suzanne Abshire
Matt,
I would agree with you about TNA and about RAW this past week but while I do that Bret vs Vince will be a major storyline I don’t believe it will be the main storyline on RAW going forward. Also unlike with Hogan Bret is done at WrestleMania and probably won’t be seen again unless or until Owen is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, where as Hogan is a nightmare that I don’t think will go away until either Hogan shuts TNA down, Hogan gets it thru his thick skull that TNA isn’t WCW where it matters so it will never be a true threat to WWE, or finally if Dixie gets it thru her thick skull that it was a waste of money to hire Hogan in the first place.
From esparo (the following email has been cut short, not out of censoring, but because of the length. This reader’s comments are much appreciated)
?to finish up the WWE side of things, they ran just another Raw episode other than Bret Hart being on it. No Cena, no Jeff Hardy, no super show with all three brands on it, no World Heavyweight championship matches, nothing extra. Didn’t even ask the USA network for an extra hour to go head to head. Guess what the outcome was? WWE 3.6 TNA 1.5. That has to be a disappointment I don’t care how you try to salvage it in the media. You had Hogan, Flair, Jeff Hardy (still unbelievable), Hall, Nash, X-Pac, Foley, Angle, Jarrett, Sting and others on the most loaded, heavily promoted show that you’ve ever done and that’s all you can draw? You shot your load already fellas. People tuned into the show to see what exactly Hogan was going to do. Now that people found out they won’t get a number that high again. Look at the ratings breakdown, after Raw came on, TNA got slaughtered in the head to head competition! Next Impact, Hogan is barely on the show. TNA, in my opinion, just hastened it’s own demise. Why try to compete with WWE when you’re obviously not ready? Just concentrate on good wrestling and as Paul Heyman so intelligently suggests, make us care about your wrestlers and the angles that they are in. WWE is far from perfect, but look at what they are doing with their young stars. Sheamus? WWE Champ. Kofi? HUGE push and probably next MITB winner. John Morrison? Future Superstar and World Champ and even has his own dvd on the way. Swagger, MVP, The Miz, Evan Bourne, the Hart Foundation 2.0, the new Intercontinental champ whose name escapes me! Legacy and look at what the WWE are doing with the women’s division with the tournament on the Raw side and McCool, Beth Phoenix and Mickie James on Smackdown with Natalya waiting in the wings. It’s only going to be a matter of time before the ‘E gets hot again with all that young talent integrated with the likes of Edge, Jericho, HHH, HBK, Cena, Orton and Batista to help get them over. TNA can’t use Hogan, Flair, Hall, Nash and company to get anybody over even if they wanted to because their skills in the ring have diminished to the point where they couldn’t make a a difference anymore. I see TNA ending very loudly and ugly. But on the bright side, when Vince buys their library, we can finally get the complete Sting and Kurt Angle dvds and a Rise and Fall of TNA dvd which would probably be the best thing TNA has ever done.
Another reader wrote in about how the return of Bret Hart actually brought his family together. In the strangest of ways, a sport about worked violence brings people together in a way we cannot explain. People talk about how the magic in wrestling is gone. No, it isn?t. Thank you to all Nosebleed readers.
Two weeks from now, a new and recurring format will debut in the Nosebleeds. The format will take a moment, event, or match in wrestling history and rip it apart. Examining how the event occurred and why, the column will also look at the legacy the event still has in wrestling today. Anyone who wants to participate is welcome. You may send your thought via email to mattman5436@yahoo.com. The first event will be the 1992 Royal Rumble. For those interested, the match can be found on youtube.
As always thanks for reading.
Matt O?Brien
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