The Shoot #44
December 22, 2009
By: Joshua Piedra of WrestleView.com
-The First Shot-
Hello everyone and welcome to your 44th edition of The Shoot. This week we will continue on with the 2009 Year End Awards, we?ll have your customary Quick Shots, the results of my TNA Final Resolution picks, and a little bit of anime talk in culture shock. With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the news headlines from this past week.
-Quick Shots-
Two tag teams are getting tryouts in two different companies and both come from Ring of Honor. First off, The Young Bucks of Nick and Matt Jackson received a tryout with TNA and The Briscoes, who worked a dark match were invited to FCW for a week to evaluate a possible contract offer from the WWE. Unlike Nigel and Danielson leaving the company, ROH has MANY tag teams that they can use to fill in the void from Steen and Generico, American Wolves, Dark City Fight Club, The Super Smash Brothers, Kenny King and Rhett Titus, The Embassy, and that’s just scratching the surface. ROH’s tag roster is VERY deep and if they end up taking contracts with their respective offers, it won?t hurt ROH all that much. Personally, I would love to see Briscoes in WWE.. Young Bucks in TNA sound like a better match up for them as I can?t see them making it in the WWE without being a knockoff of the Hardys. Whatever the case may be, it will be interesting to see where these tryouts head.
Bret ?The Hitman? Hart, for the first time since 1997, will be under a WWE contract starting January 1, 2010. Oddly enough, it ends right after Wrestlemania 26 as well. Let the speculation begin. Whatever they end up doing with Hart, it will still be nice and refreshing to see him back in the WWE. Hey may not have the ability to wrestle anymore, but you know that the Bret Hart / Shawn Michaels confrontation will be coming. If it were to happen, I think Michaels should just stand there, take it, and it should end with Bret just spitting in Michaels? face. I?m sure from a ‘storyline? standpoint, it?ll make some fans happy north of the border.
Speaking of WWE signees, Ricky Steamboat Jr recently signed a WWE Developmental contract and will be heading to FCW. I know that Jr has some tools after seeing some his matches on the indy scene, but after some WWE seasoning, he should make a huge impact once he debuts. I?m really excited about this signing and I see big things for him. Just a little armchair booking here? it would be nice to see Ted Dibiase Jr finally get his face turn and singles run in the WWE and the man who comes in to replace him is Steamboat Jr. He would be a nice fit for Legacy and it would give a nice set up for Ted’s face run.
-The Big Shot: 2009 Year End Awards: Part II-
The response was a little underwhelming for part one, but a few people have pointed out that they don?t watch Ring of Honor and I think that contributed to the lack of responses. In fact, even those who did respond admitted that they haven?t seen a lot of ROH all through 2009. It is to be expected since ROH doesn?t have the national exposure like TNA or WWE. Nevertheless, thank you to all of you who did vote and with that being said, let’s take a look at the results:
Participants: Rocky Jr, Josh Piedra, Anthony Valvo, Mike Siciliano, Josh Boutwell, Stonghold19023
ROH Wrestler of the Year: AUSTIN ARIES
Austin Aries received 5 votes from those who responded. The odd man out was Davey Richards.
ROH Tag Team of the Year: The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards)
This one swept the category receiving all 6 votes.
ROH Storyline of the Year: The Final Countdown Tour
The Final Countdown Tour received 3 votes, Austin Aries/Tyler Black received 2 votes, and Ladder War II received 1 vote in this category.
ROH Match of the Year: Davey Richards vs KENTA
Davey Richards vs KENTA received 3 votes while Nigel vs Danielson from Final Countdown Tour, Nigel vs KENTA, and Ladder War II all received 1 vote.
ROH Show of the Year: Glory By Honor VIII
Glory By Honor VIII received 5 votes while the December 7th edition of HDNet (Go Mr. V!) only received 1 vote!
Best ROH Singles Champion of the Year: Nigel McGuinness
Nigel McGuinness was able to secure 4 votes for singles champion of the year while Austin Aries secured the other 2 remaining votes.
Best ROH Tag Team Champions of the Year: The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards)
Not only do they sweep the Best Tag Team in ROH, they sweep the category of Best Tag Team Champions of 2009 in Ring of Honor by securing all six votes!
Best ROH Finisher of 2009: Package Piledriver/Brainbuster Combo (Kevin Steen & El Generico)
With the number of finishers in ROH, it is surprising to see this secure 3 of the 6 votes! The others which received only 1 vote are El Generico’s BRAINBUSTAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!, Bryan Danielson’s Cattle Mutilation, and The Young Buck’s More Bang for Your Buck.
Best ROH Moment of 2009: Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness Say Goodbye to ROH
Danielson and McGuinness saying goodbye secured 3 votes while Austin Aries becoming the first ever 2-time ROH World Champion secured 2 votes, and ROH Signing a National TV Deal with HDNet secured 1 vote.
Most Shocking ROH Moment of 2009: Danielson and McGuinness sign with WWE and TNA respectively
While their post-match parting was the most memorable moment, their announcements of them signing and leaving ROH was the most shocking by securing 3 votes. Ladder War II received 1 vote, Signing with HDNet received 1 vote, and the Jacobs/Black/Aries chain massacre match received 1 vote.
Those are your winners for the ROH 2009 Year End Awards. Again, thanks to all who participated in them. Next up are your TNA 2009 Year End Award Categories. Like the ROH votes, you have 1 week (until Sunday 11pm EST on December 27th) to submit your votes. With that being said (yes, I like that phrase, get over it!) here are your TNA 2009 Year End Award categories:
TNA Wrestler of the Year:
TNA Tag Team of the Year:
TNA Knockout of the Year:
TNA Storyline of the Year:
TNA Match of the Year:
TNA Show of the Year:
Best TNA Singles Champion of the Year:
Best TNA Tag Team Champions of the Year:
Best TNA Finisher of 2009:
Best TNA Moment of 2009:
Most Shocking TNA Moment of 2009:
Pretty much the same categories, but I added the TNA Knockouts for an Award. The reason why ROH didn?t have this is because they currently list only 3 female wrestlers on their roster? that’s? kind of sad. So I don?t think ROH didn?t really deserve a female award, but nevertheless? there are your award categories for TNA. Send all of your nominations aka votes to syscrash2002@hotmail.com
Say it with me now?. WITH THAT BEING SAID? here are my results from the TNA Final Resolution PPV.
-One Extra Round: TNA Final Resolution Prediction Results-
Before I get to the results, I want to throw a disclaimer that we, here at Wrestleview, have taken the Feast or Fired match off of the predictions due to the complexity of the match itself.
Mick Foley and Abyss vs. Dr. Stevie and Raven
WINNER: Mick Foley and Abyss
PICK: Mick Foley and Abyss
1-0
Thoughts: This was actually a pretty decent hardcore match even though it wasn?t originally booked as such, but when you have 3 former ECW alumni and Abyss in a match, it’s kind of the only way you can probably go with it. Just kind of sad that they had to make this into a gimmick match, but then again, gimmick matches are all the norm in TNA now.
Last Man Standing
Scott Steiner vs. Bobby Lashley
WINNER: Bobby Lashley
PICK: Bobby Lashley
2-0
Thoughts: This was probably match of the night since it actually made sense. This was a good blow-off to a hatred feud between Steiner and Lashely. Although the ending got slightly botched, it made perfect sense. These two delivered and sold the feud nicely.
Three Degrees of Pain
Match #1: Pinfall Match #2: Submission Match #3: Six Sides of Steel
WINNER: Kurt Angle
PICK: Nigel McGuinness
2-1
Thoughts: A lot of people didn?t like this match. They seemed to dissect it as much as possible, but for me, the guy who sits back and tries to take in a match for what it is, I enjoyed it. I thought it could have been much better, and some of the stuff didn?t make sense like the slow mat work in a hatred feud ending match, or the no-selling of the submission work by Kurt Angle, but it was a fun match if you looked at it as its own little thing. I will say that the beginning of the match with all the mat work, from a storyline standpoint made about as much sense as Triple H vs Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 25. I?ll just leave it at that.
8-Man Tag Match
Rhino/Jesse Neal/Team 3D vs Hernandez/Pope/Suicide/Morgan
WINNER: Hernandez/Pope/Suicide/Morgan
PICK: Hernandez/Pope/Suicide/Morgan
3-1
Thoughts: Can someone explain what the hell happened here? I thought that this was 8 man elimination? not leave the Mexican in the ring to get his ass beat by 5 minutes before the rest of his team comes down and then get himself DQed after doing a quick roll-up on the guy who instigated this entire feud to begin with. Yeesh? this is why we need new booking.. BADLY.
For the TNA Knockout’s Division Championship
ODB (c) vs. Tara
WINNER: Tara
PICK: Tara
4-1
Thoughts: With this being the rematch and the whole ?WAH WWE LET ME GO? motive, it would make sense for her to walk out with the title. Well.. at least it makes sense in a TNA universe.
For the TNA World Tag Team Championship
The British Invasion (c’s) vs. The Motor City Machineguns
WINNER: British Invasion
PICK: MCMG
4-2
Thoughts: Thought for sure that Sabin and Shelley would have gotten the gold here, but after tonight, someone brought up a point that it seems like MCMG will just be one of those teams that will never hold the tag gold and then just implode on themselves. Oh well.. back to the X Division for you two after the inevitable feud.
For the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
AJ Styles (c) vs. Daniels
WINNER: AJ Styles
PICK: AJ Styles
5-2
Thoughts: I really loved this match. Some people said it was a pretty bad main event because it had those nasty things called MOVEZZZ~!!!!!, but this match kind of reminded me of Ring of Honor circa 2005. They didn?t go break neck speed and while the match was still spotty, they slowed it down and paced themselves between the spots. It didn?t feel like a ?Can You Top This? match. It did feel like two former friends that knew each other and did everything they could to beat them/survive them. I really did enjoy this match.
-Culture Shock-
In my customary report, I am happy to say that The Patriots scored a win over the Buffalo Bills with a score of 17-10. That score should have been much higher for the Pats, but it seems that they were struggling with penalties (no surprise there) and the Bills? defense. While it wasn?t the game I expected, a win is a win. Next week we have the Jaguars? they are a 7-7 team going against a now 9-5 team, but they?ve been pretty decent this year. Might have to watch this one.. I still predict a Patriots win, but I don?t think they?ll crush the Jags.
Quite a few anime series that I?m following are wrapping up this week. One already has, which was Seiken no Blacksmith (The Sacred Blacksmith). I rated it a 7 out of 10 as it had its moments, but the plot was very slow to start off and it just seemed very rushed at the end. The final three episodes was pretty much the only major plot advancement since probably episode 3. I really hate when animes do that? they start off strong, then throw together what seems like filler, then quickly wrap it up. This kind of pacing works if you have a full season of 26 episodes (in japan, 26 episodes is a typical single season for an anime where in America, it’s 13 episodes) and you have a lot of room to work with, but this was a 12 episode series? you can?t really pace it like that when you don?t have that much room to work with. It was still a decent story, but this is one I wouldn?t recommend getting on DVD. Just stream it online or download/delete if you want your 720p quality fix.
Other animes wrapping up this week are Umineko no Naku Koro ni (When the Seagulls Cry), 11eyes, and Darker Than BLACK: Gemini of the Meteor. I?ll have my thoughts and reviews in next week’s Culture Shock for you.
I have a couple of music recommendations for you this week and they are as American as humble pie. First up is Jillian Aversa, formerly Jillian Goldin. Last year, she produced a Christmas Album that was simply phenomenal. I suggest heading over to www.jillianaversa.com and picking up a digital download or a physical CD for yourself. The title of the album is called ?Through Sand and Snow? and it brings her New World style of music to classic Christmas songs.
The second is also an independent artist named Daniel Tidwell. He just came out with his debut cover album entitled ?Versus Video Games?. He covers some of old school gaming’s hottest tracks all in heavy metal. www.danieltidwell.com is the place to head to. His CD is up for pre-order at the moment, but you can search for him on YouTube to see how sweet his covers are.
-The Final Shot-
That’s going to do it for me this week. If you would like to submit anything as far as column feedback, wrestling discussion, culture shock topics, anything? you can do so by using any of the methods below.
E-Mail: syscrash2002@hotmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/itoshinojjp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joshuapiedra
Until next week?
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