I have been reading the reports of Kennedy being re-injured at the 10 man tag this past monday, and I have also been reading the reports of the so called botched spot that could’ve reinjured Orton’s collarbone. I have also read the reports as to how Orton dressed Kennedy down after the match about how that spot was botched, and the subsequent consequences if it wasn’t handled the way it was to avoid injury.
I have also read how this botched spot, and Orton’s political power could be the main reasons how Kennedy got his pink slip from WWE.
I got a question here.
Is this professional wrestling, or babies r us?
WRESTLING is a contact sport. People get hurt. People get hurt at any time, for any reason, and for any condition, it’s inevitable, and it’s unavoidable. I am sure that the talents all around the world take every single precautionary measure available to avoid injury, and, even when banged up, take the necessary steps to fight through it, and make it to their respective shows each and every night.
Veterans of the sport, I have read, will dress down, to use the internet wrestling community’s words, rookies of the sport when there is a missed step out in the ring that could lead to something that is against the script, against the plan, and potentially hazardous to the health of one or all of the competitors.
If Kennedy did botch a spot, and Orton gave him a tongue – lashing, so be it. It’s the culture of the business. I may not personally agree with it, but it is, from what I have read, the culture of the business.
For Kennedy to lose his job because of the say of the WWE champion, and one potentially botched spot on his RETURN MATCH from rehabbing an injury, and also while promoting himself to enter the WWE championship race, well, it’s contradictory to say the least, and assinine to say the most.
Vince McMahon is not one to stretch the truth, and here I think, the truth needs a little stretching. Because I cannot, and will not believe that one man has the power to take another one’s career, and have it thrown out in the span of a week because of one spot in one match, especially one match that occurred after a few months of rehabilitation.
We’ll probably never know what the true reason of what Kennedy’s release is, but this entire publicity of Kennedy’s release, and the subsequent conditions surrounding it can only do one thing for the morale of the troops on Raw, and on the other two brands, and that is, make everyone paranoid.
What would happen if the next midcarder goes up against a main eventer, botches a spot, nobody gets hurt, but this main eventer goes and complains to Orton or Triple H, or someone like that. Is that going to result in that midcarder getting fired? It’s a precedent that makes WWE an extremely (pardon the ECW pun) volatile place to consider employment, and will make the talent, I would suspect, be a little more reserved while performing, in order to insure that nobody else suffers what appears to have been a “Kennedy.”
I still say this whole situation is truly pathetic. I would love to see Kennedy end up in TNA, show he’s healthy, and win championship gold in a hurry, just to smear egg on the faces of WWE brass. It would be absolute poetic justice.
Moving on.
I watched Impact this week. I guess Beer Money turned face in the span of a month during the tag tournament leading up to the Slammiversary rematch for the TNA straps. What’s going to happen if 3D keep the IWGP straps when they defend it in Tokyo against Karl Anderson and Giant “Prince Albert in a can, Old 8 3/8ths” Bernard on June 20th in Osaka, Japan? Wow, I just saw something. The IWGP title defense for 3D is on June 20th. Slammiversary 7 is on June 21st. Can you say jetlag, ladies and gentlemen?? Oughta be interesting to see how 3D performs in Detroit.
Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Nash for a spot in King of the Mountain for the world title under lethal lockdown rules. I like this. The cage, the roof, the weapons, and a controlled violent Joe taking Nash’s knees out, and turning them in to spaghetti & meat – nash. I think it would be, and will be, fun to watch.
Sting’s dressing down of Sharmell and Jenna Morasca, as well as the berating of Kurt Angle was just pure gold. Gold, I tell you, gold. I loved every minute of it. I still hate the fact that Foley lost the four way match, and did not lose the TNA World Heavyweight title, but the facts are still the same, Sting as the leader of the Main event Mafia is definitely a new direction I think will benefit TNA Wrestling.
AJ Styles & Daniels did their damndest to put on a show for the spot in King of the Mountain for the World title, and I thought they did a terrific job. I hope that TNA puts Daniels in the X Division King of the Mountain match, because he deserves it, for no other reason than his pedigree and his resume of past achievements within TNA. I would also like to see TNA put Amazing Red in the X Division King of the Mountain match, but somehow I doubt it. I don’t see TNA pushing Red like they did before when they needed him to be a major star.
Speaking of AJ & Daniels, what is the chance that once 3D and Beer Money finish their business, what about bringing back the most athletic team in TNA history, the X Division pioneers of AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels to challenge for tag team gold? Their matches were amazing back in the day, and with LAX on the shelf, they could use another foundation style team to bolster the tag team division.
Oh, and when I mentioned Amazing Red, here’s a thought, how quicklu does a tag team disappear. Three weeks ago, Red & Suicide won a match in the #1 contender tag team tournament, and now they’re faicng off for the X title. Interesting booking, Mr. Russo, may I use the ball peen hammer now or later?
Victoria in TNA. I love it. I hope she gets the chance to be the hardcore Victoria that we know from WWE Survivor Series 2002 and the hardcore women’s title match with Trish. The comedic Victoria, while entertaining, will not succeed in TNA right now. I would kill to see Victoria vs. Kong, but right now, the thought of Victoria going after Mi Pi Sexy is not something I would miss.
What is up with the Curtis Granderson signing in TNA is anyone’s guess. The last time that TNA signed a pro athlete from one of the major sports was Pacman Jones, and that turned out to be one major league bomb. We’ll see what happens there.
Eric Young’s heel turn was a surprise, barely. I thought he was due for something big, and he was given the deep end of the pool to turn heel against the TNA founder. I hope he is given some more chances to shine, because he is so damn entertaining when he is allowed to not be the comedic Eugene of TNA Wrestling. I liked his evil side coming out this past week.
Raven returning is never a bad thing for entertainment purporses. Put him together with Daffney and Dr. Stevie Richards against Abyss, and we got the makings of one hell of a hardcore feud that could be legendary for months to come. Question is, will the Franchise make his presence felt?? Seeing him return and lay out Daniels like that was a surprise. I would’ve expected his return somewhere around Raven’s return, but who knows. All I know is, there is reason to check out what’s going on in TNA Wrestling right now, and I can’t say I am able to say that with this much conviction in some time.
Ok. Let’s move on to some more topics.
Smackdown last week was uneventful, I thought. What’s the problem with WWE right now is this, with Judgment Day and Extreme Rules so closely together, and literally having the cards be exactly the same with just stips added to the Extreme Rules PPV, who wants to see the same stuff with toys so soon after seeing it once?? I know the hardcore fans would probably do it, but let’s be honest here, if you bought Judgment Day, are you going to buy Extreme Rules because of the stips? Personally, I didn’t buy Judgment Day, and I won’t when it comes out on DVD, but I will buy Extreme Rules, because I am a fan of the stip matches, as all of my readers are well aware.
So, bottom line here is, WWE is a little stale right now leading to the PPV next week. I would like to see some new elements being brought in maybe even this week to lead up to the PPV, or immediately following the PPV in order to bring some freshness to the product. Right now, TNA has the most ‘new’ elements to build up to their annviersary PPV, and that makes them the current leader in this pseudo – company war.
Ring of Honor.
Well, let’s see. The TV show is tanking, and HDNet is being yanked off cable systems at an alarming rate. I doubt the PPV buys have been anything to smile about, Ric Flair stiffed them out of a boatload of cash, and they are two weeks away from coming to a major spot for a show, New York City. I would say the morale in ROH oughta be just peachy freakin’ keen, don’t you think?
Word is ROH ain’t happy about what’s happened regarding Flair, and I can’t quite say I blame them. I can only guess the amount of cash they shelled out to get Bret Hart to appear in Toronto come end of the month, so this is a pretty damn big month for Ring of Honor, from where I sit. I’m going to peek at the NYC card, which is up in two weeks, and see what’s what.
Jay Briscoe vs. Guido Maritato. I’m happy to see Guido get a shot to shine in his hometown. This one oughta be bowling shoe ugly, and fun as hell to watch. Physical to the limit. I look forward to seeing this match. I hope its clean, and we get a winner, whomever it may be.
The Young Bucks vs. Rhett Titus and Kenny King. King is an up and comer, and Titus’s gimmick right now is getting him the notoreity, from last I saw, but the true interest hee is the west coast based team of Matt and Nick Jackson. The current PWG Tag Team Champions come to ROH for some new matchups, and I am REALLY ANXIOUS to see these guys work. Especially since they’re going to also be a major part of when Dragon Gate USA launches, it’ll be even more intriguing to see where these guys take the bookings, as I suspect some talents will fight as to where to go, and when. These guys may be at the top of both companies’ wish list.
Sonjay Dutt vs. Roderick Strong. If there was ever one man who never got a fair shake in TNA Wrestling, it’s Sonjay Dutt. I got a chance to see him live once in a much smaller setting, and he impressed me then, and I do not expect anything less here. Question is, will Strong ground the high flyer. Can Dutt handle Strong’s strikes, which could be some of the hardest in wrestling today.
Necro Butcher vs. Jimmy Rave with Prince Nana. Rave & Nana is pure gold. No question there. I am interested to see however if Rave can go insane with Necro’s style. Necro still has me in pure wonderment from his brief but noticeable role in “The Wrestler”, and I may just have the guts to shout “Movie Star” from the 3rd row of the Hammerstein throughout the match. I wish I had the guts to bring in the TP, but I’d be too scared to get thrown out of the building, and I did pay $100 for these damn tickets.
Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana vs. D’Lo Brown vs. Claudio Castagnoli. I don’t get this. Why isn’t Danielson getting better bookings? Is it a guarantee he’s going to walk when his contract expires? Don’t get me wrong, this is a good match, but I’d like to see Danielson go singles against anyone, for that matter, rather than a four corner. I’m not a fan of D’Lo right now, as I didn’t like how he competed at the 7YA show, and I expect a lot more out of him, something similar to what I have seen him do in NOAH when he won GHC tag team gold. Claudio, who knows with him, now, he changes personas faster than I change socks. Colt Cabana, hell, I love this guy, so seeing this guy wrestle is always a treat for me. But, anyways, the match seems kind of a mish mash, and that bothers me. The booking here, Mr. Pearce, seems suspect at best.
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Tyler Black in a first blood match. Is Black the future world champion? If he is, he has to get rid of Jacobs. if Jacobs is going to keep the revolution alive, he has to kill Black. Not make him bleed, but destroy him. This feud has to end, and I think it does with the forthcoming Steel cage match soon after NYC, but this could be a nice prequel to the end of the feud. It has to be, for both of their careers.
The Wolves vs. Steenerico in a submission match for the tag straps. This is an excellent stipulation, but I suspect we’re going to see a war that may make the ladder war from Man Up look clean. This is definitely going to be the match of the night for me, by far.
Jerry Lynn defends the ROH World Title against Austin Aries with Ric Flair as special guest referee. Ok. I hate this. Flair is guest ref in the world title match when he is out the door to WWE probably like the next day after this show. It makes it almost predictable what’s going to happen. Nigel also being in the building leads me to believe that this match will not be clean, and we won’t get a solid title defense or change, one way or the other, and that’s never a good thing. We need clean cut winners and losers, somehow in ROH World title matches, and I don’t think that’s going to be the case here. Not to mention the fact that I think a heel Austin Aries champion would be terrible. Maybe it would grow on me, but at the moment, it’s not something I find appealing at all. The idea of Lynn as world champion has also gone south with me, as I am more acceptable with the younger guys getting the shot to run with the strap. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to be the case here, and that’s not, in my own opinion, good for business, long term.
But we’ll wait and see.
As I close, I am noticing here and there some noteworthy names joining my twitter followers. I will not name names to these individuals, as I do not want to be a name dropper, or claim I’m some big shot sumbitch with a reputation. To the individuals that I KNOW are in the business, and are taking the time to read this work, or join my twitter feed, I say one thing.
Thank you.
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See ya.