Official WWE/TNA Wrestling Thread

Pretty much all wrestling has been pulled from my viewing habits these days. Sounds like with Serena gone and CMPunk kicking the crap out of Luke, that the Straight Edge Society is no more. Too bad as I thought the group had potential to be much better than they were.

 

i thought it was still real to you

 

I got to wonder what will happen with the last NXT group. And after rewatching a couple of the challenges, I noticed that Kaval (Low Ki) took a shot at TNA.

Samphin, you know anything about how Low Ki and TNA parted?

 

As far as I know, he simply gave notice and left the company. Probably over feeling like he wasn't being used right, I assume. That is all I remember. To be honest, I never really did too much digging into it.

 

Lmao like wwe will ever push him.

 

I have a feeling its going to be season one nxt vs season 2 nxt.

 

I could actually see Kaval and Danielson teaming up to bolster a tag division that is pretty much non existant.

Little known fact, Low Ki wrestled in the King of Indies tournament that my fed put on way back when. He is very short, yet very polite. I am hoping the best for him.

 

GIFSoup

I wonder what the plans are for the NXT 2 guys now especially with that whole genesis of McGuillicutty. NXT 3 seems alright but I don't really watch NXT so we will see how it goes.

 

Bastin Booger died of a heart attack. RIP. Another one bites the dust.

 

saw that, but did not realize at first that in the late 80's and early 90's he was also Makhan Singh in Stampede (main event heel for a few years), and then was Norman the Lunatic in WCW in the early 90's.

 

on another note, i know i am late to the bandwagon, but John Morrison impressed the heck out of me on RAW, with his agility on the backstage obstacle course, and during the falls count anywhere match with Shaemus.

landing on his feet and sticking the landing when Shaemus hiptossed him off the stage was sick!

IMHO that dude could be the next coming of HBK.

 

looked gay in a couple of moments though.

 

Yeah everyone has been pegging him as the next HBK but for whatever reason the last year and a half he hasn't done anything meaningful. It's funny because he was suppose to be HBK and The Miz was suppose to be Jannetty but The Miz has really broken out and left Morrison behind. I think Morrison needs to go back to being a heel as his character works better that way. The guy has a ton of talent, hopefully he gets back on track and doesn't end up like the next Shelton Benjamin.

 

He needs to get out of the whole "glamour guy" persona.

 

I think it works if he was a heel. It's almost like a modern day verison of Shawn Michaels' original 'Boy Toy' gimmick.

 

Matt Hardy is once again mouthing off on Twitter about the WWE's treatment of him. In a nutshell Hardy was sent home from their European tour because of a 'physical condition' but no one is saying what's the condition. Hardy is claiming he's fine and healthy. He went on Twitter complaining about it and asking outloud what he should do for himself in the future and it's 'decision time'.

It will be interesting to see if the WWE finally fires him. Word is that the WWE has nothing really planned for him and the only reason why they were keeping him was because they didn't want him going to TNA for a Hardy Boy reunion. But now that TNA doesn't have their live Monday shows and isn't a real threat to them they might not care anymore and might not want the headache of having him around anymore.

I used to be a Hardy fan but he seems to be really too into himself and his poor me internet gimmick has been stale for almost 2 or 3 years now. Plus I've read a few stories recently that say he's a be phony and goes to the internet so fans can kiss his butt. If he goes to TNA he'll have a pretty good first 2 months (if he cares) and have a nice run with Jeff then he'll get lost in the crowd yet again. I think he needs to realize he's had an extremely successful run with the WWE but he's not as important as he thinks he is and will never be a world champion or the man to put a company on his back.

 

It's a shame really. I figured he'd at least get a crack at the WWE Championship after he had that great run with the US title.

 

Here's a break down of the Hardy stuff from Wrestling Observer:

Matt Hardy’s future in WWE is in question regarding a behavioral issue that is being kept quiet that took place in Europe.

Hardy, who turns 36 this week, was taken off the WWE’s house show on 9/12 in Skegness, U.K., for reasons that have not been released. He had also been taken off a 9/5 house show in White Plains, NY, where he arrived at the arena, and wasn’t used. He did work at the 9/7 TV tapings in Baltimore, went on the Smackdown European tour, and worked the first three nights.

WWE officials reported to us on 9/12 that Hardy had been sent home without giving a reason why, although actually he remained in the U.K. and flew home the next day with the rest of the crew. Company policy if it was a drug test failure, would be to announce it publicly, so the test aspect wouldn’t be an issue. Plus, company policy if such a thing were the case would be to have Hardy work television, do an angle to explain his absence, and then announce his suspension after the television show aired.

The only thing we’ve been able to confirm is creative was told Hardy would not be booked for the foreseeable future. He missed the 9/14 tapings in Detroit. There were those in the company expecting Hardy to be released this week, but as of press time, he has not been officially suspended or released and nobody in the company has officially commented on his situation past that he was sent home.
What we can confirm is that WWE has been concerned about Hardy for at least a few weeks. They had Cody Rhodes on Smackdown deliver a heel promo making fun of Hardy’s weight gain (ironically coming after Hardy had lost weight), which was said to be a message like the ones Mickie James and Serena didn’t get and were eventually let go.

Shortly after the stories broke about Hardy being pulled from the active roster and being sent home, he posted a video from his U.K. hotel room, attempting to insinuate the rumors weren’t true, given he was still in the U.K., but didn’t address being taken off shows. He insisted he was “A-okay,” told fans not to worry about him and said there would be “probably some changes coming,” and said if they didn’t, he’d probably make them happen. He tried to claim the stories going around were false.

The video was concerning, and people within WWE were worried about Hardy for doing it. Others were unhappy, given Hardy, a WWE wrestler, showed the Pro Wrestling Torch web site on his computer during the video, and talked about his being sent home being a headline, and questioned why it was more of a headline then the main event on a house show, the death of a wrestler (Mike Shaw) and read that “Cena’s movie bombs,” the latter of which infuriated those in the company because it was a talent exposing Cena’s movie as bombing as being a story. There was also the question as to why he went on and claimed stories weren’t true that were true, given that in the long run it not only made him look bad, but would make the web sites he was critical of look like they were the honest ones.

Hardy also said that things were going to change, that last year was horrible, citing that his intestines exploded (I’m not sure if he was referring to when his appendix ruptured a few years ago) and blamed intestinal issues on his recent weight gain. He claimed he had found out his problem is he was having a hard time digesting red meat, and that he gave up all red meat two or three weeks ago, and had lost 13 pounds. In the next sentence, he said his weight had gone from 245 pounds to 224 pounds, and then said he had lost 21 pounds. He also blamed the story getting out on a “stooging Punk,” in reference presumably to C.M. Punk, who was on the tour.
On 9/14, Hardy didn’t give any answers, but did at least acknowledge something was amiss.

“When the time is right, I’ll put everything out there as far as what `really’ went down,” he wrote. “I know I have to protect me and my brand, and I will. I appreciate my fans so much that I’ll always be honest with them, and the whole story certainly isn’t out there now. I appreciate all the things the WWE has gone for me in the past, they have been gracious to me–but now, it’s decision time for me.”

What was interesting is that a few days earlier on Bubba the Love Sponge, Hulk Hogan actually brought up the name Matt Hardy as someone he’d like because he understands the business and knows how to get it done. But then Hogan tried to change the subject and said it was hypothetical when the subject of contract tampering came up.

There was a time a few months back where WWE made numerous calls to Jeff Hardy, both before and after his first Impact appearance and before he had signed the contract with TNA, offering him a sweet deal which would have included only working limited dates. But after Jeff Hardy, who many considered WWE’s most popular wrestler of 2009, failed to gain any real traction in TNA, WWE has almost given up monitoring or worrying about TNA.

It sure looks like Hardy is trying his best to get fired, especially crapping on John Cena.

 

Eh I don't think winning the World title was ever in his future. He had a very very good run, he won every major title in the WWE but the two World titles and the IC title and had been with the WWE full time since 1999 after being a jobber with them since 1995ish. That's pretty impressive. And he made a ton of money too. I just don't think he'd be given the belt because he was never super over outside of his first year as tag team with Jeff and when he first came back for the feud with Edge, but even those pops started to die down after the first few weeks. I just don't think fans ever thought he'd be another more than mid card talent and he never really got better in the ring, in fact his in ring skills have really slipped the past few years. And someone could make a solid argument that without Jeff, Matt might not have ever got a break in the WWE.

 

Well that goes for Jeff too. The Hardy Boys got their break together. Quite frankly for self trained wrestlers, they have FAR exceeded reasonable expectations in terms of "making it," in this business. But make no mistake about it, neither one is where they are today without the other. They were a package deal and will always be better (for business) together than apart.

Also, I tend to disagree about the pops dieing down after a few weeks. On the contrary I think Matt's ONLY reason for still being employed is that he connects with WWE's audience overall. Much better than most other wrestlers. Because you are right, his skills have eroded to the point of being unsafe and uninteresting. Either due to age and injuries or laziness or a combination of both. If the WWE didn't think they could make money with him (through merchandise, ticket sales, etc.), he would have been thrown out on his big fat *** years ago. Basically, Matt Hardy has been the benificiary of his own success, which ironically, will be the main reason for his downfall.

 

Good point about Jeff, he probably doesn't get a shot if he was never in the tag team.

When I was talking about the pop I might him getting a huge main event pop. He got a huge Austin/Rock like pop when he came back but I'd say after their Summer Slam match the enthusiasm for him died down pretty quickly. Yeah he always pops the crowd, much like Kane's entrance always does too. But I don't think Matt Hardy is selling a ton of merchandise or putting butts in the seats alone without Jeff, I think it's a package deal like you said. The only reason Matt is/was still employed by the WWE is because they didn't want him going over to TNA. Now that he's become such a pain and TNA isn't a threat to them anymore they might just cut him loose. Because he's just not the worker he once was or had that upside anymore.

Do you really think he still connects with the audience anymore? It's a serious question because I haven't really watched a WWE event since WM and can't remember the last time I saw a Matt Hardy match. I think maybe he still connects because people remember the Hardy Boy ladder matches and pop for his past. Kind of like when a popular pro athlete leaves a team for another for whatever reason and then resigns as a farewell tour and always gets cheered out of respect and because they're well liked.

 

While it's still 6 months away right now the rumored main event for WM is Sheamus vs. The Undertaker to unify both world titles. If that is even being discussed clearly the writers haven't gotten a clue. If they want to unify the belts I'm for it but why not do a dream Cena vs. Undertaker match instead? At least that's a money match right there.

 

I assume they are unifying all the belts due to the fact that smackdown is about to be on syfi and will prob. not get very many viewers possibly.

 

Yeah I think they're preparing for the worst (Smackdown being canceled) but they still like the idea of running two separate house shows so they would want to keep that going which will be hard without two world titles matches as the main events of the shows.

 

Just saw both Matt Hardy and Paul London's youtube videos. Hardy's was pretty creepy and he seemed really out of it. London's was pretty funny, he was mocking Hardy and actually has done an interview or two shooting on Hardy saying he's full of crap etc. Certainly interesting stuff. Hardy is definitely trying to get himself fired.

 

In a word: Yes. As a matter of fact, if the 'E, for whatever reason, puts a world title on him, the crowd would go nuts.

 

Really? I don't know, I have a hard time with that. Maybe if it was 2003 but he really hasn't done anything important in years. The crowd might go nuts for the finish of the actually match but I doubt he'd ever draw as champion. Connecting with the audience is one thing, being able to draw as a world champion is much different.

 

Why is Smackdown moving to Sci-Fi?

 

I'm not 100% positive but I don't think UPN wanted to keep them on their station anymore for whatever reason. I doubt it's the WWE's choice because moving to Sci-Fi seems like a death sentence.

 

Well, here's some surprises.

Daniel Bryan is the new United States Champion. Kane retains the World Heavyweight Championship.

 

Websites are reporting that last night was Chris Jericho's last night with the WWE. He's a free agent now. I think it's kind of weird timing that Jericho is gone with a DVD due out in a week. Maybe this is another angle of some sort. I sure as hell hope it is because he's great.

Keeping the title on Kane is just all kinds of dumb now, I really don't understand that one. But I'm glad Bryan is being given a run. The Miz doesn't need any titles right now since he's been on fire for months.

EDIT: Jericho is somewhat denying he's done with the WWE, saying if the internet says it's true it must be etc. Hopefully this time the internet will finally be wrong.

 

I absolutely think that you are right about his past performance pop. Those matches were so groundbreaking and amazingly put together that pretty much all 6 competitors (D-Von, Bubba, Edge, Christian, Jeff, Matt) will be remembered for a VERY long time. The evidence being that outside of possibly Edge, that is still the legacy match for every single one of them.

The problem, of course, is that you could follow up most everyone else's resume with more solid in ring matches and moments with the exception of Matt. The next biggest thing to happen to him was Lita cheating on him,which, ironically enough, is probably why he is still popular as well. A lot of people could identify with him as the jilted lover.

He will never be a world champion and I think the crowd would pop for the shear shock of it, but you are correct that he most likely wouldn't draw. You don't build a world title scene around Matt Hardy. You just don't.

Chances are that he will be let go some time this week.

 

Depends on a lot of factors obviously. But what does Cena gain from a match with Undertaker at this point? Cena is the face of the company and pretty much Superman. Having him end Taker's streak and unify the titles doesn't do a whole lot. I also don't trust most crowds to NOT **** all over Cena if he is the one to end Taker's 'Mania streak.

Sheamus however, has been able to milk the "ending of HHH's career," for months and is still, to a point a peripheral main eventer. If they build him up to a point where he is a legitimate contender AND he beats taker? You have yourself a future hall of famer on your hands.

At this point though, I think you make more money as a company having Taker remain undefeated forever than ending his streak. I still think that if you are going to end his streak, you have to have all the old opponents he has beaten come out to surround the ring and all contribute to beating up UT for some sort of screwy finish. Mainly because it could lead to an awesome endgame angle for Taker where he spends a year taking out all the guys who screwed him over and having a rematch with the guy who beat him at the following Wrestlemania where he gets his win back and rides off into the sunset.

It will never happen, but I think it would be an incredible story arc to end Take'rs impressive career, end the streak to give a new guy the rub and have Taker end on a high note like he probably should.

 

Well it's one of the only 'dream matches' left really that would get fans super excited to see. And outside of Triple H (which was before the WWE started the streak angle), Ric Flair and HBK there was never a WM match that UT went into that fans really had no idea who was going to win. Because Cena is always booked like Superman would only add to the unpredictability of that match. I never said Cena has to beat The Undertaker, because I believe it's better to just have UT stay undefeated just for streak sake.

Putting someone like Sheamus with a match with the Undertaker won't do a thing in my opinion. No one is going to buy Sheamus as the one to end his streak. Fans are still having a hard time buying Sheamus as a World title threat period, especially with the WWE still doing a poor job booking him in my opinion. Plus that match wouldn't be able to draw as the main event, especially if it was unifying both belts. The WWE would need a huge main event to really sell the show for those extra buys.

I agree that if the WWE was going to end UT's streak it should go to a rookie over an established guy the only problem is they need to feel 100% certain that the rookie is going to be a huge star who will stick around or they would have wasted a big money angle/gimmick for nothing.

 

I'm glad I was wrong about Jericho so far. But it seems like he's going to take a leave after next week. His band is touring Europe in October so I guess it would make sense to write him off until the Royal Rumble or something like that.

 

It does look like the WWE is going to release Matt Hardy this week. I just hope for Matt's sake he has thought about this really hard because once he's released I would be shocked if the WWE would ever bring him back. He handled this situation poorly and unprofessionally in my opinion and I'm sure Vince is going to hold a grudge and use this as a lesson to talent in the future.

Either way I'm kind of hoping Matt bombs in TNA, which I think he will after the initial 'shock' of him debuting.

 

Next week's RAW:

Spoiler

It was taped last night and Jericho and Orton wrestle to a DQ and Orton punts Jericho who does a stretcher job. So it does look like they're writing him off for awhile.

Also Sheamus loses a match to the Great Khali by count out. I haven't seen a 'main event' wrestler booked so poorly since Jericho had the world titles in 2002. How can fans get behind Sheamus when he can't even beat Khali. Seriously it's the Great Khali, not Andre the Giant.

 

Another wrestling death, this time it's the Giant Gonzales.

Former WCW and WWF star Jorge "Giant" Gonzales passed away today in Argentina due to health complications from diabetes and other physical issues stemming from his height. Gonzales wrestled in both WWF and WCW in the early 1990's and faced the Undertaker at WrestleMania IX in 1993. He had been ill for some time and canceled a convention in the US recently.

RIP Gonzales. Weird, I was just watching 1993 Royal Rumble where Gonzales debuts.

 

Yeah, El Gigante has kind of a unique place in wrestling seeing a show he wasn't around THAT long, wasn't a good wrestler AT ALL and didn't have a real memorable feud outside of maybe The Undertaker one. Yet, he is one of the most talked about and remembered wrestlers of the past 20 years. I guess that is what being 7'7" and wearing a furry bodysuit will do for you.

Always liked him when he was in WCW and marked like crazy when he went to the WWE because he was one of the first faces I recognized going from one area to another in which the new fed pretended like he was someone new to the industry all together. Kevin Nash was another one after his Vinnie Vegas persona.

 

Met Jimmy Snuka the other day. Real nice guy. I mean really really nice!