No the Rock has not come back, at least not yet. However, I have FINALLY found time to post the winners of the second round of #FailedGimmicks matches.
Thanks to @JHorton92 for breaking the tie, The Millionaires Club defeated the New Blood.
50% - 50%
Another Russo venture, Sports Entertainment Xtreme defeated the Natural Born Thrillers
60%
40%
I still don't understand Reno's gear.........
3 Count, who for most of the voting was leading 100% to 0% Held on and defeated Men on a Mission or M.O.M.
88%
Still a better gimmick than whatever the hell "DILLIGAF" is, and yes I know what it means....
12%
Big Daddy Purple...........
In a battle of the teams that began with "T's" because there is nothing else to note about them, Teckno Team 2000, with perhaps the hippest name in wrestling defeated the Truth Commision.
86%
14%
In a battle of clean vs dirty, I guess. The Goodwins defeated The Body Donnas
86%
14%
In that period of time, where SmackDown needed to fill time on Velocity, these teams were born. They couldn't even get over on Velocity. The Dicks defeated the Gymini.
75%
25%
That it for this round. Vote on the third round now!
I will be writing an on-going blog on the problem with TNA as I see it.
Here is part 2, of a however many part it takes me, series.
Paul Heyman once said, in an interview, about TNA, that if he were hired by them, he would cut everyone on the roster that was under 40, or something of the like. He said that while wrestling organization’s need legends, too many legends make the idea of having the legends, pointless.
I couldn’t agree with him more. ECW, prospered with their resident legend, Terry Funk, who unlike other legends of the time, did his job as a legend and got other people over.While I don’t mean to say that legends should be jobbers, legends in a company like TNA, should help to get the younger guys over.
The legends in TNA or the haphazard booking of TNA seems as if they are unaware of this. Maybe if they thought; “Oh hey we can get all these young guys over, by working them with Sting, that way when Sting retires we will still have legitimate stars” then Roode not being ‘ready’ to be “the top guy” wouldn’t be an issue.
TNA throws on TV, on a weekly basis, angles featuring two wrestlers that have already been established. ‘Can this old veteran, that was basically a mid-carder his whole career, beat this other former mid-carder? Buy the PPV to find out!’ It’s like no, I already saw that match, 10 years ago, and it was a throw away match on Raw….
Half of the fun, of watching wrestling on a regular basis is seeing the development of young wrestlers, and watching them eventually become main eventers.
In this world of weekly wrestling programming, that is a necessity. Maybe in the 80s an organization could get away with pushing the same guys all the time, because the big draw back then was the Supercards, which often were spaced out, and some fans wouldn’t even see the buildup for them, if there was any.
Today, however, you’ve got a weekly wrestling program, that while serving as a show to hype a pay per view, in some cases is almost as important as a pay per view. That’s why WWE is successful and TNA toils in the 1.0s. WWE pushes new starts, has somewhat fresh angles, and usually does the basic thing that wrestling is meant to do, entertain.
The entertainment from a wrestling angle comes usually with a bad guy, and a good guy; for those of you who live under the mark-rock, Heels and Faces; and usually the bad guy, throughout the angle is made to look like a jack ass, while the good guy comes out looking like a hero.
TNA, and Eric Bischoff’s WCW are apparently not aware of this. The typical TNA heel usually throughout an angle attempts to make themselves seem righteous, and often buries the face, in the process. Once a typical TNA face has shown that they cannot be buried, they become a Heel, often in a nonsensical turn of events.
Furthermore, it is just lazy booking to just put all of an organization’s heels into one group. It isn’t the Justin League for god sakes, its wrestling…….
I will be writing an on-going blog on the problem with TNA as I see it.
Here is part 1, of a however many part it takes me, series.
Last night, I got home from work, after working a
fourteen hour shift, and as I sat down, I took a look at the results for TNA’s
version of Wrestlemania, known as Bound For Glory.
Headlining the show, was a
match between a LEGEND, who has already proven himself to be one of the best in
the world, as long as he is not drinking, or being “hacked” on his Twitter
account.; and a TNA original, that went threw what I would like to refer to
as a bat-shit crazy, point based tournament type of thing, known as the Bound
For Glory series.
Any kind of self respecting, wrestling organization,
that subjected its fans threw said, crazy ass tournament, would likely have the
winner of the tournament; which was for the right to compete for the World
Championship, sorry TNA Championship; win the championship, in the big payoff
match.
TNA, however, it not any kind of self respecting
wrestling organization. As I read the results, and subsequently thought to
myself how lucky I was, that I hadn’t wasted any money, on the damn thing, I
could not believe TNA had done it again. More than that though, I could not
believe I was surprised about it.
I did not have to watch the PPV to realize that it
was garbage, for one thing ROODE DID NOT GO OVER!
Think about this, TNA spent months, wasting time on
this damn thing. Someone actually spent time, coming up with an explanation for
this damn thing, and TNA somehow actually stuck to it, and kept continuity in
this "tournament".All of this
valuable TV time, and in some cases PPV time, were wasted just so Angle could
beat Roode, WITH HIS FOOT ON THE ROPES!
I mean come on.Even if they wanted Angle to go over, the match should NOT have ended
with that kind of a finish.
I understand, I am in the 10% that Bischoff, and
TNA, and Country Carter, don’t care about, but I can basically guarantee them, that if they were
to cater to the “10%” they would not lose the other 90% because good wrestling
is synonymous with good TV.
I understand that I sound like some kind of whiney
smark right now, but TNA is the alternative. Whether we like it or not, it’s
the other show on TV.
I’ve been watching TNA since the weekly PPV days. I started
watching TNA for that same reason, because they were the alternative. TNA in its
early days; it’s days before the crusty veterans decided that while they were retiring in Florida, they might as well get a retirement job, for the local promotion; was
carried on the backs of the X Division. TNA
took from the late WCW the few still entertaining ideas that were left.
Somewhere along the way, TNA lost its way. In came
Hall and Nash, in came Booker T, in came Flair and worst of all, in came Hogan.....
So here at the blog, the #FailedGimmicks tournament has been ongoing. The winners for the most ridiculous bracket have been announced, which you can read here. The second bracket is all about the worst Tag Teams and Stables, so vote now! Click here to vote.
So the results of the first Bracket of the #FailedGimmicks Tournament are finally here.
You can vote on the next round, right now! Just head over to the #FailedGimmicks page
Thank You for everyone who voted. So without further ado...
The first bracket, which was dubbed 'The Most Ridiculous' gimmicks, lived up to it's name.
In match one, the One and hopefully only Kiss Demon defeated The Patriot by a vote of 81% to 19%
Def.
In match two, Konan's legacy in the WWE defeated The Goon by a vote of 73% to 27%
Def.
In match three, The notorious fall through the wall, Shockmaster defeated Kizarny by a vote of 75% to 25%
Def.
In match four, The Kevin Fertig Bowl, Mordecai defeated Kevin Thorn, in an upset (not really an upset, it just sounded cool to say that) With a vote of 64% to 36%
Def.
In the much anticipated Dustin Runnel's Bowl, Black Reign shocked the football world with a victory over Seven. With a vote of 67% to 33%
Def.
Last, but certainly not least. DR. Kane, took on Jeff Hardy's crowning achievement. (Well, it certainly wasn't winning the TNA Title) with a vote of 75% to 25%
So it's finally here, the #FailedGimmicks tournament is up, there might be some kinks with everything, but I hope it goes smooth. Shout out to everyone that used the hash tag #FailedGimmicks, as that is where I pulled most of the names for the massive 36 gimmick tournament from.
The voting for the first bracket will end Wednesday October 12th, so head over the Tournament page and vote for the worst gimmicks. You can vote as often, and as much as you want. Check it out here.
Inthe past year, I'm not sure what I've watched less of, The Lifetime Network, Cinemax which I am not subscribed to, or WWE Smack Down.
Smack Down was my first foray in to wrestling, and it is a shame that rarely, if ever do I watch it.
The crazy thing about it is I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it is about Smack Down that makes me not care about it.
Is it the fact that it's on Fridays?
Is it the fact that I know what will happen three days in advance?
Is it the lackluster roster?
Is it the fact that it is blatantly the "B" show?
The truth is it is probably a mix of all of those things. Smack Down is WWE's "B" show; there is no doubt about it. There is a reason why the RAW main event on a WWE PPV, is always the last match to go on.
Take this past year’s WrestleMania, for example. Does anyone care about Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio? Or do they want to see the Miz vs. John Cena with involvement from the Rock?
Smack Down is taped on Tuesdays, for the few who didn't understand what Paul Heyman meant at One Night Stand, and who currently reside under a rock (Is that where parts unknown is?) and has always been the compliment show to RAW.
It was designed as a compliment show, and was very effective as that before the "Brand Extension". There were even rumors that the original concept for Smack Down, was to be a Diva’s show.
Having the stigma of a "compliment show" for so long has probably hurt its credibility as its own brand. Couple that with the fact that their "World Championship" is the old WCW Belt, and the fact that the "WWE Title" is a RAW championship.
Is this why Smack Down sucks? Or does it just suck?
The spoilers are often so bland that I never feel like tuning in. Often, I don't even bother to set my DVR to record it, unless of course, Zack Ryder’s name pops up somewhere in the spoiler. By contrast, I almost always DVR Raw, and never miss it.
Some weeks, I even watch TNA, and don’t miss Smack Down. I often ask myself why. Well, for one, TNA is available on Demand. Often, I tune in, and I am not sure what week’s episode it is. TNA literally has the same thing, every single week.
TNA spoilers are usually as bland as Smack Down’s, but sometimes there is something I read in a TNA spoiler, and think to myself, “Are they serious?” This causes me to tune in, and find out, that yes sadly they were serious. Ric Flair really is facing Sting, for the right to face Hogan, and no sadly, it is not 1995.
But does me watching TNA sometimes more often than SmackDown mean that I think Smack Down is worse than TNA?
It was a Thursday night, Thanksgiving actually, and as I flipped through the channels, I landed on one, one I had not seen before, one that caught my eye. I was nine years old at the time, and I knew that what I was watching was entertaining, not only was it entertaining, it was action packed as well.
I was watching the 1999 edition of Thanksgiving SmackDown, and I have been a fan ever since.
It started watching casually, then when I discovered that the same thing could be seen on Monday nights, I naturally tuned in.
Sometime later, I stumbled across a wrestling magazine at the local supermarket, but not just any magazine, it was a Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
Inside I read all about everything that was going on in wrestling, but the most important thing I found inside was a listing of all Pro Wrestling television shows. Every week I would tune in to WCW, WWE, and ECW, I would hate the heels, and love the faces.
At Nine years old, I was a mark....
Soon, the shows weren't enough and I began reading all about wrestling on the internet, and discovered what are now known as "dirt sheets". I was an active member in the Internet Wrestling Community. I was a 10%er. I discovered a whole new love for something, I had already loved.
At Ten years old, I was a smark...
Since then I have continued to follow wrestling, read the "dirt sheets", attend Indy shows, follow WWE, and unfortunately for me, and anyone else with eyeballs, TNA.
However, through it all, I have kept it a secret. I've done this to avoid the stigma that is placed on someone who is a wrestling fan. The constant "you know its fake right" or "how can you watch that, it's all a show" are far too annoying to have to put up with.
I like it, because it’s a show. I appreciate the showmanship, but most of all; I appreciate the athleticism coupled with the showmanship.
WWE and TNA’s current product, don’t do much to help out wrestling fan’s dealing with criticism.
However, after ordering the ROH I-PPV; Best in the World 2011, and witnessing the history C.M. Punk made on RAW, only a night later, I felt it was time.
I felt that maybe, just maybe, wrestling could be cool again. I had to once again, share my opinions, and thoughts with that glorious 10% that Eric Bischoff hates, the Internet Wrestling Community.
So, here I am. I will vent, I will complain, I will criticize, but through it all, I am a fan, in secrecy.
-Mark X
