Hey, everybody!
We’ve decided that since we missed giving you a show this week (which will NOT happen next week) we should give you something to tide you over. So, Pinfall Recall proudly presents the first (and potentially last depending on the popularity) installment of:
Team Member Talks!
Hello All, I’m Danny Charisma, no introduction needed, you all know and wish you were me, especially certain members or member. We have a great column here for you friends, so enjoy! And remember; DC is always right, Robbie is almost always right, Milo didn’t manage to make it this week, and JG and CK are in charge, so I’m going stop before I get myself into trouble.
Since everyone loves arguing about things on our podcasts and our forums, we’ve decided to give you a way to read all of the heavily analyzed and expertly crafted opinions of our Pinfall Recall Team right here in one place, as we gather to decide whether each statement is “Totally True or Fuckin’ False!” Each and every week the team comes together to answer the tough questions, and the host changes every time. Obviously, this is DC’s week. The host compiles the questions, and the rest of the team lays out their opinions right along-side those of the host. So, without further ado, I present to you our sixth edition of Pinfall Recall’s
Totally True or Fuckin’ False? (continued after the jump…)
Click here to (more…)
This week I, the benevolent and magnificent RDB, am posting the statements. What will this hard hitting Pre-Journalism major throw at the team members this week? Well to find out you are going to have to scroll down there minions! Now quit dawdling and read on in the latest edition of Pinfall Recall’s Totally True or Fuckin False!
Your team members are:
CK- Pinfall Recall Co-Founder
JG- Pinfall Recall Co-Founder and CK’s better half
Milo- The newest Pinfall Recall team member and newsman
DC- Pinfall Recall’s resident charismatic Canadian
RDB- Pinfall Recall team member and news fetcher
On to the statements!
Statement 1: The whole Roddy Piper marijuana is being blown out of proportion and will do no harm to his legacy.
CK: Totally True. I really don’t think that smoking a little marijuana is going to hurt the guy’s legacy. Piper is a big part of wrestling’s past, and people will always remember him more for Piper’s Pit than they will for Piper’s Pipe.
JG: Totally True. Pot is not a gateway drug contrary to popular belief, and to be honest people don’t care about pot anymore. It used to be a big deal if someone was a pot smoker. Now it’s more of a big deal if a celebrity ISN’T a pot smoker. It’s not a big deal to me, and I don’t think the WWE or its fans are going to spend too much time discrediting everything Roddy has done just because he lights a joint once in a while.
DC: Fuckin False. I have no respect for piper even though he beat Cancer, how magical. But in all honesty, to have such a dirty habit such as smoking pot and using a diesease as a scape goat is bullshit, I hope that WWE boycotts Piper as he is no example of how a wrestler or fan should act. RIP Rodney the Piper.
Milo: Totally True. Roddy Piper was known for being unruly during his time with the WWE anyway, I don’t see how him smoking pot would tarnish or even put a smidge on his legacy. As long as he’s not hurting anyone in the process, let him do what he likes, I say. I doubt a little bit of pot smoking will do damage to the image of a 3 time NWA heavyweight champion.
RDB: Totally True. If Hulk Hogan can molest his daughter’s ass on camera, why can’t Roddy Piper smoke weed? The man is Canadian too so he doesn’t know any better, it is legal up there. And he lives in Portland Fucking Oregon! There’s burned out potheads everywhere you turn down here, and you could go downtown and get a dimebag easier then you can get ice cream. Give the man a break, he’s old and a legend, he’s earned his peace…pipe.
Statement 2: Kozlov has become an afterthought in the WWE Title picture with the resurgence of Jeff Hardy.
CK: Fuckin False. But this is only because I don’t honestly feel that he was a true thought in the picture anyway. Combine that with Edge’s re-insertion into the picture from Survivor Series, and I think we’ll be seeing Kozlov getting involved in some matches that will allow his in-ring skills to mature without being in such an incredibly important position on the show.
JG: Totally True. Kozlov was pushing up to the top with a force that I hated to see. The good news is that now that Jeff Hardy is showing more emotion, no one cares about Kozlov. *SPOILER ALERT* Now that Edge is back, no one likely even remembers Kozlov’s name. The only problem I can really see now is… where the fuck does Kozlov go now? They pushed him to the top, then brought up Jeff Hardy VERY quickly and then let Edge come back. What happens to Kozlov? RELEASE!
DC: Fuckin False. The Moscow Mauler is not being over looked, if anything, WWE is building up Jeff for Kozlov to cut down, I think Kozlov looks impressive as ever.
Milo: Fuckin False. Vladimir Kozlov may be quite green in the ring, and have dreadful mic skills, but the potential for him to be an absolute beast and be a world champ is still there. I think its just important for him to keep getting in-ring work, and develop his skill-set before he wins a major title. The idea of Kozlov becoming an afterthought, though, is a bit silly at this point in his career. He could be one of the next great heels in WWE history.
RDB: Totally True. Because of what happened last night. I remember about a month ago I was at No Mercy and believed that Kozlov was going to be the guy taking the gold off of Triple H. He was badass and a force to be reckoned with. Then Jeff Hardy caught fire and I noticed that no one was talking about Kozlov anymore. Suddenly Jeff was the favorite (until Edge returned) and now Kozlov has nowhere to go. Look for the inevitable big man vs. big man feud for Kozlov to enter and I bet he goes against Undertaker at WrestleMania.
Statement 3: WWE’s stock and Raw’s lower than normal ratings are something to be concerned about.
CK: Totally True. But no more than these kind of drops have been alarming in the past. We’ve seen big drops before, and they seem to turn around. Fact of the matter is, the economic condition of the USA is scaring many people, and there are a while lot of TV viewers spending more time worrying about their financial positions instead of watching TV. Most shows are dropping in the ratings now, aside from a select few, so while it is certainly a cause for concern, I don’t think it’s cause for major alarm. None of the shows are going anywhere, as those kind of ratings are still solid for cable TV.
JG: Fuckin False. I think this is the tide of the economy. I honestly don’t see WWE having ANYTHING to worry about for quite some time. In a worst case, McMahon will dip into some of his billions in order to save his baby because it will DEFINITELY come back up. The truth is that even though McMahon is a money grubbing bastard, he’d rather take some of his money to make it work than see the company go in the shitter. WWE will be fine. They may have lower ratings and some lower ticket sales, but it happens. It’ll be fine.
DC: Fuckin False. If anything it will convice WWE to book the best Quality shows in recent history! Like Cody Rhodes says, Its like Addition by Subtraction. I see this being the boost to the WWE to make it better than the Attitude era.
Milo: Fuckin False. WWE really has no major competition, and as long as that’s the case, they’ll manage to land on their feet. I also think that John Cena’s return will help boost ratings. Whether you love him or hate him, you must admit that he gets people watching the brand.
Yes, WWE’s stock has taken a dramatic fall of late, but look around. Basically every major company’s stock has dropped. Until we get our economy straightened out (Who knows how many years from now that’ll happen), WWE’s stock really can’t be judged poorly for recording low numbers.
RDB: Fuckin False. Everything is down. The whole US economy is as about as attractive Josh with his pants off, eating cheetos and watching porn. It’s not pretty. Hell if you are making a profit then you should write a book about it since it seems to be the hardest thing to do these days in big business. The ratings will return with Cena which is why they gave him the belt last night instead of having him chase the thing. Raw is actually putting together some good matches and it’s only a matter of time before people notice and start tuning in.
Statement 4: In hindsight, WWE should have kept Mike Adamle on as General Manager of Raw.
CK: Fuckin False. While it may be coincidence that the booking improvements occurred after his departure, I think it is safe to say that the ability to execute these types of angles would have been seriously hampered by Adamle’s “acting” in the position. His removal was the right move to make at the right time. WWE gave him 3 distinct opportunities to make a TV role work, and it just wasn’t right for Mike.
JG: Completely and Totally Fuckin False. I am ecstatic that that fucker is off TV. I hated him on TV and I am unbelievably happy that he’s gone. It’s kinda shitty how it happened considering they didn’t tell him about it, but I’m glad. I don’t really have much else to say about it. It’s just false. Bringing McMahons back on air has ALWAYS increased ratings, so this can’t possibly hurt. Hooray for the return of Nipple H.
DC: Totally True. Ive said it a million times and ill say it again, WWE really dropped the ball with Adamle, they had something going with his Adamle Originals and his Neutral/tweener/newbie Character, He was literally my favorite GM of all time and I really hope WWE brings him back. AS much as I love all the McMahon’s, Adamle was really rocking my boat.
Milo: Totally True. Not to suggest that he should have been kept on TV for another year, but another couple of months would have made it look like he was given a fair shake as Raw GM. Yes, he struggled mightily during his brief time on TV, but he was in the wrong place and wrong time more than anything else. If this was a time that WWE was excelling in the ratings, he could have kept that spot a bit longer, and improved over time.
RDB: Totally True. The WWE needs an on air General Manager for Raw. After Bischoff was fired I started to lose interest. Vince said he was going to find a GM, that never happened. He died, came back, died again and only then did we get a freaking General Manager for Raw. I liked Adamle. Sure he flubbed some lines and wasn’t really intimidating, but when he slapped Orton in the face I thought this guy had a future. Obviously I was wrong. To be frank, I’m not all that excited that Shane and Steph are back because they’ll only be around for a few weeks and then Raw will be left the same boring place it was after Bischoff. Adamle at least had a swagger that I could enjoy. He wasn’t threatening but with him at the helm we saw the Championship Scramble match, Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho in arguably the best singles ladder match of the decade, and Raw became fun again for a few weeks. It was a mistake to leave Raw without a figurehead.
Statement 5: We will see roster’s cut due to hard financial times in WWE (ala TNA).
CK: Totally True. We already have been. We’ve seen a whole chunk of Talent released over the last month, but if you want my opinion, most of them were the right people to cut loose. Its a shame when the economy forces these kinds of decisions, but they need to be made.
JG: Fuckin False. We’ll see rosters cut due to them having to pay the bigger stars to stay or to come back (Christian Cage), and we’ll see rosters cut due to drugs and ‘roids and to lack of talent (both on the creative team and the actual wrestlers). The hard financial times won’t end up having an impact on the product at all.
DC: Totally True. But to an extent, I think we’ll see a few people get the big Axe, but not as many as specualted, WWE is a very succesful company and to keep it that way they need their performers! In the long run I think WWE will be fine! Unlike TNA.
Milo: Fuckin False. The WWE doesn’t have nearly the amount of underutilized talent that TNA has, which is really what roster cuts are all about. Money does play a part, but not nearly to the extent that people think. If money was foremost in roster cuts, than John Cena or Triple H would be getting cut, because their getting paid considerably more than lower card scrubs. If a guy isn’t being used at all, and management is unable to conjure up a future storyline in which they would have relevance, they are the ones to get cut. Because WWE doesn’t have a ton of those guys, I doubt you’ll be seeing upcoming sweeping changes.
RDB: Totally True. The WWE is doing what it can to keep stock up and to keep its product entertaining. If that means that Vinny Mac is going to have to cut some of the fat (like he has been doing a little bit) then he will do so. WWE wants to hold on to big name talent and get whatever they can from TNA which means that some lower card guy’s have to go. This happens every year it seems like but with the economy down I think that the more talent slips up then the less likely they’ll be asked to come back next Monday, Tuesday or Friday night.
Let’s face it, we all know that I, JG, am right 99% of the time. Occasionally CK finds a nugget of rightness, but usually it all belongs to me. Since everyone loves arguing about things on our podcasts and our forums, we’ve decided to give you a way to read all of the heavily analyzed and expertly crafted opinions of our Pinfall Recall Team right here in one place, as we gather to decide whether each statement is “Totally True or Fuckin’ False!” Each and every week the team comes together to answer the tough questions, and the host changes every time. DC took hosting duties for # 1, CK for #2, and now JG comes to CLEAN HOUSE, BITCHES! The host compiles the questions, and the rest of the team lays out their opinions right along-side those of the host. So, without further ado, I present to you our third edition of Pinfall Recall’s
Totally True or Fuckin’ False? (continued after the jump…)
Click here to (more…)
In this crazy wrestling world, there are a lot of conflicting opinions, and most of them can be found being argued on our boards, and of course in our awesome podcasts. But now you have a way to read all of the heavily analyzed and expertly crafted opinions of our Pinfall Recall Team right here in one place, as we gather to decide whether each statement is “Totally True or Fuckin’ False!“ Each and every week the team comes together to answer the tough questions, and the host changes every time. DC took hosting duties for # 1, and now I’m here to bring the heat. The host compiles the questions, and the rest of the team lays out their opinions right along-side those of the host. So, without further ado, I present to you our second edition of Pinfall Recall’s
Totally True or Fuckin’ False? (continued after the jump…)
Click here to (more…)
Hey all you Pinfall Recall fans, good news. To make Pinfall Recall your hook up for all things wrestling, we here at the Pinfall Recall headquarters have taken several steps to do so. Firstly, JG and CK are pretty frequent at dishing out podcasts. RDB and Milo (for now you son of a bitch) are bringing you the juiciest news! and I DC am spearheading the project of all projects! (UNTIL I MAKE MY GRAND RETURN TO THE MIC) Bringing you loyal fans the Best Columns around! Starting with this one! In a new PFRC Series…..”Totally True or Fuckin’ False“. So without further ado, I proudly present you with Show #1 in the www.pinfallrecall.com EXCLUSIVE column, lets find out if things are …..”Totally True or Fuckin’ False“.
- Danny Charisma
Participants
CK - Pinfall Recall Creator & Resident Jew
JG - Pinfall Recall Creator & Fucking Asshole
RDB - Pinfall Recall Team Member & Bedroom God
DC - #1 Pinfall Recall Team Member & Podcast King
Question #1
As much as WWE tries, Matt Hardy will never truly be “Main Event” material.
CK - Fuckin’ False. But with a catch. I’m forced to answer the question as given, so I will. I said Fuckin’ False because I do think that Matt has the potential to be “Main Event” material. I don’t think he’ll ever be remembered as one of the best if he gets there, and I don’t even think he’ll be there for a long part of his career, but I do think he has it in him. However, I don’t like the question, because it implies that WWE has tried to get him to main event status. I don’t think that’s the case. They have buried Matt many times before, and I don’t think they will ever actually try to get him there. The ECW title is not main event. It is the equivalent of the Intercontinental Belt, or maybe like the Cruiserweight Belt used to be. WWE will never look at Matt as a main eventer, despite how over he is with the fans, and that’s why I don’t like this question.
JG - Fuckin’ False. I think Matt Hardy has complete potential to run the show if he is given the chance. The big thing is that we’re only getting to see Matt Hardy v. Mark Henry. Let’s be honest, I don’t care who it is, if you put them up against Mark Henry, the chance of it being a good match are slim. Matt Hardy does everything he can to make it work, and he definitely has the talent and the passion to run with the title and truly be a main event-er. The other thing is… he would be a better champion if we could put him on a show with a smaller champion. For example, Hardy v. Jericho could be great and I truly believe that Hardy v. Cena (when Cena comes back) could be great too. What if we gave Jeff Hardy the belt on SD and then had Matt come over and started a brother v. brother feud? You see… there’s definite potential with Matt Hardy.
RDB - Totally True, But not because WWE tries. I think WWE fucked him a while back by having him job forever and now that they are building him up, I can’t see him going any farther than an ECW title. Matt will always have a fan-base and IMO he would be a good champion. But I can’t see them ever pulling the trigger like they want to do with Jeff. Though if his ECW run is good hopefully he will prove me wrong.
Danny Charisma - Well this is an easy one, obviously Totally True. Matt Hardy is not entertaining, a wrestling god or have the look of a main-eventer. Hell, does he even have a character or gimmick? Matt is kinda like Chavo Guerrero, they try to push him, but it just doesn’t work. Just like Chavo, Matt has TOTALLY DESTROYED the ECW Championships credibility. This is why Matt will never be more than what he is now, true WWE fans just wont stand for it! Jeff on the other hand is where the money’s at.
Question #2
TNA constantly drops the ball by poor overall booking of thier shows.
JG - Fuckin’ False. I don’t think TNA does any worse booking than the “E” does; in fact, I think they’re usually booked better. At least TNA’s feuds all make sense, and they all have enough, but not too much story to build things up. TNA has a lot of guys that are great at what they do and are completely 100% passionate and dedicated to the business. They want nothing more than to become true competition with WWE, and honestly these days, I’m finding that I would rather watch TNA than WWE.
Danny Charisma - Totally True! TNA has always been shit! The reason for this is thier shitty booking. They constantly burry thier homegrown talent, They waste their time with gimmicks that go no where, example, Super Eric. They have far too many gimmick matches with constant run in’s and too many twists and turns. They have sooooooo much potential from a roster stand point, but they waste it every single time. They NEED to start booking WWE Style if they truly want to be succesful.
CK - Totally True. And I know that JG will disagree with me. I’ll admit that I haven’t been as avid a TNA fan as I would have liked up to this point, although I’ve seen every show for about the last 2 months, and I’ve kept up with results in the time I wasn’t watching. The current New vs Old thing is very interesting to me, and I like several of the other story-lines they have running now, but I think the fact that I couldn’t be bothered to tune in is a testament to the fact that I was put off by everything I was hearing about the shows for months, and that says a lot. I think things are improving, and the fact that the agents are going to get more involved is a positive. I’ve been starting to enjoy the shows more, and I think they are slowly turning in the right direction, but they have squandered a lot of good faith and wasted their originals pretty heavily for the last year. So while things are getting better, I hold to my answer that right now, the booking is indeed dropping the ball more often than not.
RDB - Fuckin’ False - I think this is evident if you look at Bound for Glory. Yes Sting went over again, and yes he won’t hold the title that long but if you look at most of those matches, they were good. The X-Division is looking stronger and the main event scene seems to be changing a bit. I think they can do some good with Foley and in the next couple of months you will see an improved TNA product.
Question #3
The creation of the new “Legends Championship” in TNA is a waste of time, They could have created a mid card championship that would have been more effective in the long run.
RDB - Totally True - But not for the reason of creating another mid-card belt. The X-Division belt is the mid-card belt so they don’t need another one, it would have been the European Championship of its time. I don’t think it could be a complete waste of time to tell you the truth. They could use it as a way for Booker to help put someone over who they could build to be champion, but will they? If they would do this I think it would be a good idea but it sounds like a way for Booker to bury some lesser known superstars so I’ll go with true.
JG - Totally True. I think they truly believe that this “Legends Championship” is going to help the Old vs. New angle, but I think it only stands to hurt it. A silly waste of a belt that’s going to have matches between people that I don’t care about. I would love to watch more mid-carders (Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, etc…) get to fight over a new belt than the old people like Booker T, Sting, etc. I mean, there is the X Division Championship, but another belt (kinda like when WWE had the European Title) wouldn’t hurt at all.
Danny Charisma - Totally True and I hope and pray to myself that this somehow turns into a midcard championship. If they actually keep this belt around for longer than 3 months, I will shit my pants, I’ve never seen such a more stupid move in wrestling. This is a horrible idea and proof why TNA drops the ball with everything. Also, I would love if they kept the X-Division title to crusierweights only.
CK - Totally True. This choice is a great example of the booking problems from the last question. Is there nothing better to do with the 2 hours a week than fight over this silly title that they can’t have looked more than a couple months ahead with for the booking? The name of it is outright dumb as well. When you look at the “legends” in TNA right now you have Sting, Nash, and Foley that could even really qualify. With Booker starting it, logic puts Angle and Booker into that category as well. No one else really comes close. Which really comes down to meaning this is a waste of my time. Now if it eventually turns into some kind of mid-level title and loses the “Legends” name down the line? I’m all for that.
Question #4
Santino Marella is the best choice to beat the Honky Tonk Man’s record Intercontinental Championship Reign.
Danny Charisma - OMG!!…….TOTALLY TRUE! If anyone deserves to beat the HTM’s reign, it should be the greatest Intercontinental Champion ever! Santino Marella! Not only is he doing a great job hyping the belt, but he gets it on TV Every Week. Santino has brought the prestige of the IC title back into the WWE. Another reason why he would be perfect is because he is like The Rock, NO ONE and The rock means No one, will ever forget Santino Marella, he is pure gold.
RDB - Fuckin’ False - For the love of god I hope not. I couldn’t take a year of him being champion and frankly he’s no Randy Orton who was the best Intercontinental Champion to have held the belt in the last 5 years. They aren’t helping him by having him go over 55 year olds in a PPV match and they need to have him beat legitimate guys for him to stop being a joke.
CK - Fuckin’ False. Now granted, Honkey Tonk wasn’t a super-serious wrestler type either, but I just don’t see Santino as he is now being a good choice to break such a record. Not only are his current matches a discredit to the title (when he even is actually putting it up), they are a joke. It is wasting the time of other mid-carders who could use a push of being involved in higher profile IC title matches, and while it certainly provides comedy now, I don’t see myself feeling the same way 55 weeks from now.
JG - Totally True. As much as I hate to say it, after watching Santino over the last few weeks, I have to say that he’s been unbelievably entertaining. And let’s be honest, the Honkey Tonk Man was not the best wrestler ever, but more of a gimmick that people loved to watch. I’m not saying he was bad in the ring (and if you remember back when Santino was actually kinda-sorta-wrestling he wasn’t bad either), but I’m saying that given Santino’s gimmick and the comedy that he passes to the masses, I wouldn’t be mad if he took the record. Truth is, if he takes the record, it proves that the IC title is worthless, then WWE will likely put it on Kofi thus dooming him to defend a title that everyone thinks might as well be plastic. I’d like to see someone take it off Santino in week 63 or 64, but if he took the record, I wouldn’t be TOO pissed, since I basically stopped paying attention to the IC title after Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels were fighting for it.
Question #5
Jackass And WWE are actually pretty entertaining together!
JG - Fuckin’ False. I hate stupid things like this and WWE thinks it’s going to bring some great ratings. The fact is, it might boost ratings in the 10-18 year-old demographic, but it’s not going to do anything major for the show and ultimately it hurts the overall product that WWE is trying to create. Johnny Knoxville is a horrible actor (except in The Ringer), and Chris Pontius is fucking stupid. Ultimately one of a few things are going to happen. Johnny Knoxville and his counterparts are going to get actually hurt (did you see Johnny’s “bump”??), Johnny Knoxville and his counterparts are going to go over Khali et al, which will effectively prove to us that the “E” hates Khali and has nowhere for him to go spelling his impending release, or Khali et al are going to end up SQUASHING harder than ever the Jackass crew, making us all feel like we wasted a part of our lives watching something when it could’ve at least been a real match. The only thing we can hope for here is that they have some sort of interference which could lead to a more important feud later on… good luck to WWE on that one.
CK - Totally True. Right now. But we are only one week in. We already used up midget jokes, the Boogeyman, and calling Beth Phoenix manly, not to mention a Big Dick Johnson sighting. With all of those things exhausted (though they will likely show up again on Raw Tonight), there is really only so far this thing can go, which is why its good that Cyber Sunday is less than a week away. Hopefully it stops there before they kill it, but right now, yes, its entertaining.
RDB - HAHAHAHA! Good one. It was kinda funny when Steve-O no sold Umaga a while back, but come on is it going to go anywhere? It will be interesting if they do an Anaconda Ball Pit match but I doubt that’ll happen, so fuckin’ false.
Danny Charisma - Totally True! whats better than one entertaining show? How about two entertaining shows! This is like the Simpsons and Family Guy coming together! Pure Amazingness. Johnny Knoxville for the record is amazing, I hope that this continues far into the future. We need a Team Jackass v.s. Team WWE match at survivor series 2008! I would buy the PPV for that reason only! Totally Fuckin’ True!
Stay tuned to www.pinfallrecall.com to see more .com exclusives! from yours truly Danny Charisma! Also vote on the Forums with who you agree with the most! Leave comments tools!
DC
Here’s the newest RAWcast! I know you were all waiting in anticipation and I truly believe this is one of our best shows!
Episode 130: The Return of the Legend Killer… and Torn Triceps
Pay attention to your homework for this week. Also, I will typically post the new show to the blog before the forum, so if you want the show REALLY bad, check the blog first because you’ll find it at least a half hour sooner. 
JG
When I started reading Josh’s column, I found that while there were some points that I agreed with, there would some that I couldn’t disagree with more. So as I went to reply to his forum post and tell him as much, my reply grew to column length, I changed my plans, and have posted this counterpoint instead.
While it is true that many past WWE and old WCW guys have gone to TNA, in most cases it was because they were already WWE cast-offs (Gail Kim, Jeff Hardy at the time, Rhino, Daivari, Matt Morgan, Tomko, Raven, Hemme, D-Lo, Killings, Ken Shamrock, etc), fallout from the death of WCW (Sting, Nash, Ramon, and to an extent, Jarret) or guys that felt screwed or restrained by the WWE in some way (Cristian Cage, the Dudleys, Booker T, and the “too stupid to take a break so I’m not paralyzed” Kurt Angle.)
While it was exciting to watch all of these guys come in to TNA, the fact of the matter is that none of them really bumped ratings at all. While TNA’s rating has been slowly (very slowly) but surely been growing in their desired demographics, even beating their best two weeks ago, their overall rating has barely moved for the past two years, which is a sign that they have a very solid niche audience that will always watch, but they really aren’t getting any attention from the majority of the WWE audience. Foley would have even less of an impact than Angle had, and that is hard for me to say because he is one of my all-time favorites. But Foley isn’t even the WWE draw that he used to be. TNA just wants him because he is a big part of WWE history that they can tout as another “big” pull from WWE. It seems clear that TNA is just trying to be WWE, while claiming to be the alternative.
Their solution to this so far has been to bring on people instrumental to WWE’s past success, both in the form of talent and bookers (Vince Russo), in an attempt to emulate that style. And that is exactly why we are seeing some of the same mistakes being made. TNA is also willing too give these big past WWE stars some creative control, which is always hurtful to the product, and only serves to grow the egos of already established names while preventing the growth of future assets to TNA. What TNA is failing to do in most cases is grow their own talent, and in the cases where they succeed, they manage to hurt them again. Samoa Joe was nearly unstoppable, but the right time to give him the belt came and went over and over again, and when he finally got the strap, it was too late, and didn’t have nearly the same impact. This type of story rings true all over TNA’s recent history.
If you want proof that they aren’t pushing and growing their own talent correctly, let’s look at the past couple years. For a long time, two of the biggest and most successful tag teams in TNA were the Dudleys (not TNA homegrown) and BG James and Kip (not TNA homegrown). In fact, another very successful tag team, LAX, was managed by Konnan, who of course is also not TNA Homegrown. The first Knockout Champion? Gail Kim, who is certainly not TNA Homegrown. How about the World Championship? Let’s look at the list of champions from the very first TNA champion until today. In fact, I’ll even post the order.
If you look at that list, there are only three people in TNA’s HISTORY who can be considered TNA Homegrown stars. AJ Styles, Abyss, and Samoa Joe. Every other champion (Shamrock, Killings, Jarrett, Raven, Rhino, Cage, Sting, and Angle) came from other companies. Even more incriminating, if you look at all of the championship reigns since June 19th of 2005, which is just a bit more than 3 years back, there have been 13 different title reigns, 11 of which have been non-TNA homegrown Stars. Only 2, Abyss and Samoa Joe, have been TNA groomed. I think that more then proves that they aren’t growing their own talent, which is the same problem that WCW had, and ultimately led to its demise.
Now I will agree that TNA has improved, and I’ll be the first person to tell you that WWE certainly has its share of problems, not the least of which is booking their shows so heavily on a few people that they cripple themselves when an injury hits. But I heavily disagree that Raw has become stale. It has greatly improved since the draft, and while not the A show (that firmly sits with Smackdown at the moment), they have taken great strides to improve the product. I don’t even think they will be as badly damaged by the injuries as they would have been before the draft. But compared to WWE, TNA is having major growing pains. They are at that point in their “youth” where they just want to copy the big kids. But in a few years, if they survive to grow out of it, there will be potential for some real competition. They just need to improve their own product to go side-by-side with the talent from other organizations to make it happen.
Editor’s Note: Do you agree with Me or Josh? Let us know on the forum! You can find a discussion board dedicated to this point-counterpoint right here!
Hey fuckers and fuckees!
There’s a new fuckin RAWcast because Cliff and I felt like fuckin givin you one. So congrats bitches!
You can get it RIGHT FUCKIN HERE!
Leave any questions, comments, criticisms ,and compliments right here in this topic.
Enjoy!
Download it on iTunes if you’d rather in order to carry CK and JG with you all day every day on your iPods :-P Tell your friends, your neighbors, your lovers, and/or your parents about PFRC… MEDIA BLITZ. Write the address for the forums EVERYWHERE. Desks, lockers, mailboxes, girls breasts, etc…
I challenge you listeners and forum members to START DOING SOMETHING. STOP bitching about PFRC not doin shows because we are now, so DO SOMETHING. Get ONE PERSON to listen. That’s your homework.
Greetings Loyal PFRC Fans!
We are pleased to announce our second show in the “You’ll get a show when we fuckin feel like giving you one” movement. We changed things up this time around to include less boring show recap and more opinions and discussion. Let us know how you feel about it at the forums. YOUR CLASSIC DUO of CK and JG are back for RAWcast #2!
You can get it RIGHT HERE!
Leave any questions, comments, criticisms ,and compliments right here in this topic.
Enjoy!
Download it on iTunes if you’d rather in order to carry CK and JG with you all day every day on your iPods :-P Tell your friends, your neighbors, your lovers, and/or your parents about PFRC… MEDIA BLITZ. Write the address for the forums EVERYWHERE. Desks, lockers, mailboxes, girls breasts, etc…