As I See It - June 25, 2009
Hello and welcome to the return of the highly acclaimed As I See It series. It may only be highly acclaimed in my own mind but that’s neither here nor there because this marks a significant part of Pinfall Recall history. As we edge ever closer to the fourth anniversary of the creation of Pinfall Recall, I am pleased to return to your computer screens with my thoughts on the world of professional wrestling and, what’s more, I’m pleased to once again improve your lives by giving you something to read that can only be described as simply ‘Genius’.
Since Pinfall Recall began this journey about 4 years ago, we’ve all had to endure some pretty horrendous wrestling from WWE and TNA alike. However, I think there are definite signs that we are finally being rewarded for the years of disillusion as the WWE product at this point is pretty damn good. Well, to be honest, Raw is still quite terrible on most occasions but I really can’t speak highly enough of the other 3 shows that WWE puts out on a weekly basis. Smackdown really demonstrates some of the best wrestling programming that I personally have seen in quite a long time to be honest with you. ECW consistently puts out a solid hour of TV each week and the last episode of Superstars that I caught had John Morrison and Chris Jericho tear down the house.
Now whilst we’re finally being repaid for our years of loyalty to the product, the powers that be may not be so pleased as the sheer awesomeness of the aforementioned television shows is not portrayed in the slightest when it comes to the ever important ratings. And it is that fact alone that leaves me with a bit of trepidation going forward as I’m concerned that these really good shows will not be given the time to blossom before some change is inevitable. But for the time being, wrestling fans all over the World should join me in taking pleasure in the extremely high quality of the perceived “B” shows.
Now whether it’s down to the intriguing direction CM Punk is going or the great matches put on each and every week by the mid and upper card respectively, Friday Night Smackdown has been a joy to watch every week for quite some time now. I think it’s no real coincidence that the shows that have blossomed have been the shows that were left to their own creative devices without any array of McMahon influence. Touching back to the point I made a little earlier and with the under-performance in the ratings department, I am a little concerned that big ol’ Vinnie will feel the need to get involved and give it that extra special touch we all know and love…and by ‘love’ I of course mean ‘absolutely despise’. But that’s not something I want to delve too deeply into at this stage as, for the moment at least, we’re being treated to some damn good television.
Whilst on the subject of ratings, I wanted to take full advantage and take a cheap shot at TNA. That being the fact that WWE Superstars airs on the same night (albeit an hour earlier) to a fraction of the potential viewers that TNA iMPACT! reaches yet is only a 0.1 or 0.2 down in the ratings on a weekly basis. I don’t hate TNA by all means but facts like that should be made fun of, simple as that.
So what I’m getting at with this is that it is your duty as a fan of great wrestling that you watch Smackdown each and every week to show the powers that be within WWE that it is this type of show that we wrestling fans like to see. And I’m 100% confident that if you do watch the so called “B shows” (Smackdown in particular) then you will agree with me implicitly. In the past I’ve been first in line to take shots at WWE and I think that it should be noted and appreciated when they outperform the relatively low expectations that I have for their creative team.
I touched earlier on the direction that CM Punk is taking, which is another big factor that is keeping me drawn to Friday Night Smackdown each and every week. They’ve not turned him full on heel, they’ve kind of just let him linger and I really think that Punk is one of the few guys that can pull this off.
I really do think that the direction they are taking CM Punk has been quite genius in execution thus far. I’ve heard in some pockets of the IWC that Punk should attack Hardy for having a past riddled with drug problems whilst he has reached the top by completely clean and “straight edge”. In my opinion, this would be the wrong way to proceed. Don’t get me wrong, it would definitely add an intriguing aspect to the storyline but in it’s current form I think it would be detrimental to the progress Hardy has made to step up to the main event level. To focus solely on the somewhat shady and questionable past of our supposed hero would be a quite absurd thing to do in my opinion. Let alone the impact that it could have with regards the views of the parents of the WWE Universe by highlighting the drug addicted past of their youngster’s idol. What it boils down to is the fact that they haven’t put all their eggs in one basket by turning Punk heel straight away, they’re letting the crowd make their own minds up on him and to me that’s the best way to handle him. My only hope now is that they can give him some good storylines going forward to keep him at the top of the card and a fresh heel run may eventually the way to go with him.
Changing tact a little bit, has there ever been a bigger waste of our time than the Donald Trump storyline that lasted 7 whole days? I certainly can’t think of any in recent memory. I cannot see how that enhanced the product in any way shape or form. The whole thing was stupid and it actually resulted in them losing money as some retarded shareholders actually believed this shit to be real. I must admit, I’m not sure how I’d progress with Raw in terms of the management/authority figure but surely there was a more logical way than what we saw with this Trump fiasco. If, as rumoured, Ric Flair is to be the new general manager of Raw then I do not see the problem in having the Trump angle run a little longer but have Flair running the show for him and Donny would be seen rarely, if ever. I would much rather have seen something like that happen than what we were indeed treated to.
As it pertains to this Sunday’s ridiculously named Pay-Per-View “The Bash”, I think it has to the potential to be a fairly interesting show. Either way, it’s free to air in the UK on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD1 so I’m not fussed one way or the other. There’s definitely a few matches in there that I’m down for…and there’s the added bonus that as it stands three days away from the PPV, there is no Big Show to be seen on the card! I’m interested in seeing The Miz against Cena, purely as a result of the long (by today’s standards) drawn out development of this angle. The Tag Title match with Legacy against Carlito and Primo should be another exceptional contest in my eyes, especially since the Colons are easily one of the best teams I’ve seen in quite a while. So with a fairly stacked mid-card and a couple good main event matches on the card hopefully this year’s Bash will not be the joke that it has been in pretty much every year that the WWE has promoted the show.
So that’s that ladies and gents, the returning column from yours truly is in the books. I hope you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read and by all means get in touch either by commenting on the blog or posting on the forums or even sending me an e-mail at AK@pinfallrecall.com.
Thank you for reading and may the next week of wrestling viewing be a happy one!
-Andrew Kearney
Wrestling News Digest 6/9/09: Batista’s Newest Injury, Umaga’s Release, Vickie’s WWE Departure, and More
Welcome to Pinfall Recall’s Wrestling News Digest, your daily collection of all the news in the professional wrestling world. Each day we collect all the news from WWE, TNA, ROH, and more, and deliver it to you in one easy to read posting. No more clicking 30 links and loading 30 pages to read 3 lines of text. Just point your browser to Pinfall Recall every day for all the wrestling news you need.
After the jump (the read more button) you’ll find today’s top stories, immediately followed by all of your news divided up by organization, for your viewing pleasure.
So, for the latest on Batista’s latest arm injury, Umaga’s job hunt (I think the Samoan Bulldozer would do well in construction personally), Vickie Guerrero packing her bags, and more…
Wrestling Podcast Episode 166: Supplemental Draftcast ft Milo
Wrestling Podcast Episode 166: Supplemental Draftcast ft Milo [54:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadCK and JG come together with Milo to discuss our complete disdain for the supplemental draft. WWE really fucked up this time, make sure to check out how we feel about it by listening here!
Also come talk to us about it on our forums!
Do it, bitches!
Pinfall Recall News Feed for December 30, 2008
WWE
Preliminary Royal Rumble card
- Following last night’s Raw broadcast, here is the updated card for WWE’s Royal Rumble PPV taking place on January 25, 2009:
-30 Man Over-The-Top-Rope Royal Rumble Match
-John Cena vs JBL for the World Heavyweight Title
-Melina vs Beth Phoenix for the WWE Women’s Championship
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Will you be watching the Rumble? Talk about it here on the Pinfall Recall Message Boards. The topic and information on Jeff Hardy’s opponent for the Royal Rumble is here.
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WWE’s reaction to The Wrestler
- Jeff Wilen of the Daytona Beach News-Journal has WWE’s statement as it relates to “The Wrestler” movie, which you can check out by clicking here.
As you would expect, WWE distances themselves from the portrayal of professional wrestling in the film, noting that it shows “how wrestling was conducted in some independent wrestling circuits” and not like WWE, which is a “global brand”. However, they do say the film is “engaging” in the statement.
Credit: PWinsider.com
If you’ve seen the movie, talk about it with our forum members here!
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Raw and Smackdown ratings
- Last night’s Raw broadcast scored a final 3.5 final cable rating. That is up considerably from the previous week’s 3.2 draw.
- PWInsider.com is reporting that last week’s edition of Smackdown (12/26) drew a final 2.0 broadcast rating. This is down slightly from the previous week’s 2.1 draw.
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Discuss Raw and Smackdown right here, right now!
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TNA
Preliminary Genesis card
- The following matches have been confirmed for TNA’s Genesis PPV, taking place on January 11, 2009:
- Sting vs Rhino for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
- Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett
- Mick Foley, AJ Styles & Brother Devon vs Booker T, Kevin Nash & Scott Steiner
- Chris Sabin vs Alex Shelley or Eric Young in the X Division Tournament Finals
TNA Knockouts Championship Lumberjack Match
Awesome Kong vs Christy Hemme
Credit: wrestlezone.com
Talk TNA and Genesis on the forums right here
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Christmas iMPACT rating
- The 12/25 edition of Impact did a 1.0 cable rating. That is down from last week’s 1.2 but it was Christmas after all.
Credit: PWinsider.com
Discuss all TNA news on the message boards here
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ROH
ROH Newswire for 12/29/08
- December 29th: Everyone at ROH sends a huge “thank you” to each and every fan that has supported us throughout the past year. We look forward to 2009 and entertaining you with what we believe is the best wrestling product in the country.
- Everyone in the Hammerstein Ballroom stood in shock as Austin Aries did the unthinkable. Shortly after defeating Tyler Black and earning a championship match, he watched Jimmy Jacobs lock the End Time on the fallen Black. He followed that up by wrapping a chair around Tyler’s head and scaling the ropes, ostensibly to cripple Black. Aries charged the ring, in an apparent effort to stop Jacobs, but shattered that perception with a thunderous chairshot on Tyler as he struggled to get to his feet. Even Jacobs seemed stunned at the actions of Aries, but that didn’t stop him from joining in an impromptu beatdown of the bloodied Black. No one is sure how to react to these events, and Aries has refused all attempts to discuss the matter. Jimmy Jacobs was more forthcoming, but also guarded, saying, “And everyone thought that Aries won our feud.” Jacobs walked off with a sly smirk and refused further comment.
- Larry Sweeney’s American Wolves certainly left their mark over the past weekend. The biggest of their “achievements” is undoubtedly the knee injury they inflicted upon Mark Briscoe. As of this time, we are uncertain just how long Mark will be out of action, but we do know that surgery is required to repair the injury. Things could be worse for the Briscoes, and ironically they could have their arch-rivals, Kevin Steen and El Generico, to thank that things aren’t worse. It was Steen and Generico that stopped the Wolves from going even further than they did, as Jay Briscoe could do nothing as he was handcuffed to the ropes and forced to watch his brother endure the torture commanded by Sweeney. We understand that comments from all parties are forthcoming in upcoming ROH Video Wires.
- A gigantic End of Year Sale is currently ongoing where you can save 35-40% Off your next order. Don’t delay as this type of sale doesn’t come around often. For complete details on how to save, click here: http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/article.aspx?id=1682.
- We are happy to announce that Brent Albright, Roderick Strong, and Erick Stevens will all be on hand in Manassas and Edison over the January 16-17 weekend. These three are elated to have finally been granted the steel cage grudge war that they have been seeking against Sweet-n-Sour Incorporated. Albright pleaded with ROH President Cary Silkin for the match, stating that Sweeney and his men are “ruining the company that (Silkin) built.” ROH officials are currently trying to decide when this huge battle will take place, and we will bring you that announcement and any other news as soon as we have it.
- ROH Officials are unhappy that security crews had to become involved in the events in Philadelphia and New York. In both cases, security personnel performed wonderfully, removing those that decided to interject themselves into the action. Ring of Honor respectfully asks those that attend our events to please respect the boundaries set forth by our ring barricades. We ask this of everyone, whether it be a paying customer or a wealthy prince. (heh!) Thank you for your attention.
- We’ll have the first match announcements for the ROH return to Manassas and Edison tomorrow in the Newswire.
Credit: 411mania.com
Talk about Ring of Honor and more on the PFRC forums right here
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If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact the Pinfall Recall team on the forums or via e-mail.
CK@pinfallrecall.com
JG@pinfallrecall.com
DC@pinfallrecall.com
RDB@pinfallrecall.com
Milo@pinfallrecall.com
Download podcasts here on the website or via iTunes using the keyword Pinfall Recall.
Totally True or Fuckin’ False #7
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. This week, CK is back in the driver’s seat. 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 seventh edition of Pinfall Recall’s
Totally True or Fuckin’ False? (continued after the jump…)