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" The Gravel Pit "
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Wrestling
From the Outside (8.20.03)
Posted by Bryan "bps 'The Truth' 21" Staebell on Aug 20, 2003, 03:09
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Too much Jeff Jarrett and Vince Russo make Bryan go...something something.
I enjoyed TNA a lot this past week (but I�ll cover that in the Top 8 section), but a trend almost as disturbing as the finishes (which outside of the second no decision ladder match got better this week) started to creep up on me. I spent every segment wondering how Jarrett was going to end up in the ring. For someone who didn�t wrestle last show, he sure logged a lot of ring time. Russo is taking up a lot of space too...which I don�t mind in the case of being AJ�s actual MANAGER this week. The problem is that Jarrett isn�t really feuding with Christopher Daniels...he�s STILL feuding with Russo. I�m sick to death of Jarrett the freedom fighter defending all that is holy about tradition. Tradition. What does that even mean?
By the loose definition I have gathered from watching TNA since it�s inception...AJ Styles and Low Ki would NOT be considered on the side of tradition. They also stole the show as they should have last week. I can�t see how the X division can have anything to do with tradition either...even though they somehow try to pretend it does. The only people in the company that I can buy lined up with this tradition thing are Jarrett, AMW and Dusty Rhodes. Now, for their part, America�s Most Wanted has become the ultimate ass kicking old school tag team. Dusty Rhodes is incredibly over and he delivered one of the top few promos in the company�s history (in my opinion) back during his first run. Jarrett made the NWA title more important during his run and has to be given a ton of credit for his tireless hours spent doing everything he does for the company. As you can see...tradition has its upside to be sure.
The problem I have is this: Why would I root for Jarrett? I mean seriously. I know he�s the face and he�s obviously booked hard that way since he stands up to every heel...every week. Last week he took down Styles for no discernable reason other than he was bad. AJ Styles isn�t a stereotypical heel, no matter how many weeks they spend treating him like one. I thought for sure they would have understood that before giving him his (well deserved) title reign. He�s too exciting to boo...and sticking Russo with him only puts heat on Russo. It�s not even getting to Jarrett at this point so no one is benefitting that I can see. The main problem is trying to get consistent heel heat on AJ when his offense is much better suited for a face.
I do NOT want Styles to change his work at all. I am a huge fan of his work and taking that away from him would be stupid. What I want is for TNA to relax on their booking of Jeff Jarrett as the bringer of justice...so that a guy like AJ Styles can just go be AJ Styles. Who cares if they cheer or boo...as long as they react. I�ve been in the minority on this for years now...but in my opinion the clearly defined faces and heels thing went out back when Vince announced on live WWF TV that wrestling was fake. In that very speech Vince said that it was insulting to the audience to present these �Good Guys vs. Bad Guys�. The world isn�t like that...and modern day pro wrestling just flat out shouldn�t be either.
Does this mean you can�t have heels and faces? Of course not. Look at Ring of Honor. Fans that go to a Ring of Honor show cheer for great matches, sequences or moves. They still have faces and heels it�s just not what the company is built around. Look at the CM Punk/Raven feud. Now...I�m only so far in my Ring of Honor tape watching that they�ve just had their first match. CM Punk was a guy who was getting over having some nice matches in the promotion. He wasn�t really a face or a heel as far as I can tell (probably leaning towards face though since his first few matches were against Michael Shane, who is a heel, and Colt Cabana...who was playing his character as far more cocky)...then when the Raven program started he became a heel for the feud. That�s the way I like it. Feuds have faces and heels...not promotions.
Think of how it limits the opportunity for more intriguing storylines. I�m going to use the WWE for this for two reasons. First, because everyone knows the people in the WWE...and the other reason I�ll get to in a bit. On RAW, HHH is a heel. Therefore when it comes time to start a new feud for him, half of the roster is immediately disqualified because they are also heels. The person is picked from the face half...and the cycle goes exactly the same from there. On some occasions they�ll get more bold and turn someone from one side to the other to create a fresh match-up. Now whoever they turn (based on one and only one turning action...having NOTHING to do with anyone other than who they are feuding with) has a complete change in philosophy about their character and either likes or hates EVERYTHING. It�s all very two dimensional. This is how TNA does it also.
Now let�s try it the other way.
First of all...if you are the champion you should be able to feud with everyone regardless of �good� or �bad�. It will never make sense to me why every other heel on the roster suddenly stops caring about the title when one of their own wins it. That�s ridiculous. Everyone should want that title...or it�s just a meaningless belt.
Next we have the matter of feuds. Let�s say that we have someone like Chris Benoit. Benoit is a face on SD! right now and so he feuds with a heel like Rhyno. That�s fine. Let�s say after that feud though, that Tajiri (a fellow face) is in line for the U.S. title shot against Eddy Guerrero...and Benoit wants it. It wouldn�t be very face like for Benoit to beat down Tajiri and start a program with him. But it would make SENSE. It would open up endless possibilities of new, fresh and creative directions for everyone on the roster.
Now, the second reason I used the WWE was because, as interesting as I think this would all be, it would never work. Between Raw, Smackdown, Heat, Velocity, monthly ppvs and weekly house shows...it would all be way too hard to follow for the casual fan. The casual fan being the ones that WWE wants to order said ppvs and attend said house shows.
TNA, on the other hand, has a two hour show once a week. You watch that show you see everything there is to see about the storylines running through the promotion. In that way they are more like Ring of Honor...where there is a couple shows a month that you have to see in order to see everything there is. I don�t see the need to streamline faces and heels in TNA to keep it simple...when the fact that they are only on for two hours keeps it simple anyway.
The best example I can think of it this: Raven actually stopped hating Jeff Jarrett just because he became a face. Months of hatred and storyline scrapped because Raven switched sides. I don�t buy it, and I shouldn�t have to. There�s no reason for these two to get along (as they did at the end of the anniversary show) just because the crowd cheers them both. The story is more complex than that, and should be treated as such.
I know that the easy knock on this is that casual fans wouldn�t like it. But...until TNA is on mainstream TV...they don�t HAVE any casual fans. If a casual wrestling fan ordered next week�s TNA they wouldn�t know who the heels and faces are without the video packages anyway (as the TNA crowd cheers whoever they feel like that day). There�s no reason that a video package highlighting a feud over something other than �good vs. bad� couldn�t let the viewer figure out who they like on their own. Even as children many people gravitate towards the heels anyway because they are �cooler� and �badder� or whatever. WWE changed their entire direction once because of it...and made a lot of money.
If TNA is supposed to be an alternative to the WWE...why isn�t their booking philosophy any different. With the exception of the actual pushing of cruiserweights into meaningless roles...it�s all the same. Only with far less star power, no free TV to let people know what�s going on and not even a fraction of the audience.
At this point...what do they have to lose? If the storylines become more interesting (and I do think that there are a few interesting storylines in TNA) maybe that could attract an odd casual fan when they like what they see of a certain situation. When you don�t have the power of the Rock or Austin or Hogan driving your company...wouldn�t great storylines and in ring action be the ONLY other way to go? Trying to force Jarrett on people as this huge star hasn�t been popping buyrates in the first year (unless I missed where they started making lots of money) anyway. I read the reviews and analysis of guys who know a lot more than I ever will about what draws (like Meltzer) and they always say that TNA has to make a better effort of defining faces and heels (as there was a time a few months in that no one knew what anyone was...but they also had no direction either) but I disagree. I think it�s something that is a must for a company like the WWE...but TNA isn�t the same case as the WWE.
I figure that rant might actually get me some feedback...so here�s my email: [email protected]
Now...onto the column.
Last Week
As of this writing, Dames doesn�t have his Diatribe up. He�s using some B.S. about a major power outage that affected the east coast...but I�m not buying it. Something like that would have been on the news. Anyway...I know this is everyone�s favorite new feature in the column...so I won�t keep you waiting any longer. It�s top 8 time! (Actually I doubt this is anyone�s favorite feature...I can�t back that up.)
8. Sonny Siaki starts a feud with D-Lo. Now...I know that most people don�t like Siaki very much (and I�m one of them) but TNA has chosen this guy as a building block so it�s about time he got into a meaningful program. This feud makes sense too, since Siaki cost D-Lo just about every shot at Styles he ever had. I think the matches could be pretty entertaining too...since Siaki is much better off working as a heavyweight than an X division guy. It�s a solid feud that D-Lo can win (something he hasn�t done much of in TNA) but one that can also start getting Siaki over as more than just a lackey or X division failure.
7. Three Live Krew are the best opening act EVER. Well...maybe the WCW cruiserweight division was the best EVER...but this is the best for NOW. Of course Konnan still looked blown up right away again and B.G. James offense is still ridiculous (although...he did seem like he was in a good deal better shape last week). On the other hand...Truth totally looked like a star out there and that can�t be a bad thing. The main plus here was how fired up they got the crowd. The crowd played a large role in my enjoyment of the show...and it all started with a formulaic little 6 man that no one will remember...probably even right now. I�m amazed at how they can find ways to get use out of guys like B.G. James and Erik Watts. Jesus...Erik Watts and B.G. James are super over now that I think of it. Is that a good thing?
6. Jerry Lynn is having one good feud at least. I don�t understand why he continues to dispatch of Elix Skipper so quickly...but damn if I�m not entertained by his little thing with Don Callis. It�s funny because there are guys walking around TNA threatening to set Julio and Alexis on fire...and there are matches that involve counting the number of times you hit your opponent with a foreign object...but it�s Jerry Lynn who keeps getting suspended for being too violent. There were some real fine matches on last week�s show. But for my money the highlight of the night was the camera shot that cut to Don Callis shaking his head disapprovingly while Lynn defended himself from a post match attack. Comedy GOLD.
5. That was the moment of the night...the move of the night goes to Michael Shane. Two ladder matches in a row without a winner (and the 3rd in TNA history if we think back to the Sabu vs. Ken Shamrock Ladder vs. Submission match from week 5) but Michael Shane still did something to earn that match a mention in the Top 8. We�ve all seen the spot a dozen times. One guy goes out of the ring to grab the ladder and bring it in for the first time. Then the other guy somehow catches him unaware with a baseball slide into the ladder. It�s shocking that no one ever sees that coming since every single ladder match since the beginning of time has had that spot. So last week when Frankie Kazarian tried to bring in the ladder I was watching the bottom of my screen and I turned to my friend and said �Here comes the baseball slide�. Then Shane dove over the top rope onto the ladder/Kazarian instead. That little thing blew my mind.
It�s the second best twist on a predictable spot I�ve seen in TNA. The first was from one of those 6 or 8 or 10 man X division matches. I don�t remember what week it was...but they were all doing their over the top rope spots (you know the ones...happen every match). Anyway, everyone had gone except for two guys, and the one went to do his and the other guy cut him off with a clothesline. Brilliant. You just never saw it coming.
4. Dusty Rhodes is over. I don�t know what you do with a guy like Dusty...but he seems like a good guy to have around. AMW and Simon Diamond/Johnny Swinger have been having a terrific feud over the NWA Tag Team Titles...and last week�s match was so well booked that I don�t think I�ll ever get sick of watching them wrestle each other. Not only did Dusty being there put the spotlight on this feud (where it belonged) but the crowd was eating out of his hand. Now the story was simply Glen Gilberti keeps interfering so AMW brings in Dusty to counter him. The match was mostly AMW vs. Diamond and Swinger but with Gilberti teasing fighting Dusty the whole way through. In the end Dusty pinned Gilberti which both keeps the two important teams strong...it also made the audience happy...AND set up a match for this week.. Good booking.
3. The crowd in the asylum gets #3 this week. That was one of the finest crowds they�ve had in terms of crowd heat. It can be very distracting watching a match with no heat. This crowd made matches like Raven vs. Douglas and the Dusty Rhodes 6 man seem more important and bigger than they did on paper. I hope this is something that continues.
2. AJ Styles has the best NWA title defense in a long time...but still can�t win clean. I�m not going to complain about the finish too much since Styles is a heel and he did his own cheating this week. I don�t care if Russo runs interference since he�s the manager. It�s just stuff like Siaki and Trinity running into the ring and hitting moves that bothers me. None of that this week as Low Ki took it to the Champ for 15 minutes. I�m trying to think of where this match rates in the short history of NWA title matches on TNA...and it has to be right up there. It didn�t have the aura around it like Jarrett/Truth or Jarrett/Raven...but it was technically a better match. I�ll still give the nod to Jarrett/Truth. What it lacked in technical greatness it made up for with everything else.
1. Raven/Douglas. I�ve been saying for two weeks that the Raven/Douglas feud was the best thing going in TNA. I was right. I also said that the one on one match could never live up to how well the feud was booked. I was wrong. Raven is so over they�ll have to actually put the title on him eventually. Douglas, although not really able to �wrestle� very well...did everything else perfectly. He really got the crowd against him, and I think if he had won the crowd would have either died for the rest of the show or jumped he rail and killed him. It was all really quite effective.
This Week
Weird show this week. Very weird.
Christopher Daniels and Legend vs. Jeff Jarrett and Erik Watts
Meaningless Tag match alert...Jarrett is losing. It�s funny...no wait...it�s SAD that this is the same line I bust out for HHH tag matches going into feuds with someone. This really shouldn�t be bad even with Watts in there...but God help them if they book this the way I think they will. They obviously are going to have a big Daniels/Jarrett feud...and it looks like Legend/Watts has been thrown in for...actually I don�t know why. Anyway...there is a right way and a wrong way to do this match. The right way involves Daniels pinning Jarrett and being kept far away from Watts. If I have to see a hot tag to Watts so he can come in and destroy Daniels (who will look tiny in comparison) I�ll be very angry. I think the Red Shirt security guys are going to end up working for Daniels...which is actually a pretty well built up thing and a fairly good idea if it happens. The Red Shirt security are two big guys who can actually stop people from doing whatever (unlike the puny regular security). In reality they only stop Jarrett, and last week they helped Daniels out of the ring. I don�t know if they can wrestle (although they are in fact wrestlers) but I do like the way this storyline could be combined with Daniels/Jarrett. I haven�t read or heard that this is planned...but it just seems to make sense.
The wrong way to book it is for Daniels to get squashed when Watts is in the ring and then have Legend (or even Daniels) pin Watts. Raven has shown a few times that taking the loss isn�t going to hurt you...so I hope Jarrett lays down for Daniels. If they want any kind of a feud to work that�s pretty much the only way to go. I don�t think Jarrett would think twice about doing the job either...it�s just that a lot of �funny� things have been going on with finishes lately.
America�s Most Wanted vs. Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger
This is a double bull rope match. I don�t have my out of date old school gimmick match book handy...so I really am not clear on the stipulation. I�m also not clear on whether this is for the title�s or not...but I think it is. That should mean AMW retains...but they�ve won every match in the feud so far...so I wouldn�t be totally shocked if the bad guys won. All of what I�ve just said doesn�t matter though. All that matters is that these 4 have shared the ring 4 times so far and every single time has been spectacular. Throw all the weird gimmicks you want in...these guys have a great thing going.
Lucky 13 Gauntlet Match
Since AJ Styles has no opponents left for the NWA title they�re going to have this little gauntlet match to see who will get a shot next week. Gauntlet rules are like a Royal Rumble except the last two men will have an actual match to crown the winner. No one has been announced for the tournament but I�ll go out on a limb and say everyone but the people in other matches will be in it. Now...Raven, Douglas, D-Lo and to a lesser extent Siaki don�t have �matches� but do have segments lined up. I�d think they�d HAVE to be in it since Raven and D-Lo are like 2 of the top 3 faces in the company. I couldn�t tell you what�s going to happen if my life depended on it. I�m trying to figure out who�s not tied up with something else at the moment and I�m drawing a blank. It would be awesome if Lynn won if only for the Lynn/Styles history in TNA. I�d rather Red came in and won to set up Styles/Red III but Bob Barron told me he�s back overseas again. Oh well. Go Abyss.
Ultimate X
It�s somewhat fitting that the way this show will be remembered comes down to this match. Sure the other matches range from should be awesome (AMW/Diamond & Swinger) to shouldn�t be bad (The other matches)...but this thing is something else.
Chris Sabin vs. Michael Shane vs. Frankie Kazarian in an honest to God never been done before match.
Here�s the description from the official preview at nwatna.com:
�Chris Sabin puts his X Title on the line against Frankie Kazarian and Michael Shane in a unique match that has never been seen before....Ultimate X. The X Title will be hanging above the ring, and the only way to reach the title belt will be to navigate two chains that will be hung 15 feet above the ring and crossing each other to form an X. It's a match that has never been done before, and whoever gets the belt wins the X Title�
Thoughts that come to my mind:
1. Huh?
2. 15 feet above the ring? I do not believe so. I�m not even sure if they could reach the chains if they were that high.
3. I hope they tested this thing out a hundred times every day since they day it was built.
4. Sabin isn�t winning this...this is the kind of a thing that will go to a face. That�s probably Kazarian by default...even though Sabin is the most over heel and face in the match.
I don�t know what there is to say about this match since it�s never been done before. It sounds absolutely insane and really dangerous in the �This could be a disaster of epic proportions� way. Sounds like must see TV either way.
Other stuff going on: Sonny Siaki promises to bury D-Lo and Raven and the Church will do something as well.
Notes from the INSIDE
*All quotes taken from Jeremy Borash�s From the Inside column found weekly at nwatna.com
�Those of you with DirecTV will have a very special show of your own that night as we will be airing the Best of TNA Championship Matches. This 9.95 PPV will be a first look preview of our upcoming DVD release by the same name�
Good for them. The next time someone wants to ask me why I don�t count shows like �Best of the X division�, �The One Cent Special� and �Best of TNA Championship Matches� when I write down week numbers of episodes the answer they�ll get is �September 10th 2003".
�Look for the upcoming Ultimate X match to be like nothing you�ve ever seen in wrestling. If Sabin, Kazarian, and Shane pull off half of what they have planned for this first ever (not many of those left in wrestling) event, this match will have people talking.
From the mind of Don Callis, this Ultimate X match will have two highwires crossing in the center of the ring with the X-Division title hanging above. There will be no ladders. The only way to get the belt is to scale your way across the highwires to the middle of the ring. This idea alone leaves the door open to some spectacular moves.�
It leaves the door open for some spectacular falls...I don�t know about moves. How much can you do hanging from a wire? I guess we�ll find out.
�Ballpark Brawl will take place next Sunday in Buffalo,NY at the home of the Buffalo Bisons. Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles, Raven, and many other TNA superstars will be on the show.�
Alright, I�ve got it this time. If you are in the Western New York area and want to attend the show call (716) 843-4373 to get your tickets. It�s 12 bucks a ticket and 25 bucks to sit on the field and have the autograph signing. As far as I know all of the wrestler (Styles, Jarrett and Raven) will be a part of the autograph session.
�Look for Abyss to become a big time player down the line. He moves incredibly well for a man his size and came back a completely different person after a year in Puerto Rico. All that ring time must have done him some good. Little known factoid about Abyss� he has a masters degree and played for the Steelers in the NFL! Not bad for a big scary dude.�
For once I�m in agreement with Borash. I think this guy�s the real deal.
Random Notes
From the Torch:
�It is thought by many backstage in TNA that Kid Kash would be a prime candidate for a WWE contract if not for his poor lockerroom reputation as a troublemaker.�
I don�t see it. He�s sloppier than anyone on the TNA roster and Test already has his gimmick.
�The general consensus is that Goldy Locks will be used again by the company, but they are keeping her off the shows for a while to control her ego.�
Ego? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck Yooooooooooou. Fired.
Paraphrased from the Observer site:
Super X Cup details:
The Super X Cup tournament will air on September 3rd, which was to be a day of dead air for TNA. Basically TNA was losing 2 weeks to the fair (The 3rd and 10th of September) and decided to run the one cent special on the 10th and tape an X division tourney for the 3rd.
The 8 men in the tournament are:
Jerry Lynn
Juventud Guererra
Chris Sabin
Michael Shane
Frankie Kazarian
Jonny Storm
Nosawa
Teddy Hart
They�ll be taping the first 4 matches (round 1) this week, and the last 3 matches (semi-finals and finals) next week.
I don�t know Nosawa or Teddy Hart...but I like the other 6 guys. The participants could always be changed for unforseen reasons at any time too. It�s odd that two new guys get a go while every week guys like Kid Kash and Elix Skipper don�t.
It's not very often that I can promise you that if you watch TNA tonight you'll see something you've never seen before. Will that make this show good? Who knows. But it will make it memorable.
That�s it for this week. My email is near the top of the article.
Oh and of course:
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