The Gorilla Press: WWE Living in the Past (In a Good Way) and TNA Living in the Past (In a Bad Way)
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Sunday, January 24, 2010
THE SHEET
Another former Real World star pursuing pro wrestling [TMZ.com]
SI.com interviews Spike TV executive, talks TNA [SI.com]
Ken Anderson is indeed signed with TNA [Prowrestling.com]
Randy Orton speaks on allegations of assaulting a handicapped kid [Prowrestling.com]
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GORILLA CLIP OF THE WEEK
Here is a video, we believe from the early nineties, of The Nasty Boys’ WWF Debut. This Gorilla Clip is in honor of The Nasty Boys making their TNA debut this past week as they gear up for the stiffest, most nonathletic feud in recent memory against Team 3D.
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SHOWSTOPPER
HIGH SPOTS
FROM RAW
Undertaker on RAW. The opening segment was money, as one would predict, between three old pros (counting Vince McMahon). I lost count of how many birds were killed with this stone. This segment alone built up The Bret/Vince Feud, a potential feud between HBK and Undertaker at Wrestlemania, and the upcoming Royal Rumble Match. The Undertaker feels he has nothing to prove after beating Shawn Michaels last year, and tells Michaels that if he wants another shot he’s going to have to win an over-the-top-rope Royal Rumble. This is the type of true-to-life build that creates compelling television for you the consumer. Simple, yet effective.
Miz in the main event. Jim Ross touched on this in his blog, but it is very refreshing seeing Miz slowly transition into a main event superstar with his tag match (with The Big Show) against Degeneration X. Miz has earned his spot, and his brilliant promo with MVP last week cemented his position as a ready-for-prime time player. We fully expect a strong showing from Miz come the Royal Rumble in order to keep the ball rolling.
FROM iMPACT!
Angle vs. Styles (Again). Another strong match from these two that had seemingly saved iMPACT! from being a complete WTF show. Seemingly. These two had a good match but if the Montreal Screw-job finish didn’t scare the living shit out of you as a TNA fan, I don’t know what will.
Anderson as a heel. Ken Anderson cut a strong promo this past week on iMPACT! (although it seems that the guy is obsessed with Social networking), and it made me remember how good he was as a bad guy. Anderson caters too much to the public as a face, and while he’s a bit over the top as a heel, its better that way as it seems to garner more heat for him. Now if the powers that be could hurry up and finish this feud with Abyss, we may be getting somewhere.
FROM SMACKDOWN!
Piggy James Segment. While I don’t completely love The ‘Piggy James’ segments with Michelle McCool and Layla, I’m not one of these activists who thinks that The WWE is going way too far with this whole thing. I think it could serve as one of the best buildups to a Diva feud that culminates at Wrestlemania ever. I found it funny, however, that Matt Stryker loves the ‘Piggy James’ comments, however when a bunch of food was wasted on Mickie James, THAT’S when he felt that Layla and McCool had gone too far. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
CM Punk is out of his mind. Dude shaved a chick’s head on national television! For anybody who feared that CM Punk would be buried after his previous title run was ended at the hands of The Undertaker, you couldn’t be any farther from the truth if you were Mark McGwire in front of congress. The evolution of CM Punk’s straight-edge character to a cult-like, Charles Manson figure has been brilliant, and with Jericho jobbing like crazy, Punk may have quietly taken his spot as the top heel in the company.
WWE not forgetting about Rey. With a possible Taker/Michaels feud looming, Smackdown! did a good job of highlighting Rey Mysterio and the possibility of him defeating The Undertaker at The Royal Rumble. It would be easy for us all to forget about the fact that Mysterio still has his shot (like TNA ‘forgot’ about the fact that Lashley is the TCS champion?) with such a big money feud lingering in the distance. With one week to go until The Rumble, the consumers should be fully aware that Rey Mysterio is still in the title picture.
LOW SPOTS
FROM RAW
Poor Evan Bourne. For such a talented guy, Evan Bourne deserves better than to be the jobber whos job is to make Sheamus look like more of a destroyer. For two weeks now, Bourne has been subject to near-squash matches with the young champion, and this really makes me nervous for what the WWE has in store for similar small-yet-talented superstars such as Bryan Danielson and Low-Ki (Kaval).
FROM iMPACT!
A(NOTHER) Montreal Screwjob angle? REALLY?! It seems as if TNA is trying to get all they can out of this played out angle before The WWE finally puts it to rest come Wrestlemania. Talk about taking a step back. TNA came off as Minor League with its re-enactment of the infamous Montreal Screwjob, and with The WWE reliving the real version of that angle, this just makes the TNA version seem even more synthetic and overdone. Who’s booking this garbage, Vince Russo? Oh, right.
The Nasty Boys Debut…in 2010. One of the very situations in The Hulk Hogan Regime that was feared and joked about has become a reality: The Nasty Boys go over young TNA talent that desperately needs to be protected. The Nasty Boys’ match with Eric Young and Kevin Nash came out of nowhere. The overweight onslaught being propelled at the expense of the young talent, that Hogan promised would be pushed, is an alarming sign. The Nasty Boys are out of shape, were never good workers, and the best thing you could ever say about them even in their prime was that they were ‘good brawlers’. Please. Good Brawlers is something you say about bad workers who were somewhat over with the fans, and in 2010, The Nasty Boys are bad workers who are completely out of touch with the hardcore ‘wrestling’ fans of The iMPACT Zone.
An Orlando Jordan Sighting? The Pope’s momentum was strong heading into The Genesis PPV, and after a good match with Desmond Wolfe, it was still quite strong despite his loss. However Orlando Jordan coming out of the woodwork to beat Pope was nothing short of an abomination. Do these people even know who Orlando Jordan even is? After being off of TV and MIA at Genesis after a random appearance back on January 4th, Orlando Jordan returns from his lifestyle of obscure feuds with The Warrior to claim a victory over one of TNA’s young rising stars. Will somebody please explain to me which part of that made sense?
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TIP THE HOST
Each week, we will give the RAW guest host a tip (from $1-$10) based on their performance.
Jon Heder was excellent not only as a guest host, but as a WWE character. It’s always good to see the guest hosts get fully involved in the WWE storylines and Heder’s role as ‘The Flame’, which seemed to be an indirect shot at The Nature Boy Ric Flair, was fully entertaining. Don Johnson seemed a bit taken aback by it all, but Heder did a great job of picking up his slack. Here’s to more heel guest hosts who know about The WWE product. We leave Jon a $7.56 tip, and Don with a $4.87 tip.
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THE SHOOT
According to the never-gonna-get-enough-credit-on-how-truly-accurate-they-usually-are website Wikipedia, 24 participants have already been announced for The Royal Rumble, leaving 6 free spots. PW Torch notes that Matt Hardy, John Morrison, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, Hart Dynasty, and Cryme Tyme have not been confirmed as participants in The Royal Rumble.
The WWE always announces South of 30 participants leading up to the big event to leave room for surprise appearances, a novelty that has kept The Royal Rumble special over the years. We thought that we’d take a stab at who we felt could show up at The Rumble to some bigtime ‘welcome back’ pops.
RVD: Assuming his recent TNA bashing hasn’t been a work (which it very well could be), RVD looks to want no part of the circus, that TNA still is, in spite of its new message of change. RVD made a similar surprise appearance last year, but one would have to believe that with all of the time he’s taken off and the economy continuing to erode, RVD could be back on at least a part-time basis should he return at The Rumble.
Booker T: Talks with Booker T are said to have fallen through, but fall through is pro wrestling talk for ‘hopefully they’ll look away while we try to hammer this thing out’. Booker T has been adamant about the fact that he’s not retired and would still like a match with the great Shawn Michaels. Shawn’s not getting any younger, and if Booker T wants that match he’ll have to return to the Fed. The Royal Rumble is among the best stages for such a return.
Edge: To us, this one is a near lock especially with the picture shown below, albeit taken months ago, resurfacing on the Internet. It is a forgone conclusion that Edge will meet Jericho at Wrestlemania 26 (although we still think that a Jerishow/Edge and Christian match could be just as great), and Edge coming back at The Royal Rumble and attacking Jericho would make perfect sense. We see him eliminating both himself and Jericho and fighting up the ramp until they are backstage being separated by officials, however Edge had better be careful going over the top ropes coming off of an Achilles injury.
Could Edge be an entrant in The Royal Rumble?
The Ultimate Warrior: Yeah we said it! There have been rumors of The Warrior being inducted into The Hall of Fame this year, and with The Warrior’s lawsuit being dropped against The WWE recently, this opens the door for the ‘never say never’ conversation. It could happen. Seriously! Just think about it: The Warrior runs to the ring, eliminates a superstar or two, then gets thrown out by Triple H. “That’s for Wrestlemania 12, douchebag!”
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FINISHERS
We’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge The TNA musical production team for their indefatigable efforts in creating so many different theme songs for the stampede of new wrestlers who have burst onto the scene this month. Below are some (if not all) of the new wrestlers and performers, who have received new theme music. In the spirit of American Idolism we have also included our thoughts (Hate it, like it, love it) of the specific theme songs given to the performer in question.
Jeff Hardy- Hardy’s song is catchy and hard-hitting with the infectious drums and offbeat lyrics. Fits him perfectly. Love it (while it lasts).
Hulk Hogan- Hogan’s revamped nWo theme is a simple, recognizable theme that one can’t help but bop their head to. Love it.
Eric Bischoff- It helps that Bischoff’s original WCW theme is one of our all time favorites, and his new revamped TNA theme is even better. Love it.
Ric Flair- Flair’s electric Guitar Space Odyssey Remix theme reminds me of when Randy Savage came to WCW and received an electric guitar version of Pomp and Circumstances that felt younger and less boring. Love it.
Ken Anderson- We’ve always been big fans of theme songs with an attention-grabbing start (i.e. glass breaking for Stone Cold) as opposed to songs that just begin (which usually get assigned to jobbers). Ken Anderson is certainly no jobber, and his theme song (with its unique start and familiar melody) shows it. Love it.
Sean Morely- Okay, we get it, he’s a porn star. Like it.
Angelina Love- With the success of The Beautiful People Theme that we still can’t get enough of, TNA sort of dropped the ball with Angelina’s generic rock theme. Hate it.
Brian Kendrick- Brian Kendrick’s classical music medley doesn’t quite suit him, but it’s still very unique and somewhat infectious. Love it.
Orlando Jordan- Nothing wrong with this Hip-Hop theme that suits Orlando’s style. Like it.
The Band- Another revamped nWo theme, however this one seems more forced. Hate it.
Generation ME- Very forgettable. Hate it.
The Nasty Boys- At least they’re not singing on it. Hate them it.
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Tags: AJ Styles Heel Turn, Hulk Hogan on TNA, Montreal Screwjob, The Gorilla Press Pro Wrestling Blog, TNA News, Wrestling News, WWE News
