The Gorilla Press: Not Another Extreme Reunion

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Wrestling News | 2 Comments

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

THE SHEET

GORILLA CLIP OF THE WEEK

Ever wonder what happened to Sabu?  His namesake is suddenly irrelevant with TNA’s ballyhooed announcement of (sadly) another reincarnation of ECW this past week on Impact.  Check him out.  He’s bald now.

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SHOWSTOPPER

RAW

RAW was a strong show overall coming of an even stronger Money in the Bank pay-per-view.  The Miz beginning his hot pursuit of Sheamus with briefcase in tow will be a very  a very intriguing storyline to keep an eye on while it lasts.  Team Cena vs. Team Nexus is a good use of John Cena while he sits out of the WWE title picture for the time being.

The surprising return of Bret Hart was a satisfying way to end RAW on the strength of a strong build up, towards the show closing angle between Barrett and Cena, throughout the show.

The show was hot from the start with a very good triple threat contest between Jericho, Orton and Edge.  Orton going over was understandable as it made the most sense, and the ensuing fallout between Edge and Jericho kept things interesting.  The Nexus attacking both Edge and Jericho was very well done, and established the Nexus as a full blown invasion as Barrett led the charge against Jericho, his former trainer who previously seemed to be in cahoots with the Nexus.

The Miz with the Money in the Bank briefcase will be among the most captivating angles in the WWE.  The Miz is a great talker and fantastic character, and the Money in the Bank briefcase was made for talent like Miz who can continue to talk up having such a prize before inevitably cashing it in.

The Diva’s match clocked in at around two minutes.  Sounds about right.

Big Nasty’s WWE NXT Power Rankings

1.  Alex Riley.  If this show is centered around anybody, it’s Alex Riley.  Paired with the Miz, whose stock is rising, Riley only looks like more of a winner and should coast through this competition provided NXT doesn’t get cancelled.

2.  Kaval. Still the best worker in the field, but Kaval needs to add a bit more to his overall character to be a major player.

3.  Michael McGillicutty. Good, not great.  McGillicutty should only get better with time.

4.  Percy Watson. His charisma is carrying him through the competition, but he does show promise in the ring.

5.  Husky Harris. Still our personal favorite, Husky’s shoulder block over one of the obstacles should be enough to keep him in the competition.

6.  Lucky Cannon. We don’t care, either.

7.  Eli Cottonwood. His creepy big guy character has been done to death in the WWE despite how well he does it, but by the same token we just don’t think he’s quite ready yet.

IMPACT

Impact was a solid episode with usual flaws keeping it from being considered strong.  Matt Morgan continues to be buried despite TNA’s best efforts to keep him looking strong after defeat.  The Beer Money/Motor City angle continues to be bogged down by gimmicks and ref bumps for whatever reason.  Rob Terry is being cooled off, which is good news, but the bad news is ECW is making (another) return.

A.J. Styles as Global Champion will be an upgrade to the belt just as anything outside of Rob Terry holding it would have been.  Styles is regularly featured on TV, and hopefully he will be defending the belt with the same type of regularity.

TNA is beginning to flirt with ‘missing the boat’ territory with Matt Morgan.  The guy has money drawing potential written all over him, yet he continues to lose clean on a weekly basis.  TNA’s idea of protecting the guy is having him immediately pop up after losses and attack the opposition, but all this does is cancel the impact of an impressive win shortly after making Matt Morgan look like a chump.  That’s not exactly the most efficient way to kill two birds with one stone.

The Knockout’s championship has now changed hands three straight times without the champion actually being pinned in the ring.  Meanwhile, the Knockouts tag team titles have not been defended since the renaissance era.

Tommy Dreamer’s promo about ECW was heartfelt and touching in its own right, but seriously?  In a company struggling to find its own identity, the answer is not to bring in has beens from years past in an era tha thas proven that wrestling has largely moved away from its hardcore ancestry.

Dixie Carter finally has her own theme music.  At lest that was the first time we had ever heard it.

So when Hardcore Justice draws 34 buys, will this open the door for another ECW reuinion, this time in ROH, citing they weren’t given their proper send off after nobody wanted to see them on pay-per-view?

SMACKDOWN

Smackdown was good as usual with good wrestling and mostly good storytelling.  The show saw a good ending with another standout match between Rey Mysterio Jr. and Jack Swagger in a two out of three falls match.  The official debut of Joey Matthews was even more mind boggling than the Big Show taking CM Punk’s mask off for free with no build.  He just got in there, had his mask taken off and did the clean job in a squash match after over a month of speculation as to who this mystery man is.

Rey Mysterio and Kane didn’t exactly click the last time we saw it, but something tells me that this time will be different.  There is definitely more effort being put into this angle with Kane receiving a monster push (pun intended) and Rey recently dropping the World Title after being the most recent victim of the Money in the Bank briefcase.

But what’s the WWE going to do with Swagger now?

Cody Rhodes’ vignette this past week was nothing short of brilliant, and Alberto Del Rio (Dos Caras Jr.) continues to shine in his promos where his English is far more superior than we were willing to give him credit for.

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THE SHOOT

Screw ECW. Sure that’s a little harsh, and ECW was definitely sometihng special in its hay day, but enough is enough.  We are past the point where an ECW reuinion means anything, and the entire promotion is now beginning to become the old wrestler who is desperately trying to hang on for one last paycheck despite Dixie Carter’s sentiments suggesting otherwise.

With the young talent on the TNA roster in such desperate need of as much exposure as possible, just look at some of the names that have been or likely will be booked for the “Not Another ECW Reunion” Hardcore Bash:  Tommy Dreamer (age 38), Raven (age 45), Stevie Richards (age 38), Mick Foley (age 45), Balls Mahoney (age 38), Axl Rotten (age 39), Johnny Swinger (age 35), Steve Corino (age 37), and Jerry Lynn (age 47).

This will do nothing to advance the brand of TNA, which should always be TNA’s goal in terms of house shows, television, and most importantly pay-per-view.  It’s worth mentioning TNA can’t even legally advertise their upcoming “Hardcore Justice” event as having anything to do with ECW, and any “ECW” chants that occur at the pay-per-view will have to be edited out on the DVD’s.

What promise this event is turning out to have.

Good luck with this one, TNA.  Like, seriously, good luck.

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Tags: ECW, Gorilla Press Pro Wrestling Blog, TNA, TNA Hardcore Justice, WWE News