TNA Lockdown - ongoing notes

I'm about to sit down and watch TNA Lockdown as I type this. This blog entry will consist of my random, real-time, ongoing thoughts on the show.

Nothing too wrong with the opener, I suppose. I felt they could have ‘made’ someone, and didn’t seem to try, but it was fine for what it was.

I don’t like the multiple pins, but it isn’t like they’ve made any of those guys mean anything. Except Sabin, although you could use a poor performance to be a catalyst to show hat a good team they are.

Bischoff’s interview, at time of watching anyway, was just weird. Crowd chanting “We Want Wrestling.” Was the promo to fill time while something was happening?

Four corner tag. Was it a number one contender deal? If so, they didn’t say it enough. Similar to them in WWE, the commentary utterly ruined it. Taz was an obnoxious prick throughout. Only unlike Cole he wasn’t trying to be.

‘Crimsom’ on the graphic. Typo. Bush league.

Young’s antics ruined the finish. Moore hits the finisher to crickets, because everyone was watching Moore. Much of the match was very sound, and I enjoyed watching it. The finish was a mess. No big deal made about the winners which was a shame. Overall, happiness level is up.

My first instinct with Mickie v Madison is that the curiosity of a hair match is to see someone without hair. It sort of helps if they are a heel. I kind of wanted to see Mickie lose her hair. I guess there is a chance that the rematch sees Mickie demand Madison puts her hair up, and Madison loses. Or maybe Tara gets embroiled and loses hers, which makes her snap at Madison.

Tenay runs through a tale of the tape with a straight face. Tazz: “I got a tale of the tape of my own. Both these chicks are hot.” Ugh. Needless, sexist garbage. Remember that this is supposed to be a replication of a real sport. If a commentator said that they’d get fired. Tazz, Andy Gray on Line One for you, Peter.

He then couldn’t say Sinead O’Connor, and had to ask about the word ‘tiara’. It isn’t becoming of a commentator that he, a supposed expert, is making himself look like an utter fool. Taz probably has enough in the bank with viewers to overcome this, but it’s still unpleasant to listen to.

I’ll assume one of them was injured, I guess. It can’t be a time thing before Bischoff rattled on for five minutes.

Pope’s selling face is ridiculous.

His arse is more ridiculous. Seeing it, anyway. Flair won’t be happy, Pope stealing his gimmick.

I didn’t think Pope v Joe was a classic, but it was really, really nice to watch Joe wrestle (WRESTLE) for more than three minutes. The match fine. Not special, but nothing wrong with it.

Proper booking of a cage match, incidentally. Heel attempts to run, hits sneak attacks for a while. Weeks go by, they are booked where he can’t escape. Face beats the shit out of him. Simple, isn’t it?

Decent enough match with Morgan and Hernandez. I thought Morgan’s comebacks were a little out of the blue at times. Anarchia trying to climb the cage and the door flying open was unintentionally hilarious.

The PPV has run exactly along the line of ‘fine’ thus far. If the main events suck, this will be a bad PPV. If they are great, it will be a thumbs up. No-one will remember the opening hour and a half, but then they are not supposed to.

Kurt and JJ next.

The most heated rivalry, the most personal situation in the history of the business. The first move? A headlock. Major confusion over pinfall/submission on first fall. Bush League.

I’d noticed it earlier but thought perhaps they were waiting for matches they cared about, but even during this, the crowd are DEAD.

Sign: "Earl steals shirts, Jeff steals wives." I can’t believe that (potentially libellous) sign stays in TNA, but WWE removes “Ryder = Ratings”

Tazz was saying “this late in the match-up” at one fall to zero and after nine minutes.

I got a kick out of Angle using a modified (though not well modified) RKO and Tenay saying that he created a new move. Funny.

TNA do not understand cage doors. What’s the point of a lock if the wrestler can just open it?

Holy botches, Batman! What was that supposed to be? A powerbomb? A super huracanrana? Whatever it was, it was the first thing to pop the crowd all night.

Oh man, what is he thinking? I stopped enjoying the match towards the end because I thought Kurt was going to die.

Generally speaking I’ve no real problem with the match in the sense that it popped the crowd and I think the target audience would probably have enjoyed it. But I felt completely uncomfortable with it. Kurt Angle matches just make me nervous now. I’ve stopped enjoying them.

Even without thinking about the moonsault and the botched powerbomb that match was nowhere near as good as Angle v Jarrett from Bound for Glory 2008. 

It’s just occurred to me that Mickie got injured a couple of weeks ago, didn’t she? I don’t mean in storyline, I mean in actuality. That will explain the short match.

The door opened AGAIN in the title match. Come on.........

I liked the double Scorpion Death Lock. Creative and offering something different at a PPV. Nice.

And then double Mic Check. Pretty cool.

I was literally uttering the phrase “I’m enjoying this match. It’s really well laid out” (I don’t know why, because I was alone) when Hogan’s music hit. I didn’t care for the conclusion at all. Hogan still has to be the focus of attention. That shouldn’t have been about him.

I’d even forgive them the shortness of the match because they’d got me into it. But the interference finish felt like they didn’t really know how to book an ending, so they shoved Hogan out there for the hell of it.

The short match length is a little strange given the Sting v Hardy thing, I guess. But again, I’d forgive them that if it wasn’t for the Hogan deal.

Shit, they’re doing Sting v Hogan aren’t they?

I love Matt Hardy’s finisher. The submission one. Seriously, I do. It's great. 

Oh, Ric. Really? Must you? I don’t know which was worse – him very obviously blading on camera, his arse coming out (Told you Pope was stealing the gimmick) or Tazz saying “His pants are ripped up and falling down, drawers are hanging out, he’s bleeding, his ass is out, he’s getting spanked. What the hell is going on here?” Only for Tenay to imbecilely reply “That’s Lockdown”. What the hell does that even mean? At least Tazz said “Is it?” and sounded doubtful. This commentary has been dire tonight. Tenay just sounds like a confused old man who has lost his enthusiasm. 

It’s just sad. Like Tazz said, that’s a Hall of Famer. I’m not blaming TNA. That’s what Ric wants.

Oh look, the door opened again.

Cool spot with them doing the ‘Beer!’ ‘Money!’ thing as the roof closed.

Oh my. I’m getting a little tired of getting worried for people. Was it worth the risk with Daniels, when Hardy backdropped him? He wasn’t a million miles away from coming off that cage.

Ugh. Cane shots to the head. Needless.

Flair looks hideous. And now he went up wrong for a spinebuster. He could have broken his leg there.

Oh, now Daniels has come off the cage, but of his own volition. I’m ok with that bit – he, Abyss and Hardy are pros – but the backdrop spot was too risky.

If you accept the nature of TNA in that AJ can just wander into the cage, that wasn’t a terrible ending. It lessens the point of the cage match, but that had been killed before this show anyway. You could argue that it’s not really selling an injury too, but I’m trying to be positive.

Generally I didn't like that main event, but I accept that it's the kind of match that if you are a big TNA fan you probably really enjoy. So I won't be too down on the concept and some of the execution, because it probably suited the audience. 

When I was at school we did a science project where we had to build a bridge out of string, paper and pasta strong enough that a matchbox car could run over it. Shortly into the project our teacher said he thought ours was the best in the class by miles. We were really chuffed.

But we didn’t leave it. We kept adding to it. And adding to it. Then we added things. And then added to it. In the end, we ruined it. We should have left it be. But we kept tweaking and it ended up being a nightmare. That's a true story. 

That’s TNA. Their basics are fine, and then they overbook, overwrite and you end up with chaos. They don't know when to leave things. 

I thought Taz was awful during that show. Really bad. He took away from match after match and made himself sound like a tool. Get Foley on the headset. Tenay not much better. 

Frankly, that was another TNA show which will please TNA fans and apologists but won’t attract anyone else. So, then, business as usual. It wasn’t a bad PPV, but there was better booking and wrestling at Wrestlemania, which many people said was a piece of garbage.

The last hour or so made me feel ill. If TNA lose a wrestler to a major injury or worse, they can’t say they were not warned.

It was interesting that Hogan and Flair got bigger pops than most babyfaces. No one wants to boo them.

The crowd looked great but sounded terrible. The one in Fayetteville kicked this one’s arse.

I thought the first half of this show was ok, fair, middling. Nothing special but nothing bad. The second half featured more excitement, energy and crowd reaction, but it had plenty of aspects that I hated. 

Wrestlemania week: First memories

I guess there is a certain irony that perhaps my favourite Wrestlemania is the arguably the worst in history.

It isn’t because of some kitsch value or because I don’t know what I’m on about (a point you might argue, however) but because it was the first one I remember thinking about for weeks, month on end. It was Wrestlemania 9 (or IX, if you prefer) from Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada. My young brain didn’t know that it wrestling terms it was a pile of old toss, instead I drank in the spectacle and knew I wanted to go to one of these events some day (If you’ve been following the Mania blogs this week, you’ll know I did so, 16 years later, in Houston, Texas. Scroll down and you’ll find I’ve told you all about it)

The first Wrestlemania I ever saw was actually Wrestlemania 8. Wrestling was something other kids at my school were into, and ever since one had leant me a copy of Summerslam ’91 on VHS – yes kids, a video tape – I knew I wanted to watch this bizarre new spectacle I’d been introduced to. However, WWF was only on Sky television, and my house did not have Sky until about February 1992.

Reading my mates’ wrestling magazines, playing wrestling top trumps and pretending to understand conversations was my education in wrestling until that wonderful day in 1992 when our Sky was installed. I kid you not – the very first thing that worked on that satellite system was wrestling. Maybe that was a sign. It was a Sid Justice squash match. I watched Mania a few weeks later, but I was still very much on a learning curve.

By the time Wrestlemania 9 was occurring, I was obsessed. I watched every show I could. WWF Mania Saturday morning, WWF Superstars Saturday night, WWF Wrestling Challenge Sunday mornings. Heaven. I was a huge Bret Hart fan as a kid (still am) and so the whole build for me was about Bret v Yokozuna. The other aspect of the build I remember massively was Tatanka beating Shawn Michaels in a non-title match (The Native American was still unbeaten at this point) on Superstars and the crowd going crazy. I still think much could be learned from the booking of a secondary title on a heel the way Michaels carried that IC belt.

I loved Wrestlemania 9. I now know it sucked, but I was so immersed in the WWF at this point, completely sold on how much I loved Bret Hart, Randy Savage, The Steiner Brothers and Mr Perfect, totally in love with wrestling.

I think I knew it was a work. Obviously I didn’t understand the inner workings of the business (maybe I still don’t!!) at the time, but I can’t ever recall thinking “this is real”. I think the only part of WM9 I hated at the time was the two Doinks nonsense. I loved that Doink character, and never liked Crush for some reason, but hated that finish. I had good taste from an early age.

Actually, no I didn’t, because I remember being intrigued by Giant Gonzales. Stupid boy I was.

Wrestlemania 10 was one of my favourite Manias, and still is to this day. I think it was a decent show, certainly for it’s time, and stands the test of time. HBK v Razor in a ladder match was so ahead of it’s time. And if you watch it is so different from the types of matches that involve ladders these days. It wasn’t a flipping and flopping X-Division style match, it was a TLC/MitB stunt show. It was still a psychological classic, it just happened to use a ladder as a weapon. Some of the bumps Shawn took were crazy.

As a Bret fan, obviously I was intrigued by Bret v Owen. That was one of my favourite feuds of my formative wrestling years. There are a couple of Bret Hart matches which are held in massively high regard that I’m not fond of – specifically versus Owen in the cage at Summerslam and HBK at Mania 12 – but the opening match against his brother was a cracking effort. It made Owen a star.

I’ve always loved watching shows from Madison Square Garden. WWF always did a good job of making it feel special, and I’ve always liked the fact that the aisle faces the hard camera, especially for Royal Rumbles.

Aside from a brief cameo from the likes of Burt Reynolds to ring announce or perform a similar job, the early Manias in my life were Celebrity free. WM11 was the I saw to be heavy on that. From Lawrence Taylor in the main event wrestling Bam Bam Bigelow to Pam Anderson accompanying Diesel to the ring. They don't always get it right with the celeb involvement, but it was one of the things that by this point started to make Mania feel that little bit special. You didn't get Salt and Pepa singing for Survivor Series. 

Tomorrow I'll talk some more about some of my favourite early mania memories. 

Wrestlemania Week: Raw Emotion

I don't have a great deal of time today, so rather than go too deep into Wrestlemania stuff - I still want to talk to you about my favourite Wrestlemanias and my thoughts on this year's show yet - I thought I'd offer a few thoughts on Raw this week.

I was hugely impressed with some many facets of this week's Raw. From the build - they expressly told their audience that Rock and Taker would be on the show - to the execution, the show delivered in nearly every way. An extra positive to it will be if a buyrate comes in and Mania has eclipsed recent editions and perhaps jup back about that magic one million mark.

A lot about the Raw this week was about the timing of certain things. I watched Wales v England at the weekend, and I was surprised at how negative the reaction was to England's performance. I felt England were dominant, in control and played some nice football. However, most of their chances and exciting play came in the first half. The second half, I'll admit, was nowhere near as exciting as the first. I think if the halves had been reversed, and England had played their best stuff in the second half, people would have gone away thinking better of the performance.

A month or so ago, The Rock returned to WWE and reminded us all of how (go on, I'll say it) electrifying he is, and ignited a feud with John Cena. A week later, the well built Undertaker cabin segments came to a head with Taker's return and Triple H's surprise involvement. Their initial, silent face-off was captivating.

Both feuds, though, lost a bit of steam after that. HHH/Taker in particular was only kept alive by virtue of some wonderful video packages. However good those initial scenes were, there was a danger of Wrestlemania arriving without the fans recapturing that excitement level which naturally dwindled after the opening gambits.

This week, though, both feuds suddenly became current, interesting and relevant again. I personally can't wait to see what happens on Sunday.

A big return on a TV show often offers conflicting views on how you promote it. Do you keep it quiet and enhance the surprise, yet risk not adding extra viewers? Or do you plug that Superstar X will be around but lose that surprise factor in an attempt to add 0.1 to your rating?

Shawn Michaels appearing on Raw was a terrific moment, and the fact that the promise of Rock and Taker on the show had already done the work of bringing in the people made it all the easier. HBK, hall of fame or no hall of fame, is so massively respected by the WWE Universe that anything he is involved with instantly lends it more credibility. The fact that one of the big Mania matches happens to feature his best friend and his best opponent makes things all the more perfect.

When three men and a microphone can make a 10,000+ crowd go 'ooooh' several times in a promo, you know you are onto something. HBK's "what make you think you can do what I can't?" to Hunter was good. Taker's "ask him" in reference to Shawn hit the spot too. That crowd had forgotten they were at a pro wrestling show and had suspended their disbelief. That's when wrestling is at it's best.

I wasn't expecting The Rock to get physical before Wrestlemania. In fact even at Mania I was only expecting a Rock Bottom and a People's elbow. On Raw he got attacked, hit a comeback, nailed a fabulous DVD. I would say he hadn't lost a step if wasn't for him stumbling when nipping up. He even took an Attitude Adjustment from Cena. The beatdown of Miz might not have helped him too much, but it isn't like Miz has been built as a phenomenal wrestler. He's an opportunist and an annoying figure on the mic, and can easily get his heat back. Being involved with Rock for a few months won't do him any harm at all.

Rock's physical work, especially the last bit, with Cena attacking him, means that now speculation for his involvement on Mania centres on a different purview entirely. I, like many others, had it down that Rock would find his way into this match and find an excuse to attack Miz, either pre- or post-bell, and symbolically pass the torch to Cena. Now though, I'd see this as a letdown. Rock needs to look strong in reacting to Cena.

In another Blog entry later in the week I'll discuss what I think might go down in the matches in Mania as a whole, but just quickly I think there is a possibility that Rock promises, during the night, to not get involved at all in the match. He lives up to his word, save for maybe getting rid of Alex Riley forcibly, and after Cena reclaims his belt, The Rock attacks him.

On Raw, you could go with one of two things, depending on how involved Rock wants to get. He either challenges Cena for the title (highly unlikely, still, though, I feel) or offers Cena his hand in respect. The latter incident could either mean a handshake to try and get Cena over with Rock fans, or Cena viciously attacks Rock and turns properly heel. It would make a fantastic post-Mania, first Raw angle.

I liked a lot of the rest of this week's Raw, too. I particularly liked the Punk v Orton action, with Punk getting a great deal of heat back and creating a story for their match. Really, really solid and logical booking creating a situation where you want to see a match.

The Mania line-up is an interesting one. Almost every contest has a chance to be good to very good. It's how much they live up, and how many potentially good ones make it to the great level.

But that is all for another day...............

Wrestlemania Week, Day Two: My Wrestlemania experience

As part of my quest to give you a blog each day before Wrestlemania 27, I thought that today I would give you my story of the only Wrestlemania that I have seen in person.......so far.

If you have stumbled across this blog by accident, a quick catch up on who I am. I am currently the lead wrestling writer for top UK newspaper The Sun's website. I have been writing for the site for around five years, and started under the stewardship of Simon Rothstein, the Wrestling editor, who now works in PR for TNA.

Simon got to visit many Wrestlemanias, and was expected to go to the 25th incarnation of the Sports Entertainment phenomenon in 2009. However, he was invited to TNA Lockdown, which is typically scheduled near Mania, and could not justify a second trip to the States in a short space of time. I had been with Simon to TNA Bound for Glory the previous October, and was delighted when he said that I could attend Mania in his place.

Wrestlemania took place that year in Houston, Texas. I was delighted to learn when my travel details arrived that Joel Ross was also attended. For the uninitiated, Joel is one half of TV and radio duo JK and Joel. These days he is my co-host on The Sun's Wrestlecast, but this was long before I took Simon's place on that show. I had met Joel and his lovely girlfriend, Kat, on several occasions, so it was nice to know they would be attending, too.

Sadly, though, Joel inadvertently played a part in lessening my experience to a certain extent, though no blame ought to go to him or Simon, whose Wrestlecast with Ken Kennedy weeks before Mania hurt my trip from a work perspective.

Mr Kennedy - or Mr Anderson as he is now - joined the boys in the Wrestlecast studio and said one or two controversial things, as he is prone to doing. I like Ken; he's an interesting guy to chat to, and I've enjoyed meeting and interviewing him on several occasions, but he did say one or two things in that interview which were questionable, including some things about the Wellness Policy. Now if WWE don't like him saying that, then that's their issue to take up with Ken. As it was, they requested that The Sun edit out some of the more controversial statements. Simon - quite rightly, in my view - refused, and WWE prompted decided that we were to have our rights to interviews such as this taken away.

Of course, I stood by Simon's editorial decision. Not out of loyalty, but because I felt it was correct. However, this did me no favours. I was now travelling to Houston and staying in a very nice hotel on WWE's buck, but they were not allowing me any interviews while I was there. I don't really understand to this day why they did not pull the plug on my visit entirely. It would have saved them a few quid. Anyway, I'm not complaining.

I met Joel and Kat at Heathrow on the Thursday and we headed to Texas. I was delighted that my seat with my requested extra legroom was nice and roomy - but my TV didn't work. Thanks British Airways. They told me I could claim compensation. I never did get any money for that.

We arrived in Houston to blistering sunshine (I've spent just under three weeks in America, and I've yet to see it rain) and found Houston to be...........well, rubbish frankly. It's a bit of an urban, nondescript functional entity, really. However, I found my hotel to be very nice (The Hilton, if you must ask.) and noted it was directly opposite the arena for Raw and adjacent to the convention center where Ring of Honor and a Booker T wrestling convention were situated. After a pleasant evening where I was taken to dinner by our PR, along with a couple of guys from Sky Sports, Thursday was over. Mania weekend started in earnest on the Friday.

I met up with my good friends Richard and Matt Parr, who had traveled over as fans for the show. (Matt is a brilliant magician - http://www.mattparro.com/ - and would occasionally, during the weekend, entertain us all with close up tricks) Together we went into the Booker T convention, taking in some of the stands inside and watching as some great names from wrestling's past signed autographs and interacted with fans and each other. The atmosphere was great, and it was clear that Mania fever was in the air.

It was here that I met James Caldwell for the first time. James is the assistant editor of the Pro Wrestling Torch site (http://www.pwtorch.com/), a good writer, a great wrestling mind and most importantly a really nice guy. Now this meeting happened to be two media guys, but it does encapsulate the great thing about Wrestlemania in that you know that literally thousands of people are in close proximity being wrestling fans. There is a actually a liberating feeling about being able to express yourself as a true fan, sometimes. I'm sure many of you find in life that you aren't able to truly talk passionately about wrestling lest someone looks down on you or, perhaps worse, laughs at you. Here, it was total freedom. James and I spent a great while talking about all facets of wrestling, and have kept in regular touch since. I've been fortunate enough to participate in the PWTorch Livecast, an excellent radio call-in show, twice as a guest host. It's a great site.

Convention over with, Rich, Matt and I wandered upstairs to where Ring Of Honor was being held that night. Sadly I never got to see either of the ROH shows held that weekend due to scheduling conflicts, but the guys that did go gave the shows rave reviews. Perhaps my only regret of that weekend is that I didn't go to ROH instead of Axxess (we'll come to that).

We met Bryan Danielson as he was arriving at the building, and had a brief chat. He was very friendly, although didn't remember meeting me a few months previous. I mean, we were drinking together in a cricket club in Wolverhampton for goodness sakes. Who forgets nights in glamourous surroundings like that?? I also had a chat with D-Lo Brown, who I'd met previously when he was working with British fed VPW and was booked with ROH that week. D-Lo is a class act, and I've encountered him many times since in his capacity with TNA. A real gent.

Friday night saw a media dinner at the very swanky House of Blues establishment. As we were leaving our hotel in a convoy, a familiar face appeared at the front of our group. Think "Here comes the money" and you may have an idea of who I mean. It was of course Shane O Mac, and he showed, depending on your perspective, a sense of making young fans happy or a sense of seeing an opportunity in front of media folks as he dashed ahead of our group and chatted to a family or two emblazoned in WWE merchandise. I never got the chance to chat with Shane personally, but he seemed another class act throughout the evening.

On arrival in our exclusive bar, Joel and I asked advice on what WWE International head honcho Andrew Whittaker (nice guy, ridiculous slicked back haircut) was drinking. He called the beer "Dos Equis" (which I think means two horses) as the best beer, so Joel and I set about drinking the bar dry of it. (This was before I was Gluten Free, of course)

Now I can't remember what the topic of conversation was, but I know at some point I was talking to Joel and I mimed a headbutt. At exactly that moment, the beautiful Natalya (and she really is beautiful - TV doesn't do her justice) and Tyson Kidd approached us. They introduced themselves as Nattie and TJ, and we spoke with them informally for ten minutes or so. Nattie said she could tell I was British because of the headbutt. Flamin' cheek!

TJ was a little quiet, even shy, but Nattie was very sweet indeed. Could be a great interview someday. Carlito was also in attendance, but we never got to chat to him. Shane and other did short speeches thanking the international media, and then we ate. Well, we drank and there was some food around. I recall trying to eat prawns and forgetting to shell them. It was a good night.

On Saturday I did some of the less glamourous stuff which occurs on Mania weekend. In the morning I was at the finals of the Wrestlemania reading challenge, at which Layla, MVP, Mark Henry and Matt Hardy did their bit, and Linda McMahon was in attendance. I won't lie to you - the morning spent in the Houston Library for this event wasn't the most exciting I've ever had, but it was still cool to see kids (and parents actually) starstruck by some of their heroes, and learning at the same time. WWE get a lot of flak for certain things (sometimes by me, and sometimes quite rightly) but they do a lot of things which are for the betterment of their fans and society which they do no need to do.

In the afternoon, as a unit (which by then included then XFM DJ and now TV star in his own right Alex Zane) we went to Axxess. It was fine for what it was, but I'm not sure it was worth paying a great deal for. I've obviously got a nerve, because I didn't pay a penny, and maybe it's because I've always been a different type of fan, but I didn't find the selection of stalls (and the staggering hike in price of the food and beverages) all that interesting. There was quite a cool interview someone (Lillian I think) did with Randy Orton in a set up ring (they had some Velocity level matches in it) where he broke character a little, but on reflection I may have bunked off this and gone to ROH.

On Saturday evening we took our seats in the Toyota Center for the Hall of Fame. One of the first things that struck me was that the dress standards in the building was a little less than I would have liked. That might sound a bit stuffy, but TV's Joel Ross (I like calling him that), Kat and I had all popped on a whistle and flute or an appropriate dress (you can decide who wore what) for the occasion (Joel did buy the Stone Cold HOF shirt, though) and I liked the idea that it could feel like a formal occasion.

That aside, it was a nice night, seeing some major legends of wrestling (and Koko B Ware) inducted into the Hall, although the huge countdown clock did take some of the sheen off things, where you could see that certain talent were being forced to keep it briefer than they would have liked. That said, Michael Hayes, who was inducting The Von Erichs, did not seem all that concerned about time constraints!

The nicest thing about The Hall of Fame was that it made the whole Wrestlemania experience feel like a festival, or at least a multi-day event. It actually feels like part of Mania, and I love the tone of it, which is to acknowledge those that have (cliche time) paved the way for what Mania has become..........and Koko B Ware.

We left, on a snazzy luxurious coach (well, when I say "luxurious coach", I mean "luxurious mini-bus". And when I say "luxurious mini-bus", I of course mean "Mini-bus") for the Reliant Stadium at about 3pm on Sunday afternoon. While I don't wish to sound like a whiner - I have to keep reminding myself this was a freebie to Wrestlemania - we did spend about an hour just standing outside the stadium, and then a further hour or so sitting around inside a suite at the top of the building. It did lend itself to a funny story, though.

A room that we were hoarded into to begin with was rather nondescript, but soon someone discovered a door which led to a small box, which in turn looked onto the arena. In turns, many of us wandered into this box to look into the arena. A great many of the talents involved in Wrestlemania were preparing for their big night. It was an interesting insight.

However, fairly soon a WWE official caught some people (not me, I was well out of it) inside the room and demanded not only that they get out, but they show any pictures taken and delete them. Needless to say this was a tedious and unnecessary process. Talk about control freaks.

The media throng gradually increased as time wore on, and I'd say there were maybe a hundred journos assembled when we were introduced to first Nicole Scherzinger (she was singing America The Beautiful - and while she may be from the former, she isn't as close to the latter as you may think. She was 50% cardboard and 50% bitch. Ok, that's a bit harsh, but she was very dull and not at all attractive) and then the combo of Mickey Rourke, Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. Ok, that was pretty cool. I never got to ask any questions, though.

My seat for the event was a perfectly decent one, in the first balcony as I recall. Now I've been to many football matches with huge crowds, but this was an impressive sight. 72,000 people in a roofed stadium was phenomenal.

I don't need to recall the event for you. Needless to say it was a pleasure to be present to see Shawn Michaels v Undertaker. From the elaborate entrances to the match itself, it was compelling from bell to bell. When Taker flew over the top rope and landed on his head, I thought the match was over. More than once I bought a false finish. It was truly the best spectacle I've ever seen at a wrestling event.

I mentioned this in yesterday's entry, but there is just something about Wrestlemania that brings out the best in wresting crowds, and I found myself watching the crowd almost as often as the ring. A very special occasion.

On Monday, after breakfast/lunch at House of Blues, Joel and I decided that it was only right to explore the cultural history and architectural delights that Houston had to offer. About four minutes later we were in a pub which, I'm not kidding, must have had 400 taps on the wall. The beer menu was four pages of A4, in small writing. It was amazing - check it out. http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/houston/

After sampling plenty of the beers on offer - it would have been rude not to, wouldn't it?  - explaining Joel several times that the pink beer in the slim glass I bought him was a mistake (he drank it though) and beating him hollow on a golf arcade game, we stumbled in the direction of the hotel, which was the meeting point for Raw. A couple of swift bottles of Corona with some WWE suits later and we headed for the arena. After some dark matches, Lillian launched into a splendid rendition of the US National Anthem - so splendid that Joel and I joined in. Loudly. I thought we were bloody marvelous, offering harmony and dignity to the anthem. Apparently, others thought differently, as a WWE suit (Australian) told us to be quiet and show some respect. Even Kat told us to shut up.

Looking back now, I wonder if perhaps we were a little drunk. :-)

Raw was fun though. Batista's shock return was the headline of the night, but my enduring memory will be not only seeing Rick Steamboat and chanting for him (see yesterday for grammatical accuracy) but watching CM Punk and Jeff Hardy on the apron openly grinning and basically marking out for Ricky. A fantastic moment.

On Tuesday, we flew home, but not until late in the day. It gave us time to check out the massive mall on the edge of the city, and I gave an interview to The Fight Network's John Pollock from the windy car park, while Ross tried to put me off. Prick.

It was a tremendous experience, and I would very much hope to get the opportunity to be invited again someday soon. I will certainly envy those in Atlanta this weekend.

Wrestlemania Week: Be a Good Sport......

There are five events in the sporting calendar that bring out excitement in me above all else. Four of them are The World Cup (football/soccer), The Ryder Cup (Golf), The Ashes (Cricket) and the Cheltenham Festival (Horse Racing).

Can you guess the other?

That's right. The Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race.

No, just kidding. It's Wrestlemania. You can dispute the use of the word 'sport' all you like, but to me wrestling brings together my favourite elements of sport than no soap opera or film drama ever could. It's about establishing a contest, a reason for a competition between people or teams. You watch those concerned for an amount of time, knowing that the build-up is all for a peak at a certain time.

Wrestling happens to be scripted - but the journey is the same.

Take Horse Racing. In National Hunt racing (for the uninitiated, that's British and Irish racing where horses jump obstacle) a horse only has to win a low-grade race at an obscure racecourse in October and already people start asking 'Will it go to Cheltenham?'

The Festival is a collection of the very best horses in training coming together in the biggest races in the Jumps calendar. It produces some fascinating clashes and asks sports most important question. When those considered the best in their field meet, who or what is best?

There is a race at the Festival called the World Hurdle. It is run over three miles, and was won for two years in a row by a horse called Big Buck's. A brilliant, enigmatic horse that dominated it's field for a couple of years.

In October, a contender emerged. An animal by the name of Grands Crus won a race over similar course and distance to the World Hurdle in terrific style. Before the Festival in March it won two more races in style, and the horse racing world buzzed about the first meeting of Grands Crus and Big Buck's. Would the newcomer beating all before it be the real thing? Would the long term champion be able to retain the crown against his most dangerous challenger yet?

Does all that sound familiar? You don't have to be a racing fan to see aspects of a good wrestling angle in there. I think it most closely resembles Hulk Hogan defending against The Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 6. You could also draw comparisons with Taker v Triple H, right now. But whichever you think fits best, it is undeniably a classic angle. The lovable champ challenged by the talented newcomer.

As it happens, Big Buck's won by a couple of lengths from Grands Crus. But it was a great race. It was fascinating to think about, interesting to watch and it had a great pay off. Even better, I want to see a rematch. Can Grands Crus learn from the defeat? Can it mature and beat the champ next time?

The Gold Cup saw the young horse Long Run beat veterans Denman and Kauto Star. It was a passing of the torch. Maybe it was Benoit beating HBK and Triple H at Mania 20. The horse that many thought could never do it, did it. The two that were vanquished still came off like legends.

In contrast, take Hurricane Fly, which won the Champion Hurdle. Hurricane Fly only raced in Ireland before coming to Cheltenham. He kept beating a horse called Solwhit. I didn't believe Hurricane Fly would win, because I had no proof that it could cut it over here. You could equate that to building up to Mania by only winning squash matches against the same opponent. That's a little tenuous, but it is along the same lines.

Any of the sports mentioned feature various stories that get you excited for the main event. The Ryder Cup has golfers battling to qualify over a two year stretch. It's what it all builds to. You look at each golfer's record  in the competition like their Mania record. (Colin Montgomerie's singles streak was never broken) You want to see which players will meet, who the wildcards will be. The crowd is special. It is a contest like no other in golf. It is almost never a let down.

The World Cup and The Ashes both also have such history. Some of the biggest moments in football history have happened in World Cups. The greatest players have played there, memories are made. The Ashes is a symbolic rivalry etched in the ages. A series of epic contests which are looked forward to for some time.

I could go on but you get the point. There is perhaps nothing inherently different about Wrestlemania. It is just a wrestling card with matches and a crowd. It's the same guys who compete at any other PPV. The same basic set-up. Wrestling matches happen all the time, don't they? So why is it different.

Cricket matches, golf tournaments, football matches and horse races take place all the time, too. But the contests highlighted have that little bit extra to them. It's either an epic rivalry or a meeting of the very best at the respective sports. The history of excellence and excitement adds to the theatre of the occasion.

And so does the crowd. It's what you might term a virtuous circle. The crowd's excitement and involvement adds to the viewing pleasure, which makes the spectacle better. A better spectacle means the crowd get more excited, which means they make more noise and so forth. Think of the amazing crowd response at the Ryder Cup in Wales last year. Or the Barmy Army's involvement at the Cricket. The roar of the crowd as the first race of the Festival sets off. You get good crowds at other events in those sports, but nothing like those. It is the feeling of knowing you are somewhere special and experiencing something special.

The Rock v Hulk Hogan, had it taken place in an empty arena, would have been a very average match indeed. It was the crowd playing off the importance and history of both men that made it feel like such a big deal. But part of the reaction was that it was at Mania. Had the first meeting between Hogan and Rock been at No Mercy or Armageddon in front of 13,000 people it would have been good, but wouldn't have been Mania-good.

As this Sunday gets nearer I have found myself watch old Mania DVDs, watching matches on Youtube, even reading the ten-year-old WWE book on Wrestlemania which is filled with inaccuracies. It's because, certainly in recent years, Wrestlemania has been the show that has delivered above others. Not every year, but most of the time you can expect to see a huge crowd, a couple of great matches, people you don't see at other times.

WWE has done a terrific job of enhancing this feeling. The Hall of Fame ceremony has helped terrifically. You can rightly have reservations about the Hall itself, but surely you can't deny that hearing speeches from Bret Hart, The Rock and Steve Austin at the ceremonies, as well as the Ric Flair hoopla, made the thing special.

I was fortunate enough to be at the Hall of Fame ceremony and Wrestlemania 25 in Houston. As good as Michaels v Taker was, my abiding memory of that weekend was watching one of my all-time favourites, Ricky Steamboat, wrestle at Mania and at Raw. He was phenomenal, but what made his performances so much better was knowing the stage on which he was doing it. I was one of the thousands that chanted "You Still Got It" (Actually no I was wasn't. I was one of the few people that used the grammatically correct form of "YOU'VE still got it". But then that is me.)

If it had happened at another PPV it would have felt like WWE running out of ideas and delving into the past. But it was Mania. It helped that Jericho was awesome too, but the combination of Mania and Steamboat gave me an enduring memory.

Here's hoping the people in Atlanta get some of that this week, too.

Raw Number 14

Straight into the Raw theme this week, and we're right back to Manhattan Center for Raw with Vince, Savage and.........BOBBY HEENAN!! Yes! The Weasel is here, and no sign of Rob Bartlett. Let's hope he has gone forever.

Vince says we can look forward to Lex Luger v "The original Hawaiian", Crush. Vince says Shawn Michaels will be on hand as well, and Heenan says Michaels is the greatest IC champ of all time.

Once the annoying siren (the one slightly less annoying than Bartlett) shuts up, Howard Finkel announces Damien Demento, the man from "The Outer reaches of your mind". That, I think, is the most stupid hometown in wrestling history. It's far from Perfect, isn't it?

Speaking of Perfect (Holy segues Batman!) his opponent is none other than..........MAX MOON! No, I'm only kidding - it's Mr Perfect. They address Bartlett's absence (sort of) and Bobby says he is going to be there every Monday from now on (Thank God!)

Perfect has the early advantage, while Damian wanders (and wonders) around the ring, hearing voices. When he gets back in the ring he ridiculously oversells a kick from Perfect, before catapulting Hennig into the cameraman at ringside. Vince plays up that Perfect and Shawn Michaels have been at odds.

Heenan demonstrates a perfect (sorry, I did it again) piece of heel commentary, talking up how Hennig is :one of the gifted athletes in the world....he can do it all.......but he's not that bright a guy." Terrific commentary - he builds him up, then says something stupid about why he hates him. Superb.

Demento seizes the opportunity, and takes control for a while, before the momentum swings back Hennig's way. As of course it should. Perfect hits a series of his favorite moves, including a kneelift and snap neckbreaker, but Demento turns the tide - briefly. A splash hits Perfect's raised knees, and after a Perfect Plex, this one's over.

Vince says Savage has adopted a school - don't let him teach them English. A small girl in a darkened room under a spotlight reads an essay, and it's something to do with the school thing. She talks about not taking drugs. Fair enough message, can't knock it. She's actually dressed a little like Ted DiBiase, which is distracting. The message is "there's no hope with dope" and she reads the essay from the perspective of herself lying dead in a casket because she took drugs. Then, in what is a most surreal turn if you break down exactly what is happening, The Undertaker appears and repeats "there's no hope with dope" and his gong and music plays. Odd.

Back to the ring, childish fat jokes, and to Heenan, who makes a horrible job (name wrong, place name wrong) of saying someone wrote to him and says he will propose to his girlfriend at Raw that night. Hang on, has this turned into a local radio show? Kids reading essays? Shout outs to couples? The cameraman goes the wrong way at first, then focuses on a guy with a bad beard, glasses, mullet combo. He makes Barry Horowitz look like Steven Seagal. Heenan says he will make sure the girl says no.

Back in the ring, Luger appears. Vince says the investigation has taken place into Luger's arm, but Jack Tunney can do nothing about it. They show x-rays of Luger's metal plate, which is a nice touch. Heenan namechecks Dr James Andrews, who gets a good push in WWE from time to time.

So it's Luger v Crush. And this is definitely pre-wellness policy, if you catch my drift. Crush pushes Luger backwards after the first lock up, and Vince sells it like he press slammed Luger into the second row. The two in the ring circle each other while Bobby is in classic Brain-mode on the headset, spouting opinions about the guy due to make the proposal.

There's a test of strength in the ring, and Vince calls Crush "The original Hawaiian punch". Ah, that will be what he meant earlier. Crush actually does military press Luger, who powders. Vince says you can see the screws protruding on Luger's arm. I'd say he probably has one loose.

Crush on top into and out of the break here, taking control with an armbar. Luger gets control back on the outside, and rams Crush into the apron and the ring post. Luger works mainly on Crush's back, meanwhile Heenan continues to be awesome. Luger puts Crush in a bearhug, which the big guys escapes by doing that clapping move round Luger's head. Hang on, isn't Crush's finisher the, errm, Crush to the head (You know, like Khali's vice grip). Why didn't he do that?

Crush makes a pretty decent comeback (I'm actually reasonably impressed with him, here) and eventually locks in said vice grip. He idiotically lets the move go, though, because he spots Doink in the crowd....on the balcony. Yes, because he is going to surprise you from there, isn't he? Crush gestures for Doink to come down for a few minutes - long enough for Luger to recover. Meanwhile, another Doink appears on the opposite balcony. I'd always remembered like 'Evil Doink', but this is pretty lame. Luger knocks Crush over the rope and gets the Hawaiians hand caught. Vince says Luger used the elbow (is it a forearm or an elbow?) but the camera missed it.

Crush is (fast) counted out, and Luger is the winner. That was pretty stupid. I've never understood why bookers will make their babyfaces look like utter morons. That just made Crush look like a sap for being taken in by Luger when he was on top.

After a plug for King of the Ring in June on PPV, and Vince says qualifying matches will be on Superstars. (the graphic says Wrestling Challenge)

Hey, it's Mr Hughes. Have we seen him on Raw yet? He emerges to no music, and will face Jason Knight (yes, the one from ECW). The commentators make very little mention of Mr Hughes to begin with, save for a Savage meekly saying 'debut'. Big Curtis is wrestling in sunglasses, by the way.

Vince eventually says that he think s we will be seeing a lot of Mr Hughes in the coming weeks. He says a number of managers are interested in Hughes. For some reason Heenan has another TV above his monitor, and starts flipping channels. I assume this is to prove they are live, or maybe to show that everything on TV sucks.

Hughes slowly (and I mean slowly) dominates, and wins with a sloppy looking version of a Boss Man Slam.

We go to a pre-tape in the desert, complete with cacti, piebald horses and circling vultures, for the Smoking Gunns. It's a pre-debut vignette. They refer to each other as 'partners' not 'brothers'.

Back in the arena, there are more shots of the 'possibly-soon-to-be-engaged couple', as this is starting to become overkill. Vinny Mac is in the ring, though, and he brings out Shawn Michaels. Vince asks Shawn about a match defending the IC title the week after against......Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Hey, the first two guys in this year's Hall of Fame.

Shawn says NYC is a dump, and he is sick of going there. Vince calls the NYC crowd 'wonderful crowd' and Shawn creases up laughing. Shawn calls McMahon "Vin man", and I'm fairly sure the crowd are chanting "Shawn is Gay". Bobby says they are saying "Shawn is Great".

Vince asks about Mr Perfect. They show footage of Shawn attacking Luger at Mania with a bin, and Shawn calls Perfect "Mr Grover", after "The guy who lives in a trash can on Sesame Street." Oooh, that's Oscar, Shawn. You know, the grouch, and the guy who rapped for Men on a Mission. Oh hell, we've got them to come soon. Something to look forward to.

Perfect emerges from the back to confront Shawn, with refs and agents (I spy Sarge and Patterson) holding him back. They don't do a great job, as Hennig gets in the ring, but Shawn runs away, despite the acrobatic pursuit by Perfect.

After a break, Vince throws to footage from Superstars of Bam Bam threatening Sherri and Tatanka making the save. I miss that little podium near the entrance where they used to do interviews. More footage shows Tatanka missing an entrance because Bam Bam laid him out backstage. Bigelow cuts his hair.

Back to the arena, and I was expecting either Tatanka or Bigelow then, but instead it's Typhoon to face Von Krus, who we met a few episodes ago. It's Vito, pre-dress, and being announced as from Germany.

Vince plugs Shawn v Hacksaw for next week, and says they will try to get Duggan on the phone. Oh, that'll be gripping. It doesn't take them long to get Jim, and brilliantly he says "Hi Vince, Hacksaw Jim Duggan here." I don't know why I found that so funny.

No-one cares about the match, clearly, but Vito gets the best of it early. Duggan talks in riddles on the phone, and I think he is saying that he wants to get to Shawn next week. Although he could be trying to explain string theory or tell you about how the Suez canal was built. It's basically unintelligible babble.

I can just about make out him saying that it is his first match for a title, and the phrase "tough guy". Four times. Typhoon, meanwhile, is on the receiving end throughout. After the call, though he hits an avalanche, a clothesline and a splash for the win.

The main event appears to be the proposal. Bobby interviews them as they sit there grinning like morons. Eventually he stands up and asks her to marry him. You're supposed to be on one knee, idiot. (Hang on, I'm turning into Heenan. Ah, that's not such a bad thing) Bobby asks how many partners they have each had before the other. They both say none. That would have been so much funnier if she'd said "twenty eight".

Heenan asks how they know they are sexually compatible. Ok, this is getting odd now. The guy says they have been going out exactly five years. She has her hand over mouth in shock. Has she given an answer yet? Heenan makes the guy get on one knee and ask properly, which he does. She says yes. Wrestling has warped me so much. I was expecting a heel turn and for her to slap him. Heenan asks if they'll get married on Raw. The guy says no, and I proclaim him the SMARTEST MAN EVER TO APPEAR ON A WRESTLING SHOW. Well done, mate. You know how they all end.

Back to Vince and Savage, who wrap up. We get Kamala next week, plus the Headshrinkers. Wow, it's stereotype on Raw next time. Also, it's Shawn v Duggan.

Not wanting to overkill something, Vince hands back to Bobby with 'the lovely couple' but there is only time for Bobby to ask to see the ring, make a fat joke (I think) and ask again if they'll marry on Raw. And we're out.

See you next time.

Raw Number 13

We start with an odd couple of shots of first Money Inc, then the Beverley Brothers, cutting promos on a black background. Nothing wrong with the shot, per se, it just looks like the final round in the Krypton Factor (remember that?). Largely generic stuff. If you've forgotten, the Bevs had a babyface turn of sorts the year before. I had basically no recollection of anything shown in the previous week's episode, so I'm actually intrigued as to where things may lead.

Vince's piercing voice welcomes us to the show, and the screech of Razor Ramon's theme echoes around the arena. It doesn't look like the Manhattan Center this week. It's probably the same place as last week, a double taping.

Razor is out to a generally positive sounding reaction (he's still a heel at this point) and Vince says it's Ramon v Virgil. Bartlett & Savage again on comms with Vince. Decent reaction for Virgil, actually.

Some hammerlock/armbar etc action early doors, with Razor casually grabbing the ropes to break a few times. Virgil gets a marginal advantage, and the crowd start an audible "Razor" chant. It morphs a little into "Virgil", but when DiBiase's former butler misses a dropkick a short time later, the place go nuts. This is a pro-Ramon crowd.

Ramon locks in a really nice looking abdominal stretches a few minutes in, but Virgil manages a hip toss. He can't follow up however, and we settle into a pattern of Ramon methodically hitting moves, and Virgil making occasional, short, comebacks. Meanwhile, consider it obvious that Bartlett says something redundant ever thirty seconds, and Savage offers pearls of wisdom like "You know how to beat a bully? Beat him" Yeah, thanks Randy, swell advice.

Ramon locks in a modified chinlock, and eventually Virgil gets the ropes. Vince and Savage, though, talk about getting to the ropes like it is a shameful act. Vince wonders how you get out of the move, and Bartlett says "pull a knife". Maybe he was booking in WCW when Tank Abbott was around.

Virgil has a flurry of offence, but Razor avoids a springboard cross body, and levels Virgil with a Razor's Edge for the win.

Vince plugs Bevs v Money Inc as well as an appearance by Giant Gonzales. Vince says Bartlett should interview Bret later on, but Bartlett doesn't want to, because he is traumatised from the previous week, you see.

Gonzales is out next, along with Harvey Wippleman, after a break. He does a stupid run to the ring for some reason. He now has hair over his, erm, personal area. A new suit, I think. Only marginally less stupid.

The Giant's opponent is L.A. Gore, which sounds like Rhyno on the rampage in Hollywood. He looks like a seedy Magnum PA/DDP figure. Bad perm & 'stache. Gonzales chokes his victim a couple of times, hits a bad looking clothesline (though Rob Terry was quite impressed), an even worse thrust kick, more choking, and then a goozle to slam for the win. The commentators chatted a little about the match with Taker at Mania, but didn't give it a big sell, or build the feud at all. Funny how we took this as the norm at this stage in wrestling.

Off to a pre-taped promo with Luna, who screeches into the camera in that ridiculous 80s/early 90s way people did. Actually she makes Hawk from LOD sound like Alec Guinness. At one point she says that she "will haunt your very breath". Err, ok. Do you what you like, sweetheart, you terrify me.

Back to the arena, and it's Tatanka. His opponent is Art Thomas. Meanwhile, Savage says that "Native Americans all over the world" will cheer Tatanka on. If you don't see anything wrong with that last statement tweet me (@robmcnichol) and I'll tell you.

Tatanka starts in control, then misses an elbow. He has to miss a move, because one of his signature spots is the big "I can't feel anything comeback" which I like to call "Tanking up". He does this, hits the End of the Trail, or whatever it is called at this point, and it's over.

After a break, it's Money Inc. Ah, I thought the Bevs might get a main event. Vince calls the two teams "both highly undesirable" and IRS talks tax. The Bevs emerge to stunning MIDI music, and the crowd goes mild. The Beverleys look like Chris Masters with a moustache and a lad who I went to school with fifteen years ago's Dad. Not that the comparison is worth much to you. I mean, it's so long since you probably saw Chris Masters you can't remember what he looks like.

I should point out that Vince and Savage are ripping Bartlett on commentary. They appear to know he is worthless. It's very odd. It's actually a little reminiscent of when Cole made fun of the Hart Dynasty. The Bevs work Ted's arm, and Vince says "this is what tag teams are all about" - so he does know what a tag team is. Mind you this is eighteen years ago. He has forgotten a lot since then.

Oddly, Money Inc do the "tag that the ref can't see spot", and the Bevs double team. Are Money Inc going to work face? They seem to be putting the heat that way so far. IRS then tags in but has his foot on the ropes. Savage calls this, and the ref disallows it. The Beverleys do a switch without tagging in the background. Two classic heel spots. This is getting odder.

IRS eventually tags in, but the Beverleys immediate get the better of him, too. It's all armwork. They choke IRS with the tag rope while the ref isn't looking too.

After a break, we return with IRS in control, and Money Inc then also do the switch technique. It's odd to see two heel teams in one match. Tag matches tend to build to the hot tag spot. How will they do that with the heat evenly dispersed?

The answer is that they do it with the Beverleys getting a hot (lukewarm) tag, and Vince sells it exciting......a bit. The comeback mainly consists of back body drops, until one Beverley misses a clothesline on DiBiase and clocks his partner. One schoolboy later, and Money Inc have won. The commentators don't dwell on the match for a single second, or it's consequences, they simply got to commercial and say Bret is up next.

We're about two thirds of the way through the show at this point. Vince interviews Bret (he calls him the people's champion in the intro, which Savage echoes) who is in his full ring gear. Bret does a reasonable interview, and one that I'd like to see more of these days. It touches on his history and is reasonably low key. Mainly, he focuses on wanting the title belt.

He does say that he has a 'hit list' and that the first name on it is 'The Narcissist' Lex Luger. The reason, as is shown in a clip which I don't think I've ever seen before, is that Luger took him out at the Wrestlemania Brunch. I remember them talking about that at Mania 9, I just don't recall seeing the footage before. That's logical, but I don't recall the two ever wrestling in WWF, apart from in the Rumble.

Vince says there is an investigation into Luger's forearm. Bret sells that it is lethal very well. He says to Luger that "this isn't bodybuilding, it's wrestling" and says he'll go after Yokozuna and even Hogan too.

After another break, it's Bam Bam Bigelow, or the walking photofit of what Wayne Rooney will look like two months after finishing football. He wrestlers jobber Phil Apollo - I say 'wrestles'.....it's mainly shoulderblocks, at least early on.

Savage says that the competition keep getting better and better, and cites none other than Friar Ferguson as his example. He's on the ball, that Savage, isn't he? Bammer continues to dominate, and Vince says Doink is in the crowd. Seconds later he arrives in the aisle with an umbrella.

Doink disappears, and Bigelow continues to have control. He hits a brutal looking senton, then lands his diving headbutt for the W. Just for the hell of it, Bigelow does it again after the match. Oh, now here's the Friar. Maybe that was why Savage mentioned him. Fergie seems to be protecting the jobber, to Bam Bam's annoyance. Friar hits an odd looking drop kick to send Bigelow through the ropes. Is that a set up for a match next week?

Ah, well here comes some hype for the next show. Crush v Luger is announced. Oh, and that's it. Quite abrupt. No Rock twenty minute overrun here.

Raw Number Twelve

This week's (well, when I say 'this week' I mean April 12 1993) Raw starts with Money Inc handing over some cash to the Beverly Brothers. One of the Bevs says the Steiner Brothers think they are unbeatable, but they are not. Well, they beat you mate. IRS asks about the double arm suplex, and the other Bev says their suplexes are devastating, so you have to take their legs out. Ted asks if they are fast as they look, and gets the answer that Scotty is as quick as a cat. (The cat in question being Ernest Miller) They say to make sure the Frankesteiner doesn't happen, and the Raw intro plays.

I won't lie to you - the acting standards in this were in negative star range. But it's a great little 30 second piece to put over challengers to a title as being really, really good. That's basics, and it is done very nicely here. A creative little thing really, showing you don't have to work too hard sometimes - just have people talk about how great someone else is.

The shows starts, and sadly Bartlett is back. Savage, back in his gay rodeo style of outfit, says IRS v Rick Steiner tonight. Didn't the graphic say Money Inc v Bushwhackers last time? Anyway, Vince says we have Tatanka, Papa Shango and a newcomer. Savage waffles on about being blessed then gets to the point......Friar Ferguson. Oh wow, what a treat. More on that later.

IRS is out first, through a different entrance. Hang on, is this a different arena. It certainly looks like it is shot differently. It might even be MSG. Actually, it's not MSG, but the camera angles certainly look different to the usual Raw set. It's much bigger. IRS is actually wrestling Scott Steiner here. Vince then tells us we are in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Cagey start which comes to laugh when IRS tries a sneaky kick at a clean break, but Scott catches the boot. Irwin, though, lands a cracking inzugiri. Steiner soon hits a big powerslam, before IRS powders.

Back in, and this is starting to take shape as a really nice little wrestling matches. IRS lands a beautiful drop toe hold which Scott transitions into a hammerlock. Nice. It's pretty much hold for hold for a bit, until IRS hits a thumb to the eye and throws Scott to the outside. A waiting DiBiase clotheslines Scott, and Rick arrives to even the score. DiBiase sheds clothes to get down to wrestling trunks as Vince screams "The tag match continues" and throws to a break. Uh, you reckon they'll make this a tag, then, after that piece of foreshadowing?

Back after the break, and it does still appear to be one on one, with IRS on top. IRS hits a piledriver. I thought last week when we saw Lawler hit it that it's a move that is pretty much banned across the board these days, but you largely don't even realise. I also like that you could see that they didn't quite land the move right, or at least Mike Rotunda was overly cautious, but Vince actually called that he 'didn't quite get all of it'. I like that kind of honesty in an announcer.

While IRS has a chinlock on, Vince talks about Bartlett interviewing Luna later on. IRS heads to the top, which can't end well. Indeed - Scott gets a foot up, and takes control. It's a full on babyface comeback, and to be fair the crowd are hot for it. Scott hits the aforementioned double underhook, and they only narrowly avoid injury. It looked dicey for a second there.

DiBiase breaks up a count, Rick soon matches him, and the ref throws the match out. The Steiners set up DiBiase for what looks to be a top rope bulldog, but the Beverlys run out for the save. Scott, though, avoids a double clothesline and the Bevs nail DiBiase instead. Scott is declared winner by DQ, and the good guys leave. DiBiase sells annoyance at the Bevs for messing up, and the two teams end up squaring up. IRS says 'forget it', but the Bevs knock him to the outside from behind. That was odd. They corner Ted, who seems to be offering them money. IRS shapes to go for the briefcase, perhaps to smack them with it, but instead Money Inc just slink away.

Vince trails WM9 again, and says watch the encore (it's the same ad as last week). Tatanka comes steaming out of after this for his match, and is opponent is........hey, it's Vito! Not cross-dressing Italian Vito though. Instead, he is announced as "Von Krus" and hails from Germany. Presumably this is quite near the time he was Skull von Crush in ECW.

Tatanka starts with a sloppy looking combo of springboard, hip toss, arm drag, but before we get very into the match, Doink the Clown. Doink has a umbrella that squirts water (can't see that catching on in Dragon's Den) but just squirts it a little and leaves. Tatanka gets raked in the eyes, and Vito/Von Krus hits a couple of the worst chops you'll ever see. Tatanka regains control, and hits some signature moves. After a 'slugfest' as Vince calls it, Tatanka gets Tanked up, and soon ends the match.

On Commentary during that match, I should note, Vince said the Beverlys have asked for a match with Money Inc. Fink announces Tatanka as still unbeaten. Sean Mooney then hosts a Wrestlemania report, presumably because it was so shit even Gene Mean would have nothing to do with it. Mooney says that it was the greatest Wrestlemania of all time (it wasn't) and says it will go down "in the annals" of history. (One 'n' too many, there)

Bartlett is here after the break with a staggeringly bad shirt and waistcoat combo, and then here comes Luna. She warbles about being the woman of the nineties, a balance of beauty and beast. At least I think she did. I don't doubt Luna was a good wrestler, and she is sadly missed, but I couldn't bear her voice. She does call Bartlett a punk at one point, which is a bonus. Luna basically slagged off Sherri, which draws the Sensational one out from the back.

Sherri doesn't attack Luna though - instead she has a go at Bartlett. This is great. can we all join in? I think every promo from now on should just be anti Bartlett. Luna grabs the mic and says she is "A bandit from the wild untamed future. A voice that was before and will be again." Erm, what? Sherri retorts that she has stood up against "bigger men than you will ever be woman". They are basically just saying words and hoping they vaguely come out in order now. Sherri attacks, and it looks like two women halfway through changing for Halloween started on the wine (or Sherry!) a little early that night. Sherri knocks Luna flying, then rips Bartlett's shirt off for the hell of it.

Sherri actually then hits a nice suplex on the floor, then Luna attacks with a belt. Bartlett tries (fails) to break it up, and Sherri attacks Luna with a cord. (I have to note that at this point Sherri is basically overflowing. Her cups runneth over, if you get what I'm saying.) Luna reverses and Vince reacts with horror at Luna pulling Sherri's clothes off. Sherri reacts in kind, but I have to say it isn't really a pretty sight on either side. They fight out into the audience, and Vince says "oh no" at seven second intervals. Sarge wonders in for a little grope (Trying to "break things up" says Vince. Yeah right!) and scoops Luna out of there. I wonder why Pat Patterson didn't come out...........to help, I mean.

Back from a break and it's the odd sight of Randy Savage interviewing Sherri. If you don't know their past, I suggest you google it, but I'll quickly say that she basically dumped him after he lost to Warrior at Mania7, in favour of Ted DiBiase. At this point Sherri has Macho Man's hat covering her chest, since she is now down to a bra on the the top half. Savage starts to praise Sherri, but Luna re-emerges to attack. Meanwhile, there is a jobber and a referee in the ring.

Sherri fights back and at one point has hold of Luna's bra strap. Are we going to see (let's channel King, shall we....) PUPPIES? Wait, no, here comes Pat. We wouldn't want to see breasts now, would we Patricia? No, not at all. Patterson and Sarge remove Luna (again). Sherri shouts something incomprehensible, and then does Savage's catchphrase. The talking (shouting) parts of that were brutal, but the brawl was a lot of fun. It looked pretty realistic at times, and you bought the antagonism between the two. I have no memory of them having a match, so I'm genuinely intrigued as to where this goes.

You know what is needed to follow this up? Voodoo. Here comes Papa Shango, before Sherri has even left, carrying.......is that Ashley Massaro? Oh wait, no, it's a skull. Shangos opponent is..........Scotty Too Hotty - more early 2000s Smackdown talent on this show. Actually he is just Scott Taylor here. And I think Fink called him Skip Taylor.

Vince says that we are getting closer to the tag match between the Beverlys and Money Inc for next week, and that they are negotiating as we speak. Wow, you mean an evil GM isn't forcing them into matches. Whatever next?

Savage says we could have twenty two main events next week, which makes no sense, while Shango is totally dominant in the ring. Bartlett has disappeared, by the way. Wait, no he hasn't, here he comes, with clothes bedraggled and a dopey look on his face. Wait, he has that look all the time, doesn't he? Bartlett collapses, Vince guffaws and Shango wins. The big guy grabs all his props and heads towards Taylor, looking like he might do some of his voodoo gimmick, but instead we see Bartlett looking dazed again, and Vince says Friar Ferguson is up next.

And indeed he is. Gregorian chanting fills the arena, and a rotund figure (The late Mike Shaw) waddles out in full monk get-up, complete with a notepad round his neck. He lifts a page and it has a smiley face with the word "Monk" written underneath. I'm assuming that is for a vow of silence. He also carries a brown piece of wood for some reason. His opponent is Chris Duffy, who appears not to be an early incarnate of Kenzo Suzuki, but instead just an ugly jobber.

Bartlett does a 'frequent friar' joke (well, I say joke.......) in an even more annoying way than usual. He must (MUST) leave soon, mustn't he........? Duffy pushes Ferguson (Fergie?) a couple of times, and gets put on his arse for his troubles. I can't really work out if Fergie is meant to be babyface or heel at this point. He is wrestling barefoot - he doesn't look Samoan.

Fergie slingshots Duffy to the outside as Money Inc v Bevs is announced as a non-title match for the next week. Fergie pulls up his.......what do call that? A smock? A robe? Anyway, he pulls up what he is wearing and waggles his knees. Thanks for that. He is actually starting to look a bit SuBo at this point.

Fergie hits a splash, and it's look like match over, but there is some (unacknowledged) confusion between wrestler and ref, and we carry on. Fergie hits an avalanche, and then weirdly rubs the jobber's face with the underside of his robe. Eugh. This match plods on, Vince tells us Money Inc will have a chat after this match, and the fans start to chant (I think) "We want Bret".

Oh crap, it's a nerve hold by Friar now. Just end it, please. Fergie chokes Duffy on the ropes, so I'll assume at this point he is a heel. An evil monk, perhaps. Duffy, as the crowd start a boring chant, floats over for a sunset flip, but the Monk, erm............sits on the poor guys face. Shall I do a Catholic joke about...........nah, best leave it. That was just weird, by the way.

Another "Please watch our shitty encore" ad, before Money Inc are with us. We have about a minute of the show left. Vince says Bret will be interviewed next week, and it's Virgil v Razor Ramon. Thirty seconds.........

Money Inc start to say that accept a challenge and they've beaten everybody, when they get jumped by the Bevs. This is probably the biggest push of their lives, isn't it? Cheeky brawl for seven seconds, and it's over.

Friar Ferguson debuts and the Beverlys in a main event position. You lucky people.

Fire Up the Brand

Brands are important in wrestling. I'm not talking about the Hardy's and their pals putting the word at the end of their Twitter name. I'm not talking about John Cena wearing Nike sneakers, either.

Many wrestling fans are amazingly loyal to the wrestling organisation they prefer. ECW is a classic example of this. ECW had it's own style, it's own ethos. You can say what you want about your preferences and whether you liked ECW or not, but the fact is there was an aura which surrounded it. And continues to.

Four years after the company closed it doors and promoted it's last official card, a DVD of it's Rise and Fall broke merchandise records. It was successful to the extent that a Pay Per View event was commissioned, which was a critical success. The ECW brand was revived to a lesser degree, and fairly obviously was not such a success.  Just last year, TNA produced a PPV, Hardcore Justice, dedicated to the memory of ECW.

Although not all of the above was financial, critically or morally successful, the fact that almost a decade removed  from the death of ECW it's ghost still haunts wrestling is a remarkable example of brand loyalty and awareness.

You can see a similar thing with many small wrestling organisations. From ROH to Dragon Gate to CZW, small wrestling companies have core, loyal audiences that have a devotion to one organisation as opposed to the wrestling business or an individual wrestler.

And then there is TNA.

I would liken TNA's brand identity to that of the opposition party in politics, or a local rival team in football. If I was being particularly brave I might even compare to people from Scotland or Wales. Let me explain why.

I am an Englishman, and a proud one. I have many, many Scottish relatives, and I have friends who are from Wales. There is, though, an undeniable dislike, or perhaps disdain, for the English from these nations. Whatever those reasons are, I think getting caught up in how much they dislike us stops people appreciating their beauty and positives traits. Both Wales and Scotland are fine countries, which great traditions and values, but too often their national characteristic is hating the English. I can't make them like us, but I wish they'd promote themselves rather than bash us.

Politics is the same.You seldom hear a Labour politician talk at length about how great his or her party is, extolling the virtues of their manifesto and explaining why their collective outlook is best. Instead, their rhetoric is far more likely to be comprised of cheap shots and attacks on their Conservative counterparts and where they believe their faults to be. And before anyone brings it up, the opposite is true. The Liberal Democrats haven't typically been embroiled in this to the same extent, but they are exempt from blame either. In short, it isn't "look at us, we are awesome", it's "don't look at them, they're awful".

And it goes on with football. Pick your team and listen to the fans songs during one game. There will probably be just as many "We hate Arsenal" songs at White Hart Lane as there are pro-Tottenham songs, and the pattern is repeated whether the teams are Wolves and West Brom, Southampton and Portsmouth, Burnley and Blackburn or any combination of heated rivals.

I don't think it is necessarily TNA as a company that provoke the reaction, but I see a lot of TNA fans as not particular pro-TNA but anti-WWE. They dislike Vince McMahon's juggernaut of a corporation and see something they hate, whether it's the cheesy comedy, PG tone or flat out bad wrestling. They might not have the access or the inclination to seek out more niche products like ROH or similar, and TNA have international reach, so it's a bandwagon to hop on.

If you are a major WWE cynic then it's not the worst bandwagon in the world, I guess. TNA have things WWE don't have.. Individuals like Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy, who fans are familiar with and respect, wrestle in TNA. There are big-name stars like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan, WWE midcarders that didn't get a run like Elijah Burke/D'Angelo Dinero and Matt Morgan. There is blood and bad language and raunchier girls. In short, it's everything WWE was eight years ago.

It's one of the reasons I worry about TNA. If they had any identity, ever, it was with the X-Division and the Knockouts. I'm not saying the way to overtake WWE is with that, but the niche they used to at least try to occupy still exists.

I went to all three of their UK tour shows last week. They were great fun. I had loads of people say to me that they had been to WWE house shows, and the TNA ones were way better. And I endorse the view. However, there was nothing on these shows that had me thinking "TNA are different". Back in the day, if you'd seen an ECW live event, you'd have left knowing it was different. I am absolutely not endorsing gratuitous violence and danger, but it was different. If you get to an ROH show, you'll leave thinking you've seen some of the best wrestlers in North America, or the world. Similar could be said of a Dragon Gate style organisation, with the inclusion of Japan in the unique selling point.

Taking out any frustrations we (mostly) all have about TNA's booking, what are the differences between them and WWE? Take an episode of Impact and an episode of Raw. Are they really that different? They share lots of the same conventions. The shape of the ring; a pair of announcers; hype videos for matches; backstage segments; music to greet a wrestler; a pose on the ramp; numerous belts; match length; monthly PPVs; a ring announcer; similar rules of matches and outcomes of matches; in-ring promo confrontations; and more. Now I am not saying that they should scrap all of those things. Quite the opposite - wrestling has survived for decades on many of these staples - but they need, I think, to differentiate themselves in some many other ways, to make them feel special.

They have tried with the use of more violent matches and stronger language. I don't so much have a problem with them doing this, but to me the execution of them is so poor it makes them look second rate. Washed up has-beens like Ric flair or never-beens like Tommy Dreamer bleeding everywhere all the time cheapens the moment when ten minutes before the end of a crucial title match on a major PPV RVD bleeds to sell jeopardy.

As for the language and edgier content, I think they may have a slightly better job than with the blood, but it feels like it is there for the sake of it. Steve Austin, if you talk to him in real-life, drinks beer and cusses when he talk to you. That's the way he was built. He's a brash Texan who likes a good time and says what he feels. Stone Cold worked because of it. It felt organic and it felt natural when Austin told you he "couldn't give  damn about the some bitch. I'll kick his ass, the rat bastard.

But Eric Bischoff is an executive. He's a smooth talker and a clever businessman. He may be a foul-mouthed guy in real-life - I haven't met him - but his on air character has been a smarmy heel for his whole career, virtually. I don't feel it when he swears. It just seems like it is being forced.

And enough already with Velvet Sky saying "bittch". That's not a typo, she stresses two 't's in the word. "Where's Winter? I'm going to make that 'bittch' pay". And then there is a Abyss who is such a cartoon you can't take him seriously anyway, so his use of 'bitch' (one T for him) also feels like it is being placed in the show to attract people who like swearing. The stress on the words is so ultra deliberately it makes the show feel low rent.

Anderson I can deal with. Ken has developed a way of talking in and out of the ring that means I can live with him calling his fans 'assholes'. I think it's kind of funny. It works for him. And I know it is his idea because he used the "nice guys finish last, thank God I'm an asshole" line on Wrestlecast in about 2006. But because needless cursing all over the show simply waters down what he says.

Perhaps TNA finding a brand identity might have to do with what their ambitions are. I can't speak for anyone at ECW or Ring of Honor, but I imagine that, certainly to begin with, their intentions were not to attempt to be the number one wrestling organisation in the world. They had different visions. Ring of Honor was to be a product which catered to "wrestling" fans. They brought in the 'pure' title and showcased technical wrestling that wasn't on show anywhere else. Not on national television in the US, anyway. ECW wasn't just about hardcore wrestling. Their underground success was just as much about the featuring of great wrestling, such as that demonstrated by Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit, and the import of wrestlers from Japan and Mexico.

Even somewhere like Shimmer was founded on the basis of giving female workers somewhere to ply their trade, since they were not being appreciated on the biggest stage. The founders of Shimmer were, I'm sure, not doing it to become millionaires or to take over the wrestling world. I'm sure if they make a few bucks from it they'll be happy. But the point was to offer something new. Something different. A brand that has it's place in the world.

It wouldn't hurt TNA to take a look at a bunch of the smaller, niche, but interesting indy promotions that exist. Study how they draw fans in a different way, what makes the viewer tick and the ticket-buyer view. Don't copy one, but use some of those methods to help your own product.

An example? Look at how ROH makes wrestling matter. ROH is not an major international wrestling company for many reasons, including but not limited to lack of funding, substandard (compared to the big guns) production facilities and an in built lack of appreciation in the general populous for the art of pro wrestling. They are not big enough to re-educate, but they can provide a service to those and want it. And what a service.

ROH take care to make their guys look as though they care about what they do, that they have a reason for being in the ring. TNA have Shannon Moore spreading the word of DILLIGAF and Robbie E pretending to be Jersey Shore. That's fine in their own world, but tell us WHY they are in a wrestling company and not on a reality show. Shouldn't they want to be the best, to win titles, or at the very least earn money? ROH is somewhere that tries desperately hard to make it's matches count, and often delivers. If TNA took a quarter of the energy ROH does and put it into making wrestling matches count, they'd start getting something back from their audience. It would take time, but they can do it.

This doesn't mean having way more wrestling matches on the show. The opposite, in fact. Rather than having 5 x four minute matches and one ten-minute main event to total half an hour of wrestling, have just three matches and have two go eight minutes and one of them go twelve. Twenty-minutes of action, but so much more meaningful. Talk about the importance of those matches the week before and talk about the consequences of those matches the week after. It wouldn't be hard. It fact it would cause them less stress because there would be less to book.

And make the matches simple. No need to for throwaway gimmicks to pop 0.02 of an extra rating point. Using a ladder match stipulation randomly on Impact without hyping and with no real need, storyline-wise, for it to occur, means that people will simply not pay for this down the line. Why should they? You've told them it doesn't matter. You're always telling them it doesn't matter.

(TNA aren't the only ones guilty of this, by the way, as WWE can fall foul occasionally, but WWE are not the ones kicking unbelievably hard just to stay afloat. They are still making millions of dollars each month, just not as many millions as they were a few years ago.)

They could put more emphasis on X-Division action by occasionally theming a show to feature more X-Division wrestlers, including matches and profiles. Maybe even flashbacks to classic matches. They could do the same another week with the Knockouts. They could sign X-Div style wrestlers and female indy workers to one week contracts and simply bring them in to work a match here and there. It would indicate that it was the most prestigious belt of it's nature that people flocked to try and win. It would be different, it would make TNA stand out.

Perhaps you could got the same route with Tag Teams? You could even diversify into different weight classes (Though that's a blog for another day.) The point is to develop a television product which people put on their TV and say "I've never seen that before." It's what happened when Scott Hall walked into Nitro for the first time. No-one had seen a wrestler from a rival stroll in and take over. It was compelling. It happened when Austin starting flipping off Vince McMahon and raising hell. Wrestling had been homogenised for decades, and when this uncouth redneck told his boss where he could stick and did what he wanted to do it struck a chord.

TNA can't switch to a new style and double ratings overnight. Hell, they may even lose a few viewers to begin with, and this is I think is they main reason they wouldn't do it, because Spike would freak out if they experimented and dropped to below 1.0 again, like they did by going to Mondays. But that is the entire point in a nutshell. TNA went to Mondays and failed to offer anything different. The novelty of seeing Ric Flair and Ken Anderson and Jeff Hardy and Hulk Hogan in a different environment soon wears off, and while some will stick around for some blood and cursing, many more will flip back to WWE and watching something that is often very ordinary but occasionally displays class and logic, something TNA almost always misses the boat on.

I find myself getting into blogs like this with such passion because I actually care about TNA. I spent loads of time with them last week. They are nice people almost to a man and woman. They make you feel so welcome, and make you want to see them succeed. Which I do. And which is why I find myself making pleas to them to change because Impact simply doesn't work. Not as a viable, long-term alternative to WWE which is what they claim to want to be.

The audience for them is there. They have seen spikes in ratings on January 4th, the night after Bound for Glory and other times when they have announced a surprise or booked something intriguing. But they always lose that audience, because that audience wants to see something remarkable. Either the same as WWE but better or something different and equally as interesting. They won't still about for something which can't touch WWE in some ways, and is infuriatingly illogical in others.

TNA's brand identity could be so much. You could go two ways with it. It could be that TNA is the place to go to find the most diversity in wrestling. We got high-fliers, we got technical wrestling, we got funnymen, we got legends, we got girls, we got it all. In some ways they probably think they already have it. But they don't they. They have watery versions of each of them, which collectively add up to very little. If you don't think you can have X-Division style action and more, then ditch it. Forget it. Consign it to history. I think it would be a mistake but you may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. Don't go half-heartedly, give it your all. If you don't think it draws, bin it.

But I don't think they need to. As long they treat something - anything - with respect, they can get it over. Don't pretend the other brand doesn't exist, then in the same breath say it sucks. Do the opposite. Acknowledge WWE's existence. Even go so far as to publicly say the WWE is great. But then make you can say "WWE is great, but in our opinion we something a little different, and a little better" and then PROVE it. Because at the moment it is all words.

I wonder if TNA have a mission statement, or a constitution which defines who they are and why they are in the wrestling business. And I wonder how accurate it is. Because right now there is no way in the world a loyal TNA viewer could explain to you why they watch the show without referring to WWE. "I watch TNA because it is better/different than WWE" as an opinion statement is fine, but when you try to put meat on the sandwich there is nowhere to go. I'll be willing to bet that the follow would include either "I'm a huge AJ Styles/Jeff Hardy/Samoa Joe fan" or "I hate the fact that WWE is PG". Neither would be able, I'm sure, to say what they like about TNA. Both statements suggest that if something minor changed they'd be off like a shot. If WWE signed AJ or scrapped the PG thing, those fans would have their head turned.

But if you create an environment where the whole show has an exciting, fresh, different feel, and use this to create some top individual stars which can draw money (real money, not Impact Zone pops) then people might start saying "I love TNA because you know you'll get a great match every week" or "TNA is the best because they never phone it in" or "I never miss Impact because there are so many guys I care about" or "My whole family watches Impact because there is something for everyone".

As it is, TNA might as well be called NWWE, as in Not World Wrestling Entertainment. And the sad thing is that with a Brand vision there is unlimited potential for a company that makes fans care again, and has the finances, exposure and production set up to capitalise.

There is only one wrestling organisation that can do this.

We're still waiting.