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My brother and fellow wrestling enthusiast challenged me and a group of friends to deny ourselves the pleasure of analyzing pro wrestling in order to simply enjoy it as fans.

This challenge came as a response to the insensitive bantering of a "respected" columnist ripped the holiday episode of Smackdown to pieces.  Apparently the columnist went in on the fact that the episode was too whimsical, aloof and scattered to be enjoyable.  The sad part is that the columnist was right in that sense, but incredibly to myopically encumbered by his "rightness" to realize that the episode was meant to be whimsical, aloof and scattered.

It was the "holiday episode" of Smackdown; what the hell was he expecting, a solid build to the 2011 Turkey Bowl?

The point my brother wants to make with this challenge is to return us to those days when we were simply fans of pro wrestling.  He wants us to go back to the days where backstage politics and internet rumors were non sequitur.  He wants us to enjoy what we're seeing simply because it was a good show and not because a given company hasn't properly booked a particular person in the main event.

The challenge will be difficult because we have to put aside our analytical minds and soak in products as fans who enjoy tuning in every week to be entertained, and not analysts who have massive egos and want to defend their MENSA memberships among the dolts that can't book a show to save their lives.

Man, this is going to be ridiculously difficult for yours truly.

So, until January 1, 2012, expect some weekly right ups from me and possibly some from my buds.  This should be interesting, but the outcome will definitely lead everyone to have a multifaceted appreciation of this form of entertainment we love so dearly.

Stay tuned, America! This will be deliciously sexy!

I recently wrote an open letter to TNA after reading two letters written by Wrestling Internet Community writers.  My letter even got published on my fav. site. Gerweck.net! 

Click here to see my longwinded craftywork!

The fact of the matter is, as bad as it seems TNA is, they aren't really that far from being a decent organization.  The bigger issue is that they have the propensity to fall back into the same crap that gets them booed by fans on a regular basis.  Come to think of it, TNA's fan reception is on the same level as John Cena's - a lot of people cheer, but the boos are way louder and you can't ignore them.

My hope is that someone of quality reads my letter and puts some real thought into the logic that goes into handling business around those TNA Offices.  The fact is that with a little bit more thought placed into marketing, promotion, talent development, etc., TNA could actually give the WWE a run for their money.  Also, if they spent more time listening to all of their fans and not just the ones that give them copliment after compliment, then maybe...MAYBE they'd produce a quality product that the fans would be interested in tearing down the house just to see.  But then again, that's my opinion.  I mean, what do the fans know about the business they spend their hard earned money on?

Well, it was only a matter of time before this one happened.  Needless to say, this is one of those talents that really shouldn't have been let go.

TBK, as I and a few others affectionately called him, had a bright future in the WWE as a Cruiserweight.  It's just too bad the WWE disbanded it's Cruiserweight division when Horswoggle won the belt.  At any rate, Kendrick could've put on excellent matches with Tyson Kidd, Jamie Knoble, the yet-to-debut Kaval (TNA's former Low-ki), Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, and a slew of other smaller yet very athletic WWE superstars.  But alas, at this day in time, it was not meant to be for TBK.

Which sucks supremely for him, as it is rumored that Vince McMahon isn't happy with the current product, but at the same time, it seems as if he hasn't instructed his writing staff to produce opportunities for the younger stars to be turned into tomorrow's Hogans, Macho Mans, HBKs, etc.  I can't feel sorry for McMahon, b/c when you release folks such as Kendrick, can you really sympathize with the chairman's plight?

So three cheers for TBK...maybe he'll return to ROH and wreak havok there.

Hip Hip...Hooray!

Hip Hip...Hooray!

Hip Hip...ahh, forget about it.

I haven't really written on here much lately, esp. regarding Total Non-Stop Action.  But I guess now would be as good a time to do so than ever seeing as I'm currently making my Slammiversary predictions over at www.fourdown.org.  You should check the site out, it's pretty cool.

This year's Slammiversary PPV, which takes place in Detroit "Motor City," Michigan, marks seven years of TNA's place in the industry.  The company has grown by leaps and bounds, and in my hunble estimation has a lot more growing to do, but I must admit that the company and product has developed quite nicely over the past 2,554 days.  Don't get me wrong: TNA has given pro wrestling fans plenty of headaches along the way, but then again when you're in such a long relationship with anyone, you're bound to scratch your head, yell, scream, and make out passionately on the hood of your mom's 1988 Ford Tempo LX every now and then...or maybe that was just me...

At any rate, TNA has done a lot to hype up tomorrow's Slammiversary PPV, and then they've done very little to make the matches seem significant as well.  But alas, a pro wrestling PPV is a pro wrestling PPV, and much like Wrestlemania, we can expect TNA and her wrestlers to go all out to make this PPV that much more extraordinary.  But as we've seen with Wrestlemania XXV, our expectations for a PPV's card are not always lived up to, and that's the thing that can make or break any company at any given time.  It already blows that TNA was selling $7 seats to their PPV...

Alright, I'll quit my griping and get to the PPV card...

King of the Mountain Match, for the World Heavyweight Championship
  Mick Foley(c)  vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle

Mick Foley.  The reason I'm picking Foley to retain b/c a few weeks ago on iMPACT, Foley mentioned making some rule where he would only defend his TNA Heavyweight Title once every four months or something like that.  Things between Foley and Jarrett are heating up, and even though this feud isn't the most gripping thing on television right now, they seem to be onto something with this schizophrenic Foley and fed-up Jeff Jarrett.  Foley retains.

King of the Mountain Match, for the X Division Championship
Suicide (c)  vs. Jay Lethal vs. Consequences Creed vs. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin

Suicide.  I really can't find a reason to justify any of the four other guys winning this title.  I'm probably very wrong, but the only other person I'd pick to win this title, it'd be Chris Sabin.  However, TNA's X-Division at this point is about as exciting and useful as WWE's 2009 Cruiserweight Division...Suicide retains.

Match for the World Tag Team Championship
James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Brother Ray (c)  & Brother D-Von (c)

Beer Money.  Beer Money will bring their A-game to Slammiversary and it's going to pay off for Storm and Roode.  After all, with all the titles being at stake, one of them has to change hands. 

Match for the Women's Championship
Tara vs. Angelina Love (c) 

Angelina Love.  It would be a travesty for TNA to give the Knockouts Championship to Vic"Tara" in her second match in the company.  It makes TNA wrestlers look useless compared to talent from other organizations.  Take a note from Christian and Gail Kim...just b/c they've been in other orgs doesn't mean they're top shelf quality.  Love retains.

Shane Douglas vs. Christopher Daniels

Daniels.  Ever since he returned to TNA, the only thing that seems to infatuate fans with Shane Douglas is his farmer's tan.  I don't expect Daniels to get fired for a third time here, and we can probably look forward to The Francise becoming someone's manager.  We can at least hope for that.

Eric Young & Rhino vs. Doug Williams & Brutus Magnus

British Invasion.  Eric Young is now a heel, and with TNA's Tag Division being on fire way more than the WWE's, it would be garbage to have the thrown together team of Rhino and EY to defeat the British Invasion.  Let's not forget Rob Terry's presense in the match will most definately ensure a victory from the team across the pond.

Matt Morgan vs. Sting

Matt Morgan.  Word on the street is that Sting's tenure in wrestling is almost up, and Matt Morgan's stock in the company is rising.  Why not have him decimate Sting and take control of the MEM, seeing as Sting really didn't care much for running the group in the first place?

Monster's Ball Match,
Daffney & Raven vs. Abyss & Taylor Wilde

This is a tough one...I'm gonna go with Abyss & Taylor Wilde as they both need a victory at this point.  This should be a pretty gruesome match to watch, and I must admit that Daffney's character intrigues me.  Sweet.

Well, that's my two cents.  Let's hope Slammiversary doesn't disappoint.

Another two bite the dust.

Actually, I thought Sim Snuka was already future endeavored.  Oh well...

I remember when Candace Michelle made her glorious return to television after re-injuring her clavicle.  She looked like a soccer mom, and didn't quite have the same appeal she had before she was injured the first time.  Damn that Beth Phoenix!  Now that I think about it, the announcers didn't seem all that enthused about her return, and for the life of me she couldn't shake that soccer mom image.  The writing was pretty much on the wall for Candace by that time...and then she got an ankle injury....good night, Irene.

As far as Sim Snuka is concerned, I thought he had potential.  He looked impressive to me in action, up until he put on that silly black shirt and those black tights.  Once Orton gave him the run over, he and Manu pretty much solidified themselves in the world-renowned Future Endeavored club.

To be frightfully honest with you, I really hope TNA doesn't play with the notion of picking either one of them up.  At this point, I cannot see what either one of them could bring to TNA's table.    The TNA product is actually watchable right now, and I think picking up either one of them would damage the momentum they've got going.  That's just my honest opinion though.

So three cheers for Candace Michelle and Sim Snuka.  May they find the peace in civil service, food service, or educational studies that they could not find in the WWE.

One day after an embarrassing loss to CM Punk in a Samoan Strap Match, Umaga found himself searching for Mr. Kennedy's phone number, as he to was giving the old warm wishes from WWE corporate.  That's right; Umaga is no longer employed by the WWE.

This sucks...for Umaga.  Maybe he can join Manu and they can form a tag team of some sorts....nah, that'd be horrible.

It would be interesting to see where Umaga goes from here.  When I say "interesting," it means that TNA will probably try to scoop him up as soon as possible, and fans will be treated to a match between "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe, and "The Samoan Buldozer" Umaga.  As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, it doesn't help his career to have UMAGA tattooed across his stomach.  At either rate, it would be novel to see what a feud between the two of them would look like, but then again Russo-writing lasts all of fifteen minutes and thirty-six seconds, so...

But to get back to my main point, I really hope that they do something about this stale wrestling show. 

And I am very unimpressed.

I get to talk here with a little more freedom than I feel I can over in the Universe, so it feels good to be able to say that I wasn't surprised to see HHH return.  As a matter of fact, I must say that I'm quite shocked that the predictability of HHH's return tonight on RAW was in baffling contrast to the unpredictability of last night's Extreme Rules PPV.  Tonight's offering of RAW, in my opinion, suffered tremendously due to the reappearance of The Cerebral Assassin.

How many times have we seen HHH face Orton?  A lot.  I know, I know; Trips needs to get revenge on Orton for the whole punting-my-family-and-almost-ending-my-career-and-life thing, but he couldn't get the job done the last eighty times, so what's gonna make this time different?

A part of my dislike towards this move by WWE Creative is b/c I seem to view HHH like most people view Cena; he's lame, he's boring, and he's taking away TV time from younger talent that could benefit from being in the spotlight.  I know nothing of the business, but as a consumer, it really grinds my gears to be forced to gaze upon HHH's face with a WWE Championship every twelve seconds.  I've grown tired of him as a babyface, and instead of building up a ppv match to where Orton and HHH can pummel each other until kingdom come, why not get MVP back into the main event push?  How 'bout we get THE Brian Kendrick out of matches where he jobs to the comedy acts of the show?  How about we use all the people we have on the roster to their fullest extent?  But no; fans across the WWE Universe can delight in knowing that for the next two or so months, we will all be treated to HHH and Orton playing pattycake with each other.

Ricky Ortiz
So you're a heel now?  And you're a Smackdown star?  Why should I care?  Where have you made an impact?  Look, go get me some sweet tea and a doughnut, that way you can be of some use to the company.

The Bella Twins
You're not even eye candy, b/c to be quality eye candy, you have to be on television long enough for fans to salivate over you.  Go find Ortiz and make sure my sweet tea isn't iced tea.

I've already written rings around this subject on my WWE Universe page, but then I remembered I had a LiVE JOURNAL account about wrestling, so I figured I should probably say something on here as well.

Tons of fans are tossing their two cents into the ring about how and why Kennedy got the old heave ho', and yours truly is no different.  But for me, the bottom line is that this is a setback for not only Kennedy, but for his fans and the WWE fans as well.  The man is talented; I personally like him better as a heel, but he was definitely working the crowds as a face and was gaining some momentum.  Regardless of how much you love or hate the organization, the WWE has a nasty habit of pulling the rug out from under a superstar when they're on a roll, especially if they are a superstar that they don't foresee being a main event draw.  Don't believe me?  Here are a few folks that have all suffered recently from such a thing:

MVP
THE Brian Kendrick
Shelton Benjamin
Charlie Haas
R-Truth
Gail Kim
Evan Bourne
Jack Swagger
Tyson Kidd

I could keep going on and on...

Say what you will, Kennedy's release is a form of the rug being pulled out from under him, even if it was because of his own carelessness inside and outside the ring.  For the most part, I hope he'll end up in TNA, and I have a good feeling that he will.  I'm not sure whether or not he has a 90 no compete clause in his contract, but hopefully he doesn't.  TNA could do wonders with him in their midcard.

Here's to Mr. Kennedy, and hopefully we'll see more of him sooner than later.

I haven't written in a long time, so please forgive the absence.

I've noticed that people are still very vocal about their dislike, or down-right hatred, for John Cena.  On one hand, I'm not mad at anyone voicing their opinion; I, for one, hate babyface Triple H - he just sucks.  But, what really gets my gears about anti-Cena fans is the fact that to me, it seems as if they don't get the point.  There are several reasons to why the WWE will not hear your moans, groans, and death threats; so, out of the goodness of my heart, I'm going to list a few of those reasons here.

Reason #1 - MONEY, MONEY, YEAH YEAH!

Kids buy WWE merchandise.  Kids' parents buy WWE merchandise.  You rant on internet blogs and websites.  Vince McMahon swims in money like Scrooge McDuck.  Kids and kids' parents like John Cena.  You like Jeff Hardy.   All of this sounds unrelated and pointless, but if you take one brief moment to put two and two together, you'll see exactly why John Cena is a heavyweight champ once again.  Okay, I'll slow it down for you.

The #1 complaint among anti-Cena wrestling fans is that only little kids and women like him.  Well unfortunately for you, while the 18-34 male demographic brings the WWE millions of television viewers and show attendees on a weekly basis, it's those same little kids and women that dominate merchandise sales on a daily basis.  For every one anti-Cena wrestling fan, there are at least 50 kids and women that are flooding WWEshop.com with purchase orders.  As a matter of fact, take this on for size: Cena returned to the WWE Sunday night at Survivor Series with a brand new Cena shirt, his famous "Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect" mantra emblazoned in the same shield and colors as the old AWA logo.  THE VERY NEXT NIGHT, during Cena's promo with Chris Jericho on Monday Night RAW, a child in the audience was shown holding up her sign and wearing that very same shirt.  In less than twenty-four hours, at least one kid in that arena had John Cena's new merch on her back; how many grown folk between 18 - 34 had that shirt?  None?  Two?  Eleventy?  Who knows?  Now how many kids had that shirt on?  Countless.

As long as kids and women make up the real brunt of the buying power, McMahon will do anything to cater to them, and according to them, Cena isn't harsh on the eyes.  And look at the guy: he's single, he's charming, and he's a work horse.  Kids aspire to be him, and women aspire to be with him.  As long as they continue to support Cena, then the champ is not going anywhere.

Reason #2 - CENA IS THE NEW HULK HOGAN

The second complaint that most anti-Cena fans have is that he has a limited move-set and that he's grown stale.  I'll agree with anyone on the stale part, but the limited move-set is something I'll have to disagree with you on.  Please explain to me how one could hate John Cena for the 3 moves he has, when that same person can adore Ric Flair for the 2 moves he has?!  Go watch a Ric Flair match right now...doesn't matter what year, just watch one...and this is what it'll consist of:

Knife-edge chop

Wooo

Back body drop (on Flair)

Wooo

Eye-poke

Wooo

Wooo

Old Man flp

Chop block

Figure-four leg lock

Submission

Wooo

Wooo

Wooo

And fans around the world consider Flair the greatest wrestler of all time.  A move-set does not make a wrestler phenomenal; there are a host of other qualities a wrestler can have that can propel him into the stratosphere of the fans' hearts and wallets.  Flair had all of two actual maneuvers, but he has great presence and ring psychology.  His matches tell stories, and he's placed himself in compelling storylines over the years.  Look at Hogan's move-set: big boot, leg drop, Hulk-Up, body slam.  But yet, even in his recent douche-baggyness, he's still the first name and face you think of when you think of pro wrestling.  Hogan was very marketable, and he's what the fans wanted and loved at the time.  His intensity and sheer size (Hogan's a big dude) amazed fans, and that whole American thing is what people loved, not to mention his time in the NWO.  If you think about it, Cena is no different from Hogan; they both constantly gave their all in between the ropes, even if fans booed them to kingdom come, without really being all that technically sound in the ring.  All of this, however, goes back to reason one: their marketability sold seats and merchandise, so of course they were going to be shoved down people's throats until there were 2 more people that hated him than liked him.  We have yet to get to that point.

Reason #3 - "WHO'S NEXT?"

Anti-Cena fans complain that there should be someone else with the heavyweight title other than Cena, but I would dare to ask them "who fits the bill?" 

Orton?  Nope, he's got a storyline going with these second generation stars.  Also, for some reason, Orton really hasn't wrestled much since his return.  Hopefully this is due to a storyline dysfunction and not b/c of his injury.

Jericho?  Nope.  Chris winning the title didn't do anything for ratings, and the end of his feud with Michaels cemented Jericho's place in mediocrity.  Jericho has yet to "save us" from anything, including himself.  He's boring, I'm sorry.  That's just how it is.

Jeff Hardy?  Nope.  Just ain't champion material yet...at all.  I personally doubt that he ever will be.  I'll save that blog for another entry.

As far as Cena being stale, I also believe it is past due time to bring fans a different side of Cena.  I would prefer a heel Cena as opposed to the edgy Cena we saw on Monday Night RAW, but then again, beggars can't be chooser.

For the past few years, WWE has relied on it main workhorses to provide most of the domination during main events on their shows.  But by doing so, they lacked they rub needed for younger stars to be propelled into the spotlight.  The best example I can think of is with MVP.  Last year, I was the only one I knew of hollerin' for MVP to be put in a program for the heavyweight belt.  But, my requests fell upon deaf ears (much like this rant and your want for Cena to disappear).  BUT NOW, after MVP proved his worth with that killer series with "He Who Shall Not Be Named," and esp. now that he's The Great Khali's bitch, everyone is clamoring for the guy to be put in the main event.  How much more difficult would it have been for MVP to be placed into a compelling program with Triple H?  Or, what if he was moved to RAW and faced CM Punk?  Speaking of which, what happened to CM Punk's Heavyweight reign?  The bottom line is, the WWE is siding with the people they know fans will pay to see, and ironically enough, some of the anti-Cena fans will pay to see his matches JUST to pray for him to lose.  Admit it: without Cena, RAW was boring, and has been boring for the past few weeks; honestly, RAW has been boring since Cena's been out and the chaos after McMahon's Million Dollar Mania died down.  They've placed the belts on people they thought could carry the strap and bring in more buys, but the only one to do that consistently in the main event has been John Cena.  Did Punk do that with his reign?  No.  Did Jericho do that with his reign?  No.  Did Batista do that with his short reign?  No.  Can Jeff Hardy do it?  No.

So there you have it.  I'm not saying that anyone who dislikes Cena should jump on his coattails and ride around town, but I would like for you to put into perspective your dislike for the man.  Once you realize he serves a purpose, then you'll begin to understand why he's on the forefront of every show's main event.  And besides, the man got injured twice and is back wrestling again....he's a machine!