Vince Russo is gone from TNA

 By Carlos M Reynosa

After years and years of “Fire Russo” chants, the audience finally has their wish as Vince Russo is gone from Total Non-stop Action (TNA.).

Russo is better known as the head writer for the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 1997. Under his creativity Russo created the “Attitude Era,” an era that caused the WWE to take the lead in Monday Night rating war against World Championship Wrestling (WCW).  Russo helped developed stars that are forever known, such Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and Degeneration X.

In 1994 Russo left WWE to be the head writer for WCW’s creative team. It was there where his creativity was questioned with storylines such as “The powers that be,” and PG13. Many wrestlers and wrestling fans believed that Russo’s success was due to guidance of the Chairman of the WWE at the time Vince McMahon. Although Russo did develop these characters, it was McMahon that approved the storyline to be aired on the show.  Some would even go as far as to say his leadership is what caused the demised of WCW.

The Criticism continued through his career when he became the head writer for TNA. As a result of Russo being either released or constantly reassigned, it’s hard to say which unsuccessful storyline was his. However, because of his creditability and his relationship with the founder of TNA Jeff Jarrett and President of TNA Dixie Carter, it is safe to say that he had some say in the matter. What also made wrestlers and fans questioned his creativity when he accepted Christianity in his life. Because of this recent change in his life, Russo regrets creating the “Attitude Era” and has been developing storylines under a new perception. As a result, the fans had difficulty following the storylines which made them hard to relate to.

When it was announced that Hulk Hogan was coming to TNA with Eric Bischoff as execute producer, fans speculated when would Russo would be gone. Although Russo has changed since working for TNA, the three still had a bad relationship when working in WCW. In transition to his departure Bruce Prichard was directing the creative team, in which some fans are saying it is great improvement.

This is a good chance to see how TNA could stand on its own with out the guidance of Russo. It is also a great opportunity for the fans to see how much stroke Russo had in company and if there is any difference to his departure. Of course fans can always start chanting fire Hogan or Bischoff

Should Medusa return to the WWE

Should Medusa return to the WWE

By Carlos M Reynoss

Debrah Ann Miceli; also known as Alundra Blayze in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) or even better know in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Medusa. Has been campaigning herself in the wrestling media to encourage the WWE have her wrestle the Diva’s champion Beth Phoenix. Medusa believes that the WWE creative team hasn’t been promoting Beth or the Diva’s division properly and feels she would be a good challenge for the Glamazon. However, because of Vince McMahon’s mood swings and Medusa’s incident with the WWE. No one is sure if they would agree to her idea.

For those who are unaware of the history between Medusa and the WWE, Medusa was at the time in World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under Alundra Blayze. In December 1993 she became the face of the woman’s division by becoming the first Woman’s champion in over 3 years. However, in 1995 Blayze was given a better offer and jumped to WCW. Blayze or Medusa at this point was still the WWF’s Woman’s Champion but instead of relinquishing the title back to the WWF, she publicly dropped the title in a trash can on television. Medusa’s incident not only disrespected the WWF, but it caused the woman’s division to be inactive for three years. After this, Medusa was blacklisted from what is now WWE, a company that holds 90% of the media.

Years have pass, and Vince McMahon has been known to forgive wrestlers that have wrong him in the past.  However, should he allow her back in the WWE for one night? It would be  great to bring closure into this matter and the storyline would be interesting to watch. A wrestler from the past who never lost the belt against today’s dominant champion would be interesting on paper.The divas champion responded to Medusa's taunt with taunts of her won, but hasn't given an offical answer to the challenge.  But how interesting would be in today’s audience who is too young to remember of either Medusa or Alundra Blyaze. One must consider the match itself, what type of shape is Medusa in? Logically she can’t perform the way she used to in the 90s, but can she perform enough to entertain the audience.

And then there are audience that does remember, the bloggers that have their opinion on this matter. Will they accept this storyline or reject it with passion? Personally I would believe this something new to watch in the diva’s division. But what do you think?

Impact 2/2/12

Impact 2/2/12

By Carlos M Reynosa

It was an American invasion as Total Non-stop Action (TNA) hosted “Impact” in the UK. It is always an excitement to watch an American wrestling organization being promoted in other country. Especially for TNA, as they are more known in other countries than in the United States. Also because you never know the reaction you get from the audience.

An example would be Austin Aries who wrestled against an English wrestler named Mark Haskins. One would assume because of Haskins would have the UK’s support, especially when he promoted the UK to be the best place to wrestle. However, the fans supported Aries instead as he came out with an impressive win.

Another impressive match was the tag team match between the tag team champions Crimson and Matt Morgan, vs Soma Joe and Magnus. These two teams have been impressive to watch as the fight over the tag team titles. However, to keep this rival interesting, the match contested under a stipulation. Soma Joe and Magnus, who won the coin toss, were allowed to wrestle together while the loser of the coin toss will have to compete in the traditional tag match. Kind of like a handicap for tag teams but the partners can be tag in. Because of the size and speed of Crimson and Morgan, they were able to fend off their opponents despite the unique stipulation. However, as much as they fought hard, they were no match for the double team.  

            The father and son feud between Eric Bishcoff and Garret Bischoff have developing nicely, now that Hulk Hogan returned to reveal himself as Garrett’s Trainer. Hogan hasn’t been seen on TNA’s television for months due to other project and back injuries.  However not that he has included himself to this storyline, loyal Hogan fans will be more interested to see how it will play out.

As for the storyline for the TNA world title, Sting announced that the TNA champion Bobby Roode will compete in a four way dance at against All Odds. This was due to the consist interference of Roode and Bully Ray to keep Cowboy James Storm and Jeff Hardy from being the number contender. So it would make for Sting to have all of them faced each other in one match. To add further into the rivalry, Sting had James face both Bobby Roode and Bully Ray in separate single matches on the same night. The Cowboy did the best that he could to fight in both matches. But even with Sting by his corner with black cricket instead of his baseball bat. Storm could not handle the interference of both matches.

In the end TNA was amazing show, because its arena was surrounded by new energetic fans and there interesting concept. Although TNA could only go on the road a few times, this is something that most fans feel should happen to keep the show interesting.

Raw 1/30/12

By Carlos M Reynosa

Raw began the night in what might have been the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis last night as the interim General Manager (GM). Laurinaitis admitted Last week, in planning to screw the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) champion CM Punk in his title match against Dolph Ziggler in the Royal Rumble. This caused the Board of directors to have Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Triple H to evaluate Laurinaitis, and see if he should remain the Interim General Manager.

As a last effort to get on the board good side, Laurinaitis had most of the superstars in the elimination chamber match compete as a way to tease the audience before Pay Per-view. The contenders who will be facing the WWE champion CM Punk are Chris Jericho, The Miz, R Truth, Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler. The card that Laurinaitis put out last night was interesting to watch, but the one that had the most fans’ attention was the “champion vs champion” match. The WWE champion CM Punk and the World Heavy weight champion Daniel Bryan have been one of the two wrestlers the most fans wanted to see for a long time. Both have similar back grounds with history that goes back to their days in wrestling at Ring Of Honor (ROH). What was also interesting about the two is that they both claim to be the best wrestler in the world and last night, was suppose to disprove on of the superstars claims.

The match was exciting and the decision of a winner could have gone either way. However, due to Chris Jericho’s attacked on CM Punk, the decision went to Bryan by a DQ. Fans have long wanted a Punk/Jericho feud and although their match will involve other superstars, fans may have their wish come true. Like Punk and Bryan, Jericho also claims that he is the best in the world and that could have been a possible motive for his intensions.   

Towards the end of the night, Triple H returned to give Laurinaitis his evaluation. The CEO believed that Laurinaitis used his Position as GM to become a star which caused him to abuse his power. Laurinaitis plead his case by apologizing to the crowd for his behavior and even attempting to literally Kiss “The Game’s” Ass. Much to Hunters amusement, the CEO didn’t change his decision. In fact, Hunter failed to announce that decision in result of The Undertaker’s return. The Undertaker return in what some fans believed to be wearing a wig, challenging Triple H in a match at Wrestle Mania. Hunter responds be padding The Undertaker’s shoulder and walked out of the arena.

    

On one hand, the storyline between Taker and Hunter is good because Laurinaitis is still the interim GM, and so his feud with CM Punk can continue. One the other hand, it is bad because for the third these two opponents will face each other at Wrestle Mania. Not to say last year match wasn’t good, but the problem was it was just last year.  The Undertakers streak should be defended against a new comer that needs the creditably that can both help the superstar and the company. Triple H already has enough creditability and breaking the streak would be no use to him. Also there are other possibilities of experience superstars that the “Deadman” hasn’t face Such as John Cena and Chris Jericho. No doubt this would be a good match, but the streak should not defended nor break this way.

            In the end of the Night Raw was a interesting Night, with a lot of possibilities that haven’t been covered yet. However WWE is known for screwing up good concepts so lets not jump the gun and see what happens next.

raw 1/16/11

By Carlos M Reynosa

There were a lot shocking moments last night at “Monday Night Raw.”  One of those moments was the return of the “Hardcore Legend” Mick Foley. Foley who usually appears in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) segments, wished to enter the 2012 Royal Rumble. The reason being is because he felt his children were old enough to watch him wrestle again. Despite the argument between the WWE Champion CM Punk and number one contender Dolph Ziggler, Executive Vic President of talent relations and Interim General Manager(GM) John Laurinaitist decided to not allow Foley to enter the Rumble.

The two met again towards the end of the show, when Foley lied about being allowed to substitute in a six man tag match. After Laurinaitist reversed the decision, CM Punk accused Laurinaitist of being jealous because of his failed wrestling career. Foley continued these accusations after Punk left, resulting Laurinaitist admitting that he plans to screw Punk at his Royal Rumble match.  Laurinaitist then struck Foley, causing him to fall on the ring matt.  The wrestling media has been reporting that Foley will be involved in “Wrestlemanina.” None of the reports suggest that he would win the rumble, but his involvement this week confirms that WWE has something for him.

As for CM Punk and Laurinaitist, the storyline between the two is showing more positive results. Laurinaitist’s heel Turn (turning into a bad guy) is transitioning smoothly and it will be only a matter of time before they are compared to Austin and McMahon.  

Other shocking moments were the announcement of two new champions last night on Raw. The team of Epico and Primo defeated “AirBoom,” Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston, for the tag team titles. The match happened the night before Raw in a non-television match, and the new champions retained the titles in the rematch last night. Although this was long expected and it was a relief that the feud is over, the match should have been televised because of the lack of the tag team division. If the division was stronger, then it would have been more exciting to know.

The other title that changed hands was the United States (US) title, as Jack Swagger defeated Zack Ryder. As a result of being attacked by Kane last week, Ryder was too injured to defend his title the way that he normally would. Swagger took advantage of his condition and easily defeated him. Swagger was later on in a match with John Cena who was angered that Laurinaitist for allowing the match to happen before he read the doctors report. If he had he would have discovered that Ryder wasn’t fit to wrestler and the match shouldn’t happen. Cena was so angry that he attacked Swagger and resulting to no contest.

It isn’t sure why they had Ryder drop the title after recently winning it, but what was sure that the storyline transitioned into Cena and Kane. The two will face each other at the Royal Rumble, but most fans will probably interested in how the storyline plays out instead of the match. In the end

Raw was a pretty good show, they were actually other moment that were not mention that was interesting. But I’m sure that rest of the blogging world will talk about it with their own opinions on it. But if you have a question about those moments, I will be happy to answer them.

Is Michael Cole burying the talent?

By Carlos M Reynosa

                In recent weeks Nodq.com has reported that “World Wrestling Entertainment,” (WWE) commentator Michael Cole’s character is hurting the roaster. With bias commentary towards the younger talent such as World Champion Daniel Brain and WWE champion CM Punk, the WWE are afraid that he is discrediting their abilities. One can assumed that the sudden interest in Cole’s behavior is due to the recent ratings lost in the seconded of Monday Night Raw.  However, if there is a problem with the commentary, then one would believe that it is because the majority of the commentary is being done by one person.

Traditionally it is the color commentary who are opinionated towards the talent of the company, and it’s the professional journalist that focuses on the facts and gives equally amount credit to both opponents. This is done to allow the fans to create their own opinions of a certain wrestler and to entertain them with their disagreement.  A good example would be Jim Ross (JR) and Jerry “The King,” Lawler as their combination of wrestling knowledge and sarcastic remarks gave the fans much excitement to watch throughout the Attitude Era.

The problem with Cole is that he is the journalist commentatr behaving as the color commentator. The color commentator is usually a former wrestler who is has a lot of charisma and Mic skills; they can perform as baby faces (Good guys) but are often preferred as Heels (Bad guys). The reason why is because so they bully the other commentators and voice their opinions more.  Unfortunately because the other commenters either lack confidence or experience in wrestling information, fans can only hear Cole’s commentary. If the WWE would look back in the past they would realize that they had this problem before when Jessie “The Body,” Ventura did the commentary. Because of Ventura passionate commentary towards Hulk Hogan, Hogan felt that Ventura was intentionally discrediting him.   

However, like the fans of the past that discarded Ventura’s commentary, the fans of today discards Cole’s commentary because it’s basically one opinion. Another possible reason why most fans discards Cole’ s commentary, is because they never enjoyed his commentary weather he is playing a character or not. If the WWE wished to put the blame on the recent ratings loss, perhaps they should blame the constant promotion of John Cena over the years and the lack of promotion for others. With the possible marketing opportunities and potential successful story lines given to one person, it’s no wonder that there a sudden interest loss in the talent. An argument could be been made that the recent loss is due to football season. But a company like WWE with the longest running show should have been more prepared for that.

Whether they should tone down Michael Coles’ Character or not makes no difference, because if the talent are getting buried it because they don’t have a strong commentator to defend them

The first Impact in the year 2012

A review of the first episode of Total Non-Stop Action(TNA) Impact in the Year 2012. Is it off too a good start?

By Carlos M Reynosa

 TNA began their new year with matches that prepared the wrestlers for their first Pay Per-view Genesis. What some fans always enjoyed when watching Impact is the great wrestling that they provided and this was no exception. This episode seemed to focus more on tag team matches, which after watching Monday Night Raw is a fresh idea. This was done of course to tease the fans in wanting to see the opponents in singles matches at Genesis. This idea would normally work if there were storylines that were interesting to watch. That always seems to be the problem with TNA, their wrestling is good but they lack promotion in their matches and their show.

However, the match that stood out was the Tag Team wild card tournament. For those who were unaware, this is a unique tournament were tag teams who are current, are broken or creatively form to compete. The winner would face the Tag Team Champions Crimson and Matt Morgan in the Genesis pay per view. I enjoyed watching this tournament because it was way to promote new storylines and promoted the tag team division. The final two teams were AJ Styles and Kazarian against Soma Joe and Magnus.  It was an interesting match because AJ Styles and Kazarian have always been a good team in past. Their fast pace and high risk style wrestling have always been exciting to see and it was no surprise that they made the finals.

Soma Joe and Magnus on the other hand, were a surprising a good combination of brute strength and aggression.  Some fans were excepting Soma Joe to return back to his loner personality and throw the match. However, Joe has decided to be a team player and at the end accepted his partner and competed in this match. It was an exciting match that could have gone either way, both teams were on their game and the wrestling was good. In the end, the match ended with Kazarian abandoning AJ who was attacked from behind By Joe and defeat him with the muscle buster.  While Joe and Magnus celebrated their victory, AJ was looking at Kazarian who for a moment stood by AJ’s well known rival Christopher Daniels. The two were seen before earlier in a locker room without AJ knowledge, and by confusing face left by Kazarian one can assumed that Daniels wishes to play head games with AJ.

Unfortunately, as I said before that seemed to be only match that was interesting to follow. Other matches were exciting to watch because of their wrestling, but none of the storyline that were behind them was curious to follow. Perhaps they drag these rivalries too long to show any interest, or perhaps I’m not seeing the potential that another fan would see, what are your thoughts?