*WWE and pro wrestling discussion topic*

[Obecorp]

The Chris Benoit story just has me confused and mortified. It has been a few days since the news broke out, and I still am finding it hard to type this post. For many people who followed my wrestling posts, it was no surprise that I held Chris Benoit to a high regard, possibly even being one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. I was truly a HUGE fan of his performances and had a lot of respect for him that he gave so much effort and contributed so much to the wrestling business.

Personally, I had a chance to meet Chris Benoit (along with 4 other WWE Superstars at the time) before Summerslam 2005. And from his demeanor, he was an outright professional and received his fans very well. I'm not claiming to know Chris Benoit on a very personal front, but just from the time I met him, and the fact that many people who are or were in the business (ie: Bret Hart) went in the record and said that he loved his family and held family values in high regard, and that they were shocked that he could be capable of something like this, really baffles my mind, and I'm finding that a lot of these reports are pretty hard to swallow.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of things about this tragedy makes sense, but imo, at the same time, a lot really don't. The results from the toxicology exams won't be out for a while. I'm still hoping that deep down in my heart that Benoit did not do something this horrible. But, it's not really in my reservations to hold judgement, especially if all the facts from these allegations have not been found as of yet.

Another thing that upsets me, is that many members of the media is being overly insensitive to this issue, and they are just quick to bash Chris Benoit and the wrestling business and quickly relate it to steroids, just to stimulate talk. Reporting is one thing, but to blow facts out of proportion just from speculation alone is another.

With all that being said, my thoughts and prayers are with the Benoit family, as well as others severely affected by this tragedy. It's gonna take a long time to heal, but I'm hoping that when all is said and done, that everything points to the truth, and that everyone can live with it. But in my eyes, Chris Benoit will not be remembered as someone who (as of now, potentially) killed his family, and later killed himself, but as a great professional wrestler who occasionally gave his all in a business that he loved. RIP Chris Benoit and Family.
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[Obecorp]

Just to get away from the Benoit situation a little bit (and because I need to satisfy my PBPP requirement) I just thought I'd talk about something else wrestling related. Surprisingly, it's not WWE, not even TNA. But, it is about Ring of Honor (aka: ROH).

Their first Pay-Per-View "Respect is Earned" debuted in the Dish Network tonight, and will debut in other cable providers later this month. This PPV was previously recorded back in May. However, this PPV will be playing all month in all cable after each of the respective cable providers have debuted them.

If you are a die-hard wrestling fan, I would encourage you to try to get this Ring of Honor show, and support Ring of Honor. Ring of Honor is arguably the best promotion out in the USA when it comes to "pure" wrestling. I'm still trying to find a little bit more about Ring of Honor, but from what I've seen so far, it's spectacular!!! One Ring of Honor match that really sticks out of my mind was Samoa Joe's 2nd epic encounter with CM Punk a few years ago. It was a match with a straight 1-hour draw. It takes a lot to wrestle really good for one hour, and yet these two pulled it off back then. Not to mention, this match had great ring psychology, mat skills, and it was a little bit entertaining.

As far as ROH superstars, one really great wrestler you should watch out for is Bryan Danielson. I was really amazed when I first saw him wrestle. He is probably one of the most technically sound wrestlers in the business. Other ROH wrestlers that come to mind that are worth mentioning are Morisishima (the current world champ), Nigel McGuiness, and the Briscoe Brothers.

In my opinion, ROH may become a threat to TNA if they don't watch out. IMO, the TNA product has gone downhill since 2005. It's been reported that ROH turns a little bit of a profit, while TNA hasn't yet turned a profit since it's existence, arguably due to it's TV deals and generally higher production costs. Both companies started almost at the same time (more or less a few months). Not to mention, many TNA superstars (who were ROH alumni) expressed their ROH preference over TNA (ie: Austin Aries/Starr).

ROH is something you should keep an eye on, and hopefully the existence of ROH can help the improvement of TNA. ROH is comparable to how ECW was as the "lowly 3rd promotion" back in the day who may be backed by Vince, but unlike ECW, they will probably have a brighter future because they are at least making a little bit of money.
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[Rob1981]

Ring of Honor could be a threat, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. Like all small promotions: they lack the funds to do well. PPV is a nice start, but that certainly doesn't mean they will get good buyrates though.


Especially when it was taped a while ago: people know what happens well in advance. Airing it live would cost more money. However, if they taped it sooner before it airs, that would be helpful (so less people would know the results ahead of time).
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[Obecorp]

Yeah, if Ring of Honor does become a major player in the industry, it won't be until a few years from now. In all honesty, though TNA is starting to be mainstream, I personally don't consider it being a major player as of yet (at least compared to the WWE, which is still way WAY ahead of TNA).

But just to throw some facts in, TNA and ROH has been around for almost the same time, yet ROH is more financially stable. TNA does pull in more money, but, they aren't as profitable because of their higher production costs with their weekly cable show and live Pay-Per-Views. Also, it has been reported that current TNA stars who were former ROH stars preferred working for ROH, which led to the ban of TNA stars working ROH events. (Austin Starr got suspended for wearing an ROH T-shirt during the Lockdown fanfest.)

As far as PPVs being taped, I wish they were live too, but since the ROH product is a more technical mat-wrestling oriented product, they can probably still put out a good PPV product although it's taped. Sure, people would know the outcomes or what happens during the match, but there's only so much detail that you can put in a review or summary from seeing the event live, and you would still have to buy the PPV to know how good (or bad) the matches really were. (I seriously doubt that a lot of webmasters can do great play-by-play commentary with a keyboard during a good chain wrestling exchange). Hate to bring up the old cliche about "it's not if you win or lose, but how you play the game", but I believe that's the mindset that ROH has when they tape their PPVs.

And knowing die-hard wrestling fans, they support the wrestling industry no matter what. In the next few years, if there's a good buzz going around ROH, and they eventually get a TV deal, then TNA should watch out. And considering TNA is geared more toward smart mark fans, if ROH eventually takes their audience, TNA could really be in trouble. That won't happen probably until at least a few years though.

It's obvious that ROH isn't and wouldn't try to compete with the WWE, but TNA is. So if it is true that ROH is inconspicously being backed by the WWE, then TNA could potentially be in trouble. If you look at it, TNA was not as strong as WCW was during it's final years, and ROH is financially stronger than ECW was. So, if ROH gains momentum against TNA, hopefully TNA will get better, which will be better for the wrestling business in general because there will start to be competition again. In many fans' perspectives TNA is better than ROH, and vice versa, because of the details I mentioned. Right now, each company have just recently celebrated their 5 year anniversary. It should be interesting to see where each would be (if either still exist) during the 10 year mark.

Personally, I hope that ROH eventually gets more coverage. The ROH product is really good wrestling, and hopefully more people can get to check it out.
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[Rob1981]

TNA Victory Road is shaping up to be alright. But I still hate that Team 3-D is in the main event. I doubt Ray or Devon will win the X or World title, and I'm sure almost everyone else feels the same way. I guess it would be a bit dumb to do a tag title change before the event, just so the main event would be less predictable.

I think the match of the night will probably be the 10-man Ultimate X, as the rest of the card seems alright but not too special.

June has come and gone, no King of the Ring tournament. I find that a bit disappointing that WWE dropped it, or forgot about it.
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[Obecorp]

I'm pretty sure that the Joe and Angle team will triumph in Victory Road and will take the belt from Team-3D. This will give a new story line between Joe and Angle, and building up their feud for the TNA title. I'm guessing this feud may apex in Bound for Glory.

As far as the 10 man Ultimate X match, it could be pretty good, but I fear that it might not nearly be as good as it could be. Knowing TNA, they are probably not nearly gonna give that match enough time, and considering that there's 10 people participating, there would be way too much going on for the fans to follow. Hopefully, this match wouldn't just be a huge spotfest, because if it is, it wouldn't nearly be as good.

TNA though has put on a few solid Impacts during the past few weeks. Maybe this is a sign that things are looking up? I hope so. They are still no where in the league of the WWE though.

But speaking of wrestling, here's some significant news. Because of the Benoit story, Congress may start looking into the wrestling business and start putting in regulations like it did baseball. Believe it or not, though a lot of wrestling fans are against this, I will not be. The performers are in desperate need of off-seasons, and they don't need to be in the road for nearly 300 days a year. Wrestling feds may be unionized as well. Yeah, if Congress ever makes these changes, it will hurt the business a little bit, but I think it would also make it a little bit better. If wrestlers have a chance to heal up, then they may put on higher quality matches. Honestly, I'd much rather have the wrestling business regulated in this manner than having it cause broken families and having our favorite wrestlers die early.

As far as steroids are concerned, though a lot of people in the business may be on steroids, it was certainly proven that you don't need to be juiced to be over (ie: Shawn Michaels and CM Punk). If Congress does something about the steroid aspect (like lowering the ratio from 4 to 1 to whatever), it may hurt guys like Batista, but I don't see it hurting the business that much.
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[Rob1981]

Victory Road just took place. Here is a few key things that happened at it: Dustin Rhodes returned (and helped Christian win against Chris Harris), Nikki Roxx debuted in TNA as a voodoo queen, and the manager of Voodoo Kin Mafia. Joe got the pin in the main event, making him one half of the tag champs. I would imagine at the next Impact, is when he will announce his partner. From the looks of it, the rumored women's division for TNA seems to be happening. I guess it could be alright, but Impact certainly needs another hour full time. 4 titles in one hour isn't going to work.

Ultimate X started the show, I think that was a mistake. Why have something like that be first? It should've been alot later in my opinion. It seemed good from what I read, and they teased a Triple X reunion at the end. I don't think it's official though, but I would assume it could be part time at least.

The next PPV is WWE's Great American Bash. It looks alright so far, but nothing too great. As of now: 7 matches are confirmed. I would say only MVP/Matt Hardy, Lashley/Cena, Nitro/Punk look decent. No tag title matches, and I don't think that will change. Cade+Murdoch don't have any real challengers, neither do Deuce+Domino. I think it's a bit stupid Major Brothers are getting pushed quickly, to seemingly be contenders for the champs sooner than later. The tag division needs more than 2 regular teams. Jesse+Dalton might help, but the promos so far have been a bit dumb. They seem like a new version of the Godwinns to me.

Congress regulating wrestling (if it does happen), could help it in my opinion. I saw on some show, Marc Mero talking about all the wrestlers that have died because of drugs. I believe it was 25 total (from the past 10 or 15 years). Something better needs to happen, otherwise we will see more deaths that could've been prevented.
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[Obecorp]

The Benoit toxicology reports have come in on Tuesday. I'm sure everyone who followed this story, and follows wrestling would know about this already. IMO, with the exception of the Xanax found in Daniel Benoit, confirming that he was sedated before he was killed, there wasn't anything that was worth noting that much. As far as the steroid testoterone found in Benoit's body, there's no telling if that had anything to do with the murders, since days before the reports came in, Benoit's doctor made it clear that he was treating him with testosterone dude to testicular ineptitude. I highly doubt that Benoit was abusing it as a recreational drug.

I've heard mixed reviews for Victory Road. Some said it was a solid show, while many said it totally bombed. The Ultimate X match was a pretty solid match. I'm not sure who Joe would choose as a tag-team partner, but from the looks of it, it might be a good chance it would be Kurt Angle. If not him, possibly someone from the X-division, like Jay Lethal (I highly doubt that though). The thing is, with the exception of Kurt Angle, there hasn't been any storyline buildup between Joe any of the other TNA superstars.

As far as TNA getting a 2 hour deal, even though there has been talks of it for more than a year now, it may be closer to becoming a reality. TNA is in negotiations with many networks (not just Spike TV) to get a two hour Impact. TNA is still far away from being competition to the WWE, but since the Benoit tragedy, WWE's ratings have been declining, and if there is a good time for TNA to get its name out there and for fans to discover an "alternative", now and the next few months would be a good time.

I'll put some of my Great American Bash thoughts in a future post...
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[Obecorp]

Great American Bash is this Sunday. There's a lot of huge news regarding the show, because there's a new World Heavyweight Champion heading into the PPV. Edge had to relinquish the belt because of a pectoral injury. A battle royal will be held in Smackdown to determine a new champion. The WWE website has spoiled the result, and boy, is it disappointing. A number one contender's match will also take place in Smackdown to make a new championship match.

The CM Punk and John Morrison (formerly known as Johnny Nitro) match for the ECW title should be a solid match, and would probably be the best world championship match on the card. It looks like CM Punk may be given a chance to run with the ball now, since Nitro was just given that spot because of Benoit, and didn't really establish himself as a credible champ. But whether Punk wins or loses, they should continue this feud.

It also is looking that Matt Hardy to build on to his upcoming main event push with this US Title program with MVP. Not exactly sure if he would win the title yet, but this program should be good for him.

Some are predicting (particularly the "smart mark (or wanna be smart mark)" Internet wrestling fans) the Bobby Lashley and John Cena match will bomb. I don't think it will be that bad. Cena has proved this year that he can put on some solid matches, and has greatly improved. As far as Bobby Lashley, he is still horrendous on the mic, and he is decent in the ring, but there has been no doubt that he is a good athlete. That spot he pulled of in Vengeance when he cleanly leaped over the 3rd rope should prove that. IMO, the WWE hasn't really utilized him to the best of his ability, because they kind of limited his moveset because he is a powerhouse gimmick. I believe if he used his mat wrestling background, and gave him a mouthpiece (manager) to do his talking, he would be a credible champion, very much like how Brock Lesnar was. People compare him enough to Brock Lesnar, so you might as well give him the same kind of situation that Lesnar had to get over with the fans. But, one thing that would really throw the fans off is if one of these guys turn heel, preferably Cena. I think this would be good, if they wanna set up HHH for a world title program shortly after his return. Even though Cena would be a better heel than he would be a face (and many fans have been wanting this for a long time now), this probably won't happen, since there are barely any babyfaces in the main event scene on Raw.

This PPV may be interesting, but we'll see. I'm not gonna order it, but if some really good things happen, I will check it out somewhere afterwards.
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[Rob1981]

The newest match added to Great American Bash: Chavo Guerrero defending his cruiserweight title against Shannon Moore, Jamie Noble and Funaki in a fatal 4-way match. It's billed as a cruiserweight open, but it's a bit pathetic. Funaki on PPV?! I guess there is a chance someone from ECW or Raw (maybe even someone from development) could get into the match. Chavo will probably retain.

The rest of my picks:

-Cena over Lashley. This should be alright, but I don't expect it to be one of the better main events of the year)

-Batista over Great Khali+Kane to win the title. There is no reason Khali needs a title reign in the first place. The fact the World title was won in a battle royal: makes it mean less. Battle royals for titles are usually a joke. I see it fine for lesser titles, but not a main title. This should be a dud.

-John Morrison over CM Punk. One of the better matches on the card, I don't think Punk will win the title just yet.

-Umaga over Jeff Hardy. Another dud title match.

-MVP over Matt Hardy. This should be decent, but I just don't see Hardy winning the U.S title right now. Maybe in a few months he could.

-Carlito over Sandman in a "Cane on a pole" match. Carlito gets the win now, Sandman wins later. This will probably flop. I personally hate these "objects on a pole" match. One of the worst gimmick match created ever (next to the blindfold match).

-Randy Orton over Dusty Rhodes in a "bullrope" match. There is no way WWE should have Dusty win this. Perhaps Cody can turn on his dad during this, and side with Orton for a little bit at least.

-Candice Michelle over Melina. Could be okay, but nothing too special.


Overall: not a PPV to buy in my view.

In other wrestling news: it's been reported Randy Savage will be on the newest Surreal Life season on VH1. The show will be current and past celebrities. Cleo (from the psychic commercials) and poker player Phil Hellmuth are also reported to be a part of the show. It looks alright, but nothing I would watch much. Previous Surreal Life seasons have been funny sometimes, but certainly not a must watch show.
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[Obecorp]

Here are my quick picks for WWE GAB.

Cena over Lashley
Batista over Khali and Kane (Khali doesn't deserve to hold the belt, so he will lose it to the guy with the most credibility to hold the belt, although he isn't that good)
CM Punk over John Morrison (Punk is probably the only person in ECW credible enough to hold the title, so he should win. The feud will continue though)
Canice over Melina
Orton over Dusty Rhodes (They changed the rules of the match so Orton will win, thus keeping him in the main event picture. And, Cody may turn on his father too.)
Umaga over Jeff Hardy (Umaga will probably continue and setup the feud with Hardy and the Jackass boys in SS)
Carlito over Sandman
Matt Hardy over MVP by DQ (Hardy probably won't win the belt yet, but he will still build credibility and continue his push. Could be a good match)
Jimmy Wang Yang to win CW title (I think he's over enough with the fans to win the belt. Chavo has had that belt for a while, so he may drop it, imo)

May not be that great of a card, but this PPV is important in setting up Summerslam next month.
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[Rob1981]

Another day, another poor WWE PPV. I must say this first... Hornswoogle winning the cruiserweight title was a big joke. I can bet WWE will say something like "Hornswoogle was a late entrant in the match". I suppose they could strip him of the title, but I doubt it. So if he keeps the title, I can see Finlay playing the role of making sure he retains it. The title might as well be in the trash at this point.


I think at Summerslam: Batista will win the title from Khali, and Punk will win the ECW title from Morrison. Then new feuds will start: I can somehow bet Kane will feud with Batista over the title after Summerslam.


As of now, Summerslam needs to be decent...otherwise major changes need to happen in WWE. Since it's one of the big 4 events, it's usually good... but we will see if that's the case this year or not.
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[Obecorp]

[Rob1981]

[Obecorp]

Some random wrestling thoughts (this might take 2 posts)...

With the decline of WWE's rating during the recent weeks, there might be a chance that they will have to hit the panic button really soon. TNA, though the product is not as great as it was a couple of years ago, seems like it is slowly starting to grow. During the past few weeks, they have been pulling together their strongest ratings. Although they still really aren't that good at 1.2, it is almost as good as ECW's 1.3. Not to mention, the Raw ratings have been pretty bad, because of contributing factors like the Benoit situation with Vince taking all the backlash from the media about steroids, and the product in the ring just hasn't been that good.

Raw has raided Smackdown with a lot of their top talent, and they have considerably declined in ratings. The Benoit situation aside, there shouldn't be many excuses why this should be happening. With the overloaded talent they have on Raw, they should have at least improved their product a bit, but from the looks of it, they haven't.

As far as ECW is concerned, it should be interesting to see what changes Vince may make if in fact TNA happens to pass ECW in the ratings. If this does happen, heads will definitely start to roll. To improve the ECW product, personally, I'll give them a mid-major title, like bringing back the ECW title. I said this in my last post. I think this can start more meaningful feuds, and a lot of guys who are getting lost to the mid-card, like Burke, Alpha Male, & Thorn, will get a chance to work. Also, CM Punk probably should win the ECW World Title, since he is the most over guy in ECW. Doing so should hopefully help the ratings a little bit.

(Cont'd on the next post)
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