El-P

I've finally reached the point of when this question was asked. And although the D'Amore era (2005/2006) was excellent, since Russo came in the TV has become unwatchable. Still some good stuff on PPV because of the talent, but the booking is wretched. If you consider the ratio talent available/quality of the product, then yes, TNA, at that point, is the worst promotion I've seen. It's actually worse than WCW 2000 (and I should know) overall. That Sting vs Abyss feud is the pit of hell. Big matches and pinfalls are thrown on TV in 5 mn throwaway stuff. The VKM shit with Chrystie Hemme is eye gouging material. The X division has been turned into joke material. Kurt Angle, woman beater. Anyway. Russo… Yeah. Worst promotion ever in a matter of a few weeks.

You mean, like a 10 mn gonzo clip on Pornhub ? Anyway, this : Indeed.

I am. For the most part. But hey, after almost 20 years of writing bullshit on the Internet about pro-fucking-wrestling, in a borrowed language to boot (which has been a great way to learn and practice, although maybe that's why my English isn't always the most elegant and why I'm better at slang than I am at some of the more usual vocabulary (my cross to bear)), I've reached the point of only looking for enjoyment and having fun with this ridiculous shit I've been watching all my life since I've been 13 or so. I may think some of the matches out there are dumb as fuck or boring to death, but I'm certainly not gonna judge anyone because, hell, they love the shit I don't care about and think what I consider great ain't worth their time (yeah, I'm still a Raven fan). I still have my scale of judging what's good for me, but whatever works for each of us, really. That being said, I'm perfectly happy to come off as personable as Tully Blanchard in 87 to those who take things way too seriously…

Pro-wrestling isn't an art form. Yeah, I know, I've said it a zillion times on this board and took shit every single time for it. But there it is. It's not, never was, never will be. Unless we reach the point of the Mike Oles Prophecy accomplishing itself. Which is "Pro-wrestling as figure-skating", for those know are too young to remember Mike Oles. Actually we're getting closer and closer to that point. And then again, figure-skating is not art either. Pro-wrestling is a fun carnival form of entertainment with its own self-sufficient value. Pretending to "elevate" it through critical discussions (which mostly consists of opinions and taste, really, let's be honest now) is complete jerkofferie, really. Love it for what it is. Discuss it for what it is. But elitism is pro-wrestling is indeed ridiculous, especially when it goes down to "oh, this guy is part of our little club of *WE* who know what good work is, awesome are we not ?"

After spending way too much time watching TNA from mid 00's, I'll say this : I like the Canadian Destroyer. Yes, the physics are all fucked up (but way less stupid than people just standing outside the ring to catch people during jump sequences, for instance), but it looks cool as shit most of the time and is sold like a death spot. So there.

Yep. Not crazy about Juice being there. Can't stand the guy's look. Give him a djembe already. Kojima… hum… if he only does his annoying routine after selling for the whole match a-la Savage circa 96, he'll be a waste of space. If not, hopefully booked better than Tenzan last year. Suzuki and Ibushi being there is cool.

This.

Her new angle is that she's a virgin who never even kissed a guy apparently. That'll do wonder...

For the luge spot alone, Mack vs Mundo All Night Long gets 7 1/2 stars from me. Sexy Star, maracas playa, diving off the balcony adds up a quarter on its own. I'm so glad this bullshit is back, despite the ridiculous delay between the tapings and now. Hope we get a season 4 right on time next year. So yeah, this match was fantastic fun from the moment they really got on with the dog & pony show.

Yeah, that too. I loved how SMW made the most sense out of everything that happened there.

I don't know Chuck Taylor, so no comment on that from me. A fake exploding grenade spot does sound funny as shit in a comedy match context though. Then again, I like Joey Ryan's dick spot. I'll say this, those completely absurd yet amusing spots are nowhere as idiotic and annoying as say, the fucking Worm.

The Mummy wasn't Corny's doing. The financial backer of SMW wanted a mummy because he fan a fan of the old wrestling mummy when he was a kid. It turned into a vehicule for James Mitchell to say the most obscene stuff on a southern TV, so it was fine with me. The whole dust flying off was great too. A wrestling mummy is always great. Even when it's called a Yetay.

Maybe so. Doesn't change the fact Reigns should know better and be above that kind of stuff. Well, as a matter of fact, it's even worse if the guy is that irrelevant. It's like Reigns has nothing better to do. Really comes off as an insecure mark if he *has to* reply to these kind of people. The HHH school of learning how to work I guess.

Agreed. But I don't think NXT would have become the hip indy brand if not for CM Punk & Daniel Bryan's adventures on the main roster before. I may be wrong, but I see a link there.

I'm not feeling very good. Current favorite wrestler to watch: AJ Styles (in TNA 2006/07) Last fun match you saw: AJ Styles vs Rhino (last TNA PPV of 2006) With Styles pulling off a terrific fake injury spot that I *almost* bought. The guy was turned heel for no reason at all, but he's so great that he just made it fun from the very beginning, with this chickenshit heel strategy. Wrestler you want to see more of: Alexa Bliss. Although I find the booking of her feud with Bayley stupid as fuck, I really enjoy the petite bitch heel. Wanna see more of her. Match you're most looking forward to watching: Samoe Joe vs Kurt Angle from Final Resolution 2007. Yeah, I now I should say vs Brock Lesnar, but I haven't seen a good/fun Lesnar match in forever, so for now I'll settle with the third Joe vs Angle match, especially after the terrific brawl they had on the first iMPACT of 2007. Gotta cherry pick. Last worthwhile podcast you listened to: What Happened When with Tony Schiavone. Truly the best podcast in the history of our sport. (easy, but true) Most fun you've had watching wrestling lately: Last few WWE PPV. Not because of any of the matches, but because of Agius & Chereau, the French announcers, who never fail to crack me up. I think Vince & co have no idea what these two are saying. Favorite thing about the wrestling landscape in the past three months (if you live in the past, then go with your past three months of time-traveling): The comeback of Lucha Underground, which I'm pilling up on an USB so I can binge some of that.

The only dumb ass mark is Reign himself for acting like, well, a dumb ass mark when he's a corporate chosen one. How dare anyone in Da Business say that not everyone want to work for WWE ? Damn these guys...

Since Dolph is more or less a Billy Gunn clone, probably Road Dog.

Remember when American Alpha were the greatest thing on NXT PPV's and looked like can't miss success for the main roster...

Actually it's odd. The whole idea of star rating passed me by around 2001 at the latest. I haven't used this stuff in my writing in more than 15 years and wouldn't even consider it. I'm actually kinda shocked how much people still consider it of any interest to be honest.

This is the next Back to the Territories from KC, not Highspots (these guys are still active BTW ?). It sounds like it'll be a fascinating interview. Big time.

CM Punk & Daniel Bryan are the reasons why they opened their eyes to indy talent as main eventers and pushed AJ Styles straight on, not NXT. It's actually the other way around, what NXT became in the last few years is because of that change of mentality. I know people don't seem to want to give Punk any credit at all these days, but there's clearly been a before/after that guy as a WWE main-eventer.

Yes. They're both useless. And Fantano is your typical Youtube hipster jerkoff.

I like Joey Ryan's dick spot.

This is her comeback # how many already ? With Lana doing the glamour girl bit, I guess Emmalina is destined to be lost in the shuffle forever at this rate. Waste of talent.

Best summary indeed.