411 Fact or Fiction 6.25.09: CM Punk Turning Heel, The Slammiversary Swerve, Trump and WWE, More!

Welcome back to another week of 411 Fact or Fiction: Wrestling Edition! This week we have TWO men stepping up to the challenge as Aaron Hubbard and Michael Bauer step into the 411 Arena to do battle in this week’s edition of Fact or Fiction!

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1. Beer Money winning the tag team titles at Slammiversary was the right call.

Aaron Hubbard: FACT: Before people start ripping me up because I’m not a “TNAddict” and have NO idea what’s happening on Impact do to lack of interest, understanding that I’m not talking about booking or whatever. I don’t know if the storyline is better suited to Beer Money winning or not, but I DO know that Beer Money is entertaining as all get out, and are MUCH younger than Team 3D. No disrespect to Team 3D, because I think they are legends in their own time, but Beer Money is less selfish, has better matches, has a better gimmick, and actually look like stars despite not being WWE Rejects. If Beer Money is champions over Team 3D, it’s a good thing.

Michael Bauer : FACT: Let’s be honest here, Team 3D, as much as I like them, do not need the Tag Team Titles in TNA. They are much better than that. BEER! MONEY! is a team on the rise and therefore should hold onto the titles. Not to mention, Team 3D is nowhere near in the some condition to put on great matches like their counterparts anymore and they also need to get back to Japan to defend the Tag team Titles overseas as well, which they have been very successful with. But back to BEER! MONEY! The matchups with themselves in just about anybody in TNA has been nothing but gold in the past and there is no reason that shouldn’t continue against Lethal Consequences, the Motor City Machine Guns, and probably even that English invasion that wasn’t even on TV last week. And of course, the most important factor is that this team is just gold on the microphone and with their promos. They are the best team not just in TNA, but in all of Wrestling right now (yes, including the Indys), and for the foreseeable future, that team will remain BEER! MONEY!

1 for 1

2. With WWE having so much TV and PPV crammed into such a short time, nothing feels like “must see” TV to you.

Aaron Hubbard: FICTION: Smackdown! is absolute must-see TV. I haven’t enjoyed a wrestling show this much since the Impact in 2005. There’s great wrestling, compelling characters, not to mention that several of my personal favorites (CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin…I could go on and on) are on the show. So, this statement is false ONLY because Smackdown! is so good. However, the other three shows? I don’t watch RAW at all these days. ECW I could take or leave (Christian, Swagger, and Bourne are about it) and I don’t care about Superstars unless there is a good match. So, most of the WWE’s product isn’t up to snuff, but Smackdown! is amazing.

Michael Bauer : FICTION: I don’t agree with the word “nothing” here. The three hour Raw felt special with all three titles being defended, including Punk’s first title defense. Likewise, a commercial free show has never been done and I think most people are just curious to see what the WWE can actually come up with here. That in itself makes it borderline must see television. Granted, ECW and Superstars never feels like must see television, but at least they have not been bad shows. Smackdown though is on a whole new level. The matches with John Morrison in the past few weeks are must see television. Edge vs. Morrison last week and Jericho vs. Morrison the week prior were both four star matches. Nowadays, anything even approaching that is must see television, because it just doesn’t happen often.

2 for 2

3. You have no desire to see women taking bumps into thumbtacks.

Aaron Hubbard: FACT: With this huge caveat. I am a HUGE fan of women’s wrestling. Some of the most amazing workers I’ve ever seen are female. I have a ton of respect for legitimate women’s athletes. With that comes the equal opportunity thing. If men are allowed to take tack bumps, women should be allowed to tack bumps. If that’s what THEY want to do, then nothing should stand in their way. That’s what I truly believe. But, I don’t want to watch it. It makes me a little queasy. Maybe that makes me a pussy or whatever, but that’s something I don’t stomach well. So Daffney, by all means, throw yourself onto tacks. I respect your toughness and your dedication to your art. But I’ll be changing the channel.

Michael Bauer : FACT: Last time I checked, TNA was not the IWA-MS, mixed with Mick Foley’s time in Japan, mixed with SHIMMER. TNA is supposed to be all about wrestling and having a woman dropped into Thumbtacks in not wrestling. It’s 100% pure insanity. On the bright side, it wasn’t Raven or Abyss doing the damage to one of the ladies. But not only that, it also goes TNA philosophy. They always talk about no violence on women on television, so what the hell makes Pay Per View any different? It’s hypocritical and like I said before, it is completely insane. So please, stop the damn madness. If they want to see bitches killed… well, how about I let a guest say this… LANSDELL RUN IN! Kong kills bitches dead!!!

3 for 3

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4. The releases of Candice Michelle and Sim Snuka were no surprise.

Michael Bauer : FACT: Sim Snuka was clearly no surprise, even if he was never the guy that supposedly hurt the Undertaker with that cameraman spot at WrestleMania. It was clear when he was booted out of the Legacy that the WWE had no plans for him and this seemed to be inevitable. Candice Michelle wasn’t a huge surprise, but it wasn’t as obvious either until you read the reasoning behind it. Candice was becoming injury prone, there is no question about it, and like it doomed Kennedy time and time again, it finally doomed Candice as well. Not to mention, it looks like she has other interests that would conflict with being a WWE Diva and the WWE decided to just cut the ties.

Aaron Hubbard: FACT: Michelle seems to be the female Mr. Kennedy with how much she’s been on the shelf. With WWE going PG, her “Go Daddy” shtick and Playboy resume isn’t exactly marketable. And while she’s better than some, she’s not exactly Mickie James in the ring. While I’m sorry that Michelle is out of a job (I’m sure she’ll find SOMETHING to do), it was a good business decision. In response to Sim Snuka…WHO? Oh, you mean your dad was a legend even though he was a terrible worker? And you’re even worse? You’re a jabroni, get out of the People’s Ring!

4 for 4

5. Kurt Angle winning the TNA World Title at Slammiversary was the wrong call.

Michael Bauer : FICTION: No, the wrong call would be leaving the belt on Foley or giving the title back to Jarrett. Giving the title to Kurt Angle made the most sense, it’s just the way that it happened that makes me confused. Then again, most of what TNA does leaves me confused. That aside, giving Angle the title in that manner does several things. It gives us more fuel for the inevitable AJ Styles/Samoa Joe feud. It takes the title off of Foley, something that should have never happened in the first place. It probably ends the Main Event Mafia once and for all and gives us the blow off feud between Sting and Kurt Angle. So, yes, Kurt Angle with the title is not just a good thing, it is by far the best outcome from the Slammiversary Main Event.

Aaron Hubbard: FICTION: Let me explain this. First of all, getting the belt off Foley is the RIGHT call, regardless of which of those four men did it. I say it as a diehard Mick Foley fan who hasn’t sunk to calling him a whore. So bam, one good thing accomplished. Two, Samoa Joe has now made his heel turn and FINALLY done something interesting, which will serve him well. And three, AJ was THIS close to the TNA Championship, closer than he’s been in a while. So, they made two legit contenders and put the belt on someone who can still work? Yeah, good call around.

5 for 5

6. CM Punk will turn heel in his program with Jeff Hardy because that’s what the fans will dictate.

Michael Bauer : FICTION: No, the fans will want him to be the heel because he went after Jeff Hardy, but in the end, it will be the head honchos of the WWE convincing as all that he is a heel. And so far, Punk’s promos have done more than enough to do this. And he is doing it the same way Chris Jericho and Edge have done it… by telling us the straight truth. I hate to say it, but Punk turned heel the moment he went after Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules. The fans just haven’t bought into the concept yet. His promos have been heelish because they speak the truth. The figurative “we” loved Punk for taking the title off of Edge last year, but the figurative “we” hated it this year because it is CM Punk defeating Jeff Hardy. Not to also mention, but there is this belief in the WWE and mainstream wrestling that faces battle heels. Well, Punk’s last match was against Rey Mysterio, who is up there with Hardy in terms of popularity. If there is any more definitive sign than that, I would love to see it. So, no, it is not the fans who will dictate when Punk turns heel. They will dictate when they will finally accept it.

Aaron Hubbard: FACT: Part of me wants to be a real smart ass and say that CM Punk will stay face if Vince wants him to be face or turn heel if Vince wants him to turn heel, and that the crowd will have nothing to do with it. However, in this case, CM Punk is playing a tweener, and they seem to be letting the fans dictate whether they want him to be face or heel. In this feud with Jeff Hardy, there’s good reasons to cheer or boo both men. So, theoretically, the fans could have gone either way. However, Jeff Hardy is the Emo Daredevil with Screaming Female fans. The majority isn’t going to boo him over an opportunistic punk (In this case, Punk with a capital P). So yeah, the fans will turn on Punk, and he’ll turn on them, and I’ll be doing my happy dance.

5 for 6

7. The swerve ending of Slammiversary was the good kind of swerve.

Michael Bauer : FACT: It definitely was because nobody in a million years could have seen that shit coming. If I had to pick a swerve that I would have expected, it would have involved either Jarrett or Foley handing the belt to somebody, not Joe. Or Sting costing Angle the title, but then Joe and AJ would have had a title feud, and that would just be a waste of money with all the talent they imported. The swerve opened up every possibility I mentioned in the last TNA question and possibly did even more. It might finally give us direction to what ever the hell Joe is doing and even if I don’t get it, it will be better than just random violence with no logic so ever.

Aaron Hubbard: FACT: In the sense that it was unexpected, it changes Joe’s character, and the overall booking was good. I’ll wait until Impact to see how Joe’s “Nation of Violence” and “Advisor” storyline get paid off (if they do: remember the “Higher Power”?) before I condemn them for dropping a semi-decent storyline. However, this doesn’t excite me or make me want to watch the TNA product even more. And even if I didn’t know WHAT the swerve would be, I still expected a swerve. Even if I don’t the specifics, if I expect a swerve, it’s not really a swerve. So, this is tentative based on the fact that I don’t know how previous storylines will be wrapped up, and because there’s so many “bad” swerves that this “good” swerve doesn’t mean anything.

6 for 7

Come on back next week for more of 411 Fact or Fiction: Wrestling Edition!