The Best of The Rest 10.29.08: Volume 64 – Joe Returns to ROH, The Main Event Mafia, Batista as Champ, and More!

Hello all and welcome back to “The Best Of The Rest!” Well it’s the 4th week of the month so that means I’ve made it through a full cycle of this new rotating-column system and it has worked out pretty well. For this week’s column it’s back to the normal format of the BOTR. This week I’ll be giving my thoughts on news from all around the wrestling world. I broke it down into ROH, TNA, and WWE categories and will discuss their biggest news items as of late. Well enough jibber-jabber, LET’S GET DOWN TO IT!

ROH:
The Return Of An Icon…
It was announced this past week that the one and only Samoa Joe will be making his long awaited to the company that made his and the company that he made, ROH. This is great news for any fan of Joe and/or Ring Of Honor. I had always hoped that Joe would be able to get back in an ROH ring but was unsure what TNA’s deal with that shiz is, but after seeing Homicide back I had some hope. Well following Homicide it didn’t take long for word to break about Joe’s return. Samoa Joe has been some important in the short history of Ring Of Honor. When most fans think of “the best ROH match ever” most would answer with a match that involves Joe. The man took the ROH title and turned into a highly coveted, respected belt. He built himself a legendary status during his time in ROH and his return should be treated as a legends return.

Goodbye Gabe.
Over the weekend word had got out that ROH owner, Cary Silkin, had relieved Gabe Sapolsky of his booking duties in Ring Of Honor. To me, this came out of no where and was very unexpected. I understand Silkin’s decision, given what Cary wants to do with the company and the direction he wants to take it in, but at the same time you have to look at what Gabe has done for that company and to just abruptly show him the door does seem a bit backwards. I think that the situation could have been handled differently, perhaps Gabe’s roles could have been cut back or someone was put with him to coincide with the booking. Then again Cary and Gabe could have been falling out for awhile and this was just making it official. I’m not sure how many people truly know. Whatever the case I’m still pretty shocked by this but would just like to thank Sapolsky’s for all the fantastic work he has given us over the past several years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Hello Scrap Iron!
Shortly after we found out that Gabe was “let go” we found out that former NWA Champion Adam Pearce will be the one to follow in Sapolsky’s footsteps. What does this mean for ROH and their product? I can whole heartedly say that I really have no idea what to expect from Pearce’s style of booking. It is always a delicate situation when a wrestler gets the book so I am going to be interested to see how the fans, and fellow wrestlers, react to this. Pearce has spent a lot of time in and around the business and has developed a strong mind for it; the question now is how will this knowledge translate into a booking role? If Scrap Iron can adapt his approach to wrestling, the old-school mentality, to the booking side of thing, then we could be in for some great stuff. I just hope ROH doesn’t forget what brought them to the dance and get too wrapped up in the entertainment side of things.

TNA:
Main Event Mafia
Yet again in TNA we have a case of “this could be kinda cool but probably will turn out to be lame.” The Main Event Mafia has been introduced to the wrestling world and they are out for what Aretha Franklin was talkin’ about. All they’re askin’ is for a little respect. They ain’t gonna’ do ya wrong… I’m sorry I’ve listened to the Forrest Gump soundtrack too many times. Anywhoo, the angle surrounding this group could make for interesting TV and some entertaining matches. Sting promo’s for the past several months on the topic of “respect” have been tremendous. The problem lies with the fact that TNA will more than likely always have the MEM come out on top and look the strongest. That’s fine and dandy and all but what does that say for your product? Hey here are some really talented stars of yesteryear running through the people that have built TNA, just doesn’t seem right. Then again this program is just picking up so I’m just going to have to wait and see how it turns out. The best case scenario this could led to is Joe getting the title back after beating Nash, T, Angle, and eventually Sting. Will that happen? Incredibly doubtful.

Commish 2k8?
So I guess Mick Foley “owns” some part of TNA now or something? I’m not exactly sure what they were trying to get across with this “foundation shaking” announcement. I’m assuming they are going to take this toward the direction of Mick having some sort of authority role in TNA, similar to what he did in the E in 2000. I suppose some good stuff could come out of this but is another ex-E guy taking up more of TNA’s TV time really what the company needs right now? I’m still holding on to a shred of hope that the Joe-Foley angle will pick back up again, and if this could be the time and the place where it could happen than dammit I’m happy. MAKE IT HAPPEN DIXIE!!! Or Jeff? Or Russo? Who do I talk to about this?

WWE:
Oh the titles, they are a’ changin…
What was a rather slow news period in the E came to a halt this past Sunday at Cyber Sunday. The very sudden, unexpected, and out-of-nowhere title loss of Chris Jericho to Batista makes for some interesting conversation, as does the E’s decision to put the tag straps on CM Punk and Kofi Kingston the following night on Raw. Let me not get to far ahead of myself here, lemme’ go back to ‘Tista.

“Cue a bunch of marks whining about Batista winning the title.” I might not have got it exact, but a comment similar to that was posted on 411 moments after Cyber Sunday ended. I understand this dude is attempting to insult some other fans and what not, but I took this cue quite literally and continue to whine out of my love for heel champion Jeri. Fellow Triple Threater David Martell and I instantly exchange “What the fuck?!?!” text messages and both wonder where the hell they are going with this. I did NOT see Jeri losing the title before the Rumble and was kind of expecting him to make it to ‘Mania with the title. I certainly didn’t foresee Batista being the one to take his title. Martell brought up a very scary question, “What if they have Bastita-Cena at WrestleMania?” I’m planning on attending the event but may have second thoughts if that is to be the case. I’m still shocked that big Dave has the strap to begin with so I haven’t even started to think about what his reign is going to be like. I guess the weeks to come will give us a forecast of what to expect.

The Raw brand continued to get some change as this past Monday CM Punk fulfilled his goal of tag team gold when he and Kofi Kingston dethroned Pricele$$, claiming supremacy of the tag team division. Not a bad move on the E’s part. Both Punk and Kofi are way over and surprisingly enough work pretty well together. I feel, and continue to tell to anyone that will listen, that Pricele$$ lost a TON of momentum when Manu joined them. I don’t care what anyone says, from my standpoint that dude doesn’t belong with Cody and Ted. I’m interested to see is Punk & Kofi will continuously feud with Pricele$$ or if some other tag teams will get into the mix. I would love to see a Punk & Kofi Vs. Miz & Morrison match, I mean who wouldn’t want yet another excuse to see John Morrison’s bling’d out abs?

Well that is all for me this week.

Come back next week for the next installment of BOTR: The Essentials.

Remember that feedback, as always, is welcome at [email protected] or directly below.

*This Week’s YouTube Sendoff*

^Oh so classic…

See you back here next week, but until then take care.

-Alex