The Triple Threat 10.23.11: The 255th Edition – Vengeance, James Storm TNA Champion, Heath Slater Suspended, More

Topic # 1 WWE‘s Vengeance PPV is this Sunday. What are your thoughts on the card?

David Martell: I have to say, Vengeance has a pretty damn good card. I never understood why WWE got rid of the Vengeance name because I always thought that was one of the PPVs that almost always delivered. Although the card is great, the build isn’t the best and I think that will hinder people from getting this PPV. First off we have a Diva’s title match between Beth Phoenix and Eve. I can’t be the only one who is sick of this storyline between Beth/Natalya and Kelly Kelly/Eve. Are there only four divas in the WWE? They dropped the ball on the “Diva’s of Destruction” or “Sisters of Salvation” a long time ago. I hope Beth gets the win here and she can finally start dominating the division and destroying everyone like she should have been months ago. Looks like we are getting a double dose of Dolph Ziggler for this PPV. First, we have him in the Tag Team Title match between him and Jack Swagger vs. Air Boom. I actually think Ziggler and Swagger are going to win here. Evan Bourne seems to have suffered a minor injury so I can see the titles changing hands here. With that said, I don’t see Dolph winning both his title matches. This might be a long shot but I am going to go with Zack Ryder to win his first singles gold. The guy has worked his ass off and has become over on his own merit. Why not let him hold the belt for a bit. The only problem her is that Mason Ryan seems to be in the pictures and if I know the WWE, they like to push roided freaks before they let true talent hold the belt. Look at what happened with Big Zeke. Next we have Sheamus vs. Christian. This could honestly steal the show if given time. Both men have constantly good matches and are always fresh to watch. I still think Christian should get one more match for the World Title but I can live with him fighting Sheamus for now. I am going to go with Sheamus here. Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes is shaping up to be a decent feud although I rather see Rhodes defend his fancy new IC Title belt. I think it would mean more for Rhodes to defeat Orton in an IC Title belt if his true goal is to really bring back the prestige. But who am I kidding, I don’t see Orton losing here. We got Triple H and CM Punk vs. Miz and Truth. I really like Miz and Truth as a tag team but I can’t see them beating the likes of Triple H. Triple H doesn’t like to lose and with CM Punk still being hot, I don’t see it happening for the Awesome Truth. I actually wish the would win though. There are so many great heels in the WWE right now but none of them are really getting pushed over the big faces in the WWE. I wish the playing field was a bit more even. Mark Henry vs. The Big Show probably wont be a great match but I think it will be fun to watch. Although Henry isn’t the greatest wrestler, he has had a streak of enjoyable PPV matches and I don’t see it changing here. I also don’t see him losing. Mark Henry needs to continue to be built as unstoppable. He can become a great champion this way and when he finally loses the belt, it will be a big deal. Finally, we got John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Title in a last man standing match. I honestly hate this feud. It is not interesting what so ever and Del Rio is not a good champion. I also don’t want to see Cena as champion either. I doubt Cena will win here because of his stint with The Rock that is about to start next PPV. I have a feeling we will get some run ins by Miz and Truth because we all know Cena can not lose clean. Overall, I think the PPV is a buy. There could be a lot of quality wrestling here.

Jacob San Antonio: At first glance, the card for this PPV doesn’t look too bad. On closer inspection, however, I have my doubts about
its quality. Christian squares off against Sheamus in a standard singles match. I’ve come to enjoy the work of both of these two over the years, so I think we should have a good match on our hands. Christian wins, but the feud isn’t over. Dolph Ziggler defends his US Title against Zack Ryder, and this match means a bit more than it initially appears. If Ryder wins this match, it means that the WWE has confidence in Ryder to actually go somewhere. It’s a sign of good faith, and for his sake I hope Ryder wins the belt. Air Boom defends their championships against Swagger and Ziggler, and I’ll be shocked if an already exhausted Ziggler can win this match. Beth Phoenix should have absolutely no problem defending her Divas Title against Eve Torres. Orton takes on Rhodes in an attempt to take his IC Title. I think Rhodes comes out on top, though I doubt he does it clean. HHH and Punk take on Miz and R-Truth, and I don’t really care who wins. I’d wager the match will end with a pedigree, though, for what it’s worth. Cena and Del Rio face off in a Last Man Standing match, a match that I expect will see a good deal of run ins. The match will most likely disappoint on its own merits, though with any luck Del Rio should find a way to retain. Finally, Mark Henry should lose to the Big Show due to DQ. I highly doubt Show’s after the title; it seems far more likely that he’s just after revenge. All in all, decent PPV. Still a good chance of disappointment within it, though.

Zach Brown: I think Vengeance looks pretty decent, but it’s not interesting enough to make me pay money in my honest opinion. First, Sheamus vs. Christian is a great matchup, and I’m glad they put this on the card. I don’t know if it will get much time, but it should be decent. I expect Sheamus to get the win here. Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder is something that I am really interested in simply because I’m curious if WWE is going to give the fans what they want in Zack Ryder as a champion. I don’t expect Ryder to win here on his first attempt against Ziggler, but I hope he does win the US title eventually. If it doesn’t happen, I think it will seem like Vince is just trying to tell off the Internet. And Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger vs. Air Boom…if things play out a certain way, Dolph could walk out with two belts and that could be interesting. I kind of wish Miz and R-Truth were facing Air Boom, but it is what it is. I hope Ziggler and Swagger win here because I like them as a team lately. Beth Phoenix vs. Eve Torres is not interesting to me at all. I think Beth will get an easy win here, and the feud between Beth and Kelly Kelly will be furthered. Orton vs. Rhodes for the IC Title is the match that probably interests me the most on the entire card. Either Orton will needlessly take the IC title just to add some jewelry to his name, or Rhodes will go over Orton in an awesome sign of good faith for Rhodes. I am obviously hoping for the latter. But that match should be great. Triple H and CM Punk vs. Miz and R-Truth does not make sense nor does it interest me. Can someone tell me why Triple H and CM Punk are teaming up? It makes zero sense, period. I expect CM Punk to turn on Triple H and align with Miz and R-Truth because their ideas against authority are nearly identical at this point. And if it happens, it wouldn’t even feel like a swerve at all, but merely a no-brainer. Whatever happens, I really don’t care at all. That storyline is monumentally underwhelming to me right now anyway. Del Rio vs. Cena in a Last Man Standing match is somewhat interesting. How are they going to keep Cena down for 10? There’s clearly going to be some kind of run-in or heel shenanigans to make it happen if Del Rio is to win. Either that, or Cena wins yet again. And Mark Henry vs. Big Show. If their match is anything like what they did at Money in the Bank, I will be pleased. That match did what it needed to do. It was brutal, entertaining, and one of the best big man contests I have seen in years. Hopefully they bring more of that to the table and give us some great spots. I expect Henry to win. Overall, most of the undercard looks great, but the bigger profile matches really bring it down in my eyes. I’m just not interested in the current WWE storylines as of late because they have mostly been phoning it in for several weeks, and are acting like the storylines are far more interesting than they actually are. WWE needs to try harder on their TV product if they want me to bust out my cash for these Pay Per Views.

Topic # 2 Robert Roode was unable to beat Kurt Angle for the TNA World Title at Bound for Glory. How do you feel about this situation?

David Martell: Well I guess what Hogan says goes. He didn’t think he was going to be anything big in TNA so he didn’t get his title win. I honestly think there was politicking here that really hampered the PPV as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, the PPV was great PPV for TNA but it would have been a lot more memorable if Roode would of got the victory. People love feel good moments when the underdog finally wins the prize. This could have been a great ending to a great PPV but instead we had Hogan stealing the spotlight. I admit, Roode isn’t the greatest wrestler out there but he is a home grown talent that should have been pushed better for this title match. The BFG series ended up being a joke overall with nothing good coming out of it in the end. Just really took his moment away.

Jacob San Antonio: There is absolutely no excuse in the world for this. Whether or not you like Roode or thought he was ready for the top belt, there is absolutely no reason for his loss at BFG. You bust out this new BFG series and place it at the forefront of nearly everything you do. Things look pretty good for a while, with stories weaving in, out and around this series and fans seem to enjoy its progression. So months of build, months of following the matches and results, and the end to it all invalidates its existence. This fiasco isn’t really about Roode in the grand scheme of things; this is about TNA taking a page from the WWE and shooting themselves in the foot in a most glorious fashion. Why did we get the BFG series? What was the point? There was no point. Robert Roode made it to the finish line as the winner of the BFG series and got absolutely nothing for it. It’s ridiculous. This stands out as one of the stupidest moves I’ve seen TNA make.

Zach Brown: Honestly, I was a little shocked that Roode lost at Bound For Glory. I mean TNA has this Bound For Glory series going for months, and even though the predicted winner shifts a few times, they end up with Robert Roode who they try to build up as best they can, and then all to have him lose at Bound For Glory. Why? What a waste of time. I mean Kurt Angle was injured for crying out loud! Why is it that they decide that Bobby Roode is not ready? It’s just crap. I feel that Hogan single handedly made this happen simply because it was his opinion that Roode wasn’t ready. I’ll talk more about that in the below topic and Superstar Highlight. But seriously, it’s maddening to me why they couldn’t give Roode the title. It all just felt like a huge waste of time, and makes Bobby Roode look extraordinarily weak. This is just like when D’AngeloDinero won the 8-Card Stud tournament, only to lose at Lockdown. It also happened with Hernandez’s Feast or Fired contract for a title match. Only this was far worse. What is TNA’s deal? Why do they let young talent win these tournaments, only to have them squander their opportunity in their title match? You think that TNA is going to give them the ball, only to see them chicken out or have a change of heart when it’s time to push that talent to the top. TNA needs to grow a pair and actually respect their audience, because right now, there is no respect for the audience whatsoever. Oh, and Roode doesn’t get a rematch. Wow. Great.

Topic # 3 On this past weeks Impact, James Storm won the TNA World Title from Kurt Angle. Your thoughts?

David Martell: I don’t understand why they couldn’t give the title to Roode but they can give it to James Storm. Whatever though. Although I don’t like how it happened and the fact that the match was one minute, it was a great moment. James Storm is another one of those TNA home grown talent that deserves there shot at the top and he actually got it. He is probably the better choice than Roode overall but it just seems wrong that Roode couldn’t get his chance. This is good though because this could be gold storyline wise. We can see Storm give Roode a shot for the TNA World Title. Everyone likes when tag partners face off. I can see Roode losing again against Storm and eventually turning heel on him that will lead to an even better feud. These guys have had a great run as a tag team and I think now it is a perfect time for them to branch of in a singles role. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Jacob San Antonio: Were it not for the BFG series fiasco, I’d be a lot happier about this turn of events. Take the context out of this situation, and you can see that TNA is high on both Storm and Roode, which is always nice to find out. Can Storm take this title reign and solidify himself as a top champion? That’s entirely up to him, and I think he stands a good chance. Of course, this is all considered with the context taken away. As it is, this just adds insult to injury to Robert Roode. If TNA wanted Storm winning the belt, Storm should have been in that ring against Kurt Angle. It’s not Storm’s fault, it’s certainly not Roode’s fault, but the two of them were caught in the middle of a booking failure.

Zach Brown: I would be more excited about this if it weren’t completely out of the blue, not built up, and essentially undeserved. Before Bound For Glory, Hogan said in an interview that Roode is not the guy, and that James Storm has a bright future. Fast forward to today, where Roode lost at Bound For Glory, and James Storm beats Kurt Angle for the title on Impact. What a coincidence. I hate to say this is all Hogan’s doing, but it’s hard to see it any other way. I mean don’t get me wrong, I like James Storm. Like Bobby Roode, he was one half of one of the best tag teams in TNA history. I enjoy his character because he is funny, his country persona is entertaining, and he’s a decent wrestler. But I would say that Bobby Roode is the better wrestler at the end of the day. And having this happen so hot off the heels of Bound For Glory…it just feels like TNA is once again, slapping the fans in the face. Now some of you may see me as hypocritical because I’m constantly talking about how TNA never puts over their younger homegrown guys, and yet here I am complaining about James Storm winning the title. Well, yes, I should be ecstatic for James Storm, but considering the circumstances, I’m not. Why is it that TNA builds up younger guys like D’Angelo Dinero, Hernandez, and Robert Roode, only to have them drop the ball? And then when someone like James Storm wins the title, it’s completely out of the blue, and is more controversial than anything? It really upsets me too when Eric Bischoff comes out and makes a statement that,” the shows that the dirt sites put over get the lowest ratings, and the ones they bury get the highest.” Again, it just reeks of having zero respect for your audience. And as if they’ve ever had good enough ratings to brag about anything. Eric Bischoff and TNA care more about ratings than they care about telling good stories, and giving the fans what they want. Here’s a clue: if you spend months building up someone as they head towards a title match, you might want to actually have them win. Whatever good feelings I would normally have for James Storm becoming TNA champion are completely overshadowed for the distaste I have for TNA’s booking, and that’s not how any title reign should begin.

Topic # 4 The One Man Rock Band, Heath Slater got suspended for a wellness violation this past week. How do you feel about this?

David Martell: I have to say that I am one of those Slater-Haters. I actually love that term. Slater, at best, is a jobber to the stars. He is good at it. He makes people look good and the WWE needs guys like that. I doubt he got suspended for steroids. It was probably something not to bad. I do like how he apologized to the fans. I think its good when wrestlers realize their mistakes and try to make a change. I hope that is true for Heath Slater. I am starting to think that the WWE is only testing guys who are insignificant to storylines. I think there are people who are obviously taking drugs like Mason Ryan but they will probably never be tested. That’s just how things work though. Maybe Slater can surprise me when he returns but I doubt he will ever make it farther than the tag team titles he already won.

Jacob San Antonio: They’re dropping like flies, aren’t they? The big rumor going around right now is that the recent wellness suspensions are due to use of that synthetic marijuana. If that is the case, then it’s a critical misstep for the one man rock band. It’s common knowledge these days that a lot of the talent on the WWE roster tend to kick back and relax in a variety of ways. I’m not going to preach or get on a soap box, it just seems odd to me that the wrestlers in the WWE don’t try to stay on top of what gets you a suspension instead of a fine. Slater’s already in a role that involves a lot of squashes and losing matches. That doesn’t always mean much, but you never know when the WWE might decide it doesn’t need the jobbers it has.

Zach Brown: Well, rock bands do a lot of drugs, so certainly all those drugs shoved into a ONE MAN ROCK BAND would certainly get someone wellnessed. Slater Haters rejoice! Just kidding. I don’t relish the fact that Heath Slater got a wellness violation at all. In fact, I don’t really dislike Heath Slater. I just think he’s average. Slater came out and said he made a simple mistake, and hopefully that is the case. Maybe he just took some prescription that he didn’t know he couldn’t take as opposed to some shortcut like steroids. He doesn’t really look like he uses steroids, but who knows? However, I really wish that WWE would test their entire roster as evenly as they do these lower level guys. It’s obvious to me that WWE makes an example out of guys like Heath Slater and Darren Young because they have nothing to lose if they get suspended. Where is John Cena’s drug test? Where was Batista’s? Obviously you wouldn’t hear if they tested and came back clean but let’s be real; there might be some banned substances in the bodies of some bigger names in WWE. But either way, I’d like to see Heath come back determined and with a fresh devotion to his work. I hope he has learned his lesson.

Topic # 5 What are your thoughts on the upcoming WWE Network show about WWE Legends living in a house together much like the show Surreal Life?

David Martell: Sounds fun to me. So far I would watch all the shows they have announced for the WWE Network. If the Iron Sheik is on the show, who wouldn’t watch it? It could be hilarious. I think this WWE Network, as a whole, is a great idea for wrestling fans. I also think that eventually they are going to be catering to non wrestling fans as well. They start out the channel with stuff they know their fan base will want to watch and eventually they will branch off from their. I think they are making all the right steps to make this network interesting. Having reality shows, wrestling shows, PPVs, biographies and who knows what else is a great way to get all types of old and new wrestling fans to want to shell out those extra dollars to get this network. I know I am buying.

Jacob San Antonio: Before I say anything, I’ll just say that the idea of a WWE Network is doomed to fail. Wrestling just isn’t as big a deal as it used to be, and the audience probably isn’t entirely willing to throw out extra money to subscribe to the channel. The only way it could succeed is by becoming a hub for everything wrestling, and not just WWE programming. There’s got to be tons of quality programming, and this brings us to the topic at hand. A wrestling reality show with old talents, with a severe lack of Stone Cold Steve Austin hosting. Yeah, no thanks. If I wanted a standard, trashy reality TV show I could watch just about anything else on local channels. Obviously a possible WWE Network would have more than just this one show. That said, this is a pretty bad start.

Zach Brown: I would watch the pants out of this show. So many WWE Legends are either endlessly entertaining or complete train wrecks or both. Who wouldn’t want to watch that? Could you imagine that house? Let’s toss out some names that could be phenomenal for this show, shall we? The Ultimate Warrior. The Iron Sheik. Bobby Heenan. Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Rowdy Roddy Piper. Terry Funk. Bill Goldberg. Mick Foley. Diamond Dallas Page. Ric Flair if he leaves TNA. Bret Hart. I feel like I could go on and on. So many of these guys would be screaming their lungs out at each other while staying at the house, and we’d see a lot of past rivalries come to light. It would be great television, and a must watch for any wrestling fan. I mean if they paid Warrior enough money, could you imagine the absolute insanity coming out of that show each week? I’m down to watch this show, whenever it comes on, and with pretty much whoever they could get.

Our thoughts on Hulk Hogan.

David Martell: It is hard to like Hogan right now. Just because he is wearing the yellow and red now doesn’t mean I have to like him. I don’t know how someone goes out there before the biggest show of the year for the company he works for and completely buries his co workers. Yeah, he is Hulk Hogan, one of the biggest wrestlers of all time but he doesn’t have the right to hold down people who have worked their ass off for a company that he is destroying. I honestly wish Hogan would completely retire from wrestling. He had a lot of great moments but as time goes on, he is only tainting his legacy. What has he really done for TNA? A few ratings bumps every now and then but other than that, nothing. He has brought in terrible wrestlers. He has de-pushed several of the TNA home grown talent. He has completely hogged up the spotlight. Just put up the boots Hogan and let the future of wrestling actually come out. Let the stars of TNA become stars and stop holding down people.

Jacob San Antonio: Here’s a cool question. When was the last time Hulk Hogan ever did anything good? My money’s on the Rock/Hogan match some years ago. Take that and consider it for a minute. Hogan’s done very little good in the wrestling world besides attaching himself to projects, Even that at times doesn’t really do much. He’s a man who’s still convinced he’s the greatest thing to ever hit wrestling, and everything around him suffers for it. This is my personal opinion, and I am well aware that there are tons of people that disagree with me. So, in order to be as fair as possible I have to ask. Post-WCW, what has Hulk Hogan done for wrestling that it benefited from? Hogan marks, here is your time to shine.

Zach Brown: Oh man, this guy is not exactly my favorite person right now. Let me put it this way…if you can’t take a bump anymore because you have had numerous surgeries on your back, and the only way you now feel important is to play politics backstage to get the title picture changed around to the way you like it, it’s time to leave the wrestling world. You have nothing left to do physically in the ring, and can no longer adequately compete, which is understandable given your age and everything you’ve done in the ring. But you also have nothing worthwhile to contribute backstage because you bury talents like Robert Roode and AJ Styles over Twitter, while putting over Jeff Hardy as the next big guy, who realistically did more damage to TNA in one night than probably anyone else in the history of TNA, except for yourself and Eric Bischoff. Seriously, does Hogan not know that people read about the backstage stuff? That people read his Twitter? That people listen to these interviews? We are in a day and age where a wrestler cannot act like a dirt bag without the fans knowing about it. Hogan is single handedly erasing any legacy he had and any respect that his fans had for him. His legacy is pretty much now ending with him making TNA a far worse product than they could have ever come up with on their own, and continuing the burial of great wrestlers long after the point that he should have any power or pull backstage. I mean who is he to say whether or not Robert Roode is ready for the title or not? How is it his place to comment on something like that? It’s not, plain and simple. Hogan has nothing left to contribute, even if he tried his absolute hardest. He thinks he’s doing great things for TNA, but all he’s doing is helping to dig its grave. Hulk, if you want to help TNA, leave and never come back.

That is all for this week. Fell free to comment at the bottom of the page and have a great week in wrestling. CYA!