The Triple Threat 8.07.11: The 245th Edition – Hardcore Justice, WWE Releases, More

Topic # 1 TNA‘s Hardcore Justice PPV is this Sunday. What are your thoughts on the card?

David Martell: It looks like TNA is back to their old selves by giving us another lackluster, mixed bag card on a PPV. Instead of shitting on the entire PPV I figured I would just break down what I think is positive. Basically there are three matches I would want to see on this card. First off is the match between RVD and Crimson. Crimson has been on a huge winning streak as of late and its starting to seem that this whole Bound for Glory ranking system was meant to put him over. That is actually a great idea if its true. A win over RVD would look good for him and would continue to make him look like a threat to win it all. If they keep the momentum going they might just be able to make a star and that is rare for TNA. Beer Money vs. Mexican America should be a damn good tag match for the belts. With Beer Money seemingly injured, this should give Mexican America a good chance at taking the straps. This should be a good tag bout. The last match I would want to see on the show would be the X Division Triple Treat match for the title. This match will probably steal the show because you cant really go wrong with Alex Shelly and Austin Aries. Both of these men should be able to make Kendrick look great. Not saying Kendrick is bad but he just isn’t as good as he use to be. Should be a great match and I think Aries will come out with the victory here. Other than those matches, nothing really strikes my interest. it’s a mixed bag but if I had to watch the PPV those are the matches I would be excited about.

Jacob San Antonio: This PPV is a mixed bag. I’m interested in seeing this Bound for Glory series progress, and I think there’s an interesting X Division match on the card, but overall TNA has had better cards. I’ve been wrong plenty of times before, though, so let’s hope Hardcore Justice delivers. Ms. Tessmacher and Tara will retain against Mexican America in the TNA Knockout Tag Champ rematch, in what hopefully isn’t a squash match. I think Bully Ray upsets Mr. Anderson and walks away with a win in their singles match. Dinero takes on Devon in a Bound for Glory series match, and I think he’ll take his 7 points in a pin fall win. Crimson faces off against RVD, and I think RVD will beat Crimson to pull just slightly ahead in the tournament rankings. Fortune should beat Immortal in a six man tag
match that never fully gets a good grasp on its pacing. I’m looking forward to seeing Brian Kendrick defend his title against Austin Aries and Alex Shelley. It should be a tough match for Kendrick, but I think he’ll just barely retain his title. I expect to see a surprise rollup finish, so take that for what you will. I don’t see Mickie James losing her Knockout Championship to Winter at Hardcore Justice, but I do expect someone to run in and nearly ruin things for James. Beer Money Inc. defends its tag titles against Mexican America, and I’m just going to go ahead and say the shock of the night comes at their loss. Mexican America will be crowned the new tag champions, and I’m not sure if it’ll be a run-in or heel turn to turn the tide of the match. Finally, I just don’t see Sting losing his title quite yet against Kurt Angle. Should be a close match, and knowing these two it should be pretty entertaining. Match of the night I think will go to the X Division. Feeling pretty optimistic about the X Division after Destination X, so hopefully Kendrick really shows up.

Zach Brown: Well, Hardcore Justice looks…interesting. The card isn’t a complete knock out of the park, but it’s at least decent. And hey, after last year’s Hardcore Justice, there’s nowhere to go but up! First up, Ms. Tessmacher and Tara vs. Sarita and Rosita. I don’t care, but I’m betting that Mexican America wins here. Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray looks somewhat interesting to me, and I’m actually hoping that Bully Ray wins here in order to freshen things up. D’AngeloDinero vs. Devon is actually kind of tired to me, and its not anything I want to see at this point. I hope D’AngeloDinero advances here. Crimson vs. Rob Van Dam is infintaely more interesting to me here. The crowd will likely be cheering for Rob, but I’m hoping Crimson wins. Crimson is a pretty decent wrestler, and I want to see a newer star like him move up quicker in TNA. Fortune vs. Immortal is interesting, but Fortune has to work to make sure it delivers. Scott Steiner plus Gunner a good match does not make. Abyss is Abyss, and he is decent. But I think AJ and Chris Daniels will have a lot of great spots in this match, and it could make it one of the better matches on the card if done correctly. The three way match for the X-Division Title is the match that I am most looking forward to at Hardcore Justice. I love all three guys in this match, and it should steal the show. In a perfect world, I’d love for Austin Aries to win the title here, but Kendrick just won it, so he should retain. Mickie James vs. Winter will not be good at all. Maybe Winter will win to change things up? That would be an interesting development, even though I’m not a big fan of Winter anyway. Berry Money vs. Mexican America could be a decent match as well. I don’t have a ton of faith in Anarquia, but I am a huge Hernandez fan. And Beer Money pretty much always delivers, so yeah. I’m actually hoping that Mexican America makes a clean sweep at this PPV, winning both sets of tag belts. Beer Money has had them for too long anyway. And finally, Sting vs. Angle. This is nothing that we haven’t seen before. But I’m glad to see Kurt Angle in the main event once again. It honestly kind of depends on which version of Sting shows up to the PPV. Sometimes I am into Sting matches, and sometimes they are laboriously slow and unexciting. But hey, the guy is getting old. I hope Kurt Angle wins here, because I think he would be the better person to hold the title going into Bound for Glory. But it’s whatever. All in all, Hardcore Justice is an obviously better card than last year, but it’s only slightly above average than the typical TNA PPV. I think there are a few matches like the X-Division match that could deliver some thrills, but I don’t think this night will have many people talking after it’s finished.

Topic # 2 What are your thoughts on the recent WWE releases?

David Martell: I am not really upset about any of these releases. If I had to choose one that shouldn’t have been released I would say Chris Masters. I think Masters really has improved significantly over the years and could have been a good mid carder but he really never got his chance. Everyone else, I could care less. Melina was to much of a mark for herself and that probably ended up hurting her in the end. Gail was ok but it was too obvious that she didn’t want to be in the WWE anymore after he quick escape from that women’s battle royal last week. DH Smith never really showed anything. He was a big guy but he did nothing that really popped the crowd or intrigued anyone. It just goes to show you that just because your father was a good wrestler, doesn’t mean you are. Koslov was never good in the first place. He really is lucky he lasted as long as he did and he has Santino to thank for that. When he was a part of the main event on Smackdown he really showed his true colors in the ring. This stuff tends to happen every once in awhile and this time around, for the most part, I think they cut the right people.

Jacob San Antonio: I’m irritated about all but one of the releases. I don’t care where Melina goes from here, since I’ve never been a fan. As for the others, it all reeks of the WWE’s fantastic stance of under utilizing their talent. David Hart Smith did pretty well in a tag team, so the WWE dissolves the tag team. Kozlov was never given another serious shot at single competition, and got stuck in a (albeit entertaining) slapstick humor tag team. Gail Kim…simply didn’t get used. Same for Chris Masters. The WWE seriously kept him around to flex his pecs. That’s it. Brilliant business minds at work here, people. I’ve never understood why the WWE insists on having a roster this big, only to use half the talent on it. Doesn’t make any sort of sense. These releases are just another reminder that the WWE simply doesn’t get it.

Zach Brown: So Melina, Chris Masters, DH Smith, and Vladimir Koslov have been released and Gail Kim announced that she quit. Wow. Did WWE forget to include Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins? Just kidding. But seriously, the biggest shock to me is Melina, by far. I’m not the biggest fan of Melina, but she had been a mainstay of WWE’s women’s division for so long. I was starting to wonder though why she was used so sparingly as of late. Chris Masters…I’m not really surprised. All he had to keep him semi-fresh was that little dance he did with his pectoral muscles, and that was ages ago. He’s a decent wrestler but that finisher was always tired and never that great. Someone who I’m decently shocked about is DH Smith. I mean I know the guy hasn’t been on TV in a long time, but he’s a decent wrestler, and I’m kind of shocked they let one half of what used to be the Hart Dynasty go. I remember one time specifically when The Hart Dynasty were on commentary on Raw, and DH Smith was actually showing a lot of personality on the mic as he was making fun of the commentators. Why didn’t DH Smith ever get on the micwhen it mattered? It seemed like he could be entertaining if they had just let David go out there and have fun with the crowd. Oh well. Hopefully he will return to the WWE one day. And Vladimir Koslov being released, yeah I’m slightly disappointed. Santino and Koslov made an entertaining team, and I loved that promo they cut on Sheamus where they were dressed as gentlemen at tea time. But one hilarious moment for Koslov doesn’t outweigh some of the awful matches we had to watch with him and Triple H. Gail Kim quitting is a huge disappointment too. I had been patiently waiting for things to take off with her, but they never did. WWE never gave her the ball when she returned to WWE. Being paired with Daniel Bryan in a lamebrained storyline is not the way to use Gail Kim. She deserved to hold the Divas title; not only to be one of the few women to hold the Women’s Title, the TNA Knockouts Title, and the Divas Title, but also because she deserved to be the face of the Women’s division at least for a few months. I believe WWE was strongly underrating Gail Kim, and that’s unfortunate. All in all, it’s unfortunate that these people are no longer employed with WWE, as I liked each of them for different reasons. I hope we see all of them back on television in some form or fashion sometime soon.

Topic # 3 What are your thoughts on the recent face turn of Sheamus?

David Martell: I think this was kind of an easy transition for Sheamus. Hes one of those guys that people just booed because he was bad, but most people already liked him. Sheamus is one of the best all around guys on the roster right now and personally I have enjoyed most of his work since he started on ECW. I think Mark Henry is the perfect person for him to face too. Both guys seems pretty unstoppable at this point and for Henry, this will be his first real test. Sheamus is an upper card guy and for Henry to look even more like a threat to the World Title, this would be the perfect win for him. The real question here is who are they going to push? I wouldn’t mind seeing Sheamus coming of out this and feuding with Christian for the World Title. It would be a fresh feud and we would get great matches so its really a win win.

Jacob San Antonio: If you had told me a year ago he’d be turning face, I’d have laughed at you. As it stands currently, I’m perfectly fine with it. Smackdown needs more faces, hands down. Turning Sheamus face now kills two birds with one stone; it gives Smackdown another face to utilize, and it allows the WWE to test Sheamus’s ability to play face. As I said, I never could have expected a face Sheamus a year ago, but that’s due mostly to me liking his heel character so much. I think enough time has passed that it’s time to see what else he can do. I don’t know if this face run will go anywhere, but so far I’ve been enjoying it. It’s still the same old Sheamus, but he’s toned down some of the murderous intent and aiming himself at the heels. In a way, his face turn is everything Orton’s should have been. You can’t play it face if you’re still giving other faces the look of death.

Zach Brown: I’m all for this change by Sheamus. He hasn’t had much to do lately as the Smackdown main event seems to be carrying on without him right now. It really remains to be seen where Sheamus will go with his newfound good guy attitude. I like it so far though. He hasn’t changed his character all that much. All he is doing is accepting a challenge from the overtly heel Mark Henry. I guess that is enough to make him face though. We’ll have to see what comes out of it at Summerslam. With the push that Mark Henry has been getting, I’m betting that Mark Henry beats Sheamus at Summerslam. But something that Sheamus has to gain is that he is going to be solidly face, and could be in line to face Christian, a solid heel, for the title later down the road. Sheamus is a great heel for sure, but I’m interested to see what Sheamus will be like when the fans are cheering for him.

Topic # 4 How do you feel about Beth Phoenix and Natalya turning heel?

David Martell: Its about time they do something interesting with the women’s division. I much rather see Beth or Natalya with the Diva’s championship. I do wonder if all this is a part of the bigger picture for when Kharma comes back. She will obviously be a face when she returns and who better for her to feud with than Natalya or Beth. I don’t know if the WWE really thinks that long term but its interesting. I am sure it will only be a matter of time before Beth gets the belt back so the more interesting person to watch here will be Natalya. Overall, both were good terns that were much needed for the women’s division.

Jacob San Antonio: This comes as a bit of a surprise, but if it opens the door to more matches involving the two I simply can’t complain. With Kharma’s sudden departure, the WWE needs to try and make up for the sudden vacuum in heelish powerhouse Divas. Given that Beth and Nattie have both done a whopping jack squat in the past couple of months, it makes sense to let the two of them take Kharma’s place. It’s going to be weird watching them lose to Barbie dolls in the ring, but so long as they do their part I doubt the matches will be too bad. I don’t think I can repeat it enough; just give me more matches involving Beth or Natalya, and I won’t complain. A lot of their appeal lay in how simply different their wrestling styles are compared to the other Divas. Let me see them destroy a couple of opponents, and I can sit back and enjoy the show.

Zach Brown: This is one of the more interesting things to happen with the Divas in a good amount of time. Beth and Natalya teaming up and turning heel to face all the daintier women on the roster is a great idea. It fills the void left by Kharma, which is something I am very much a fan of. I would love to see Beth and Natalya go around squashing the women’s division and becoming almost like a Jerishow to the women’s division of sorts. This could be the more brutal version of Laycool if done correctly. Could you imagine if people actually cared a lot about the storyline in the women’s division in WWE? And I don’t mean that disrespectfully. Everyone knows that women’s wrestling in WWE is unfortunately an afterthought. With the right team, certain women can make it important again. The Beautiful People and Laycool brought it arguably to the most interesting points in the last several years. And the team of Beth Phoenix and Natalya is one that makes complete sense anyway. They are real, talented female wrestlers, not like the dainty model-like women of the rest of the division. Beth and Natalya are essentially pariahs to the rest of the division, so why not capitalize on why they are so different? I am excited to see where this goes; I just hope WWE pulls it off right.

Topic # 5 Who do you think is the most underutilized guy in the WWE right now?

David Martell: I think the most underutilized guy on the WWE roster right now is Tyson Kidd. Yeah, he isn’t the greatest of talkers but he is one of the best in the ring in my opinion. If you watch any of his work on Superstars or this past week on Smackdown against Daniel Bryan, you know how good this guy can be. I had hope for him when ever he was looking for a manager but that really didn’t go anywhere. I don’t see why its so hard to find mouthpieces these days. Hell, let Bret Hart be his manager and that would probably get him legit over with the fans. He is a great wrestlers and I definitely hope he gets his chance to shine one of these days.

Jacob San Antonio: JTG. The guy knows how to wrestle, he knows how to get the crowd excited, and Cryme Tyme was ridiculously over at its prime. The WWE is simply refusing to use the guy, and it’s pretty annoying. Of the team of JTG and Shad Gaspard, I would always note how exciting their matches would get when JTG took to the ring. I don’t entirely know why things have turned the way they have for JTG, since it appeared the WWE preferred him over Shad, but I know that I’m not exactly happy about it. Going back a year ago, I felt the WWE’s splitting of Cryme Tyme was simply ridiculous. Looking at the present, their lack of use with JTG makes even less sense. At the very least, they could have sent him to Smackdown to be another face to use. It really boggles my mind.

Zach Brown: Can we really say Zack Ryder anymore at this point? It’s almost becoming an IWC stereotype at this point to constantly chant Zack Ryder as being underutilized. I mean I love the guy, but you know what I mean. And besides, he is just now starting to be used anyway. So I’m going to try to think of someone else here. Hmm…its pretty difficult to say because most everyone is being used correctly in WWE right now…well the ones that are still employed anyway. How about JTG? I mean the guy is a very good wrestler in my honest opinion. And he is genuinely funny, and good on the mic. Why hasn’t WWE ever taken advantage of him in a singles opportunity? I mean WWE is missing a key demographic in their audience; the younger black generation. And I don’t think Kofi Kingston speaks directly to that demographic either. JTG is hilarious, good in the ring, and could draw that audience in if given the right push. CrymeTyme was a good tag team, but altogether offensive. Why can’t WWE let JTG be like their ownKanye West? JTG could be like a celebrity superstar of the WWE that demands attention and has to put up or shut up in the ring. He could be like the black Chris Jericho. And like Kanye West or Chris Brown, JTG could be the guy that everyone loves to hate, but still enjoys their work anyway. I think that would be a fresh take on JTG altogether, and one that people would want to see.

Our thoughts on The Uso Brothers.

David Martell: The Usos have really grown on me ever since they turned face. I don’t know, just seems to be easier to take the seriously now that they aren’t going up against Santino. I like their Samoan dance entrance, gives them some character after all. It seems like they are one of the last of the legit tag teams in the WWE and personally I would rather seem them with tag belts instead of the blandness that is the New Nexus. Unfortunately, they probably wont ever get the chance to really shine until the WWE starts caring about tag teams again and its not like they can break them up for singles competition.

Jacob San Antonio: I’d like to talk more about the Usos. I really would. They changed their gimmick, and seemed to have turned into a more serious, more deadly Samoan tag team. Their haka when they’d take to the entry ramp was something else, and it managed to get the crowd’s attention. Be that as it may, the WWE isn’t really shedding any spotlight on the team. For a team the WWE rushed to primetime, only to back peddle and yank the carpet from underneath them, I’d argue that the company owes the Usos another serious shot. The E needs to give tag teams another shot, and the Usos could be one of the best (remaining) teams out there to try it with. I’m tired of seeing the WWE waste a tag match on Santino’s newest comedy team, regardless of how much I enjoy Santino. The Usos are waiting for a chance to come there way, and the fact that the WWE seems to ignore them just drives me insane.

Zach Brown: I have honestly never been a fan of The Usos, but that’s not really their fault. I think that Jimmy and JeyUso came around during a time when WWE could not have cared less about tag teams. I mean sure, it could be said that, “Hey that’s all the time.” But the Usos at their most popular point has been when WWE would just throw the belts on any team (except the Usos for whatever reason) just to give them something to do. It’s pretty sad that the most notable thing that team has done is when JeyUso beat all the other wrestlers at Smackdown vs. Raw. WWE has a terrible habit of not showcasing their tag teams. If WWE thinks the Usos are bad, release them. If they think they are good, put them in a feud with Otunga and McGillicutty. But keeping them off TV altogether makes no sense because WWE has so few tag teams to begin with. Maybe I’d like them if WWE put them on television more often! I feel like I barely had any time to warm up to them anyway. That being said, I have trouble getting on board with tag teams that consist of twins anyway. This is especially the case with Jimmy and Jey as I have always had serious trouble telling them apart. The few matches they’ve had with Hart Dynasty, even then I didn’t see enough of them to really make up my mind. I mean they aren’t necessarily bad, but they don’t get me excited to see them ever. If they don’t do something to their image or style, or have a serious talk about their creative direction, they are bound for a release from WWE sometime in the future.

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

– Listen to the latest edition of the 411 on Wrestling podcast! On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka is joined by co-host Steve Cook to discuss IMPACT Wrestling, WWE Releases, WWE Smackdown, the latest on Sin Cara, a preview of the Hardcore Justice PPV, your calls and more!

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