The Wrestling Sandwich 10.29.11

It appears as if rather than focusing on a Survivor Series traditional elimination match we’ll be seeing the people I mentioned in last week’s column in various other matches on the card. Punk seemingly has to get by some obstacle to face Alberto Del Rio, HHH seems to be taking on Nash, Awesome Truth are booked against Cena and The Rock, and the status of Otunga and Sheamus along with Laurinitis has yet to be determined. I still think Otunga figures into this equation somehow, we’ll have to wait and see. No matter what else happens, it looks like the sides are firmly drawn and we’ll see how Christian, Mark Henry, Big Show, and others eventually fall into the field.

Last week I made the mistake of asking you what you think JR should do considering his situation with the WWE. Nobody actually responded to the question, which just goes to show that people who complain about the content of the column rarely actually read it. Therefore, I’m going to make up poll answers:

JR should quit and go to TNA – 67%
JR should stay and be treated like the bitch that he is – 20%
JR should dress in ballerina outfits and dance around Michael Cole every week – 10%
JR should face Michael Cole at WrestleMania in a sixty-minute Ironman match – 3%

Thankfully it isn’t a real poll or the 3% would likely be around 25% because you people are sick and twisted. Anyway, in my opinion JR’s got quite enough cash stashed away and his WWE stock that he received in 1999 is worth around 33% of what it was the day he got it so he should cash in and head over to TNA where he could handle PPV play-by-play and perhaps main events with Taz for a while. The benefits would be JR’s tremendous experience in so many different companies to help focus parts of TNA that need the help, and of course the fact he’s considered such a great announcer. Unfortunately for JR he wouldn’t be humiliated in his hometown every year so I can see why he may not enjoy that idea. Masochist anyone?

Also, R-Truth was right about one thing: There IS a conspiracy! A conspiracy to keep me from getting the Spotlight in the wrestling section. I mean come on, how many times does that freakin’ podcast have to be spotlighted? And last week was worse than anything because they gave it to a heat check featuring… LAYLA? The biggest dog on the WWE roster? Considering how this column saves the weekends on 411 it deserves a spotlight every week automatically. People are so ungrateful these days, aren’t they?

What do you think of Layla, John Cena?

…Wow. Well, if you want her you can have her just like half of the NBA did.

And now to the news!

Top Stories of the Week!

1. Weekly Ratings Roundup

TNA Impact Wrestling – 1.35, 2.2 million viewers – Top rating for 2011
WWE Smackdown – 2.2, 3.1 million viewers – Same as last week
WWE RAW – 3.3 overall with 4.7 million viewers. Hour One: 3.53 Hour Two: 3.11 – Overall up from last week

Impact made headlines across the wrestling world when their top rating for 2011 was delivered with over two million fans tuning in despite the World Series running in direct competition. Impact has now officially gone over the normal trending rating and could be poised to set a new record in the short-term, although only time will tell if this continues or is likely another brief pop in the ratings. Either way, congratulations to TNA for getting a great rating and proving the critics wrong again!

Smackdown ended up exactly the same as last week, even to the point of viewership, which is a little freaky. RAW once again delivered a mixed bag of news in that the rating was a 3.3 but the second hour lost hundreds of thousands of viewers! The first hour topped off at 3.53 while 3.11 was the average for the second hour featuring the main event of John Cena vs. Miz and R-Truth. So what to make of it? Absolutely nothing until the next few weeks pass by, although it is interesting that the second hour has been down more often in the summer than the fall until the last two weeks.

One of the Unwashed posted a little gem about me predicting RAW’s rating would drop under a 3 apparently in the belief I’d be embarrassed and unable to admit when I was wrong. So I admit it, I’m surprised RAW didn’t drop under a 3 for the last six weeks and I was wrong on my prediction. At this point I have to amend it to say that RAW will likely continue in the low 3’s for the remainder of the year, unless there is something absolutely must-see on Monday Night Football.

UK and Australian ratings currently are not posted; I’ll post them as always when they are available.

2. Random Newsbytes From The Past Week

Here are some quick notes on what’s been going on and my reaction to it:

“- Early word is that Randy Orton is scheduled to win the Royal Rumble. As with everything, that could easily change.”

Oh, fantastic. Is the other possibility John Cena?

“Vince McMahon currently has a love/hate relationship with the WWE Divas. He feels that the shows need to have at least one Divas segment due to a demo it draws, but when they go out there, he feels it is a waste of time and has Cole do anything but promote them.”

Proof right there why ANY FEMALE WRESTLER should head to TNA and avoid WWE like the plague. Vince is a brilliant businessman and knows he’ll attract ratings with pretty girls but he also has no appreciation for the people who make him money as we’ve seen over the years. It may come back to haunt him.

“While the TV shows in Mexico did not sell out. A lot of sections for the Smackdown show were tarped over, and for Raw, they had to move some people from behind the hard camera to the TV side, in front of the camera.”

So much for the rumors they sold out in Mexico right? But then, WWE is always selling out and doing well according to half the people on the site. After the Q3 financial numbers I think we’re going to see just how bad those buyrates can get, and although free TV ratings are decent at the moment they were far better years ago, as were the buyrates and mainstream exposure.

“WWE noted the language issue at the TV tapings, as there were complaints from fans, which is why they did not respond to a lot of things.”

Sorry but this is inexcusable. You worked with Mexico for decades and you still have issues figuring out what to do when you hold a television show there? Worse, you leave your audience unsatisfied? For a company in business for over fifty years, in over 500 million homes, and blah blah blah you would think they understand Mexican wrestling fans enjoy quality wrestling over shitty storylines any day of the week. Also, masks are a sacred tradition and that ceremony needed to be treated with more respect in Mexico. The response to Del Rio was hilarious since they had no idea he’d be so warmly greeted.

“- There had been reports that Spike TV was planning to do away with their “male demographic centered shows” with the departure of the UFC. Today, news broke that Viacom, which is Spike TV’s parent company brokered a deal where they now own a majority stake in Bellator Fighting Championships. Bellator Fighting Championships currently airs on MTV2, but starting in 2013, the programming will move to Spike TV.

If you are a fan of Bellator or TNA, there has been a lot of cross promotion between the two companies. Bellator is always promoting Impact Wrestling, while on Impact, Bellator Champions Eddie Alvarez and Joe Warren have both made special appearances to promote their events.

Today on Twitter, Dixie Carter noted that Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney would be appearing at tonight’s TNA Impact Wrestling tapings. Rebney responded back to Carter, even noting that, “I’m just glad you are back in control & running the show!” “

This is a good decision as Bellator might be able to get more people to watch TNA and possibly have a cross-promotional worked fight on TNA or at BFC events down the line. Expect this to make more headlines towards the end of 2012 when the interpromotional work begins to help push both shows on Spike to higher ratings.

“- Barry Windham is currently hospitalized in an Intensive Care Unit in Florida. The former NWA World Champion either suffered a stroke or a heart attack in the last day or so; it is rumored that he was found after having fallen and while he awake, something was clearly wrong. Windham’s father Blackjack Mulligan posted on his Facebook page asking fans to keep Windham in their prayers.”

This is sad news, although hopefully Barry will be able to fight through and come back better than ever. As always everybody at 411 sends our prayers and hopes to the Windhams that Barry will be okay.

3. TNA Impact Quick Recap

1. Rob Van Dam defeated Christopher Daniels via DQ when Daniels used a toolbox to the midsection **1/2
2. Gail Kim defeated Tara with the Eat Defeat **
3. TV Championship: Eric Young retained by pinning Robbie E. after a crucifix roll-up *
4. Jeff Hardy defeated Bully Ray with the Swanton Bomb **1/2
5. #1 Contendership Match: Bobby Roode defeated Samoa Joe with the Perfect-Plex ***

Best Booking of the Show: Gail Kim: From Afterthought to Only Thought

Worst Booking of the Show: Robbie E. fighting for the TV title? Who the hell did he beat?

Overall it was a solid show of Impact. There was always activity from top to bottom from the Bischoff family angle to the Roode/Storm/Joe situation and also the Jarrett/Hardy feud that’s developing. The match time increased this week and we saw development in the main event angle that will be very interesting.

Jeff Hardy won, if anybody cares. I’m with Jarrett’s remark that we should have seen the Victory Road footage, which I actually did and it was horrible. In fact, I’m going to do everybody a public service and allow you to see just what happened at Victory Road’s “main event” that the company apologized for and gave us all six months free of TNAOnDemand.com for sitting through:

As you can see they tried stalling things for quite a bit but Hardy was in no shape to perform. Sting looked pissed, Borash looked angry, Hardy looked like he had no idea who he was or where he was, and ultimately it was pretty much a legit pin by Sting to keep the druggie from kicking out as he tried to do at the two count but obviously Sting wasn’t letting it happen. As the crowd chanted, “bullshit!” Sting went up the ramp and said, “I agree!” to people on the side and then of course news broke about why the match was so short. Jeff Hardy deserves no more chances, and it is time to just bite the bullet and release him until he signs a deal that if he’s caught under the influence he surrenders all his salary guaranteed to him to TNA. He doesn’t deserve a second chance as much as he deserves life in rehab, which is probably how it will end up.

Overall things look interesting with the Bischoffs. I am still of the opinion that Garrett will end up being the ace in the hole for Bischoff down the line as he’ll be expected to count down Bischoff or one of his henchmen and ultimately turn back to Bischoff’s side, which will be the real reason they were discussing things in the back. After all, Bischoff knew Hogan had no chance and Sting was trying to change Hogan and worse Hogan accepted the control of TNA stipulation so it looks to me like a stealthy move on Bischoff’s part to make the storyline even more interesting. Will Garrett be a face, or will he do what I think he’s going to do and screw Hogan and his guys over during an important match with Immortal? Time will tell.

Smartest Thing of the Week: TNA Helps Fight Breast Cancer

You may have noticed the past few weeks that every time Impact airs, there is a bright pink ribbon on the tron set flashing in the background. That is because of the breast cancer awareness program TNA is taking part in known as “Save The Tatas” which you can visit, if you like, at Savethetatasand you can donate to a good cause. TNA should be commended for attempting to reach an otherwise apathetic audience on the issue and raise awareness and donations to fight breast cancer and using their top show to do it, which was watched by over two million fans the week before and possibly more this week, depending how the ratings end up. Good job TNA!

Dumbest Thing of the Week: JR vs. Michael Cole: One…More…Match!

Alright, so we don’t know the “rules” of this challenge put out by Michael Cole but unfortunately we know this means more time wasted with Cole and JR feuding over who the better announcer is, when the answer is obviously Jim Ross and still WWE is doing everything they can to put Cole over with the audience. JR gets a good reception and people know who he is and respect his work, but WWE seems to walk all over the guy and why he continues to take it I have absolutely no idea. All I can say is that if they give these two another match and another ten minutes of hell to watch they might have more to worry about than a temporary drop in the ratings because this is seriously getting ridiculous!

OLD SCHOOL WRESTLER OF THE WEEK

Bob Backlund

We continue from the point where Backlund needed to reinvent himself for the New Generation. What would he do?

On July 28, 1994 viewers watched on WWF Superstars as Backlund took on Bret Hart in an old generation vs. new generation match for the WWF Title. Backlund had been shown working out and training and obviously wanted nothing more than to become the champion but lost the match. Backlund was shown dismayed and dejected as Hart attempted to shake his hand but suddenly Backlund screamed, slapped Bret in the face and applied a crossface chickenwing submission hold! Backlund began staring at his hands in shock and would go on to occasionally “snap” during a match and apply the hold, usually winning and staring at his hands afterwards maniacally. On RAW, Backlund appeared to let everybody know he should still be known as the WWF Champion because he never lost the title to the Iron Sheik and it was time to teach the new generation a lesson, as he began to be referred to as “Mr. Backlund” and used large words incorrectly to attempt to show his intelligence. During this phase, he refused to sign autographs unless the fans correctly named all the US Presidents in chronological order and attacked everybody in sight with his deadly new hold, including Arnold Skaaland when he confronted him about throwing in the towel years ago.

The crazed Backlund took on Bret Hart at Survivor Series in 1994 for the championship in a “Towel Match” in which the only way to win was to put on a submission hold and have your opponent’s corner man throw in the towel, Bulldog in Bret’s corner and Owen in Backlund’s. During the encounter, Bret was trapped in the crossface chickenwing and Bulldog chased Owen but Bulldog tripped over Owen, slammed his head into the steel, and passed out. Owen began seeing what was going on in the ring and pleaded with his mother to take the towel from Bulldog and throw it in although Stu refused when he asked him. Owen began crying and acting sympathetic, but Helen bought it and threw in the towel, and Owen ran off with a wicked laugh to the back as Backlund became the WWF Champion again! Backlund then issued the famous promo in which he felt like “God” that you saw last week and the next day, Backlund would lose to the newly face Diesel in eight seconds for the championship title which remains the shortest WWE title match to this day. This was also the final time a title change occurred on a non-televised event.

Backlund would continue working in the midcard, but would ultimately lose to Bret in an I Quit match officiated by Roddy Piper although again Backlund never gave up but yelled unintelligibly into the microphone and Piper called the match over. Afterwards, Backlund decided to run for President in an interview with Vince McMahon that probably showed Vince making the absolute most disgusted face I’ve ever seen him make to this day, campaigning all along the WWF fans and preaching social conservatism although the angle was dropped considering the election was a year and a half off. Backlund would also occasionally show up to manage the Sultan along with former rival The Iron Sheik, competed in the 2000 Royal Rumble, and briefly managed Kurt Angle but got fired for booking him in a two-fall European and Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania against Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. Angle used the crossface chickenwing Backlund taught him to knock him out before firing him in anger.

Backlund really did run for political office as a Republican in 2000 for Congress, but lost which should be no shock to anybody who knows Connecticut politics. He’d also appear in TNA after being repeatedly namedropped by Kevin Nash during the Paparazzi Championship Series and became a judge in the finals. He claimed a draw, and Austin Aries who was then known as Austin Starr pie-faced Backlund only to then become another victim of the cross-faced chicken wing! He defeated Alex Shelley in his “return” match although quickly faded away and left TNA.

The final wrestling appearance so far of Bob Backlund was in 2007 during the special 15th Anniversary of RAW show in which Backlund was eliminated from a battle royal by Skinner. OUCH!

Backlund lives right next door in Connecticut, and perhaps he will appear this year on Old School RAW if the company still has one. In the meantime, however, let us take a look at a special tribute from YouTube for Bob…no, make that MISTER Bob Backlund.

Take 5

Wrestler To Watch: Alberto Del Rio

From afterthought to only thought in the WWE Championship picture, Alberto Del Rio has been given a new chance to take off with the WWE Championship belt after a very short run with the title earlier. Del Rio was basically in the position to allow the ongoing CM Punk angle to continue and lead into the McMahon/HHH situation that is currently ongoing but Del Rio has firmly planted himself as the WWE champion with defeats over CM Punk and John Cena to his credit. Although he’s required help to do it, ADR’s character would accept a victory using any means necessary so it fits him well and in the ring he’s been able to hang with some tough characters and show his in-ring skill as well as natural charisma on the microphone. Hopefully this title run will last longer and allow Del Rio to show his true skills in the ring for some time to come!

Promo of the Week: NXT Season 2 Rookies Talk The Talk and Fail Horribly

This is presented to all of you as an example of how NOT to cut a promo. These guys are absolutely horrendous, and allowing them to even stand in front of a live crowd and cut this should be the kind of thing that gets people fired or at least demoted. Eli Cottonwood, of course, takes the cake with the infamous “mustache” promo in which he may actually ramble on worse than Sid Vicious in his best days! Now the worst thing of all is when Percy Watson is declared the winner when basically all he did was throw a few words in with “know what I’m sayin’?” thrown in every sentence for good measure. For the record, the guy who did best out here? Alex Riley. He looked confident, he worked the crowd, and although his end line wasn’t as good as it could have been it was far better than the crap that the others came up to the podium with.

Babe To Watch: Maryse

The gorgeous French beauty will be returning to action soon, and one of the great things about Maryse is that she’s got the whole sexy bitch routine down perfectly. As a heel she’s matured into a decent character and her trademark talk to the hand gesture actually has gotten some pops, and her finishing move is always devastating as a DDT should be. For the benefit of the males in the audience (99.9999% of you) I present to you not only the bikini strip down of Maryse but within, also proof that unlike what people keep trying to say she does indeed have a nice ass. Look and judge for yourselves!

Match of the Week To Watch: Starrcade 1998: Kevin Nash vs. Bill Goldberg

Wondering what Kevin Nash is all about, new WWE fans? Let this match tell you all you need to know. Goldberg was coming into the match with 173 victories, and the WCW Championship around his waist he’d won from Hulk Hogan. Nash was coming to try and end the streak as well as score the gold, but using that infamous nWo persuasion he got a little assistance to make sure that he made history on Starrcade 1998 by being the first to defeat Goldberg, and as far as the ending of the match goes? Ask Goldberg and he’ll agree that it is a SHOCKER!

Mystery Section to Watch: Cover Song of the Week!

Well, what can I say. This happens to be a HUGE song and only one hell of a big star can cover it…

The Good, The Bad, and The… WTF?

The Good

Apparently a few people were impressed I was able to change things around in the last Smartest/Dumbest Thing of the Week segment.

“I think this edition of the column is one of the signs of the apocalypse. Kirk using WWE as the smartest thing and TNA as the dumbest thing when he is almost exclusively anti-WWE. I read this column every week because the lopsidedness of it entertains me, but I actually am impressed with Mr. Kirk’s impartiality this week. And big kudos to TNA for their 1.35 this week. Not a regular TNA viewer, but I want them to succeed. Good jobs this week. Hopefully it can continue.

Posted By: Tristan (Guest) on October 22, 2011 at 01:06 AM”

Thank you Tristan. I actually was once just as fierce a fan OF WWF as I am TNA but years of their current product changed that. I would like to see WWE return to what it once was as the WWF but I think they are way too complacent at the moment to change course. The good thing I noticed in your comment was that you WANT TNA to succeed so kudos for understanding that competition breeds better shows for all the fans!

“In the past week (or since Sunday), the smarks online have looked like really bad as:

Hogan vs. Sting got the best reaction of the entire BFG ppv while the IWC predicted the crowd would take a massive shit on that match.

The Dirtsheets (who feeds the IWC “knowledge”) claimed that either Roode or Jeff Hardy would be the one to take the belt from Kurt Angle then James Storm shocks the World and becomes World Champion.

Then Impact airs and we only get 6 minutes of wrestling and the IWC buries TNA and call it the worst episode ever that NO ONE WOULD WANT TO WATCH and it turns out to be the highest viewed Thursday night Impact ever despite going up against Stiff competition.

TNA this week has exposed the IWC as a very loud minority and not a representitive of what the majority wants. (Hmm, I think the ever so wise Eric Bischoff said this exact thing back in June)

TNA 4 – IWC 0

Posted By: Guest#5587 (Guest) on October 22, 2011 at 09:58 AM”

Eric Bischoff did not get to where he is today without learning a few things along the way. He understands the concept of “brand awareness” in which WWE could be at the point they feature Big Show taking a dump for two hours and stick the WWE logo on the programming and people would see the logo and tune in anyway. TNA is gaining some brand awareness and people who recognize the WCW stars and the newer guys will tune in eventually every week.

Before anybody bashes this guest: The four things mentioned were Hogan and Sting’s crowd reaction, Storm winning the title, IWC burying TNA’s show with only six minutes of wrestling that nobody would want to watch, and then the rating showing it actually was watched and the viewership went over TWO MILLION against the World Series! Excellent work by TNA.

“Wes, you take entirely to much heat. You have a lot of decent views on how to make TNA better. In my opinion though, It shouldn’t involve anyone over the age of 40, or anyone who does more drugs than a Rhode Island hooker.

Posted By: Who (Guest) on October 22, 2011 at 12:27 PM”

Oh, they do a LOT of drugs indeed my friend. Then again anybody who wants to sleep with any of them need to pop a few pills themselves because otherwise that tent would never get pitched.

The reason I include anybody over 40 is because nostalgia, if applied correctly in the programming, will sell tickets and will bring people to the show. Hogan’s entrance into TNA received a 1.7 hourly rating and his face turn in Bound For Glory featured the top reaction of the show. Flair and Sting wrestling received another high quarterly hour segment, and the fact remains people will miss the older stars that entertained them and will reward them when they show up. Imagine if the Ultimate Warrior reappeared on WWE TV tomorrow? Roof would be blown off the place with the first note of that music. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and the wallet looser.

“After reading some of your columns now i think I finally found to enjoy your style and can now even adopt some of your views.

– BFG was a well done PPV, that, like TNA claims, “was wrestling”, and yes, I would chose it over every WWE PPV in the past year except this years MITB.

– Impact… I don’t know, some of the stuff they did seemed off, and the amount of wrestling in it didn’t really help it. Even if RAW sucks (which it reguarly does), it still manages abount half an hour of sucky wrestling, which is better than no wrestling, even if it has a random title change.

– About the ratings: No numbers I know off in Germany, but I think TNA is doing a slightly better job promoting their product here than WWE, even though we’re not really a huge market for wrestling since about 15 years now. Since TNA is on free-TV a little bit more often (on german free-TV, both fed’s only have cheap 1-hour shows from way back when), I’ll go with them.

– Vengeance DOES seem like a god-awful PPV, I have no idea where they are going, and not in a good way. I, for my part, do like Mark Henry right now, he seems to have finally found a niche for him, and the stuff with Orton was watchable to solid. His match with Big Show at MITB was short enough to be watchable, though none of those will re-invent wrestling come sunday.

– About politics: Spot on about England and your view on universities. As a student myself, I have to say that most of the stuff is just irrelevant and favors the exact same 3 groups you named (minorities, higher-ups, learning machines).
About Greece, Spain and England being on the edge of financial collapse, you forgot France, Italy, Ireland, the list goes on, and they all should thank Germany for providing financial stability in Europe (and we, in turn, should be eternally grateful to the USA for providing us with the means to do so today after WWII)

– I have no earthly idea why people here in Europe are still high on Obama, since he has done nothing significant since day 1 of his presidency. But I was one of the few that didn’t doom everything George W. Bush did and said, so maybe this is just me.
I’m conservative in some means and liberal in others, I like unions, I think war has to be prevented whenever necesarry, and I think everyone has to make an effort to safe our environment. However, I do also think there is a time where you have to stop talking about peace and start acting, and no matter what happens in Japan, nuclear energy is the way to go. I have to state that almost every non-conservative politician in Europe or the USA is currently screwing up. The thing is, the conservative politicians in Europe aren’t doing better.

Apologizes for typos and gramatical errors, have mercy on a young Kraut 😀

Posted By: Matt86 (Guest) on October 23, 2011 at 11:29 AM”

Hello there, no worries about typos or grammar errors since you took the time to compose your reply in English and I know second languages can be difficult.

I too do not have the numbers in Germany but I’ll take your word for it as far as the ratings go. I’d prefer to have the numbers but some places do not release them. Also, Vengeance was indeed crap as it turned out to nobody’s surprise. The picture of Mark Henry’s face on the poster should have signaled that alone.

You can thank one of my relatives for most of those insights into universities as they worked in one for decades. A lot of things people do not know about the “Ivy League” was passed on to me and I never take anybody’s “piece of paper” to mean they can succeed at a job. Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Mark Zuckerberg, and the list goes on of individuals who didn’t require college to become billionaires.

I too agree that we shouldn’t go to war unless we have to, and that we need to protect our environment but not to the extreme the way most liberal environmentalists advocate. Unions USED to be a great thing but they have proven to become corrupt with power and money in America, but with power and money corruption generally follows. Nuclear energy is safer than most people know and I did a little research into it, you would be shocked just how safe nuclear energy really is!

I believe your Chancellor Angela Merkel is actually doing a good job simply for declaring that multi-culturalism has failed in Germany. Immigrants need to adapt to the land they are moving into, not the other way around, and Germany has many rich traditions that people can learn to enjoy. Admitting a problem is the first step to solving it. Thanks for writing in Matt!

“
Wes 1
Colin 0

Posted By: The grader (Guest) on October 24, 2011 at 01:29 PM”

Indeed, indeed. The funniest thing is that my columns are written before Colin’s big PPV coverage and published shortly after Smackdown ends and yet more people are interested in my writing than his which features new, up-to-the-minute wrestling news. Don’t be too harsh on him, he’s a liberal and might break out the ACLU on you!

“I wish these nerds, these dweebs would just shut up and show Kirk the proper respect he deserves. A man of great wisdom. These internet dweebs need to just quit being wwe marks and see the truth for what it is.

Posted By: Guest Commentary (Guest) on October 24, 2011 at 10:47 PM”

Thank you very much, but I doubt anybody that stupid will ever apologize for their beliefs or realize the error of their ways. We’ll see what happens in the upcoming weeks but I’m pessimistic about the chances.

The Bad

“and here is the column i hate the most on this site, Wes Kirk’s column. i didn’t even read it yet and know that its just more BS like in all his columns. he is so biased for TNA it’s a crime.

Posted By: Guest#6141 (Guest) on October 21, 2011 at 11:28 PM”

I couldn’t care less about your opinion, just your click dumbass. Thanks!

“Ok Mr Kirk, you say no free pass for WWE, how about seeing if you answer these little observations with clear and honest answers seen as you are obviously giving TNA a free pass.

1. TNA couldnt even sell out BFG in a tiny little arena. Pretty poor for your flagship PPV no? For mania I will be flying all the way from the UK, shows commitment to something worth spending money on.

2. RVD. Once great wrestler, now has a top speed of 2mph. On a PPV? Please.

3. Crimson v Joe v Morgan. How long was this pile of trash?! Rediculous when they are actually using guys with talent yet can’t even write a decent match.

4. Not a single mention of Anderson and the MASSIVE BOTCHED ENDING to this match? You can bet that if the WWE botched the end of a match, on a PPV no less, you’d be all over it. Simply horrible.

5. Daniels tells AJ’s wife to take the kids out the room as he “murders him in cold blood”. Really? Really? Is that the best you could do. Oh, and not to mention them throwing away the macth again with another AWFUL ENDING. Pussies out in the corner, quits and runs off. Pathetic.

6. Hogan hulks up. This was stupid in 1985, let alone now. Just put this guy down already. And whats with him using the DX crotch chop about 8 times as well? Again, pathetic. And whats with Flair taking a shitload of bumps!? Guy is already falling apart and recently had surgery and you have him taking shitloads of bumps!? The TNA management are no better than that scumbag promoter in the E:60 Scott Hall doc.

7. “Hey heres an idea. Lets take the guy we’ve pushed for months and screw him over the title when it gets time for him to win it, off an injured wrestler no less! Better still, lets screw the fans who actually paid money for this massive pile of shit and give the belt to his best mate in a squash match the following night on free TV!”

You always say you will be fair and call TNA out on any bullshit but I know for a fact that I won’t see the answers to my points in next weeks sandwich.

You sir, are a hypocrite.

Posted By: NG2 (Guest) on October 22, 2011 at 07:53 AM”

I stated earlier in another edition of the Sandwich I will give TNA some free passes because the organization has only been around for nine years and the people in charge have been changed out nearly every year, it happens. I actually give the show a chance whereas everybody else already condemned it before reading the spoilers.

To your points:

1. I’m glad you are going to fly all the way out to the US from the UK to watch WrestleMania. If it was anything like this year’s edition you’ll be on the way back miserable and pissed off. I would never pay a CENT to attend WrestleMania with the show that has aired the last few years. In fact, despite Cena/Rock I may not watch it at all next year. TNA had a poor showing there because they run in Florida primarily and attendance is free, something I do not agree with but they do it anyway. Wow, so it didn’t sell 10,000 tickets! Do you know how many companies sell 10,000 tickets routinely in the WORLD right now? There’s around three and WWE is one of them and it took all of them over 30 years to get the fan support to do it. TNA will get there.
2. RVD is getting older. Should we take everybody who gets a little old out back and shoot them? He can still go, and a lot of people enjoyed the match, so you just seem bent out of shape for no real reason.
3. I agree that the TNA writers need to be replaced. Preaching to the choir on that one.
4. The end of the match looked fine to me. That was what they wanted, to sell Anderson’s toughness by kicking out of a Bubba Bomb through a table and then winning via Mic Drop through another one. You’re the only one to say anything bad about that match!
5. Christopher Daniels is a heel. That’s what they do! He’s just getting heat by threatening things he cannot do, then he runs away from a fight. I have no problem with him saying he was going to murder AJ because frankly, what do you think people are going to do with a screwdriver to the head, give them a Shiatsu massage?
6. Flair WANTS to do it, and Hulk got the best reaction of the night by far. Give Hogan the same performance in WWE and he’d out-pop Cena. Like it or not, he sells tickets and gets a great reaction as shown on TNA’s ratings four days later.
7. I don’t agree with it either. As I said, the writers need to be replaced and the “Creative” control over them as well.

I do not call out TNA on anything, unlike most. If that makes me a hypocrite, I really don’t care because unlike you I don’t want the company to die so we’re left with Vince’s Circus as the only show in town. They can do better, and I have faith they will. Enjoy WrestleMania, because I have the feeling after you see that show and remember how much you paid to go see it you’ll be crying all the way home.

“Wes,

Not falling for most of your WWE/TNA UK ratings trollbait, but I’m calling you out on this:

“…and also it was found recently that TNA Impact is the most watched professional wrestling program in the UK in the past ten years! WWE overexposure is blamed as well as their poor decision to negotiate a Pay TV spot whereas TNA took the free spot with more viewers during their negotiations.”

Quote your source, please.

Bet you can’t.

Posted By: Mic Amp (Guest) on October 22, 2011 at 08:33 AM”

As always, you’re wrong! Just click here to read about the stats yourself. Not trollbait, facts!

“Hello again. I left what was in my opinion a thoughtful and balanced comment two articles ago. You didn’t managed to reply to it in two weeks, so…here it is again! Just to be helpful.

“I think your WWE-bashing is hilarious, but…

Your political numbers are a little weak. You are comparing 8 years of Reagan to one year of Obama. When not trolling trolls you seem like a reasonable person, and should be able to admit that that isn’t a fair comparison. Also, Reagan worked to raise a fair number of taxes himself (before finally lowering them again), and basically used Cold War military spending as a stimulus (raising deficits at the same time, a move that many economists say is the correct move to make in a recession).

Additionally, the 107th Congress (the Congress beginning in early 2001) was evenly split in the Senate 50/50 with a Republican tie breaker (Cheney). This shifted to small Dem majority when Jeffords switched to an Independent and caucused with the Dems. This shifted back, however, later in the term due to some special elections (Talent replacing Carnahan).

The Congress was close, but the Republicans always held a small majority (approx. 9-14 Congresspersons at any given time).

Cheers!

Posted By: armchair theologian (Guest) on October 09, 2011 at 11:11 PM”

I noticed that in one of your responses to a comment from that week you again compared 8 years of Reagan’s administration to one year of Obama’s. I still believe that that is a poor comparison. In fact, if I remember my numbers correctly, the economy took 2-3 years under Reagan to show any amount of measurable improvement at all.

I actually don’t believe that Presidents have that much direct sway over the economy, but you need to use valid comparisons or you open yourself up to attacks of trying to spin information to match an outcome you desire, whether the facts show that or not.

Cheers!

Posted By: armchair theologian (Guest) on October 22, 2011 at 12:26 AM”

As you probably can see, I get a LOT of comments to respond to and that’s not including the e-mail, so it takes me a bit sometimes.

If you did read that entire piece, you’ll note the numbers used are from 2009, 2010, and estimated/fiscal 2011, which is three years and not one. As far as improvement went, Reagan reduced the misery index from its highest level ever by more than half in eight years and he was re-elected because by 1984, things were improving. In 2011, there is no significant improvement and the housing crisis is now worse than during the Great Depression. Raising taxes in a recession is the best possible way to get yourself thrown out of office and to lose a lot of rich citizens, and raising taxes does nothing in today’s environment. The richest 3% of the people in this country pay over 98% of collected tax revenue and you can check the stats at the IRS website yourself. Paying 100% of it won’t dent the debt one bit. Also, you are not entirely truthful discussing Reagan’s usage of taxes because back then things were considerably different: We were basically at war with the Soviet Union and everyday could have been the start of nuclear war between two superpower countries. Reagan’s philosophy was the usage of the Laffer curve in which you can see that at a certain point, tax revenue decreases under higher tax percentages because you can only tax people so much before they can’t pay anymore. His responses to similar economic problems that we see today involved the DECREASE of taxes by cutting taxes for everybody and therefore stimulating people to spend money on the economy, which worked for two decades afterward. Reagan dropped the tax brackets to only four and used some increases that were later taken off the board to help fund not only Social Security and the Deficit Reduction Act (yes, back then people were concerned with deficits) but also fund a REAL jobs act which resulted in over 16 million new jobs created in eight years. Now, call me crazy, but Obama’s had three years and we have no more jobs now than we did in 2008! This jobs act was known as The Job Training Partnership Act Of 1982 and provided federal assistance programs for people to be trained and prepared for new jobs who had economic hardships. Reagan made sure they all got an education first and foremost, and then would move on to training in various jobs provided by the private sector to stimulate the economy. However, Democrats hated the plan because it involved “reduction of welfare dependency” and focused on the earnings of a participant, as it was a pay-for-performance style act that paid well only if you did well. Since that was “unfair” to the welfare state, Clinton’s administration repealed it in 1998. This program required some increase in revenue but was PAID FOR by the newly employed people able to make larger sums of money in the form of their yearly taxes since sixteen million people now had a job. Basically, you spent money on people’s education and to train them, and when they went into the labor force they paid back that same money in taxes! Novel concept, right? Since it was successful it had to be abolished.

Reagan began his Presidency in 1981, and by 1984 the economy showed significant reduction in inflation and unemployment. Reagan “inherited” 20.76% and in 1984, he had it lowered to 11.81%, which was nearly cutting the rate in half. In 1982, yearly unemployment was 9.7% but in 1984, it was 7.5% instead. In 1980, inflation was 13.58% and in 1984, it was 4.30% instead. In contrast, President Obama has had three years to turn things around like Reagan did. In 2009, when Obama took office, inflation was negative at -0.34% and it reached 3.0% in September. In 2009 the unemployment rate was 9.2% and it rose to 9.6% in 2010 and this year it appears to be 9.1% and Reagan had inherited a WORSE mess but still in three years was able to drop the unemployment rate by over two points. Obama WORSENED it briefly and now it remains at 9.1% unless something changes for better or worse.

Also, according to the official record kept the 107th was split in the Senate. If you note George Bush’s last term in office, Democrats controlled Congress from 2006-2010 and in that same period, the debt rose almost six trillion dollars in the end of Bush’s final term and the start of Obama’s hopefully only term. Clinton’s last term had an entirely Republican Congress which featured a debt DECREASE of 9% compared to the 110th and 111th adding over 30% of the current debt. Sorry, facts are facts!

“Kleenex, baby oil, and Barry White…WOW. You really have it down to a science.

I’m just wondering how you find the time to cruise your local playgrounds, while being a real estate mogul, unearthing golden nuggets in the stock market, writing a sophisticated wrestling column, penning a soon-to-be NY Times bestselling book, and ride around town in those cool VW Geek Squad mobiles.

Now does Best Buy pay for your gas or do you have to cover that yourself?

You are a true entrepreneur. I know most people will tell you, “Hey, you’re a fucking loser” for working a minimum wage gig at Best Buy, but not me.

Posted By: Ronnie (Guest) on October 22, 2011 at 04:11 AM”

Hide your kids, parents, Mr. Herbert’s son has come out! Not that way, he already came out that way years ago.

Let me take your pseudo-points one by one: Firstly, I don’t visit the local playgrounds. Anybody who spends a good ten minutes writing in detail about a column author’s penis size being equal to that of a baby has enough of a problem needing a good 25-to-life sentence for. Secondly, I never said I owned real estate but that I compliment Donald Trump because the man is worth seven billion dollars. When you come close to seven thousand dollars maybe you can say something, okay? Thirdly, the stock market is easily played if you have the brains and the talent for it, neither of which anybody can accuse you of possessing. Fourthly, I only write this column out of sheer love for each and every one of you WONDERFUL people! Fifthly, it won’t be a New York Times best-selling book; it will be a wrestling book. I’m fully aware people think wrestling is trash and hate it but I’m not looking to make money with the book as much as I am looking for a long-term deal to write in other genres. Unfortunately for you Ronald I will not have the knowledge or the time to write a guide to being a better child kidnapper so you are on your own. And finally, I don’t ride around in any Geek Squad anything because I own my own business and when I go on location I command a minimum of $150 an hour for my work, labor alone. When you make $150 a day, then you can talk to me about success.

Oh, also so you know: People who work in those Geek Squads do not make minimum wage. Computer repair is pretty big these days and salaries START in the double digits per hour and only go up depending on your knowledge. Although the company will charge a particular price per hour, the employee gets a fraction only. In my case I get all of it although most goes back into the business every year. Perhaps if you spent your time tracking down information as you do helpless six-year-old boys you could afford more than food stamps and section 8 housing!

The WTF

“Okay, a few things clearly need to be cleared up to you Wes.

1) I have never given a single solitary Great Khali match anywhere close to *** in my entire life. Ever. So where you’re getting this “the guy who gave Henry/Khali *** stars” shit from is beyond me, because it’s never fuckin’ happened.

2) I never had any column pulled from this site, ever. From day one I stuck to video reviews, and then when Larry liked my work and kept offering me new jobs doing TV and PPV reports, I did those as well. I have never written a column on this site, so I’ve most certainly never had one yanked. I’m sure I could get one if I honestly felt like it and just asked Larry, but I don’t have the time for that right now.

3) Your claim that your column gets “twice the hits of all of my TV/PPV reports combined” is utter and complete fiction. I get more comments on my PPV reports alone than you do on a weekly basis with your column here, and that’s not even including the total hits/comments on my TV reports as well. Ever wonder why you’ve only been given one chance at doing a single TV report in your entire time here (despite being here for literally about the same exact timeframe as myself so far)? It’s because you’re not a very good writer, and you’re certainly nowhere near approaching an objective one. For your sake I’d stop flinging out the schoolyard insults and give up this silly gimmick, because it’s accomplishing absolutely nothing for you or this website. Your column thrives the absolute worst, childish, flame-ridden internet “discussion” I’ve seen in a long time, similar to the halfwits you see arguing on YouTube videos. Lord knows if there wasn’t an exodus of available wrestling writers over the last six months here you probably wouldn’t even still be here.

4) Your politics are the most laughably stereotypical neo-conservative nonsense I’ve seen in quite some time, half of the time I think you’re just regurgitating things you’ve read in Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly books, and doing a poor job at that even. If these are the things you actually believe, I legitimately pity you for having to go through your entire life being so stubbornly ignorant. I wouldn’t wish that sad existence on anyone.

Have a nice day.

Posted By: Colin Rinehart (Registered) on October 23, 2011 at 04:49 PM”

Whineheart, good to have you back for the ass whippin’ you deserve!

#1 – You know damn well you’d find a reason to give it three or more stars because you overrate EVERYTHING. Your Vengeance review was a verbal fellatio of World’s Worst Entertainment in which apparently every single match is so awesome and wonderful they always “exceed” your expectations even when other people are saying how half of the PPV was ripped off from their own ideas years earlier. You know the worst part? You said in your recap (because that’s all you’re allowed to write) that you HATE TNA and love WWE… so why the hell review a TNA PPV if you hate it? Just to make it look bad!

#2 – In other words, you tried and failed and because you are the only one stupid enough to throw $50 down the drain on all the PPV’s you are allowed to recap it so Larry can have well-deserved time off

#3 – Yeah I saw your wonderful PPV results comments. You post in it just to get the hits up! Just for your information, my column runs on the older information and yours is the first response to brand new wrestling material… YET…

Last month of comment totals in both columns:

Your Vengeance PPV Report – 92. My column: 92
Your Smackdown Report – 48. My column? 92
BFG Report – 132. My column the same week: 68 on old material
Smackdown Report that weekend – 31. My column? 68
Smackdown report 10/07 – 38 comments. My column that weekend? 109
Smackdown report day after my Impact report – 30. MY Impact report – 70 (not counting 63 during live airing)

Boo hoo! Looks like somebody’s just pissed I run him into the ground every week except for one.

Did you know that Larry offered me the TNA recap job after my ONE review, Colin? Yeah, that’s right. I’m still trying to find a way to work it into my schedule but you can look in the staff area yourself big boy! Oh yeah, and if I am such a terrible writer how come I seem to get a lot more offers and guest spots in columns than you do? I do more for this site than you and anybody with a brain can see it. That leaves you out!

#4 – My politics are much more sound than the idea of getting into debt and spending your way out of it like your party preaches. Ever tried fixing a credit card debt by spending more money? Let me know how it goes, genius. The last two years have been massive repudiations of your “politics” in the midterms and special elections and you know it. The facts I just gave you on your reports are probably what really crawled up your ass to get you to post. You can’t stand it!

One last fact:

Colin’s review of WWE Night Of Champions 2011 – 57 comments.
My column six days afterward reviewing the NOC – 98 comments.

Stephen Randle has had a more valuable dollar this week than us Americans, and he also brings us The Wrestling News Experience every week. I need to get a second home in Canada so my money will be worth something in 2025.

Steve Cook has begun the process of kissing the newest female writer’s ass and you can watch him bestow platitudes upon her and bring the latest news to you when you check out News From Cook’s Corner

Our new writer is Terra Calaway, the female professional wrestler out of California and she brings her own unique views to the table with The Hot Stuff that will be an interesting read every week, and check out her debut because she talks about Velvet Sky’s title win!

And Sforcina is our Australian wrestler on staff bringing you the answers to the hardest wrestling questions every week with Ask 411 Wrestling and it is educational and entertaining, unlike most of his matches. Sorry, had to pull a cheap shot!

We end this edition of the Wrestling Sandwich by probing the thoughts of Mark Henry and Big Show at the end of their “match” from Vengeance: