Tuesday 26 June 2012

Guest Repost: Thomas Holzerman

To add a bit more content to the blog, I decided to start a new series called Guest Repost. It's where I find an article that I read really interesting and (after asking permission) repost it on my blog. I thought it would be  a good way for my readers to see what else is out there that is helping to create a better wrestling media. The inaugural repost is an article by Thomas Holzerman about Chris Benoit. As some of you will know, Benoit killed his wife, son and then himself five years ago. It was a moment that shocked the wrestling world and even now lingers on. I felt that Thomas' article really summed my feelings on the whole thing five years on and, if I have time, I may write an article about Benoit as well. But for now, here is his article (written 22nd June 2012).


It's Okay Not to Be Able to Reconcile Chris Benoit's Wrestling Career with His Life

Five years ago today, Chris Benoit killed his wife, the start of a chain of events that would see him murder his innocent son before taking his own life in the following days. In one fell swoop, he went from being known as maybe the greatest technical wrestler ever to a base murderer at best and the man who could have killed pro wrestling as we've known on top of that at worst. The worst part was that among our ilk, he was many of ours favorite wrestler. I always preferred Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't say Benoit was always one of the guys I looked forward to watching in the ring.

That fandom we all had for him when he was alive has made it very hard for some to let go of the fact that his life ended the way it did. A lot of questions were asked as to whether it would ever be okay to think of him in a positive light again, when it would be okay to separate his art from his personal life. Judging by the reaction that I get any time I write about Benoit, I feel like a lot of people are already over what he did and are back to pledging devotion to the man as a wrestler. I'm not even talking about people who still believe crazy conspiracy theories that would exonerate the man (IT WAS KEVIN SULLIVAN! HE WAS BEHIND IT ALL!!!!!). I'm just talking the people who can either brush Benoit's acts off and watch him like nothing ever happened or those who are sick to themselves over what he did but can separate the art from the man.

Before I write what I'm about to write, there's nothing wrong with being able to separate a man's art from his personal life. If you can do that, hey, good for you. You are certainly not a better person than I (I don't think that's a qualifier for whether anyone is better than anyone else, actually), but you certainly have a different way of looking at life, and I'm not sure that it's basis for me to judge you or vice versa. That being said, it can be hard for people who are still unsure whether or not they should "forgive" Benoit so to speak, especially when in pockets of the Internet where the torches still burn brightly for him because of the blinders put on by some people.

Well, I'm here to say that no one ever has to be able to reconcile the way Benoit's life ended if they don't have to.

Let's face it, the man was a murderer, plain and simple. He didn't stand trial for his crimes because he killed himself after his acts. Give me any good reason why that man deserves any quarter what he did. I guarantee you that it won't be good enough. Sure, you can blame wrestling or the drugs or whatever it is that you want as a justification, but the fact of the matter is that guys like Dave Duerson, Junior Seau and Andre Waters all suffered from the same CTE that Benoit did, all of them committed suicide and none of them murdered anyone on the way out. It sucks that he had his brain injuries, but at some point, don't you have to pin some of the blame for his actions on him?

It's also not like we couldn't see this coming either. While it seems that all wrestlers seem to need to have a depraved mindset to enter the business, the stories of the way Benoit hazed and "ribbed" people backstage were legendary for their brutality. Before his brain injuries steeped in too deeply, he was still allegedly a borderline sociopath (again, alleged because I'm not sure how many of those stories are true or are just exaggerated gossip). So again, maybe he already had this all in him, which makes that blame all the more stark.

And if that blame makes it hard for me or anyone else to watch him in the ring, that's okay. People still have problems with the way WWE features Mike Tyson, and he not only served his time for his crimes, but he has seemingly rehabilitated. That being said, rape is a pretty fucked up crime, and honestly, even though I accept Tyson's rehab, I will never begrudge anyone for not. So, what makes Benoit, whose crimes he has skirted on repenting for because he killed himself, any more special?

So, if you are still uncomfortable with Benoit's career, you're not alone, and you shouldn't feel pressure to try and BE comfortable with it. The man was a monster and he skirted all responsibility involved with his crimes by offing himself. If that doesn't set well with you, congratulations, you have a conscience. That doesn't mean people that can reconcile it don't have one; theirs just works differently.

But for those who can put aside the awful way Benoit's life ended, do me a favor give me the same quarter I give you. And if you really believe that someone else murdered Nancy and Daniel Benoit and then murdered Chris, please check yourself into a mental institution. I can stomach a lot when it comes to what to accept and what not to accept in wrestling. Double murder and suicide as a combination isn't one of them.
And quite frankly, I'd be utterly shocked if I were the only person that felt this way.

Thomas Holzerman is a member of Fair to Flair and writes his own blog called the Wrestling Blog about all aspects of professional wrestling in North America. He hosts two podcasts the Wrestling Podcast and Outside the Squared Circle, which you can find on iTunes. He is from Philadelphia and is an avid sports fan.

Sunday 24 June 2012

WWE No Way Out 2012 Review

WWE No Way Out took place last Sunday at the IZod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which is next door to the home of Wrestlemania XXIX, MetLife Stadium. The card didn't look great, however, will the event be good? Let's take a look.

The pre-show match was between Brodus Clay and David Otunga. Otunga focuses most of his attack on Brodus's knee that he injured on Smackdown. A few minutes later, Brodus starts his comeback so Otunga goes "Fuck this" and leaves, giving Brodus the win by countout. The match was decent but I didn't think that Otunga should be the one who would do something like that. It would make more sense if someone like The Miz did it, going "I'm a former WWE Champion, I don't have to deal with this bullshit". Anyway, the match was decent.
Winner: Brodus Clay                                                                                  Predictions: 1 for 1


The PPV officially starts with the World Heavyweight Championship match between Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus. Ziggler gets a good luck from Vickie Guerrero and almost gets his head brogue kicked off by kiss Sheamus. I assume that Ziggler didn't see what happened at Wrestlemania this year. During the match, it went back and forth and Ziggler almost had the win after a fameasser then a top rope X-Factor. Sheamus hits the white noise then practically kills Ziggler with a brogue kick to get the win. While I'm a bit pissed off that the PPV started with the World Heavyweight Championship, it was a really good match. Bad luck to Ziggler, who performed well and should get another opportunity in the near future.
Winner: Sheamus                                                                                       Predictions: 2 for 2


We go to a backstage segment with Mr McMahon and John Laurinaitis (did you know that he's the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and the GM of both RAW and Smackdown?) and after McMahon shuts his office door in his face, Laurinaitis gets interviewed by Josh "Bad Timing" Mathews. Laurinaitis, understandably, doesn't take that well and has an angry outburst at Mathews, calling him a failed wrestler who is trying to become a failed announcer. Hey, Josh is not a failed announcer. His timing may be very bad but he is better than Michael Cole.

The tuxedo match was next as United States Champion Santino Marella took on Ricardo "Virgil" Rodriguez. The match starts with them playing to the crowd before Ricardo rips off a part of Santino's jacket. They then proceed to in turn rip off pieces of each other's tuxedos. During the match, the crowd chant "boring" as Santino starts to mock Ricardo. Ricardo rakes the eyes and takes off most of Santino's texedo, revealing a Cobra sock(?) on Santino's right leg. Santino strikes Ricardo with it then takes off the rest of Ricardo's tuxedo to win the match, revealing Ricardo's "Alberto Del Rio" underwear. Yeah, there is no way that I can go about this; the match was really, really...shit. I get that it was supposed to be a comedy match but I wasn't laughing and the crowd thought it was boring and to have it on the second match of the PPV was a dumb idea.
Winner: Santino Marella                                                                       Predictions: 3 for 3


Matt Striker interviews CM Punk, which is interrupted by AJ wishing Punk luck. Striker then attempts to interview AJ, but a glare from her suggested that it wasn't a good idea. The bitch is crazy, crazy I tell ya!!

The Intercontinental Championship was on the line as Christian was challenged by Cody Rhodes. Christian attempts to injure Rhodes' groin by slamming it into the ring post but Rhodes reversed it, injuring Christian's shoulder. Rhodes focuses on the shoulder for a while before Christian gets back into it. Christian attempts the Killswitch but it was reversed into an Alabama Slam for 2. Christian does eventually hit the Killswitch for 2. Rhodes tries the Beautiful Disaster but Christian ducks and hits the Spear to get the win and retain the Intercontinental Championship. It was a good match and hopefully Rhodes will head towards the main event level.
Winner:Christian                                                                               Predictions: 4for 4


The next match was a bonus match  as the Usos, Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel,the Prime Time Players and Epico and Primo faced off to determine the No.1 contender for the WWE Tag Team Championships. Hang on, step back. A potential storyline involving the tag teams? Wow. Anyway, earlier in the Pre-show, Epico and Primo's manager AW thought it would be a great idea to let their rematch clause lapse so that they could properly earn it. Not a great idea, AW. The match itself was enjoyable with a lot of high-flying manoeuvres. Epico hits a backstabber on Kidd and covers but it was stopped by Titus. Kidd then   does a top rope hurrcuranna on Epico sending him crashing onto the rest of the guys who were outside the ring. The end comes when AW throws in Epico for him to get hit by Darren Young with a Gut Check. Youg gets the win for the Prime Time Players and AW stops Primo diving in to stop the pin. AW then reveals the swerve, allying himself with the Prime Time Players. I enjoyed the match and especially the swerve involving AW, the Prime Time Players and Epico and Primo. I guess AW wanted those "millions of dollars"
Winners: Prime Time Players                                                           Predictions: N/A


Triple H comes out to address the WWE Universe. He spoke a lot about Brock and basically challenged him to a match at Summerslam. Now, be honest. Who didn't see that coming?

After we see AJ wish Daniel Bryan luck for his match, we get the Divas Championship with Beth Phoenix challenging Layla. Beth starts being dominant and talking trash to the crowd and Layla; and Layla responds by grabbing Beth's tiara and mocking her. Beth doesn't take that well and that gives Layla the chance to mess with Beth's head. The match goes back and forth with the end coming when Beth attempts a clothesline, Layla ducks and hits the Lay-Out for the victory. This was a good match and it was nice to see the comedy element of it, which would be a good way to keep the fans interested. The Divas Division does have the talent there and the time available on PPV, it's just a lot of people don't care about them til Kharma returns.
Winner: Layla                                                                               Predictions: 5 for 5


After we AJ wish Kane luck for his match, in which Kane responds by kissing her; we get another bonus match between Sin Cara and Hunico. The match was enjoyable to watch with Hunico trying to keep Cara down. However, it was not enough as Cara hits the La Mistica for the win.
Winner: Sin Cara                                                                        Predictions: N/A


Nest was the WWE Championship between CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Kane. The AJ factor didn't go into play for a long time as AJ wasn't at ringside. The match was enjoyable with tonnes of near-falls. Aj finally arrives and Bryan applies the LeBell Yes Lock but it was countered by Punk. Punk then gets out of a Tombstone and pushes Kane into AJ, sending her flying off the apron. Punk then hits the GTS on Kane to get the victory. Afterwards, Kane carries AJ to the back, with AJ and Punk exchanging glances. I liked the match, however, I did find it weird that Bryan seem to disappear at the end.
Winner: CM Punk                                                                      Predictions: 5 for 6


We get another bonus match as Ryback takes on two randoms by the names of...who cares? There're Jabroni 1 and Jabroni 2. It's the usual stuff with Ryback destroying them and hitting a double muscle buster for the win. I'm getting sick and tired of this. Ryback has been destroying randoms for 3 months now, let him do something diffferent.
Winner:Ryback                                                                         Predictions: N/A


Now the main event: John Cena taking on Big Show in a steel cage. Er...yeah, the match was so slow to start with. The referee gets knocked out and Show hits Cena with the WMD. Show then practically crawls to the door to get the win. However, he is stopped by Brodus Clay, Alex Riley and Zack Ryder. Show deals with them and Kofi Kingston comes down to prevent Show leaving the cage. Cena recovers and hits the AA. Cena escapes the cage and gets the win. Afterwards, John Laurinaitis (did you know that he was the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and has just lost his job as GM to both RAW and Smackdown?) gets fired by Vince McMahon and gets AA-ed through the Spanish Announcers Table. This match was a complete clusterfuck and once again, destroys Show's heel run for Cena's benefit. Well done, WWE. I now lost all interest in Show and am rapidly heading towards the Cena Hater's camp.
Winner: John Cena                                                             Predictions: 5 for 7


I felt that this PPV was a massive let down, considering the last 2 WWE PPVs. I sometimes compare the TNA and WWE PPVs against each other and TNA wins this month. Some of the matches were good but the main event was a massive disappointment.

Sunday 17 June 2012

WWE No Way Out 2012 Preview




WWE No Way Out will take place at the IZod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. I have to admit that I’m not really looking forward to it as the card doesn’t look great. Despite that, it might be a good PPV so let’s take a look.

The Pre-Show on YouTube will see David Otunga take on Brodus Clay. Otunga has been targeting Brodus’ knees and I expect to continue that in this match. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that Otunga’s plan will not be enough and Brodus will win.
Predicted Winner: Brodus Clay

Santino Marella will take on Ricardo “Virgil” Rodriguez in a tuxedo match. This will be no more than a comedy match which both guys are extremely capable of doing. I think that Santino will be victorious here.
Predicted Winner: Santino Marella

Christian will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Cody Rhodes. I can’t see the title being hot shot back to Rhodes, so I think that Christian will retain.
Predicted Winner: Christian

The Divas Championship will be on the line as Beth Phoenix challenges Layla. I know some people are dismissing this match  but I think that this could be a good match. It’s a tough one to call as I think the winner will probably stay champion until the WWE decide to give Kharma her return and she can  then fuck them up. I’m going for Layla to retain and hopefully be Kharma’s first victim.
Predicted Winner: Layla

The World Heavyweight Championship will be defended as Dolph Ziggler will challenge Sheamus. This has the potential to be a really good match and I’m happy that Ziggler has been given this opportunity. However, I don’t think the time is right for Ziggler to win a World Championship quite yet as he hasn’t been  near the title picture since the Royal Rumble. I’m going for Sheamus to win and hopefully the WWE will start to build Ziggler up to the main event level afterwards.
Predicted Winner: Sheamus

The WWE Championship will be defended in a triple threat match between champion CM Punk, Kane and Daniel Bryan. I’m really looking forward to this match as I think it will be the match of the night. While I have no doubt over their ability, the match all rides on the AJ factor. Who will AJ side with? I’ve quite enjoyed AJ slowly going insane in a way that would make Glenn Close from Fatal Attraction proud. Whilst a bit predictable, I think this is all part of a master plan between Daniel Bryan and AJ. I think that Daniel Bryan will win, change the WWE Championship design, and continue the feud until Summerslam.
Predicted Winner: Daniel Bryan

The main event (really, WWE?) will be John Cena and the Big Show in a steel cage match. Right, let’s see what if I got this right. If Cena wins, John Laurinaitis (did you know that he’s the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and  the GM of both RAW and Smackdown?)  will be fired; If Show wins, Cena will be fired. I don’t really get parts of the storyline here.  Why is Vince McMahon angry at Laurinaitis? If you think about it, Vince kind of started all this when he appointed Laurinaitis interim RAW GM last year. Also, why are we yet again threatening Cena with his job? If Cena loses, it won’t matter because, based on what happened with the Nexus in 2010, he’ll just act as if nothing happened.

This is a tough one as I can’t see Cena losing again. The last time he lost 2 PPV matches in a row was last year when he lost to CM Punk at Money in the Bank and Summerslam. The way I see it, The Big Show has to win this match. I know I said that when Cena faced Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules but in that match, Lensar destroyed Cena and Cena had a bit of luck to win. That cannot be the case here. I don’t mind Cena overcoming the odds eventually, but he can’t do it at the first hurdle like Super Cena. If Cena does that, it will seriously weaken Show’s heel run. The Big Show HAS, no, MUST win this. Otherwise, what the fuck was the point ?
Predicted Winner: Big Show

Hopefully, while I have my doubts, it will be a good event. I hope you enjoy it and I will post my review during the week.

TNA Slammiversary 2012 Review

The tenth anniversary of TNA was celebrated with Slammiversary, which took place at the College Park Arena in Arlington, Texas. What was the event like and how many does Hogan make an appearance? Let's take a look.

We open the show with Hulk Hogan coming out. Fuck, that was quick! Hogan announces that the match between Samoa Joe and Austin Aries (the best thing in TNA right now) will be for the X-Division Championship. Erm...normally I would be happy with that, but doesn't the X-Divsion Championship havea weight limit? No offence to Joe, but I think he might be a tad over the limit.

Samoa Joe takes on Austin Aries (the best thing in TNA right now) for the X-Division Championship in a match that I was looking forward to. The match starts with kicks and punches by both guys before Aries attempts a suicide dive but Joe counters it with a kick to the head. Joe is dominant for a while before Aries slows him down with a suicide dive. Aries attempts a brianbuster but he couldn't lift Joe up and this gives Joe the opportunity to hit Aries with a variety of submission moves. Aries hits a 450 splash but he only gets a 2 count. Joe does a rear naked choke but that was countered into a pin attempt. Aries hits a running dropkick followed by a brainbuster to get the win. This was a really good match and it could be the match of the night. It's a shame that it was the opening match but you wanted a match to get the crowd up for the event. This match truly delivered and it looked like the crowd were really into it.
Winner: Austin Aries                                                                                  Predictions: 1 for 1


Next we had Kid Kash take on Hernandez in a match that I don't really care about. Hopefully, they can make me change my mind. Hernandez uses his strength to throw Kash like a rag doll to begin with. Some of the other highlights was Hernandez doing over a Undertaker style suicide dive to Kash outside the ring. Hernandez gets the win with a top rope splash. The match was quite good and it made me change my mind.
Winner: Hernandez                                                                                   Predictions: 1 for 2


Robbie E and Robbie T took on Devon and Garrett "Future of the Business" Bischoff in another match that I don't really care about. Ah well, at least we're getting the two matches that I don't give a fuck about out the way quickly. The match starts with Robbie E and Garrett before Robbie E tags in Robbie T. During the match, Madison "Screamer" Rayne turns up by the titantron looking absolutely stunning. Meanwhile, Robbie E and Robbie T start to completely dominate Garrett. Garrett gets the hot tag and Devon destroys Robbie E, hitting the spinebuster to get the win. The match was what I expected with Garrett doing basic moves before getting his ass kicked; Garrett getting the hot tag to Devon and Devon getting the win.
Winners: Devon and Garrett Bischoff                                                    Predictions: 2 for 3


The next match was to determine the No.1 contender for the TNA World Championship in a triple threat between Mr Anderson, Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam. RVD starts to run the show and tries to powerbomb Anderson, who was in the process of superplexing Hardy. However, Anderson managed to stop that. Anderson superplexes Hardy and RVD attempts a splash on both of them but Hardy and Anderson move out of the way. Anderson does a backslide on RVD which Hardy takes advantage of by pinning the other side of RVD, forcing him to kick out. Hardy hits the twist of fate on RVD then hits the swanton bomb. Mr Anderson stops the count by pulling the referee. He then throws Hardy put of the ring and RVD attempts the rolling thunder, which is countered into the Mic Check by Anderson to get the win. I really enjoyed this match with a lot of big moves and counters.
Winner: Mr Anderson                                                                              Predictions: 3 for 4


We now get to find out who accepted the open challenge of Crimson (the most pointless undefeated wrestler ever) and the person is...James Storm!!! Storm proceeds to completely destroy Crimson and, despite a brief comeback by Crimson, gets the win with a Last Call superkick. I didn't mind Crimson being undefeated, but it didn't seem to lead to anything except a Tag Team Championship with Matt Morgan. Ah well, it now looks like I have to write Crimson (who had the most pointless undefeated streak ever). In terms of my predictions, I was going to be a dick and employ the Divas Royal Rumble Rule and void my prediction. However, my douchebag of a brother (@jaylight3)decided to be the voice of reason and said I count the prediction as a loss. To quote Bunk from the Wire: "You happy now, bitch?!"
Winner: James Storm                                                                             Predictions: 3 for 5


TNA President Dixie Carter comes out to thank the crowd and announce the first inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame, who is Sting. I thought it would be a TNA original who had retired. Despite that, Sting is one of the most recognisable and famous wrestlers of all time on the same level as Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan. Even though he is 53, I would still love to see him in the WWE. He can still go and perform and has helped TNA go from a fledging company to one with a lot of tremendous talent. Well done to Sting on being the first inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame.


The knockouts Championship was on the line as home state girl Brooke Tessmacher challenged Gail Kim. Brooke gets the early advantage before Kim starts to dominate.  Kim puts Brooke into a submission move, which she then decides to let go for some reason. Kim also had the chance to win the match by countout but she doesn’t do that either. Eventually, Brooke gets the win with a roll up and becomes the new Knockouts Champion. It was a decent  match, although I don’t like Brooke winning the match with a roll up.
Winner: Brooke Tessmacher                                                               Predictions: 3for 6

The next match was Bully Ray taking on Joseph Park (brother of Chris? You know, Abyss?) Bully Ray has a little fun with Parks and Parks tries but fails with some offence.  Ray brings in a chair which Parks manages to use against him. Parks then goes under the ring  and Abyss comes out and chokeslams Ray through a table. Abyss then goes under the ring, Parks comes out and pins Ray to get the victory.  This was a fun match and it made me really enjoy the Joseph Parks character. I don’t think it was the real Abyss that came out and  it was about 10-15 seconds each between one  going under the ring and the other one appearing. Plus the fact that the TV audience, and the vast majority, didn’t see his face. Despite that, I can see this continuing for the foreseeable future with either Parks or Abyss fucking up Ray’s chances in the upcoming Bound for Glory Series.
Winner: Joseph Parks                                                                         Predictions: 4 for 7

Next current WWE Intercontinental Champion Christian (known as Christian Cage in TNA) makes an appearance to announce the No 1 moment in TNA history, which was the debut of Sting. It looks like Sting is getting a lot of love from TNA.

Kurt Angle and AJ Styles challenge Christopher Daniels and Kazarian for the Tag Team  Championship. Styles comes out and destroys Daniels and Kazarian and there were some great highlights, including Angle doing a German suplex to Daniels and Kazarian at the same time. Styles flys into Daniels and this gives Angle the opportunity to put the Ankle Lock on Kazarian. Kazarian taps and Angle and Styles are your new Tag Team Champions. I know that I predicted that Kazarian and Daniels would lose but this makes more sense as it would be interesting to see how Angle and Styles work together now that they’re Champions. Now, can we find out what the fuck is going on between Styles and Dixie Carter?
Winners: Kurt Angle and AJ Styles                                                     Predictions: 4 for 8

The main event was Sting challenging Bobby Roode for the TNA World Championship. Sting keeps on trying to hit Roode with the Scorpion Death Drop. After a while, Roode decides to leave the match but he’s stopped by Sting. Roode gains the momentum but Sting makes a comeback. The match goes out of the ring and applies the Scorpion Death Lock on the announce table, which Roode taps out and it would have been a great way to end the match....if this was a falls count anywhere match. The referee reminds Sting that he needs to beat Roode in the ring. In the scuffle, Roode manages to grab a beer bottle(?) and hit Sting with it to get the win and stay World Champion. Understandably, Sting doesn’t take that well and proceeds to fuck Roode up, resulting in giving him a Scorpion Death Drop on the entrance ramp.
Winner: Bobby Roode                                                                         Predictions: 5 for 9

The general consensus was that this was one of the best PPVs that TNA have done in years. I would agree with that as I think it is one of the best PPVs that I have seen all year. TNA have celebrated their tenth anniversary in style and that is to be commended. They have the talent there, it’s just little things that they need to do to keep the momentum going.

Thursday 14 June 2012

The Kharma Problem




A lot of people are critical of the Divas Division in the WWE, including myself. Some of the wrestlers do have the ability to put on some good matches but the WWE rarely give them that opportunity and now people have been conditioned to use the Divas match as a chance to get refreshments or go to the bathroom.

That looked to change with the arrival of Kharma. Kharma was known as Awesome Kong in TNA, who had one of the company’s greatest rivalries with Gail Kim. Kharma made her debut in Extreme Rules 2011, when she destroyed Michelle McCool. She then went on to destroy Layla and looked like she was going to revolutionise the Divas Division. However, a few weeks later, Kharma announced that she was pregnant and disappeared from television, expecting to return in a year.

With the minor exception of the Legion Divas of Doom, the Divas Division seemed to plod along as usual. Then the Royal Rumble occurred and Kharma made her return after the birth of her child to everyone’s surprise. Even though she was facing the men, she was extremely impressive, giving the Implant Buster to Dolph Ziggler and Gorilla Press Slamming Hunico out of the ring. Kharma only lasted a minute before Ziggler eliminated her but it gave everyone a taste of what to expect in the Divas Division over the coming year.

And therein lies the problem. Everyone has been expecting Kharma to return but she hasn’t yet. I understand that to a certain extent with the circumstances surrounding her birth. However, Kharma has been saying on Twitter that she is ready, so what’s the problem? I feel that the WWE are waiting for the right time for Kharma to make her comeback. However, you can’t do that for ever. No matter how you look at it, Kharma is going to revolutionise the Divas Division. Until that happens, not many people are going to care about the Divas. So, the way that I see it, the sooner Kharma returns, the better.

Monday 11 June 2012

TNA Slammiversary 2012 Preview


File:Slammiversary (2012).jpg

TNA Slammiversary 2012 will take place at the Impact Wrestling Zone  College Park Arena in Arlington,Texas. The event will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of the formation of TNA, so will it worthy of that occasion? Let's look at the card.

Christopher Daniels and Kazarian will be defending the Tag Team Championship against the unlikely team of AJ Styles and Kurt Angle. This will be a good match and it will be interesting to see how the dynamic between Styles and Angle will work if they become tag team champions. However, I think it will be more likely that they will have a miscommunication, giving Daniels and Kazarian the change to retain the titles.
Predicted Winners: Christopher Daniels and Kazarian

The team of Television Champion Devon and Garrett "Future of the Business" Bischoff take on Robbie E and Robbie T. I don't really care for this match and I don't really care who wins this. Er...yeah; fuck it, I'm going for Devon and Bischoff to win this one.
Predicted Winners: Devon and Garrett Bischoff

Gail Kim will once again defend her Knockouts Championship against Brooke Tessmacher. Their match at the last PPV was pretty decent and I expect to see the same here. Like Bobby Roode, Kim has been champion for a very long time and I don't think she will lose it here.
Predicted Winner: Gail Kim

Hernandez will face Kid Kash in another match that I don't really care about. There're both decent wrestlers and it could be a good match...if I cared. Er...I'll go for Kid Kash to win.
Predicted Winner: Kid Kash

Crimson (the most pointless undefeated wrestler ever) has issued an open challenge. According to Wikipedia,it will be either Muhammad Lawal (who?) or Bill Goldberg (wow!), although I can't see it being Goldberg. Personally, I think that Crimson will win and continue his pointless undefeated streak.
Predicted Winner: Crimson

Jeff Hardy will take on Mr Anderson and Rob Van Dam in a triple threat match to determine the No. 1 contender to the TNA World Championship. I think this will be an entertaining contest and I had to really think about who will win this. I'm taking a bit of a gamble and going for Mr Anderson to win this.
Predicted Winner: Mr Anderson

Austin Aries (the best thing in TNA right now) will face Samoa Joe in a match that I'm really looking forward to. It could go either way but due to the fact that Aries is the best thing in TNA right now, I have to go for him.
Predicted Winner: Austin Aries

Bully Ray will face Joseph Parks (brother of Chris? You know, Abyss?) in what could be the culmination of a quite enjoyable storyline. I think that either Parks will reveal himself to be Abyss or find some lucky way to win.
Predicted Winner: Joseph Parks

In the main event, Sting will challenge Bobby Roode for the TNA World Championship. I've enjoyed Roode as Champion, although I've been critical of the matter he has won his matches on PPV. Roode has to win this, albeit dubiously, otherwise Sting winning would be a massive backwards step.
Predicted Winner: Sting

Just as a reminder, I won't get to see the match until Wednesday night, so I'll post my review later on in the week.

Sunday 3 June 2012

Fav Five: April and May 2012



Yeah buddy, after a month off, it’s time for Lo-Down Wrestling’s Fav Five. I never got a chance to publish the one for April; so I decided to do April and May’s Fav Five in one article.

April 2012

5.  John Cena
John Cena has been actually enjoyable to watch in his feud with Brock Lesnar. Their match at Extreme Rules was quite good with Cena pulling out the victory despite Lensar destroying him for most of the match. It made Cena look strong and managed to gain some respect from the Cena Haters. Shame he ruined it the next day.
4. John Laurinaitis
I like John Laurinaitis (did you know that he’s the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and the GM of both RAW and Smackdown?) a lot. However, since he became the Supreme GM, he doesn’t seem to be as enjoyable as he has over the last few months. Despite that, I have enjoyed that he always displays the Brother Love suit that he wore at Wrestlemania and he has effectively made Teddy Long his bitch.
3. Sheamus
Sheamus became World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania and he has been fun to watch. His match with Daniel Bryan at Extreme Rules was one of the best matches of the night and showed how well they work together.
2. Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar has been brought in to “legitimatise” the WWE. Since then, he has been destroying John Cena, including busting him open twice. I was surprised when he lost to Cena at Extreme Rules; however, in hindsight, he didn’t really need to win. All Lesnar needed to show was how dominant he can be and he did.
1. Daniel Bryan
As evidenced by my Wrestlemania review, I was just a bit unhappy when Bryan lost the World Heavyweight Championship in 18 seconds. However, instead of being buried, Bryan is more over than ever before and he seems to go from strength to strength. Bryan has improved so much since becoming World Heavyweight Champion and he is now the person that I most look forward to seeing in the WWE.

May 2012

5.  The Big Show
 Even though The Big Show’s heel turn was predictable, Show has been good to watch. The best heels are those that have a genuine reason to be bad and Show does. His upcoming match with John Cena at No Way Out could be a good match to watch.
4. John Laurinaitis
John Laurinaitis (did you know that he’s the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and the GM of both RAW and Smackdown?) has been more fun to watch than he was last month culminating in a match against John Cena which wasn’t too bad. Laurinaitis is still uniquely entertaining along with his employees David Otunga and Eve Torres; and his bitch Teddy Long.
3. CM Punk
The inaugural LDW Wrestler of the Year has been fun to watch over the last month with his rivalry with Daniel Bryan and being the unwilling part of a triangle along with Bryan and AJ. It is starting to develop into an interesting dynamic between the three.
2. Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan keeps going as strong as ever. His rivalry with CM Punk has been amazing so far with a tremendous match between the two at Over the Limit, making it one of the matches of the year so far.
1. AJ
AJ is the best Diva to watch in the WWE and she hasn’t wrestled in the last few weeks. Since Bryan blamed her for his loss at Wrestlemania and dumping her; she fucked up Natalya in a match; bitchslapped Kaitlyn into the following week where she got bitchslapped even harder; and slowly getting insane. Now, AJ has turned her attentions to CM Punk, which was been really fun to watch. 

Friday 1 June 2012

Wow, TNA is Actually Becoming The Hogan Show!

Ever since Hulk Hogan took over as General Manager of Impact Wrestling several weeks ago, we haven't seen him as much on TV as I thought I would. However, when he is on, he does seem to dominate the show. I know that Hogan is one of the most famous wrestlers of all time; that doesn't mean I want to see him at every opportunity. Now Hogan wants to get his family in on the act as his daughter Brooke Hogan has joined the company to help develop the talent in the Knockouts Division.

My first thought was "What the Fuck?!?!" Brooke, while growing up round wrestlers, is NOT a wrestler herself. She is a singer who used to do the national anthem for the NHL team Tampa Bay Lightning and has had a reality TV show and a decent singing career since. According to TMZ, her main role will be helping the women in developing their characters and backstage promos. If she wants to help out with that, I don't really have a  problem with it. However, based on the advert that was shown on Spike TV recently, I think she might be involved in storylines as well.

I like it when you get children of wrestlers make it in professional wrestling. I also like it when they get to pay their dues on the way to the top. I don't think that memo got to Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan as they are using their backstage power to get their children jobs higher up than they deserve. In Bischoff's case, his son Garrett is wrestling, even though his moves are very basic, and he got a shot at the Television Championship last week.

I know I have mentioned this time and time again, but if TNA want to become a decent wrestling company, they need to rein in Hogan and Bischoff. They can't use their power to get their children important jobs in the company. I understand if they own the company, like Vince McMahon but they don't. I need to wiat and see, but I am slightly worried that this could lead to TNA being viewed as more of a joke than ever.