Tag Archive: Flagship

  1. It’s on.

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    Mark tonight on your calendars.  Write it down somewhere and put it somewhere where you won’t lose it.  Today is January 4, 2010, and as a wrestling fan, you’re in for what promises to be the biggest night in Sports Entertainment in nearly nine years.  TNA Wrestling has finally decided to fire the proverbial first shot at World Wrestling Entertainment, a shot that one Vincent Kennedy McMahon will certainly do everything in his power to fight off.

    Back in October, the wrestling world was in shock when Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan announced a partnership with TNA President Dixie Carter during a press conference at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a building where the McMahon family and World Wrestling Entertainment has long held a monopoly on the wrestling business.  World Championship Wrestling, in it’s entire history, never held an event in the Garden.  Neither had the National Wrestling Alliance.  MSG was strictly McMahon territory.  While TNA hasn’t held an event in the Garden, and likely won’t, just having the press conference in the house that Vince built was huge.  It wasn’t as huge as the announcement that followed on TNAWrestling.com – Hulk Hogan was coming to TNA.

    Speculation ran wild – no pun intended – as to when Hogan would make his TNA Debut, but during an Ultimate Fighting Championship broadcast on Spike TV, Hogan announced that on January 4th, 2010, TNA would be airing a three hour live edition of iMPACT head to head with WWE’s flagship show, RAW.  TNA obviously had huge plans for tonight, but that’s not to say that the WWE hasn’t countered.  Rumors originally indicated The Rock would guest host RAW, as he’d arguably been the biggest star in WWE since Hogan’s heyday, but just a few weeks ago the gossip shifted from The Rock to one Bret “Hitman” Hart when RAW Guest Host Dennis Miller indicated that he’d like to see Hart as a future guest host.  Last week, McMahon confirmed Hart’s presence for this evening – his first time on a live WWE program in over a dozen years.

    Hogan vs. Hart is a long time dream match for wrestling fans, and though the two have never, and given health concerns, likely will never face each other in the ring, tonight they’ll go head to head in a ratings war.

    Hulk Hogan is most certainly a bigger name in the world of Sports Entertainment than Bret Hart, but will fans tune in to see him?  Do enough people even know that TNA iMPACT – let alone Hulk Hogan – will be on tonight to make any sort of ratings difference?

    Whether Hogan’s influence on TNA makes any kind of difference on the product remains to be seen.  What changes will be made to the TNA product?  What kind of effect will it have on WWE’s stranglehold on the Sports Entertainment audience?  Can TNA prove themselves tonight to be a legitimate contender to the WWE throne?  I guess we’ll start to find out those answers tonight, as a special 3-hour TNA iMPACT! airs tonight at 8PM EST on Spike TV against WWE RAW at 9PM EST on the USA Network.

  2. BWF Roundtable: WWE Bragging Rights

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    What’s up, fellow Bored Wrestling Fans!  This Monday night, yours truly will be at the HSBC Arena for RAW!  Will I be watching the show that proves to be the dominant brand in sports entertainment, or will I be on the loser show?  Also, will John Cena be on RAW this Monday?  These questions will be answered tomorrow night at WWE Bragging Rights.  Here’s what the BWF staff had to say about each match.

    WWE Championship Iron Man Match: John Cena vs. Randy Orton (c)

    JT: As much as Cen need a change of scenery and him going to Smackdown would be a goog thing, I just don’t see it happening just yet. Cena wins.

    Drowgoddess: Cena wins. I would like to be pleasantly surprised with this, as I’m a huge fan of the “60-Minute Iron Man” match, but I just don’t know if these two can go that long without a lot of stalling and padding.

    RYTMAN: Orton beats Cena (w/screwjob finish.) Cena to Smackdown.

    The Green Teabagger: Cena wins the WWE Title back (yeah, I know).

    ThinkSoJoE: I think moving to SmackDown would be beneficial for Cena at this point in his career, though as much as I’d love to attend a Cena-free RAW on Monday, my head tells me it’s not happening.  Cena is arguably the biggest star in the company, and will most likely stay on the flagship show.  Cena wins.

    World Heavyweight Championship Fatal Four Way: CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Batista vs. The Undertaker (c)

    JT: Ugh, this shoud Punk’s one on one match, not a fatal four way. Having said that, I’m going with Punk with the surprise win here, forwarding the upcoming Batista heel turn.

    Drowgoddess: A Punk win would please me greatly. The odds are so stacked against him that a sneaky, stolen win would be a surprise. That said, I think they’ll have Taker retain.

    RYTMAN: Undertaker retains, Batista gets pissed.

    The Green Teabagger: Punk wins his belt back.

    ThinkSoJoE: Mysterio will somehow cost Batista the win here, but I can’t see Mysterio winning the title either.  I think it’s too soon for him to lose it, so I’d say Taker retains.

    SmackDown vs. RAW:  The Miz vs. John Morrison

    JT: A loss by Morrison here won’t hurt him but willdo wonders for The Miz. The Miz Wins

    Drowgoddess: The real winner here is the audience. I honestly don’t know that I care who wins this match, I’d be happy with either one. For the sake of a good story, I’ll pick the Miz.

    RYTMAN: Morrison beats Miz.

    The Green Teabagger: Shawn Michaels beats Marty Jannetty John Morrison beats The Miz

    ThinkSoJoE: Because of the chemistry these two have, both as partners and opponents, and because there was no real feud between the two following The Miz dropping Morrison on RAW when he got drafted, The Miz is going to win this one.  Morrison will eventually get his rematch – and his revenge.  I’m calling it – Miz vs. Morrison at WM26.

    14 Man SmackDown vs. RAW tag team match – Chris Jericho, Kane, Matt Hardy, Finlay, R-Truth, and The Hart Dynasty vs. DX, The Big Show, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, and Mark Henry.

    JT: With the changes being made to this match at the last minute leads me more to believe that Team RAW wins here, at least with the original team there was potential for an upset.

    Drowgoddess: Despite the changes to the “Smackdown” team, I’m pretty sure that the RAW team is winning here.

    RYTMAN: Team Raw buries team Smackdown.

    The Green Teabagger: D-X beats Smackdown when Big Show “betrays” Raw and D-X overcomes it. The other five members of the Raw team will be beaten up either way, and no one will remember that they won too.

    ThinkSoJoE: Given that all of Team SmackDown, other than captains Jericho and Kane of course, actually lost their qualifying matches to get into this match, and that DX is captaining the other team, yeah, it’s unanimous – all of BWF are picking Team RAW.

    6 Diva SmackDown vs. RAW tag team match – Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, & Natalya vs. Melina, Gail Kim, & Kelly Kelly

    JT: Since the 14 man match will be the decider matchup and I picked the Miz, I’ll go with the Smackdown Divas here.

    Drowgoddess: I can’t stand McCool, but I love Beth Phoenix and Natalya, and want to see them win. That said, I’m thinking Melina, Gail, and Kelly get the actual victory when Beth breaks McCool in half.

    RYTMAN: I think Divas match is McCool vs. Melina. I’ll say Melina. (Note:  RYTMAN got this to me before the match was officially announced)

    The Green Teabagger: I don’t give a damn. If there is any justice, Beth Phoenix will just go apeshit and tear everyone apart. Hell, Smackdown wins this one.

    ThinkSoJoE: There is no way in hell that the RAW Divas should be able to win this with Beth Phoenix and Natalya on Team SmackDown.  But of course, if The Miz is going to win his match, Team RAW has to win this one to make it seem like RAW is still the dominant brand.

    Thanks for visiting us here at BoredWrestlingFan.com today, come back tomorrow for an all new Random Randomness, as well as Bragging Rights coverage!