To think, this is where it all started, just over five years ago, as I demanded to know where my cut of Vince McMahon’s money was. Yes, the first real article was about an episode of RAW where you could “Win Vince McMahon’s Money.” Remember that? Seemed like longer ago that all that happened, but it seems like yesterday that I launched this site. Here I am five years later, and we’re talking about RAW and Vince McMahon again. Let’s go!
I watch 30 minutes of RAW, leave for work, avoid spoilers like (and from) the plague, and then watch the entire show when I get here. That’s how ThinkSoJoE’s RAW reviews work. Also, I play by my own rules. Screw you, SmackDown review!
It’s that time of year again ladies and gents. The time of year when Mr. Santypants decides to amble down your chimney with all the grace of Big Daddy V after one too many sherries and leaves all those shiny new presents for you to open come the morning. The day when family members converge upon your home as if their lives depend on it, shower you with gifts, get hideously pissed and fall asleep in YOUR seat. Ahhhh how I love the Christmas season.Not being religious in the slightest (and actually hating the bloody waste of time), Christmas doesn’t mean what it probably should in the Kennedy household. In saying that, how many families actually use it as a celebration of the birth of Jebus? Certainly not the McMahon family, for as we all know – they are Satanists.
Your friendly BWF-community nonsense-spouter merely wished to drop by and leave his best wishes to each and every single one of you for the holiday season. I’ve managed to Facebook quite a few of you to wish you a happy one but for those I haven’t managed to get a hold of, have an utterly fantastic day. I really hope there are countless goodies for you to rip open come the morning and that there are no nasty, unwanted surprises in there. Yours truly has actually been pretty damn lucky in that regard over the years. I tend to have family and friends with awesome taste who give me presents which never fail to leave me smiling. May you all have the same luck as I!
In all seriousness however, enjoy, enjoy and enjoy again. Have a drink, be merry and for god sakes keep your clothes on. Nobody wants to see you in nothing but the Santa hat..
There will be a new and fresh article descending upon the homepage very soon but for now, I’ll sign out and let you get back to stuffing your turkey. Ooer! TAKE IT HOME!
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.
You expected all week for a Part Deux, but Charlie Sheen beat me to it. This is the War on Everything.
Welcome to the War for another week, here on the BWF network. The only column in the BWF network with it’s own theme song.
WWE programming is still being boycotted unfortunately, which means, that I now declare war on World Wrestling Entertainment. It’s about time, that it gets dragged from this kid-friendly infestation that it’s crawled itself into, and into an era that accommodates the fans that have there during its good and bad days, and the entirety of 1995. Now, the only way to declare war on Vinnie Mac and his kiddie carnival is by heading to the other side of the tracks, and supporting TNA, and ROH. By supporting the opposition, and losing interest in the McMahon family, then Vince will have to resort to what he knows works, and that’s pleasing the fans that supported him for so long. Then, maybe just maybe, the WWE shows a little attitude in his programming and everyone is happy.
Speaking of TNA, they have announced for the first time ever, they are touring my part of the world. Details can found at TNAWrestling.com. All that stands from me and seeing my first wrestling event ever, is the dollars required, and my ability to order decent tickets in time. With that said, I know people reading this have been to a TNA House Show before, so all I’m asking is, what should I expect to pay for tickets etc.?
My favourite RAW is WAR match of all time … Part One.
Let me leave the squared circle for just a moment, and add a few little tidbits to the column.
Why can’t I find NHL 10 on the xbox.com.au website? Does that mean it’s not coming out in Australia?
How do I make it, so it says ‘Click here to continue reading such and such …’? Why can everyone else do it and I can’t?
I’m picking up the Rise and Fall of WCW this week. Do I need to be warned of Buff Bagwell sightings?
What book should I read next? Bret Hart’s, William Regal’s, Batista’s or Andre the Giant’s?
Are unemployment benefits good for people if you’re having trouble finding new work, even though dealing with the company that provides the services, are a pain in the arse?
Can you tell I’m Australian, because I said arse, instead of ass?
The Survivor Series anthology is coming in November, although it looks like it’s coming in sections of four, rather than the box set the previous three have came in.
My favourite RAW is WAR match of all time … Part Two.
That’s all from the War this week. Stay tuned to BoredWrestlingFan.com throughout the week, and be sure to visit the forums and have your say. This has been the one the call ‘Legend Killer’, telling you, that not only is he Double C, but he wants you to staple gun his genitals to the wall, so we can both have a ball.
Before I get started, I want to thank the entire BoredWrestlingFan staff for all of their contributions to WrestleMania week. Overall we finished with 331 page views on the week, which is more than we had in some of our early months here. Great job, guys! Tonight on RAW, we’ll see a 10 Diva tag team match with five of RAW’s Divas vs. five of SmackDown’s Divas. We’ll see Miz and Morrison get their chance at redemption as they get a rematch with Carlito and Primo for the unified tag team championships, and according to Joey Styles himself, tonight’s RAW Main Event is an “All-Star WrestleMania Tag”: Cena, Hardy, Punk, Dragon and Mysterio vs. Edge, Show, Hardy, Jericho and Kane (source: twitter.com/WWEJoeyStyles). There’s also been a rumor that Randy Orton might be getting another chance at the WWE Championship as well, but again, it’s only a rumor.
Will anybody bother to step up and try to top HBK/Undertaker as a potential Match of the Year? We’ll find out tonight! Results after the jump! (more…)
It just wouldn’t be Wrestlemania Week without every keyboard-bashing monkey who knows the difference between a wrist lock and a wristwatch weighing in on match predictions and offering generally self-important commentary on the biggest wrestling – er – sports entertainment show of the year. Know what I have to say to that? My turn!
WWE Champion Triple H vs. Randy Orton
Trips wins. As if there’s any doubt. This was a storyline that really could have gone places. It did, but all the wrong places. Randy Orton was hotter than he had ever been, and people were absolutely into him. This whole story just got dragged out too long, and should have been left alone earlier. I’ll probably get slammed majorly for this, but the last thing that I wanted to see was the McMahon family stepping up to the Legacy at the end of RAW. This could have been THE moment for Orton and the Legacy. It won’t.
World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs. John Cena vs. Big Show (Triple Threat Match)
John Cena wins. Again, it’s not necessarily the best idea, but no way is this guy losing at Mania. I like a comedy love triangle story as much as anyone, but this one really hasn’t clicked well. Wrestlemania should be about the titles and major feuds, and throwing the “Who will Win Vickie Guerrero?” aspect into the match really cheapens it. A World Heavyweight Championship Title match does not need that type of extra flavor.
Intercontinental Champion JBL vs. Rey Mysterio
This match screams “Oh crap! We forgot to put the guy who single-handedly draws the Hispanic demographic on the show!” The IC title should be a major reward, not a consolation prize, which is what it looks like by having JBL win it and Rey challenging for it. With all of JBL’s promises to do something legendary at Mania, look for him to retain the IC title, retire it, and take his rightful place at the announce table.
Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy (Extreme Rules Match)
This looks to be really good. Matt versus Jeff couldn’t really have happened before this year and actually worked, and I’m hoping to see an absolutely unbridled vicious side of Matt Hardy in this match. Matt has pushed and pushed Jeff, but this story isn’t ready to end at Mania. It really hasn’t played out long enough. There’s still more to come, and with that thought in mind, Matt wins after using his more grounded technical skills and savage brutality to take out the more daredevil Jeff. Jeff really shouldn’t win until the feud is ready to end, and it shouldn’t yet. I’m all for things beginning and ending at Mania, but this story just doesn’t feel complete.
WWE Tag Team Champions [Carlito and Primo Colon] vs. World Tag Team Champions [The Miz and John Morrison] (Unified Tag Team Championship Lumberjack Match)
The Miz and John Morrison win, and unify the tag team belts. Please don’t let this match come down to the interference of the feuding and still interchangeable Bella twins! Please? The fact that there’s as much focus on these two twits as there is on the actual tag teams and belts causes concern. No title unification match at Wrestlemania should hang on the interference of irrelevant valets. Period.
Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker
Undertaker wins, and the Streak (insert Ray Stevens song here) remains intact. This match will be great. Probably the match of the night. And well should it be, considering the two guys involved. The fact that Mania is in Texas, and both Michaels and Taker are from Texas, will kick this match off the chart. However, the very idea that Shawn Michaels should be the one to end Undertaker’s Mania win streak is incomprehensible. The Streak is almost as legendary as the man who holds it. The person who ends it, if anyone ever does (and it might not ought to be ended at all), would be catapulted to the highest level and be forever remembered in the annals of pro wrestling as the guy who ended a legendary winning streak. Michaels doesn’t need that. He’s already a legend in his own right, and, in a sense, ending Taker’s streak would be wasted on him. It’s not as if he suddenly needs to get over after a lengthy absence. If someone is going to finally defeat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, it should not be Shawn Michaels.
Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Mark Henry, Finley, CM Punk, Kane, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, MVP [US Champion], Christian)
I would love to see CM Punk win this because CM Punk rules. He’s my favorite guy in the match, and I’m totally biased in his favor. The fact that he has already won it once, though, makes it unlikely. As much as I love Punk, he really shouldn’t even be in this match. Previous winners shouldn’t be in it again, and if they must, it should be quite a while. Several years, possibly. Punk should be in a one-on-one Mania match, which is described below. Christian winning the MITB would be amazing, because he would then be in a position to insert himself in angles involving Edge or the Hardys afterwards. He’s certainly the most experienced “ladder match” guy of the lot. However, Vince doesn’t see him as a star, and the MITB isn’t just a ladder match. It’s a guaranteed title shot, and I don’t see Christian being allowed that at this point. Therefore, with my first choice (CM Punk) and my second choice (Christian) being highly unlikely, I’m calling MVP to win it. He has the US title, which means that he’ll probably have to lose it to someone before cashing in his title shot. This could be the start of a major angle for MVP if he wins.
25-Diva Battle Royal for title of “Miss WrestleMania”
Ugh. This is a complete waste, but not for the reasons one might assume. Lance Storm was completely right when he said that this match was a good idea because it gave more of the women a piece of the big Mania payday, which they would not otherwise get. That much is absolutely fair. Unfortunately for them, a 25-person over-the-top-rope elimination battle royal is going to be a giant mess no matter who is in it. That’s just too many people in one ring at a time, and all of them can’t even wrestle to begin with. Candice Michelle and Ashley Massaro won’t be involved, so the chances of serious injury for everyone else in the match just went down. Some of the truly important former Divas aren’t going to be involved, and it really doesn’t feel significant. Sunny will be there, as will Victoria, Torrie Wilson, Jackie Gayda-Haas, and Molly Holly, but let’s look at the list of those who will not. Wendy Richter turned them down, supposedly. Sable and Dawn Marie are both pregnant, and won’t be there. Lita won’t be there, and after how she was treated at the end of her tenure, one can’t blame her at all. The Fabulous Moolah is no longer with us, not that she should have won such a thing, but come on, it’s Moolah. Mae Young won’t be involved in the match itself, but, to be fair, she IS almost 90 years old now. Amy Weber and Joy Giovanni don’t count as major contributors, but they won’t be there. Christy Hemme and Jacqueline (the original Jackie) obviously weren’t asked, as they currently work for TNA. Gail Kim is there. Terri Runnels isn’t. Debra won’t be there. I don’t personally know about Chyna (unlikely) or Jazz. There may not even be 25 women to put in the match by the time it’s all done. With some of the truly legendary Divas not being involved in this match, the original point seems to have been lost. Even so, I call Trish Stratus to win, as she deserves the title of “Miss Wrestlemania” (such as it is) more than anyone, past or present.
Chris Jericho vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat & Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka (w/ Ric Flair)
This is terrible. Chris Jericho wrestling three old guys who can barely move, bona fide legends though they may be, is a very bad decision. Sure, this could all be a swerve and Stone Cold comes out at the actual show to defend the honor of legends everywhere, and it’s really a one-on-one match. The entire angle also could have and should have served the purpose of elevating someone who stepped up to fight on behalf of the legends who inspired him to get into wrestling in the first place. Someone like CM Punk would have been perfect for this, despite the fact that Punk has already been World Champion once. Imagine the absolute GOLD that a promo war between Jericho and Punk would have been! Jericho takes out legend after legend, then Punk steps up and announces that he’s had enough of the disrespect, and that if Jericho wants to bully someone, he can try to bully him. Part of Punk’s appeal to the masses is that he’s one of us, a regular guy who was a fan, and who just happened to have the talent and drive to realize his wrestling dream. Inspiration from legends such as these three is almost built in to the story. This would have been a great Mania match. At least the match of Jericho/Punk wouldn’t have given away the winner. It could have gone either way. No such luck here. Jericho loses at Mania, no matter who and how many he faces in the ring. Aside from the fact that he has already succeeded in beating up the legends, no way is the feel-good vibe of Mania being sullied by evil Jericho winning. Jericho will not only lose, he’ll do so in utterly humiliating fashion. Jericho and the fans deserve better than this.
