Rayelek

So 5 weeks until Wrestlemania, and we have 2 matches scheduled, plus we can assume a Divas match. Doesn't WWE usually do a better job of setting up their biggest show of the year?

Undertaker announced for Raw next week, according to Facebook.

I've recently gotten back to watching TNA since getting rid of cable years ago. The biggest positive is that, despite their history telling me otherwise, they have good places to go from here. Matt Hardy makes for a solid heel champ, and ECIII is still good, though I haven't seen his face promo yet. The tag division could use more structure in the feuds, but Beer Money, The Wolves and Decay seem like good pairings. There's also EY & Bram in the mix, but I dislike both of them, so eh. I'm not sold on anything X Division, but I like Gregory Helms (they're calling him Gregory Shane Helms? Really?) and he's managing Trevor Lee, which could be good. Mike Bennett and Maria are doing a good job with their promos, and the feud with Drew Galloway ought to be good. Neglecting the storylines that got them to this point, there's potential. Can they not screw it up for once?

I watched the Royal Rumble with my fiancee who doesn't watch wrestling except for when I have the PPVs (now big events?) on, so I was kinda trying to keep her updated as the match went on as to "Who, currently in the ring, was most likely to win" and sometimes it was Kane or Jericho or AJ (after Roman's 'injury' that is), even though those guys had probably a less than 2% chance at best. That's the problem that I had with this rumble; in my opinion, there should always be someone in the ring that is a reasonable winner. That's who the focus would then be on and it makes for an easy storytelling narrative. Any remaining complaints that I have either have already been laid out or have to do with who was or wasn't in the rumble (Daniel Bryan at 30 would've been the biggest mark out moment in history but they won't clear him to compete, boo) or to do with not actual Rumble matches, which was the only match on the card that I cared about.

What do you think about the move to POPTV? Makes little difference to me as I don't get either channel. On the bright side, I hear Pop is bigger, so there's some hope for TNA. Maybe they'll get back to taping shows, since apparently the World Title Tournament was taped back in July? (According to Wikipedia) Out of the final 8 members left, order them from who deserves the belt the most to least ECIII, Eric Young, Lashley, anyone not named Matt Hardy, Matt Hardy. Why the F can Crimson never win anything? They brought him back for this run to put over their next generation of guys, which is fine. It'd be nice to see him get another shot, but they brutally ruined his push last time he was around before sending him to OVW and I think it hurt him a bit too much in someone's eyes, push-wise. Why the F are the Wolves the only team still? Probably because they haven't taped any new tv in a couple of months, so no new debuts or anything. Jessie wanted Kong to touch his abs, how does that make you feel? Indifferent. I don't enjoy watching Kong squash people and I can't stand Jesse so this was a clear bathroom break match. Since the year is ending, what has been the best match in TNA of 2015 for you? I didn't watch enough to give a good answer to this one. Did Chris Melendez ever get his leg back? I'm 98% sure he didn't, but I bet they'll have him with it at the beginning of the year anyway because what's continuity? Also because taking away the guy's leg on screen was a jerk move. If I shout Zema's DJ noise will you do it with me?.......BAAA BAAA BAAA BAAARRRRRRRR Nah, but I'll enjoy you shouting it.

I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but a tournament (which is what I hear is happening) seems a great time to try to elevate more guys. Were I fantasy booking it (tempting to go find a mod and do so), it'd probably be Ambrose, Reigns, Cesaro, Neville, Kane, Wyatt, Seamus & Barrett (ideally Rusev over one of the other heels but he's out) as 8 guys going for the belt. Roman & Dean go to a draw (double count out? double 10 count in ring?) and are both eliminated. Wyatt beats Kane in the first round and it's almost a squash. Kane seems drained and beaten and Wyatt revels in his newfound powers. Due to the double elim, Wyatt gets a bye to the finals. Cesaro beats Seamus in a hard-hitting bout, especially because they have such great matches against each other. Cesaro gets attacked by Seamus after the match. Barrett beats Neville, because Barrett beats Neville every time. The only semi-final is Barrett vs Cesaro and Cesaro guts through and gets past Barrett as well. The finals are Wyatt vs Cesaro. Wyatt has to win that, but Cesaro could be made to look like an extremely legitimate title contender here. I know some guys are missing (Del Rio, Ziggler, Owens, Ryback, off the top of my head), but I had to limit it somehow. Ziggler could be subbed for Neville, Owens & Del Rio for Seamus & Barrett, they have plenty of options.

For anyone who is like me and doesn't get Destination America, TNA has put full episodes of the entire World Title Series to this point on Youtube.

What do you guys think of the world title series? Neat idea, but I think they went overboard in terms of quantity of groups. Who do you want to win it? Definitely going with EC3. He's just so fun as the cocky heel. What's your take on Robbie E getting a push? I've never been a fan, but he's not doing awful with it. Just so long as he doesn't end up sputtering out after losing his first World title shot like so many previous World Title shot. What's your take on TNA burying Crimson? I like Crimson. I don't know if I'd say he's getting buried, but I'd like to see him get pushed more. Knockouts main evented this past IMPACT. Did you watch and was it good? Don't have Destination America, all I watch is the 1-2 minute Youtube clips TNA puts in their recaps. Is Matt Hardy on Time Decline? Don't know, but I'm really sick of him. Has EC3 hit a halt? Kinda. He can only do so much with an undefeated streak before he has to lose, and I think they want to keep him chasing the World Title because that's where his character is best. Being a smarmy, winning champion until they find someone to beat his undefeated streak is a lot less interesting than this scenario, which I like.

Reigns vs Wyatt, if Wyatt wins, it won't be clean. Even with the cell, someone would find their way in there. Maybe Strowman from under the ring. Rollins will probably get DQ'd against Kane, allowing them to keep Corporate Kane (wins the match, doesn't get the title). As for Brock/Taker, my assumption would be that Undertaker is going in the Hall this year and won't be wrestling at Mania.

I'm just waiting for Thursday on Smackdown when The Dudleys come out and Bubba Ray takes the mic and asks, "Do you know who we are?" If that occurs, I will mark the hell out. If Barrett goes back to the "I'm afraid I've got some Bad News" bits and mocking faces, the fans are gonna get behind that and he could be an okay face.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Hashasheen" data-cite="Hashasheen" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Off-topic, but I certainly didn't get that impression from a white school teacher at secondary when I said it in reference to Americans being large and in charge. She was so offended and I was so confused. Cracker just seemed like one of those words that blurs the lines between name-calling and slur, serving an actual purpose.<p> </p><p> Never said it around her again though, she was seriously uptight about kids and name-calling.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Cracker is offensive to some, including me. Allegedly it was short for "whip cracker" back in the day and I don't take that very nicely.</p><p> </p><p> On the Hogan topic, racism is altogether wrong, no one should do it, all of that that is universally agreed upon. That said, dropping all reference to him at the time isn't awful, and it'll probably come back in a couple of years after this has died down. He made enough money that they probably wouldn't be done with him forever and in the end, it's all about the money.</p>

I also dozed off, right around the end of the the IC Title Chamber match. I woke up to see Ryback win, just vaguely, and was out before the next match started. Then I was in and out during the Rollins/Ambrose match, suddenly I see Ambrose leaving with the title and I'm just dumbfounded, going, "What? What? What?" in my head, but in what would've probably been an amazing reaction video out loud. I like Owens going over Cena, at least the way he did it. Owens looked awesome, but Cena also didn't look bad in putting Owens over. Now I'm wondering if he has to give up the NXT Title like Paige gave up the Women's title when she got the call up? Or if there'll be a storyline about that? Also, was it just me, or were Kofi's shoulders also down for 3 during the tag team chamber while Cesaro was being pinned? I've watched it twice and it definitely looks like it. When I saw it live, I was pumped for the PTP tag title run, then disappointed it wasn't acknowledged.

As a fellow Wisconsin driver (well, passenger in vehicles) I completely concur with this. Wisconsin drivers are awful when the snow comes. What's grinding my gears today is my own stupidity. I intended to build a computer for myself with my tax returns, since I haven't ever had my own PC and I do a fair amount of gaming so it'd be helpful. I bought all of the parts online and got them in Thursday & Friday (despite ordering the previous Saturday with 3 day shipping, but I'm past that) and began to assemble everything. So I get everything put together just fine and it turns on and all that, and I go to install my operating system. Which is on a disc. Guess who didn't buy a disc drive? The thought process there was that I haven't used the disc drive on my laptop for anything but putting music on my computer since I've had the laptop (at least 3 years) so why would I need one? Now I am stuck not being able to use my PC. Oops, but very annoying.

Personally, I would have rather seen Ziggler than Reigns, but I'm fine with it. It's not the worst outcome they could have come up with. Does anyone know if Bubba Dudley is actually back? That's something I'd actually be excited for after his promo work in TNA. The part at the end where Big Show & Kane were running the ring bored me and also made it a little too clear the direction they were going. It would've been nice if it wasn't so telegraphed. I would've liked to see it come down to Wyatt and Reigns, especially after the showing Wyatt had. Also, does anyone know how it's locked in already for Reigns vs Lesnar at Mania? They've said that, and that means there's no title match at Fast Lane, so I'm wondering what there will be for a Main Event.

I was a big Jeff Hardy fan as a kid because he was the notable high flier in WWE and had cool facial hair and dyed hair. But as soon as he hit a level where he had to talk, I lost all interest. His promo skills are really poor, even though he's got charisma, and generations that grew up watching him were hitting the scene and flying higher and moving faster and he just wasn't that impressive anymore.

Did they just eliminate Phillips? Or is he going back to NXT? Also, Booker T is too difficult to understand to be on the desk consistently.

Gonna try to write my opinions without spoilers, since I'm usually the one who doesn't watch the PPV until a couple of days later and I know how it feels. Ziggler vs. Cesaro was a good match, but I didn't like the way it ended. I thought it could have gone on a little longer, but then it did swerve me a bit. I thought Nikki vs Brie was a surprisingly good match. That said, the ending was a bit predictable. I'm digging Nikki working the stiff forearm into her arsenal. Cosmic Brothers vs. Usos didn't really feel like anything more than old champs using their rematch clause, which they may have already had, I don't remember. Standard tag fare, there are definitely better matches that could've been on the card. Cena vs. Orton was okay. I expected this to be the main event, but I can understand why it wasn't. It felt really formulaic, but it wasn't a bad match. I thought it was smart that they didn't use a ton of weapons spots given the second Cell match. Seamus vs. Miz was awesome, and Mizdow was amazing. The commentary could've done a better job on explaining why Mizdow did what he did, but the post-match is what sold it for me. Not a fan of the result, but oh well. Rusev vs. Big Show was good. Either guy looked like they could've won it, and I agree with the result and the finish. Not sure where this feud goes from here. AJ vs. Paige was pretty eh. At the time, I wasn't sure if that was the finish they planned or if it was something else, and it seemed like a poorly planned spot as well. I'd like to see them get other Divas involved in this feud (not Alicia Fox) but who knows? Rollins vs. Ambrose was awesome. They had a big prematch moment and for a while I thought they were gonna go off the air on that moment and not even have the match, which would've made me mad. Not a fan of moving off of this feud quite yet, but I'm curious to hear why everything went down the way it did.

I'm exceptionally disappointed in the Bound For Glory card, at least from what I've seen. I know they're doing it in conjunction with Wrestle-1, but I don't see a World Title match on the card, and about half of the matches feel like they have no build. For TNA's biggest Pay-Per-View of the year, I believe they could do a lot better.

Yeah, it was a few weeks before Destination X so Aries attacked Suicide backstage, stole the costume and snuck into an X title match Suicide was scheduled for. After winning the match and the title, Hogan came out, announced it wasn't actually Suicide, Aries took off the mask, etc. Aries would lose the X Division title back to Chris Sabin the next week, who would go on to shock a ton of people and beat Bully Ray for the World Title, and Suicide was renamed Manik the next week, I believe.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Mootinie" data-cite="Mootinie" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25170" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I think it was Hogan's decision to remask Perkins as Manik. He wanted to get rid of Suicide after the whole Austin Aries debacle and give Perkins a fresh start with a new name. I think that was how it was explained in kayfabe.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Pretty sure this is right. I remember Hogan coming out and announcing it because Perkins didn't really speak much. I definitely love the new mask though, it's an awesome look. I hope that Storm's "Revolution" doesn't just limit itself to the X Division though. I've been digging his promos and the changes, but I'd like to see it used to elevate someone rather than refresh Manik and heel turn Sanada. Then again, I can't really think of any midcard guys in TNA besides X Division or tag team guys.</p>

Can I get a more serious heel looking Squeeky McClean? All the renders of him that I see have him smiling. Perhaps no shirt and some sort of angry expression?

My biggest gripe with TNA right now is they keep doing the "OMG the champ retained, what a shocker!" at the Pay-Per-View and then having him drop the belt right after. Seems like it's more booking for shock than booking for good booking.

I like Mojo's gimmick. His move set is rather eh, it feels like they're trying to display athleticism with it but it doesn't come off that way, and he takes a beating for a lot of his matches. His look isn't spectacular either, but they like the former athletes.

I was hoping with Kidd's return that they'd reform International Airstrike but it doesn't seem like that's going to be the case.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="FlameSnoopy" data-cite="FlameSnoopy" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34905" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Bunch of random alts..<p> </p><p> <span>http://i.cubeupload.com/VGVC1L.jpg</span><span>http://i.cubeupload.com/AWTqzz.jpg</span><span>http://i.cubeupload.com/4gjMWb.jpg</span><span>http://i.cubeupload.com/wWR0I7.jpg</span><span>http://i.cubeupload.com/BpqkME.jpg</span><span>http://i.cubeupload.com/5iqXPq.jpg</span><span>http://i.cubeupload.com/o33UKC.jpg</span></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Those are awesome. There are definitely a few that I'm going to use.</p>