The wrestling world has finally turned upside down. The moment that Johnny Sixshooter has waited for over the past several years is almost at hand. The WWE is truly going to get competition once again. NWA-TNA Wrestling was put back on the map again a couple weeks ago by re-debuting its Impact show on Spike TV.
Well the show did exactly what WWE Velocity had done the week before in the same timeslot. This impressed Spike TV officials a lot. Then the next week went up in ratings almost pulling in a 0.9 rating. The WWE sometimes gets a 3.1-3.4 on Monday nights. So on Saturday at 11 p.m. a 0.9 is very impressive.
Rumors have already begun to run rampant that Spike TV plans to eventually put NWA-TNA Impact against Monday Night Raw. Right now the plan would be for the show to stay in a one-hour format starting at 9 p.m. being followed by the UFC Reality Fighter at 10 p.m. Will that win the ratings war right away? No. Will that make things more interesting? Indeed.
What NWA-TNA brings to the table is something different. They have a six-sided ring, they have young talent that goes all out in every match, they have high-flyers that jump off everything, and they have some established stars (like Kevin Nash) that people want to see. Vince McMahon already knows that this will be a problem, and has taken actions against TNA already.
Last week the WWE offices sent over a legal notice to NWA-TNA that they cease and desist all usage of the term “superstars.” Seems as if the WWE believes that they own that name. It will be interesting to see if TNA just abides by the letter or if they continue to push the WWE’s buttons by using it.
As for other maneuvers by Vince McMahon, he decided to relieve good old JR from his broadcasting duties to bring in a younger, hipper announcer. The UFC has an announcer by the name of Mike Goldberg who fits the bill perfectly. The WWE wanted to steal him away on the day of the UFC live special on Spike and have him debut on Raw.
Not wanting to do that to the company that put him on the map, Goldberg decided to stay where he was and re-up with the UFC. That was a stand-up move considering the type of money McMahon was waiving at him. Those little petty moves by Vince McMahon prove he sees competition on the horizon.
As for some upcoming events, look for Bound For Glory by TNA on Oct. 23. The main event is scheduled to be Kevin Nash vs. Jeff Jarrett for the World Title. Another stellar match-up is an X-Division Iron Man match that pits A.J. Styles against Christopher Daniels. That has “match of the year” written all over it.
Also in action will be Matt Bentley, Petey Williams, and Chris Sabin in the return of the Ultimate X match. If you have never seen TNA before, this is the reason to watch. Other matches on the card are a Monster’s Ball match with Abyss, Rhino, Sabu, and Jeff Hardy, and an International Showdown match that puts Samoa Joe (unbelievable wrestler) against all-time great Jushin “Thunder” Liger.
Now back to the WWE side of things. The plan for Wrestlemania right now is to have Hulk Hogan battle against Stone Cold Steve Austin. Neither man has totally agreed to the match yet, but that is the plan. The Sixshooter just does not see the appeal. If Hogan is not “Hollywood” Hogan, then this match is worthless to me. The crowd is already tired of the old Hulk Hogan character, and it will turn ugly come Wrestlemania.
The Raw Homecoming show was a big letdown for me. The Sixshooter liked seeing some of the older stars, but there seemed to be no storyline movement at all on this supposedly big show. Why do we care about HHH beating up Ric Flair? He did this to every other member of Evolution. It is just rehashing bad storylines. But that seems to be the style in the WWE lately.
Well that is all for this month Sixshooter-a-holics. I have been in contact with some higher ups over at NWA-TNA recently and am working on getting you all an exclusive interview with one of their top guys. You can also find me on the Web at http://www.expage.com/mattygsite. Remember this month’s quote from Scott Hall, “You’ve helped me through some walls, now I’m gonna help you through some walls (as he throws Kevin Nash through a wall).”