Ricky Hatton’s Final Curtain – Thoughts On His Defeat And Retirement

Ricky After His Defeat Last Night

Hey readers. I am here to talk about this weekend, a weekend one Ricky Hatton will want to forget. The weekend which saw the Manchester boxer step into the ring for the first time in 3 years against a very tough individual – Viacheslav Senchenko, who walked into the fight 32-1. This was a tall order for Hatton overcome, who through thick and thin, gained the courage to have one last fight, to see if he could cut it anymore. For a comeback fight, fighting Senchenko in a 10 round bout must be as hard as a comeback fight as get. But Hatton wanted to push himself to the limits to see what he was truly made of. He could have went for an 8 rounder with some local fighter, but he chose one of the leanest and meanest around.

A lot was expectation was in the air as his hometown crowd were 100% behind Hatton, as his fight approached. And the first two rounds showed us shades of his past-self – feisty, lethal and agile. A very good period which saw him batter the Ukrainian as the Manchester crowd roared with delight. But as the fight progressed, we saw a lot of ring-rust come into place. As the rounds increased, his concentration and accuracy took a hit, and you could tell, with Hatton swinging wild rights, and leaving himself exposed. The Ukrainian took full advantage and began clawing back points on the judge’s scoreboard, setting up what was expected to be a close finish. Near the end of the fight, Senchenko gained the offense and began pummeling Hatton, with Hatton’s guts and will keeping him going. He began showing signs of exhaustion in the later stages, showing that Hatton’s fast-paced offense may have began to let him down. Perhaps with his strong opening to the fight, Hatton thought if he could weather the storm for the remainder of the fight, he could end this comeback on a bang. It did, but not the one he wanted.

A hard shot to the stomach by the Ukrainian in the 9th round ended Hatton’s night. Not exactly something I expected. It looked like Hatton would make it to his feet before the ref counted to 10, but Hatton knew he was fighting a losing battle, and ref called for the bell.

It’s hard not to respect his accomplishments. Multi-time world champion. Going undefeated for 43 fights. And with the exception of this fight, his only defeats were from Mayweather and Pacquiao. To be honest, getting to fight one of them two his an honor in itself. But fighting both, win or loss, that is something that is the result of Hatton’s long struggle to the top and his hard work being rewarded. I don’t think what happened on Saturday can take away from that night.

He’s decided to call it a day, and has packed it in once more. It’s a move I don’t blame him for making. I also don’t blame him for coming back either. He wanted one last hurrah, and to be honest, he fought pretty well for someone who hadn’t fought for more than three years. It took a lot of heart to get back up, and have one last shot. Whether he lost or not, Hatton should not be disheartened by the defeat. He won’t be remembered for the demons and obstacles he’s faced. He won’t be remembered for this fight. He will be remembered as the guy who took the courage to pick himself up, when we all doubted him for one final challenge. He will be remembered as the guy who went toe-to-toe with both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. He will be remembered as a multi-time world champion. Ricky Hatton’s final curtain may not have ended on a winning note, but at least he won’t have lived on wondering “What If I Didn’t Fight One Last Time?”. Respect To Ricky.

Guys remember to follow me on Twitter (@TomRobinson5199) and I will see you soon. 🙂

22/11/12 Impact Wrestling Review/Reactions – Great Night Of Wrestling Spoiled By Soap Opera Stroylines

Yep, the beloved Open Fight Night returned to TNA last night, and we saw some very good matches last night. Not much in the way of promo-cutting and stuff, just wrestling. Kinda dig that. This episode would also feature all the previous Gut Check winners, who made their first TNA appearance since they won Gut Check. Open Fight Night was a really good way to get these newcomers noticed. Christian York, Sam Shaw, Alex Silva and Taeler Hendrix were all in competition last night, and to be honest, I think all of them did pretty well.

 

Before the call outs began on the show, Wes Brisco competed against Garrett Bischoff in his Gut Check match. A pretty good wrestling match. Not a lot of high-flying, or any flamboyant showcased. Just a lot of technical wrestling to start off the show. These two worked really well together. What I did not like about that match? Kurt Angle – Acting like a 14-year-old cheerleader during the entire match. Probably one of the best technical wrestlers in pro wrestling, ruining a technically-sound match by cheering Brisco every 5 seconds. Really? -.- Brisco also won the match, making him the first man to actually win his Gut Check match.

 

Joey Ryan was the FIRST person to call someone out.  Someone who was a former Gut Check contestant himself. Joey Ryan. While Ryan was pissed at Hulk Hogan trying to separate the BFFs Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan during singles matches, he announced that he and Morgan would go after the tag titles (which I highly doubt they’ll win). So he called out Chavo Guerrero – and the same old routine happened. Ryan was beaten. Morgan laid out the opponent. Threatened Hogan. Same old ending. I don’t see how doing this each and every week is gonna benefit Ryan or Morgan in the long run. Have them do something different PLEASE.

 

Alex Silva was the first Gut Check winner to call someone out. And he called out former Gut Check winner Sam Shaw. A strange option pitting the two newcomers together. This match should have been longer to be honest, but the match was OK for what it was. Neither man never really did anything spectacular, since they didn’t have the time to. Hopefully, we’ll see a lot more of these guys in future IMPACTs.

 

A match that impressed the heck out of me followed next. Christian York was next to call someone out – and it was none other than the TNA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy. This match was a quality TV match. York was really impressive in that match, and the chemistry was superb during that match. Good thing that York had more offense in the match. It put York over really well. The Twist Of Fate by York was a great edition to the match. As you’d expect, Jeff won the match, but it was still a really enjoyable match and York’s defeat won’t affect him at all. York can really go places if used correctly. Oh, and Bobby Roode laid out Jeff with a spear after the match, sending a message for their match for the title at Final Resolution. Roode has the advantage now, but next week expect Jeff to get some momentum back. By the way, where was James Storm this week? No appearance, and barely a reference of him during the entire show? Hmmmmm.

 

AND THE FINAL GUT CHECK WINNER TO CALL SOMEONE OUT! The lovely Taeler Hendrix who called out TNA Knockouts Champion Tara. Really? And Tara was on the offense so much during that match. Taeler rarely got some offense in. I know that was kinda the point to make the Champion seem dominant over the rookie, but I really wanted to see a bit more from Taeler. In this match and here gut check match, we haven’t seen a lot from Taeler yet, and I think she could be a real good member of the Knockouts division. She’s charismatic, quick and she has red hair. She really is someone who stands out. Predictably though, Tara won. -.-

 

Next up, since this was Thanksgiving in the US, they had the traditional “Loser-Must-Wear-A-Turkey-Suit” match, with Eric Young, Robbie E and Jesse in a triple threat match. Loser dresses up like a Turkey. Jesse won. Put on the suit. Tradition Lives On. Ah the good old tradition conti…

WAIT A MINUTE! In comes Aces And Eights. No match tonight. Just another hammer attack by DOC. Eric Young the victim. Nothing really special this week. I wish they could have done something a bit more with Aces And Eights here since they are one of the biggest storylines in TNA. They don’t even have a match at Final Resolution yet. -.-

 

AJ Styles faced Kazarian for the 1000th time as he prepares to face Christopher Daniels for the millionth time at Final Resolution. Styles win. Like always, a pretty good match between the two.

 

LAST BUT NOT LEAST. Double A TIME! Austin Aries promised last week, and through-out the night this week to call someone out. Since his call out was at the end, you expected someone big. Was it Hulk Hogan? Was it Hulk Hogan? No.

Who he called out was… wait for it… Brooke Hogan.

Yep, the woman only in TNA because of her surname was called out, not to fight, but because Aries had enough of the name “HOGAN”. Aries was talking about Brooke apparently getting together with Bully Ray. Clips of a conversation between Bully and Brooke two weeks ago, and Bully and Brooke sat on a couch talking last week was shown by Aries. Aries would then offer his “services” to Brooke by saying “If you’re that hungry for some love, you didn’t have to settle for the turkey, A Double would have gave you all the stuffing you can handle.”

Ahem…

WHAT A LINE!

This would obviously bring out Hulk Hogan. This also brings out Bully Ray, who looked damn ridiculous in that dress shirt. The end saw Hogan caught in the middle of Brooke and Bully. See the segment down here.

So TNA’s response to WWE ripping off TNA’s AJ Styles and Dixie Carter storyline, is to produce ANOTHER love/relationship storyline? REALLY? THIS IS NOT EASTENDERS AND CORONATION STREET PEOPLE! We do not need all these soap storylines in Wrestling. Stick to your strengths TNA. PROVIDE WRESTLING.

 

But other than that, good episode of IMPACT. 🙂

15/11/12 Impact Wrestling Review/Reactions – It Pays To Be Roode

You didn’t read that wrong. Although James Storm did win the triple threat match involving himself, Bobby Roode and AJ Styles at Turning Point to become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, he is NO LONGER the number one contender following a defeat to Bobby Roode on this week’s IMPACT Wrestling episode.

Roode vs Storm

Allow me to explain. You see at the start of the program, Storm cut a promo about how he finally got his shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Title, and that he was going to become the World Champion – pretty much the same stuff he’s been saying for the last year or so. In comes Bobby Roode, who was saying stuff like Storm achieved success off of Roode’s hard work, and tried to goad Storm into putting up his number one contendership on the line against him that night. Storm refused initially, but Roode came out and said that when Storm’s daughter turns 18, she should call him up to see who a real man is. This pushed Storm over the edge, and the match was set for later on that night.

So, fast-forward to later on, Roode and Storm face off in a short decent main event, and by bouncing Storm’s head off an exposed turnbuckle, and rolled him up while grabbing his tights for the victory. I got to admit, for a match that is supposed to determine who faces Jeff Hardy at Final Resolution for the World Title, this didn’t seem like a long match. Nevertheless, what’s done is done and as it stands, it’s Jeff Hardy defending the TNA World Title against Bobby Roode at Final Resolution.

No doubt, a match between Storm and Hardy would have been a great encounter, but a Face vs Heel match for a PPV makes more sense, so I’m glad Roode is now the number one contender. Of course, they may do a segment in which James Storm gets reinstated as part of a triple threat match by Hulk Hogan. However, that seems unlikely considering that would be Roode and Storm’s 2nd triple threat PPV match in a row, and they wouldn’t want to over do it. The surprise change of plans was a good way to go, because it adds unpredictability to the product.

Aces And Eights

Also on IMPACT WRESTLING, the Aces And Eights storyline continued with the group attacking a man determined by a dart-throw (like with Kurt Angle’s attack about a month ago). And the victim was… Magnus. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a heel to be taking out. I was expecting someone like Samoa Joe to be taken out. And they did this beatdown well. A TV Championship match was scheduled between Samoa Joe and Magnus for the hundredth time, and as Magnus approached the ring, Aces And Eights attacked. And then, reminiscent to the attack on Sting a week ago, DOC unleashed the hammer of doom, and attacked Magnus’ knees. Ouch. Just as it looked Devon was about to take Magnus’ head off with a baseball bat, Bully Ray made the save. I like this idea about Aces And Eights attacking people with hammers. It makes them seem more sinister and ruthless…

However, once again their momentum gets cut short by ANOTHER defeat, as Devon and masked member “The Prospect” were beaten Kurt Angle and… ahem Garrett Freaking Bischoff. Now, for you guys allow me to show you the updated standings of Aces And Eights’ win/loss record in TNA ever since gaining full access at Bound For Glory…

Aces And Eights Record Ever Since Gaining Full Access To TNA

Won: 1 (DOC’s win over Joseph Park at Turning Point)

Lost: 4 (Devon’s DQ loss to Sting the night after Bound For Glory, Devon and DOC’s DQ loss to Sting and Angle last week on Impact, Devon’s loss to Angle at Turning Point, and Devon and Prospect’s loss to Angle and Garrett Bischoff here)

No Contest: 1 (Devon and Bully Ray’s “Match” 2 weeks ago)

Yeah, way to make Aces And Eights seem like a threat
DOC was also made a fully-fledged member of Aces And Eights before the night ended. At first it seemed like DOC was getting kicked out of the group, as a member told DOC to “not let the door hit him on the ass on the way out”. But as he opened the door, an Aces And Eights jacket was in his way, confirming his spot in TNA.

But seriously TNA, let Aces And Eights win a match for the love of god.

Mickie James Returns And Becomes The Number One Contender For The Knockouts Championship

Yes, Hardcore Pornsta… I mean Hardcore Country Mickie James returned from some sort of injury about 3 months ago and won a 5 woman battle royal featuring herself, Gail Kim, Madison Rayne, Miss Tessmacher and ODB to win a shot at Tara’s Knockout Championship. It was nice that the women in that battle royal were all established former Knockout Champions. Really adds to the prestige of the title. Also, considered how well they’ve worked together in WWE and TNA, it’ll be good to see Mickie James and Tara face each other again. Them two work really well together.

AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels Agree To Fight For The Billionth time

AJ Styles made his first appearance since losing the triple threat number one contendership match, which resulted in him being banned for getting a World Title shot for nearly a year. What I was expecting to be a heel turn from AJ turned out to be ANOTHER AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels confrontation. Daniels came out and said that Styles was a failure and stuff, and Styles then issued a challenge to Daniels for “One Final Match”, which Daniels agreed to.

NO! Why on earth are these two feuding again? WHY! All Daniels and Styles have done since Destination X 2011 is feud with each other. I mean, I know these two have brilliant matches together, but seriously these two faced each way too much over the last year and a half. God, give them something else to do PLEASE!

Rob Van Dam vs Kid Kash

Incredibly short but still quite effective match between these two ECW veterans for the X Division Championship, with RVD retaining the title, as expected.
Joseph Park Decides Go To Wrestling School

Wanting another match with Aces And Eights, Joseph decided to go to Wrestling School in order to prove to Hulk Hogan he deserves another match with him. There are two things which could result from this:

One – They start doing segments of Parks having Wrestling lessons, similarly to how WWE started showing Anger Management sketches involving Daniel Bryan and Kane. It adds a bit of Realism to the program and it might be a bit funny if wrote correctly.
Two – The Joseph Park character leaves TV for a while, while Abyss returns, possibly to avenge his brother’s beatdown from Aces And Eights. It’d be a bit refreshing to see the Abyss character back, and the Joseph Park character is getting a little stale.

Other things included the Jeff Hardy and Austin Aries feud ending with their last confrontation in a locker room (for now) and Jesse defeating Eric Young.

An OK episode of IMPACT. I think things will pick up with Open Fight Night next week. I love the Open Fight Night concept. I really look forward to these episodes of Impact. The 4 guys who won Gut-Check will be appearing next week and Austin Aries will call someone out.

THUMBS UP FROM ME!

Again, thanks for reading guys, and please follow me on twitter. My username is @TomRobinson5199 and I will see you next time. 🙂

TNA Turning Point 2012 Review – The Pay-Per-View Of Risk

I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. Last night, TNA gave us a good set of matches last night with their Pay-Per-View Turning Point. I’m gonna tell you guys what my thoughts on the PPV are… and what affect it will have on the future.

Ahem…

Samoa Joe (c) vs Magnus in a “No Disqualification” match for the TNA Television Championship

Yeah this was supposed to be No Disqualification, yet it didn’t feel like one. One of the rare No-DQ moments in that match was a chair being used… once. Also, why did Magnus drop a chair when Samoa Joe performed a dive over the top rope, rather than actually using the chair? Doesn’t make a lot of sense. However, I did like the ending to that match, with Magnus kicking out of the Muscle Buster from Joe. That made Magnus look really good. Joe eventually won the match when Magnus passed out from the Rear-Naked Choke. I think this match was slightly better than your average match between these two. But, I do hope this feud ends. It feels like these two have feuded for decades. A pretty good start to the PPV though.

 

Eric Young and ODB vs Jesse and Tara

A comedy match – pure and simple. It was nice seeing Eric Young back. He’s actually a slick performer, and was slick here with his exchanges with Jesse. One thing I noticed was that Tara was rarely involved in the match – not even with ODB. At least in TNA Mixed Tag Matches, Females and Males can actually wrestle each other unlike in some companies. ODB and Jesse did a lot of work with each other during the match. Forwhat it was this match was really good.

 

Rob Van Dam (c) vs Joey Ryan for the TNA X Division Championship

OK match, but Joey looked really bad in this match. I mean, one time during the match, it took him 15 seconds to do a roll up on RVD which looked really sloppy. I don’t really know why that was so difficult for him to do. RVD won the match. I do hope RVD gets some better competition for the X Division Title. Oh… and Matt Morgan, who was banned from ringside by Hogan, booted RVD in the face after the match. As much as an RVD vs Matt Morgan feud sounds appealing, RVD should really defend his title at the next PPV. Morgan should split from Ryan though. I do hope something happens with the Morgan storyline.

 

DOC vs Joseph Park

I was actually very entertained with this match. It started off like a game of cat and mouse, with DOC chasing Park, and injuring himself in the process. While I couldn’t have expected anything different, making DOC look like a Calamity Jane doesn’t really help his or the Aces And Eights Group’s credibility. I thought it was pretty funny when DOC kept calling Park a bitch as he beat him down. In the end, DOC hit Park in the head with what I believe was a belt buckle. Of course, Park bled. And of course, Black-hole Slam. Just like after his match with Bully Ray in July-ish. However, DOC kicked out of the Blackhole Slam, which really caught me off guard. Good way to make DOC seem tough. DOC would beat Park after a Chokeslam. DOC then continued a beatdown on Park when, unsurprisingly, Bully Ray made the save. I think it was important to have DOC win, and to be honest, this match was really entertaining.

 

Chavo Guerrero (c) and Hernandez (c) vs Christopher Daniels and Kazarian

For a 2nd consecutive PPV, a very good tag team title match. These 4 put on a hell of a show out there, and the ending to the match was really good too. These 4 work really well together, and its good to see improvement in the quality of tag team matches these days. WWE and TNA. Both companies now acknowledge how serious the tag titles need to be taken, and it’s become a contest over which company can top-trump the over in the tag team division, and TNA provided a really good showing. Chavo and Hernandez are gonna have really good run as champions, as long as they get given good competition. Great stuff here.

 

James Storm vs AJ Styles vs Bobby Roode – Winner becomes the number one contender for the World Title. The man who gets pinned doesn’t get a title shot until Bound For Glory 2013

2nd Best Match of the night. A really solid affair. These 3 had real good chemistry, and there were some great spots in that match. Finisher after finisher until finally Storm pinned Styles to become the number one contender. This leaves Styles out of the title picture for a year, which he was really distraught about.  I have a strong feeling that he’s going to turn heel. TNA is lacking with main event heels, and Styles having another run as a heel would be pretty cool. I personally think he should have won the match, considering the crap with Daniels and Kazarian he dealt with over the last year and a half now. What I would do now with Styles is have him rejoin the X Division. Hey, I said earlier RVD needing some better competition, and who could be better than the “Phenomenal” AJ Styles?

 

Devon vs Kurt Angle

Yawn. This match wasn’t exactly an exciting match. Just could not get interested in this match at all. But that wasn’t my problem with the match. My problem is the ending. Kurt Angle making Devon on tap out within seconds of locking in the Ankle Lock near the end. Afterwards, Aces And Eights ran into the ring, and swore revenge. REALLY? I said in my predictions post last night: “TNA would be stupid to have Kurt Angle beat Devon”. I stand by that statement, because how bad does the group look now that their “Sergeant In Arms” tapped out in seconds to the Ankle Lock. Devon and Aces And Eights needed to win to keep the group’s credibility up. Ridiculous booking. I mean, look at Aces And Eights Record since gaining full access to TNA…

Aces And Eights Record Ever Since Gaining Full Access To TNA

Won: 1 (DOC’s win over Joseph Park)

Lost: 3 (Devon’s DQ loss to Sting 4 weeks ago, Devon and DOC’s DQ loss to Sting and Angle last week on Impact and Devon’s loss to Angle here)

No Contest: 1 (Devon and Bully Ray’s “Match” 2 weeks ago)

Yep, not a good record considering that their only victory was over a “lawyer”. Let the group win something.

 

Jeff Hardy (c) vs Austin Aries in a Ladder Match for the TNA World Title

A great spot-fest to end the night. Match Of The Night no doubt. In fact, this match has been the best ladder match I’ve seen in Pro Wrestling since the Edge vs Jeff Hardy match at WWE Extreme Rules 2009. Other than some issues with two of the ladders breaking, these two put on a great match. Credit to Jeff. He did really well in that match, and he took some hard bumps. It’s hard for me to praise Jeff at all considering my dislike towards him, but I have to give credit where it’s due. Jeff was awesome in that match. Aries was good as well. It was hilarious when Aries used some sort of Gadget to raise the belts higher when Jeff was about to win the match. That was some great stuff right there. Jeff won the match. This match had some amazing spots, and this match has been one of my favorite matches this year. Not gonna lie.

Overall, it was a decent PPV. It was never gonna live up to Bound For Glory, but it was a good show. The Devon vs Kurt Angle match did damage the PPV’s quality slightly, but the main event and the triple threat were both superb. TNA did a good job with this PPV.

Before I leave don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, my username being @TomRobinson5199

TNA Turning Point 2012 Predictions

Woo woo woo… TNA Turning Point is tonight!

Yes, TNA’s first pay-per-view offering since Bound For Glory, which was a quality production with amazing matches through-out the event.

Turning Point has 8 matches on the card, the same as Bound For Glory, and on paper it seems like the great card.

This is the first pay-per-view since Aces And Eights got full access, and two members, Devon and DOC (Luke Gallows), are in action, as the Aces And Eights storyline has picked up the pace, especially with Sting getting attacked by DOC, who unleashed Hammer Time on Sting, and left him laying. I also heard a rumor that the leader of Aces And Eights would be revealed at this event, so there maybe a MAJOR development in the storyline tonight. Will Eric Bischoff appear? Ohhhhh….. the excitment!

Any way… Predictions time!

;

TNA X Division Championship

Rob Van Dam (c) vs Joey Ryan

Match Background: Joey Ryan won a full-time TNA Contract at Bound For Glory, by defeating Al Snow with help from the randomly-showing-up-all-over-the-place Matt Morgan. While Morgan was threatening Hulk Hogan every week, Ryan turned his attention to the NEW X Division Champion Rob Van Dam, who defeated Zema Ion for the title at Bound For Glory, and defeated Ion again two weeks later. After RVD’s title defense, Morgan delivered a big boot to RVD and Ryan held the title up high with his intentions very clear. Ryan would go on to defeat RVD a week later in a non-title match, to earn a title shot against Mr Pay-Per-View at Turning Point.

What Should Happen?: Actually surprised that they had Joey Ryan challenge for the X Division Championship so quickly after getting a TNA Contract at Bound For Glory. Shouldn’t he just have minor feuds first before giving him a title shot? Build him up, then give him the shot. That’s how it should be. If TNA put the X Divison Title on Ryan this quick, then it would really diminish the credibility of the X Division Championship, with him being so early into his TNA career. I think Ryan is a very good piece of talent, but he needs to be built up a lot more better before he wins the title. RVD should win.

What Will Happen?: RVD wins. I’d be very surprised if they have RVD lose the title a month or so after winning it. Being a big-name talent in TNA, him holding the belt at the moment will do a great deal for the prestige of the belt.

;

Tara and Jesse (Who the fudge is this guy?) vs ODB and Eric Young

Match Background: At Bound For Glory, Tara defeated Miss Tessmacher to become the NEW TNA Knockouts Champion. After the match, she revealed to the world the identity of her Hollywood Boyfriend… Jesse from American Big Brother (I ask again, who the hell is this dude?). On the Impact Wrestling after BFG, ODB (who’s husband Eric Young is apparently missing) defeated Tara in a non-title match. The next week, Tara retained her Knockouts Championship in a rematch from BFG against Tessmacher. Following the match, Head Of The Knockouts Division Brooke “No-one Gives A Craps About Me” Hogan told Tara that ODB had made a challenge for Open Fight Night the next week… with Jesse (who the heck is this guy?). Jesse managed to defeated ODB with help from Tara, but the next week a match was made for Turning Point with Tara and Jesse facing ODB and the returning Eric Young to see who really is the power couple in TNA.

What Should Happen?: Honestly, I don’t care. The Tara/Jesse relationship storyline is stupid, the Eric Young/ODB storyline is even more stupid. Tara should at least be defending the Knockouts Championship against someone at Turning Point, but instead is in a mixed tag match. Tara vs ODB would have been OK, since the title was on the line. But no. They had to put in this reject from the American version of Big Brother and Eric Young for what I suspect will be a very horrible tag team match.

What Will Happen?: I’m gonna say Eric Young and ODB win, but whoever wins this match won’t make much difference to the storyline.

;

TNA Television Championship

Samoa Joe (c) vs Magnus in a No-Disqualification Match

Match Background: These two used to be tag team champions earlier on in the year. But since then, They’ve had a bit of a falling out. Samoa Joe defeated Magnus at Bound For Glory to retain the Television Championship. Three weeks later, Magnus got a rematch for the Television Championship on Championship Thursday (nice concept), but got intentionally DQ’d. After the match, an pissed-off Samoa Joe challenged Magnus to a No Disqualification match. The match was made for Turning Point.

What Should Happen?: Samoa Joe wins and this feud finally dies. I’m getting pretty bored of Samoa Joe and Magnus facing each other all the time. Magnus should move on to a feud with someone like Mr Anderson. He’s got the credentials needed to be a star in TNA. They just need to use him well.

What Will Happen?: Samoa Joe wins and this feud finally dies. What else could they possibly do with this feud?

;

TNA Tag Team Championship

Chavo Guerrero (c) and Hernandez (c) vs Christopher Daniels and Kazarian

Match Background: Chavo and Hernandez won the tag titles off Daniels and Kazarian at Bound For Glory. Daniels and Kazarian then began talking about being victims of a conspiracy (Is it me or are conspiracy storylines used way too much in Professional Wrestling?) and began taking a dislike towards Mexicans, even challenging Hector Guerrero and his fellow Spanish Broadcast Announcer to a fight, before they were saved by Chavo and Hernandez. A rematch between the team of Daniels and Kaz and the team of Chavo and Hernandez was made for Turning Point.

What Should Happen?: Even though the conspiracy angle is so over-used in wrestling, I think with Daniels and Kaz it could really go places. Them two are like Awesome Truth, they do have the potentially to be a major factor in TNA, especially with the Aces and Eights Storyline. So with that being said, they shouldn’t really win this tag match. Chavo and Hernandez should wins.

What Will Happen?: Chavo and Hernandez retains. They JUST won the belts. They won’t drop them back to Daniels and Kaz.

;

DOC vs Joesph Park

Match Background: Joesph Park was abducted by Aces And Eights a couple of months ago, after telling Hogan he had some strong evidence against Aces and Eights. He was released from his abduction when Aces And Eights won access to Impact Wrestling. Park then used Open Fight Night to challenge any member of Aces And Eights to a fight. Unfortunately, 4 members of Aces And Eights showed up instead. Park was rescued by Sting and Kurt Angle. Park would try to jump a member of the crew, and that resulted in the member of the crew being unmasked. That unmasked member (who was Luke Gallows in WWE) would then chokeslam Parks through a table. The next week, the unmasked member was put on notice by the rest of the group, who referred to him as their Director Of Chaos aka DOC. DOC teamed up with Devon to take on Sting and Kurt Angle in a tag match, in order to prove his value to the group. After Devon and DOC got DQ’d, DOC was given a hammer by a member of the group and pummeled with the hammer, which I thought was a really well done segment. Nice job TNA! On the same night, Hulk Hogan, after some initial refusal and persuasion from Bully Ray, let Parks compete against a member of the Aces and Eights, which would be confirmed to be DOC, at Turning Point.

What Should Happen?: Here’s my deal. If Parks were to beat DOC, that would make DOC seem pretty weak even if someone like Bully Ray helps Parks. Aces And Eights need to show that they pose a threat to TNA, and if DOC, the so called Director Of Chaos, loses to someone that is supposed to be a lawyer, then how bad does that make him look? Since he destroyed Sting last week, DOC needs to win, but perhaps Bully Ray assaulting DOC afterwards could lead to a feud between them two which I think could be very good for the Aces And Eights storyline, and for Bully.

What Will Happen? I think they’ll have Parks beat DOC after interference from Bully Ray.

;
Kurt Angle vs Devon

Match Background: Devon was revealed as a member of the Aces And Eights at Bound For Glory, and he said the reasons for doing were for Hulk Hogan and TNA management treating him bad. Devon has come off as a prominent member in the group and orchestrated an assault on Kurt Angle after his defeat to Jeff Hardy on Championship Thursday. An enraged Kurt Angle demanded a fight with Devon on Open Fight Night, but since he was already scheduled to fight Bully Ray that night, Angle was instead given a match with Devon at Turning Point.

What Should Happen?: OK, why is Devon fighting Kurt Angle instead of Bully Ray, who isn’t even on the card? That’s the match that makes sense. Kurt Angle just got randomly thrown into the mix. Anyway, I think Devon should win this match. I actually don’t think Aces and Eights have actually won a match since getting full access to TNA. Devon should win, and fight Bully Ray at Final Resolution.

What Will Happen?: Devon wins. TNA would be stupid to have Kurt Angle beat Devon. That would hurt the group’s credibility if an important member like Devon loses.

;

Number One Contendership Match For The TNA World Championship. Whoever is pinned or submitted will not get a World Title Shot until Bound For Glory 2013.

AJ Styles vs Bobby Roode vs James Storm

Match Background: AJ Styles, who had been dealing with Daniels and Kazarain for the last year and a half, finally focused his attention to the TNA World Championship. But so did Bobby Roode, who became eligible for a World Championship match after Austin Aries lost the World Title at Bound For Glory. However, Roode had lost to James Storm at Bound For Glory in an epic street fight to apparently end their feud for good. General Manager Hulk Hogan then made a match between the 3 former members of Fortune (Styles, Storm and Roode) for Turning Point, to crown a new number one contender for the World Title. However, a big stipulation was added to the match. Whoever is pinned or submitted in that match will not get another shot at the TNA World Championship… until Bound For Glory 2013.

What Should Happen?: What a stipulation! A really interesting twist to the match. To be honest, I don’t think any of these men can afford to have year away from the title picture. AJ Styles has been feuding with Daniels and Kazarian for so long, having him go a year away from the title picture would be pretty insulting to AJ in my opinion. Bobby Roode is the best heel in the business, and has just come off a ban from a World Title Shot, and I think Roode is too good a talent not to be in the mix. James Storm is also someone that needs to be back in the thick of the title hunt. I think Storm is destined to win the World Title soon. I mean… what’s he going to do for a year if he’s not in the title hunt? I think… AJ should become the number one contender and James Storm gets pinned.

What will happen?: This is just a wild guess. AJ wins, and Bobby Roode gets pinned. I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen!

;

TNA World Championship

Jeff Hardy (c) vs Austin Aries in a Ladder Match

Match Background: Jeff Hardy defeated Austin Aries at Bound For Glory to win the TNA World Title. Aries would congratulate Jeff on the Impact after BFG, bringing him balloons (which blew away) and cookies (which Jeff didn’t want). Aries also told Hardy that Hulk Hogan would let Aries choose when his rematch would be. After a week’s deliberation, Aries attacked Jeff and told him that their rematch would be at Turning Point, and he took the original TNA World Title with him. The next week, Jeff wanted their match at Turning Point to be a Ladder Match.

What Should Happen?: Austin Aries Wins The World Title Back. Jeff Hardy is nowhere near the World Title picture again. And TNA is saved from the era of Jeff Hardy.

What Will Happen?: Jeff Hardy retains. -.-

;

Having trouble deciding whether to stay up and watch it live or wait until tomorrow to watch it. I’m up at 7-ish so staying up to watch it would be a REALLY big risk. Hehehe

Either way, I’ll watch it. And sometime this week, I’ll review it. And hopefully it’s a good PPV. Really looking forward to it!

Remember to follow me on twitter @TomRobinson5199 and I’ll see you next week

Cung Le Defeats Rich Franklin As UFC hits China For The First Time

Veteran MMA fighter Cung Le defeated Rich Franklin in Macao this morning, after a knock-out in the first round in the main event of the first ever UFC event in China.

Cung Le, 40, born in Saigon, Vietnam knocked out Rich Franklin, 38, after a hard right hand delivered by Le on 2:17 in the first round on the event called UFC: Macao.

Le had suffered a foot injury following his previous fight with Patrick Cote in July, and was not walking into the fight with Franklin 100%.

However, Cung Le’s one punch knock out victory over Franklin, resulted in the former kick-boxer going 9-2 in his MMA career, and could put him in line for a UFC Middleweight Championship fight in the near future.

Before he debuted in Mixed Martial Arts in 2006, he left kick-boxing undefeated, winning 17 fights, which included 12 Knockouts.

Le told Yahoo Sports about how he had to change his fighting style for his fight with Franklin due to his injury suffered in his fight with Patrick Cote in July.

“I’ve been working a lot on my hands because at one point my foot was messed up so I didn’t get a chance to kick much during training. But my trainer Scott Sheeley worked my hands to death and I got the knockout with my hands, it’s amazing,” Le said.

The victory has left his opponent Rich Franklin at a MMA record of 29-7.

UFC: Macao was the mixed martial arts organization’s first ever event in China.

While MMA is fairly new in China, the event was a sell-out with nearly 8,500 present in the CotaiArena in Macai.

Managing Director of UFC Asia Mark Fischer talked about the success of the sell-out event.

Fischer said: “It was an awesome experience, it surpassed our expectations so absolutely it was a success,”.

“China is a long-term, big target market for us, it has tremendous potential. We know it’s going to take time to develop, and that’s where we’re headed.”

WOO HOO! Middlesbrough On Top Of The Championship!

Yes, my beloved football team Middlesbrough FC have climbed to the top of the Championship table for the first time this season by defeating Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at the Riverside Stadium tonight!

Great result for the Boro, and a great performance by a lot of the players out there. Josh Mceachran was superb as always. He showed some really good skill in tonight’s match. A great goal from Justin Hoyte at the start. And overall, another good performance from the Boro. 9 games unbeaten in all competitions. Let’s just hope that Boro can keep this streak up as long as they can, and that Crystal Palace don’t beat Peterborough tomorrow so Boro can stay their at the top.

Yep, let us HOPE the 22nd place Peterborough can knock off Crystal Palace tomorrow.

Oh, and regarding the rest of the competition…

 

Guys, remember to follow me on twitter – @TomRobinson5199

Coming your way tomorrow… TNA Impact Wrestling Review!

As for now… UP THE BORO!

Thoughts on this week’s Monday Night RAW in England

How’s it going everybody? Thomas Robinson here to talk about this week’s Monday Night RAW, which was held in Birmingham, England. I always love it when the WWE come to England. I have great memories of going to my first WWE event in Newcastle as a 10 year old, watching Eddie Guerrero defending the WWE Championship against the Big Show. Fans in the UK are always awesome and the crowd makes a show that much better. Last night, the fans DID NOT disappoint.

To be honest, I felt kind of bummed regarding the Hell In A Cell crowd. That crowd was just dead. But British crowds never seem to be dead. Nearly every segment saw the crowd so pumped up. The “Who Are Ya?” chants were funny as hell. And the crowd does make the show a better product…

There were some pretty good action. R-Truth, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara defeated The Prime Time Players and Antonio Cesaro in what was a good match. I think it’s awesome that they are focusing a lot more on the tag team division and this was a good example of that improvement in that area, with the six of them putting on a sound match. R-Truth pinning Cesaro seems to suggest a rivalry between the two and to be honest, if think that’ll do good Cesaro’s reign beating someone like R-Truth.

Cody Rhodes defeated Daniel Bryan in about 2 minutes and Kane defeated Damien Sandow in about 4 minutes in what were two very short matches, which isn’t really good enough in my book. Rhodes and Bryan could have done a quality 10 minute TV match, and Kane and Sandow could have worked together well too. Such a short amount of time for great talent.

Sheamus beat The Miz in a good TV match. Big Show was at ringside. To be honest, I’m not into the Big Show vs Sheamus feud at all.

Layla and Kaitlyn defeated Eve and Aksana in a tag match. Terrible. Moving on…

Kofi Kingston defeated Alberto Del Rio  in a sound match. Orton’s music distracted Del Rio, which allowed Kingston to pick up the win. Orton then popped up out of nowhere and hit the RKO.  This feud is slowly getting good.

Santino Marella and Zack Ryder defeated Primo and Epico. Meh. Cool seeing the two comedy characters in WWE pick up a win in England.

Wade Barrett received a TITANIC pop upon his match with Brodus Clay. The appreciation for Barrett was unreal. This guy deserves a lot more than he’s getting. He defeated Brodus Clay pretty easily. It was actually better than I expected to be honest. It was cool seeing Barrett hit that spinning side slam on Brodus. The crowd loved that. Brodus as well as his dancers were booed heavily.

Heath Slater defeated Jey Uso. OK moving on…

Ryback and John Cena defeated Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk in the main event, with Ryback pinning Punk. Alright main event. Good stare down between Cena and Ryback leading up to their triple threat at Survivor Series.

It’s now Ryback vs John Cena vs CM Punk for the WWE Title, and Team Dolph Ziggler (now including Wade Barrett) facing Team Mick Foley at Survivor Series in a main event reshuffle.

They continued the AJ/John Cena storyline with Vickie having “proof” of them two getting together and Brad Maddox was given a match with Ryback for next week, with a multi-million dollar contract for him if he wins. Seeing Vince McMahon was a good moment for the UK fans. And for me, I never expected to see Vince at all. It was a nice moment.

OVERALL – Good Show. Other than the main event reshuffle for Survivor Series, not a lot to complain about.

THUMBS UP!

Plans For The World Heavyweight Championship In 2013

In comparison to the WWE Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship hasn’t had that much exposure in 2012. While CM Punk and the WWE Championship has been the main piece of WWE storylines as of late, the World Heavyweight Championship’s prestige has really been damaged by eighteen second Wrestlemania matches, a six month feud between Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus for the title that wasn’t not very interesting and now we’ve come to the point where Big Show is the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. Now according to Examiner, PWMania, and other websites, the decision for Big Show’s title victory was made by Triple H as an attempt to avoid a situation where Sheamus would be considered unbeatable, similarly to how John Cena is thought of nowadays. While Big Show is currently the World Heavyweight Champion, reports coming from backstage suggests that the World Title picture in 2013 is going to be centred around two men – current Money In The Bank holder Dolph Ziggler and “The Viper” Randy Orton.

Now regarding DOLPH ZIGGLER…

Dolph Ziggler being in the mix is no real surprise. He is MR MONEY IN THE BANK for crying out loud. And he seems poised and ready to cash that briefcase in. The question is… WHEN?

Survivor Series? Nah. Big Show’s title reign has just started. To be honest, having a heel cash in Money In The Bank on another heel just doesn’t seem right in my book. When Ziggler does cash in, it should be against a face.

Wrestlemania? That would be pretty cool, as no one would have seen it coming and it makes Ziggler look good walking out of Wrestlemania the World Heavyweight Champion. Since the World Championship doesn’t have as much spotlight and prestige as the WWE Title, why not experiment with it and try something new?

However, I think WWE should take a page out of Edge’s time as Mr Money In The Bank – have him hold on to the briefcase as long as he can. Give him time to feud with the top faces of the company. Keeping him feuding with the likes of John Cena, and possibly Sheamus after this. They could do what Justin Labar said in this video for Bleacher Report – have Ziggler wait until the very end of his contract (Money In The Bank 2013) to cash in. They have a chance to hype up him cashing in. Possibly a countdown? He’s got all year to cash it in so why does he need to cash it in sooner rather than later? Make good use of that contract stipulation.

Now regarding RANDY ORTON…

I think in a way, Randy Orton does deserve to be back in the title picture. Take out all the Wellness Policy suspensions and focus on what he’s done in the last year. Short feuds with the likes of Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Kane, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio etc. A World Title match now and then. He’s not been anything significant as of late. He’s just been floundering around the upper-mid-card position for about a year. Possibly going into a feud with Ziggler again with the World Title at stake could do well to change up Orton’s character. Considering he’s supposed to be a main-event star, he needs to have a World Title feud of some sort.

If this proposed feud between the two goes through, then that obviously rules out the possibility of Randy Orton turning heel, which a lot fans (including myself) would have wanted to see. While Orton turning would give his character a desperately needed change, that would mean that there would be ANOTHER mid/upper card heel in WWE and that would just be going over the top. Guys like Wade Barrett and The Miz are missing out on a push to the top because of the amount of heels being pushed over them. Especially Barrett, who really needs to be pushed to the World Title. Mic Skills, Wrestling abillity. He’s got it all.

I do wonder though what will happen to Sheamus if Randy Orton becomes more involved in the World Title picture than him. Does he get turned heel? Probably not, since things are going OK for Sheamus right now. Does he get Orton-ized and spends some time feuding with mid/upper card heels? Maybe. The bottom line is… the World Title is in need for a serious boost, and two talented guys like Orton and Ziggler clashing over the title could re-ignite the title’s flame if dealt with correctly.

FINALLY! I am using WordPress!

How’s it going everybody? My name is Tom Robinson, and I am a Teesside University Student currently studying Multimedia Journalism. The course I am studying is an exciting and rather interesting course I think. I’m only 2 weeks into it but I’m already hooked. It’s great learning about past stories that have changed the landscape of Journalism, like the Watergate scandal in the US. One of many stories that are filled with corruption and deception, which really do shock the world. If the press get hold of a story that indicates at corruption and is able to prove it, it really is a big break for them, otherwise known as a “gate”.

Ever since I started blogging online, I’ve kept switching from blog site to blog site. Blogger to tumblr and now to WordPress. I think this is probably the best site for me. I use it for my university work, and now I am using it for my blogging. Now, what am I going to blog about? Mostly it’ll be about….

Sport

I’m a fan of most combat sports, but MMA is what I’m more interested in. My dad took me to UFC 105 and the atmosphere in the MEN arena was electric. Seeing Randy Couture, a true MMA icon, competing against Brandon Vera was a really amazing moment for me. I am also a football fan – a Middlesbrough FC supporter all day and all night! I’m also a professional wrestling fan – I mean a REALLY big WWE and TNA fan. I started watching it when I was nine and I probably won’t stop any time soon. So… EXPECT a lot of wrestling posts to show up.

What Else?

I’m a keen comic book reader, especially Batman comics. I enjoy my gaming, fighting games mostly. Tekken, Mortal Kombat and Soul Calibur over Call Of Duty any day of the week! I’m big on music, as everyone in the world should be.  Rock and Roll, Heavy Metal, Alternative Rock, Punk Rock – even some Jazz and Funk. Listening to some good old James Brown is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing!

There’s a lot more to me than just that, but you’ll find that out soon enough. Because I promise you, this blog is going to be something special!