The Triple Threat 6.13.10: The 191st Edition – Bryan Danielson, Slammiversary, More

Topic # 1 What are your thoughts on the NXT attack on RAW this past week?

David Martell: This is by far one of the most interesting storylines in wrestling in years. This is how you start an invasion angle. I am pretty positive that no one saw this coming and that’s what made it exciting. Hell, I think that is the first time I have ever seen a wrestling ring bare like that. The NXT “rookies” did their job perfectly, they completely obliterated everyone in sight from ring announcers to John Cena. You cant just give credit to the rookies though, John Cena did an excellent job of selling the massacre. WWE hasn’t had a faction this big since the corporation if I’m not mistaken. Since the WWE recently trademarked the name “The Network” I can imagine that is what their stable is going to be called. I cant even remember if there has ever been such a huge heel turn by so many wrestlers at one time. This type of storyline makes me want to watch wrestling. Not just RAW, it makes me want to watch all the shows because you just don’t know when they are going to strike. The WWE even continued the storyline on FCW of all places. The only question is, what will happen next?

Jacob San Antonio: If this development doesn’t sound exciting to you, I am genuinely curious about what you want to see in wrestling. An angle where you expect a little of this, a little of that, but you really don’t know what’s going to happen. The angle may remind some of the NWO, but I think we can all rest easy knowing that none of the NXT rookies will go around squashing main event talent on the roster. I don’t know what the rookies are after, how the pros will respond (I want to see Chris Jericho’s reaction to this thing), but it’s because of those two reasons that I’m seriously excited about this angle. It may be rehashed from days past, but it was still done in a way that grabbed everybody’s attention. And that’s reason enough to be excited.

Zach Brown: This was a fantastic segment that ended a downright terrible Raw. It was chaotic, eye opening, and something that every wrestling fan had to watch. Cena never turned into Superman which was a great thing, everyone there got a beating, and the NXT guys made a huge statement. I had never seen a WWE ring or any ring for that matter torn up the way it was. It was quite simply the best segment in several years in my opinion. This brought me back to the NWO days as well as the WCW invasion angle. People crap all over the invasion angle, and rightfully so. But the thing that drew me in at all times was the idea of WWE split down the middle. Two factions. And every wrestler had to pick a side. You were either on one side, or the other. And it was very entertaining, except for several of the booking decisions and making “The Alliance” look terrible. But I digress. TNA almost had something with the whole Main Event Mafia/ TNA Frontline story. But that ended up being atrocious. This storyline is fresh in ways that I never thought could happen in WWE anymore. It’s must watch television, and I can’t wait to hear the NXT guys cut a promo on this come Monday night.

Topic # 2 TNA‘s Slammiversary is this Sunday. What are your thoughts on the card?

David Martell: This PPV actually looks solid and that is something that normally doesn’t come out of my mouth. There is actually barely any gimmick here and that is awesome. Brother Ray vs. Jesse Neil won’t be good but I hope Neil gets the win cause I am all for the young guys. Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez should be interesting. I am always a fan of matches that puts two old tag partners together. I am going for Hernandez here. He is very underrated. AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal is a bit silly but it could be a sleeper. Styles should win here because a loss to Lethal would probably hurt him. Kurt Angle vs. Kaz should be a damn good match and probably the match of the night. It is hard to imagine a Kurt Angle match being bad. I am really digging the angle with Angle going against the top ten ranked guys to show how good he is. Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson vs. Beer Money should be good. I don’t really like the pairing of Hardy and Anderson but oh well. I am going for Beer Money here. Abyss should beat Desmond Wolfe in the monsters ball match and it should be a lot of fun. I am also going for Madison Rayne to beat Roxxi but I doubt it will be any good. Kendrick vs. Doug Williams for the X division title should be awesome but I cant see Williams losing the belt yet. He is just too good right now. Sting vs. RVD is something special and I could of never called this match actually happening. RVD should retain his world title. Overall the PPV looks to be solid and if you are a big TNA fan it is a must buy.

Jacob San Antonio: Are we seriously not getting the King of the Mountain? The card looks decent, I suppose, but why skip the PPV’s trademark match and replace it with a couple of non-title, singles matches? We’ll see how this goes; Slammiversary could very well be amazing without the KotM. I expect to see Madison Rayne drop the title to Roxxi. She’s held it long enough now, and if she retains I expect her next title defense will be her last. Abyss is going to lose to Desmond Wolfe, I think, though whether or not Chelsea will be the cause of the victory is still up in the air. Either way, I think we’ll see Chelsea fully turn on Wolfe in the next week or two. Brother Ray will defeat Jesse Neal, though 3D and Ink Inc’s feud is far from over. Here’s hoping their match, along with Wolfe’s, comes off as pretty brutal. Their feuds are pretty heated, so it should work out. I expect to see Kurt Angle to lose to Kazarian, with Flair coming in to interfere. Still, this could very well be the match of the night so keep an eye on it. Jeff Hardy and Anderson will beat Beer Money Inc, and Anderson will continue his face turn (though he works well as heel, guys!) through the next few weeks. It’s tough to say who’s going to come out of Slammiversary as the X Division champ, but I think Williams might finally drop the title. He’s had a good run with it, but it’s time for Kendrick to get some gold. Matt Morgan will stomp out SuperMex and keep the embers burning for a longer feud. I expect Jay Lethal to beat AJ Styles, though Styles might go for some comeuppance after the match. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for a post-match beatdown for Lethal, as this feud simply can’t end this soon. Finally, RVD will defeat Sting. TNA would be crazy to take the belt off of RVD at this point, since the fans are still eating it up. Then again, who knows? They’ve been warning us about something big happening. Perhaps the ending to Slammiversary will be a shocker. All we can do is wait and see.

Zach Brown: Overall, this year’s Slammiversary looks surprisingly solid to me. There are several sleeper hits that could end up making the PPV very enjoyable. First of all, Brother Ray vs. Jesse Neal…is not one of those matches. Is there anything else to say besides for you to order the Pay Per View 10 minutes late and pray you missed it? What could be good, however, is Abyss vs. Desmond Wolfe. Abyss is, in fact, a good wrestler when he wants to be. And Desmond Wolfe’s only obstacle to not having a good match is not having enough time to work with, or having a bad opponent. It definitely depends on which version of Abyss decides to show up to the show. But I’m hoping it delivers the goods. Styles vs. Lethal could be one of the best matches of the night. I expect Styles to come out with the victory here, but I also smell a screwy finish, which would be unfortunate considering the potential this match has. Angle vs. Kaz is also a great match up. I expect Angle to win here and start a road to the title afterwards. Kaz beating Angle clean would just be unbelievable. But a great performance here could help solidify Kaz exponentially. Hardy and Anderson vs. Beer Money could be a very fun match. I expect Beer Money to win either by Anderson turning on Hardy, or by some sort of mis-communication. Again, it won’t be an amazing contest, but I think it will be a lot of fun. The Knockouts title match is kind of a throwaway to me because I just do not enjoy Roxxi in the ring. I expect Madison to retain and that’s all. Hernandez vs. Morgan is another one of those matches that, if done right, could be a sleeper hit. Both of these guys are great wrestlers, and I think they can tear the house down if given the chance. Williams vs. Kendrick is also solid in my eyes, but I fully expect Williams to retain here. If Kendrick won, I’d be very surprised. Kudos to Kendrick for even getting a title match because I was almost certain that he had joined TNA to simply become a jobber. Lastly, RVD vs. Sting. Is it weird that this match is one of the ones I’m excited about the least? I mean it will be good, no doubt. But Sting in the main event just doesn’t excite me anymore. I don’t know what it is. I expect RVD to retain. If Sting comes with his game face, we could end up getting a four star match. But it’s too hard to tell at this point. Overall, Slammiversary has so few missteps that it’s hard not to recommend. The only way they could ruin the card is with bad / screwy finishes or not enough match time. It’s simply a solid card.

Topic # 3 What are your first impressions of the rookies on NXT season 2?

David Martell: So far I am not impressed. The wrestling on the first episode was incredibly boring. Out of the four rookies that actually wrestlers on the show, I would say that Husky Harris looked the best in the ring. That is not really saying much though. Percy Watson has personality but he was just bland in the ring. Eli Cottonwood was incredibly awkward and Titus O’Neil was incredibly boring. Barking? Yeah that will get you over. The promo work and the video packages were the best part of the show but it wasn’t all good. Titus O’ Neil was god awful on the mic and that is disappointing because I really had some hope for him. Alex Riley is a natural on the mic and his video package was great. Him and the Miz are from the same mold it seems and the pairing only makes sense. McGillicutty was actually pretty damn good on the mic but he has a lot to live up to. I have a lot of hope in this guy. It is too bad that Kaval didn’t have a match but that is something to look forward to in the future.

Jacob San Antonio: Percy Watson did not disappoint. As soon as he made his way down the ramp I knew he was gold, and let me just go ahead and name my dark horse to win NXT. You’re all more than welcome to make fun of me when he’s the first one to be eliminated. Eli Cottonwood was decent enough for a big guy, though it’d be nice if he actually sounded crazy instead of just saying crazy things in a calm voice. Alex Riley has the charisma, and I think he’s going to be fine in the ring. On that note, Husky Harris is the opposite. He’s got the image, and he can wrestle just fine. He just needs to improve his mic skills and he’s solid. Lucky Cannon, McGillicutty, and Kaval haven’t stepped into the ring yet, and I’ll hold back on them for the time being. Titus O’Neal has the look, but his mic work needs a lot of work. Maybe he was just nervous, but his promo wasn’t that solid. If he can improve as he goes, I expect to see him get far.

Zach Brown: My first impression after seeing the first episode of season 2 was about what I thought of the guys when I first saw their intro packages. Titus O’Neil is simply not impressive to me. Maybe he had an off day, but it seems like the guy has zero mic skills and I didn’t enjoy what he can do in the ring either. Eli Cottonwood is just as awkward and out of place as I thought he’d be. Just not impressed with him yet. Husky Harris looked good in the ring, and I’m looking forward to seeing what else he has to offer. Percy Watson is a pretty entertaining personality, but I need to see more of his ring work to really make up my mind. As for the other guys, I’m curious about Alex Riley’s ring work as well as Lucky Cannon’s. I’ve seen Kaval numerous times already, and I’m sure that Mr. Perfect’s son is a great wrestler. Hopefully we’ll see them in action next week. But so far, my opinions on each guy have remained about the same.

Topic # 4 It looks like Survivor Series is coming back after all. How do you feel about this?

David Martell: Eh, I am not too excited about this. Survivor Series hasn’t been interesting in several years and I find it hard to believe that they will fix it this year. They say UFC was the culprit for low buy rates for Survivor Series but I beg to differ. It is hard to invest in a PPV that hasn’t been interesting in at least five years. I just feel like this concept doesn’t work anymore because the E doesn’t make it important. I guess I will just have to see what happens here but I hope for the best that WWE can make this PPV as meaningful as it use to be.

Jacob San Antonio: What a relief. It’s a shame that the WWE couldn’t stay in la-la land and act like the UFC didn’t exist, but when it saves a show like Survivor Series I suppose it’s a fair trade. The last Survivor Series might have been an oddball, with a pretty predictable and under pushed main event, but it still had its highlights. I’m looking forward to this year’s PPV, since I’m hoping we see some of the WWE’s newest talent getting a shot at being in a Survivor Series team. Also, an actual buildup to its main event would be nice. Still, it’s nice to see Survivor Series make it through. One less untested gimmick PPV to endure, folks!

Zach Brown: This was news that was about as exciting to me as a dry piece of toast. Yes, Survivor Series is by all means a classic PPV. It is a show that has given us classic moments such as the Montreal Screwjob and when Stone Cold was fired from Raw in 2003. But it’s a match concept that is just uninteresting by today’s standards in my opinion. When you have Hell in a Cell, cage matches, Elimination Chamber, Hardcore, Ladder matches, and so much more, the Survivor Series match seems paltry in comparison. There are just several more entertaining matches. I’m not interested in two teams eliminating each other in a normal match. It’s just boring and it never seems like the stakes are high enough or that the match ever has any effect on anything. I think the Elimination Chamber is a much better version of the elimination concept. I don’t really care who “survives” the match either. It’s just not my cup of tea. And I have stopped ordering Survivor Series because it has simply been a bad show for the last several years in my honest opinion. If WWE is going to keep the concept around, they need to find a way to make this year’s card much better than previous years. Because it has not deserved the title of being “one of the big 4 PPVs” for several years now.

Topic # 5 There are rumors going around that TNA is trying to bring in Paul Heyman. How do you feel about this?

David Martell: This would be a great idea if this was possible. At this point I think anyone could book TNA better then it is being booked right now. Paul Heyman has a great mind for wrestling but with Hogan, Russo and Bischoff being there I just don’t see this working. To many people with to many ideas just makes for bad television. There needs to be one sole guy or at least a team that is on the same page running the program. Just too many egos to fit in one company. If Heyman had sole creative control than I would be all for it but I highly doubt that something like this will happen.

Jacob San Antonio: Man, wouldn’t that be something? Honestly, a friend of mine said it better than I could: “So long he’s not writing the checks, Heyman will work wonders in TNA.” His presence could seriously improve the TNA product. Occasionally, you see a really interesting angle start to take off (let’s say Flair and AJ Styles’ partnership), only to see constant missteps week after week steal away some of the edge of the storyline. With Heyman running the story, I think we’ll see shows flow much better than they currently are. I’m all for it. Let’s see what TNA’s talent is fully capable of.

Zach Brown: Well the current rumor is that Heyman will only come to TNA if he has complete creative control. Also, he’d like a glass of ice water in Hell. That being said, I think in a perfect world, Paul Heyman could really turn TNA around. Hell, Russo has tried, Dutch Mantel tried, Jim Cornette tried, Bischoff and Hogan have tried, and none of them seem to have produced worthwhile results. TNA has terrible booking and terrible storylines, plain and simple. It’s been like that for a good amount of time. Actually my favorite time in TNA was when Cornette was there as an onscreen character. I don’t know how much of the actual booking he did at that point, if any, but it was worthwhile TV. Also, Mantel’s early booking wasn’t all that bad. Keyword: early. And I also liked TNA’s booking right before Russo joined as well. But the fact of the matter is, the majority of TNA’s booking has been bad. Why not give Paul Heyman a try? Now, his demands are completely unrealistic. Demanding complete creative control while Bischoff, Hogan and Russo are there is a joke. Even if he joined to share control with the others, I sincerely doubt that the four of them could co-exist peacefully. So yeah, in a dream world, as long as Heyman were to stay away from the money side of things, Heyman could create some entertaining television. Will he get the creative control he’s looking for? Highly doubtful.

Topic # 6 Bryan Danielson has been released from the WWE. Your thoughts?

David Martell: This is either the most elaborate work in the history of wrestling or the biggest mistake the WWE has made in a very long time. So much info is going around saying that it’s a work or saying its legit and I just think it is too early to tell. I mean when you have people in the company actually thinking it’s a work it makes you question. If this is a work its completely genius because everyone is talking about this. This is how you stir the pot. A huge NXT invasion angle followed up by firing one of the men who was part of the angle and who is obviously the most over out of the group. If this is legit, which I am leaning towards, this is highly disappointing. I feel that this hurts the entire NXT invasion angle because he was one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle. He was definitely the best part of the whole storyline. Basically killing Justin Roberts and spitting in Cena’s face was awesome. Hell, they keep showing the angle on NXT and Smackdown and they didn’t even cut those parts out. But supposedly that is why he got the axe. It just doesn’t make any sense. What’s going around is that there is a rule that you cant choke someone with the ring rope or anything else but hasn’t there been a lot of choking since the Benoit murders. I also thought that the NXT rookies were praised after the angle because it was so well executed. There is definitely more to the story here that we don’t know. I personally hope that this is a huge work because I don’t want the WWE to get rid of who is arguably their biggest up and coming star. He has been the most interesting part of WWE TV in last few months and not they throw in the towel. This is all just chaos really but whatever happens, I know that everyone is going to want to be tuning into RAW this week.

Jacob San Antonio: This is going to be the most elaborate work the WWE has ever done. I admit, there’s enough evidence to suggest that the firing was real, but I’m going to do the insane and have faith in the WWE. They’ve convinced me they’re capable of some good ideas by turning Michael Cole heel, and for a guy called the “Internet Darling” I think it would be rather clever for the WWE to utilize the net in convincing everyone it’s legit. If it’s a work, Bryan Danielson will enter the WWE as a crazed loose cannon with a vendetta against the upper card. If it’s not, Bryan Danielson gets to go to TNA or some indy company with his last televised act being the beat down of John Cena. Honestly, it’s a win-win in Danielson’s favor. Even so, I seriously think this is an elaborate work by the WWE.

Zach Brown: So at the time of this writing, Michael Cole just wrote on his Twitter that “he” fired Daniel Bryan. That definitely makes it sounds like a work to me. Oh wait. It is now “Not Legitimate.” Damn. Oh well. But just for fun, let’s explore what it means for each side of if “this is a work” or if “this is a legit firing.” If this is a work, it’s a pretty elaborate storyline that WWE has set up solely to screw with the IWC. It’s understandable that WWE is frustrated with dirt sheets nowadays. So many people read about spoilers, backstage drama, and whatever else. And anyone with half a brain watching WWE knows that Chris Jericho, Drew McIntyre, or anyone else in recent memory hasn’t actually been fired during a broadcast. Well, except for maybe Eugene in that contract on a pole match. But the point is, firings are difficult to take seriously unless they say “future endeavors.” Storyline firings are almost routine at this point, and maybe they felt the need to make people actually upset about a firing storyline. However, if it is not a work, it says worlds about the state of WWE. It says that they are too afraid to step outside the bounds of their self-policed PG policy. It says they are so willing to take an exciting new star with worlds of potential and a great storyline and drop him in the first sign of trouble. In my opinion, the NXT invasion on Raw was the single best WWE segment in the last three years or so. And that segment was heightened when Danielson choked Justin Roberts with his tie. It looked vicious and it really made it seem like these guys were not to be messed with. And I never once thought “Oh my God, after the Benoit incident, they should be so ashamed.” It never entered my mind and I don’t even know why it would with anyone else. Cena choked Umaga with the ring ropes. Orton was choked with handcuffs. Those both cross the PG boundary. However, it’s important to note that those were both done on Pay Per View, where there is a little more free reign while Danielson did what he did on cable. But are they that paranoid about reminding the audience about Benoit? HBK has done the crossface numerous times since Benoit’s death. And if the WWE is going to associate choking with Benoit, then why not outlaw chokeholds as well? Or steel chair shots? It’s just ridiculous. But all these feelings stem from if Danielson is legit fired. For now, I’ll choose to believe that Danielson is still employed and that this is all an elaborate work to throw even people like Dave Meltzer off the scent. We’ll just have to wait and see. But if Bryan is actually released, I will be extremely disappointed in WWE.

Our thoughts on Kane.

David Martell: I can honestly say that Kane has been interesting in the past few weeks. I never thought I would say that again. Kane has been apart of some of the worst storylines in recent memory and ever since he lost his mask, he has been incredibly bland. This past two weeks he has shown some personality and he even cut a good promo. Although I think the whole vengeance catch phrase is a bit silly, the overall storyline is fun to watch. I just hope this doesn’t lead to another Kane vs. Taker match. We have seen this way to many times and we all know Kane would lose again. I am just glad that they have found something interesting to do with Kane but I am sure he will go back to his normal self in no time flat.

Jacob San Antonio: Kane is just a solid in betweener. He works a good big man gimmick, and is capable of hanging with just about anyone on the roster. On that note, he’s in the same category as the Undertaker in that he’s able to beat up whoever he wants, heel or face, and remain a neutral competitor. Now that I think about it, Kane’s sort of a reminder of the days of the Hardcore title. The boiler room backdrops, the interrupting of matches to take out everyone involved, and the overall attitude of Kane takes me back to the better days of arena-wide brawls and novelty foreign objects. That alone really makes Kane shine in my eyes.

Zach Brown: Kane is admittedly not my favorite wrestler in the world. Back when the guy had his mask on, I was so on board the Kane train. As a kid, he was one of my favorites. As soon as he lost the mask and started cutting promos, my interest fizzled. He lost so much of his mystique when that happened. The mask is what made Kane cool. And now, WWE is giving Kane another push because Taker got injured. Meh. His initial promo at the “funeral” of The Undertaker was actually good. And it made it seem like Kane was actually getting a fire lit under his ass once again. Then came Friday night Smackdown and he was getting his peanut butter in everyone’s chocolate. Storylines that had nothing to do with him were getting invaded by him, and he was laying waste to everyone. So much so that I began to lose interest again. They are kind of over killing the storyline in my opinion. I get it. Kane is mad and he’s going on a rampage to find out who attacked Taker. But I’ll only want to see so much of it in one episode before I get sick of it. They even closed the show on him. That was a little much because I just couldn’t help but think that this shouldn’t be the main focus of anything. It should just be an entertaining mid card feud and nothing more. I’m not going to order Fatal Four Way to see what Kane is going to do next, so don’t over-push the storyline to me. That being said, it’s good that Kane has something to do because he’s been incognito for so long now. He’s only half way decent in the ring, so it’s good that he has strong storyline motives to draw attention away from that. I’m ok with the storyline for now, and I’m interested in where it goes. But I don’t know what Kane will do once it’s done.