411 Fact or Fiction 01.06.11: Genesis, Awesome Kong to WWE, Morrison’s Push, More

1. Having John Morrison’s #1 Contendership get resolved on Raw instead of the Royal Rumble hurt his chances at a sustained push.

Steve Cook: FACT. It was a darn good match, but there’s no doubt that having Morrison’s big title match on Raw didn’t do as much for him as having his title match at the Royal Rumble would have. It’s all about perception, and the perception I have after Raw is that WWE thinks that John Morrison isn’t a big enough deal to be worthy of a PPV title shot so they had Randy Orton win a #1 contender match. Had Morrison gotten his chance at the Rumble and managed to steal the show there, the wrestling world would have been abuzz with praise for John Morrison and his prospects as a future world champion. Now, we’re all like “Eh, he’s got some talent but they’ll never push him.” That’s what we thought going in, and WWE proved us right by having Morrison tossed aside after one title match on Raw.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. Granted, it’s hard to say without seeing some follow-up, but given that the Royal Rumble is a PPV where the title matches are overshadowed by the Rumble itself, I don’t see why having a title shot at that particular PPV is significantly better than having the first televised match of the new year, kicking off the first episode of Raw of the year. Morrison may have lost, but he looked great doing it, showing a lot of skill and intelligence in the way he managed to take out both the Miz and Alex Riley in the first half of the match. Morrison looked like he had a real shot at becoming the WWE Champion and that’s what you want in a losing effort. Maybe that will be it for him and world title chances, but I think this match was just as high profile as a title shot at the Royal Rumble.

Score: 0 for 1

2. TNA has put together a solid card for Genesis.

Steve Cook: FACT. Anderson vs. Morgan, Lethal vs. Kazarian & Mickie vs. Madison should all be pretty decent matches. Styles vs. Williams should be the best match on the show and might be worth whatever the cost of the PPV is by itself if they get to do their thing. RVD’s match is a mystery, which could be fun if they pull an interesting rabbit out of their hats. The only match announced that I have absolutely no interest in seeing is Bully Ray vs. Brother Devon. I’m sure they’ll add something else of some sort of quality. This looks like a pretty good card on paper for TNA to start off their PPV year.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. No world title match automatically makes the card suspect. It would be one thing if Jeff Hardy were in another non-title match that made sense in-story, but he’s not wrestling at all (so far, at least). Matt Morgan/Mr. Anderson looks to be the main event and I’m not confident in that being a great match. Morgan hasn’t really been able to deliver on that level yet. Madison Rayne/Mickie James bores me, Bully Ray/Brother Devon is interesting in theory but just barely, and Rob Van Dam vs. a mystery opponent? Why should I care? Wait, has it been 90 days for Matt Hardy yet? AJ Styles/Douglas Williams should be fantastic if given the right amount of time, as should Jay Lethal/Kazarian. Hopefully, Beer Money/Motor City Machine Guns will be added officially. But, as it is, it’s a little bit shy of ‘solid.’

Score: 0 for 2

3. Airing Tough Enough as part of a three-hour Monday night block of WWE programming is a good move for the company.

Steve Cook: FACT. I can see an argument for having Tough Enough on another night, perhaps on the same night as Smackdown, but the fact is that most wrestling fans think of Monday night as wrestling night. If WWE really wants a large audience to watch something, they’ll put it on Monday nights and they’ll put it on USA. Will it work? I dunno, the first hour of a three-hour Raw always draws a lower rating than the following two, so there’s a good chance than even less people will want to watch Tough Enough than the first hour of a three-hour Raw. It’s worth a shot though.

Chad Nevett: FACT. Putting Tough Enough on some other night would be leaving it to hang, while pairing it with Raw at least puts in on a night where people are already thinking about watching a WWE show. Granted, I’m not a fan of three-hour blocks of wrestling shows, but I wouldn’t be watching Tough Enough anyway. I look at the pros/cons and this looks like a win just because some people will watch Tough Enough because they’re already going to watch Raw, so why not Tough Enough as well?

Score: 1 for 3

4. Mick Foley’s return to Impact over the past couple weeks has been handled effectively.

Steve Cook: FICTION. I can kind of see where they’re going with the whole thing, but it’s kind of depressing to see Foley go out there every week and get verbally undressed by Eric Bischoff & Ric Flair. There’s a visual for you. I also get the feeling from Foley’s performances that he’s got one eye on the clock looking towards when his TNA contract runs out. It’s a nice idea in theory, but I don’t think it’s working. It kind of flies in the face of Foley’s persona for the past twenty or so years, and it seems kind of awkward to root for a wrestler to come back and get more concussions.

Chad Nevett: FACT. While his showing up this past week didn’t blow me away, Bischoff and Flair confronting Foley with the idea that a lot of the injuries that guys have suffered over the past decade or so are a result of his crazy bumps and him setting the standard is a great idea. It touches a nerve, walking that fine line between truth and fiction. What role has Foley played in the increasing willingness to do anything to get over with fans? Has he encouraged people who have no business being in the ring to keep doing it by wrestling a style that’s just getting beaten up and bloodied? If TNA is going to use some of the older wrestlers who can’t really go anymore, examining their legacies and impact on the business is a very interesting route to go. I’d like to see them push it further, maybe even bring Abyss in (because if there’s a guy who’s obviously spent his career trying to out-Mick Mick, it’s Abyss).

Score: 1 for 4

5. Awesome Kong will make her debut on WWE television before WrestleMania.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. I’ll saw she debuts at ‘Mania. Usually there’s some big multi-Diva match of some kind. Either a tag match with four to six Divas on each team or a big battle royal, and either one of those matches seem like the place to debut Kong and have her clean house. She can be a mystery partner or just a surprise entrant in the battle royal. That would work for me.

Steve Cook: FICTION. Believe me, I’d love to see Kong on WWE television yesterday but she’s the kind of talent that you bring in the night after WrestleMania to make a huge impact (pun kind of intended) on things. You have Natalya or whichever top babyface you want get the best of LayCool or another heel at WrestleMania, have them think their worries are over, and then BOOM! Here comes…whatever they decide to call her, whether it’s Awesome Kong, Amazing Kong or Krissy Kongton.

Yeah, Krissy Kongton. Kofi Kingston’s cousin.

Score: 2 for 5

6. TNA gave up on Robbie E. and The Shore too quickly.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. I’ve said this many times before, but the reaction from the crowd at the Impact Zone was a clear message about this gimmick. That is a crowd that cheers for almost anything, no matter how dumb or lame it is, and they shit on the Shore gimmick. Remember: those people cheered for the Nasty Boys earlier in the year. Every time Robbie E. and Cookie were out, that crowd became angry and bored, and anything that makes the easiest-to-please crowd in wrestling react that way needs to be killed quickly. Also, sticking the X-Division Title on Robbie E. so quickly didn’t help, that only increased the backlash and hatred. They tried to shove the gimmick down our throats and responded correctly when we threw it right back up.

Steve Cook: FICTION. In defense of The Shore, Jersey Shore has a new season starting on January 11, so they could have milked it awhile longer and had more crossover appearances with members of the cast to…oh, I just can’t act like I really care about this. As much as I love me some Cookie and think Robbie E. might have potential, I’m not really going to fault TNA too much because this is part of their whole “have Immortal go after all the belts” gimmick. Having Jay Lethal defend the X Division title & the honor of TNA & kind-hearted people everywhere against Kazarian of Immortal makes more sense than having Robbie E. do it. I guess they could have had Robbie E. join the group, but what’s he done to be part of it other than do some fun & exciting fist pumps?

Score: 3 for 6

7. Despite the renewed talk about a WWE Network, it won’t launch any time within the next five years.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. If you said one or two years, I’d have said fact, but five? Barring some major problem, a WWE Network showing up within five years seems very likely. These things take time as the WWE have learned this past year. I think everyone just expected it to appear much quicker than is possible and, now, see it as something that will never come to fruition. I’d expect to see it in the next 3-5 years definitely.

Steve Cook: FICTION. I really think WWE’s set on getting this thing off the ground sooner rather than later, and they have the connections in the entertainment industry to get it done. I think it’s long overdue and will be a good platform for WWE to air more current wrestling shows, some of their older material, and some of their crappy movies that they insist on producing. When people like Vince McMahon & Kevin Dunn are determined to get something done, they usually get it done. I plan on putting in an application to appear on a WWE Network roundtable-type show in a few years.

Score: 4 for 7

8. The right person was chosen as the first elimination for NXT Season Four.

Chad Nevett: FACT. Honestly, I have no idea who the right or wrong person to be eliminated is. I haven’t been watching this season of NXT, but, based on the first three seasons, the first elimination is usually spot-on with the second and third eliminations not being too different. The WWE seems pretty quick to understand who isn’t working and getting rid of them quickly. Maybe that wasn’t the case this time, but I’m prepared to be wrong.

Steve Cook: FACT. It’s that I have a lot of hatred for Jacob Novak. He seems like a decent enough talent and could probably make something of himself someday.. However, WWE already has one Dolph Ziggler. That one’s doing just fine and they don’t really need another one at the moment. The NXT cast as a whole is probably the most well-balanced cast they’ve had so far, in that there isn’t one guy that really stands out as being a whole lot better than the others, and there isn’t anybody that’s completely horrible either. They’re all pretty much equals, which made it a difficult decision for me.

At the end of the day I went with Conor O’Brian. The rat gimmick amuses me and it’s fun to have Alberto Del Rio on any WWE show. Reports of any other personal bias I may have towards the man are purely speculation.

Final Score: 5 for 8

And there you have it…after nearly whiffing the entire first half, Steve and Chad go 4 for 4 in the back half and end up at 5 for 8! I’d like to thank both of them for their answers, and you the readers for seeing what they had to say! For Chad Nevett and Steve Cook, this is Jeremy Thomas saying join us next week for more Wrestling Fact or Fiction!