wrestling / Columns
High Road/Low Road 10.27.06: Jeff Jarrett/Sting at Bound for Glory
Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road! A brief explanation of the column: Uncle Trunx takes the Low Road (negative view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related “stuff” while Sat takes the High Road (positive view).
The Results for Kane going to SmackDown:
High Road: 76%
Low Road: 24%
E-Mails:
These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.
Matt Short Writes:
I’m going high road for Kane on SmackDown. I had a vague feeling that his feud with Umaga was going to be how they were going to get him over to another show. I’m a big Kane fan myself. What can I say; I’ve got a soft spot for him. He’s a company man who’s worked through some tough storylines (Katie Vick, Fake Kane) and seems to bounce back every time. He’s held just about every title that it was possible for him to win and has one of the most recognizable entrances in the industry today. Kane has had such a long history with the WWE that I was starting to get upset that all his work and dedication were being ignored during his recent time on Raw.
Going to SmackDown I think is going to do wonders for Kane in the long run. On Raw, Kane has always been one of those guys who could main event, get hyped as a favorite, and then do the job after a less than thrilling match. I can’t remember the last time Kane challenged for a World title and was thought to have a legitimate chance at winning. Him moving to SmackDown offers the chance for this to change. Provided that he’s booked right, he can come off as a serious contender and maybe even win the title. SmackDown has a long history of making main eventers out of mid-carders. King Booker and JBL come to mind as big success stories. Rey Mysterio was booked poorly, but what are the odds he would have even been given the belt on any show other than SmackDown? Even Eddie Guerrero probably wouldn’t have gotten the main event push if he’d been on Raw. I mean, the list just goes on with guys that the SmackDown main event has benefited.
Now was the way they sent off Kane ideal? Not at all. I think that their hands were a little tied with how to get him off of Raw though and maybe that was the only way they could have done it. The loser leaves town stipulation has pretty much run dry at this point in the WWE and they would have been better served with perhaps doing a draft lottery. That way, say Teddy Long makes Kane his number one draft pick it makes Kane look strong as the number one guy from Raw that Long wants and it keeps SmackDown from looking like the B-show as Kane goes more than willingly to SmackDown.
Hopefully, this does open up some new match-ups for Kane. He’s already been thrown into a feud with MVP, which could really go either way in terms of being good or bad. I say as long as MVP doesn’t go over or if he does it makes him look like a legit contender, it’ll be fine. Kane should mesh well into the main event on SmackDown, playing either a face or a heel. He still gets a strong reaction regardless and really only gets booed when he’s raping Lita or electrocuting Shane McMahon’s balls. As long as they stay away from the obvious Undertaker vs. Kane part 67, I can see Kane getting serious title shots in a few months. If they do decide to go the Undertaker vs. Kane route again, I hope they have a nice long build maybe toward a gimmick match at WrestleMania. And then the only way I’d approve of that would be if Kane ended Taker’s winning streak. Hey, I can dream can’t I?
Sat: I agree. Kane has had some difficult storylines. He has been involved in some of the worst storylines in the history of wrestling. Kane deserves a chance to be champion again. He had one run for twenty three hours as one of the e-mailers below said and he deserves better. SmackDown has made a ton of mid-carders main eventers and the same can be true for Kane. I think that Kane looked pretty strong because it wasn’t like he was defeated one two three. There was outside interference. Still, you make a good point. Good point about the only times that Kane got booed. Did he get booed when he said J.R. on fire? That would be something; Kane versus Taker at WrestleMania a third time. I believe that this would be the second time ever that a match has happened three times at WrestleMania (Rock/Austin being the other).
Uncle Trunx:
There were loads of ways that they could get Kane off Raw without making it look like he’d been run out of town by a bigger monster. Oh, and if you think Kane will end ‘Taker’s WrestleMania run, you’re severely deluded.
NCHS08JOHNBRYANT Writes:
I’m definitely going Low Road on Kane going to SmackDown. I mean come on who really wants to see another ridiculous and dragged out Taker/Kane feud which Stevie Wonder or Ronnie Milsap could see coming. Now for my next match idea for you guys to evaluate. Let’s go with a match that at least I would love to see. An Extreme Rules elimination match between Hardcore Holly, Finlay and the Old School Regal and a 4th wrestler of your choosing. Now I have a question: is it me or does TNA really need a Mid-card title? I mean come on I personally believe TNA needs a Mid-card Title because every brand with the exclusion of the NEW ECW has a mid-card title and even TNA had the TV title. And besides it’d give those not in the Main Event picture or the X-division something to feud over without nearly killing yourself in the Ultimate X, or being Jeff Jarrett’s puppet or B***h. also: Would a Lance Hoyt/Test tag team be any good in today’s Tag Team division?
Sat: Most likely, we will see a Taker/Kane feud, but we will also see some other feuds as well. Kane hasn’t faced most of the SmackDown roster.
The fourth person I would have would be Mick Foley and that would be one hell of a match.
I don’t think that TNA needs another mid-card title because they only have an hour show. They have the NWA Title, X Division Title, and Tag Team Titles and that is enough for one hour. Once they get the second hour, then they should think about another title. I do agree that it would allow those not in the main event picture a title to feud over. ECW definitely needs to add at least one more title.
A Lance Hoyt/Test tag team would be excellent in the WWE, but not in TNA.
Uncle Trunx:
Hoyt and Test would not be good because it would involve Test.
TNA has the X division title, which is a second title of sorts.
The 4th guy for the extreme rules elimination match? Got to be Terry Funk.
Natedogg Writes:
I was split right down the middle on this one but had to go with 49% to 51% low road. The reason is that with Kane being on Raw so long, he was just one of those things that made Raw “Raw.” Kane has always been one of my favorite wrestlers and I’m afraid that while he is going to SmackDown his career is going to follow the same path SmackDown is going, down a shithole. Besides an obvious feud with The Undertaker, I don’t really see Kane doing much else. A feud with Batista maybe if he regains the title. I would like to see win at least 1 Heavyweight championship belt before he retires, and don’t even dare try to convince me that his laughable 23 hour title reign after King of the Ring 98 should count. While Kane going to SmackDown will help the roster a little bit, I’m still upset to see one of my favorite wresters go off to SmackDown because well I haven’t watched an episode of SmackDown in almost 2 years. Literally
Sat: I think that Kane needed to move because he has been on RAW for too long. SmackDown does have problems, but it is a decent show. I think that Kane will definitely get a run as World Champion. Wow, I am kind of surprised that you haven’t watched SmackDown in two years. Is it because it is on a Friday or because it is taped?
Uncle Trunx:
I agree entirely. It’s a demotion for Kane, to a show which won’t help him and he won’t help.
This week’s High Road/Low Road featuring…
High Road:
This was the best match that Sting and Jeff Jarrett have had against each other. They had a disastrous match at Hard Justice and I have worried that we were going to have a repeat of this at Bound for Glory. Thankfully, the match exceeded my expectations. The match was excellent from Sting struggling early (because he hadn’t wrestled in two months) to the ending. The only problem I had with this match was that it slowed down in the middle, but that is forgivable.
Low Road:
What we have here are two guys long past their prime holding desperately on to the spotlight. While the match itself was passable, I would have preferred to see someone like Samoa Joe in this one. If TNA are to compete with WWE, they need to push their own stars, rather than relying on names from 10 years ago.
High Road:
This match was the perfect way to end this feud. The stipulation was excellent because it said that this match would be the end of the feud. The way that this match ended makes me believe that the feud is over. It was also fitting for this year long feud to end at TNA’s biggest event of the year.
Low Road:
I’m just glad it’s over. Taking up a whole year with this has held a lot of guys down. I’m all for “slow burn” booking, but not at the expense of the whole damn roster.
High Road:
One of the feelings that I had about Kurt Angle as the special enforcer was that he would most likely favor Sting. However, this was not the case. Kurt Angle told both Jeff Jarrett and Sting to get in the ring when they were on the outside and he took the bat away from Sting. Kurt Angle didn’t favor anybody and this helped the match. If Kurt Angle had favored somebody, then it would have definitely hurt the match.
Low Road:
Having a special referee means that they have to, you know, do something. Angle’s “right down the middle” stance means that his involvement was pointless, unless the idea of him being involved was to partake in the inevitably messy finish.
High Road:
The Jeff Jarrett/Sting match also can lead to Kurt Angle facing both competitors in the near future. Jeff Jarrett can face Kurt Angle because he could say that Kurt Angle cost him the title. Kurt Angle could also get mad because Jeff Jarrett used his ankle lock. Sting could challenge him because Kurt Angle did take Sting’s bat, which caused Sting to get hit with the guitar. This match could be the foundation for both competitors facing off against Kurt Angle.
Low Road:
So we’ll get a whole load more matches with guys made famous in other organizations up against each other for the belt, while the younger, home grown talent sits in the mid card? If Angle is fit to wrestle (which is open to debate), I’d like to see him up against Joe. Given that his time is likely to be limited, I don’t want to see it wasted with Jarrett. It looks like it’s going to go that way though, to the detriment of the roster as a whole once more.
High Road:
One of the things that really helped this match was when Kurt Angle came in and gave the Olympic Slam to Rudy Charles. I loved this because it showed that Kurt Angle knew the importance of this match and he knew that there needed to be a winner. It also showed that Kurt Angle is all about competition and he wanted a winner in this match.
Low Road:
So once again, as with all Jarrett matches, we get a screwy, overbooked finish. What it showed to me is that Angle will be wasted in a feud with Jarrett, which is what I feared from the start.
High Road:
Sting’s no sell of the guitar shot was excellent because it served two purposes.
1) Sting’s no sell of the guitar shot got the fans to their feet and told them that the end was near for Jeff Jarrett.
2) Sting’s no sell of the guitar shot also showed the importance of this match to Sting. Whenever Jeff Jarrett hits somebody with the guitar, they always go down. By no selling the guitar shot, it showed that Sting knew his career was on the line and he had to pull down deep to get the win. Excellent decision by TNA to have Sting no sell the guitar shot.
Low Road:
Stings no sell of the guitar shot ruined the match for me. As you say, “Whenever Jeff Jarrett hits somebody with the guitar, they always go down.” That’s because they’ve had a bloody guitar smashed on their head! Not selling that was like the worst excesses of Hulk Hogan, and made me groan inwardly. It also did no favours to anyone who has taken the guitar shot and sold it.
In short, it was a match between two ageing guys to end a feud that has gone on too long, which set up the Angle / Jarrett programme which nobody wants, and which had an overbooked, screwy finish.
Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?
High Road/Low Road Plugs
We are taking the high road on these articles so you should read them…
Michael Weyer has a look at father/sons in wrestling and he has reader feedback in Shining the Spotlight.
Ari Berenstein has the ROH news, a preview of ROH in Dayton, and the Ring of Shame in the Column of Honor
Sean, David & Alex have a look at a variety of topics in The Triple Threat
Ronny Sarnecky has part twenty seven in his look at Vince McMahon’s wrestling empire in The Piledriver Report
O’Dog has a look at John Cena in The Goodness.
Julian Williams has The Top Ten heel turns.
Larry Csonka has the 3Rs for Bound for Glory.
John Meehan has a look at Bound for Glory in MeeThinks.
Steve Sullivan has a look at Cyber Sunday and how you should vote in The Crystal Ball
Steve Cook has a recap of OVW and HWA and he answers your questions in Ask 411
Mathew Sforcina has a look at everybody’s favorite wrestler in Evolution Schematic, and Sforcina-Marsico book the women’s title tournament in The Fink’s Payload
Bayani Domingo has a look at which unsigned wrestlers he would sign in Truth B Told
Douglas Nunnally makes his 411 debut and he says there is good wrestling out there in NULL
