411 Fact or Fiction 01.25.07: Cena/Orton, TNA PPVs, Bam Bam, More

1. Giving away Lashley vs. Test on ECW On Sci-Fi for free when it is ECW’s main match at the Royal Rumble was a stupid move.

Ari Berenstein: FICTION. Really, who cares about Lashley vs. Test? I don’t see anyone shelling out the forty bucks for the sole purpose of wanting to watch Bobby boy fight the walking ugly stick, not even the ECW television audience. Not to mention that Lashley has already fought Test in a triple threat match two weeks ago with RVD and that this past week’s match was in fact NON title. No, the Royal Rumble PPV is being sold, as always, on the Rumble itself, and maybe Cena vs. Umaga last man standing. Therefore, you could give away Lashley vs. Test a thousand times on ECW television, and it would not be a stupid move.

Brad Garoon: FACT. Just because Lashley vs. Test wasn’t an obvious draw to begin with doesn’t mean giving a first time match away on free TV and having an incredibly decisive victory for the babyface is forgivable. The Rumble tends to be a strong PPV, but I don’t see how taking away any reason to buy it can be considered anything but a stupid move. When you consider that it was barely announced or hyped ahead of time for TV one can’t even imagine it helped that our of ECW television out at all. Had there been a screwy finish or had they even advertised Test vs. Lashley far enough ahead of time for Tuesday it would seem like less of a bonehead decision, but as it is I can’t understand why they did it unless they plan on changing the match somehow on Sunday.

Score: 0 for 1

2. TNA should run at least half their PPVs outside of Orlando.

Ari Berenstein: FACT. Half would be a very good number of shows to run outside of Orlando. You want to value those loyal hardcore fans who come every week to the impact zone, but eventually you have to get out there and travel the country. TNA needs to get its name and its roster out there, and that means holding their shows and especially PPVs in different cities. Not only do you expose the live product to a larger number of people, but the crowd reaction will generally be hot and loud because of the buzz and excitement of seeing guys like Samoa Joe, Sting, Kurt Angle and Christian live. I should also mention the extra money that TNA would bring in from the live gate. The impact zone fans have it lucky that they get in for free, but at some point TNA has to start bringing in revenue from other potential sources, and that includes the live shows in venues outside of their home studio.

Brad Garoon: FACT. Ari put it very well so I’ll just add a few things. First the fans at the Impact Zone should be charged something like 1 to 5 dollars for the Pay Per Views. It doesn’t really hurt their wallets at all and it brings in some money for the company. TNA should look at which markets are strong for their TV and run Pay Per Views there. I unfortunately didn’t make it home from New York in time to make it to the PPV in Detroit (Plymouth) but from all accounts it was a successful venture and there’s no reason why TNA can’t take a gamble by taking their shows on the road. Now getting fans to come back to shows by booking good ones in the first place is an entirely different challenge for TNA, one I don’t think they can overcome right now.

Score: 1 for 2

3. Deuce & Domino will become one of the great WWE tag teams of this era when all is said and done.

Ari Berenstein: FICTION. I love Deuce and Domino’s act…their entrance, the Greaser characters, the leather jacket attire, Cherry, everything. It’s all good…until they get in the ring. Then these guys become Cinderella after the ball. So far in the one match they’ve had on television, they were not exposed. However, that is because the match was very short. I’ve seen them on OVW shows in longer matches…and believe me, they are no ring technicians. They will become exposed in the ring soon enough, and fans will notice. Maybe they will improve in that aspect, but until they do, its a wing and a prayer that their characterization will make them one of the “great” tag teams of this era.

Brad Garoon: FICTION. I missed their match on television and I’ve never seen them in OVW, so I’ll go solely by Ari’s assessment of them here. If they are no good in the ring they have no real chance of sticking around a long time. Look at the current crop of successful WWE tag teams. The Hardyz have gotten their groove back, MNM are more than competent, Regal and Taylor are both accomplished in the ring, the Hooligans are fantastic and both members of Rated RKO can go on their own and are a great heel tandem. No over team since the New Age Outlaws have been able to suck outright and maintain their popularity. Given WWE’s short attention span with tag teams and their habit of not giving new guys much of a chance I don’t see Deuce & Domino sticking around for years to come. REMINDER: I haven’t seen anything from this team yet so feel free to chuck my opinion on this one out the window.

Score: 2 for 3

—SWITCH!!!—

4. Bam Bam Bigelow deserves to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame eventually.

Brad Garoon: FACT. Combine the fact that he main evented WrestleMania XI and that he’s passed away and he’s a shoe in. I happen to think he’d have eventually been inducted even had he not died prematurely, but the fact that he did puts him in line in front of many others if you’re going by WWE’s Hall of Fame standards. The bottom in the end however is that he was one of the most talented big men to enter a WWE ring and was an incredibly popular wrestler in the company for a long time. I predict a 2008 entry for Bam Bam.

Ari Berenstein: FACT. Considering they’ll let anyone except Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior in there (and they may get to those guys yet), I’m with Brad, let Bam Bam in. You may as well get LT and throw him in the celebrity wing at the same time. You see, that’s the thing–there’s no doubt Bam Bam was very talented as a big man and he did accomplish alot in his multiple runs with WWE and elsewhere. However, this being a worked sport, the conditions and stipulations to bring guys into the WWE are much lower than say, a baseball hall of fame where only the truly best of the best make it in. I mean, geez, Gene Okerlund and Pete Rose are in there, so OF COURSE we should put Bam Bam in there.

Score: 3 for 4

5. All of WWE’s recent releases made sense.

Brad Garoon: FACT. With the exception of possibly Terkay who I liked mostly because he and Burke wore matching ring jackets. In all honesty I’m surprised they didn’t push the duo harder. Terkay is every bit as talented as most of the big men on WWE’s roster and the MMA background is something that I didn’t think they’d want to throw away. At any rate the rest of the releases weren’t doing anything important, or anything at all in some cases, and no case can really be made for them to have stayed on. Oh, and the Bashams, they dropped the ball with Doug and Danny.

Ari Berenstein: FACT. Again I am in agreement with Brad. There are no surprises from the recent Black Thursday 2007 list, aside from Terkay due to his size and The Bashams, who only a select few saw their true potential (HINT: None of these select few are in WWE creative and upper management). The roster drops all made sense because these were wrestlers who either were not on television and therefore just taking up money and space (Gangrel, Rodney Mack, etc.), or were never going to be given the chance to reach their potential (Bashams). So yeah, that makes sense, especially for WWE.

Score: 4 for 5

6. John Cena vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Title would be worthy of the WrestleMania main event spot.

Brad Garoon: FACT. But mostly due to a lack of other interesting options. A first time match featuring two young wrestlers is always interesting, and both of these guys have been kept pretty strong recently. The only person I’d really rather see Cena defend the title against is HBK, but a match against Orton opens up the door for an easy Michaels/Edge rematch to add another big entry to Mania. As always I’d prefer they consolidate the titles in a triple threat match but since that isn’t going to happen I guess Cena vs. Orton will suffice.

Ari Berenstein: FACT. Although, again, like Brad, I value a Cena-HBK match more than Cena-Orton. Then again, when you have the choice between those two and you pick Cena-Orton, that’s like settling for taking your best friend to the prom instead of the school hottie. By the way…I didn’t have a date for my prom. =-( Actually…I didn’t go to my prom…excuse me, I think I have something in my eye…sniffle…sniffle… (blows nose)…sorry. Um where was I? Oh yes, I’d much rather see HBK tune up the band with a Wrestlemania-level main event performance (and I just know he can do it too) than Cena-Orton, even though that seems to be a destined Mania main event for years now. It’s either going to come down to those matches or perhaps a triple threat involving Edge or a four way elimination match involving all of the above. Either way you have competitors who are either at the top of their game in the ring and with promos (well, minus Orton on that, he often is a bore on the stick) or whose combination reveals intriguing possibilities that at this point represent the best of the Raw brand. Cena and Orton would be fine, but Cena-HBK; better.

Score: 5 for 6