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The Fink’s Payload 11.27.08: Jumping Ship

November 27, 2008 | Posted by Daniel Wilcox


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Good afternoon all and welcome to the greatest armchair booking column in the history of the Internet Wrestling Community, The Fink’s Payload.

I would hope that the majority of you are familiar with how this works by now, but if not, go here.

So without further ado, onto the 155th edition of The Fink’s Payload!

Last Week’s Homework: If you could send any WWE Superstar to TNA or vice versa, who would it be, and how would you book their first feud in their new company?

Well we were close to a disaster this week, as I didn’t receive a single entry until last night. Thankfully, Adam Jones is here to save the day;

Since you had Christian going to WWE last time, I’ll focus on one of my other favorites going to TNA, instead. I know we could choose anyone to switch companies, but I wanted to pick someone realistic.

At the beginning of Impact, Mick Foley comes to the ring to announce that he has signed a free agent for TNA, Elijah Burke. However, Burke has been signed to work in the booth with Tenay and West. Foley’s rationale is that he has always been impressed with Burke’s verbal skills, and as a former color commentator, he knows Burke has what it takes.

By doing this, not only does this give TNA a change of pace from their current over-enthusiastic tandem, but it gives Burke a ton of exposure each show – way more than he’d get with a bunch of 2-minute vignettes. Also, it doesn’t thrust another WWE cast-off immediately into the top of the card. Burke as an announcer could lead to several different scenarios:

1) The Main Event Mafia continues to mistreat Tenay and West, and the taunts become more physical, prompting Burke to defend his colleagues and then join the TNA Frontline.

2) Burke lays low until the MEM-Frontline angle has passed, and then after a long-brewing heated argument with the announce team, he quits announcing and becomes a full-time wrestler.

3) Burke portrays a “media member with an agenda” gimmick, where he inconsistently derides certain wrestlers’ actions but applauds others, and eventually is revealed as the mastermind of some evil ploy and returns to the ring.

Nothing fancy here, but I think it would effectively showcase the talents of a person that WWE will really regret releasing.

Adam Jones

First of all, I love the idea of Burke in TNA. I think Burke has a ton of talent and with the right backing could go right to the top in any company. He’s got the look, the charisma and the ability inside the ring. Quite how WWE can call themselves a creative force and yet have no plans for a talent like Burke is beyond me.

That said, your idea kind of has the same problem, in that I don’t feel you’re utilizing the guy’s full potential by putting him in the announce booth. While I understand that your scenarios would eventually see him get back in the ring, I see no need to build him as an announcer only to later have him get involved in angles and wrestling again. Why not just have him debut as a wrestler?

So in conclusion, I love the idea of Burke getting a shot in TNA, but don’t quite understand your thinking behind the role you’ve assigned him.

Entry: Entries will NOT be accepted via the comments section. Entries will NOT be accepted after the deadline. When sending an entry, NO attachments please. All entries should be sent to [email protected]

Deadline: The column has to be in the 411 system by Wednesdays at midnight. I want entries in no later than midnight on Tuesdays.

Acceptance: In the past, there have been too many entries to fit in one column. However, as long as there is room, your entry will be included.

Length: There’s no limit, but be considerate please.

Spelling and grammar: Please check your entries for spelling and grammar mistakes. A few mistakes I don’t mind, but if your entry looks like it’s been written by a three-year old, I’ll probably just shit all over your ideas.

This Week’s Homework: Book Armageddon 2008.

Remember, all entries to [email protected].

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