I absolutely hate writing columns like this – columns that span a variety of topics because I’ve been too busy to write anything consistently for the last few months. I also hate columns where the authors feel the need to justify their absence, so let’s just get into it!
After passing it by on my DVR for a month, I finally had a chance to watch the first and only ever live TNA Impact. While I do believe that TNA has gone too far down the route of “sports entertainment,” I have to admit that this was a good show. Alex Shelley did a great job as did Awesome Kong. As someone who is a long-time fan of good women’s wrestling, I have to admit that I love watching female wrestlers like Awesome Kong and ODB go at it. These women put on a masterful performance and I was impressed.
I don’t know what “TNA Wrestling: Cross the Line” means. Can someone explain that to me?
TNA made it a point to comment that Orlando was the epicenter of the wrestling world during the weekend that they aired the live Impact, but they didn’t directly say that it was because of WrestleMania or because of Ric Flair’s Hall of Fame ceremony. Since Tenay and West heavily commented on how there was a lot going on in Orlando that weekend, I thought it would have been a good thing for them to make mention of these two events.
In any event, it was a good outing by TNA and I thought that they did themselves a great favor by putting on such a great show. And I have to mention that they did themselves a great disservice by showing one half of WWE’s Highlanders during the broadcast. That was certainly a “bad business” move and it made many of the wrestlers in TNA angry at the company’s management. It was a cheap shot and not necessary – and it cost a young wrestler in another company some money. Not good.
Let’s fast-forward about a month to last week’s Raw coming from London, England. What a great set-up for the show, huh? The arena looked great and it was nice to see that William Regal – the obvious hometown favorite – was booked in a match against the WWE Champion, Randy Orton. However, whoever booked this match completely blew it. When you have a guy who is as over as William Regal is in London, you have to book a match that has a little length to it and where the audience believes that Regal may actually win the damn thing. I think back to the Ric Flair vs. Triple H championship match a few years ago on RAW where everyone in the arena and everyone watching at home thought that Flair was actually going to beat Triple H to win the World Championship for a 17th time!
Anyway, whoever booked the Regal vs. Orton match definitely didn’t do as good a job as they could have – I mean the place was chanting for Regal! When was the last time you heard that?! A side note on the match – Orton escaped a serious injury when Regal dropped him on his head towards the end of the match. That was scary to watch, no matter what you think of either competitor.
The other big event that took place while I’ve been away from writing this column is the 3-day retirement ceremony for professional wrestling legend Ric Flair. Like many long-time fans, this signals a complete change in how I view the wrestling industry. However, I’m not ready to write about what Flair’s retirement means to me as an online wrestling journalist yet. What I can say now, though, is that things will be different…how could they not be? The future is here. We are in a wrestling world without “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair as an active competitor.
Feels sorta weird, huh?
Before I go I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest that you check out Eddie’s awesome column about Flair’s retirement in concert with Trish Stratus‘ retirement and Steve Austin presenting Mick Foley with the Hardcore Championship. It’s a good read and I think you’ll enjoy it. Also, Justin Spades has been doing an amazing job of keeping our sister site, XHeadlines.com, up-to-date with the latest in professional wrestling news and rumors. Check it out!
If you’re looking for more writing from me, you can go over and check out Joe’s Journal (my just-about-daily blog). See you back here soon, folks!
– E-mail feedback to joe1897@gmail.com
– Read more Balrog Babblings!
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