Contract Updates on Top TNA Superstars

In tonight's TNA House Show in New York City, Team 3d asked the audience what company they should re-sign with? TNA or the Other Company (WWE of course)? This basically means that Team 3D re-signed with TNA as they would never pulls such a stunt unless the wrestlers would have already signed the contract.

Now talking about Christian Cage and Kevin Nash it seems there is a 50-50 chance that they would resign with TNA. The most important factor seems to be whether or not the WWE is interested in giving them contracts. It seems that Kevin Nash is wanted by the WWE to stand in as a bodyguard for Shawn Michaels, thus counteracting Lance Cade for Chris Jericho. The main problem with Nash is that he is limited when talking about wrestling and the TNA schedule is perfect for him as he can rest enough between matches. This is rarely achievable in WWE.

We all know that Christian Cage did not leave on good terms from the WWE. The good news is that this happen a while ago and time does heal all wounds. Cage is personally feeling that a move to the WWE would be better for him as he would get pushed more. On the other hand I do have a feeling that he did get an extra push in the recent weeks as given the Kurt Angle vs AJ Styles feud and the fact that Kurt is in that 4-way main event for the title and AJ Styles fought Christian Cage for the qualificiation (Cage won it) it would have made more sense for AJ Styles to be in that one.

TNA Hard Justice 2008 - My Review

As always, people might or might not agree with what I or anyone else is writing when talking about professional wrestling as there are TNA fans and WWE fans and the fight is on. I must say that I never made a secret of the fact that I enjoy TNA wrestlers more but the WWE does seem to be growing in storyline material and on the whole the competition between the two companies is interesting although WWE is far ahead of TNA at the moment. Leaving that aside I just saw Hard Justice some time ago and wanted to talk about it a little.

First match saw Creed versus Petey Williams for the X Division title. It was a pretty interesting match but the ending did not really satisfy me as Daivari interfereed and caused Petey Williams to retain the title. As expected, this being an X division wrestling match, it was quite entertaining and did make for a good pay per view start. Then we had the knockouts tag team match, one that should have been highly entertaining as the women's wrestling division in TNA is definitely of high quality. Traci Brooks was the special referee, something that I do not remember seeing before until TNA: a woman's wrestling referee. The start of the match was something that wanted to be funny, it was not for me, and then we had the actual wrestling match starting. It was not bad and the TNA Knockouts champion got the pin.

The next was a highly expected tag team match between Robert Roode and James Storm versus LAX for the tag titles. A lot of hype was around this match and Beer Money Inc. is quite catchy. On the other hand I really like LAX and I wanted them to win. This match looked pretty violent and intense and it did keep fans entertained. We did see the Three Amigos, a punch probably towards the Guerrero family and then Roode tried a frog splash that missed. This was the turning point as Hernandez got in and started laying out Beer Money Inc. Then all broke loose as a lot of near falls happened. This wrestling match had an incredibly intense ending, one that was so unexpected. We saw Hernandez execute the Border Toss on Homicide but landing outside the six sided ring on Beer Money Inc. This was not the end as the women got involved as well, together with Hector Guerrero but Beer Money Inc got the win after the beer bottle was broken on Homice as he was going for the Gringo Killer. An incredible tag team wrestling match and new tag team champions.

Next was Sonjay Dutt versus Jay Lethal, all accompanied by a feud story line that was very well built. The wrestling match had special stipulations as the two wrestlers were chained together and wearing a tuxedo. The win should come via pin fall or when one wrestler takes the costume off the other one. Jay Lethal won it via pin fall, quite a good match but without those chains I think it would have been a lot more spectacular. Next came the Jersey Street Fight that saw Team 3D lose the match with Christian Cage and Rhino. It was quite a good match with a frog splash finish. Abyss also appeared and saved Cage and Rhino after the match. Then we had the last man standing wrestling match but with TNA rules, which means that first you have to pin or submit your opponent prior to the referee starting the ten count. AJ won the match but Sting attacked AJ. This was definitely unexpected. The main event saw Samoa Joe defeat Booker T thanks to a guitar hit. It is becoming quite strange but for me it seems that faces use the guitar and heels Sting's baseball bat. This is quite worth a watch. Hard Justice 2008 was a pretty good pay per view in terms of wrestling but I do think it could have been better. Be sure to watch SummerSlam and Edge versus the Undertaker in Hell in a Cell this weekend.

TNA Slammiversary 2008 Review

OK! TNA Slmmiversary is over and I took my time to write my own review because I was a little unsatisfied with it all. The good news is that overall, the wrestling was great, as always with TNA but it felt it had something missing. The first match, Kaz vs Petey Williams was pretty good, just as we would expect from the two. It was obvious that Scott Steiner would get involved but what was not really expected was the end. Petey Williams won, of course, but what was special was the ending that saw Kaz getting beat up and Abyss appearing out of the blue. Then we had the 6 man tag team match that featured the TNA Knockouts, a match that was good but it did feel as simply something extra that needed to be there as the knockouts are popular in wrestling.

Now the next match was one that I wanted to see: LAX vs Team 3D. Needless to say that it is quite special to see LAX with that lovely knockout near them (not to mention she delivered a What's up to Team 3D) and Hector Guerrero of course. As I expected this wrestling match was pretty good with a lot of interference and good double team moves and an ending that was definitely unexpected. Homicide with a quick roll up and LAX maintains the belts.

Awesome Kong then had 2 matches and she also laid out Elvis. That was quite hilarious but the matches against Kong from this invitational are not that entertaining. We basically see Kong destroying every single woman. Now the entire Elvis part was not entertaining at all from my point of view although it is always nice to see that Awesome Bomb delivered. Then we had the wedding with Jay Lethal, something we all knew how it was going to turn out, just like the Edge and Vickie Guererro wedding that will happen in the WWE. Everything was long and the former wrestlers doing it like crazy, including the snake and it all. Not that great but not bad on the whole.

Now the next match was the one that I personally wanted to see: Kurt Angle vs AJ Styles. The entire storyline was well built and these two wrestlers are very good, with a lot of technical skill. We did expect a great match and it was, although it was not the best these two can give. There is the question of whether or not Kurt Angle is 100% but still, by just looking at the entire match we can realize that this is not over. As I expected, AJ Styles won the match after a distraction by Karen Angle. AJ got beat up afterwards but still, a great way to continue a feud.

Next we had the main event: the King of the Mountain match, a very unique one in professional wrestling, one that is sure to be of high quality, no matter what happens. As expected, Kevin Nash got involved in the match but it was all made so that Booker T would have the opening towards a feud with Samoa Joe. Kevin Nash cost Booker the title when he got involved and Samoa Joe retains the title. A pretty good pay per view on the whole but still, I do have the feeling that for a Slammiversary pay per view, TNA could have done better.

TNA is turning into WCW

I think everyone is noticing this and I am not the only one watching wrestling that is old enough to remember World Championship Wrestling. I mean, the main at TNA Genesis 2007 saw 3 wrestlers that were high on the ladder of popularity in WCW: Sting, Kevin Nash and Booker T. Everybody I think realized that Booker T was Sting's mistery partner so I am not going to discuss that. TNA told enough to let everybody know who he was but without actually mentioning the name Booker T. Kurt Angle is the only one that is true WWE in TNA and this says a lot. WWE managed to get Jeff Hardy but that is about it. I can not think of any other wrestler that WWE got from TNA while the other way around is much more obvious. It is enough to mention Dustin Rhodes, now transformed into Black Reign. He will probably never get inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame for this move. We also have Kurt Angle, the wrestler that is probably the best in the world one it comes to how technical he is. I mean he almost delivered a perfect 450 degrees splash on the last pay per view and that says a lot. Then Christian Cage came to TNA, another blow to WWE and at Genesis he was in a ladder match. We all know the Edge and Christian ladder matches. We see Kevin Nash, good old Diesel, looking a little old but I still think he can wrestle and this is just a gimmick.

Then we are talking about the former Dudley Boys, who doesn't remember them? The Steiner Brothers. I still remember the feuds between the Steiners and the tag team of Sting and Lex Luger. What more is there to say? We are clearly witnessing a revival of World Championship Wrestling through TNA. We even had Scott Hall in (remember the Outsiders and the New World Order). It seems like good wrestlers are leaving the WWE and coming towards TNA. The wrestlers with more experience are coming to TNA. The main event at Genesis meant that the 4 fighters held over 40 belts in their careers. Only one thing would be more of a shock than Jericho possibly appearing in TNA and that would be somebody like Shawn Michaels or the Undertaker joining TNA, although that will never happen. Too bad for Jeff Hardy though, he might be a champ now but he is more suited for the TNA style. Well, as I said before, WCW is coming back to life through TNA and I am curious what will happen next.

TNA Genesis 2007 Motorcity Machine Guns vs Team 3D

This one had a nice build up behind it with Team 3D trying to destroy the X division, this after the Motorcity Machine Guns aided the Steiners in defeating Team 3D at Bound for Glory. I expected team 3D to win but the match should have been quite interesting. The machine guns came in with moves that are very characteristic for the X Division and they gained the upper hand against Brother Ray in the 6 sided wrestling ring. Then, we got to witness what was already expected as Team 3D took over and started working with a very good double team move. After all, they are very good together and the experience factor was sure to pay off via special moves from both wrestling teams as the match started. Well, I did not expect such a quick shift in momentum and it is a delight to watch Sabin and his partner wrestling. They are quite quick, athletic and make a good team. Then, a lot of moves were interesting and Sabin delivered a nice tornado DDT that was not that well executed but still looked good. As the match continued we saw an isolation of Brother D-Von and the Motorcity Machine Guns did their best to try and double team him as much as possible while constantly hitting Brother Ray as well so that he would not interfere as in the rest of the match till that moment. The most interesting was a turnbuckle based frankensteiner followed by a highly elevated frog splash. It was not enough to bring Brother D-Von down, which makes sense as he is a pretty huge wrestler. Then a new shift in momentum and another one with a dropkick through the table on D-Von. The guns had the match won but D-Von took the referee out of the ring and then Shelley tried a springboard to the outside that did not connect. Then Team 3D did a trademark double team move but Sabin was not defeated. I did not expect that at all. I mean if the match ended then it would have been great but it still went on. It was a good move for TNA as the match continued and the heels ended up defeated after an acrobatic walk by Sabin and a lovely double kick. 5 Stars ranking for this wrestling match as it was highly entertaining. My favorites did not win but hey, neither did The Undertaker at the last Pay per View.

The Steiner Brothers vs Team 3D - Bound for Glory 2007

Well, here is another dream match that took place at TNA's Bound for Glory 2007: a 2 out of 3 tables match between the Steiner Brothers and Team 3D. It was a pretty nice build up that puts us in an interesting position: the formerly known as Dudley Boyz, now Team 3D are heels and the Steiner Brothers are kind of like a face on TNA. On the other hand, during the long wrestling careers of all 4 wrestlers involved, we did see changes from heel or face point of views. Getting back to the wrestling match, it started off just as we expected, as a brawl. We did notice some help from the fans thanks to some beer and Scott Steiner, that was kind of interesting. The fight was also brought to the public, in the middle of the public to be more exact with trash cans and chairs. To sum this up, the beginning of the match saw a complete domination by the Steiner Brothers and not much wrestling, just a simple fight. Then, after this complete domination, we saw a quick move by Team 3D and Rick Steiner was taken out with a classic move through the table, the 3D beautifully executed. After that, table number two saw Brother Ray taken through the table thanks to a nice Frankensteiner by Scott Steiner from the top rope. The last table saw the Steiner Brothers benefit from a distraction by The Motor City Machine Guns. All enough to see a bulldog by Rick Steiner out of an Electric Chair position by Scott Steiner. Interesting match but kind of slow when compared with other TNA matches. Interesting build up though and it is a feud that will continue in TNA, I think!