Even with the NXT theme song playing on my iPod while I type this, the first thing that comes to mind about this week is the Miz’s close cash in on Sheamus. Don’t get me wrong, I want Miz to be WWE Champion, but I’d much rather see him hold the briefcase for a while instead of cashing in so quickly. I love The Miz’s new found aggression. And as for R-Truth stopping Miz’s cash in, I hope to God this doesn’t mean their feud is resuming. If anything, I hope this is closure to their feud. I also wonder if Miz will drop the United States title.

You may wonder why the epic Triple Threat wasn’t the first thing I thought of. Well, I missed that. However, I caught it on Youtube the next day. What an amazing match. Could have and should have been main event. Easily match of the week. I’m looking forward to Randy Orton vs. Sheamus at SummerSlam. Should be pretty good.

I mentioned The Miz’s tease with the briefcase earlier. I completely forgot about the great ten minute TV match between Sheamus and Evan Bourne that came before that segment. I wonder why the WWE Champion doesn’t main event. If this was Cena, they’d have the main event. No doubt. Whatever.

—

NXT this week was okay. Nothing special and pretty forgettable. That would be why I had to look up the re-cap just to think of something to write about other than the ridiculous obstacle course.

“McGillibuddies”?! Wow. That’s pitiful.

—

Like I said, I missed Smackdown this week. However, I skimmed the results. I was pissed off when I read about how good of a wrestling show it was. All the matches were over 10 minutes. Amazing. And a great 2/3 Falls Match for a main event! Awesome.

One little thought about the show: I don’t like the way they handled Joey Mercury’s revelation as the masked SES member. I don’t like it at all. Oh well. You can’t win them all.

—

Well guys, I’m sorry this was so short. As I said, I’m on vacation. I don’t have internet where I’m staying and I’m at an internet café just to post this.

Thanks for reading.

Follow me on Twitter!www.twitter.com/wwefanmike_sXe

Also feel free to email me at wwefanmike@gmail.com

]]> http://ftwnews.com/2010/07/week-in-review-71910/feed/ 1 http://ftwnews.com/2010/07/the-tna-tribune-72210/ http://ftwnews.com/2010/07/the-tna-tribune-72210/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:04:25 +0000 Alex http://ftwnews.com/?p=1650

It’s July 22, 2010…..Thursday Night……and it’s time for The TNA Tribune.  This newest recap show has been lighting up FTWnews.com and TNA!  It seems that many people are reading the Tribune and following what I am saying.  Well I, Alex Barie, would like to say thank you, and enjoy another edition!

Unlike recent weeks in TNA, this edition of iMPACT started off with a match.  Not only that, it was a title match.  And beyond that, the  PWI’s 500 winner for 2010 was part of it.  Let’s give you a rundown of the night’s match card:

Global Title Match: Rob Terry vs. AJ Styles

Winner and NEW Global Champion: AJ Styles

TNA Knockouts Champion Angelina Love & Taylor Wilde vs. Madison Rayne & Sarita

Winners: Angelina Love & Taylor Wilde

Kurt Angle vs. Hernandez

Winner: Kurt Angle

Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy

Time Limit Draw

Matt Morgan vs. Ken Anderson

Winner: Ken Anderson

Best Of 5 Series Match Two – Anything Goes Street Fight: TNA World Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money

Winners: Beer Money

To recap and give my thoughts on each match, I am going to go in order.  Now as I stated above, the first match was for the Global Title as Rob Terry faced AJ Styles.  Now I missed a couple minutes of the opening of iMPACT, which means I missed most of the match.  Now I have to say I missed it because I was working, but I did rush home as I couldn’t miss anything.  Besides, I taped the opening so I will go back and watch it tomorrow.  Now I saw the last 5 minutes of the match, around that time frame.  I am only going to mention the ending though.  It looks like AJ and Kaz are becoming more of a team.  It seems like they have more chemistry.  Hey, wouldn’t we all if we were members of a Ric Flair faction?  Now as Terry was going for a suplex, Kaz, who was at ringside, reached in and tripped Terry.  He falls back and AJ landed right on top of him.  Rob’s shoulders were down while Kaz still held his leg.  It was a three count, and believe it or not, AJ stole the title.  Now I am not those kind of people who encourage people to steal or cheat or lie or anything like that, but if the referee didn’t see what happened, then it’s the referee’s fault.  What happened, happened and usually it comes out to favor the person who did some sneaky act.  Don’t blame AJ or Kaz, but blame the referee…..then again, it’s not like he knew what was going on.

I told everyone when I first started this recap show that I wanted to see more of Sarita.  It seems like more people than I thought are reading this.  Ever since then, Sarita has been on television and she actually had a match this week.  Now did I say I like the direction she is going with her character?  I am not too sure yet, but I do like the heel Sarita.  All I am saying is keep her on television, give her some great feuds and watch her magic in the ring.  I will never forget her debut match on iMPACT!  Now it was Taylor Wilde and Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne & Sarita.  It wasn’t too long of a match, but I really don’t think it needed to be.  I see this match as a way to improve the already fueling rivalry.  Sadly, Sarita lost, but Love and Wilde picked up the win.  At the end of the match, the mysterious girl of mystery comes zooming in the iMPACT Zone on a motorcycle.  Still having her identity sealed with her helmet, she pops her way in the ring and attacks Love and Wilde.  After the beat down is finished, she gets back on her bike.  Madison and Sarita follow her.  As Madison walks with her, she calls for Lacey, but Velvet tells Lacey not to go.  It’s a “tug of war” battle as Lacey is the middle part of the rope.  She goes back and forth, but Madison wins as she pulls her to her side and they walk off together.

After that match, we pick it up a notch.  The next match is a Top 10 Contender’s Match.  It’s the first one out of two of the night.  It’s the 8^th Ranked, Kurt Angle going against the 7^th Ranked, Hernandez.  I thought this was another good performance of Kurt Angle.  As this match was going on, I tweeted (Follow me on Twitter here) “Kurt Angle > Anyone else in wrestling”.  It got a lot of retweets and a lot of people commented on it.  Kurt did his classic, or as Michael Cole says, vintage moves.  He did his 3 German Suplexes, Angle Slam, Ankle Lock, and Top Rope Moonsault.  Now I usually, well barely, mention WWE stars on here.  I mentioned Cole and I am going to mention Jack Swagger for a second.  I have been watching WWE turn Swagger into a small Kurt Angle.  Of course, they are nothing alike and they will never be alike, but it seems like WWE is missing that Kurt Angle style.  They are making Swagger be like that, and he does do it good, but not as stellar as Kurt Angle.  Like I said, no one is greater than Kurt Angle.  You can imitate him, but it will only insult the person who is imitating.  Kurt won this match, as his winning streak continues.  He moves on to #6 and that is AJ Styles.  AJ vs. Kurt……I can NOT get enough of that!

Moving down the line in the match card!  We saw a Top 10 Contender Match and we are seeing another one.  It’s Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe.  Jeff ranked #2 and Joe ranked #4.  As soon as I heard this match, I got excited.  You know you are going to enjoy the show if just having someone talk about it makes you excited.  This match went everywhere.  It went outside of the ring and went all over the ring.  Both stars hitting each other against the apron, ring barricade, ring posts, and ring steps.  They got back in the ring and a war was started.  Jeff controlled most of the outside attacks, but Joe controlled most of the in ring events.  He went after Jeff like no tomorrow.  But as the match wore on, it became a back and forth match.  Both doing moves and both countering them.  It was a hard fought battle without a doubt.  We saw high risk moves, some ground and pound mat wrestling submission moves, hard grapple moves, and classic knife edge chops.  Sadly the time ran out and the match came to a draw.  Now I have to say, I don’t like and really never liked the time limit for the matches.  It’s great in all for stuff like this though.  Let me explain.  Jeff has been undefeated for 3 straight weeks on the show.  Joe has been 2-1 in the past three weeks.  He’s on quite a dominate path.  So with both of these stars really racking in the momentum, a time limit draw shows still gives them momentum and still gives them at equal spots they were at.  Now if it was a Double DQ, it wouldn’t go over as good as you would expect a heel turn or a very violent streak of a person.  A Double Countout is another good way, but the time limit draw was fine with me in this match.  Like I said, I don’t like the time limit in matches, but it’s great when it’s a draw.  Nonetheless, these two had a stellar match that I sure hope we see again.

We saw another singles match tonight and that match was right after the Jeff vs. Joe match.  It was Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan.  I am very high up on these two.  I can see Morgan is getting more and more time, but I still think TNA needs to push him to the next level.  What level is that?  Well the winning level.  He needs to win.  I mean he lost this week, he lost last week, and lost at the PPV.  He has the look, the attitude, the character……but TNA needs to get behind him.  I personally think if we see a match with him against RVD, it would be crazy.  I know we don’t see much heel vs. heel, but Morgan vs. AJ would rock the place.  As I stated, Morgan lost this week to Mr. Anderson.  It was a short quick match, but to my dismay, Morgan did get the final word in without even saying anything.  I mean he grabbed the mic and all, but didn’t talk….didn’t speak….just blasted it in the head of Anderson.  It made him fall instantly and busted him open.  He lied there as Morgan stood 7 feet in the air.

Now comes to the main event match of the night.  Now as the night was wearing on, I thought this match wasn’t going to happen.  I was getting worried.  I mean no one talked about it the entire night.  I don’t know if they said anything at the beginning of the show because I missed it, but I was starting to panic, but the panic didn’t last long.  They announced it and I was thrilled.  I had to wait through a commercial break, but it was worth it.  Their match last week was amazing, and I could tell this week’s would be too.  It was Motor City Machine Guns against Beer Money Inc. in a Street Fight.  Beer Money is up 1-0 in the Best Of 5 Series, so Machine Guns needed a win tonight to tie things up.  We saw a great hardcore bout as they used everything they saw.  They used garbage cans, garbage can lids, kendo sticks, and so much other stuff.  They flew in the air and pounded themselves to the floor with grapples.  One spot I remember during the match is the suicide dive that Sabin did, but Roode blasted him right in the head with the chair.  He then took the knees out of Shelley as he hit him with a chair in his legs.  He spun around like a Merry-Go-Round and then fell to the floor.  Further in the match, we saw a reoccurring scene from last week.  It was where Brian Hebner, the referee of the match, got knocked out.  Now his dad, Earl Hebner, was at ringside, but that really didn’t matter as he got knocked out couple seconds after his son did.  There was no ref in the match now, but it’s not like you can cheat.  The teams still battled it out, but Machine Guns did a wicked move from the corner……a Sliced Bread #2 plus Powerbomb on Roode.  Shelley goes for a pin, but Storm comes in with his famous beer bottle and breaks it over the head of Shelley.  It looks like he is knocked out.  He falls over while Sabin enters the ring, but Storm kicks him right in the head with a Super Kick.  He gets the ref back up and the ref counts to 5!  No……he counted to 3 and Beer Money picked up the win again.  They are now 2-0 in the Series.  One more win and they win the Tag Titles.  Machine Guns are going to have to pull something out of their hats……but their more like Men Without Hats as I never seen them wear hats on the show.

That was the main event match, but I didn’t say it was the end of the show.  Before I get on with the end of the show, we saw some backstage segments and in-ring promos.  One backstage segment was with Sarita, Madison Rayne, Lacey and Velvet Sky.  It seems like the Beautiful People is breaking down and falling apart.  They have been such a great faction in TNA, I really don’t want to see them come to an end, but it’s all in rivalries.  Like I said, Sarita is having more time on television, which is the good thing out of this.

An in-ring promo later on in the night was with Kevin Nash and Jeff Jarrett.  We saw Kevin come out after Kurt Angle’s victory.  Kevin came in the ring and called out Jeff.  After the commercial break, we saw Jeff come out.  Kevin stated that he knew Sting for 20 years and he almost fell for Jeff as Jeff tried to blame Sting.  Kevin said that he sees through Jeff and it’s him who, as he stated, “left the log in the punch bowl”.  Jeff didn’t know what he was talking about, but Kevin retaliated.  He told him once his 3 girls realize the true Jeff Jarrett, he will realize that too.  Nash walks away as Jeff is left standing there.

We saw a couple short backstage segments involving Dixie Carter.  Now I never have seen Dixie on television this much.  I have to say, it was real nice.  I wrote a couple weeks ago that it was very rare to see her on screen, but she’s proving me wrong now as she is popping up more and more.  I love seeing her on as she can be a real asset to the show.  She was backstage with Kurt Angle at one point.  Dixie stated to him that she needs him to be behind her on this decision she has made.  Kurt said he was behind him when he signed 4 years ago and he is still behind her.  Dixie thanked him and Kurt left.  Later on, Dixie met with TFC Founder, Jeff Jarrett.  She also wanted him to be behind her tonight.  Even though he didn’t know what was happening last week, she tells him it’s a good thing and needs his support.  She goes on to tell him to tell the locker room that’s it’s nothing but good for TNA.  Before both of those talks with TFC stars, we saw Dixie talk to Management in an office.  She was standing up while everyone was sitting down.  That’s what you call a high authority to low authority picture.  She was yelling at them for what they did last week.  One person she was yelling at was Al Snow who attacked a referee last week.  He didn’t know what was going on, but she said he didn’t need to know.  Someone who had their back to the doorway turned around and saw the camera crew.  He sprang out from his seat and shut the door.  The camera still rolls as we hear Dixie still yelling at the people.

Some other promos backstage were from Team 2-D…..oops, 3-D and one from RVD.  Brother D-Von came in a room and talked to Brother Ray about what happened last week.  He asked him why he didn’t come out.  D-Von stated that those people have always been there for him and that they are family.  Ray disagreed as he has done more in the wrestling world than anyone of them did.  D-Von doesn’t take this lightly, but Ray walks out before anything else is said.

RVD was being interviewed by Christy.  She asked him about what happened last week.  RVD stated that it was great seeing them.  He went on to say that he loved that time period.  He said he is World Champion and with those people here, it’s the best of both worlds.  He did acknowledge his title though as he still remembers he has people who are targeting him.  He finally said he’s going to find some TV backstage to hear what Dixie had to say.

At the end of the show……which is the main event of main events of the night……had Dixie Carter in the ring with Rhyno, Stevie Richards, Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, and Raven.  Dixie finally explains why she invited them to the shows.  She always listens to the fans and always wanted to hear what they wanted.  Well the fans wanted extreme!  Everyone could probably agree that ECW last year was not ECW.  It was a place that was for no-names.  It wasn’t extreme, it wasn’t anything that followed the letters, ECW.  Now I am going to admit that I have wanted some extreme stuff for awhile.  Actually, it would be more than a year.  I miss the old wrestling days where we had Steel Cage Matches, Ladder Matches, Street Fights, First Blood Matches, etc on free TV.  I remember those tables splitting in half, chairs across people’s heads…..all of that!  But with a show turning their TV rating, you don’t see that anymore.  But a new and better show that airs on Thursday Nights is bringing that.  We are seeing those Ladder Matches, Street Fights and I love it.  I have to say…..it’s about time!  Anyway, Dixie listened to her fans and brought the Original ECW Stars.  They claimed that they miss the old days.  It was a place to be back then.  It was a great show, but it was ruined.  Tommy stated that he saw his friends get fired and lose their jobs because the ECW program wasn’t the real ECW all because of a vision.  After hearing from Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, and Dixie Carter, it was announced that there is going to be One More Night of extreme.  Tommy is going to run the entire show.  Book the matches, book the stars, do everything as Dixie said, it will be done right.  I personally can’t wait for this as I heard it’s going to happen August 8^th.  I just may have to take off of work just to see it!

Here is this week’s TNA Tribune Ranking:

1. Jeff Hardy- Even though his match was a Draw this week, I count that as not even having match.  He didn’t win, he didn’t lose.  So really he is still undefeated on TNA.  He holds the #1 Spot from last week.
2. Samoa Joe- Joe was forth last week, but moved up to two as he had a stellar match with Jeff.  He is 2-1 in the past three weeks, but with him having a draw too, he’s still 2-1 as it didn’t help and didn’t hurt his match tally, but helped his ranking on here.
3. Dixie Carter- I have never seen more of Dixie Carter in one night.  She appeared in many segments on the show and I personally think she did a great job.  She admitted that she didn’t do a promo in the ring as it was really her.  Promos are usually written up and in some character, but not her.  That was truly Dixie.  She has been part of a huge storyline in TNA and that gives her major points on the ranking scale.  She moves up from #5 last week to #3.
4. Beer Money Inc. – I always knew they were impressive, but with them winning two straight weeks in a row, I cannot ignore it.  They won in a Ladder Match and in a Street Fight.  They are one more win away until they become Tag Champs.
5. Sarita- With her getting more and more television time, I can’t ignore that either.  She may have lost this week, but she is making her way into storylines and feuds.  Keep pushing her!

We are sad to see RVD leave the #2 Spot from last week.  Also sad to see Abyss leave the #3 spot but we haven’t seen a single sign of Abyss this week.

It looks like The TNA Tribune is wrapping up this week.  Another great TNA show and another great Tribune edition.  I thank you for reading and come back next week to see what I have in store.  The TNA Tribune!

Please read about TFC……my online wrestling fantasy company that has over 500 members around the web.  Click here!

Now while that is the first thing that comes to mind, my favorite part of Raw was Randy Orton vs. Edge. I’m glad we got at least one 10min match on Raw. And how about that amazing Shooting StaRKO spot? One of the most amazing spots I’ve seen in a while. It almost makes up for that horrible Brady Bunch match set up by the guest host. Almost. When will they completely scrap that shit?

Aside from those few epic moments, Raw had a lot of misses, most of which were in the first half. For one, Morrison on mic. I’m a huge JoMo fan, but he really needs to work on his mic skills. I wish he had stayed on Smackdown, where he could truly shine. I found the Hart Dynasty and Usos match to be good, but they need much more time than they’ve been getting. I’m glad they were given enough time at the PPV. They really shined.

The biggest miss of the night was easily the match between Alicia Fox and Gail Kim. I always have and always will love Gail Kim. I will never understand why mindless bimbos with zero talent, such as Alicia, are given title runs and people like Gail Kim with true in ring talent are jobbers.

—

I didn’t really like that NXT this week only had two matches. However, those two matches were good. The tag match that pitted Miz and Riley against Mark Henry and Lucky Cannon was really good at letting the rookies shine. Especially Riley. I’m huge on that guy. Lucky, not so much. Regardless, this was a nice 11 minute tag match.

The talk show segment with Percy Watson didn’t live up to my expectations. Percy is extremely charismatic and over with the fans. They could have done a lot with this. It came off as more of a lead in to the 20 man battle royal main event.

I liked the battle royal. Battle royals are one of my favorite matches. When I found out the Nexus would be involved, it kind of scared me in that I thought this would open up some dissention in the faction. However, the stable was the last standing, declaring themselves the six winners. Brilliant.

—

The kick off to Smackdown proved why it is the superior wrestling show. While Kofi Kingston and Cody Rhodes fought to a no contest, the match was still a pretty good curtain jerker. I wish Kane hadn’t come in. Am I the only one who is already sick of him?

Match number two proved it even further. Drew McIntyre picked up the dirty win on Christian in a really good TV match. I would love to see these two feud over the Intercontinental Title…maybe bring some value back to the worthless strap.

The rest of the show kind of dragged. Dolph Ziggler beating Matt Hardy was average. Ziggler’s a great worker, but Matt Hardy’s work in the ring has been fading in quality as of late. As far as I’m concerned, the promo segments this week on Smackdown were pretty brutal. And I’m not even going to address that horrible mixed tag team match.

—

I thought Money in the Bank was pretty good, especially compared to Fatal Fourway, and for a gimmick PPV. I’m really going to miss the match at WrestleMania though. The Money in the Bank match is among my favorite gimmick matches. I love it. And the Money in the Bank matches here were pretty amazing. I think I’ll address those matches first.

Kane won the Smackdown match. It seems that everyone (except Kelly) had him low on the list of potential winners. It kinda pissed me off just that he won. They could have done a lot with that briefcase in terms of elevating someone. I’m really not a huge Kane fan, and the fact that they wasted this briefcase on an angle that will probably end up in a match between him and Undertaker is kinda pathetic. Oh well. The one good thing to come out of this is that Rey Mysterio is no longer World Heavyweight Champion.

The Raw Money in the Bank was nothing short of epic. And I’m not saying that just because I’m a Miz fan. There were many amazing spots and Joey Styles “OH MY GOD” moments. I absolutely loved the spot where Mark Henry took three straight finishers. Beautiful. All in all, the fact that The Miz won makes me very happy. He deserves it. He has improved both his in ring skills and his promo skills so much since his days as a reality star jobber on Smackdown. He’s ready to main event Raw as a heel. I really can’t wait.

The main event steel cage match between Sheamus and Cena was actually really good. I don’t usually say that about a Cena match. It dragged at the beginning, but they really picked it up. Good job. Part of me actually hoped that Cena would win so as to set up for a feud between Cena and Barrett for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. But hey, Cena without the title is just as good. I loved the way the Nexus interfered for the way the ending played out. Good stuff.

—

A little side note: I will be on vacation the next two weeks without internet. I’ll see if I can work out typing out this column and then going to an internet café to post it. We’ll see.

Also, kudos to Kelly for getting more correct predictions than me.

—

Thanks for reading.

Follow me on Twitter!www.twitter.com/wwefanmike_sXe

Also feel free to email me at wwefanmike@gmail.com

Women’s Championship Layla vs. Kelly Kelly: Kelly Kelly as new Women’s Champion, why the hell not.

Divas Championship Alicia Fox vs. Eve: Alicia retains.

Unified Tag Team Champions Hart Dynasty vs. Uso’s: Hart’s retain

World “Heavyweight” Champion Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger: Rey retains.

WWE Champion Sheamus vs. John Cena: The champ returns, doh.

Smackdown MitB Ladder Match: For this match and the RAW version I have decided to do confidence points for all the competitors, the WWE has done a good job of making the winners of these matches hard to predict. As fans we tend to complain quite a bit about how predictable things can get, this PPV has definitely made me think a lot. I wonder why they have been burring certain people, thinking perhaps they are setting us up to make them the winner, much like Jack Swagger at WM26. Then I think they are pushing certain people up, where we might all think they will win, but then we all second guess if it’s just a red herring. So nice work WWE, you’ve made us all over think.

Smackdown:

Kofi Kingston (8 Confidence Points) Kofi seems the most logical pick. He has a likeability that is unique and this would take him the next level. Smackdown needs some help desperately at the top.

Kane (7 CPs) Kane has brought some life to SD recently. This would be a great reward. I don’t ever see him getting a title shot unless he feuds with Taker for the title down the line. I think Kane is a bit of a dark horse, but it would be a nice surprise.

Christian (6 CPs) He is my personal favorite to win, which means he will probably get attacked from behind by Luke Gallows and lose his spot in the match. Christian is too good to be stuck in mid-card hell, especially on Smackdown.

Dashing Cody Rhodes (5 CPs) I’m a fan of Dashing Cody Rhodes, that’s the only reason he’s ranked above Drew McIntyre. WWE needs to push the young talent, and this would be a way to do it. Cody has improved tremendously and it seems he was hiding a good amount of in ring talent while in Legacy.

Drew McIntyre (4 CPs) If Vince is still high on him he could win this. I think a lot of us expected him to win at the WM 26 MitB Ladder match. I don’t think it’s going to happen tonight, but somewhere down the road Drew is going to get title shots.

Matt Hardy (3 CPs) I don’t even know where to start here, I think Matt might be a bit delusional. I will leave it at that.

Dolph Ziggler (2 CPs) Thanks for coming.

Big Show (1 CPs) There is no reason for Show to be in this match. He doesn’t need a brief case to get a title shot.  He doesn’t need to be in this match except to catch someone flying out of the ring to do a moonsault, but wait, Kofi and Cody are the closest thing this match has to a high flyer. Perhaps  Shelton Benjamin is available.

RAW

This match makes my brain hurt. Wrestling fans shouldn’t have to think so much to analyze a match. I could honestly see 7 of these 8 men winning this match. The star power is ridiculous. I think this match could be epic.

The Miz (8 Confidence Points) This is who I want to win, but I would be happy with 5 of the possible 9 winners. Yeah, I said 9.

Randy Orton (7 CPs) I only picked Miz over Orton because Randy doesn’t need the briefcase to get a title shot, he’s had a shot at both titles already this year. Miz is killing it of late, this would elevate him to the main event immediately. If Jericho is taking a break (see below) and Edge is retiring soon (again see below), we need another self absorbed, blow-hard in the main event picture. Miz fits the role to a tee. On to Orton, who has been booked very strong as of late, making the simplest of wrestling fans seem to think that he will win. I can see it, if he does I expect that he challenges Sheamus at SummerSlam. I don’t expect he will just attack him, a la Edge. But wait, didn’t I say Cena would take the belt back? Yes. I think a lot of who wins this match is connected to who has the title.

Chris Jericho (6 CPs) I have gone back and forth with where to put Jericho on here. Since his feud with Edge, Chris has been squashed pretty much every week on RAW. I can’t figure out if it’s to make him an underdog for this match, so he can win and steal another belt on his way out the door, or if they are just punishing him for not signing a new contract. Apparently his contract is up soon and he’s not signed a new one. Personally I hope he does take a break, which would hurt RAW tremendously, but I could return in a few months (Royal Rumble anyone?) and be good old Y2J again.

Edge (5 CPs) Much like Jericho I can’t figure this out. The only reason Edge is this high is because he’s been involved with the cashing in of all the MitB suitcases. A win here would surprise me, but if he or Orton wins, there feud could continue and involve the suitcase.

Mystery Man (4 CPs) I would not be surprised if NXT were to become involved before this match, taking someone out and most likely Wade Barrett getting in. I would love to see this actually. This would make NXT more of a threat that it already is. Barrett did get cheated out of a title shot already.

Evan Bourne (3 CPs) It’s not quite his time yet. I expect some very good spots from him though.

Ted DiBiase (2 CPs) Out of him, Bourne and Morrison, Ted winning would shock me the least. They seem to be trying to push him, it’s a work in progress at this point though.

John Morrison (1 CPs) Smackdown suited you better.

Mark Henry (0 CPs) you got, no chance. No chance in Hell!

Alicia Fox vs. Eve:

Mike: I pick Alicia because she just won the title and I don’t think they’ll take  it off her this early. Do I really care about this match? No.

Kelly: I pick Alicia as well. For some obscure reason they seem to be high on her. Raw Divas are a joke though. I try not to think about them longer than I have to.

Mike: They sure are. Well that’s about as much thought as they’re worth.

Kelly: Agreed.

Mike’s Pick: Alicia Fox

Kelly’s Pick: Alicia Fox

Layla vs. Kelly Kelly:

Kelly: God, I hope it’s Layla. I really like the whole “LayCool” thing they have going. Although, I think this is where a rift might start between the two. I could see something happen where Michelle costs Layla the belt, thus begining their feud, but I think they’ll want the championship on one of their waists before that happens.

Mike: Yeah, I like the whole LayCool angle too. But I could also see this as a way to start their dissention. But I think it’d be more likely that Michelle would help out Layla pick up the dirty win and retain.

Kelly: Kelly Kelly is nothing more than a pretty face and some nice boobs. Putting a belt on her trim waste is an insult.

Mike: Kelly Kelly as champ would definitely be insulting. But I wouldn’t put it past the WWE.

Kelly: If Alicia can become champion, I don’t see why they wouldn’t give it to Kelly. But I don’t think they will.

Mike’s Pick: Layla

Kelly’s Pick: Layla

The Hart Dynasty vs. The Usos:

Mike: I hope The Hart Dynasty wins. It’s a little early in the feud for the Usos to get a hold of the titles. Also the Usos are still quite green.

Kelly: The Usos have competed in, what, three legit matches? Their debut was on Superstars–I remember it vividly. They’re not ready. I enjoy what they have been doing, and I love Tamina vs Natalya, but it’s too soon.

Mike: Yeah. And while we’re talking about Tamina and Natalya, how come the best female wrestler in the WWE hasn’t been in the title scene for the Women’s or Diva’s titles? And how come we haven’t seen any Harts on Smackdown, being the Unified Tag Champions?

Kelly: I’ve mentioned that a few times. We give women like Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox title shots, but some of the few talented Divas are forced to be just valets. I remember Natalya from 2008, and the girl can throw down. When Jerishow held the titles, they were on Raw, they were on Smackdown, hell they would appear on (at the time) ECW and Superstars. They were everywhere. And now, we rarely see the Hart Dynasty on their home brand.

Mike’s Pick: The Hart Dynasty

Kelly’s Pick: The Hart Dynasty

Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger:

Kelly: Not much to say about this one. Rey’s going to retain. He’s barely had the damn thing, and hasn’t done much as a champion yet. The first week of earning it, he went on vacation. Has he even wrestled since? Or has he just been in an ankle lock since Fatal Fourway?

Mike: Yeah, really! He injures the Undertaker and gets the World Title as a reward? BS. I’m fairly certain that Rey has just been in the Ankle Lock 24/7 since Fatal Fourway. But regardless, it’s too early to take the belt off his whiny ass, even if he needs surgery. I hope they keep booking Swagger like they have been and he wins the belt back at SummerSlam.

Kelly: I like Swagger, I really do. But I’m really starting to wish he were just a silent contender. His talking is awful. The segment with Kane last week was abysmal. Speaking of Kane, think he’ll interfere in this match at all? I know he has MITB to worry about, but his actions on Smackdown towards Jack’s father had to leave a bad taste in his mouth.

Mike: I’ve loved Swagger since his ECW debut. And I agree, he’s brutal on the mic. I really hope Kane stays out of this match. I wanted to kill someone when he took CM Punk out of the Fatal Fourway match. I’m sick of this Kane angle already.

Mike’s Pick: Rey Mysterio

Kelly’s Pick: Rey Mysterio

Smackdown Money in the Bank: Big Show, Matt Hardy, Christian, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Kane, Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler:

Mike: Money in the Bank is a tough call, as most of us have learned since WrestleMania 21.

Kelly: Call me crazy, I picked Kane for this one.

Mike: Really? Seriously?

Kelly: This one was extremely difficult to choose, because I’m not sure I can see ANY of these guys as a contender for a world championship. But, through good ‘ole process of elimination, I ended up with Kane. The WWE loves him and his work for the whole Undertaker angle. And, when Undertaker returns, I think either he or Kane will obtain the belt, and the truth will surface that Kane was the mystery Memorial Day attacker. Therefore producing an insta-feud.

Mike: I disagree. Smackdown desperately needs another face elevated to main event status. That’s why my pick is Kofi Kingston. I would love to see Christian, but Vince doesn’t see him as World Champion material, so he’s out. As for the potential Kane vs. Undertaker angle, that could easily be done without the belt. I hope to God that Kane doesn’t win.

Kelly: Kofi was a close second for me. Drew is getting depushed right now, Big Show…yeah, no. Matt and Christian will NEVER reach that level. Dolph is another one, too. It fits storyline that his relationship with Vickie could pay off.

Mike: Yeah, Drew’s fading push bumped him down in my picks. I could see Matt Hardy winning simply because of how over he is with the fans. As for Dolph Ziggler, and Cody Rhodes for that matter, I think it’s too early for them to get this shot. Let’s see where they are next year.

Kelly: They need to become contenders for the IC belt, first, if then. Altough, Dolph was screwed over so many times for the IC belt when Rey was reigning champ. Who knows. I know the briefcase is guaranteed gold, but it’s still just a contender spot. Not a championship. Who knows where that could land these guys.

Mike’s Pick: Kofi Kingston

Kelly’s Pick: Kane

Sheamus vs. John Cena:

Kelly: Sheamus has had the belt for a whole five minutes. I think he’ll survive one more PPV. Cena doesn’t need a belt to satisfy the fans. His music triggers ridiculous pop–not to mention I do NOT want to see the belt on him…AGAIN.

Mike: I’m sick of Cena always being the champ. He doesn’t need the belt. But, as I have read online, if Cena wins, it will be his 10th world title and the first time the WWE Title has ever changed hands in a Steel cage match. I wouldn’t put it past the WWE to have Cena win just to give him those accolades. Regardless, I still pick Sheamus simply because I think he’ll hold it at least through SummerSlam.

Kelly: Well, what’s the world on Hunter? Is he returning for SummerSlam? And I have to wonder what the involvement with Nexus will be. They keep saying that Sheamus and John will be “trapped inside, completely caged in”…except for the huge, gaping hole in the top. This is hard to choose, because there are factors concerning the Nexus, which made it difficult for Fatal Fourway as well.

Mike: Triple H had surgery recently and probably won’t be back for SummerSlam. As for the Nexus factor, I hope to God the interfere. But I can see them screwing Sheamus simply to prove Arn Anderson’s point that he’s not safe just because he’s the champ.

Kelly: Well and don’t forget, Sheamus teamed up with John on last week’s Raw against the Nexus. They could retaliate against just him. I still think Sheamus will come up victorious, but I think it’ll be a brawl. I’m torn: I want to watch Sheamus, but Cena’s matches are usually a smoke break for me.

Mike: I’m torn also. I love Sheamus and don’t want him to drop the title so soon. But I also want to see a Cena vs. Barrett match set up for SummerSlam. I’m picking Cena.

Mike’s Pick: John Cena

Kelly’s Pick: Sheamus

Raw Money in the Bank: Randy Orton, John Morrison, Mark Henry, Evan Bourne, Ted Dibiase, Chris Jericho, Edge & The Miz:

Kelly: I picked Mark Henry.

Mike: Okay, really now?

Kelly: No, that was a joke. Haha. I think it’s ABSURD he was even entered. I hate that he even has a job.

Mike: I agree. Don’t we all?

Kelly: I actually chose Miz. For whatever reason, something that has always stuck with me when picking winners, I always thought that whomever was dominating, would lose. So, Randy and Edge are out for me. Chris Jericho just seems like the kind of company man that does best with training (like Evan Bourne), Bourne is waaaay too new, JoMo is just…there, and Mark Henry is AWFUL. But I think Miz could take it. I think Miz is young and fresh, and definitely made a statement against Randy and Edge, therefore solidifying that he can compete with the big boys.

Mike: I also chose The Miz. He’s come a long way since his reality TV star gimmick on Smackdown. I think he’s ready to be a huge main event heel. I’d love to see Miz as champ feud with Orton. As for the other competitors, as much as I love Orton, Edge, and Jericho, I don’t want them to win. They don’t need the briefcase to get a title shot. I agree with you on Evan Bourne, he’s way too new. I think he’ll be in the US title picture soon. John Morrison and Ted DiBiase are out for me because I think they’ll continue to feud.

Kelly: I think the WWE knows that Randy, Jericho, or Edge winning would be typical. JoMo and Teddy are lost in mid-card matches, which is fine, because they do well with it. Evan Bourne is getting mega-pushed, but I doubt he’s ready for any type of main-event status. I just think that the Miz would do well as the winner. He can work, he can talk, he can piss EVERYONE off. I love it.

Mike: I couldn’t have said it better without that myself.

Mike’s Pick: The Miz

Kelly’s Pick: The Miz

Closing thoughts:

Mike: Looks like we’re on the same page for most of this. I think this PPV has a lot of potential. Outside the worthless Diva’s title match, the card is pretty stacked. With the Money in the Bank matches and the possible Nexus interference in the WWE Title match, there are a lot of potential shockers.

Kelly: I always loved Money in the Bank matches, especially these ones. I have NO idea who will win, and I’m glad. Predictability has become a curse on most PPVs, and I’m glad to just sit back and enjoy it. I’m still kind of heated that there’s a themed PPV like this to begin with…I like it when there’s only ONE, once a year. But the WWE did a good job of winning me over, and I can’t wait to see my favorites compete.

Mike: I know what you mean. I was pretty livid when I found out this was no longer going to be a part of WrestleMania. Since I’ve only been a fan since ‘Mania 23, this has been tradition for me. But they also won me over.

Kelly: First MITB match I ever saw was Wrestlemania 25, which was so well done. It’s a shame CM Punk has to be left out of this one due to his surgery, but I think they did well with who they have. Matt Hardy and Christian will be able to provide some good aesthetics for when the match lulls, but I think I’ll be entertained regardless. I can’t wait to see what the Nexus has up their sleeves this time. They’re such a thrill.

Mike: One more thing. Do you think we’ll see any immediate cash-ins?

Kelly: I think they’ll tease some cash-ins, have the winner run out and initiate a beatdown, but I don’t think anyone will cash in that night. Too easy. How else will they ensure PPV sales?

Mike: I disagree. I think we may see one cash in sometime between the PPV and SummerSlam. I’d really like to see someone announce their title shot in advance like Rob Van Dam did in 2006. Not sure how well it would be booked though.

Kelly: The greatest aspect of the contracts is that you don’t KNOW when they’ll come. They know what will draw in viewers and boost sales, so they’ll hang on to it, in my opinion.

Mike: That’s very true. One of the many mysteries of the Money in the Bank.

Thanks for reading.

You can follow both of us on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/wwefanmike_sXe and http://twitter.com/KELLYFLOYDBRAND

1. Cody Rhodes pulls off the pretty-boy gimmick brilliantly, but is absolutely vicious in the ring. Kofi looked great, too. But the two seemed to not communicate very well. Good thing Kane appeared. The match was dwindling.

2. Rey Mysterio’s backstage segment was unbelievably cheesy. He could give Cena a run for his money.

3. I thought Christian was about to shake hands with Death when Drew McIntyre pushed him off the top rope.

4. I hope the WWE’s goal with Alberto del Rio wasn’t to interest me, because if so, it failed. Miserably.

5. It’s such a shame Punk can’t participate in Money in the Bank. He’s easily my favorite Superstar, by far. But here’s a question: why did they unmask him on Smackdown? Why not do something like that at the PPV this Sunday? It doesn’t make sense to me.

6. “I break ex-girlfriends…” Wow. How PG. I like Show’s ladder, though. As a huge Zeppelin fan, I’ve always wondered what the Stairway to Heaven looked like.

7. I don’t know what to do. Trent Barreta (whom I loathe) is teaming up with Layla (whom I like) against Chris Masters (whom I like) and Kelly Kelly (whom I loathe).

8. Matt Hardy’s odds to win the Money in the Bank match are exponential. In reality…yeah, dream big, Matthew.

9. Dolph Ziggler = greatest Twist of Fate sell. EVER.

10. I actually really enjoyed the 619 Rey laid down on Swagger. It was abrupt and ferocious.

Tonight’s episode of Smackdown was mediocre, at best. I can tell the WWE left all the hype for Money in the Bank to the Raw Superstars, which sucks. Seeing Punk unmasked (even though Twitter spoiled that surprise for me) was interesting, and made me chomp at the bit to queue up my DVR. I think Money in the Bank might be an interesting PPV. Here’s hoping I’m right, and will be sober enough to remember it.

July 15^th, 2010 will be remembered as a Thursday.  After concluding that, you know an episode of TNA had to be on.  After watching this episode of TNA, you would see history in the making.  This week’s TNA was off the charts in many ways.  I’ll get more into it, but welcome to The TNA Tribune!

The show started off with Abyss as he made his way to the ring.  He acted very odd this week as not only did he care his “little girl” to the ring, but he also cared a huge, raw piece of meat.  He carried it over his shoulder and made it splatter in the ring when he dropped it.  He talked about many things.  He was calling out RVD, talking about his “little girl” and talked about how these people who are telling him what to do are coming soon.  He is calling out RVD as he wants that TNA World Title and just wants to hurt RVD.  He gave a name for his weapon he carries to the ring as he called her Janet.  He then went on to say how “they’ are coming very soon and when they come, they are going to take over TNA.  Abyss bent down and ate some of the meat he brought in, DISGUSTING!  As he left, the new Top 10 Contender’s List was announced.  Here’s the new top 10:

10. “The Freak” Rob Terry

9. “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero

8. Kurt Angle

7. Hernandez

6. A.J. Styles

5. Jay Lethal

4. Samoa Joe

3. Mr. Anderson

2. Jeff Hardy

1. “The Monster” Abyss

I have to say, I do agree with the rankings.  Samoa Joe moved closer to #1 after winning a couple matches.  Kurt Angle continues his way down the rankings, and Abyss, who took the #1 Spot in my rankings for the past two weeks, takes the #1 spot here.  To see the irony in this poll……my top 5 last week is almost like the top 5 here.  I had Joe as #4, Jeff as #2, and Abyss as #1.  It looks like I am doing fairly well on the rankings of my own.

TNA’s Impact Match Card and Results:

Knockout Street Fight: Taylor Wilde vs. Sarita

Winner: Sarita

I Quit Match: Brian Kendrick vs. Douglas Williams

Winner: Brian Kendrick

Three Way Dance: Desmond Wolfe vs. Rob Terry vs. Samoa Joe

Winner: Samoa Joe

Best of 5 Tag Team Championship Series (Round 1, Ladder Match): Motor City Machine Guns(c) vs. Beer Money Inc.

Winner: Beer Money Inc.

Matt Morgan vs. The Pope D’Angelo Dinero

Winner: The Pope

Jay Lethal vs. Jeff Hardy

Winner: Jeff Hardy

Before the first commercial break, we saw Taylor Wilde and Sarita attack each other backstage.  They were starting their Street Fight a bit early.  As the show came back, we still saw them beating each other up.  As soon as they came out to the Impact Zone for the audience to see them, the bell rang, and the match was off.  I have to say this was a pretty good match.  You really don’t see knockouts or divas hit each other with weapons or spend most of their time out of the ring.  I mean WWE’s diva matches last for about 30 seconds and they are done.  What fun is that?  These two beat each other up though!  They were some good hard shots in the match, but Sarita picked up the win.  I said in the first The TNA Tribune that I want to see Sarita and they bring her on television now.  She had a match and hopefully she will have more matches.  I’m looking forward to it as she can really put on a match worth watching.

The next match of the night was an I Quit Match.  It was a non-title match as the X Division Champion, Douglas Williams takes on Brian Kendrick.  As you can see, Williams won his match at Victory Road, but this rivalry isn’t over yet.  These two battled it out again and Brian Kendrick got the win over the champion.  This match didn’t involve any weapons, but it really didn’t need to.  It stayed in the ring and it was mostly a mat wrestling type of match, which is alright with me.  I’m guessing these two will have another match with the title on the line once again, but I must think, what other match can these two be in?

Those two wrestled on the mat, but the next match had a Three Way Dance on their feet.  Desmond Wolfe, who I am still high up on, faced Samoa Joe, and Rob Terry.  I love the style of Samoa Joe, but I do have to say, I have never been a fan of Rob Terry.  I just don’t think he is on too much to actually give him a character.  I mean he has the gimmick of a really strong and built person, but that’s all I am getting from him.  These three went at it with punches, kicks, and grapple moves.  It was back and forth and forth with all three men.  It looked like Wolfe was about to pick up the win, but Joe came in and took the match once again.  Joe has been getting quite a great role in TNA in recent weeks.  He beat A.J. Styles two weeks ago and then faced the TNA Champion last week.  He’s 1-1, but with picking up the win tonight, he’s 2-1 in three weeks, which isn’t too bad.  He’s working to that number one spot and that’s all that matters.

We saw, what I say, the best tag team match of the year at Victory Road.  It was the Motor City Machine Guns against Beer Money Inc. for the TNA World Tag Titles.  I just loved their match at the PPV.  It was back and forth with some great and amazing moves.  I have to say, I did like the double pinfall situation in that match, but I’m very glad they restarted it.  Machine Guns picked up the win, they deserve it, and they now have their first tag title reign.  As TNA went on air this week, they said that these two teams are having a Best of 5 Series.  I knew it would consist of classic tag team matches.  I was very excited to see this one.  Once I heard it was a Ladder Match, I got even more excited.  As the match started, these two teams went at it like tooth and nail.  This Ladder Match reminded me of The Hardyz vs. Edge and Christian back in the day.  Machine Guns and Beer Money took the risk and it paid off.  We saw a classic tag team match once again.  We saw high flying moves, hardcore stunts and attacks, and painful moves!  I just loved it!  If you are asking, I did like the ending too.  The Machine Guns got the clipboard, but since the referee was done, he didn’t see it.  Alex Shelly got hit over the head with a beer bottle; Beer Money grabbed the clipboard as Alex dropped it.  The ref woke up and saw Beer Money with it and called for the bell.  It was clever and it gives some added heat on Beer Money.  Now these two teams are fighting off in a Street Fight next week.  I thought it was only a onetime thing when we saw these two face at Victory Road, but nope!  We saw them this week and now next week.  I bet it’s going to steal the show again next week!

After that epic match, we saw a brief match as it was Matt Morgan against The Pope.  Now I have to express my opinion about Matt Morgan.  Even though he lost at Victory Road, I do think he should be in the Top 10 Contenders Poll.  I mean I think Matt Morgan is one of the most underrated stars in wrestling today.  I am not just talking about TNA, but all of wrestling.  Morgan expressed to me how he can be a main event star and I believe he can.  He has the look and character.  He can move around in the ring and actually put on a match.  Morgan, if given the chance, can really take off.  Instead, he loses to The Pope, who I have no problem with.  TNA has so many great stars; I don’t want to push one over the other.  The Pope is great and I am very happy to see him back in action after being out from injury.

The final match of the night was Jay Lethal vs. Jeff Hardy.  I am very happy for Jay Lethal getting a push.  I mean this is a great push!  I am an avid TNA fan as I have been watching for years.  I never expected Jay to get this kind of push, nor did I expect he was that good on the mic and in the ring.  I never saw him on television much, but after seeing him now, I am glad.  Jay has some great mic skills, which is a key in the wrestling business.  I remember long ago when it was the wrestling ability that made the wrestling business.  Now it’s more of the mic skills and look that makes the wrestling business.  Time changes everything!  To get back to the match though, it was a quick match that went back and forth.  Jeff picked up ANOTHER win again this week.  Jeff won his match two weeks ago; he won his match last week in the main event, and won the match this week for the final match of the night.  Jeff hit the Swanton Bomb on Lethal for the pin.

There have been a couple backstage segments and promos in the ring tonight.

One backstage segment is the on-going meeting that Kevin Nash wants with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan.  It seems that every time he wants to talk to them, they are always out.  He talks to Eric’s secretary and he tells her to meet him at 10 tonight.

After the I Quit Match, Kevin Nash made his way down to the ring.  He talks about Eric and Hulk again as he had enough.  He goes to Brian Kendrick and chokeslams him to the mat.  Nash stated if he can’t get the attention of them two, he will be beating all the stars up.  Jeff Jarrett comes down the ramp then and tries to reason with Nash.  Jeff states that it’s not about him or himself anymore, but about the young stars.  Jeff saw what happened to Sting, who had a problem with Eric and Hogan, and he doesn’t want the same thing to happen to Nash.  Nash didn’t want to hear anymore and walked out of the ring.

We saw a clip of Abyss backstage with his weapon of choice…..the 2X4 wood with nails sticking out of every way.  He lifts it up and smashes it into a watermelon.  Seems like he is getting closer and closer into using it!  Watermelon gets stuck in the weapon and he lifts it up to his face and eats it.  He had meat earlier and now watermelon….it’s a perfect Summer meal!

After the Matt Morgan and Pope match, we saw Morgan beat down Pope to a pulp.  He tried to do a knockout kick, more like a squishing kick to the head of Pope as he would smash his head into the ring post and hit him with his foot on the other side.  But Mr. Anderson ran out with a chair and stopped Morgan from doing the brutal action.

The ending was very special to this week’s TNA.  You would have thought the Tag Team Ladder Match would be the special thing, but you are wrong.  After the main event match and after the commercial break, we saw Ric Flair in the ring with A.J. Styles and Kaz.  He announced that both men are the first two to be in his newest group, Fortune.  As he announces that these two are the best in the world today, Abyss’ music plays and we see him walk down the ring with his little friend.  It looks like he is on a rampage.  Ric, Kaz and Styles flee the ring as Abyss comes in.  He grabs a mic and calls out RVD.  Without hesitation, RVD comes down to the ring.  Abyss tells Rob what “they” have in store for him.  He said that the next step is to take that TNA World Title from Rob and “they” would be here very soon.  RVD didn’t like Abyss talking too much as he hit Abyss with the World Title and then attacked him with kicks and punches.  He knocks him off his feet, but he doesn’t stay down for long.  He gets up and goes in the corner.  Rob continues his attack, but Abyss turns it around quickly as he slams RVD to the mat with a chokeslam.  As he goes to reach for his weapon, Mick Foley makes his surprising return and comes out on the entrance stage.  Abyss is shocked, but the ECW Crew come through the steel barricade and into the ring.  They attack Abyss down and push him out of the ring.  I have to say, I thought these people were with Abyss, but with them attacking him, I have no idea what’s going on!  I mean who is “they”?  It left me in total shock!

The night is not over yet.  TNA security guards come to the ring and try to stop, but the main word is try.  They didn’t succeed as the ECW stars took them out.  After that, the TNA crew runs down to the ring.  The ECW stars beat them up too.  But some of the TNA Crew were actually ECW stars like Al Snow and Team 3D!  Al turned on the TNA Crew and attacked them.  Jeff Jarrett came out and tries to stop the madness, but it didn’t work at all.  A camera shot shows Dixie Carter in attendance and she looks worried.  She gets up from her chair and gets on the ramp.  She has a mic in her hand as she states she is the one who invited them.  Jeff Jarrett was in shock.  The show ends with a shot of Dixie Carter looking confused and worried.

Here is this week’s TNA Tribune Ranking:

1. Jeff Hardy- Even though he lost at Victory Road, he has been undefeated for three straight weeks on Impact.  Now that says something1
2.  RVD- RVD retained the TNA World Title at Victory Road and now his next focus is the unstoppable Abyss.  RVD is one of the main people to end Impact this week.
3. Abyss- Abyss is still the focus of Impact as his rampage continues.  He climbed to new heights this week with a great twist on who is telling him to do what he is doing.  He is the person who sets up the ending of Impact.
4. Samoa Joe- Samoa Joe is closer to the #1 Spot and he won his match this week as he still holds on to one of the top 5.
5. Dixie Carter- Dixie ends the show as she tells the whole world she invited the ECW stars.  I am wondering if she will be on next week.  It’s looking like she is going to be on air more and more!

That is it for this week’s The TNA Tribune, but don’t miss next week as we have Kurt Angle against Hernandez in a Career vs. Ranking Match.  Not only that, we will have another classic Tag Team Match as Motor City Machine Guns take on Beer Money Inc. in a Street Fight.  Do not miss it!

-Alex Barie

Check out one of the most active online fantasy wrestling groups on the internet: www.thefansocmpany.blogspot.com

Tonight’s episode of NXT was hyped as the return of the Nexus. This could either be a huge letdown, completely overdone, or amazing. How did it go?

1. I do not like Alex Riley’s tattoo. It looks horrible, and doesn’t really seem to belong there.

2. Lucky Cannon is pretty good at getting beat up. Unfortunately, that’s about all he’s good at.

3. This match was mediocre. Mark Henry is botching everything, Lucky Cannon can’t do much right, and they put the focus on Henry and Miz when this is supposed to be about the rookies.

4. I like when they show the pros’ comments on the rookies. It sounds much more realistic than I expected from them.

5. I forgot about the Percy Watson show. This is about as interesting as the Abraham Washington show, possibly worse. I know, I didn’t expect anything to be worse than THAT show.

6. I love when they show the smart and calculating side of the Nexus.

7. Alex Riley was bleeding pretty bad. I guess his head injury reopened.

8. So the show about rookies has a match that happened because of something the rookies instigated, and yet they were an afterthought this entire show. The first match was centered around the pros, and the battle royal didn’t focus on them in the slightest. They could have targeted the pros first and left it as rookies vs. Nexus at the end. That would’ve made more sense.

9. I absolutely love the Nexus. They destroy anything and everything they get their hands on, but are always intelligent about it.

10. Another week with no elimination? So why did they eliminate Titus so early? For fun?

NXT was an entertaining enough show, but was terrible in the sense that the rookies were forgotten. This show is about these kids being introduced to the audience, brought up to TV, and tested on how well they can draw attention. The show loses meaning when they shift focus off of the rookies. Here’s to hoping for a better show next week! Until then, you can find me on twitter, tell your friends about this blog, and all that jazz.

2. We’re kicking off the show with Drew groveling and kissing ass. I’ve always been a fan of Drew McIntyre (maybe the accent does it for me?), I just wish he could work out his technical stuff.

3. It’s nice to see Chavo stand on his own two feet against Vickie. He embodies the same exuberance and entertainment as his uncle. WWE needs to quit burying him, even for just one match.

4. When Rey flung his boot at Swagger, I nearly died laughing. I thought it was overkill to drag him through the entire arena in the submission hold. The ankle lock is a vicious move, don’t get me wrong. But it just looks silly.

5. Christian double crosses his partner, Matt Hardy. Can you feel my surprise? For a face, he sure acts and talks like a heel.

6. Are we done with Rosa yet?

7. A message to CM Punk: bro’s before hoes, man. Are they going to break apart the SES already?

8. WHAT the hell is with Cody Rhodes’s new music?! Did I fall into a hot tub time machine and land in the 80’s? It sounds like an atrocious mix of “Livin’ on a Prayer”, “I’m Eighteen”, and “Careless Whisper”…although I LOVE the beginning with the mirror. Cody is really taking off for me. But that music, paired with his nose ring and lisp…really aren’t helping the rumors…

9. Big Show’s back stage segment reminded me of his interview after Eddie Guerrero died, for some reason. And my heart re-broke.

10. Kane, once again, was brilliant. I love when he bellowed “We need to talk!” in Jack’s face. I love big, angry men. Swagger, on the other hand, needs a loooot more practice…

Tonight’s episode of Smackdown superseded the previous week’s by a mile. Each week seems to improve, as I prefer the in-ring action to the corny segments and matches that are clearly focused on entertaining the young folk instead of adults. We’re given longer matches and more feud-extending promos. I’ve enjoyed it very much.

@KELLYFLOYDBRAND