Merry Christmas

Hey all of you reader! See what I did there? Well there's been a lot going on in the wrestling world but I've been a little busy to write anything. I have two posts in the works and the Road to Wrestlemania is about to start so there will be plenty to talk about soon. Especially with the return of Batista. Starting in 2014 I will probably write wrap up reports as well each week as well as my opinion pieces.

For now however I just want to say Merry Christmas and be on the lookout for more posts coming soon. I'll hopefully have one more before the year ends. So did anyone get any good wrestling related presents? Sound off in the comments.

Wrestling in the Past, Present, and Past?

The Attitude Era. The NWO era. Both one in the same and we and we can just call it the Monday Night Wars. It was when wrestling was golden. Every Monday night you could tune into Raw or Nitro and see amazing wrestling with some of the biggest stars to ever enter the sport. These men and women are now all part of a group that we would classify as legends. The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold, Sting, Kane, The Hardy Boys, Edge and Christian. These are all major players of the Monday Night Wars. However it all changed when WCW went out of business and was purchased by Vince McMahon. Wrestling changed very quickly. Fast forward to the present and the WWE is unrecognizable compared to it's past self. Lets just call it what it is, its PG. You won't see a Stone Cold come out and throw around middle fingers like we used to. It's toned down and that's not neccarily a bad thing because if there's one thing I'm sick of its the pining for the return of The Attitude Era.

Now don't get me wrong. I LOVED the Attitude Era. Some of my favorite matches to revisit are from that period of the 90s. A good amount of my wrestling DVD collection covers this time period, but that's just what it is at this point. It's a period in time and a period that's over. We are in a new era and whether you call it the Universe Era or the Modern Era, WWE is whole new beast from what it once was. One thing, however, has never changed. We seem to be doomed to forever suffer through the return and push of old superstars. A one night return or a few month stretch its consistent year by year. Sometimes it works for the best and feels fresh, like Goldust's current return, and other times it just feels forced, like The Rock for the last few years. I will admit it can be nice to see some old faces again, or for the first time when it comes to the younger generations, but its hardy ever worth it and just doesn't have the same spark. I love ECW, but I don't need to see an ECW reunion show every year. Tommy Dreamer has the right idea with House of Hardcore. Keep it fresh and don't exist solely to give these older guys a job.

Wrestling is full of nostalgia and that's not a bad thing. It becomes a problem when the younger worthy stars lose a push over an older star. WWE and TNA both have a lot of young great talent that gets pushed aside for the sake of focusing on the older talent that has already had their day. As much as I love Sting and The Rock I'd much rather watch Austin Aries or Wade Barrett get a bigger push. Things have gotten better in the last year. Aries was a successful heavyweight champion, Daniel Bryan had a great feud that was eventually squandered, CM Punk had his amazing title run, but he lost to the Rock, Bryan lost to Orton, Aries lost to Hardy, all people who have had extensive runs and multiple chances. Not that they don't deserve a good story either but it starts to feel tired. TNA is being forced into a position where they have to bring in more unknowns for monetary reasons and maybe that will be best for them. Its time someone took a risk as brought in some fresh talent. Bring back Christian York and Crimson, give Sam Shaw more TV time, hire Brian Cage over Jay Bradley (still bitter about that), and just maybe let Sabin hold the title longer than a week. The only thing worse than not looking at great talent is already having it in your roster and not utilizing it. Maybe Zack Ryder could be the most entertaining wrestler in the world and he just needs TV time! We may never know.

The WWE has been notorious for not listening to the people. I understand that they are a billion dollar company and try obviously know what they are doing, but I just feel like they may be a little old fashioned. Triple H taking the reigns may be the best thing for the company because he seems more likely to look at some deserving talent, and William Regal has sure picked some great superstars in his scouting, maybe just a younger mind is all that's needed. Too often the WWE is giving a newer star a great run and letting them shine, only to hit the stop button and start over. Not every star is going to blow up over night and you need to let things play out for a bit. Maybe one match in a feud is a dud but what if their next match is amazing and you don't let it happen because Pay Per View buys were down? So instead of letting someone like Bryan keep feuding with Orton instead he gets attacked by Shawn Michaels and he's no longer in the title picture. What?! Still don't understand that one. You just need to let things play out sometimes and see where it goes. When an entire crowd is cheering YES, in a way I haven't seen since *clears throat* the Attitude Era, maybe what you're doing is working! Instead we get another Cena and Orton feud. Oh yippee! Like we haven't seen this a million times.

The Attitude Era was magical. Older superstars always have a place in our hearts. A lot of them are still amazing too! Do I want to see Ryback face Goldburg? Sure, about right years ago. Do I war to see that at Wrestlemania 30? God no. I want something new. Give me something fresh! Even Ryback vs Lesnar would be better because at least Lesnar is still wrestling and proved he can still put on a five star match. Seriously, Summerslam was awesome guys! The bottom line (because Stone Cold says so!) is that if the WWE wants to honor the Attitude Era then give us a good documentary and keep pumping out those compilation DVDs. Personally love The Most Electrifying Man Rock DVD myself. Otherwise it's time to push some of these younger guys! Wrestling needs to be innovative and not keep dipping back into the same well. So what do you think? Where do you stand? Do you want to keep seeing the stars of old dragged back every year or would you rather see a flood of new talent? Be sure to sound off in the comments. Also you can follow me on Twitter @advent_crash.

Let's Talk TNA

Total Nonstop Action. Impact Wrestling. TNA. It goes by many names, that are all mostly the same, and is Spike TV's own wrasslin show. Now TNA is a company that has had its ups and downs throughout the years and brings in a variety of opinions, most of which tend to be negative. Now here's a little more history with me and wrestling. I watched as a kid growing up in the 90s. I saw WWF when I was younger but wasn't as into wrestling back then. It wasn't until WCW hooked me that I became a wrestling fan. The NWO and their feud with WCW was the best thing happening on television for me at the time and superstars like Sting, DDP, Macho Man, and Kevin Nash stood out to me. Sorry I was never the biggest Hogan fan. While I was hooked into WCW and playing wrestling games with my friends and wrestling in backyards and on trampolines I did eventually fall out. I watched the attitude era but remained faithful to WCW but after the bankruptcy and buy out of WCW it wast long before I just left wrestling behind all together.

Cut to eleven years later. All of my current knowledge of wrestling comes from the video games, that I still played from time to time, and then I hear about this TNA company. I don't hear much but I hear Sting and Kurt Angle are there as well as some of my other favorites (and some WCW alum) and I say what the hell, let's see what all of this is about. So like most great wrestling stories it was the right place and right time for me. I jumped in the same night in 2011 when Sting came back and beat Jeff Hardy for the title. It was serendipitous. Two of my favorite wrestlers with my old school favorite winning the title on my first time watching in eleven years?! I was immediately hooked back in. So yeah, I have a love for TNA. I've caught up on their history I own an extensive TNA DVD collection and I watch almost every week, as often as I watch the WWE. Its wrestling and I love wrestling. I see that TNA gets a lot of hate, and I can see where some people are coming from but I just don't understand.

TNA is by no means a perfect product, though. Especially not at the moment as their financial word is well known to the Internet wrestling community. But for as imperfect as TNA is, Ring of Honor and WWE have some of the same problems. The WWE feels almost creatively dead at this point. They feel a little to nose in the air, and I understand that they became a billion dollar company this way, but sometimes listening to the fans isn't  the worst idea.TNA and WWE are both sitting on some amazing talent and waisting amazing story opportunities that are just flying by right under their noses. And this brings me back to TNA; the talent. TNA, or Impact Wrestling (TNAIW?) has one of the most talented rosters that is seriously misused. They have some of the most skilled wrestlers on their roster and honestly in my opinion a lot if the times the wrestling is muh better than most of the other companies. The roster has been thinned down quite a but in the last year and somehow they still can't fit everyone onto television every week. They introduced the Gut Check, which I actually felt like as a decent way to expand the roster, but then they never used these guys! Christian York was the most promising prospect to come out of Gut Check, he put on some great matches, and then he was one of the first to leave when the cuts started! Yet they keep Jay Bradley who turns in a horrible match even when he's not wrestling in it! Sorry, I have a lot of hate Jay Bradley.

When I started watching TNA I had no reference to what the modern WWE product and only started back in when RAW went to three hours. Now I have my favorite performers on both shows but at this point I have no preferred brand of show to watch. For me its all about the superstars that I want to watch. So I know a lot of people don't like TNA but I don't understand the true wrestling fans that want to bash TNA for not being as successful as the WWE. If the matches are good who cares what the show's production is like? If you are a true wrestling fan then just watch everything! I watch WWE, Ring of Honor, and TNA. I love wrestling and I have my favorite stars to watch, I don't care where they wrestle. FCW, PWG, HOH, CZW, and any other abbreviated company you can name. While TNA isn't the best in its current state (though I would argue 2011 was an amazing year for them) I would never want to see them go away. One problem is people's perception. TNA is not here to try and take down the WWE. These are two companies that need to live in unison. We don't need competition, we just need an alternative. Even from just a wrestling standpoint TNA is a very different type of beast. WWE obviously has a bigger focus on large body superstars and the smaller guys have to do a lot to stand out. TNA offers a variety of performers with different abilities, which for me is an amazing draw. There are so many great wrestlers in TNA that would have no trouble getting overin the   WWE, like Christipher Daniels for instance, and I know plenty of WWE watchers that have never even heard of them and that's just a shame for me.

TNA has some spotty writing but they have also had some of my favorite stories. Wrestling is repetitive in its story telling, and always has been with every company. While I'm currently watching more WWE lately, I'm really hoping TNA can build up some money and ratings (which have been steadily increasing recently) and really improve enough to stick around. Recently some of their biggest stars have been forced out or left due to contract and money issues and its a real bummer. Especially to see one of the most prestigious, AJ Styles, to have to leave but I can only hope they can calm things down enough to continue and maybe bring in some new and younger talent that we haven't seen before. I compare TNA to a modern day WCW but they have already lasted longer than WCW proper ever did. As much as I love WWE I want TNA to stick around and really give me the options when I need them. I would agree its time to get Dixie Carter out of there and bring someone in who knows the business a little better. I keep my fingers crossed for TNA and everyone who works there that they will be able to find their footing and keep providing us with some quality wrestling!

So just for fun, what would I do to change things? First of all, bring back the pay-per-views! I love the One Night Only stuff because it gives us some interesting story free wrestling, but if you want to sell the PPV then you need the story. We need a reason to buy!! The PPVs' also need more draw to them. What the WWE does with Money in the Bank and Hell in a Cell and other gimmick PPVs' works really well and TNA should try something similar. Next, get rid if Dixie Carter. Sorry Dixie, I hear you're very nice but I think that's the problem. You're too nice. We just need someone in place who knows as cares more about wrestling. And how about this? Use your roster! There are some younger guys and amazing talent that have been there forever that aren't getting the treatment they deserve. Sam Shaw would get a lot more pops in your arenas if you used him and built him up. Get him in matches that will put him over because Shaw was actually one of my favorites from the Gut Check aside from York but he never gets on TV and instead gets shoved into developmental. The same thing happened with Crimson. Bring these guys on TV and use them! I can probably count on one hand how many times Sam Shaw appeared on Impact. Disappointing. And the last thing I have to bring up, too many factions! The Aces and Eights could have been great. For a time they were great. When Devon was unmasked I felt a surprise like I hadn't felt in forever. Instead they let guys go and widdled the team into a joke. And at the same time we had Bad Influence becoming Ego, and then the Main Event Mafia who were supposed to be the Aces and Eights enemies and that was ruined too. Keep it simple and keep it smart. They blew a great angle there and I only hope they find a crazy way to maybe bring it back in the future.

So TNA, (sorry I ramble) whether you love them or hate them, I just hope they are here to stay. Its a company that offers more wrestling, which is always good, and just a different type if program. It doesn't have to be a competition. Let's just have alternatives! So how do you feel about TNA. Share my thoughts or not?

Introduction and Unification

Hello everybody. My name is Jeremy Meyer and I'm an editor for the video game website Darkstation.com but more importantly I'm a huge wrestling fan, a mark for wrestling if you will. Now that I've proved my wrestling worth (nailed it) I thought you should know a little about me. Yes I'm a video game journalist, no I'm not involved in the world of wrestling aside from being a fan, but I believe wrestling lives inside the fans. So I'm writing this on December 15, the night the pay-per-view Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) airs, though I am writing this before it goes live. Tonight is hopefully a moment of change for WWE as it marks the first time since 2002 that we are having title unification. John Cena vs Randy Orton both hold the World Heavyweight title and the WWE Championship respectively but the winner of tonight's match will walk away as the sole Undisputed Champion. This is an event I have been waiting and screaming for years!

 The title picture in the WWE has been in dire straits for a long time. One thing I feel that TNA has always done well is making their titles matter. They have a limited number of titles and I feel like they do still hold some prestige within their company, thigh TNA is something I will write a separate post about in the future. The WWE, for a long time, has had too many titles. This is something that has affected their company in some pretty negative ways. It's left a weird perception of the different levels of the roster and almost completely changed the game for the mid-card in some positive and negative ways, depending on your own opinion (mine being negative.)

 Let's face it, the Intercontinental and United States Championship mean very little. What do these titles mean when compared to each other? It's not like only US wrestles compete for the US title. It's meaningless. The US title needs to go! The Intercontinental title has been around forever and holds some prestige. The name even has some meaning, Intercontinental, a title that travels or is competed for by competitors from around the world. You can bring in feuds about a wrestler from one country trying to prove he's better than a wrestler from another, tons of compelling story ideas. However this name only works if we eliminate the name for the World Heavyweight Title. Weight classes don't mean anything in wrestling anymore. Take a guy like Bully Ray in TNA who weighs in at over 300 pounds, and then we look at someone like CM Punk who comes in about 218 and both have been great world title holders. We look at guys like the Big Show, AJ Styles, Great Khali,Rey Mysterio, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, Chris Jericho: Weight limits don't matter anymore, it's all about the talent. Unless you are going to have a title for the little guy, we don't need a title for heavyweights. The Undisputed Champion, or the Undisputed WWE Champion (my personal preference) is the perfect way to signify the best of the best. Its undisputed after all so we know they are the real deal.

 The idea of a unified championship title in 2013 is a major step in the right direction for the WWE. It's time to start weeding out some of these belts. The way I see it you only need about five different championships. One Upper tier championship, one mid-tier championship, one set of tag team titles, one women's championship, and then one specialty title (EX, Hardcore, Television, Cruiserweight)Though a Cruiserweight title raises the weight class argument again so that one shouldn't be brought back into the mix. As much as I like the idea of splitting up the roster, we have to remain consistent. This is something that TNA has pulled off with their X Division and I say let them handle as they already do a good job of that. I say we need the Undisputed Title, the Intercontinental Title, the Tag Team Titles, the Diva's Championship, and I would love to see the return of the Hardcore Championship but with this new PG era of wrestling I think we have to go with the Television Title. This would give us more title matches on Monday Night Raw and Smackdown and also open up some interesting story concepts. TNA has actually done some great TV Title vignettes if you watch Eric Young's 2011 run. But this is all we need. Five titles, that's it! So what does this do? Well it narrows the field first of all. That Undisputed Title already gains a great amount of prestige as the one top title in the company. We have harder competition and winning it is more likely to put over a wrestler in the fan's eyes. Two, it makes the mid-card title more prestigious. Now we will care who holds the Intercontinental Title because he will be the next person we can see aiming for the top championship instead of just handing these belts across the roster for any reason at all like they are doing now. Again it's about the oversaturation! If we have less titles they mean more to the holders. Maybe next we can eliminate the US Title.

 I don't think WWE will be the only company to benefit from this. NXT is also going to get a boost. The point of NXT is to develop performers into the next level, being the WWE, and bringing them in to a narrower playing field puts them into a whole new spotlight. It's a tighter competition so a win for them on RAW or Smackdown is huge. Competition will appear a lot tougher just from the idea of having fewer chances at championship gold. So tonight we go into TLC with a match that hopefully unify the titles and creating one of the most significant events in modern WWE history (since the last time Jericho did the same thing!)

There are multiple ways the WWE might try to go about this and hopefully WWE avoids the obvious title switcharoo option just to get the WWE Title back in Cena's hands. In fact the whole backing of Cena by the WWE is another post to talk about in the future. I love Cena, but it's time to mix things up! Well needless to say I'm looking forward to TLC tonight and will probably post my thoughts about it tomorrow night if I have time. I hope to post as often as possible and would like to do some TNA and Ring of Honor coverage as soon as possible just to get my opinions known on all of the products and so repeat readers can understand my general feelings on wrestling. So what do you think of the idea of this title unification? Do you agree with me that it's a great move for the company? Or is this a doomed venture that's destined to backfire in their face? Feel free to let me know what you think. We'll talk more wrestling soon!