This is Elviria W. coming to you from Jun E Caniel

Being a lover of fashion ever since I was little, I was very excited to start interning for Jun E Caniel.

I remember the first time I fell in love with fashion. I was no older than at least five years old, living in North Philly, PA

My aunt would always come and visit me and my mom. She would come so often you would of thought she lived with us! LOL One night she walked in the house wearing a brown fur coat and

I just remember saying to her “oh Auntie I want a fur coat JUST LIKE YOURS! Can you buy me one? Please, Please, Please.”

Her and my mother laughed at me and she  responded “You want a fur coat like mines?”

“Yesssss” I whined Everything she wore I wanted & being that my aunt lived in the Bronx, NY she was on in what was HOT. I wanted to dress just like my Auntie.

She then went into her suitcase and pulled out this brown fur coat just like hers but it was just for ME!!! I was so happy. She bought the majority of my clothes, LOL and I loved her for that. For about a month I wore the same coat either when I would go to school or just to walk around the house. My mom would call me a DIVA and ask for a fashion show every now and then, just to sit and be my audience. At the time I was just expressing myself and being who I truly was.  Now that I’m older, I realized I’ve lost that little girl. She’s back now and her name is AJ (Autumn June) and she’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Autumn June has been UNLEASHED! So I look forward to allowing you all into my world of where FASHION meets STREETWEAR!

-Elviria W.

The brisk winds of winter have brought about the perceived need for us to pack away our summer favorites and bring out our thick cardigan and sweaters.

But who says every outfit or piece of clothing has a season???? NOBODY!!! Here I have styled a black eco-friendly cardigan with a summer kelly green burnout tank top with a few original pieces.

  Despite the cold weather we’ve been having a lot of sunshine lately, and this kelly green looked FRESH in the sunlight!

The boldness of the black cardigan paired with vibrant green tank gave my winter outfit some fun.  To give this outfit a more casual look I paired up my own medium wash jeans from PacSun with a locally made t-shirt scarf (that can be worn as different accessories).

While playing around with the t-shirt scarf I realized one can rock it as a headpiece! I LOVED THE LOOK! It’s so different and has a  JUN E Style. Later I moved the scarf to my neckline and it still looked amazing.   The choice of how to rock the t-shirt scarf varies with one’s personal style.

Get this look:

Cardigan available at Jun E Caniel Boutique

kelly green burnout tank available at Jun E Caniel Boutique

t-shirt scarf  available at Jun E Caniel Boutique

 Belt was a thrift store find

Boots were bought at ALDO

-AjStyles

As the months have gone by, my initial disappointment has faded some what and I think it will be a really good night. The current product on Impact is very entertaining and I think we could end up with some pretty special moments. I have no doubt that the crowd will be super into it!

At the moment, Kaz and Daniels are my favourite part of the show and they continue to take whatever comes their way and turn it into wrestling gold. The clip below from Impact a couple of weeks ago being a typical bit of ‘Bad Influence’ comedy.

The chemistry they have shown as a team is up there with the likes of ‘Edge and Christian’. You can clearly tell they love wrestling and that they love being a team together. Its hard to beat that when watching wrestling and I hope that they get a fair amount of time during the tapings.

Where the saga of ‘Aces and Eights’ will go during these two tapings will also be pretty cool. I’ve no doubt we’ll get to see the plastic/real hammer in action against someone and I am also pondering if we might end up with another member revealed!

To cap off this post, I’d like to share a TNA match that I have really enjoyed, the below is a 30 minute Iron Man match between Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles from ‘Against All Odds 2005′.

I know, I know, there has been Daniels/Styles a million time but this one is unique in that it is their first meeting in the six sided TNA ring and the Iron Man stipulation means they hold a different pace to what you would usually expect.

The match really plays into their past history, not in the typical ‘indie stand off’ way, but in a  more measured and methodical approach, the bigger moves and moments building up, playing out their frustrations physically as they take each other to the limit. This bout defines competition. It is brutal and without compromise, the fact that the first fall comes at about the half way point really gets me involved. Normally ‘Iron Man’ competitions set up for a big ending, leaving the falls to the final minutes. By placing the first fall at the halfway point, it puts the viewer and narrative into an interesting position. With the initial anticipation broken, relatively early into the match you no longer are salivating for the pinfall, but vying for the opponent to make a comeback. The first fall goes to the bad guy (Christopher Daniels). AJ works really well when he is giving it his all taking on a nemesis, like Rey Mysterio Jr, in my opinion he is best suited to an underdog role where you are rooting for him, rather than as an all conquering champion. I don’t think this is necessarily down to his size, after all Daniels is not the largest of wrestlers. I think it is due to his charisma and ‘everyman’ likeability.

The compatibility of the two wrestlers also adds to the drama of the match, with two people such a good physical fit for each others styles you get a lot of complex flowing reverals, alongside some hard strikes and high flying moves.  Unusually for the style of match this is, there is blood loss from AJ. Although personally I am not a fan of bleeding, I do think it adds to the story in this bout. The match is a real classic and a must watch for anyone who enjoys either wrestler or just solid technical/indy style wrestling. I viewed the match as a part of the ‘Heaven Sent, Hell Bound’ Christopher Daniels set which is available to purchase on amazon etc, for roughly a fiver. Pick it up!

Ten thoughts on the Monday 17th episode of RAW

1. Who the fuck are the faces on this show?

2. Ryblack is really short

3. Dreamer’s still hardcore

4. #ShutTheFuckUpLawler

5. Ryback de-push is lol-ing worldwide

6. How do you learn to fall off a 20 foot ladder?

7. Mmmmeeeeeeeean

8. Wooooooooooooooooooooo

9. Bahgawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd

10. Gene!

Final Resolution and TLC

Man, shit was tough over the past month. Even CB, the guy who loves everything, was posting shit like “I will stand this no more, motherfuckers, the line must be drawn!”.

With real life giving us tropical storms, floods, school shootings and various other horrible things, WWE and TNA really needed to provide us with an entertaining distraction. TNA provided us with Daniels vs AJ XXXVIII and Bully Ray fucking Brooke Hogan. WWE’s TLC featured some good booking. That Ziggler win? That Shield win? That Sheamus loss? Best PPV since the last time I said “best PPV”.

Year-end awards thingy

I have an apology to make: The following is lifted almost 100% from Gojira’s end of year thingy that absolutely nobody read or commented on.

Wait, what?

Alright, maybe he got a few comments.

41?

Damn.

I got shot in the face one time, got like 2 comments…

In any case, it’s the end of the year and 2012, for better or worse, was 12 months. Last year, Gojira presented The Biggest Hiccups of 2011, so logically it’s time once again for a meaningless award show. Besides, the pointless Slammys have already taken place.

This time, however, Gojira was focusing on multiple categories. It’s certainly more ambitious and he’s actually quite proud of what he cobbled together, so you’d better cast your votes this year in his comments section! His awards are WWE-only, since he rarely watches TNA (but he follows all the reports), I, on the other hand, hate both promotions equally.

Best New Superstar: Chavo Guerrero

This young Chavo guy, where the fuck did he come from? Would you believe he’s actually related to Eddie? Its not like Tenay told me that either, I had to google for hours just to find out.

For those of you that watch other shows than Impact, you might have seen this rising star on Ring Ka King back at the start of the year. It’s truly amazing that TNA managed to find such a talented individual as this and pluck him out of obscurity. Chavo had an astonishing debut and has went on to win the TNA Tag Team Title with some other guy they threw together because TNA are racist morons, but don’t let that put you off. I predict big things in this young man’s future

Match of the Year: Melina Vs Alicia Fox

ALL YEARS!

Workhorse of the Year: Sheamus

Sheamus won the Royal Rumble back in January  and was thrust into the main event scene about two months (and 8 matches against Jinder Mahal) later. Many believe in the Celtic Warrior so much that they’ve even went on record calling him “the next Cena”. One former Pulse columnist even went as far as saying “He’s been consistent since WrestleMania”. Indeed, Fella looked incredibly strong after his win within 18 seconds that night, and he’s been fantastic in the opening 18 seconds of every match since.

Most Entertaining Angle:
Kurt (with Karen coming in a close second)

This was a tough one, but Karen has been off our screens for quite some time. If Eric puts enough work in, he might find himself winning the award in 2013.

Biggest Disappointment: WWE Legends House

The plan was to have a Real World kind of show featuring crazy wrestlers from yesteryear. When the WWE Network was shelved, so was the show. SyFy were all set to air it at the start of April, but the program pulled a Scott Hall and now nobody will get to see Piper screaming about burnt waffles.

Biggest Surprise: The Ryback not smashing a car window with his elbow

With the NWO Shield all up in his business the past few weeks, we really should have seen this by now.

The “Not-So-Creative” Award: The Ryback

Brodus Clay made his début on the January 9^th episode of RAW, squashing whoever the fuck WWE decided to put him in the ring with.

Lord Tensai made his début on the April 2^nd episode of RAW, squashing whoever the fuck WWE decided to put him in the ring with.

The Ryback made his début on the April 6^th episode of Smackdown, but nobody was watching, so we’ll call it April 9^th instead.

Pattern, motherfucker, do you see it?

Book a new guy in a squash match again, motherfucker, I double-dare ya!

So after doing the same thing as the other two for a few months, he went on to repeat other events and eventually whole storylines. He was last seen losing 3 PPVs in a row.

So those are the winners for the 2012 Goji Whatever I’m Calling This Awards. Vote for your choices in the comments below and I’ll get some shit from Goj for ripping him off wholesale. Ah, the joys of Gojira stretching out a one-note column to two weeks worth of work. Gotta love the holidays!

So long, and thanks thanks for reading this pish.

Andrew B Looks AT TNA Titles in 2012

With Andrew B.

Andrew B here and as we finish another year it is time to look back at the titles like I did last year. This time we are here to look ALL THE TNA TITLES. This year saw a man win the KO Tag Titles. Plus we saw new Knockouts win the Knockouts Titles. Also we saw a real feud for the TV Title. Also we saw the X Division title vacated but mot on that later. Plus we saw 2 Former TNA Heavyweight Champions team up and win the TNA Tag Titles. Plus we saw “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” win the World Heavyweight Title. Let’s begin with the KO Title.

Let’s start with a look at the TNA Knockouts Title:

2012 started with Gail Kim as Knockouts Champion. At the TNA House Show I went to in Westbury, NY on 1/6/12 Kim & Rayne defeated Mickie James & Velvet Sky. At Genesis Gail Kim retained the Title after defeating Mickie James by DQ. At Against All Odds Gail Kim retained the title by defeating Tara. At Victory Road Gail Kim defeated Madison Rayne & then defeated Velvet Sky in a Steel Cage Match the next month at Lockdown. At Sacrifice Gail Kim defeated Brooke Tessmacher. On the 5/17/12 Impact Kim retained the title in a 3 Way Dance by defeating Brooke Tessmacher & Velvet Sky. Gail Kim became the longest regaining Knockout Champion but then at Slammiversary she lost the title to Brooke Tessmacher. On the 6/21/12 Impact Tessmacher retained the Title against Mickie James. Tessmacher then defeated Gail Kim on the 7/12/12 Impact. At Hardcore Justice Tessmacher would lose the title to Madison Rayne. On the 8/16/2012 Impact Tessmacher defeated Madison Rayne to win her title back. At No Surrender Tessmacher retained the title by defeating her mentor Tara. Tara defeated Tessmacher at Bound for Glory to win the Knockouts Title. On the 10/25/2012 Impact Tara retained the title defeating Brooke Tessmacher. At Final Resolution Tara defeated Mickie James to retain the title. On the 12/20/12 Impact Tara defeated Mickie James to retain the title.

Overall: As you can see the Knockouts Title was treated better than the Divas Title as we saw many great matches from the women of TNA. The title was switched a few times & the only mistake TNA made was the switch from Brooke to Rayne back to Brooke in less than 2 weeks.

KO Title Match of the Year: Velvet Sky vs. Gail Kim – Lockdown

Now let’s look at the TNA TV Title:

The year started with Robbie E as the TNA TV Title. At Against All Odds Robbie E defeated Shannon Moore. On the 2/23/12 Impact AJ Styles defeated Robbie E by DQ but Robbie E retained the Title. At Victory Road Devon won the title from Robbie E. At Lockdown he defeated Robbie E in a Steel Cage Match to retain the title. On the 4/19/12 Impact Devon defeated Gunner. Devon would then defeat Robbie E & Robbie T over the next few weeks and then defeated both of them in a 3 Way Dance at Sacrifice 2012. On the 5/24/12 Impact Garett Bischoff & Devon fought to a no contest after Robbie T & Robbie E interfered. On the 5/31/12 Impact Devon & Jeff Hardy fought to a no contest after Robbie T & Robbie E interfered. On the 6/7/12 Impact Devon defeated Robbie E. On the 6/14/12 Impact Devon defeated Hernandez to retain the TV Title. On the 7/5/12 Impact Devon defeated Crimson to retain the TV Title. At Hardcore Justice Devon retained the title by defeating Kaz. Devon would later leave TNA after not being able to agree on a contract negotiation making the TV Title vacant. On the 9/27/12 Impact Samoa Joe defeated Mr. Anderson to win the Vacant TV Title. On the 10/4/12 Impact Joe retained the title after defeating RVD. At Bound for Glory Joe defeated his former partner Magnus to retain the TV Title. On the 10/18/12 Impact Samoa Joe defeated Robbie E to retain the TV Title. On the 10/25/12 Impact Samoa Joe defended the title & defeated Robbie T. At Turning Point Joe retained the title by defeating Magnus in a No DQ Match. On the 12/6/12 Impact Samoa Joe lost the title to Devon. On the 12/20/12 Impact Devon retained the title by defeating Kurt Angle.

Overall: The TV Title was a joke for most of the year but towards the summer it was treated better with Joe bringing it back to some prestige. Devon won it twice this year which was not bad & we had some good matches from Joe & Magnus.

TV Title Match of the Year: Joe vs. Magnus – Turning Point 2012

Now let’s look at the TNA Tag Team Championships:

The year started with Matt Morgan & Crimson as TNA Tag Champs. At Genesis Morgan & Crimson defeated Samoa Joe & Magnus. At Against All Odds Joe & Magnus won the Tag Title from Morgan & Crimson. Joe & Magnus would then defeat Crimson & Morgan on the 2/23/12 Impact and then again at Victory Road. On the 3/22/12 Joe & Magnus defeated Mexican America. At Lockdown Joe & Magnus defeated Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley in a Steel Cage Match to retain the Tag Titles. On the 4/26/12 Impact Joe & Magnus defeated Mr. Anderson & Jeff Hardy. At Sacrifice Joe and Magnus lost the titles to Kazarian & Daniels. At Slammiversary Kazarian & Daniels lost the Tag Titles to Kurt Angle & AJ Styles. On the 6/28/12 Impact Kazarian & Daniels won the Tag Titles back from Angle & AJ Styles. On the 8/9/12 Impact Daniels & Kaz retained their titles by defeating Devon & Garett Bischoff. On the 9/6/12 Impact Kaz & Daniels retained the titles after defeating Hernandez & Chavo Guerrero. At No Surrender Daniels & Kaz retained the titles by defeating Kurt Angle & AJ Styles. At Bound for Glory Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez defeated AJ Styles & Kurt Angle and Daniels & Kaz to win the TNA Tag Team Titles in a Triple Threat Match. At Turning Point Hernandez & Chavo Guerrero defeated Kaz & Daniels to retain the TNA Tag Titles. At Final Resolution Hernandez & Chavo Guerrero retained the titles after defeating Matt Morgan & Joey Ryan by disqualification.

Overall: The year was average with TNA tag team wrestling well but not at its best. Towards the end of the year when Chavo & Hernandez took control is when things got bad. Basically Daniels & Kaz carried the division & put on classic matches with AJ & Angle. Also in a nice shock Joe & Magnus were the TNA Tag Team of early 2012.

TNA Tag Title Match of the Year: Bad Influence vs. Angle / AJ – Slammiversary

Now let’s look at the TNA Knockout Tag Titles:

We started 2012 as the team of Gail Kim and Madison Rayne were Knockout Tag Champions. Their first defense was on the 1/5/12 Impact when they defeated Traci Brooks and Mickie James. On the 3/8/12 Impact they lost the titles to the team of ODB & Eric Young. On 3/22/12 ODB & EY defeated Rosita & Sarita in their first defense. At Lockdown 2012 EY & ODB retained the titles against Rosita & Sarita in a Tag Team Cage Match. EY & ODB also set the record for the longest regaining Knockout Champions.

Overall: TNA needs to get rid of these titles as they are a joke & have not been defended since Lockdown. Eric Young holding these titles with ODB is a joke & they should have never been taken off Rosita & Sarita.

TNA KO Tag Title Match of the Year: Mickie James & Traci Brooks vs. Gail Kim & Madison Rayne – Impact 1/5/2012

Now let’s look at the TNA X Division Title:

The year started with Austin Aries as the X Division Champion. At the TNA House Show in Westbury I went to on 1/6/12 Aries defeated Jesse Sorensen. Aries successfully defended the title in a four-way elimination match against Jesse Sorensen, Kid Kash and Zema Ion at Genesis 2012. At Against All Odds 2012 Aries defeated Shelley by submission and then defeated Zema Ion by DQ on the 3/8/12 Impact. On March 12^th Aries became the longest regaining X Division Champion and then defeated Zema Ion at Victory Road. On the 3/22/12 Impact Anthony Neese, Kid Kash, Austin Aries and Zema Ion battles in a fatal four way for the X Division Title that ended in a No Contest after Bully Ray attacked all 4 men. On the 5/10/12 Impact Austin Aries defeated Zema Ion.  On the 5/31/12 Impact Aries defeated Chris Sabin. At Slammiversary Aries defeated Joe & then on the 6/14/12 Impact he defeated Sabin & Zema Ion in an Ultimate X 3 Way Dance for the X Division Title. Aries would then vacant the title for a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship which set up a tournament on Impact. The finals were at Destination X & Zema Ion defeated Mason Andrews, Kenny King & Sonjay Dutt in a Fatal Four Way Ultimate X Match to win the Vacant Title. On the 7/26/12 Impact Ion retained the title against Kenny King. At Hardcore Justice Zema Ion retained the title by defeating Kenny King. At No Surrender Zema Ion defeated Sonjay Dutt to retain the X Division Title. On the 9/13/12 Impact Zema Ion defeated Sonjay Dutt to retain the title. On the 10/4/12 Impact Douglas Williams defeated Zema Ion by DQ allowing Ion to retain the title. At Bound for Glory RVD defeated Zema Ion to win the X Division Title. On the 10/15/12 Impact RVD retained the title by defeating Zema Ion. At Turning Point RVD retained the title by defeating Joey Ryan. On the 11/15/12 Impact RVD retained the title defeating Kid Kash. On the 11/29/12 Impact RVD battled Austin Aries in a no contest after Bully Ray interfered. At Final Resolution RVD retained the title defeating Kenny King.

Overall: Aries carried the X Division the first half of the year & you could see it after he dropped the title & Ion won it. Now it is a joke with RVD holding the title as Ion should have never lost it. I look for 2013 to be a better year for the X Division with Ion, Kenny King & Jesse Sorensen returning.

X Division Title Match of the Year: Alex Shelley vs. Austin Aries – AAO 2012

Now let’s end it with the TNA World Heavyweight Championship:

The year started with Bobby Roode as TNA Heavyweight Champion. At Genesis Roode got Disqualified in a match against Jeff Hardy but he Retained his title despite losing the match. On the 1/12/12 Impact Hardy vs. Roode ended in a No Contest after interference from Bully Ray. At against All Odds Roode defeated James Storm, Jeff Hardy & Bully Ray in a Fatal Four Way to retain the TNA Title.  On the 2/16/12 Impact Roode defeated Hardy in a NO DQ Match after interference from Kurt Angle. At Lockdown Roode defeated former partner James Storm in a Steel Cage Match to retain the TNA Title. At Sacrifice Roode defeated RVD in a Ladder Match to retain the title. On the 5/24/12 Impact Roode defeated AJ Styles to become the longest reigning TNA World Heavyweight Champion. At Slammiversary Roode defeated “The Icon” Sting. On the 6/14/12 Roode defeated Anderson to retain the title. Roode would then lose the title to Austin Aries at Destination X. At Hardcore Justice Aries defeated Roode again. At Bound for Glory Jeff Hardy defeated Austin Aries to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the 10/25/12 Impact Hardy retained the World Title defeating Kurt Angle. At Turning Point Hardy retained the title by defeating Austin Aries in a ladder match. At Final Resolution Jeff Hardy defeated Bobby Roode to retain the title. On the 12/20/12 Impact Jeff Hardy retained the title by defeating Austin Aries.

Overall: Everything that happened with this title was perfect in 2012 except for a few things that contradict themselves. First off a title reign by James Storm or Bully Ray would have been nice but other than that everything was perfect except Jeff Hardy winning the title. Hardy should not have won as either Aries should have kept the title or a fresh face like Storm or Ray should have won but other than that we saw great matches from Aries & Roode.

World Title Match of the Year: Roode vs. James Storm – Lockdown

Well, that’s it for this special look back at the TNA Titles in 2012. Hopefully we’ll see even more great TNA championship matches in 2013. I want to take to take the time to thanks all of the followers of the Mayer Nation for their support with my “Andrew B’s Wrestling Rewind” and I forward to doing more “Wrestling Rewinds” in 2013. So before I go, here are five bonus matches that are worth taking the time to watch.

Other TNA 2012 Title Matches Worth Checking Out:

Gail Kim vs. Mickie James – Genesis 2012

Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode – Destination X 2012

Kurt Angle & AJ Styles vs. Kazarian & Daniels – No Surrender 2012

Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy – Bound For Glory 2012

Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries in a Ladder Match – Turning Point 2012

2013 TNA Genesis Preview Podcast

With Billy James & John Mayer

Welcome to the 2013 TNA Genesis Podcast Preview for this Sunday’s TNA PPV.  John Mayer and I, Billy James will give the rundown of the card for the Genesis PPV.  There are some great matches on the card including Kenny King vs. Christian York, the winner to face Rob Van Dam for the TNA X Division title, in a Gauntlet match to determine the #1 contender for the TNA Women’s Knockout Championship it be Gail Kim vs. ODB vs. Brooke Tessmacher vs. Mickie James vs. Velvet Sky, Sting takes Doc from “Aces & Eights”, Christopher Daniels vs. “The Cowboy” James Storm, Matt Morgan &Joey Ryan vs. Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez for the TNA Tag Team title and in the main event; Jeff Hardy defends the TNA World Heavyweight title against Bobby Roode and Austin Aries in a Triple Threat Elimination match. We will also give you our predictions and thoughts on each match of the card.  So just click the link the below to listen.

https://sites.google.com/site/wrestlingdebate/home/2013-tna-genesis-preview-podcast

In the spring of 2012, TNA Impact was an enjoyable show that combined great in-ring work and logical storylines to produce a 2 hour show that was extremely entertaining show. Over the next few months, it appeared as though things were on the up and up. Ex-WWE talent had seemingly been put to the side. Guys like RVD & Jeff Hardy weren’t really being utilised, while guys like Bobby Roode, Austin Aries and even the artist formally known as Bubba Ray Dudley were really picking up speed and gathering momentum to become the focus of the promotion. Eric Bischoff was taken off TV to concentrate on working behind the scenes and his son, the one and only Garett Bischoff, vanished from TV for a while after the feud with his father had ended. Sting was the “Authority Figure” and fitted the role really well, acting as a brilliant supplement to what was going on.

It’s almost a year later and you’d have thought that they (TNA) would have used that as a base to really push on. Expanding their audience and pushing their home grown stars. Think again. I’ve got a lot of frustrations and things I want to talk about, and quite frankly I’m far too irritated and completely fucked off with TNA to write well. This is going to be pretty much from the heart, as I struggle to fathom exactly how TNA have strayed so far from the fantastic start they made to 2012, when they had all the pieces at their disposal to really push on.

There are 3 main categories that we’re going to be looking at. The first is the burial of talent – guys who TNA have completely dropped the ball with over the past year. The second is guys who TNA have pushed into positions they shouldn’t be in. The last will be the angles they’ve used, but we’ll talk about them as we go.

Over the past few months, TNA babyfaces have been made to look like absolute idiots. Both Jeff Hardy and James Storm have put up their number 1 contender’s status for absolutely no reason. Storm agreed to put his up because Bobby Roode threatened to date his daughter in several years’ time and lost it in a match with his nemesis. Jeff Hardy put his up at stake, despite beating Bully Ray (who is now also apparently a face (eh??) ) clean after being annihilated by Aces & 8s at No Surrender. Hardy retained his position and went on to capitalise by winning the TNA World Title at Bound for Glory. More on that later.

Another guy who’s seen his stock well and truly plummet over the past few months in my eyes is Sting. I love Sting. I think the guy can still go in the ring (as long as he’s in there with someone half decent) and isn’t selfish in what he does. The guy is extremely entertaining on the mic and was a great supplement on the show as the “Authority Figure”. His struggles with Bobby Roode and the heels at the start of the year were really entertaining, at least to me anyway. While he didn’t lose clean to Roode, the fact that he seemed intimidated by Roode and Roode’s actions (which eventually drove him to deal with Roode physically) showed Roode to be a genuine thorn in the side of one of the biggest names in the business. He put other guys, and their situations, over while being entertaining (as well as adding to the show). That’s EXACTLY what an “Authority Figure” is supposed to do. Skip forward a few months and he’s been portrayed as just a normal wrestler. Why would you have a guy who is supposed to be a genuine icon come out wearing a merchandise t-shirt?

The best example I can give you is from his latest return. After hyping his return for weeks, he returned at the end of the show (1/3/13) and sauntered down to the ring wearing his own merch. What on earth? If you want to play off the Crow character (which was what the promo’s seemed to suggest), then have him dropping from the rafters. If they (TNA) can’t do that in the Impact Zone, then at the very, very least, give him his trenchcoat back, dim the lights and let him walk to the ring. It’s not complicated stuff. A little theatre people!

By having him walk to the ring in normal lights, and without any entrance music, wearing his own t-shirt, he was presented like an ordinary wrestler. In that segment, TNA pissed money and ratings down the drain. It might sound like just a small issue, but it could’ve been a GREAT moment that built towards Sting hunting down Aces & 8s (more on that later…) and gave the angle some momentum.

Meanwhile, let’s have a look at AJ Styles. AJ is a true TNA original who has worked with the company since its inception in 2002. He was the 1^st ever X Division champion, TNA’s 1^st Triple Crown Winner and their very 1^st Grand Slam champion. Well, logic would dictate that AJ would’ve been given a major role to play during the company’s 10^th birthday year; maybe even be in the World Title hunt at Slammiversary or Bound for Glory (TNA’s 2 biggest shows of the year). That wouldn’ve been logical, but it didn’t happen. Instead, he was stuck with the now infamous “Claire Lynch” angle, which is one of the worst angles that an audience has ever  had the misfortune to see play out on a national TV program. I’d rather not discuss it in depth because I quite like my laptop in one piece and it was bad enough the first time round.

After that, the never-ending feud that was actually quoted in the bible alongside Jesus’ resurrection between AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels rumbled on, even after an apparent “blow-off” match between them at Destination X, in what was an awesome Last Man Standing match. AJ has been blacklisted from competing for the World Heavyweight Title till Bound for Glory next year, because he was pinned in a triple-threat number 1 contender’s match that included him, Bobby Roode and James Storm, where the stipulation was that the loser couldn’t compete for the title until BFG next year.

The never-ending feud with Christopher Daniels was eventually concluded at Final Resolution, when Daniels pinned AJ with a Styles Clash in the centre of the ring 1…2…3. It has to be mentioned that the end of the Styles and Daniels feud was the only “resolution” on the entire fucking show! AJ effectively turned heel a couple of weeks later, saying that he was done being TNA’s “Corporate Janitor”.

Yes – TNA turned one of the only undisputed babyfaces in North America heel. Genius.  At Slammiversary, AJ teamed with Kurt Angle to go after the Tag-Team Titles instead of competing for the TNA World Title, which is where AJ should’ve been over the past year. Enough said.

Another guy that’s been horribly misused over the past year is Kurt Angle. Even with nagging injuries and the fact that’s entering what must surely be the twilight of his career, Kurt Angle is still one of the best wrestlers on the planet. His mic work is top notch and he’s been with the company for quite a while now. He wasn’t the typical case of TNA taking a random WWE midcarder and popping him at the top of the card for no discernible reason. You’re talking about a guy who had main-evented WrestleMania and had countless 5-star matches with a variety of different opponents.

So what has Kurt Angle spent his year doing? Well, he was in a thrown together tag-team with AJ Styles, but he managed to avoid being sucked into the all-consuming vacuum known simply as Claire Lynch. Then, to top things off, for some inexplicable reason, he’s been paired with Garett Bischoff and Wes Briscoe. To put it mildly, Briscoe has a modest amount of talent, while the only talent that Garett Bischoff has is the ability to make me want to switch channels when he appears on screen.

That’s without even mentioning the fact that Angle has wrestled in so many meaningless matches on TV. How many times has he taken on random Aces & 8s members on Impact? It’s not doing Angle or TNA any good long-term. Angle’s body can’t keep going forever and surely it would make sense to make the matches he does have at this point in his career really mean something? The same can be said about Sting, although for slightly different reasons. Sting is getting on in age as well and he can’t have much longer to go. His body isn’t as beat up as Angle’s because he’s had a few sabbaticals and hasn’t spent as much time on the road, but keep Sting’s matches for PPV. It makes them feel more special and portrays him (and his matches) as a big deal, instead of feeling like “Oh… Sting’s wrestling on PPV in a rematch from Impact”. The exact same principle applies to Angle.

Let the guy rest and heal up for God’s sake TNA. He’s great on the mic. There are a crapload of ways to keep him on TV if they feel that they can’t have him missing from Impact. The best way would be for him to be the “Authority Figure” of Impact. He’s had a similar role as the GM of Smackdown and he pulled that off when he was injured before, so it’s not as if they’d be putting him in a position that he’s totally uncomfortable with or that he’s not done before. That’s not going to happen for one very obvious reason, but we’ll get there later on.

We’ll move on to talent being pushed that really shouldn’t be. There’s one obvious answer for the name that’s top of this list and I’m guessing that the same name will be the one that springs to everyone’s mind: Jeff Hardy. At the middle of the year, I thought Hardy was done. He was being phased out and he wasn’t doing a lot, except having the odd match on TV here and there. It made sense using him at the start of the year, given that there was a lot of interest into his comeback and it really helped to build Bobby Roode.

Alas, I was totally wrong. Hardy ended up winning the BFG series from out of nowhere. At first, I was like: OK… This could work if they give Aries a massive clean win over a babyface, have Hardy shake his hand and let him quietly disappear from the promotion. But oh no! TNA actually put the belt on him and gave him his own “unique” belt, as well as his now infamous “inner monologues”.

Hardy can put on good matches, but the guys promos reek of blandness. Combined with his previous misdemeanours (see his arrests for possession of drugs and the best match of all time against Sting at Victory Road 2011) and his complete lack of charisma and ability on the microphone, I cannot understand why TNA are so desperate to keep him that they’ve put the belt on him. He’s proven time and time again that he’s an accident waiting to happen.

One of the other major problems with Jeff Hardy being TNA Champion is that it threw a spanner in the works on a few things. The most obvious being the feud between Bobby Roode and James Storm. That match felt as though it was a shoo-in to be the main-event at Bound for Glory, where Storm’s journey for revenge and his quest to regain the TNA World Heavyweight Title (after being totally screwed out it) would end. I don’t know when or why plans changed. I know that a few people felt like it was a very obvious way to go, but sometimes things are obvious for a reason.

The nWo angle from wCw is a perfect example of that. It was obvious for months and months and months that Hogan and Sting were going to collide for the World Title. The fact is that by the time it came along, people had anticipated it for so long that they were almost rabid to see the Hogan and the New World Order finally get their long-awaited comeuppance. The Roode and Storm feud was borrowed from the same concept. That match was a show-stealer and the perfect way to end a feud that was as personal as theirs had been. If you put that in the main event for the World Title, how special a night and how special a finale to the biggest show of the year would that have been?

Obviously that wasn’t to be and instead, Hardy went on to take the World Title from Austin Aries (who would’ve been included on the list guys who’ve been buried, but at least he’s graduated to the main-event after acting as a transitional champion from Roode to Hardy). Hardy was pretty much booed out of the building. The fact that he beat Aries left a bad taste in a hell of a lot of TNA fans’ mouths. Roode/Storm was a year-long feud between home grown stars that should’ve culminated on the biggest stage. Not to mention that it would’ve made a massive statement for them to figuratively say “We’ve got our own stars. We don’t need ex-WWE talent to main-event our biggest shows anymore”. Instead, TNA put the conclusion to the blood feud 3^rd on the card instead of for the title. Brilliant.

Hardy winning the belt also enforced Aries to turn heel. Aries had been extremely popular as a tweener and turned face to feud with Bobby Roode. Aries had so much momentum as a fan favourite and was producing some great work, both on the microphone and in the ring. However, as soon as Hardy was brought into feud with him, it almost forced Aries to turn heel to accommodate Hardy into the story. I could’ve bought his “redemption” story if it had actually been brought up more than 3 weeks before Bound for Glory. It was a desperate attempt to add to Hardy’s motivation and his desperation to prove himself at Bound for Glory.

Moving on from Jeff Hardy, remember when I said earlier that Sting was what a GM/authority figure was supposed to be? That he was great in being a supplement to the show and added to situations as opposed to taking them over? Well, the man that’s about to come up in the discussion is the antithesis to that.

Enter Hulk Hogan.

Enough has been written about how Hogan operates backstage, so I’ll try to avoid that. However, how this guy is still on TV is staggering to me. His first act after being begged to take on the job as the Authority Figure was to resolve everything that had been going on in 1 segment. He literally waltzed back in and sorted absolutely everything that had been wrong on Impact in 10 minutes. Way to make Sting look like an incompetent buffoon there Hulk. I mean seriously, Sting had been the storyline GM for months and was struggling with things, but Hogan sorts it out in ONE FREAKING SEGMENT. I would’ve been on board with Hogan sorting things out eventually because that was the whole reason that Sting passed over power to him in the first place, but it was like the parting of the Red Sea! Everyone just seemed to obey Hogan without any dissent or struggle. It made Hogan look far superior to everyone else, which basically follows the theme of his entire career.

More notable highlights include Hogan forcing wrestlers to tell him why they should get title shots. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t authority figures meant to know who should get title shots? It just looks like Hogan has no idea who anyone is or what the hell is going on on the show he’s meant to be running! It just comes across as Hogan lobbying to get himself more TV time. One of the other brilliant moments was when Hogan somehow referenced himself taking on Andre the Giant while he was talking to Kid Kash about who was going to take on RVD that night.

Just… amazing.

In recent months, Hogan as GM has been integral to pretty much every feud and situation on Impact. He’s been feuding with Matt Morgan, Bully Ray, Bobby Roode and Austin Aries for starters in addition to what feels like every heel in the company today. And some faces. It’s absolute bullshit that a 59 year old man has positioned himself as being the star that Impact Wrestling revolves around. That’s the only reason Hogan is GM of Impact: to keep himself as the focus of the show and to convince himself that he is still relevant in an asinine attempt to maintain his fragile ego. There are far more deserving candidates in TNA who could do that role. As we’ve already discussed, the 2 names at the top of that list are Sting and Kurt Angle.

Speaking of Hogan… let’s shift our attention to Ms Brooke Hogan. The individual in charge of the Knockout division in TNA, who’s only qualification for the position is that she’s Hulk Hogan’s daughter. She’s got no discernible talent and doesn’t even add much “eye candy”, which is pretty much the only saving grace for a lot of females that have appeared on wrestling programs in the past (for the record, I’d rather see someone who has talent – whether it be in the ring or on the mic – on TV as opposed to the likes of Sable for instance). They could’ve got pretty much any female who has been involved in wrestling and they would’ve been more qualified to fill that role on TNA TV than Miss Hogan.

Another person who deserves a bit of discussion is Rob van Dam. He was in the same boat as Jeff Hardy. I have no issue whatsoever with Rob’s lifestyle choices. It’s irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. However, just like Jeff Hardy, it looked as though RVD was being phased out in the summer. He was having matches on TV every now and again, but not really doing much at all. Then TNA made him X Division champion.

RVD at the top of his game was brilliant. However, the last time RVD was at the top of his game was literally about 7 years ago. He’s slowed down considerably in the ring and isn’t really anywhere near being the Rob van Dam of old. Making a guy who should be winding down his career the champion of a division that has generally been used to feature young, hungry talent is a mindboggling decision. If they had put the belt on him to put over younger talent later down the line, then great. However, TNA have booked him like the John Cena of the X-Division who beats everyone clean. Why are TNA burying their young talent to push Rob van Dam? That belt should be held by either Zema Ion (purely because I like Jesse Sorensen and I think that’s a ready-made feud for his return – if he returns) or Kenny King. Or Alex Shelley (before he left because he wasn’t happy at TNA and he wasn’t being used).

One more name needs to be added to this list: Garett Bischoff. The fact he’s on any TV show anywhere is a travesty. I don’t need to elaborate so I’m not going to.

Anyway, I think I’m about done with what I wanted to say. You can probably tell that this has been building for quite a while. I was going to bring up Aces & 8s in more detail, but to be quite honest, I’m depressed enough about the state of TNA at the moment. I hope you’ve enjoyed (or at least sympathised with) the opinions of a disgruntled viewer of Impact Wrestling who has tried to come to terms with how the show has done a complete 180 from where it was this time last year.

Ta Ta For Now!

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @MichaelBrown_91

Wrestling Debate Podcast

With Billy James & John Mayer

Welcome to another edition of the Wrestling Debate with me; Simply Sensational Billy James along with the Leader of the Mayer Nation; John Mayer as we bring the final Wrestling Debate Podcast of 2012. John and I will talk about our top favorite moment in 2012 for the WWE and TNA. Also we’ll talk about our favorite shockers in 2012 for both WWE and TNA. And of course we’ll talk about the worst moments in 2012 with both the WWE and TNA. Plus we have our favorite “Tell Me He Didn’t Just Say That” quotes from 2012. Finally we’ll also name the Super Star and the Wrestling Babe of the Year.  So just click the link the below to listen.

https://sites.google.com/site/wrestlingdebate/home/podcast-12-29-12

2012 TNA Glory Awards Podcast

With Billy James & John Mayer

Welcome to the TNA Glory Award Podcast where myself and John Mayer will be talking about the best and worst of TNA in 2012.  We will also reveal who we have picked as TNA Superstar of 2012. Who was the TNA Breakout Star of 2012? Also we will have the Knockout of the year, Superstar and Knockout to watch out for in 2013.  Plus the Match of the Year and Worst Match of the Year. In addition to all that we’ll also have Worst Storyline of 2012 and the “What The Hell Just Happen” TNA Quote of the Year. To find out who won, just click the link the below to listen.

https://sites.google.com/site/wrestlingdebate/home/2012-tna-glory-awards-podcast

Yes, I know it’s Christmas Day and yes, you’re probably wondering what the hell I’m doing writing a column this week, but I’ll let you into a secret… break kayfabe if you like. I actually wrote this a couple of days ago as a wee Christmas present to you, and jolly ol’ Saint Nick just happened to make it appear on the website today!

As you’ll know, almost every industry has an annual awards ceremony: whether it’s the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, The Brit Awards or WWE’s Slammy Awards. This year, I’ve decided to do an end of year awards ceremony of my own, which strangely enough is called the “FATP Awards”. Wonder how I came up with that idea huh? It’s a comprehensive awards article, encapsulating the good and bad that we’ve seen from the year in both WWE and TNA.

Now, to explain how the whole thing works. There are 12 categories in total, including the FATP Lifetime Achievement award. The Lifetime Achievement award will be given to a retired superstar from either TNA, ECW, WWF/E or WCW who I think deserves recognition for everything that they accomplished in their career.

Both WWE and TNA will be represented here. For each category, half of the nominees will come from WWE and half will come from TNA. The nominees for each award are the wrestlers/matches that I think were the best that we saw this year. It’s totally subjective so just because I think those people should be nominated doesn’t mean that you’ll think the same. I haven’t missed anyone or anything out. I’ve put a lot of time and effort into coming up with the nominees and categories, so the people mentioned in the rest of this column are my choices.

Hopefully I’ve explained the premise of this column, so without any further ado, let’s get started!

FATP Newcomer of the Year 2012

Nominees: Zema Ion (TNA), Damien Sandow (WWE), Kenny King (TNA) and Ryback (WWE)

3^rd place – Zema Ion (TNA): For me, Ion’s had a great 2012. He’s had a series of good matches and he’s a versatile performer. Although he can wrestle a high-flying style, he’s got pretty good, fundamental wrestling skills and he can’t be underestimated. Yes, a couple of other wrestlers have been injured in matches with him, but that’s just bad luck. I like the way he’s turned it into part of his gimmick though. Like he says, he’s not just f’in pretty, he’s pretty f’in dangerous. Kudos to him for a great first full year on the TNA roster.

2^nd place – Ryback (WWE): Now, anyone who’s read any of the stuff I’ve written in the last 6-8 months knows I’m not a huge fan of Ryberg/Goldback/Rob van Goldberg/Skipback, whatever you want to call him. In my opinion, he’s a blatant Goldberg rip-off who wears a singlet from the RVD reject collection. It’s nothing personal against Ryan Reeves, it’s a creative issue. Having said that, the dude is a beast in the ring and he’s gotten over. They’ve developed his character and tweaked the gimmick slightly. He’s no longer in squash matches against nobodies; they’re full-time members of the WWE roster, which is fine. As over as he is right now, someone else impressed me more.

And… the FATP award for Newcomer of the Year 2012 goes to…………..

1^st place – Damien Sandow (WWE): This will please Helen! For me, Sandow has to be newcomer of the year. Although he’s been on the main roster before (he was released a few years ago before being brought back to FCW), he’s got more experience now and it shows whenever he’s in the ring. He’s got the look that Vinnie Mac loves, he’s technically sound and he can cut excellent promos. The thing that really tipped the balance in his favour was his showing in the WHC MiTB match in July. For someone so fresh on the scene to go into that kind of match and perform the way he did was just phenomenal. I like his tag-team with Cody Rhodes, although the name “Team Rhodes Scholars” is brutal. Right now, he’s part of a tag-team feud with Kane and Daniel Bryan; two men with huge experience that Sandow can learn from and take forward into what should be an amazing singles career. Sandow’s made the biggest impact on me and that’s why he’s newcomer of the year. You’re welcome!

FATP Break-Out Star of the Year 2012

Nominees: Zema Ion (TNA), Ryback (WWE), Bully Ray (TNA), Dolph Ziggler (WWE), Austin Aries (TNA) and Daniel Bryan (WWE)

This category was really hard to narrow down to three because all six men have had a fantastic 2012.

3^rd place – Dolph Ziggler (WWE): One of RVD’s monikers used to be “Mr PPV”, but for me, Ziggler has earned that nickname and more. He truly does what it says on his t-shirt. He steals the show. Ziggler almost does it on every single show. He reminds me of an old-school wrestler in the way that he makes the moves of his opponents look devastating. He sells moves like a demon, he can wrestle with the best of them and, as of late, he’s finally getting to show his personality in his promos. As the current WHC MiTB briefcase holder, Ziggler is destined for bigger and better things. Hopefully, 2013 is the time where Ziggler finally gets a long, main-event run with the title. He deserves it because he’s outstanding.

2^nd place – Daniel Bryan (WWE): For someone who was booked like a glorified jobber after he won last year’s MiTB briefcase, Bryan has had an exceptional year by anyone’s standards. He’s become one of the best things about WWE. We’ve always known he could wrestle and have fantastic matches with anyone, but he’s delivered on a consistent basis in main-events for pretty much the entire year. It was really the toss of a coin between Bryan and the winner.

And… the FATP award for Break-Out Star of the Year 2012 goes to…………..

1^st place – Austin Aries (TNA): Think about the run that Aries has had since returning to TNA last summer. Out of a dozen or so title matches, whether it’s X-Division or World Heavyweight Championship matches, Aries has lost twice. He’s lost 2 title matches in the last 18 months or so. Flip that over to WWE and Alberto del Rio has won 2 title matches in the same time period. Back to Aries though. He’s had excellent matches with opponents of various shapes and sizes, whilst making the matches seem believable. That’s the key. You know that the outcomes are, for the most part, pre-determined, but you want to believe otherwise. That’s what Aries does and he had to be the break-out star of the year.

FATP WTF Moment of the Year 2012 (the most cringeworthy moment of the year)

Nominees: Brodus Clay debuts as the Funkasaurus (WWE), Brooke Hogan gets an executive position with the Knockouts (TNA), CM Punk “connects” with the WWE Universe (WWE) and the AJ Styles & Crack-Whore Claire storyline (TNA)

3^rd place – CM Punk “connects” with the WWE Universe (WWE): Now, this isn’t a slight on Punk because I reckon he had every right to wail in on the fan that was attacking him. It’s just a shame that the wrong guy got a smack in the mouth that’s all. The WTF is for the security services at the arena. Where the fuck were they? It was clearly a pre-planned spot, so why weren’t they doing their job? If they were, it wouldn’t have happened. Simple as that.

2^nd place – Brooke Hogan gets an executive position with the Knockouts (TNA): I was genuinely angry and laughing at the same time when the announcement was made about Brooke Hogan joining TNA as an “executive”. What experience does she have? She grew up watching her dad on TV, who was the most famous wrestler ever. So what? I did basically the same as she did. I watched him on TV. Does that give me the right to be made a TNA “executive”? No! She’s added nothing to TNA. I suppose we should just be thankful that nobody hired Nick Hogan as a driver for TNA huh?

And… the FATP award for WTF Moment of the Year 2012 goes to……..

1^st place – The AJ Styles/Crack-Whore Claire storyline (TNA): Poor AJ Styles. He’s quite possibly the most talented wrestler of his generation, yet he always gets saddled with these shitey “affair” storylines. It happened with Karen Angle/Jarrett and it happened again here, although this one was FAR worse. The actress TNA hired was God-awful and the storyline was just a clusterfuck from start to finish. From the AJ/Dixie phonecall and pictures at the beginning, to the end where “Claire” was just written off TV because TNA knew how shit the whole thing was. This was quite possibly the worst wrestling storyline in years and it’s the easiest choice I’ve had to make all day.

FATP Tag-Team of the Year 2012

Nominees: Jimmy Boom (WWE); AJ Styles & Kurt Angle (TNA); Kryan (WWE) and Christopher Daniels & Kazarian

For those of who you don’t read my columns on a regular basis, Jimmy Boom is the name I gave to the team of Kofi Kingston & R-Truth and similarly, Kryan is the name I gave to Team Hell No.

3^rd place – Jimmy Boom (WWE): Although it was basically a vehicle to use Kofi and Truth because WWE didn’t have a clue what to do with them as singles stars, the team was quite entertaining and dominant for what it was. It was harmless fun, putting two great babyfaces together to try and kickstart the tag-team division. It worked as a short-term solution and for the most part, I enjoyed what they did.

2^nd place – Kryan (WWE): Putting Kane and Daniel Bryan together as a tag-team was quite simply a genius move. On paper, you wouldn’t think that their styles and personalities would mesh well together, but it works. They’re the most consistently entertaining thing on WWE TV right now and the team dynamic is just great because they’re two very unpredictable personalities. A great team.

And… the FATP award for Tag-Team of the Year 2012 goes to……………………….

1^st place – Christopher Daniels & Kazarian (TNA): Again, easy choice. I’ve loved everything that Daniels & Kaz have done this year. They were what kept me entertained during the AJ/Crack-Whore Claire storyline and they’re an immense tag-team. Charismatic, entertaining, excellent wrestlers with great promo skills. Pretty much everything you’d want from a tag-team. I love their sarcastic promos and the fact that Daniels drinks Appletini’s. It’s just tremendous. Whenever those two are together, it’s almost guaranteed that there are shenanigans afoot, and you can’t help but wonder what they’ll do next. The perfect mix of “gimmick” and ability rolled into a team. Amazing.

FATP Most Improved Wrestler of the Year 2012

Nominees: Kane (WWE), Bully Ray (TNA), Cody Rhodes (WWE); Magnus (TNA); Dolph Ziggler (WWE) and Miss Tessmacher (TNA)

3^rd place – Magnus (TNA): My fellow Brit has had an amazing year which has gone full circle. He kicked off 2012 as part of a tag-team with Samoa Joe and he’s finishing it off in a singles program against Joe for the TV Title. It’s frightening to think that he’s been in TNA for around 4 years, but he’s only 26. The kid has got ALL the tools to go right to the top and now that he’s growing in confidence, it’s only a matter of time before he’s TNA’s next major star.

2^nd place – Dolph Ziggler (WWE): For those of you who don’t know, I have a full-fledged man-crush on Dolph Ziggler. I’m not ashamed to admit it. It’s more of a bromance than a man-crush, but let’s not split hairs. Anyway, Ziggler has moved up the ladder (no pun intended) this year from mid-card to upper mid-card and he’s flirted with the main-event too. I think more and more people are beginning to realise how good he is. He’s delivered this year in high-pressure situations and his MiTB briefcase is proof that WWE management are high on him.

And… the FATP award for Most Improved Wrestler of the Year 2012 goes to…………………

1^st place – Miss Tessmacher (TNA): A controversial choice? Hell yeah, but I reckon the little Texan dynamo deserves it. I’m sure I’m not the only one who watches women’s wrestling partially because of how the girls look. I’m not the first and I won’t be the last to admit that. However, I also want to see sexy women who can actually wrestle and while she’s still got a long way to go, Tessmacher has come really far this year. She deserves this award more than the guys.

FATP “Tell Me I Didn’t Just See That” Moment of the Year

Nominees: Santino Marella ALMOST wins the World Title (WWE), AJ “Styles Clashes” Daniels off the stage at Destination X 2012 (TNA); Brock Lesnar returns after WM28 (WWE) and Austin Aries wins the World Title (TNA)

3^rd place – Santino Marella ALMOST wins the World Title (WWE): Santino Marella is one of the most popular WWE superstars. Love him or hate him, Marella is entertaining and he’s ridiculously over with the crowd. They love him because he’s an underdog. It’s because of that that WWE like to fuck with us when it comes to Santino. They did it at the Royal Rumble in 2011 and they did it at this year’s Elimination Chamber. Listen to the crowd when Marella hits the Cobra on Daniel Bryan (there’s a sentence I never thought I’d type!); they go apeshit! They believe that Marella could have won. Even though in the back of your mind you know it’ll never happen, you couldn’t help but be drawn into it. I’m a huge Santino fan and even I didn’t think he’d get that reaction. Just amazing.

2^nd place – Austin Aries wins the World Title (TNA): I’ll be the first to admit that I’m drawn more to guys who can wrestle than to guys with a limited move set. I love Punk, Savage and Michaels because they’re entertaining, but they can also wrestle. Aries falls into that category. When he announced that he was relinquishing the X-Division Title for a shot at the World Title, I wanted him to win, but I never believed it would actually happen. Then Destination X rolled around and as the match went on, the more and more I believed Aries would get the belt from Bobby Roode. It’s a prime example of a wrestling company not being afraid to listen to their fans and take a chance. The fans wanted Aries as champion and they got it. Listen to the Impact Zone erupt when Aries wins the title. It’s the loudest I’ve ever heard it. I think they made a mistake taking the belt off Aries, but time will tell. Regardless, Aries comes up just short in this category.

And… the FATP award for the “Tell Me I Didn’t Just See That” Moment of the Year goes to………….

1^st place – Brock Lesnar returns to wrestling the night after WM28 (WWE): The one thing you can guarantee about being a wrestling fan is that you’ll always hear rumours about former stars coming back. After being burned several times before, I’ve learned never to believe it until you see it. During WM28 weekend, I’d heard rumours that both Lesnar and Batista were returning, but I took it with a pinch of salt. It wasn’t until (and I can’t remember which one) WWE’s website or text alert service either displayed or showed a picture of Lesnar arriving in Miami the night after Mania that I began to believe it could be true. Then when he appeared on the ramp during Cena’s “woe is me” promo, I genuinely said: “Holy Shit! Lesnar’s back!!” I felt like a kid again. I never thought we’d see Brock back. When he got in the ring and F5’ed Cena, it capped off a perfect WrestleMania weekend for me. In any other year, Aries winning the belt would have won, but this year, Lesnar’s return to WWE just got the nod.

FATP PPV of the Year 2012

Nominees: WrestleMania 28 (WWE), Destination X 2012 (TNA), Extreme Rules 2012 (WWE) and Bound for Glory 2012 (TNA)

3^rd place – Destination X 2012 (TNA): Although this was the PPV that saw Austin Aries finally break through to the main-event in TNA and AJ Styles and Chris Daniels had an excellent match, it wasn’t as complete of a PPV as it could’ve been. Maybe I’m being harsh judging it on that basis, because it was still a much better PPV offering than 90% of WWE PPV’s have been this year. The card for Destination X was full of exciting action, but there was something missing and there were 2 better all-round PPV’s than Destination X this year.

2^nd place – Extreme Rules 2012 (WWE): Wow. Best WWE PPV of the year by a clear mile. It felt more like WrestleMania than WrestleMania did! Part of that was down to the Chicago crowd, which is probably one of the best, if not THE best in the country, and it was down to the wrestlers meshing better than they did in Miami. In particular, the 3 main-events: World Title, WWE Title and Cena/Lesnar all more than delivered. The match that stole the show for me was Sheamus/Bryan. That’s the match they should’ve had at Mania. Punk/Jericho was an amazing story well told by both men. Lastly, Cena/Lesnar was what I thought it would be. Fugly. I don’t understand the way the finish was booked though. A punch and an AA were enough to pin the former UFC Champion? Gimme a break. Other than that, it was an excellent show that proves WWE are capable of putting on a great PPV. It’s just a shame they only seem to do it once a year.

And… the FATP award for PPV of the Year 2012 goes to…………

1^st place – Bound for Glory 2012 (TNA): Yup, TNA are sweeping up in these awards so far! For me, top to bottom, there’s not been a better PPV card than this all year. It felt like a complete, well-rounded PPV. From the curtain-jerker, right through to the main-event, it was an outstanding show and a perfect example of how to produce a PPV quality product that feels worth paying money for, instead of a glorified version of a TV show. Yes, some WWE PPV’s have had excellent individual matches, but not top to bottom like we got here. Well done TNA!

FATP Female Wrestler of the Year 2012

(Note: AJ Lee wasn’t included because for me, she’s not been a ‘wrestler’ as much as she could’ve been. She’s been used to advance stories more than she’s been used in the ring. Giggity!)

Nominees: Eve Torres (WWE), Tara (TNA), Layla (WWE), Gail Kim (TNA), Beth Phoenix (WWE) and Miss Tessmacher (TNA)

3^rd place – Beth Phoenix (WWE): Her WWE run might have ended in mediocrity, but at one stage earlier in the year; Beth was on the verge of becoming the longest reigning Divas Champion ever. The much speculated feud with Kharma never happened because she (Kharma) was released, then news broke that Beth was leaving when her contract expired. Phoenix was, and still is, one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world and she’ll be an asset wherever and whatever she ends up going/doing.

2^nd place – Eve Torres (WWE): Since turning heel at the beginning of the year, Eve’s turned from being a generic babyface Diva into a sultry, sexy heel. There are times I watch her and my jaw drops. I’ll be honest, it’s not often to do with her wrestling ability, it’s the way she looks. Just like a wise man once said, shucky ducky quack quack! Having said that, she’s gotten a lot better in terms of wrestling skill in the last year. She’s able to have decent matches with the right opponent and she’s heading in the right direction. A final thought on the delectable Miss Torres – I’d love her to be my Head Administrator.

And… the FATP award for Female Wrestler of the Year 2012 goes to………….

1^st place – Miss Tessmacher (TNA): I said it earlier when I announced she was the most improved wrestler of the year, Tessmacher has developed into not only a credible female wrestler, but a credible champion. She’s worked with veterans like Gail Kim, Mickie James and Tara, and you can see the influence they’ve had on her. She’s by no means the finished article, but she’s a great prospect with potential. If you’d told me at this time last year that I’d be saying that, I’d have called you a liar. That’s how quickly things can change, if they’re done the right way.

We’re getting towards the business end of proceedings now, so let’s do a quick recap of where we are. So far, the winners of the first annual FATP awards are:

FATP Newcomer of the Year 2012: Damien Sandow (WWE)

FATP Break-Out Star of the Year 2012: Austin Aries (TNA)

FATP WTF Moment of the Year 2012: AJ Styles/Crack-Whore Claire storyline (TNA)

FATP Tag-Team of the Year 2012: Christopher Daniels & Kazarian (TNA)

FATP Most Improved Wrestler of the Year 2012: Miss Tessmacher (TNA)

FATP “Tell Me I Didn’t Just See That” Moment of the Year 2012: Brock Lesnar returns after WM28 (WWE)

FATP PPV of the Year 2012: Bound for Glory 2012 (TNA)

FATP Female Wrestler of the Year 2012: Miss Tessmacher (TNA)

Out of 8 awards so far, TNA and its wrestlers have won 6 of them. That’s either a reflection of how good TNA has been in 2012, or how shocking WWE has been. I’ll leave that up to you to decide. My opinion is that TNA does a FAR better job of investing time and effort into developing all aspects of their roster, whereas WWE just concentrates on the guys at the top and the rest are left to flounder. That’s why TNA is a more well-rounded company at the minute. Until WWE invests the same time and effort into the midcard as TNA does, things will stay like that.

FATP Hall of Fame Inductee 2012

Before we get to the final 3 awards, this next honour is the inaugural inductee to the FATP Hall of Fame. If I’m still doing these columns year after year, then I’ll induct one wrestler from either ECW, WCW, TNA or WWF/E into my own personal Hall of Fame. The criteria will be fairly simple. They have to be a wrestler that I’ve seen enough of to make a balanced opinion on the impact that wrestler made on me as a fan.

With that being said, the first inductee into the FATP Hall of Fame is Adam “Edge” Copeland.

I’m one of the people who’s old enough to remember him back in the days when he was in “The Brood” with Gangrel and Christian. Straight away, I was drawn to the kid. I couldn’t tell why. We didn’t hear him talk for ages, but he looked like he could flat out go in the squared circle. Once he matured as a performer, he grew in confidence and his tag-team with Christian was one of the best in WWF/E history. Both men were entertaining and charismatic whether they were playing the babyface or heel role, and even when you wanted to hate them for being a couple of right pricks, you couldn’t help but be entertained and laugh at their promos.

I’d be lying if I said that I loved everything about Edge though. His first singles run between 2001 and 2005 was decent and he worked against some credible main-event level talent, most notably Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle. We all know about his neck injury and the rehab he went through, so I won’t dwell on it. When he came back and turned heel, it didn’t feel natural. It felt like he was being a prick because he felt like he had to stand out.

Then came the whole Matt Hardy saga/clusterfuck. For what it’s worth, there was a time there where I thought that Edge would never get anywhere because the fans were so hostile towards him and so loyal to Matt. Their eventual feud in the summer/autumn (that’s fall for our American readers!) of 2005 was good, but it could’ve been so much better. Edge used the heat that he’d gotten from his heel turn and the Matt Hardy situation to propel himself into a credible main-eventer.

He was still in possession of his MiTB briefcase as 2006 kicked off with a New Year’s Revolution PPV. After a gruelling Elimination Chamber match where he’d seen off five challengers for his title, John Cena came out victorious, only to hear Edge’s music playing over the PA system. The Rated R SUUUUUUPERSTAAAAAAAR (sorry, I just miss hearing Tony Chimel say it like that!) made his way to the ring and cashed in his briefcase to win his FIRST WWE Championship. He’d finally done it. He’d made it to the top of the mountain when many people didn’t think he could.

It’s sad to think that just over 5 years later, he was forced to retire. I’ve sat and thought long and hard about this next statement. I genuinely can’t remember Edge having a bad match. Whether it was a tag-team match, a hardcore match, a gimmick match or a straight-up wrestling match, Edge was someone who consistently delivered when the pressure was on. If he hadn’t have delivered on such a consistent basis, he wouldn’t be the most decorated superstar in WWE history. His record speaks for itself. Just take a quick gander at this list of accomplishments:

12-time World Tag-Team Champion

2-time WWE Tag-Team Champion

1-time WCW United States Champion

5-time WWF/E Intercontinental Champion

2001 King of the Ring

2-time Money in the Bank winner

2010 Royal Rumble winner

4-time WWE Champion

7-time World Heavyweight Champion

There are very few men in this day and age who have won more championships and claimed more prizes in wrestling than Edge. When you say “Edge” to someone, you don’t automatically think “hey, he was that tag-team wrestler, a flash in the pan”, you think “champion”. Edge personified what it was to be a champion and he’s one of the greatest wrestlers of his generation. WWE is a sadder place without his in-ring talent and he left an indelible mark on me as a wrestling fan. There’s no-one else I’d rather have had as the first inductee into the FATP Hall of Fame. Congratulations Edge.

That’s a quick 1,000 words that would bring a tear to a glass eye isn’t it? Haha! Now that we’ve all gone misty eyed looking back at Edge’s phenomenal career, it’s time to get back to business and continue with the 2012 FATP awards. The next category is chock-full of talent and it’s to crown what I thought the 2012 Match of the Year was.

FATP Match of the Year 2012

Nominees: Austin Aries vs Bobby Roode for the TNA World Title at Destination X 2012 (TNA), Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the World Title at Extreme Rules 2012 (WWE), AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels in a Last Man Standing match at Destination X 2012 (TNA), CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title at Over the Limit 2012 (WWE), Bobby Roode vs James Storm in a Street Fight at Bound for Glory 2012 (TNA) and Triple H vs Undertaker (with special guest referee Shawn Michaels) in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 28 (WWE).

Before I count down the top 3, I just want to say that each of these matches is epic in its own right and on another occasion, any one of these matches could have won this award. It was tough to get this narrowed down to three, but here goes.

3^rd place – CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title at Over the Limit 2012 (WWE): This match just makes it in ahead of the Sheamus/Bryan match for a couple of reasons. The first is that I thought the overall quality of this match was just slightly better than the Sheamus/Bryan match. Punk and Bryan have outstanding chemistry together, dating back to their days in ROH. I’ll be honest and say that when Bryan signed a WWE contract, it was basically a wet dream of mine to see him wrestle CM Punk in any match. I wouldn’t have cared, but the fact that we got to see 2 of the best wrestlers in the world have a wrestling match on a WWE PPV for the richest prize in the industry was just an amazing sight to see. Both men delivered an outstanding wrestling match and despite them playing second fiddle to a clusterfuck of a main-event (Cena vs Laurinaitis), everyone came away remembering Punk vs Bryan. Is it too much to ask to have an Iron Man match between these two chaps at WrestleMania? Please Vince, make it happen!

2^nd place – Bobby Roode vs James Storm in a Street Fight at Bound for Glory 2012 (TNA): Now, this was a really tough decision for me to come to. This was probably the hardest decision I’ve had to make since I started writing about wrestling. Let me make one thing perfectly clear. In any other year, regardless of what promotion these men wrestled in, this would have been Match of the Year. Without any question. Not just match of the year, feud of the year. I said it on SLTD Radio a couple of months ago that this was the perfect way to build a year-long feud. Start off with a bang, let it ripple out, have them interact but not too much, then separate them completely, before bringing it all together. It made sense that Roode had the advantage over Storm heading into Bound for Glory. The story needed Roode to have been dominant over Storm in the past year, because it builds up to a crescendo and makes the babyface winning even more important than it would’ve been normally. This match was a perfectly executed brawl between two men who I genuinely couldn’t see as being anywhere near the main-event a couple of years ago. They were a fantastic tag-team, but I couldn’t see them getting a chance to be singles stars. However, they’ve both gone on to become credible main-event stars and this match was the perfect way to end a year-long battle between the two. From every angle, this was an outstanding feud, match and story and it’s unlucky to finish runner-up.

And… the FATP award for Match of the Year 2012 goes to………………

1^st place – Triple H vs The Undertaker (with special guest referee Shawn Michaels) in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 28 (WWE): This match was a world-class battle between two world-class athletes inside a demonic structure with the best wrestler of his generation as the special guest referee. That’s an equation that made for the best match of 2012. In their battle the previous year, Trips beat Undertaker so badly that he couldn’t leave the ring under his own power and felt like he had nothing to prove. Taker came back with a bizarre bald head, got the date of Mania wrong in his promo and had trouble removing his hood at Mania 28. As physical as their last match was, this one was a better spectacle. Why? Because of the inclusion of Shawn Michaels. Michaels has an amazing ability to sell a match just by the look on his face. The tortured look he had after superkicking Taker before the Deadman kicked out was just astonishing. All three men had such a rich history together that it was fitting for each of them to play a part in selling this match. The one thing that stands out from it in my mind isn’t the fact that Taker won and took his Streak at Mania to 20-0. It was the image of all three men almost breaking kayfabe by walking up the ramp together, before stopping to soak in the outpouring of respect from 70,000 fans in Miami. That’s the one thing that made it stand out more than Storm/Roode. That’s what made it stand-out from every other wrestling match of 2012 and it’s deservedly match of the year.

FATP Wrestler of the Year 2012

This award is based purely on the wrestler’s in-ring performance alone, not their promo work or crowd reactions. It’s about who had the highest quality matches on a consistent basis throughout 2012.

Nominees: Bobby Roode (TNA), CM Punk (WWE), AJ Styles (TNA), Dolph Ziggler (WWE), Austin Aries (TNA) and Daniel Bryan (WWE)

3^rd place – AJ Styles (TNA): Despite being in a ridiculous storyline over most of the summer/autumn (remember my American friends, that means fall!), there’s been an amazing consistency to the level of AJ Styles’ in-ring performances. Whether it was in singles matches, gimmick matches, tag-team matches or BFG series matches, Styles proved that he is what his gimmick says: phenomenal. It’s difficult to narrow it down to just one match though. Probably the perfect examples in terms of contrasts are his tag-team matches with Kurt Angle against Christopher Daniels & Kazarian, his singles match with Bully Ray and then his Last Man Standing match with Daniels at Destination X. All prime examples of how Styles is at the top of his game in TNA and why he doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone.

2^nd place – Dolph Ziggler (WWE): I mentioned earlier that I’m a huge fan of Ziggler’s work, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the runner-up in this category is the Show-Off. Ziggler’s consistency in the ring is frightening for someone who isn’t even considered as a main-event player yet by the majority of fans. Make no mistake about it, WWE are going to have to realise that despite booking him like Superman, John Cena isn’t superhuman. Look at the mess they got themselves into before the Hell in a Cell PPV in October! They had no clue what to do. Ziggler has to be one of the men who WWE look at as being capable of sharing the load with guys like Sheamus, Cena, Orton and others. Whether he’s wrestling in the first match of the night, in the middle of the card or in the main-event, you can guarantee that Ziggler will entertain and have one of the best, if not the best, match of the night. All he needs is that 1 big feud to get him to the next level. Hopefully it’s against someone like Daniel Bryan or Randy Orton.

And… the FATP award for Wrestler of the Year goes to………………………

1^st place – CM Punk (WWE): How can the man who’s held the WWE Title since last November not be at the top of this list? I mentioned before that people like AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler have had consistently good matches, but Punk tops the list because of the variety of circumstances and opponents he’s been faced with. Punk has to be the only WWE Champion in history who’s had to defend his WWE Championship in almost 50% of title matches against more than one opponent. He’s also only main-evented 4 WWE PPV’s in that time. The fact that the champion of the company isn’t in the main-event more often is a disgrace! Regardless of who the champion is, he should always main-event PPV’s, especially if WWE want their title to actually mean something.

Anyway, I’ve kind of gone off-topic here. This award is for wrestler of the year and if you’re talking about consistent match quality in 2012, CM Punk’s name has to be at the top of the list. Whether it’s been against del Rio, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan, Kane, John Cena or even Ryberg, Punk’s matches have ALL been at least 3 stars, if not higher. I’d go as far as to say he’s had more 4 star (or above) matches than almost any other wrestler on the planet this year. For that reason alone, CM Punk was the clear winner in this category.

And now we come to the final award, the headline award, the main-event. I might have just committed some form of gimmick infringement there, I’m not sure! Haha… This next award is the Superstar of the Year award. It’s different to Wrestler of the Year because it covers all bases of wrestling: match quality, promos and crowd reaction. It’s the all-round, complete award for the man who has stood out more than any other in 2012, whether he wrestled in TNA or WWE. Without any further ado, let’s find out who’s won the FATP Superstar of the Year award for 2012.

FATP Superstar of the Year 2012

Nominees: John Cena (WWE), James Storm (TNA), Sheamus (WWE), Austin Aries (TNA), Daniel Bryan (WWE) and Christopher Daniels (TNA)

(This was the toughest category of all. Just to narrow it down to six was hard enough. I could easily have added another 6 names to this list and I’d still have felt like I’d missed someone out!)

Equal 3^rd place: Sheamus (WWE) and James Storm (TNA)

I couldn’t make a case for one man over the other here, so I had to include both of them. Let’s deal with Sheamus first.

Sheamus: The big Irish fella had an amazing 2012. His babyface turn went from strength to strength. His mic work has improved tremendously and he’s had a series of excellent matches for a man of his size. I mentioned earlier that some people would’ve crumbled after the reactions he was getting post-WrestleMania. Although he was presented as a babyface, the crowd reacted to him as a heel because they were pissed about what happened to D-Bryan. Sheamus didn’t let it bother him though and if he was affected by it, it never showed. He’s had great matches throughout the year and you can’t deny he gets a great reaction from the crowd. Just one tiny thing though. WWE need to tone down on the Irish stereotyping. I’m all for using the word arse or fella in a promotion, but when he goes off on one during a promo and rabbits on about his Uncle Fergus or four-leaf clovers, it’s a little too much and it’ll hurt him the more it goes on.

James Storm: The Cowboy is another big man who’s had a great year. I didn’t think he’d work as a singles star, but since Beer Money broke up about 18 months ago, Storm has developed into a top-class worker. While he might not have the repertoire of someone like an AJ Styles or Kurt Angle, Storm’s smash-mouth, high-impact (no pun intended) offense is believable and that’s all it needs to be. Having a smash-mouth style didn’t hold back someone like Stone Cold Steve Austin, who coincidentally also liked a cold beverage or two! Storm never fails to get a decent reaction, even from an Impact Zone where the crowd seems like it’s literally comatose from time to time. The thing that TNA do so much better than WWE is they develop their on-screen characters. We know why we’re investing in Storm. We’ve had some background into who he is and what drives him. That’s why he’s over with the crowd. Storm’s promos are always filled with passion and intensity. They come across as natural instead of forced, and while he’s not among the greatest talkers ever, he’s well above average and better than most on the roster, including the current TNA World Champion. Storm has had a fantastic year and I just hope that TNA finally pull the trigger with “The Cowboy” in 2013.

2^nd place – Christopher Daniels (TNA): For me, Daniels has been nothing short of outstanding this year. If it wasn’t for Daniels (and Kaz), then I think I’d have gone mental. Well, even more than I already am! They’ve been entertaining, funny and just a team that you love to hate. It’s no surprise that Daniels has been at the forefront of the tag-team division in recent years. He’s a fantastic worker and criminally under-rated as a wrestler.

Some of his promos have been tremendous and his in-ring work is arguably the best it’s ever been. I’ve said it countless times before, but I would pay to watch Daniels wrestle anyone for 3 hours on PPV. He does something that very few wrestlers can do these days: he draws you in to his matches. He makes you care, whether you’re booing or cheering him. That’s a rare quality.

People talk about people like Bully Ray and Bobby Roooooode as being “heel of the year”. For me, Daniels is by far and away the best heel in TNA. He’s a great prick heel. Everything he does is designed to draw heat towards him and sympathy to the babyface. I’m not quite sure how Daniels has never been TNA WHCOTW. That needs to happen. Now!

And… the FATP award for Superstar of the Year 2012 is………………….

1^st place – Daniel Bryan (WWE): Simply put, 2012 has been the Year of the Goat. I wrote an article about Daniel Bryan the other week and here’s just a snippet:

“As the second quarter of 2012 kicked off, despite being booked like a joke at WrestleMania 28, Bryan was one of the most over wrestlers on the entire roster. If WWE’s plan was to make Bryan into some kind of joke, then it backfired spectacularly because it had completely the opposite effect. Whether they meant it or not, they’d turned Bryan into what I personally never thought he’d get the chance to be: a superstar.

His body of work this year stands up there with anyone in the industry. His 2 out of 3 falls match with Sheamus was fantastic, and then there was the series of matches in the summer with CM Punk (albeit with the involvement of AJ and Kane), which included the five-star classic at Over the Limit.

Sales of Kleenex must have gone through the roof as wrestling geeks around the world creamed their pants at the thought of Bryan and Punk going head-to-head for the most prestigious title in the world: the WWE Championship. Although Bryan came up short (no pun intended), he proved to everyone that he belonged in the main-event.”

Just over a year ago, although he held the MiTB briefcase, he was going nowhere on SmackDown and struggling to get TV time. Hell, some weeks he was only on Superstars! Fast-forward to the present day and he’s been involved in WWE or World Title matches at 7 of WWE’s last 12 PPV’s. In the absence of an injured CM Punk at the TLC PPV this year, Bryan was elevated up to the main-event of a WWE PPV for the very first time. There’s never been any question that Bryan has had a hardcore minority of fans ever since he signed with WWE, but over the last year, that’s developed into a huge percentage of the audience.

Although I’d have preferred it to last longer, his World Title reign was entertaining. His “Q&A time with Daniel Bryan” segments were tremendous and they spawned the most popular catchphrase in the WWE since “What?” – you know what I’m talking about. Yes! Yes! Yes! Bryan’s latest work has seen him team up with Kane and it’s given us some of the most entertaining things I’ve seen on TV (and not just on a wrestling show) for the last 10 years. Some of their skits/vignettes/segments have been genuinely laugh out loud funny and they’re helping to make the tag-team division worth watching again. He’s had consistently great matches with “curtain jerkers”, mid-carders and main-eventers. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen Bryan have a bad match all year.

Why is Bryan above everyone else on the list of nominees (and countless others I could’ve included)? It’s simple. The sheer transformation in Bryan’s WWE career over the past 12 months eclipses anything that any other wrestler in WWE or TNA has managed to achieve in 2012. That’s why what Bryan has done in 2012 is so much more impressive than anyone else.

That’ll wrap things up for the first-ever FATP Awards. I’ll just run through the winners again because to be honest, I’ve forgotten who’s won what and I’m the one who’s written the fucking thing! Haha.. Here we go:

FATP Newcomer of the Year 2012: Damien Sandow (WWE)

FATP Break-Out Star of the Year 2012: Austin Aries (TNA)

FATP WTF Moment of the Year 2012: AJ Styles/Crack-Whore Claire storyline (TNA)

FATP Tag-Team of the Year 2012: Christopher Daniels & Kazarian (TNA)

FATP Most Improved Wrestler of the Year 2012: Miss Tessmacher (TNA)

FATP “Tell Me I Didn’t Just See That” Moment of the Year 2012: Brock Lesnar returns after WM28 (WWE)

FATP PPV of the Year 2012: Bound for Glory (TNA)

FATP Female Wrestler of the Year 2012: Miss Tessmacher (TNA)

FATP Hall of Fame: Adam “Edge” Copeland

FATP Match of the Year 2012: Triple H vs The Undertaker (with special guest referee Shawn Michaels) in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 28 (WWE)

FATP Wrestler of the Year 2012: CM Punk (WWE)

FATP Superstar of the Year 2012: Daniel Bryan (WWE)

Out of the 11 categories that actually had nominees, it was almost an even split between WWE and TNA in terms of who won what. The further down the list I got, from Newcomer to somewhere like Match of the Year, it got really difficult to decide which was best because to be honest, the standard of some of the individual performances and the PPV matches (particularly from TNA) were just outstanding. I think that the top guys in WWE were just a little bit better, but not by much. It’s amazing how close the standard is now between TNA and WWE. Whether that’s cos the WWE have been pretty poor overall this year (apart from a few individuals and PPV matches) or whether it’s cos TNA has been getting better is down to you to judge. I know what my opinion is.

Honourable Mention: Bully Ray

It was really tough for me to decide the winners in this article, especially since one of TNA’s stand-out performers didn’t win anything. I’m talking about Bully Ray. If you’d have told me a couple of years ago that Bully Ray would be a stand-out, compelling singles star, I’d probably have called you a moron or pissed myself laughing, but the reality is that Bully Ray personifies everything that’s good about TNA right now. Taking risks, knowing their limits (for the most part) and focusing on the things they’re good at. Even though everything he’s done as a singles star in the last couple of years has been designed to get heat on him, you can’t help but find him funny. I respect the hell out of everything that Bully Ray has accomplished since he’s broken out on his own, but particularly in the last 12 months. He’s become one of the main reasons why I religiously watch TNA, and that’s a credit to him and the way he goes about his business.

I know it’s Christmas, but what do you guys think? Did I get things spot on, or did you disagree with the choices I made? Either way, you know the drill by now. Whack a comment in the space below or find me on Twitter @george_sltd. It’d be interesting if you guys use my categories and tell me who you’d have gone with as the winners. That’d be pretty sweet!

I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this and it’s not a kick in the arse off of 8,000 words, so for those of you who stuck with it right til the end, thanks! I think we might have lost some people on the way! Haha… It’s been a blast doing this, so depending on how well it goes down, I might bring it back next year and let you (the readers) decide a few of the categories, either by Twitter or polls. Just don’t send me any fucking Tout videos OK?

Thanks a lot for spending some of your Christmas holidays reading this. The support that FATP has had over the past few months here on Rambles has been top drawer, but it doesn’t stop there. I’ve got some huge plans to make this even better in 2013, so stick around and join me for the ride! Have a fucking amazing Christmas and I’ll be back in 2013 to make you laugh, cry, tear your hair out and of course, bring you your weekly, obligatory Nick Hogan joke!

Peace out,

George

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Lives at the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shootings in Newton, Connecticut

Charlotte (6), Rachel (29), Olivia (6), Dylan (6), Dawn (47), Jesse (6), Ana (6), Anne Marie (52), Emilie (6), Noah (6), Jessica (6), Lauren (30), Mary (56), Victoria (27), Daniel (7) Josephine (7), Madeleine (6), Catharine (6), Chase (7), James (6), Jack (6), Caroline (6), Avielle (6), Benjamin (6) and Allison (6)

December 14, 2012

Happy Holidays everybody!! Well it wouldn’t be the holiday season without the cheerfulness of The Fatal 4-Way bloggers giving you their best and worst of the 2012 year. And here we are once again. The FINAL blog of 2012. My favourite time of the year where I, Diva, get to see where my fellow bloggers are at. So lets get this Christmas party started, shall we?

Best and Worst of 2012:

1)Best (non-PPV) DVD: 1) You Think You Know Me (Edge)

2) Best In the World (CM Punk)

3)Attitude Era

4) Falls Count Anywhere

5) RAW 1000

Best DVD of 2011 is: Best in the World (CM Punk)

2)Best T-Shirt:

1) Zack Ryder’s (purple)

2) Miz’s Haters Love Me

3) CM Punk’s Best In The World

4) Rock’s Boots 2 Asses

5) R Truth’s Little Jimmy

Best T-Shirt of 2012 is: Miz’s Haters Love Me

3)OMG Moment:

1) AJ becomes RAW GM

2) HHH/Taker WM 28 promo

3) Jericho Return

4) Sheamus 18 seconds

5) Legends vs Heath Slater

OMG Moment of 2012: HHH/Taker WM 28 Promo February 20^th RAW:

part 1: http://youtu.be/BQCbv4Z3UaE

part 2: http://youtu.be/EGEFysgJURM

4)Most Under-utilized Wrestler: 1) Wade Barrett

2) Daniel Bryan

3)Kane

4)Drew McIntyre

5) Alicia Fox

Most Under-utilized Wrestlers of 2012: Drew McIntyre

5)Most Over-utilized Wrestler: 1) John Cena

2) Kofi Kingston

3) CM Punk

4) Randy Orton

5) Kaitlyn

Most Over-utilized Wrestler of 2012: Kaitlyn

6)Stupidest Moment/Storyline:

1) AJ/Cena scandal
2) Team Hell No Anger Management
3) AJ Styles/Claire Lynch/Dixie Carter baby Daddy drama
4) Any skit involving the Muppets
5) Brodus Clay dancing with his “Mama” and “The Bridge Club” (WrestleMania)

Stupidest Moment/Storyline of 2012: Anger Management

7)Worst Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler: 1) Magic Mike (Kevin Nash)

2) Fred 3 (John Cena)

3) The Association (Kevin Nash)

Worst Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler of 2012: Fred 3 (John Cena)

8)Best Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler: 1) Fast 5 (The Rock)

2) Bending the Rules (Edge)

3)Rock of Ages (Kevin Nash)

Best Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler of 2012: Bending the Rules (Edge)

9)Worst Pay-Per-View:

1) Elimination Chamber (WWE)

2) No Way Out (WWE)

3) Money In The Bank (WWE)

4) Victory Road (TNA)

5) Hardcore Justice (TNA)

Worst Pay-Per-View of 2012: Victory Road (TNA)

10)Best Pay-Per-View:

1) WrestleMania 28 (WWE)

2) SummerSlam (WWE)

3) Hell in a Cell (WWE)

4) TLC (WWE)

5) Survivor Series (WWE)

Best Pay-Per-View of 2011: WrestleMania 28 (WWE)

11)Worst Commentator/In-Ring Announcer: 1) Matt Striker

2) Josh Matthews

3) Ricardo Rodriguez

4) Jeremy Borash

5) Tazz

Worst Commentator/In-Ring Announcer of 2012: Matt Striker

12)Best Commentator/In-Ring Announcer: 1)Jim Ross

2)Jerry Lawler

3)JBL

4)Michael Cole

5)Miz

Best Commentator/In-Ring Announcer of 2012: Jerry Lawler

13)PROMO of The Year:

1) CM Punk’s Respect; July 30th RAW: http://www.wwe.com/videos/big-show-interrupts-cm-punk-as-he-explains-his-attack-on-the-rock-raw-july-30-20-26041499

2) Triple H & Undertaker WrestleMania Promo; March 5th RAW: http://youtu.be/g4L4ZefM9gg

3) The Rock and John Cena; March 26th RAW: http://youtu.be/db35bJCRqFk

4) Chris Jericho’s End Of The World Promo; February 6th RAW: http://youtu.be/KA7Kcug9Nn8

5) Jerry Lawler’s Comeback Promo; November 12th RAW: http://youtu.be/oquQoQAK3yY

Promo of The Year for 2012: Jerry Lawler Heart Attack Comeback http://youtu.be/oquQoQAK3yY

14)Worst Tag Team: 1) Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio

2) Usos

3) Santino Marella and Zack Ryder

4) R Truth and Kofi Kingston

5) Hornswoggle and Khali

Worst Tag Team of 2012: Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio

15)Best Tag Team: 1) 3MB

2) The Shield

3) RhodeScholars

4) Prime Time Players

5) Hell No

Best Tag Team of 2012: Prime Time Players

16)Worst Female Wrestler: 1) Kaitlyn

2) Tamina

3) Eve

4) Layla

5) Naomi

Worst Female Wrestler of 2012: Naomi

17)Best Female Wrestler: 1) Beth Phoenix

2) Rosa

3) Aksana

4) Nikki

5) Brie

Best Female Wrestler of 2012: Beth Phoenix

18)Worst Male Wrestler: 1) Khali

2) Tensai

3) Yoshi Tatsu

4) Santino Marella

5) Brodus Clay

Worst Male Wrestler of 2012: Tensai

19)Best Male Wrestler : 1) Miz

2) Alberto Del Rio

3) CM Punk

4) Chris Jericho

5) Undertaker

Best Male Wrestler of 2012: CM Punk

20)Match of The Year:

1) Ryback vs CM Punk – October 28th, Hell In The Cell

2) Triple H vs. Undertaker – April 1st, WrestleMania 28

3) Sheamus vs Big Show – October 28th, Hell In The Cell

4) John Cena vs CM Punk – September 16th, Night Of Champions

5) Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett – February 3rd, SmackDown

Match of the Year for 2012: Triple H vs Undertaker; April 1st,WrestleMania 28

BOAM!

Frage’s Best and Worst of 2012:

1)Best (non-PPV) DVD: 1) TLC 2: Crash & Burn Hosted by Christian

2) CM Punk: Best in the World

3) The Best of Raw & SmackDown 2012

4) You Think You Know Me: The Story of Edge

5) King of The Ring (Hosted by King Booker… Yeah that sucked, but DVD is great)

Best DVD of 2011 is: You Think You Know Me: The Story of Edge

2)Best T-Shirt:

1) I AM THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!

2) NO! NO! NO! (STOP IT!)

3) Embrace Your Evil

4) GTS [Yellow]

5) I Dig Crazy Chicks

Best T-Shirt of 2012 is: I AM THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

3)OMG Moment:

1) Sheamus becomes as Stale as Cena

2) Christian Wins First Major WWE Championship (ECW Championship counted to me as Major Championship though)

3) AJ Becomes GM of RAW

4) Edge inducted into Hall of Fame

5) Big Show Win’s a World Championship at Hell In A Cell

OMG Moment of 2012: Edge Inducted into the Hall Of Fame http://youtu.be/Ltd7r611Jw8

4)Most Under-utilized Wrestler: 1) Hunico

2) Kofi Kingston

3) Natalya

4) Justin Gabriel

5) Tensai

Most Under-utilized Wrestlers of 2012: Justin Gabriel

5)Most Over-utilized Wrestler: 1) Vicki Guerrero

2) Ryback

3) CM Punk

4) Santino

5) John Cena

Most Over-utilized Wrestler of 2012: John Cena

6)Stupidest Moment/Storyline: 1) AJ Crazy In Love

2) AJ & Cena relationship

3) Sheamus Brogue Kick being Banned

4) Big Show’s “IRONCLAD” Contract

5) 3MB is Formed

Stupidest Moment/Storyline of 2012: Big Show’s “IRONCLAD” Contract

7)Worst Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler: 1) John Cena in Fred 3

2) John Cena in Fred 3

3) John Cena in Fred 3

Worst Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler of 2012: John Cena in Fred 3

8)Best Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler: 1) Edge in Bending The Rules

2) Stone Cole in Maximum Conviction

3) Stacy Kiebler in Dysfunctional Friends

Best Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler of 2012: Edge in Bending The Rules

9)Worst Pay-Per-View: 1) Night of Champions (WWE)

2) Hell In A Cell (WWE)

3) Money In The Bank (WWE)

4) Bound For Glory (TNA)

5) Hardcore Justice (TNA)

Worst Pay-Per-View of 2012: Hardcore Justice (TNA)

10)Best Pay-Per-View: 1) No Way Out (WWE)

2) Survivor Series (WWE)

3) TLC (WWE)

4) WrestleMania 28 (WWE)

5) TNA Sacrifice (TNA)

Best Pay-Per-View of 2011: WrestleMania 28

11)Worst Commentator/In-Ring Announcer: 1) Michael Cole

2) Matt Striker

3) Josh Matthews

4) Booker T

5) Michael Cole (as a heel)

Worst Commentator/In-Ring Announcer of 2012: Michael Cole (as a heel)

12)Best Commentator/In-Ring Announcer: 1) Jim Ross

2) JBL

3) Jerry Lawler

4) Lilian Garcia

5) Ricardo Rodriguez

Best Commentator/In-Ring Announcer of 2012: Jim Ross

13)PROMO of The Year:

1) Shield interview with Cole on RAW; November 26th RAW: http://youtu.be/NuuZm_xg0kk

2) CM Punk Promo on Flair during Slammy’s; December 17th RAW: http://youtu.be/7LhVuaifXWE

3) Kane Anger Management Promo talking about his past; August 27th RAW: http://youtu.be/zmONdNzhMbs

4) Daniel Bryan yells at a child during Anger Management; August 27th RAW: http://youtu.be/J-TVJQizqoE

5) Dolph Ziggler talks down to AJ in Locker room; November 19th RAW: http://youtu.be/ijIZ7tba3sA

Promo of The Year for 2012: Kane Anger Management Promo talking about his past; August 27th RAW: http://youtu.be/zmONdNzhMbs

14)Worst Tag Team: 1) CoBro (Zack Ryder & Santino)

2) Rhodes Scholars

3) Epico & Primo

4) R-Truth & Kofi

5) 3MB

Worst Tag Team of 2012: CoBro (Zack Ryder & Santino)

15)Best Tag Team: 1) Team Hell No

2) Prime Time Players

3) Mysterio & Sin Cara

4) The Shield

5) Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd

Best Tag Team of 2012: Prime Time Players [Although no one will agree with me]

16)Worst Female Wrestler: 1) Eve

2) Alicia Fox

3) Naomi

4) Cameron

5) Kelly Kelly

Worst Female Wrestler of 2012: Eve

17)Best Female Wrestler: 1) AJ

2) Beth Phoenix

3) Natalya

4) Layla

5) Kaitlyn

Best Female Wrestler of 2012: Beth Phoenix

18)Worst Male Wrestler: 1) Brodus Clay

2) R-Truth

3) Ryback

4) Big Show

5) John Cena

Worst Male Wrestler of 2012: Brodus Clay

19)Best Male Wrestler : 1) CM Punk

2) The Miz

3) Kofi Kingston

4) Wade Barrett

5) Daniel Bryan

Best Male Wrestler of 2012: Wade Barrett

20)Match of The Year:

1) Randy Orton Vs. Alberto Del Rio Falls Count Anywhere, SmackDown November 6, 2012

2) The Miz Vs. Kofi Kingston, WWE Main Event October 16, 2012

3) The Rock Vs. John Cena, WrestleMania 28 April 1, 2012

4) CM Punk Vs. Chris Jericho, WrestleMania 28

5) Dolph Ziggler Vs. John Cena, TLC December 16, 2012

2012 Match Of The Year: CM Punk Vs. Chris Jericho, WrestleMania 28

SARGE’S BEST & WORST OF 2012

===========================

1)Best (non-PPV) DVD: 1) Rock VS Cena – Once In A Lifetime

2) Attitude Era

3) Edge: You Think You Know Me

4) Undertaker: The Streak

5) Brock Lesnar: Here Comes The Pain

Best DVD of 2011 is: Undertaker: The Streak

2)Best T-Shirt:

1) DX’s RAW 1000 commemorative t-shirt

2) The Miz’s “Haters Love Me” t-shirt

3) Undertaker’s “Apocalyptic Warrior” t-shirt

4) John Cena’s “Rise Above Cancer” t-shirt

5) “I’m A Paul Heyman Guy” t-shirt

Best T-Shirt of 2012 is: Miz’s “Haters Love Me” t-shirt

3)OMG Moment:

1) Brock Lesnar breaks Triple H’s arm on RAW

2) Kofi Kingston does a handstand to save himself in the Royal Rumble match

3) The Rock defeats John Cena at WrestleMania 28

4) Jerry Lawler’s heart attack on RAW

5) CM Punk attacks The Rock

OMG Moment of 2012: Jerry Lawler’s heart attack on RAW http://youtu.be/weGr3MgTWzU

4)Most Under-utilized Wrestler: 1) Tyson Kidd

2) Wade Barrett

3) Rey Mysterio

4) The Miz

5) Randy Orton

Most Under-utilized Wrestlers of 2012: The Miz

5)Most Over-utilized Wrestler: 1) Daniel Bryan

2) John Cena

3) Dolph Ziggler

4) Alberto Del Rio

5) Kane

Most Over-utilized Wrestler of 2012: John Cena

6)Stupidest Moment/Storyline: 1) AJ/Cena scandal

2) Team Hell No Anger Management

3) AJ Styles/Claire Lynch/Dixie Carter baby Daddy drama

4) Any skit involving the Muppets

5) Brodus Clay dancing with his “Mama” and “The Bridge Club” (WrestleMania)

Stupidest Moment/Storyline of 2012: AJ Styles/Claire Lynch thing

7)Worst Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler: 1) Fred 3: Camp Fred (John Cena)

2) Dysfunctional Friends (Stacy Keibler)

3) Magic Mike (Kevin Nash)

Worst Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler of 2012: Fred 3: Camp Fred (yes, even seeing Kevin Nash in a banana hammock is better than this!)

8)Best Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler: 1) Bending The Rules (Edge)

2) The Expendables (Stone Cold Steve Austin)

3) Celebrity Wife Swap (Mick Foley)

Best Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler of 2012: Bending The Rules

9)Worst Pay-Per-View: 1) Royal Rumble (WWE)

2) Victory Road (TNA)

3) TLC (WWE)

4) Hardcore Justice (TNA)

5) Hell In A Cell (WWE)

Worst Pay-Per-View of 2012: Hell In A Cell (WWE)

10)Best Pay-Per-View: 1) Money In The Bank

2) Elimination Chamber

3) WrestleMania 28

4) No Way Out

5) Extreme Rules

Best Pay-Per-View of 2012: No Way Out (Diva knows why!)

11)Worst Commentator/In-Ring Announcer: 1) Josh Matthews

2) JBL

3) Todd Grisham

4) Christie Hemme

5) Justin Roberts

Worst Commentator/In-Ring Announcer of 2012: JBL

12)Best Commentator/In-Ring Announcer: 1) Lilian Garcia

2) Michael Cole

3) Jim Ross

4) Jerry The King Lawler

5) Booker T

Best Commentator/In-Ring Announcer of 2012: Jerry “The King” Lawler

13)PROMO of The Year:

1) Rock’s WM Promo against Cena; February 27th, RAW: http://youtu.be/U5ZaLU2lNJo

2) Triple H & Undertaker WrestleMania Promo; February 20th, RAW:

part 1: http://youtu.be/BQCbv4Z3UaE

part 2: http://youtu.be/EGEFysgJURM

3) Paul Heyman as Brock Lesnars Mouth piece; May 7th, RAW: http://youtu.be/bJQRh6VqzzM

4) CM Punk’s “RESPECT” Promo; July 30th RAW: http://www.wwe.com/videos/big-show-interrupts-cm-punk-as-he-explains-his-attack-on-the-rock-raw-july-30-20-26041499

5) Mick Foley’s Promo against CM Punk when Jerry Lawler Returned; November 12th RAW: http://youtu.be/L26wl8a686o

Promo of The Year for 2012: Rock’s WM promos against Cena http://youtu.be/U5ZaLU2lNJo

14)Worst Tag Team: 1) ODB & Eric Young

2) Team CoBro

3) Mexican America

4) Prime Time Players

5) Primo & Epico

Worst Tag Team of 2012: Team CoBro

15)Best Tag Team: 1) Team Hell No

2) Team Rhodes Scholars

3) International Airstrike

4) The Uso’s

5) Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez

Best Tag Team of 2012: Team Hell No

16)Worst Female Wrestler: 1) ODB

2) Rosa Mendez

3) Madison Rayne

4) Alicia Fox

5) The Bella Twins

Worst Female Wrestler of 2012: Rosa Mendez

17)Best Female Wrestler: 1) Kharma

2) Beth Phoenix

3) Mickie James

4) Tamina Snuka

5) Natalya

Best Female Wrestler of 2012: Beth Phoenix

18)Worst Male Wrestler: 1) Sin Cara

2) Tensai

3) Santino Marella

4) Jessie Godderz

5) Brad Maddox

Worst Male Wrestler of 2012: Santino Marella

19)Best Male Wrestler : 1) Kofi Kingston

2) John Cena

3) Jeff Hardy

4) AJ Styles

5) CM Punk

Best Male Wrestler of 2012: CM Punk

20)Match of The Year:

1) Rock VS Cena (April 1st, WrestleMania)

2) Undertaker VS Triple H (April 1st, WrestleMania)

3) Brock Lesnar VS John Cena (April 29th, Extreme Rules)

4) SmackDown Money In The Bank Ladder Match (July 15^th , Money In The Bank)

5) WWE Intercontinental Championship C)The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston, (October 17th, Main Event)

Match of the Year for 2012: Undertaker VS Triple H (April 1st, WrestleMania 28)

It seems it’s that time of year again. I actually look forward to this each year. It gives me a chance to see what my fellow bloggers pick for their best and worst of the year. Last year I made it harder, forced them to really research their picks. So it’s time to show off my picks, so lets get to bidness.

1)Best (non-PPV) DVD: 1) WWE Attitude Era

2) Edge: You Think You Know Me

3) CM Punk: Best In The World

4) Falls Count Anywhere

5) Undertaker: The Streak

Best DVD of 2011 is: Edge: You Think You Know Me

2)Best T-Shirt:

1) Damien Sandow “You’re Welcome”

2) Wade Barrett “Barrett Barrage”

3) Kofi Kingston “I Can Fly”

4) Paul Heyman “I’m A Paul Heyman Guy”

5) Team Hell No “Hugging Is All The Rage”

Best T-Shirt of 2012 is: Wade Barrett “Barrett Barrage”

3)OMG Moment:

1) Chris Jericho Returns and says NOTHING (January 2^nd RAW)

2) WWE’s Tribute to the Children & Teachers of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (December 16^th TLC ppv)

3) Kane and Daniel Bryan Hug it out (September 3^rd RAW)

4) Jerry Lawler’s Heart Attack on the Air (September 10^th RAW)

5) Kofi Kingston Hand Walks To The Steps (January 29^th Royal Rumble)

OMG Moment of 2012: Tie: WWE’s Tribute to the Children & Teachers of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (December 16^th TLC ppv)http://youtu.be/UTvMCY76vJg

& Kofi Kingston Hand Walks To The Steps (January 29^th Royal Rumble) http://youtu.be/aOeumCBBlYQ

4)Most Under-utilized Wrestler: 1) Tyson Kidd (WWE)

2) Natalya (WWE)

3) Justin Gabriel (WWE)

4) Tamina Snuka (WWE)

5) Christian (WWE)

Most Under-utilized Wrestlers of 2012: Justin Gabriel (WWE)

5)Most Over-utilized Wrestler: 1) Ryback (WWE)

2) John Cena (WWE)

3) Big Show (WWE)

4) Great Khali (WWE)

5) Eve (WWE)

Most Over-utilized Wrestler of 2012: Ryback (WWE)

6)Stupidest Moment/Storyline: 1) Anything with John Laurinaitis (WWE)

2) Brad Maddox vs. Ryback (WWE)

3) Brooke Hogan/Bully Ray/Hulk Hogan (TNA)

4) Paul Heyman Fakes A Heart Attack (WWE)

5) AJ and John Cena Affair (WWE)

Stupidest Moment/Storyline of 2012: Brooke Hogan/Bully Ray/Hulk Hogan (TNA)

7)Worst Movie /TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler (2012 only): 1) Dysfunctional Friends (Stacy Keibler)

2) Fred 3: Camp Fred (John Cena)

3) Magic Mike (Kevin Nash)

Worst Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler of 2012: Magic Mike (Kevin Nash)

8)Best Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler (2012 only): 1) Bending The Rules (Edge)

2) Haven (Edge)

3) Psych (The Miz)

Best Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler of 2012: Bending The Rules (Edge)

9. Worst Pay-Per-View: 1) WWE Royal Rumble

   2) WWE Survivor Series

3) TNA Destination X

4) WWE Hell In A Cell

5) TNA Hard Justice

Worst Pay-Per-View of 2012: TNA Destination X

10)Best Pay-Per-View: 1) WWE Extreme Rules

2) TNA LockDown

3) WWE Money In The Bank

4) WWE Night Of Champions

5) WWE SummerSlam

Best Pay-Per-View of 2011: WWE SummerSlam

11)Worst Commentator/In-Ring Announcer: 1) JBL(WWE)

2) Jeremy Borash (TNA)

3) Christie Hemme (TNA)

4) Matt Striker (WWE)

5) Ricardo Rodriguez (WWE)

Worst Commentator/In-Ring Announcer of 2012: JBL (WWE)

12)Best Commentator/In-Ring Announcer: 1) Lilian Garcia (WWE)

2) Josh Mathews (WWE)

3) Mike Tenay (TNA)

4) Jim Ross (WWE/NXT)

5) Justin Roberts (WWE)

Best Commentator/In-Ring Announcer of 2012: Josh Mathews (WWE)

13)PROMO of The Year:

1) The Rock WWE RAW March 12, 2012: http://youtu.be/oANjnBx9Pf8

2) Chris Jericho WWE RAW February 6, 2012: http://youtu.be/KA7Kcug9Nn8

3) Triple H WWE RAW May 14, 2012: http://youtu.be/Qmuuk6Mzppg

4) Triple H & Undertaker WWE RAW February 20, 2012:

part 1: http://youtu.be/BQCbv4Z3UaE

part 2: http://youtu.be/EGEFysgJURM

5) CM Punk WWE RAW April 9, 2012: http://youtu.be/SUGH5jP9SBg

Promo of The Year for 2012: Chris Jericho WWE RAW February 6, 2012: http://youtu.be/KA7Kcug9Nn8

14)Worst Tag Team: 1) Santino Marella & Zack Ryder (WWE)

2) Camacho & Hunico (WWE)

3) Tyler Reks & Curt Hawkins (WWE)

4) The Bella Twins (WWE)

5) Hornswoggle & Khali (WWE)

Worst Tag Team of 2012: Hornswoggle & Khali (WWE)

15)Best Tag Team: 1) Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd (WWE)

2) Sin Cara & Rey Mysterio (WWE)

3) The Ascension (NXT)

4) Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow (WWE)

5) Epico & Primo (WWE)

Best Tag Team of 2012: The Ascension (NXT)

16)Worst Female Wrestler: 1) Madison Rayne (TNA)

2) Alicia Fox (WWE)

3) Aksana (WWE)

4) Rosa Mendes (WWE)

5) Layla (WWE)

Worst Female Wrestler of 2012: Aksana (WWE)

17)Best Female Wrestler: 1) Beth Phoenix (WWE)

2) Mickie James (TNA)

3) Angelina Love (TNA)

4) AJ Lee (WWE)

5) Tara (TNA)

Best Female Wrestler of 2012: Beth Phoenix (WWE)

18)Worst Male Wrestler: 1) Ryback (WWE)

2) Big Show (WWE)

3) Brad Maddox (WWE)

4) Heath Slater (WWE)

5) Bully Ray (TNA)

Worst Male Wrestler of 2012: Ryback (WWE)

19)Best Male Wrestler : 1) Jeff Hardy (TNA)

2) Sheamus (WWE)

3) Dolph Ziggler (WWE)

4) Randy Orton (WWE)

5) CM Punk (WWE)

Best Male Wrestler of 2012: Sheamus (WWE)

20)Match of The Year:

1) Hell In A Cell;Triple H vs. Undertaker, WWE WrestleMania 28 April 1, 2012

2) Last Man Standing; AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels, TNA Destination X July 8, 2012

3) WWE Championship, C)CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho, WWE WrestleMania 28 April 1, 2012

4) Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett, WWE RAW October 15, 2012

5) WWE Intercontinental Championship C)The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston, WWE Main Event October 17, 2012

Match of the Year for 2012: WWE Championship, C)CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho, WWE WrestleMania 28 April 1, 2012

My Best and Worst of 2012:

1)Best (non-PPV) DVD: 1) Rock VS Cena Once In A Lifetime

2) Brock Lesnar Here Comes The Pain

3) WWE Attitude Era

4) n.W.o The Revolution DVD

5) You Think You Know Me Edge DVD

Best DVD of 2011 is: You Think You Know Me

2)Best T-Shirt:

1) Team Hell No I Am The Tag Team Champions

2) GTS CM Punk

3) No No No Daniel Bryan

4) Zack Ryder Siiiick t-shirt

5) I am a Paul Heyman Guy

Best T-Shirt of 2012 is: No No No Daniel Bryan

3)OMG Moment:

1) Jerry Lawler suffers a heart attack on WWE RAW

2) CM Punk body slams The Rock on 1000^th RAW and turns heel

3) Brodus Clay debuts as The Funkasaurus

4) The Undertaker cuts his hair!

5) Brock Lesnar Returns to WWE RAW

OMG Moment of 2012: Jerry Lawler Suffers Heart Attack on WWE RAW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weGr3MgTWzU

4)Most Under-utilized Wrestler: 1) Zack Ryder

2) Wade Barrett

3) Cody Rhodes

4) Justin Gabriel

5) Tyson Kidd

Most Under-utilized Wrestlers of 2012: Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd

5)Most Over-utilized Wrestler: 1) John Cena

2) Dolf Ziggler

3) Alberto Del Rio

4) Big Show

5) Ryback

Most Over-utilized Wrestler of 2012: John Cena

6)Stupidest Moment/Storyline: 1) AJ/John Cena love story

2) Paul Heyman mocking Jerry Lawler’s heart attack

3) AJ as GM

4) John Laurinaitis as GM

5) Brock Lesnar losing to John Cena

Stupidest Moment/Storyline of 2012: AJ/John Cena love story

7)Worst Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler (2012 only): 1) Pair of Kings (The Miz)

2) Magic Mike (Kevin Nash)

3) Clear Lake (Rowdy Roddy Piper)

Worst Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler of 2012: Magic Mike (Kevin Nash)

8)Best Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler (2012 only): 1) Bending The Rules (Edge)

2) Haven (Edge)

3) Journey 2 The Mysterious Island (Dwayne The Rock Johnson)

Best Movie/TV Starring/Appearance by A Wrestler of 2012: Bending The Rules Edge

9)Worst Pay-Per-View: 1) Survivor Series

2) Hell In A Cell

3) Royal Rumble

4) Turning Point

5) Bound By Glory

Worst Pay-Per-View of 2012: Hell In A Cell

10)Best Pay-Per-View: 1) Extreme Rules

2) WrestleMania 28

3) SummerSlam

4) Elimination Chamber

5) Money In The Bank

Best Pay-Per-View of 2011:WrestleMania 28

11)Worst Commentator/In-Ring Announcer: 1) JBL

2) Booker T

3) Joey Matthews

4) Michael Cole

5) Ricardo

Worst Commentator/In-Ring Announcer of 2012: JBL

12)Best Commentator/In-Ring Announcer: 1) Jim Ross

2) Jerry Lawler

3) Lian Garcia

4) Matt Striker

5) William Regal

Best Commentator/In-Ring Announcer of 2012: Jim Ross

13)PROMO of The Year:

1) Chris Jericho calls CM Punk a Bastard RAW March 26, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5_1sDuoK38

2) The Rock returns to Philadelphia March 20^th RAW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6yAWFm2Rhs

3) John Cena, Bret Hart and CM Punk promo RAW Sept 11 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecv3VMJCWps

4) CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and The Rock 1000^th RAW July 23^rd 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERAEecQBPoM

5) The Undertaker and Triple H Promo RAW Feb 20^th 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS69VM23psQ

Promo of The Year for 2012: John Cena, Bret Hart and CM Punk Promo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecv3VMJCWps

14)Worst Tag Team: 1) Sin Cara & Rey Mysterio

2) The Usos

3) Primo & Epico

4) Hernandez and Chavo

5) Eric Young and ODB

Worst Tag Team of 2012: Eric Young and ODB

15)Best Tag Team: 1) Kane & Daniel Bryan

2) Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel

3) Rhodes Scholars

4) R-Truth & Kofi Kingston

5) Prime Time Players

Best Tag Team of 2012: Kane & Daniel Bryan

16)Worst Female Wrestler: 1) Eve

2) AJ

3) Kelly Kelly

4) Layla

5) Kaitlyn

Worst Female Wrestler of 2012: Eve

17)Best Female Wrestler: 1) Natalya

2) Beth Phoenix

3) Tara

4) Mickie James

5) Velvet Sky

Best Female Wrestler of 2012:Tara

18)Worst Male Wrestler: 1) John Cena

2) Brock Lesnar

3) Antonio Ceasaro

4) Big Show

5) Alberto Del Rio

Worst Male Wrestler of 2012:John Cena

19)Best Male Wrestler : 1) Sheamus

2) Randy Orton

3) Cody Rhodes

4) CM Punk

5) The Rock

Best Male Wrestler of 2012: CM Punk

20)Match of The Year:

1) The Undertaker VS Triple H WrestleMania 28

2) Brock Lesnar VS John Cena Extreme Rules PPV

3) The Rock VS John Cena WrestleMania 28

4) Brock Lesnar VS Triple H, SummerSlam 2012

5) CM Punk VS Chris Jericho WrestleMania 28

Match of the Year for 2012: The Rock VS John Cena WrestleMania 28

That’s it for 2012. I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday season, and a very Happy New year! Keep it safe and spectacular. Please don’t drink or drive. We’ve had enough tragedy this season. Cheers and see you back here January 5, 2013!!

“Worst Apocalypse ever!!! What a rip-off…”

-Chris Jericho via Twitter @IAmJericho

]]> http://wrestlingrambles.com/2012/12/18/fatp-tna-in-2012-the-good-the-bad-and-the-downright-ugly/ Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:00:21 +0000 george_sltd http://wrestlingrambles.com/2012/12/18/fatp-tna-in-2012-the-good-the-bad-and-the-downright-ugly/

Welcome along to the last FATP before the Christmas period! Snow is falling, all around me… Wait, no it’s not, there’s a giant outside scratching his head. Seems like he’s got dandruff. Well that’s shit on my parade! Haha…

Cheers to everyone who commented on my Divas article last week. It was a kind of fun thing to throw together. One name that a few people said I missed was Velvet Sky. I was going to put her on my list bro (a wee Robbie E ref for ya there!), but she’s only just re-signed with TNA, so it felt kinda stupid to add her to it. She’d add a lot to the Divas division and to quote Booker T, shucky ducky quack quack!

Moving on, and talking of TNA, I figured that this was the best time to do a review of TNA’s 2012 and you can guess from the title I’m gonna be talking about the good, the bad and the downright ugly. I’m not gonna spoil anything here, but TNA have had a far better year overall than WWE. In terms of match quality, storylines, flow of the show and outstanding PPV cards, TNA’s clearly had a fantastic year.

Don’t think I’ve been watching TNA through Impact-tinted lenses though. There’s been some bad and downright head-scratching moments in TNA that, even by Vince Russo standards, made you cringe. So, for your reading pleasure in the week before Christmas, I’m going to go through the things I liked, disliked and thought “what the fuck is this?” about TNA this year!

TNA – The Good in 2012

Vince Russo waves goodbye and Dave Lagana comes in as head of creative

This might be going against the majority of wrestling fans, but I don’t actually hate Vince Russo. I think he gets a bad rap from some wrestling fans. He’s done a lot of good stuff and it’s arguable that, without Vince Russo, we wouldn’t have got the WWF Attitude Era and the WWF/E wouldn’t be a thriving company today. He’s widely blamed for the downfall of WCW, but the damage was pretty much done by the time he got there. He only ended up actually writing a year of WCW TV and although it was brutal, others have to take their shame of the blame too. He’s always an easy target.

With that out of the way, Russo did write some terrible TV for TNA and it’s not a co-incidence that Russo leaving has resulted in TNA having what’s arguably been their best year ever. It’s not just down to Russo leaving though. The arrival of Dave Lagana on his white steed has transformed TNA. While the wrestlers get most of the credit, and rightly so, Lagana has brought a lot to the table. He was very under-rated when he was writing SmackDown and ECW for WWE, so it’s time he got credit for the amazing job he does! Lagana’s a wrestling fan who knows how to write good TV. That’s a combination that works and it’s shown in the vast improvement TNA’s made over the last year.

Impact Wrestling went live on Thursdays

My God, what a difference that made to TNA. I wrote about this the other week, so I’m not going to repeat all of what I said. Here’s just a snippet:

“I think that TNA taking Impact live was an excellent decision. It showed TNA what they can do in terms of a live show, and what they need to work on to make it better. They’ve got all the tools there to make a great TV show, in terms of production and on-air talent, they just need to find a way to finance it. I think that sadly, the only way they can do it is to move out of the Impact Zone and charge entry to their TV tapings.”

TNA deciding to take Impact live was an outstanding idea and everyone in the TNA office (like Dixie Carter, Dave Lagana and yes, even ERIC FUCKING BISCHOFF) deserves a fuck-load of credit for making that choice.

The show felt different. There was more excitement. The show flowed better. Whatever it takes, TNA have to find a way of financing this as a permanent move. Obviously they can’t do shows live from the UK, so a taped four-week slot in January/February is OK, but other than that, they should make every effort to make the majority of the other 48 weeks of TV live. We’ve seen over the last 6 months that it works.

Now, some people might say “yeah, but the ratings didn’t improve”. Ratings mean shit these days. People don’t watch TV live like they used to. It’s also important to remember that WWE are so far ahead of TNA that TNA trying to catch up is ridiculous. If they concentrate on having a good, live TV product every week, the ratings will grow as the mainstream audience becomes aware of TNA.  Patience is the key.

The Bound for Glory Series

If I had one word to sum up the BFG series, it’d be wow! They didn’t really have any ridiculous wrestlers in it this year. Gunner anyone? All of the competitors were legit and even though Robbie E and D’Angelo Dinero didn’t win many points, they’re credible opponents for guys like James Storm, Bully Ray and Samoa Joe.

Throughout the competition, apart from Storm and Joe, you didn’t know who’d make the top 4. It could easily have been Angle, Styles, Anderson, RVD or Daniels instead of Hardy, Bully Ray, Storm and Joe. That’s the key thing about TNA. It shows the strength in depth that they have on the roster. They’ve got almost a dozen guys who can interchange between the mid-card and main-event, which is something that WWE would kill for right now!

You know what the best thing is about the Bound for Glory series? It gives the midcard something to strive for other than meaningless mid-card titles. It gives the mid-card a meaning, which is fantastic.

Gutcheck/Open Fight Night

I was kind of undecided where to put these two initiatives, but in the end, I decided to put them in with the good. It’s a tremendous idea to have a “Gutcheck” segment with an unknown wrestler fighting for a TNA contract against an established star. It lets the audience see wrestlers that they might not know and it gives them an opportunity to invest in them, which is a great thing.

However, the reason why I was swithering about whether to put Gutcheck in the good is because I don’t know if having “Gutcheck” every month is worth it. I think it’s too much to introduce a new character to TV every four weeks. If it was every 2-3 months, they could build the story more so that when they actually have their defining match, the fans would give a shit about it.

On a side note, Jeremy Borash needs to calm the fuck down when he says “Gutcheeeeeeccccckkk”. Sometimes, it takes him longer to say Gutcheck than the match that the guy/girl is wrestling in!

The other thing I’d tweak is that once they’ve earned their contract, keep them on TV so fans don’t forget about him. I’d bet that the only Gutcheck contestant people really remember is Joey Ryan, and he fucking lost his match! Why do they remember him? Because he had a TV presence. Simple.

On to Open Fight Night, which is another great idea. I love the fact that any superstar can call out anyone from the back and have a match. It makes it unpredictable. Storylines can just go out of the window and we can see a match that we might not normally see!

The best example was on a recent episode of Impact. Christian York, coincidentally a Gutcheck winner, challenged Jeff Hardy and we got a fucking awesome match. Would we have seen that without OFN? I doubt it. Similar to the Gutcheck segment, if we had maybe one OFN every couple of months, it’d come off better, but that might just be me nit-picking!

Quality of TNA PPV’s in 2012

There’s absolutely no question in my mind that TNA have had more complete, top-class PPV’s this year than WWE. Put that in perspective. TNA has been a wrestling company for 10 years. WWE have been going for decades and have almost unlimited resources, but they just haven’t been able to compete with the quality of TNA’s PPV’s. I’m not talking about buyrates because, for the reasons I’ve just explained, you can’t compare a 10 year old company with less resources (TNA) to mainstream media juggernaut (WWE).

I’m talking about a complete card from top-to-bottom, where nothing feels like filler. On almost every TNA PPV since March/April, there hasn’t been an unadvertised match just thrown on there, like there has been in WWE. For the most part, there’s a reason for the matches happening. They’re given time to develop rivalries before having the blow-off match on a PPV. That’s the difference and that’s why I enjoy watching TNA more than WWE, because I’m given a reason to care about the matches.

Austin Aries wins the World Heavyweight Championship

For me, this is the biggest reason why TNA have had a fan-fucking-tastic 2012, and it’s not just specifically because A-Double won the World Heavyweight Championship. It’s about a bigger issue than that. It’s about TNA listening to their fans. It’s about TNA respecting their fans. Most of all, it’s about TNA not patronising their fans.

When the BFG Series started, Aries wasn’t involved because he was X-Division champ. Every other conceivable opponent for TNA World Champion Bobby Roode was. Aries stood alone, like a lone wolf. At that time, there was a groundswell of support for Aries, probably helped by the fact that Impact was live. His matches had been getting progressively better (they were already great) and the fans started getting behind him. As the weeks wore on, TNA listened to the fans and decided to thrust Aries into the main-event.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: even though I wanted Aries to win the title, I never thought it would happen. I marked out like a kid when Aries beat Roode. I watched it live and at near enough 4am in the morning, I was busting some severe moves and screaming my fucking head off! If TNA hadn’t listened to their fans, then thousands of people, including me, wouldn’t have had that feeling. It was amazing!

Like I said, it wasn’t just because Aries won the title. It was because it felt like the opinions of the fans were respected. Again, that’s another reason why TNA had a great 2012!

Now that the good stuff is out of the way, and there was a LOT of it, let’s get to the stuff that wasn’t so good.

TNA – The Bad in 2012

The Hogans Know Best… Brrrrrrotherrrrrrr!!

(sigh) Where do I start? I might not be a Hulk Hogan fan, but I respect everything he’s done in this business. I’ve got respect for him, but why doesn’t he have respect for himself? There’s absolutely no need for Hogan to be on TV every week, if at all. It takes him about a week and a half to walk to the ring and when he gets there, he just rambles (no pun intended!) incoherently. His promo’s are a fucking disgrace. It’s as if when he’s talking, he’s saying stuff to remind himself of what’s happening. He’s supposed to convince us (fans) about what’s going on, but it comes across like us (fans) know more than Hogan does. He’s trying to convince himself more than us, that’s how it comes across to me anyway.

I’ll go in to this a little more in a bit, but a couple of things about Hulk that have annoyed me in the last few months, mainly surrounding Aces & 8’s. I’ll be talking about Aces & 8’s more later, but on an episode of Impact before Bound for Glory, Hogan basically showed that “he knows best brrrotherrr”. Until that point, TNA had done a fantastic job of building up Aces & 8’s as this bad-ass biker group that takes no shit, kicks ass and take names.

Then Hogan steps in and makes an arse of the entire situation! First of all, he attempts to wipe out 3 of Aces & 8’s with a baseball bat, but when he swings at them, he misses every single one of them by about 3 feet. I know that he’s not really “supposed” to hit them, but Jesus Christ. Make it look better than that!

Then, at the BFG PPV, it got even worse! After the Aces & 8’s vs Bully Ray & Sting match had finished and the winners had been determined, Hogan’s music hits. It takes about a year and a half for him to walk down the aisle to the ring, but he wipes out 4/5 members of the gang on the way to the ring. Way to make a “tough gang” look like bitches!

I’m not saying Hogan doesn’t have something to offer TNA. Hogan is a huge name and, sex tape aside; he can get some mainstream media attention for the company. I just think his time as a full-time TV performer is over. The sad thing is, I think the only way Hogan will step aside is when he’s dead, and I’m not joking.

Sticking with the Hogans, we get to the ridiculous decision to give Brooke Hogan a job with TNA. Whether her “Executive in Charge of the TNA Knockouts” role is just for TV or an actual backstage job is irrelevant. What in the name of fuck is that about? What does she actually offer? She looks like a drag queen and I’m pretty sure that it was her in the Hogan sex-tape, not her dad! Jesus Christ, she’s got a deeper voice than me and I smoke 20 cigarettes a day!

The most unintentionally funny thing I’ve ever seen was her falling over on the stage on Impact a couple of months ago. I genuinely roared with laughter. What does this bint actually bring to the programme? The same as her dad: fuck all. Get her off my TV. Sadly, given recent events, it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen. Poor Bully Ray. What’s he done to deserve this? I feel sorry for him.

Surely I’ve given enough examples, and they’re just from the last 12 months, to prove that the Hogans don’t know best and TNA should get them off-screen!

Aces & 8’s goes on… and on… and on… and on… and on…

On one of the first live Impacts after Sting had been announced as TNA’s first Hall-of-Famer, he got wiped out from these three random guys. We’d later find out that they were part of a gang called Aces & 8’s. At the beginning, TNA did a brilliant job of booking this and, so far, they’ve done a great job of stopping us from finding out who’s actually behind it. The problem with it is that because it got such a good initial reaction, TNA have dragged it out beyond belief and it’s starting to have a bad effect on the storyline.

To make it worthwhile, TNA have to get two things right. They have to do the “big” reveal on PPV and they have to make sure that the pay-off is worth it. I don’t mean by fucking exposing Devon or Festus as the brains behind it. I’ll also be majorly pissed if that fucking waste of space Garett Bischoff is involved. Honestly, shit on the pavement (that’s sidewalk for our non-UK readers!) would be more useful than him. The sad thing is that other than Jeff Jarrett, Eric Bischoff or Abyss, who else would be a big enough, realistic pay-off? I wouldn’t have minded if Jarrett, Bischoff or Abyss had been behind it if we’d have had some decent progression over the last few months, but we’ve not. Other than Devon and Festus, we’ve had nothing of note.

The problem is that TNA have gone back to taping Impact, so even IF the reveal is done on PPV, we wouldn’t have to watch to find out the reasoning behind it. We’d be able to read the spoilers and be done with it. That’s why I had to put Aces & 8’s in with the bad. Because it’s dragged on too long.

James Storm gets screwed AGAIN… REPEATEDLY

I genuinely feel sorry for James Storm. I fucking love his theme song. I’ve said before that I catch myself singing it out loud in public sometimes. Let me tell ya that I get some strange looks when I’m outside the pub having a smoke and just come out with “Longnecks and Rednecks are my friends…”

Anyway, the reason I feel sorry for the Cowboy is because every time it looks as if he’s finally going to achieve something, it gets snatched away from him. It happened before his match with Roode at Lockdown, it happened after he won the Bound for Glory series and it happened after he won the triple-threat at No Surrender. Whose handbag has James Storm shat in to have as much bad luck as that? Seriously. (And for those of you who got that reference, give yourselves a pat on the back!)

One of the bad things about the internet is that you can read rumours all over the place and you never know what to believe. I’ve read from more than one credible source (a website where you need to pay for membership that includes access to premium information) that the reason why Storm lost at Lockdown is because Hogan felt Storm would get a better reaction if he failed to win the World Title. What fucking planet is that rabid Walrus on?

We’d already seen Storm fail to beat Roode countless times before. If Storm had beaten Roode, in Storm’s home state, inside a steel cage for the World Heavyweight Championship, what better pay-off would there have been than that? There would’ve been none. There’s no possible way that TNA can capitalise on James Storm now, because they’ve already given us Storm beating Roode. It happened at Bound for Glory.

Storm and Roode have amazing chemistry together and I’ve gone on record as saying that I thought their match and storyline that culminated at Bound for Glory was the best wrestling storyline, match, emotional battle, whatever you want to call it, I’d seen in any wrestling company in the last 10 years.

It’s getting beyond the joke with Storm now, especially with the fact that he lost his #1 contender’s spot to Roode a few weeks ago. The way Storm gets booked in TNA reminds me of the way that The Rock was often booked as a babyface early in his main-event run with WWF/E. Every time that Rock got close to achieving something, it was snatched away from him, but it meant so much more when he won.

TNA are running out of time to do that with Storm, because the only way they can get that pay-off is to have him beat Roode for the title. But guess what, Roode doesn’t have the title, and he won’t have it for a long time yet (dependant on the Hardy situation). The longer it goes on, the longer TNA have missed the boat with James Storm, which is a shame because the guy is a great character and he deserves more than being screwed at every opportunity.

Jeff Hardy wins the TNA World Heavyweight Title

Urgh… Where do I start with this? I should preface this by saying I was a huge Jeff Hardy fan. I marked out when he won his first WWE Championship because I never saw it coming. But I’ve got several issues with Jeff winning the TNA World Heavyweight Championship as a result of winning the Bound for Glory series.

First off, the fact that Hardy shouldn’t have a job with TNA, never mind being their fucking World Heavyweight Champion. TNA Victory Road is the most unprofessional and embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen. Hardy disgraced the company, its workers, the fans and his fellow wrestlers that day by turning up for work clearly off his tits on drink or drugs. Granted, he shouldn’t take all the blame for that, because TNA officials allowed him to go out there in that condition, but nobody poured that drink or put those drugs in his body. Hardy did.

Second off, the fact that Hardy only has the title to stop him from leaving. That’s a joke. That’s not a reason to give him the title. I understand that Hardy is TNA’s biggest star, but realistically, how much does having Hardy benefit TNA? They don’t draw huge live crowds (except for one-off PPV’s and international tours) and their PPV buys don’t reflect how good the shows are, so does it really make a difference if Hardy is champion? I don’t think so… The only thing I can compare it to is a guy cheating on his wife/girlfriend, only for the wife/girlfriend to beg him not to leave. It’s ridiculous. At the end of the day, Jeff Hardy will do what every wrestler does: he’ll do what’s best for him. Whether he leaves, or stays, it’ll be because that’s what Jeff wants, not because TNA have effectively begged him to say.

Finally, Jeff Hardy doesn’t deserve to be TNA World Heavyweight Champion. I’ve already explained why I don’t think he deserves it. No doubt some of you are saying “but George, doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?” Yes, but this isn’t Jeff’s second chance. It’s his third or fourth, and going by his previous form, he’ll probably need another couple of “second chances” before he retires. For a professional athlete, that’s not good enough. People might shit all over RVD, but how many times has he been suspended? Once, and everyone’s well aware of how much Rob likes a crafty “herbal cigarette” every now and again.

To top it all off, if we can believe what we believe on ye olde interweb, TNA’s plans heading into the Bound for Glory series were for James Storm to win the tournament and face Bobby Roooooooode (wee Jeremy Borash ref for ya there!) for the TNA Heavyweight Championship of the World. However, Hulk Hogan (fresh off another sex-tape scandal) decided to stick his 24-inch pythons and 94-foot head into the situation and decided to put TNA’s weight behind one Jeff Hardy. That decision resulted in at least one good thing, A-Double winning the World Championship, but the ultimate goal was to put one of wrestling’s biggest liabilities (that’s just my opinion) on top of the mountain again.

The punters in the TNA crowd at Bound for Glory didn’t sound too happy when Jeff “earned his redemption”. Listen to their reaction when Hardy beat Aries. I’d say just over half of the crowd, maybe more, are pissed beyond belief that Hardy won. Whether that’s got to do with how good Aries is, or how much the crowd are fed up of Hardy, is open to conjecture. I know what my opinion is.

James Storm deserves to be TNA World Heavyweight Champion more than Jeff Hardy and the fact he was pushed aside for a ridiculous face-painted, insidey-voice-listening man who wears a TNA World Heavyweight Championship that looks like a Divas championship and a reject Batman belt had a bastard love-child is just mind-blowing to me.

With the bad stuff out of the way, that means it’s time for the final part of this trinity, the downright ugly.

The clusterfuck that was the AJ Styles & Crack Whore Claire storyline

Yup. It was bad enough for me to call it a clusterfuck. What in the name of hell possessed TNA creative to sign off on that? It was a complete joke from start to finish and it was uncomfortable to watch. The girl who played the “Claire Lynch” role was an awful actress. I swear that my cousin, who’s only 7 years old, could’ve done a better job. She looked uncomfortable; AJ Styles looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights and it was so bad, even by wrestling storyline standards, that it wasn’t even funny. It was just awful!

Even the start with the AJ/Dixie thing. As soon as that happened, I had an uneasy feeling that something shitty was going to come of it, but I was prepared to wait. I waited and got hit with something worse. Jesus! Is it the worst wrestling storyline ever? That’s a tough one. It’s not at Katie Vick levels, but it’s definitely the worst storyline in TNA history in my opinion.

The only positives from this whole storyline were the fact that we got some close to 5-star tag-team matches between Kaz & Daniels and AJ & Kurt Angle. Talking of the former WTTCOTW, Kaz and Daniels were the saving grace of this storyline. They were entertaining. They were the ones who kept me from self-harming during the storyline. If it hadn’t have been for them, I’d hate to think what depths this storyline would have plunged into.

Despite the fact that some stuff in TNA was horrific at times this year, the positives by far and away outweigh the negatives. TNA have provided a consistently good TV product over the past 12 months. The key thing for them now is to make sure that they don’t get ideas above their station. Slow and steady progression is what they should aim for. Don’t book stadiums for PPV’s, don’t go chasing the holy grail of ratings. Make sure that your TV shows and storylines make sense, continue to make the shows flow together and make sense, and the audience will grow. At this point, TNA is a far better overall wrestling product to watch than the WWE and if they keep improving, there’s a fair chance that more people will feel the same.

One thing that Ramblers like us are never frightened to do is to express our opinion and get some debate going, so what are you waiting for? Get involved right now, yes, right now, and leave a comment below. You can also find me lurking around on Twitter @george_sltd. I’m normally on there every day, so feel free to send me a tweet about this FATP, or any from the archive!

That’ll wrap things up for this week. If I don’t speak to you guys before then, have a merry Christmas and a great New Year! Thanks for all your comments and support. It’s appreciated!

Peace out,

George

—————————-

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Preview Thursday’s IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast on SpikeTV at 8/7c – the return of Championship Thursday with THREE World Title matches! If you can’t watch it on Thursday night, make sure to set your DVR to record it! The road to the January “Genesis” Pay-Per-View continues!

- It’s the return of CHAMPIONSHIP THURSDAY with an epic main event as World Heavyweight Champion “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy will defend the gold against former titleholder Austin Aries!

- The Knockouts Championship will also be on the line as Tara defends the title against one of these four superstars: Mickie James, Velvet Sky, Miss Tessmacher or ODB! The potential challengers will make their case to Knockouts Executive in Charge Brooke Hogan, and Brooke will select who receives the title shot!

- Also on the CHAMPIONSHIP THURSDAY edition of IMPACT, the Television Championship will be defended as Devon of The Aces and Eights puts his title on the line against the Olympic Gold Medalist – Kurt Angle!

- Plus, just days before the big holiday, Kazarian promises to throw a party on the broadcast in honor of Christopher Daniels to celebrate his big win over AJ Styles at Final Resolution!

All this and much more on Thursday’s special holiday IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast on SpikeTV

Making An Impact

With Billy James

Welcome to “Making An Impact” review for TNA Impact Wrestling. I’m Simply Sensational Billy James with the fallout from Impact Wrestling. It’s the fallout from Final Resolution as Jeff Hardy left still the TNA World Heavyweight Champion with “Aces & Eights” attacking Bobby Roode after the match. What will Roode have to say about “Aces & Eights” actions? After AJ Styles devastating lost to Christopher Daniels at Final Resolution, will be next for Styles? Also at Final Resolution, Austin Aries was able to defeat Bully Ray when Bully Ray was distracted by Brooke Hogan. Will Bully Ray get revenge on Aries tonight? Plus tonight it’s the return of Velvet Sky in in ring action. Will Velvet be able to impress Brooke Hogan tonight to get a title shot against TNA Knockouts Champion; Tara?  So let’s get started by asking yourself this one question? “Are you ready to feel the Impact?”

Matches

Velvet Sky pins Madison Rayne

Garett Bischoff & Wes Briscoe beat Robbie E. & Robbie T

Jeff Hardy & “The Cowboy” James Storm defend “Aces & Eights”

Kenny King pins TNA Division Champion; Rob Van Dam in a non-title match

Bully Ray pins Jesse

No Impact

This Impact Wrestling had no real flow to it what so ever as half of the segments didn’t seem to gel with each other. The show looked like it was pasted together by a third rate editor. Why would you have Bully Ray vs. Jesse as your main event? If it had been me, I would have had either Jeff Hardy & “The Cowboy” James Storm vs. “Aces & Eights” or Kenny King vs. Rob Van Dam as the main event. I just feel like this show was put on autopilot and just didn’t care. For God shakes, you have Jesse in the main event when he can barely wrestle. I know that TNA taped this Impact Wrestling this past Monday as the next three Impact Wrestling shows were taped this week due the holidays but still I think that TNA could have put a little more work into putting together tonight’s show.

Ok TNA, is it really necessary to shove Wes Briscoe down our throats? I mean it’s like it was with Garett Bischoff as he was constantly shoved down our throats. Briscoe in my opinion is not as good as TNA makes him out to be. I think that Briscoe needs to go back to OVW to train some more while TNA brings Christian York permanently to the main roster. I also don’t think that TNA should be putting these two together as a tag team because either one of them is good enough to carry the other. Hey I know that TNA needs more tag teams but not these two as a tag team.

Speaking of tag team, why is TNA always having Robbie E and Robbie T jobbing to other tag teams? I think that the Robbies make a good tag team as Robbie T is better suited for tag team wrestling than singles. TNA needs good tag teams to keep the division alive which right now it’s on life support. So why not push the Robbies as a solid tag team? Hopefully TNA will wake up and start giving the Robbies a chance in the tag team division.

Another stupid Joseph Park segment TNA? Does TNA really think that the “Joseph Park” character is getting over with the fans? I wish that TNA would just bring back the character Abyss because Abyss is a much better character than Joseph Park.

 High Impact

Tonight was the return of Velvet Sky who got one hell of a pop from the crowd. I thought that Velvet looked good in the ring and had very little ring rust. The match itself was average, it was the fact that the fans into the match and were behind Velvet. Madison Rayne was not a bad opponent for Velvet for Velvet’s first match back as they have some decent chemistry together in the ring. The only bad thing that I would say is that outfit that Velvet was wearing didn’t looking very good on her. But hey, I’m no fashion critic, that’s what Joan Rivers and the Fashion Police are for.

I really liked AJ Styles promo. I’ve been saying for the past few weeks that I thought that Styles was going to turn “Heel” and tonight I think we got the first sign of that “Heel” turn. It’s looks like that TNA is going with the classic “Heel” turn by saying that he’s tired of being the cleanup guy for TNA and that from now on, Styles is only worrying about himself and no one else. I expect for Styles to feud first with “The Cowboy” James Storm first which will be a damn good feud.

Wow, Kenny King was damn impressive tonight in his match with RVD. I have to say that I was surprised how well King kept up with RVD even blocking several of RVD’s moves. I didn’t get their match at Final Resolution but their match tonight was the best match of the night. I think that King has a bright future in TNA and will be the X Division by June 2013. I think we’ll see a rematch between these two at Genesis next month.

I really liked the Hulk Hogan\Bully Ray segment as I thought that it had great buildup of emotion to it. This is one of the few times that I didn’t mind Hogan being involved in a segment. Also the way that the segment was shot was well done as the camera angles were different and fresh. Interaction between Hogan and Bully Ray so real that I thought that the two were actually going to try and beat the shit out of each other. With that said, if Austin Aries is no longer going to be part of the storyline then TNA wrap it up.

So Austin Aries was behind “Aces & Eights” attacking Bobby Roode and Jeff Hardy at Final Resolution so that Bobby Roode wouldn’t win the TNA title. I loved how Aries made it clear that he’s not in bed with “Aces & Eights” just that he simply paid “Aces & Eights” to do a job. I liked the fact that Aries is focus on winning back the TNA title which is good since there’s no guaranteed that Jeff Hardy is going to resign with TNA. I look for Hardy vs. Aries III to take place at Genesis.

 Show Rating: 5

 Final Thoughts

Again, this was an ok Impact Wrestling as the show had only few great moments that stood out. Most of the matches were good with Kenny King vs. Rob Van Dam being the best match of the night. The Austin Aries was the best promo of the night followed by the AJ Styles promo. I did like the Mickie James promo where talked about her loss at Final Resolution as she was disappointed with the outcome of the match. I expect Mickie to turn “Heel” and feud with Velvet Sky early part of next year. Next week we have three title matches as next Thursday is Championship Thursday. Kurt Angle will challenge Devon for the TNA TV title, Tara defends the TNA Knockouts title against Mickie James and scheduled is Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Heavyweight title. Don’t forget to check out the annual TNA Glory Awards podcast where myself and John Mayer will name Superstar of Year, Match of the Year, Knockout of the Year and much more. So don’t forget to check it out

Star of the Night: Rob Van Dam & Kenny King

Well, that’s it for this week’s Making An Impact. Don’t forget to check the weekly PIPE BOMB! And Wrestling Debate Podcast with myself and John Mayer. Also you can email me with questions or comments at wrestlingdebate@hotmail.com. And check me out at http://www.facebook.com/wrestlingdebate.

This week on IMPACT Wrestling, The Aces and 8′s reveal who outbid Bobby Roode for their services, Kenny King goes dirty in a non-title match against Rob Van Dam, and AJ Styles loses his smile.

Click “read more” for quick match results and a review of the show. For a more detailed recap of everything that went down, check out my coverage over at Pro Wrestling Ponderings.

Quick Match Results:

1. Velvet Sky pinned Madison Rayne (3:09).
2. Wes Brisco/Garett Bischoff (w/ Kurt Angle) defeated Robbie E/Robbie T (3:27).
3. Jeff Hardy/James Storm defeated The Aces and 8′s (D.O.C./SkullFace) (14:32).
4. Kenny King pinned [TNA X-Division Champion] Rob Van Dam in a non-title match (5:44).
5. Bully Ray pinned Jessie Godderz (w/ Tara) (6:00).

*****

[What Worked]

Rob Van Dam Vs. Kenny King: A fun match that told a believable story that led into King cheating to defeat his X-Division rival. By the end of the match it made sense why he would do that, given how he had continually come up short in previous pinfall attempts. Looks like RVD/King are headed towards a feud and that excites me for two reasons: 1) Kenny King finally has a purpose and 2) there’s an actual X-Division feud in the making. Feels like it’s been ages since there has been one.

Joseph Park Goes to OVW: My personal favorite segment of the night had Joseph Park arriving at the OVW training facility and put through the paces (in a suit!) by head trainer Danny Davis. It was a fun segment with Park excelling as usual. I’m excited to see the progression of Park as a wrestler and I’m looking forward to weekly updates on his training; it’s like getting a mini Rocky training montage every week.

Opening Segment: TNA already did the “Who paid off the Aces and 8′s?” whodunit last week but I enjoyed the way it came about on this episode as well. Bobby Roode‘s anger/confusion-laced promo was excellent and Devon‘s mic work was also fun for a lot of reasons (“outbidded” is now a word, I’m calling Webster’s as we speak). This whole segment, which included Jeff Hardy/James Storm and a beatdown, was short and simple, and gave the show a good hook…that was unfortunately squandered seemingly at random (that’s coming up).

Bully Ray Vs. Jessie Godderz: A hard-hitting 6 minute match that saw Ray lay in some brutal chops Godderz’s chest that left giant handprints. Godderz hung in there with Ray and had some good moves of his own, proving that he is a much more sound investment in the “musclehead” department than Rob Terry has been thus-far.

Austin Aries Explains His Actions: The concluding segment of the show had Austin Aries explaining why he was the one who paid off The Aces and 8′s, and he was damn good at explaining his reasoning. Granted it sounded like the rantings of someone trying to make sense of something that made no sense, but he did a damn good job at connecting the dots and laying down his motivation. The subsequent Jeff Hardy interruption/verbal jabs/brawl was fun and the hints at the possibility of a Hardy/Aries III match happening on next week’s show was a hell of a hook. Good way to end the show.

[What Was Okay]

The Hulk Hogan/Bully Ray Shouting Match: Things boiled to the top tonight and Ray/Hogan finally unleashed on each other verbally. Ray was damn near brilliant through this whole thing, laying in some truth bombs and making the frustration/anger/hurt he feels at Hogan not trusting him feel completely natural and not at all forced. Unfortunately, although he was much better, Hogan didn’t hold up his end of the argument and his dismissal of the whole thing, simply stating “weak”, deflated all the drama and good that came before it. Sometimes a simple word can ruin things.

Overall Show: The first hour of IMPACT Wrestling felt dreadfully dull, but things picked up in the second hour enough to save this show. Things got more interesting and the matches got better in the second half, which was a huge sigh of relief because I was questioning why I even watched TNA for the first 60 minutes. There was enough here to get me invested and interested in next week’s show.

Wes Brisco/Garett Bischoff Vs. The Robbies: The Robbies are a jobber tag team and that’s unfortunate because at least charisma-wise they are far more interesting than the duo they made look like a million bucks tonight. That being said the match was decent, if a bit short, and it’s obvious that Bischoff has improved in the ring over the past months. I’m still not sold on the Vanilla Twins but again it’s a means to an end and that end is The Aces and 8′s so I can wait it out.

Jeff Hardy/James Storm Vs. The Aces and 8′s: A decent but ultimately dull tag team match that had Hardy in the ring for most of it taking the punishment from DOC and his random Aces and 8′s partner. It dragged on for too long and the ending, which featured Storm/Hardy easily beating up the other Aces members before winning the match clean, was mind-boggling. The Aces and 8′s are no longer a threat; they are simply a goon squad and apparently a pretty ineffective goon squad. So much for what was such an interesting concept initially.

[What Didn't Work]

Devon Reveals Who Paid The Aces and 8′s Off: After saying that The Aces and 8′s didn’t reveal their business, Devon and company went out after the Storm/Hardy tag team match and, erm, revealed their business. If that wasn’t dumb enough, Devon’s big reveal was given to the wrong people. Roode had come out earlier asking for an answer and instead of giving it to him they gave it to two guys who didn’t really seem all that interested in finding out what had happened. Hardy and Storm’s facial reactions even said “…why are you telling me this?”. What a bad payoff to a promising hook.

AJ Styles Wants To Do His Own Thing: The saga of AJ Styles seems simple on paper: have him continually lose for awhile, lose his confidence, and then come back with a vengeance and get his own redemption arc. But things got a little weird on this show when he came out and cut a “I’m sick of being TNA’s puppet, I’m in it for me now” promo. The main issue? It was a hollow argument; he said he had been used as a “corporate janitor” cleaning up TNA’s messes but I can’t think of one instance where he’s actually had to do that. In fact he hasn’t even really been a focal point for most of the year. Essentially this promo felt like Styles making up a bunch of bogus bullsh*t to rebel against just to give him some heat. But it was just that…bullsh*t.

Velvet Sky Vs. Madison Rayne: Sky made her in-ring return tonight and the Impact Zone (and Taz) were happy to see her let the pigeons loose once again. The match itself though was, well, bland to put it mildly. It didn’t exactly instill confidence that Sky was going to make a real positive impact on the Knockouts division in 2013 and spoke more to Tara’s likely job of having to carry her in every match they have. This match did what it needed I guess, to reestablish her, but it was ultimately forgettable. Also who knew that Madison Rayne was still employed with TNA? She’s been gone forever.

*****

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This week’s Impact Wrestling is not live, but the official preview for the episode is below:

Preview Thursday’s (December 13) IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast at 8/7c on SpikeTV! If you can’t watch IMPACT on Thursday night, make sure to set your DVR to record all the action.

- Witness the aftermath from Sunday’s “Final Resolution” event! After beating Bobby Roode at the PPV, “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy is STILL the World Heavyweight Champion! Hardy will appear on Thursday’s broadcast – what’s next for the World Champ during the final weeks of 2012? How will Roode react to losing his shot at the gold? Why did The Aces and Eights double-cross Roode? Tune in and find out!

- After their battle at “Final Resolution”, will the rivalry between Austin Aries and Bully Ray continue on IMPACT? Is the war just beginning between Aries and Bully Ray after the controversy involving Brooke Hogan?

- After making her surprise return this past week, Velvet Sky will be in action on Thursday’s broadcast against Madison Rayne! Does Velvet have her sights set on regaining the Knockouts Championship? Will Madison spoil Velvet’s in-ring return? Don’t miss it!

- Also at “Final Resolution”, longtime rivals AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels collided in their FINAL BATTLE! We will hear from both the winner and loser of the historic bout on Thursday’s broadcast as both Styles and Daniels will appear on IMPACT to talk about the outcome of their epic rivalry!

All this and much more on Thursday’s IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast at 8/7c on SpikeTV