The John Report Wrestling Blog

I don’t often talk about happenings outside of the WWE, but that doesn’t mean I only watch Vince McMahon’s promotion.  This has been a great week for professional wrestling.  Raw was excellent, and saw the seeds planted for a Punk vs. Jericho feud, as well as the returns of Triple H and the Undertaker.  Despite this intrigue, I feel more compelled to talk about TNA.  Or IMPACT!  Or whatever the hell it’s being called right now.  Not because of their above-average television show this week, but rather because of the most blatant nepotism the industry has seen since the days of territories.  I’m of course speaking of Eric and Garett Bischoff.

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On The Aire: Selective Hearing
By Mike Aires

Last Friday’s column, besides being about awesome and horrible characters, featured my picks for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.  I was fairly close on my predictions for the entire show, minus a couple of minor things here and there.  Cena and Kane going at it outside of the ring (right by a TJR sign, no less) to a Double Disqualification was fairly predictable.  The World Heavyweight Championship went about as planned, as did the WWE Championship match.  The Rumble, however, was a big freaking curve ball.

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WTF: TNA Impact Wrestling 01/26/12
By Marc B.

Thursday Headlines: John Cena’s Angry Face

This week’s episode of Raw was a good one. We got some great CM Punk/John Laurinaitis interaction, another fantastic Chris Jericho segment in which he finally spoke, and an excellent video package promoting the Royal Rumble. All in all, it was a very good go-home show (a show that promotes an upcoming pay-per-view, for all you non-wrestling nerds). But there was one segment that stood out for all the wrong reasons, and ended up being a disappointment. Of course, I’m talking about John Cena’s “angry face” segment.

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WTF: TNA Impact Wrestling 01/12/12
By Marc B.

Well, here we are on the cusp of another Impact review. This is the first episode after the Genesis PPV, so let’s see what Dixie and Company have in store for us, shall we?

Impact opens with a video package of the main event from Genesis, and how Bobby Roode had to get himself DQ’d to keep the title. They also mention that Bobby Roode is the most selfish man in wrestling.  Again. We get it. That leads us to Mr. Selfish to come out.

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OTA Presents: My Top 10 Royal Rumble Moments
By Mike Aires

What up, Aireheads? Welcome to 2012!  After a somewhat slow news week, the first Raw started off with a bang seeing Chris Jericho return and basically have every fan in the world do exactly what he wanted them to.  But you are going to read too many things about a guy who didn’t say a single word this week that I figured you might want to focus on something else:  The Royal Rumble.  The 25^th anniversary of the Rumble is fast approaching, so what better time to discuss my favorite moments from past Rumbles?  Now, with every Top 10, I remind everyone that this is my own personal views.  Due to this fact, plus the fact that I didn’t start watching the WWE until later in my childhood, there will be more new moments than old.

So what moments make it?  How many non-royal rumble matches make it?  Let’s find out.

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WTF: TNA IMPACT REVIEW FOR 12/29/11
By Marc B.

Welcome to the last Impact review of 2011. It’s been fun covering this company for the last ten months. I look forward to seeing what the New Year brings. That being said, let’s get on with the review, shall we?

Impact opens with the usual video package, this time focusing on the Knockouts storyline of Madison Rayne taking over for Karen Jarrett as Vice President of the Knockouts Division. As soon as that’s over, we are greeted by Madison and Gail Kim, and Madison immediately calls out Tara and Assmacher, who oblige. Read more…

WTF: TNA Impact Wrestling 12/21/11
By Marc B.

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Whatever You Believe In! This is a special holiday edition of WTF! Why is it special? Because I’m writing it on Christmas Eve, that’s why. It still has the familiar snark that you have come to love, so without anymore useless chatter, let’s get on with the show!

They start with a video package of the Bobby Roode storyline and his feud with AJ Styles. Anyone else think that this feud could have been played out a little better? Oh wait, this is TNA. They don’t know the meaning of the words “slow burn.” During the video, they show a clip of Bully Ray saying he has Bobby Roode’s back. Wait, did I miss a memo? Didn’t Fortune and Immortal beat the shit out of each other for nearly a year? How can Bully have Roode’s back so quickly? I mean at least show me where Bully and Roode form a weird alliance. Show me the apology. This happens all too frequently in wrestling. Face fights heel. Face turns heel or heel turns face. Now the two faces or heels are friends even though they fought for months. No ‘splanations at all. I just wish history would be recognized.

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Turkeys of the Year
By Laurence Salford

There are a lot of articles and opinions floating out about there at the moment, focusing on the best of the year 2011. The crème de la crème. The top of the pops. The best there is etc, but no-one has really been considering the other end of the scale, and those areas which have been the most disappointing. I write this having just finished watching TLC, which although was a very newsworthy PPV, with a lot of positives coming from it, wasn’t executed in the best way possible, but that’s possibly because Nash’s memory lapse on how to wrestle has left a bad taste in my mouth. Nonetheless, I present to you the biggest disappointments of 2011:

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Ladder Match 2: Crash and Burn DVD Review – Disc 1
By Cody Dodson

In honor of Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view event, I thought we would take a look down memory lane at the letter “L” in that acronym. I was out doing some Christmas shopping and came across the Ladder Match 2 DVD, so I got myself a little gift. I’ll be doing a review of Disc 1 for this column, which takes a look at some ladder matches from the past up until the year 2000. There’s a ton of content on this DVD, so let’s not waste any time and get started. I should note that this column would be insanely long if I attempted to do a play-by-play of each match. Instead, I’ll give some more general thoughts for each one, point out key moments, and tell you why I gave it the rating I did.

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WTF: TNA Impact Wrestling 12/08/11
By Marc B.

Hello again, you gaggle of misfits! It’s everybody’s favorite time of the week: My Impact review! Or as it is better known, ‘the Sunday piece.’ Are we all tucked in? Well, here we go….

Impact opens with a video package that sums up the main angles: Bobby Roode’s battle with “Consequences” Sting and Kurt Angle’s feud with James Storm. Our beloved (or not) commissioner is out first. Sting immediately calls out Bobby Roode.

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WTF: TNA IMPACT REVIEW FOR 12/01/11

Written by Marc B

Welcome to This Week’s WTF! It might seem rushed this week, but I am pressed for time. Ready? Let’s go…

Impact Opens with a video package of Bobby Roode’s family talking about how Roode has changed. Basically, what TNA is saying is that Roode can’t get over as a heel, so they need to make it personal. It kind of makes no sense to me. Have him go ape shit or something. I don’t need to see his family on my TV crying how “Bobby’s changed.” I know Bobby’s changed. He beat up his best friend and cheated him out of the world title. Now, let’s see him beat up some more people. Read more…