Surprise Rumble Entrants Spells Trouble For TNA

I was fortunate enough of witness the 2011 Royal Rumble live at the TD Garden. Going into the show I made a point to completely avoid spoilers. I made the right call. When Booker T. and Diesel came out, my shocked reactions were genuine. The crowd when absolutely nuts when these two legends hit the ring.

Now that I've had a some time to ponder the events of the Rumble, an interesting thought occurs to me. Over on TNA, the big story line is that a new "they" is coming. In other words, a face faction is forming to go against the bloated behemoth that is Immortal. Rumor has it that this face faction is none other then the Main Event Mafia. For the unaware, the Main Event Mafia was a stable that form backed in 2008. The group consisted of Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, Sting, and Samoa Joe. Around February of 2010, the group disbanded.

With Steiner's return on last week's impact, the Main Event Mafia theory seems all but a given. But getting back to my original point, two of the founding members of the Main Event Mafia just walked down the aisle at a WWE show. Where does that leave TNA's "they" storyline? At present, the new face faction consists of three men: Crimson, Kurt Angle, and Scott Steiner. These men are a against Immortal, a faction with at least a dozen members. With Booker and Kevin off the possible list, the only remaining original members of Main Event Mafia are Samoa Joe and Sting.

Joe is currently tied up in a feud with Pope. Sting "walked away" from the company a couple months ago. Is it possible that TNA will bring Sting back in? Yeah, I guess. If they get the right money figure, then Stinger just may count himself ranks of the new Main Event Mafia. Even so, that will set the stable at 4 guys. 4 versus 14. Those are still abysmal odds. If TNA truly wants to make this Immortal storyline interesting. Then they have to get all the faces on the same page. Otherwise, where is the drama?

The 2010 Summerslam Main Event Finish Was Bullshit

I did not get the chance to watch Summerslam this year but I still marked out big time when I found out that Daniel Bryan is back. It's hard to believe that so much time as passed since he was released. I had such a sour taste in my mouth when I read about the reasons he was let go. In hindsight however, the unfortunate firing ended up being the for the best. Bryan was able to forgo becoming just another solider in the Nexus army and is no set to become a super face.

While the Bryan return was freaking awesome, the same can not be said for the finish of the main event match. WWE could have gone a lot of ways with the match. The way they choose was easily the worst. What was gained by having Cena be the sole survivor? I know he is meant to be booked like Superman. I get that he has to dominate heels. But the main focus of the night was not Cena. The main focus was on teamwork. Any other finish would have been better. Try some of these on for size:

* Cena is eliminated first thus taking away Team WWE's leadership. The remaining superstars till manage to stick it out and pick up the win.

* Bryon is the last WWE guy left and he has to face a bunch of Nexus guys. He overcomes the odds a becomes the sole survivor.

* Nexus crushes the WWE and cements their status as the strongest heel faction in the last 10 years.

Any of those outcomes would have been better then shining the spotlight on Cena. In an otherwise stellar night, the finish to the main event just plain sucked.

TNA Impact 7-29-10

Coming Soon - Vintage Monday Night Raw DVD

So WWE has announced plans to release a DVD set featuring moments from the early days of Monday Night Raw. I'm definitely looking forward to checking out that nifty piece of nostalgia. The earliest Raw shows had a very unique feel to them. They also had all the great 90s stars.

TNA Fires Bubba The Love Sponge

TNA Wrestling has released Bubba The Love Sponge. Good riddance I say. He honestly brought nothing of interest to the programming. Every time he came out the fans would start chanting "Fire Bubba". Clearly he was unwanted and his lose is really for the best. He has his radio show, so it's not like he was in desperate need for work. The money TNA was paying him is better spent on an in ring talent. That is just this humble blogger's opinion.

WWE Releases 7 Superstars

WWE has a history of terminating talent in large batches. Today (4-23-10) the following superstars have been released:

* Mickie James
* Katie Lea Burchill
* Shelton Benjamin
* Kung Fu Naki
* Slam Master J
* Jimmy Wang Yang
* Mike Knox

Hopefully the seven of them find new projects to occupy there time. I'm sure TNA would be open to acquiring more ex-WWE talent. It'll be interesting to see if any of these superstars Cross The Line.

Hulk Hogan Retrospective: Part 1 WWF (1983-1993)

Hulk Hogan is a legend in professional wrestling. While be broke into the business back in 1977, it wasn't until 1983 that Hulkamania was truly born. Let us look back at select moments from the epic career of Hulk Hogan.

Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant
Wrestlemania IV
March 27, 1988



Arguably the most iconic match in Wrestlemania history.


Mega Powers vs. Mega Bucks
SummerSlam 1988
August 29, 1988




Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake vs. Randy Savage & Zeus
SummerSlam 1989
August 28, 1989




Hulk Hogan vs. Big Bossman
Saturday Night's Main Event
May 27, 1989




Grand Finale Match Of Survival
Survivor Series 1990
November 22, 1990




Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter
Wrestlemania VII
March 24, 1991




Hulk Hogan vs. The Undertaker
Survivor Series 1991
November 27, 1991




Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice
Wrestlemania VIII
April 5, 1992



In the summer of 1993, Hogan left the WWF with the intent of focusing on a movie/tv acting career. However a crafty booker by the name of Eric Bischoff was able to lure The Hulkster into WCW. Check back soon for Part 2 of this retrospective.