Excluding tags, naturally, and of course matches that have been standard practice since the beginning of pro wrestling (multiple fall matches, submission only matches), all other gimmick matches are pathetic. Crutches for guys who can't work or can't draw, or for promotions who don't know how to promote their talent well enough to create interest without those gimmick matches. Gimmicky stips like having to climb a ladder or throw someone through a table to actually win are just hokey unbelievable bullshit which don't make any sense. I especially hate when titles are contested in those matches, ladder matches for example are a disgrace to the business and totally devalue titles and make them look like nothing more than props. Pro wrestling might be a work but it's still pro wrestling; climbing a ladder faster than your opponent to reach the prize at the top has nothing to do with wrestling, that's just a glorified obstical course. It's like if a boxing title was contested over a game of Uno.

Last man standing matches are also actually a pet peeve of mine. Without the inherently stupid "hardcore" element, in theory I think it's a fine concept to have a match where the only way to win is to KO your opponent, sort of like an answer to submission-only matches. Sounds like a recipe for an awesome heated brawl.

But in practice, it's just lazy, because it takes no skill to have a good last man standing match; all the suspense is built on the count. Basically every last man standing match breaks down to guys performing high spots while they take turns barely answering the count of ten. Rinse and repeat for twenty minutes. It is suspenseful but it takes no skill and has no real psychology behind it. Which is fine, whatever, people still go apeshit over it. But this pisses me off because WWEsmarks and the like will call these matches "great" and compare them to regular one fall to a finish matches, often saying LMS matches are better matches. And that's bullshit given how skillful you have to be and how hard you have to work to have a truly great singles match, in comparison to a "great" LMS match of just mindlessly hitting each other with shit, doing stunt highspots, blading, and repeatedly breaking a ten count.


The only gimmick match I really like in theory is a regular cage match, because the original concept was good. No holds are barred; two men enter, one man leaves. But the idea was that one man leaves because he's the only one left standing, not because he was better at climbing than his opponent. They were saved for grudge matches where usually you had a chickshit heel like Flair (or whoever) who kept ducking opponents and running away. That's what the cage was for, to keep guys IN. Because they were pretty much just regular matches in terms of winning stipulations (pinfall or submission), you had all the psychology of a regular match, but with the added layer that it was no holds barred and these two guys hated each other. A good canvas to have an interesting, logical, and (most importantly) believable match.

Then somewhere along the line Vince (I'm not sure, but I think it was him) somehow decided that people should be trying to escape the cage to win instead. Which doesn't make it a wrestling contest anymore, it makes it a climbing contest. Which is stupid in and of itself, but more stupid when you consider that cage matches are supposed to be grudge matches or blowoffs. Why would two guys who had been trying to one-up each other in wrestling contests suddenly decide it would be a good idea to settle the score about who's the better wrestler by having a climbing contest, and then declaring that the winner was the better wrestler? On top of that, if you're the babyface and you hate the heel, you want to beat the shit out of him to get your revenge for whatever played out during the angle. So why - once you got your hands on him and had the chance to beat him down and finally prove yourself - would you want to run AWAY from him by leaving the cage? Not only does that not make sense but it also kind of makes the babyface look like a chickenshit too. Ridiculous.

So yeah. Apart from OG cage matches, I hate gimmick matches with a passion. I'd be happy if everyone stopped doing them altogether.

Great points. Thanks for answering my question.



Going back to Genesis...

Beer Money beat the Band because Scott Hall messed up.

Sean Morley beat Daniels clean.

AJ beat Angle because Flair interfered.


Wow. Not a whole lot of veterans putting over young guys going on yet.

I think Sean Morley's a great wrestler, but he's been a pure jobber for the past 6 years. Didn't Christopher Daniels get a world title shot like a month ago?

So I'm supposed to believe Daniels is one of the best in TNA. But Morley beat him, and he was one of the worst of the WWE. So that says a lot about the rosters, huh.

Still, glad that the PPV had virtually no gimmick matches, and only featured some wrestlers rather than a ton of them. One good thing out of the PPV.

the entire show just felt weak. i was so used to seeing 10 matches on a tna ppv that i didnt know what to think with the little card they had.

i thought team 3d was supposed to have a match against the nasty boys??? not that im complaining that it didnt happen lol. guess thats something to look forward to next ppv :(

im glad that pac replaced hall for that match. bc if he hadnt it surely would have been a sad looking match. i really hate to say it, but it would surprise me if hall is still alive by the end of this year.

i dont like this changing the ring shit. i really liked the 6 sided ring. they scrapped it in favor of the wcw match box sized ring.

i agree about the aj thing. this heel turn is bullshit. although hes been heel before, but still. he has the ability to be insanely popular like jeff hardy,rey jr, etc. maybe later on down the road it wouldnt have been so bad. but this soon? especially when you are trying to rebuild your company and are putting him over as the greatest tna talent ever. i just dont get it.

hogan and bischoff are now the monkeys of tna, flinging crap at everyone.


there was nothing hugely wrong with tna before all of this, it just needed a little direction. the tna star was rising but then it stopped, got on the wcw bus and is now riding down the hill with no breaks.


look at this guy bitchin about aj: lmao

Why would you want to see 10 matches on a PPV?
EDIT: One more thing about Genesis, I think it's a horrible move whenever you change the line up of a PPV when it's already begun. Fans paid to see Hall and Nash, they got Pac and Nash. They paid to see Lashley vs Abyss, and all they got was the back of Lashley' head getting hit.

didnt say i did, but i wouldnt mind if there was really that many as long as they wasnt shit and wasnt rushed.

i was just meaning that tna is known for having a lot of matches on a ppv and there wasnt very many last night. if they arent having a bunch of matches, then they are having less matches with half the tna roster in them, much like you mentioned earlier.

Yep, I think that's one of the few very positive changes so far.

Speaking of there being very few positive changes, I just read the spoilers for the next impact. I won't spoil anyone, but I cannot believe the angle they're doing. Holy shit is it horrible.

i read it as well and i agree.

i laughed at the crowd saying "you are married" lol...and when i read the part about the, well, ill just say..bret hart type storyline, all i could think was what the fuck.

from my understanding, its to lead up to a sting/flair feud. i love sting and hes always be my fav, but really now? like they havent wrestled 500 times before already.

ive also read that bubba tha love sponge is gone, and so is jeremy borash.
dono if its true or not

Bubba the Love Sponge got his ass kicked by Awesome Kong, which is pretty Awesome.

As for the storyline, it's really unbelievable.

A lot of news:

AngryMarks.com has a report from today's Bubba The Love Sponge show. Hulk Hogan was a guest today, and they discussed the real reason Bubba was sent home, Awesome Kong apparently beat him up for the remarks he made in regards to Haiti. Here is what was said on the show...

Bubba: She was wearing wrestling gear, and she came in on me and sucker punched me right on my left cheeck, and I was like, what's going on... then she came out me again, hit me again in the mouth, and she goes, "This if for Haiti! This is for Haiti!" and I'm lke "What is going on?" Finally I put my left hand out and push her away from me, and she comes at me again and I just cover up, because I cannot fight back on a woman. Not only will I be fired from TNA, which I probably am, but my radio career is gone if I take a woman out!

Hulk Hogan: I tell you what, after what happened, if you had clocked her you'd have got away with it. What nobody knows, and this is the real truth, that there were certain people there... she should get off the property, she should be fired immediately, that's it. It was so violent. You could have actually lost an eye, you could have had your teeth knocked out. But, to give you your creedo, you are the one who said not to fire her.

Awesome Kong did attack radio show host and TNA backstage personality Bubba the Love Sponge at yesterday's iMPACT! taping in Orlando. Kong was reportedly upset due to the "F--- Hati" [sic] tweet Bubba posted on his Twitter account over the weekend. She has been taking part in fundraising efforts for the relief fund for Haiti, which was rocked by an earthquake last week.

I'm told the fight had to be broke up by several people backstage.

Bubba was sent home from yesterday's taping, as was Kong.

A source within the company notes that Bubba has major heat in the locker room.

According to Variety, Vince McMahon is taking control of WWE films. WWE has cut ties with Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox, and have signed new deals with Samuel Goldwyn Films to oversee theatrical releases, while Vivendi Entertainment will handle films across various home video formats in North America.

The company plans to produce a total of 9 films through 2012, while they also are hoping to retain the rights to all the films. This is because WWE still has designs on their own TV channel, and the films would be a part of the programming.

The article also mentions that WWE Films will focus on family films and comedies, instead of films like The Marine 3.

Here is the confirmed roster for the Royal Rumble. 28 men are set for the match as of now...

RAW:
* Big Show
* Cody Rhodes
* Carlito
* Evan Bourne
* Jack Swagger
* John Cena
* Kofi Kingston
* Mark Henry
* MVP
* Santino Marella
* Shawn Michaels
* Ted Dibiase
* The Miz
* Triple H

ECW:
* Shelton Benjamin
* Vladimir Kozlov
* Yoshi Tatsu
* Zack Ryder

SMACKDOWN
* Batista
* Chris Jericho
* CM Punk
* Dolph Zigler
* Drew McNtyre
* Finlay
* John Morrison
* Kane
* Matt Hardy
* R-Truth

As of now there are no plans to bring back the six-sided ring, even for specialty events like the Lockdown PPV. TNAWrestlingNews.com is reporting that the idea of bringing it back occasionally was discussed but ultimately shot down. Fan reaction to the change on Sunday night was initially a loud negative. There were loud chants of 'We Want Six Sides' during Hogan's opening promo at Genesis. That caused him and Bischoff to go off-script by saying it was to damn bad if they didn't like it and that it was here to stay.


Some TNA talents are feeling disgruntled right now. With all the new names coming in and the new direction of the promotion, some of the tenured wrestlers are concerned that their efforts and history with the company will be overlooked. Sources right now are saying that nobody is being let go and the company is just in the process of setting up their new direction.



ODB has been working with a burst implant for the last few weeks, which explains why she pulled out a falsie towards the end of the Tara match last night. ODB has been hoping to put off surgery until after this set of TV tapings.

Before tonight's TNA iMPACT tapings began in Orlando, members of the TNA staff addressed the crowd at the iMPACT Zone about their behavior.

Fans were told not to curse, make obscene gestures or gang signs. The fans were referred to as "cast members" and were basically told they needed to be quiet, according to a fan in attendance.

This is likely another decision made by Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, who haven't been pleased with some of the reactions from the TNA crowd lately.

Well on a happier note, I got a new banner for my roster page!

It looks really weird, like my head is huge and my body is tiny, but I still think it looks cool.




What do you guys think?

Only 5 people are making a Rumble debut. Wonder who the 2 suprises will be. One of them for sure will probably be RVD again. Maybe Edge?

I think you look like Johnny Cage, and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

AHHH!!!! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME SIR!!!

any way, thought TNA Genesis was ok, but agreed with what scorpio said, the show was kinda weak. and i love the way TNA seems to not give a shit what it's fans think. way to go!

Bubba Love getting his ass beat made me lol. and Hogan's comments on it later on Bubba's show made me lol twice as hard. Hogan's an idiot!

what also made me lol was this little gem

(TNA) Update: TNA Tells The iMPACT! Zone Audience How To Behave:

-- As noted last night here on the site, prior to Monday's TNA iMPACT! TV taping, members of TNA's production team addressed the Impact Zone fans with instructions about "how act like cast members" in the filming of a TV series and not distract talent from "telling a story" to viewers at home.

"You are cast members here. It's active, it's TV-14, please, I know it's fun to try to distract the talent up here, but they have to tell a story to two million people. You're part of us. You're helping us tell the story. Please don't try and distract the story."

The pre-show announcement comes the night after Genesis, when the iMPACT! zone totally ripped apart Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff's opening segment, the Band, Sean Morey, Mr. Anderson and many of the other "new faces" in TNA.

The director also told TNA fans not to "throw up gang signs" and not to chant "bullsh--" during the show, as it just creates work for the production team, who has to edit the bad language out.

"Every time you come here, I want you to be excited. What I cannot have from the audience are curses, flipped birds, and gang signs that I may not understand," he said. "Please, watch your language. Please, watch what you do. If I ask you to remove a sign, I'm not even sure the reason. Somebody in the truck saw something. We're going to be watching you. When we see this violation, we're going to ask you to move."

Several people who attended Sunday's TNA Genesis PPV at the iMPACT! Zone report first that the crowd hated the "new faces" of TNA. Fans hoping to see Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, the Motor City Machine Guns, Awesome Kong, and the Beautiful People were instead treated to Val Venis, X-Pac and Mr. Kennedy and made it very clear how they felt about it.

i mean, wtf TNA, really? that takes some balls there

I like how this useless fat fuck tries to play this off as if he could have done anything to stop Amazing Kong even if he wanted to. That's funny. He also just outed himself as a sexist moron on top his general douchebaggery.

Yeah his excuses are amazing.

And now he comes back and says ''I'm man enough to admit I was wrong, I'm sorry for my comments''. Who the hell says ''I'm man enough..''? If you're man enough, you don't need to say it.
I wish Kong had knocked his teeth off.

God damn it, TNA is terrible. How many times are we going to see the Montreal Screwjob re-enacted?

never thought id say this, but nasty boys actually looked good in the ring. they looked better then what they did in their prime...if they had a prime lol.

my god this feels like im watching nitro im tellin you..with the ring and all. made me have good memories, and nightmares. plz bring back the old ring :(

i dont like the screwjob thing, but i did love kurts reaction to it. fuckin awesome. that was prolly the best thing about impact. besides the pope vs jordan match. too much soap not enough rope.


oh, and hey zent..im gonna use that pic as side art on my mk2 machine lol.

So when is TNA gonna start making sense? I don't get it why make A.J heel and what's yup with another screw job.

Well Johnny Cage is actually one of the inspirations for my character so I guess that's pretty awesome, lol.

As for the screwjob angle, I just don't get it. This is Hogan's money angle? Both WWE and TNA have done screwjob ''remakes'', this is nothing new at all.

god when I was watching impact it looked like I was watching the rebirth of WCW Monday Nitro the six sided ring was way better than the 4 sided didn't like the new impact ramp or enterance the show was like my god please
and the knockouts match ending so quick cone on they deseve better ring time than that but all in all impact was like nitro all over again

Just saw the footage from impact concerning the "Montreal" like screw job . And well all I gotta say is it looked almost like the Montreal screw job from kurt spitting on Hulk to him quitting . Well TNA is just a mess.

That whole Angle thing was a work right? Because if they just Screwed Kurt Angle, probably one of their biggest draws, and made him quit...they royally fucked up...

yes its a work the next 2 weeks of tapings have already been revealed.

seems like everytime bret is invloved in wrestling, a screwjob story happens. i remember starcade 97 sting vs hogan. when nick patrick screwed sting with a fast count (which he fucked up) then hart comes out saying "its not gonna happen again" and made himself the new ref and sting got the win....now that harts back in the wwe, and the screwjob is his storyline again..tna counters them with their version of a screwjob? wtf? and then they pretty much end it within a week.

poop

Okay, Kurt Angle was definitely the best wrestler of this past decade. It's not an opinion, it's a fact. Even though the screwjob angle right now is pretty weak and a big rip off (they even got the same ref lol!) Kurt Angle was great. He actually made it seem, I dunno, kind of legit for a couple of seconds. Even the spit was epic!

btw, what was the crowd chanting during that whole thing? It sounded like "You screwed Kurt" or something like that.

Yeah I heard "You screwed Kurt" along with "Bull poop"! . Probably having to do with TNA attempting to censor the crowds.