Pro Wrestling Jobbers - Pro Wrestling News Daily

Professional wrestling, as a staged art, involves having winners and losers. Your job, when you are to win, is to make yourself look good. You job when you lose is to make your opponent look good. Those wrestlers who almost never win and whose primary job is to make other wrestlers look good are called jobbers.

Pro wrestling jobbers are one of the most important things in professional wrestling. They are truly the unsung heroes of wrestling, and in that vein, I salute them. Jobbers have brought us some of the most entertaining moments in the history of pro wrestling. This is because they are free to do humorous skits without having to worry about damaging their character. It's awesome.

Jobbers have a long and diverse history in pro wrestling. There have been jobbers for as long as pro wrestling has existed. They have always been there to put other people over by jobbing. Some of the most well known jobbers of all time include the Brooklyn Brawler and Al Snow.

The art of being a jobber is essentially knowing how to sell very well. Selling is the art of making it look like the moves your opponent is doing to you hurt very much. This involves taking big bumps and flatbacking simple moves, like punches. Often times, a simple right handed blow will send a jobber flying back into a ringpost or out of the ring. In this way the opponent ends up looking like superman.

Some jobbers were entertaining not because they wrestled, but simply because their presence was odd or amusing. One example is Lodi, a guy who was in Raven's Flock in WCW and never seemed to do anything other than hold up signs and generally act as Raven's cheerleader. Another good one is Vincent/Virgil, a guy who made his payday by being named after the guy in control of the opposite company than the one he was in, be it WCW or WWF.

The next time you see a pro wrestling jobber on TV, make sure to salute them. Whether it's Tommy Dreamer, Colin Delaney, Funaki or Santino Marella, be aware of how much entertainment value they add to the television program and finally give them the respect they deserve.

Watch TNA Victory Road! Pro Wrestling News - Live On PPV Sunday, July 13th 2008

If you're looking for TNA Victory Road, then you've come to the right place! On this page you will find many in depth listings of the matches on the PPV, as well as what you can expect and predictions on the PPV! All right here at Pro Wrestling News Daily (or PWND, for the unaware).

Gail Kim vs. Angelina Love

This match and rivalry has been built up very well over the past month or so. I'm actually eager to see it. Hopefully the match gets at least 10 minutes, due to the amount of build up and TV time given to it on TNA Impact. All in all, it should be a good solid wrestling competition between two of the women who typify the TNA Knockouts Division.

Prediction: Gail Kim in 8 minutes after Velvet Sky's interference backfires

Taylor Wilde (c) vs. Awesome Kong - TNA Knockouts Title Match

Taylor Wilde unexpectedly upset Awesome Kong last Thursday on Impact, which prompted Jim Cornette to make this rematch for TNA Victory Road. Taylor has showed some degree of professional wrestling prowess, so the match should at least be exciting and well delivered. Anyone with half a brain knows that Awesome Kong is.. well, awesome.

Prediction: Awesome Kong regains the TNA Knockouts Title in 12 minutes after Raisha Saeed interferes

"Black Machismo" Jay Lethal vs. "The Guru" Sonjay Dutt

This feud has going on for what seems like forever in a mock up of the Randy Savage/Miss Elizabeth saga from the late 80's and early 90's. Let's hope that it ends here, because these guys have been drawing horrible ratings and really need to be used more effectively. Unfortunately, TNA Wrestling never listens to me and instead insists on crossing the line, so this feud will last another month or three.

Prediction: Sonjay Dutt picks up the win in 9 minutes after So Cal Val "accidentally" hits Jay Lethal with some sort of gimmick

World X Cup Tournament Finals

We'll get a fast-paced match with a bunch of spots, and it'll be fun. Hopefully TNA Wrestling ends up signing the Russian guy from Team International to a contract. Other than that, it is difficult to really predict the outcome of this match.

Prediction: Kaz ends up pulling down the X in around 16 minutes, giving Team TNA the win in the World X Cup

AJ Styles, Christian Cage & Rhino vs. Team 3D & Kurt Angle

This match is really a couple of feuds thrown together. AJ with Kurt Angle, and the tag team with the semi-tag team. The only thing that I'm not really certain of is just what the swerve will be in this match, but I think that I may have a pretty good idea of how this will end up. You see, SpikeTV does not allow TNA Wrestling to show violence directed towards women on their network. However on PPV, all bets are off.

Prediction: The match ends as TNA hoists Karen Angle and drives her through a table at about 19 minutes. As AJ Styles is mourning her fallen body and trying to make sure that she's alright, Kurt Angle comes up from behind him and delivers the Olympic Slam for the win.

LAX (c) vs. Beer Money Inc. - TNA World Tag Title Match

Beer Money Inc. is comprised of James Storm and Robert Roode, and they seem to have meshed well as a tag team thus far. However, I really think this feud needs more legs and that LAX should keep the belts. This is also a fan's revenge match, and I'm not even sure what that means.

Prediction: LAX wins in about 12 minutes. TNA Wrestling doesn't really care about their tag division. If they did, they'd push the Motor City Machine Guns.

Samoa Joe (c) vs. Booker T - TNA World Heavyweight Title Match

This match has had surprisingly little build up over the past few Impacts, which comes across as very odd. Sting has also made his presence known multiple times throughout the last few weeks. Samoa Joe's building tensions with Kevin Nash have been evident.

Prediction: Booker T captures the TNA World Title in about 22 minutes of on again, off again wrestling. The finish comes when Kevin Nash tries to interfere on Samoa Joe's behalf, but Joe refuses. Nash takes out his frustrations on Joe. Sting is there too, and does something to anger Booker T. Booker T celebrates with the TNA Title in the ring with Sting looking on, while Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash brawl all over the place.

And that's the end of the show! Check back often and soon for more Pro Wrestling News Daily updates!

John Cena WWE Pro Wrestling News: Cena Has 6-Year-Old Sense of Humor

Last week live on national TV on WWE RAW, John Cena came out during the opening segment and immediately started cracking jokes about spending hours in the bathroom and such. It was ridiculous enough, but his crude sense of humor (or how he's scripted) is just something we have to get used to. Right? Right?

Alright then, later in the show, John Cena came out again with Cryme Time in order to settle a score with JBL. He destroyed JBL's limo piece by piece, which while slow and plodding in implementation was alright writing and scripting as far as it goes. Unfortunately, then John Cena got a spray can out, and proceeded to spray paint "Poopy" across the hood of JBL's trashed limo.

...

Are you !@#(%"* serious?!? Poopy?!?! Who the hell on the entire planet thinks that is funny or amusing or credible or intimidation or anything?!@$ Who thinks that will "put asses in seats," as they say in the business.

If Cena was scripted to do that, then that's retarded. If he did it on his own and of his own volition, then he's retarded.

WWE really needs to stop it with their "Kids First" crap, though. WWE has recently begun marketing heavily to kids and children, which has gone a long way in alienating their core fans as the WWE wrestling programing has devolved from a serious and athletic display to childish buffoonery and... well, poopy.

Come on, WWE. Cut the crap out. Get serious, show some wrestling, and for the love of all things holy and heretical, John Cena, stop being a douche.

Pro Wrestling News - WWE Raw Highlighted by CM Punk Winning World Title

Last night's WWE RAW was almost surreal. It was the first post-draft RAW of 2008, and I have to admit, I found myself watching.

In the opening segment, JR came out. He gave a heartfelt sounding goodbye that dragged on a bit too long. He's moving over to commentate on Smackdown. Finally, Edge came out and told good 'ol Jim Ross to scram, and told him that now he has to get used to saying "Edge wins! Edge wins! Edge wins!"

Edge cut a really good heel promo about how he would never defend the belt against a WWE RAW Superstar again. Batista came out, the man he faced at Night of Champions. Batista beat down Edge, leaving him in the ring after a Batista Bomb. As Batista walked to the back, CM Punk's music hit and he sprinted out with a referee and that famous Money in the Bank briefcase.

After a short delay for a ring introduction, they rang the belt. CM Punk picked up a prone Edge, dropped him with the GTS and pinned him 1... 2... 3! CM Punk wins! CM Punk wins! CM Punk wins! What a great moment. CM Punk won the World Title! I doubt that in his childhood dreams he envisioned winning it in 8 seconds, though.

WWE is really shaking things up, and that's good. They need to keep no general manager on RAW. That's right, none. No GM at all. Seriously. It's old. They need to transition away from the brand split completely, or start taking it seriously where competitors only compete on their own brands.

And they should let CM Punk keep the WWE World Title. Let him run with it for 4-5 months, see how it goes, what happens. Hopefully the numbers go up. Moreover, WWE needs to continue pushing their younger stars.

Kofi Kingston is green, but he's near ready, and I'm very glad that he's on RAW. Even with Ted Dibiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes, WWE is showing that they're willing to take chances with young blood - so long as the ratings and PPV buys reflect it in the end. And so it is now that I call out to you, faithful wrestling fans of the internet. Go out and buy WWE products. Watch their shows and get your friends to watch. Buy merchandise of the younger, new stars. And beyond everything, buy the next PPV, Great American Bash. If the PPV buyrate is simply huge for CM Punk's first PPV Title defense, they will have no choice but to acknowledge what the fans really want.

Oh, did I mention that Jamie Noble kicks ass? Kid makes me laugh every time...

Until next time!

TNA Lockdown Results: Pro Wrestling News Daily

Welcome to the TNA Lockdown Results for April 13th, 2008 including the classic wrestling match between Kurt Angle & Samoa Joe! Keep checking back right here at Pro Wrestling News Daily for more wrestling news, wrestling rumors and wrestling spoilers! If you want to see how well I did with my Lockdown predictions then you can check out my Lockdown Preview.

Pre-show

- There were no matches on the pre-show this time, just a bunch of your traditional TNA Wrestling hype videos.

X-Division Xscape Match

Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Johnny Devine vs. Consequences Creed vs. Curry Man vs. Shark Boy

- Devine pinned Dutt with a roll up.

- Creed pinned Shark Boy with the CreeDT.

- Curry Man pinned Creed with the Spicy Drop.

- Devine pinned Curry Man with the Divine Intervention double underhook piledriver.

- We're left with Jay Lethal vs. Johnny Devine in an escape match.

Your Winner: Jay Lethal after escaping the cage

Queen of the Cage Match

Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky vs. Roxxi Leveaux vs. Salinas vs. Christy Hemme vs. Jacqueline Moore vs. Traci Brooks vs. Rhaka Khan

- Roxxi Leveaux and Angelina Love were the first two in the cage and hence would compete in a #1 Contender's Match for the TNA Knockouts Title.

Your Winner: Roxxi Leveaux by pinfall after the Voodoo Drop.

Kip James vs. BG James

- Not a very exciting match. Went about 6 minutes.

Your Winner: BG James via roll up

After the match, Kip James assaulted BG James.

Handcuffed in the Cage Match

Rock 'n Rave Infection vs. Kax & Super Eric vs. Rellik & Black Reign vs. Motor City Machine Guns vs. LAX vs. Scott Steiner & Petey Williams

- This point of this match was to attempt to handcuff all of your opponents to the cage. Last one not handcuffed wins.

- Eric Young came out, but ran to the back afraid of the monsters. He came back towards the end of the match as Super Eric.

Your Winner: Super Eric & Kaz when Super Eric cuffed Black Reign to the cage.

Nice story to this match, but the action wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed vs. Gail Kim & ODB

- What a good match! TNA Wrestling once again proves that the TNA Knockouts division is the best women's division in wrestling!

Your Winner: Gail Kim & ODB when ODB pinned Raisha Saeed with a splash from the top rope.

Robert Roode & Peyton Banks vs. Booket T & Sharmell

- Not a great match. Only lasted about 8 minutes. I've been severely disappointed with the in-ring work in this feud, even though the promos and build have been pretty good. Can neither of these guys work an active 15 minute match or what?

Your Winner: Booker T & Sharmell when Sharmell rolled up Peyton Banks for the pin.

Lethal Lockdown

Team Cage (Christian Cage, Sting, Kevin Nash, Rhino & Matt Morgan) vs. Team Tomko (Tomko, AJ Styles, James Storm & Team 3D)

- This ~25 minute match featured a huge spot that saw AJ Styles and Christian Cage crash through the top of the Lethal Lockdown structure.

- Some could argue that this match didn't really advance any storylines in much of a meaningful way, with the finish seeing Rhino pin Storm, neither of which anyone cares much about.

Your Winner: Team Cage when Rhino speared and then pinned James Storm.

TNA World Title Match

Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe

- You can check out my preview of Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle if you'd like. In it I talk about the ramifications of the match mixing MMA with professional wrestling, how the feud has developed and what it all means for professional wrestling. I also give my prediction for the match.

- Wow, what a match this was! This match was amazing, coming in at nearly 20 minutes.

- Many great and believable near falls. This personified the type of realism that is sorely needed in pro wrestling today.

- Frank Trigg just legitimized commentary in TNA. Please TNA, hire this guy!

Your Winner: Samoa Joe by pinfall after hitting the Muscle Buster. Samoa Joe wins the TNA World Title! Samoa Joe wins!

All in all this was a solid offering from TNA. The last two matches, quick action in the X-Division match and the women's match were all solid, though I wish that they'd all been longer and that TNA Wrestling would've gotten rid of some of the other matches. A decent pay-per-view topped off with an amazing main event.

Grade: B+

Watch TNA Lockdown - Wrestling in Six Sides of Steel

TNA Wrestling's upcoming Lockdown PPV looks like it'll be one hell of a ride. It's on PPV Sunday, April 13th. The double main events have actually been booked pretty well. Indeed, Vince Russo has done pretty well this time - except for giving Matt Morgan a microphone. Let's preview Lockdown.

Cuffed in the Cage Match
MCMG vs. LAX vs. Scott Steiner & Petey Williams vs. Rock 'n Rave Infection vs. Eric Young & Kaz vs. Black Reign & Rellik
To be honest I'm not even clear on exactly what this match entails. There are a bunch of tag teams and handcuffs. This is 8 semi-feuds merging into one for a single night in order to allow all the regular talent a spot on the card.

At the very least, we should see some exciting spots from MCMG, LAX, Petey, Kaz or Jimmy Rave. With so many teams it's difficult to make a prediction, but I'm going to go with Scott Steiner & Petey Williams winning the match as Steiner is going on to face the TNA World Champion for the TNA World Title at Sacrifice.

BG James vs. Kip James
BG is the face here and Kip is the heel we've determined. The TNA Rough Cut segments featuring these two has actually been decent, and by decent I mean not the awful pieces of crap I thought they were going to be. I love complaining about these guys and how old and washed up they are, but to be honest this match should be tolerable so long as it doesn't go longer than 10 minutes. I have to predict Kip James winning here, as BG is just too out of shape and brittle for TNA to consider giving him a singles push after Lockdown.

Queen of the Cage Match
Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky vs. Salinas vs. Rhaka Khan vs. Traci Brooks vs. Christy Hemme vs. Jacqueline Moore vs. Roxxi Laveaux
Ugh, what a mess. For those of you unaware, the eight competitors in this match start on the outside of the cage. They then scramble to try and get into the cage. The first two into the cage then have a one on one match.

That makes this match nearly impossible to call. TNA might put over their older, more experienced female wrestlers in this match. I'll say the match ends up being Traci Brooks vs. Jacqueline Moore, with Traci picking up the win. I doubt this is a correct prediction. It may be one of the 'hot chick' couple taking on Roxxi Laveaux, who knows?

Booker T & Sharmell vs. Robert Roode & Peyton Banks
The PPV matches these two have had thusfar have been severely disappointing. I'm hoping that this one will be better. The females in this match will mostly end up being a distraction and I wish that they weren't involved at all. Robert Roode has improved his mic skills quite a bit recently I must admit, so at least someone has gained something from this feud. Let's hope that they end it here.

This match will probably end with Sharmell pinning Peyton Banks and then entering the women's division, or by Peyton Banks pinning Sharmell setting up a fissure in her relationship with Booker T.

Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed vs. Gail Kim & ODB
If TNA has any brains at all they'll put this deep in the card. The women's matches featuring these competitors have thusfar outperformed everything on TNA Impact as far as ratings go. Awesome Kong and Gail Kim are awesome. ODB isn't quite up to their level in wrestling ability, but her over the top character makes up for it. This match should be given at least 15 minutes to live up to what it should be.

Gail Kim pins Raisha Saeed. It could just as easily be ODB going over here, but it seems as though she's gotten more wins than Gail Kim recently.

TNA X-Division Title - X-Division Xscape Match
Jay Lethal vs. Curry Man vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Shark Boy vs. Johnny Devine vs. Consequences Creed
The rules of this match are that men may be eliminated by pinfall or submission at first, but once it gets down to the final two competitors they must escape the cage to win. This match promises to be exciting and action packed which leads me to believe that they may put it earlier on the card, but I think that the X-Division desperately needs to be placed deeper on the card on PPV's. The X-Division is what got TNA the popularity that it has today, after all!

This match is very difficult to call. My official pick is Jay Lethal retaining, however in my mind it's more a matter of probability than anything: Jay Lethal 70%, Sonjay Dutt 15%, Johnny Devine 5%, Consequences Creed 5%, Christopher Daniels 5% (eerrrp! I mean Curry Man! XD)

TNA Wrestling Lethal Lockdown Weapons Match
Christian Cage, Sting, Kevin Nash, Rhino & Matt Morgan vs. Tomko, A.J. Styles, Team 3D & James Storm
This match should be about as good as last year's Lethal Lockdown. It was a passable match. I find myself wondering if A.J. Styles will do anything stupid involving the top of the structure again. I sure hope that he does.

I think I see a swerve coming in this match. Matt Morgan is such a goofy and awkward face that, well... he just isn't good at it. Vince Russo has this tendency of bringing people in as faces and then turning them heel a month or two later so that the fans feel betrayed. He believes it helps them get over better once they turn, but this just isn't true. If a guy doesn't make a good face, then why bring him in as a face?

Either way, Matt Morgan is going to cost his team the match in this one. He'll hit someone with some weapon or gimmick or piece of the cage or what-have-you. Matt Morgan will stand tall with Team Tomko as the match ends.

TNA Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship Match
Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle
Man, what a match this will be. The premier main even for Lockdown and the hype up to it has been huge. In case you haven't already noticed, "TNA Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship Match" up above is a link. This link goes to a post I made a few days ago, where I talk in depth about Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle, including my prediction for the match.

In case you can't see the link, it can be found here http://prowrestlingnewsdaily.blogspot.com/2008/04/tna-pro-wrestling-news-kurt-angle-vs.html

Thanks for reading Pro Wrestling News Daily! Check back soon for all the latest news, rumors spoilers and of course commentary on the wrestling business from yours truly!

TNA Pro Wrestling News - Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe At Lockdown

I must admit that I'm actually considering buying Lockdown this Sunday, if only to see Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe 4. The recent program they've been working has been very convincing. Their track record for their previous matches is very high indeed. And they are also actively promoting an MMA-style "twist" to the match, with MMA star Frank Trigg even sitting in on commentary at the PPV.

Samoa Joe has stated that he will walk away from TNA Wrestling and retire if he does not win the belt from Kurt Angle in the cage at Lockdown. The ramifications of this should be obvious even to the most casual of fan. Samoa Joe is far too highly liked for TNA Wrestling to let him go, and I doubt they would book this angle only to have Joe retire, then have him return as a swerve. I wouldn't put it past Vince Russo, but I truly don't believe that it's what they're doing here.

That could only mean one thing: Samoa Joe wins the TNA Wrestling World Heavyweight Title.

What an amazing turn for Pro Wrestling! Not that I was complaining about Angle having the belt - it's been cute and all, but to be honest it has grown a bit stale. Though recently now that Kurt Angle has stopped being silly and started becoming a serious heel again, I have been more inclined to enjoy his television segments on TNA Impact.

Kurt Angle has functionally legitimized the TNA World Title simply by holding it for so long. He's held it for a while now relatively uninterrupted - which will make it mean all that much more once Samoa Joe captures it at Lockdown. The two have had sevaral 4-star+ matches previously, so this one pretty much guarantees to be the same or better.

I'm very interested in seeing which cage spots they'll implement into the match. Of course I don't see Samoa Joe taking a big leap from the top, I could see Kurt Angle doing so (maybe a Moonsault!) at Lockdown, one of TNA Wrestling's 4 "major" Pay-Per-Views each year.

The MMA style should add a nice twist to the match. I assume that the match isn't going to be entirely MMA oriented, but that it will be worked in a stiff "pureoso" Japaneses style with both Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe utilizing MMA style moves, professional and amateur wrestling moves in addition to their normal strikes and body blows. If TNA Lockdown does a really good buyrate then TNA will have no choice but to accept that more realistically booked storylines leading to more realistic matches will bring in more fans and finally, more money.

That is why I want to buy TNA Lockdown (and so should you). Not just because I want to see Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle, but because I want to see it change the nature of TNA Wrestling. I want to order the PPV to send a message to TNA - "Yes! This is what I want! Give me more!" - and money is the most powerful message of all.

Pro Wrestling News: CM Punk is Money In The Bank

Well, Wrestlemania is over, and CM Punk is Mr Money In The Bank. What is there to say? It's about time. CM Punk has consistently shown his prowess as both a wrestler and a sports entertainer ever since he first blew the roof off the Hammerstein Ballroom during his ECW debut. Yes indeed WWE, it's about time.

Coming off the heels of the Chris Benoit controversy in addition to steroid controversies in other sports, CM Punk is exactly what the WWE needs. CM Punk is obviously not on the juice, one can tell by looking at him. He lives his gimmick, which is to be drug free and alcohol free, also known as 'straight edge'. CM Punk presents the opportunity for WWE to get the positive media coverage it so desperately needs.

A clean cut straight edge superstar is just what the WWE needs to combat the large, roided out competitors that have for so long dominated the top of the card. Imagine seeing CM Punk call out Batista for his unnatural size. Wouldn't that be interesting? Wouldn't that make for captivating television?

WWE can't pull the trigger on CM Punk's Money in the Bank guaranteed title match just yet, however. First of all, he needs to make a move to RAW, WWE's flagship show. This is where he will get the most attention, from both the media and the fans. From there, he should start a feud with an upper-mid carder (Chris Jericho would be a good choice, especially if Jericho went heel). This feud should culminate after 2 months or so involving Punk putting the title shot on the line and coming out successful.

After that, Punk would start to tease a heel champion (Orton works well, or Edge if he were to show up on RAW) that he was coming after his title. At the end of the next PPV, right after a hard fought victory by the champion, CM Punk would come out and act as though he were going to cash in the briefcase. He would then take a microphone, and announce that he doesn't want to do it cheaply, after the champion had already been in a match. He would proudly declare that he would be vying for the title at the next PPV. The current PPV would end with Punk holding his briefcase high, the champion doing the same with his title.

During the build up for the event, CM Punk would constantly tease the heel champion about how he would defeat him and go on to implement a straight edge era. Numerous videos would be played of CM Punk training, while clips would be shown of the heel champion partying with his title and drinking out at bars after the show.

At the PPV, CM Punk would take the champ's finisher, only to kick out of it. CM Punk would then get up and lay out the champ with the GTS. He wouldn't go for the pin though, instead he would make his way to the corner, dragging his opponent with him. He'd mount the top rope and pull his opponent with him, then drop down with a Pepsi Plunge, AKA a top rope Pedigree, a move that he used to use on the independent circuit. He would pin the champ and win the title. The next night on RAW, Triple H would come out and accuse CM Punk of stealing his move, setting up a feud for the title.

Now that would be some good booking.

For more CM Punk News, including his biography, past, and future please check out my CM Punk website.

Pro Wrestling News: TNA Wrestling Says 'Cross The Line'

TNA Wrestling has recently introduced a new catchphrase, 'Cross The Line'. It isn't meant to just be catchy, however. 'Cross The Line' is also a booking policy with major ramifications on the TNA wrestling product and perhaps the rest of professional wrestling as well.

In professional wrestling, we are used to seeing clear cut faces and heels, also known as 'good guys' and 'bad guys'. However, due to the beliefs of TNA Wrestling head booker Vince Russo, the line between good and bad in professional wrestling has become blurred. There are very few actual good or bad guys left in TNA, often times there are many 'tweeners', wrestlers that have both likable and dislikable characteristics. Vince Russo believes that this follows real life - there are no (or at least very few) truly 'good' or 'evil' people, most fall somewhere in between.

The benefit of this booking strategy is that you are left more open in what feuds you are able to set up. Normally when you wanted to book a program between two heels you would have to turn one face, or the crowd wouldn't know who to cheer for. When professional wrestlers are cast as real people, fans who have watched over time can choose which qualities they like about a certain wrestler in order to cheer for them - perhaps because they like the way that they talk or wrestle - rather than simply following whoever the storyline dictates they should cheer for.

The primary detriment of this type of booking is that people really aren't used to it. Wrestling fans aren't used to having to choose who they want to cheer for and who they want to boo - they are normally simply told who they should be rooting for. Vince Russo's 'Cross The Line' booking can be overwhelming to those who are used to the old school book-by-numbers formula. I can definitely see some fans being disillusioned and turning off the television, simply because they can't follow what's going on or identify with the characters.

It must be kept in mind however that this is an entirely different approach to professional wrestling! This booking style is essentially trying to reinvent the business of wrestling, or more specifically how it is perceived. And in several ways, it follows the trends that we have seen over the last decade in professional wrestling. Case in point - John Cena, arguably WWE's top face or 'good guy', regularly gets booed at events. This is quite a remarkable phenomenon and shows that more and more fans are starting to wake up to the nature of 'the business'. Instead of simply eating up whatever the pro wrestling organizations decide to feed them, fans are choosing who they like and dislike based not on storylines or kayfaybe, but on characteristics of the wrestlers themselves.

TNA Wrestling's 'Cross The Line' policy is a bold step not in a completely new direction, but in the direction that the fanbase is already headed. If this policy catches on, then TNA could soon be the top wrestling company in the business. All that they need to do is tie together their realistic characters with realistic storylines and realistic wrestling, and pretty soon WWE will be seen for the cartoon sideshow that it is.

TNA Impact can be seen every Thursday night at 9 PM on SpikeTV. Cross the line.

Pro Wrestling News: TNA Impact Live May Help TNA

On March 27th TNA aired its first ever live episode. It was fun and action packed and for once actually delivered on what TNA had promised. It was perhaps the most entertaining Impact episode since the show's inception.

The wrestling matches themselves were excellent. They started off with Alex Shelley vs. Johnny Devine, which lasted a good 9 minutes and had a clean finish. The match had good energy while it lasted and ended up with Devine picking up the win. The 6-man tag match later on was also good, and LAX has a lot of momentum and continues to show why they are the hottest tag team in wrestling today. The Kurt Angle sparring match with Tomko and A.J. Styles was surprisingly tolerable, in part because of the hardway cut that Tomko suffered, but also because it was simply well done. They're trying to mix the genres of MMA and pro wrestling, which could have been awful, but instead ended up quite watchable.

Booker T vs. Robert Roode was one of the best matches either of the two have put on since they've been in TNA. The match had good intensity and energy, though I didn't like the First Blood stipulation, they did well in working with what they had. The Women's Title match was also an excellent TV match, though it was kept short at 6 minutes, I imagine this being the case because Gail Kim was originally planned in that slot and I'm not sure if ODB had the chance to set up any spots before hand. Either way, it was a good TV match with another clean ending.

Finally, the main event happened. This was perhaps the second or third best wrestling match that we've ever seen on TNA Impact. It had yet another clean finish. All of the clean finishes on the show left me feeling satisfied as a fan. Hopefully this becomes the norm, though I know it won't. They'll spoil me one week with clean finishes only to go back to the old Vince Russo formula of cheap finishes and outside interference.

TNA didn't have that many difficulties putting on their live wrestling show, either. Sure, the audio went out a few times, but it was only for a few seconds and was tolerable for their first live television broadcast. Most of the lighting and audio effects were done well, and the fact that they didn't get to overproduce the show gave Impact a touch of realism that it usually lacks. It also made it easier on the eyes without camera angles constantly zipping this way and that.

The announcers were even better than usual. Mike Tenay and Don West, having to improvise live, toned it down a notch. Though Don West had a few lines here and there that made me cringe, for the most part I was able to tune out the announcers the entire show. Anyone ever think about replacing these guys with some younger people? That MMA guy TNA brought in did better than Tenay and West combined on commentary, what about him?

This show also had a more clear definition of face and heel. It's difficult as a wrestling fan if I don't know who I'm supposed to cheer for. It seems as though Vince Russo has set up a three-month revolving door for who is face, heel, and tweener with everyone playing musical chairs at each of TNA's major wrestling Pay-Per-Views. I don't know if this whole "Cross the Line" idea can work, with people portrayed in more of a realistic way where there are no truly good or evil characters. However if it adds a sense of realism to wrestling that has desperately been missing in the past decade, then I'm all for it.

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Pro Wrestling News: WWE Wrestlemania 24 XXIV Preview With Predictions

The pro wrestling industry is gearing up for the final show of its year long season. Wrestlemania XXIV will be live on PPV Sunday, March 30th at 7 PM EST. Now let's get to the matches!

ECW 24-man Battle Royal

This match recently got moved to the preshow and will be available for viewing on wwe.com at 6:30 PM EST. It features superstars from WWE Raw, Smackdown and ECW. I would say it would be an entertaining match if it weren't for the presence of beasts such as Great Khali and Big Daddy V. I'll say that Kane seems the most likely to win and go on to face Chavo Guerrero on the main Wrestlemania card for the ECW Title.

ECW Title Match - Chavo Guerrero (c) vs. Kane

The winner of the 24-man battle royal advances to this match, and we've already determined that will probably be Kane. WWE has a tradition of dropping all of their primary to titles to faces at Wrestlemania, but this one is tough to call. They may keep the title on Chavo in order to try and legitimize it, but in reality they've ran out of opposition for him on ECW, so I'm going to to with Kane storming in and winning the ECW Title from Chavo here to get the crowd off to a good start.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Mr. Kennedy vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Jericho vs. Carlito vs. MVP vs. CM Punk vs. John Morrison

Jeff Hardy was originally scheduled to be in this match, but is serving a 60-day suspension due to a Wellness Policy violation. This ladder match almost guarantees to be one of the top 3 wrestling matches of the night, and I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they decide to open the show with it. It's difficult to pick a prediction, though easy to pick my personal favorite (CM Punk). Assuming that Undertaker and John Cena will win the belts of their respective brands, they will each probably be kept busy with feuds coming off of Wrestlemania. This leaves the ECW Title in limbo, in which case Shelton Benjamin could pull up an upset win and go on to feud for that title. MVP could easily win and go on to feud with Undertaker for the Smackdown Title. However my official prediction here is Mr. Kennedy, as he's seemed set for a major push for quite some time now, yet it always seems to stop dead in its tracks for one reason or another soon after it starts. Again, this one is really hard to call. MVP and Shelton Benjamin are my 2nd and 3rd picks, respectively.

Bunny Mania - Ashley Massaro & Maria vs. Beth Phoenix & Melina

This wrestling match won't really have a lot of wrestling and will probably have at least one blown spot. Maria is in Playboy and they'll still be trying to hype that, but don't want to weaken their women's champion, so we'll say that Maria manages a pin on Melina after about 6 minutes.

Belfast Brawl - JBL vs. Finlay

This match won't exactly be a scientific wrestling bout, to say the least. One or both men will probably bleed, we'll see outside interference from Hornswoggle, but eventually JBL will pin Finlay after hitting him in the head with some sort of weapon. Finlay's miniature push will essentially come to an end.

Smackdown vs. Raw Match - Batista vs. Umaga

There is no way that they'll put Umaga over clean here, so Batista seems to be the winner if we have a clean finish. This match will probably be better than expected, as Umaga is better at wrestling than many give him credit for. Batista beats Umaga with an impressive Batista Bomb, ending up getting the first pick for Smackdown in an upcoming draft.

Career Threatening Match - Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels

This wrestling contest may very well steal the show. Flair will pull out everything he has learned in the past 40 years in this match, with several believable near falls, but eventually all things have to end, and Shawn Michaels will finally put Flair away with the Sweet Chin Music. Flair will get a standing ovation after the match that goes on forever, and possibly cut a memorable promo after the match.

The Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather

This match is a lot of hype, but won't end up being a lot of substance. It'll end with the second most undersold chokeslam of all time, very likely in less than 10 minutes, with Big Show coming out on top.

WWE Title Match: Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena vs. Triple H

This will be a very good 30 or 40 minute match, with all three competing with one another to try and steal the show. Randy Orton has made a convincing heel champion, but Cena only lost his belt due to his injury, so the title will come home. Don't expect to see Triple H do the job here. John Cena beats Randy Orton with the FU and goes on to feud with the money in the bank winner while Triple H and Orton work out their differences to determine the number one contender after Wrestlemania.

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Edge (c) vs. Undertaker

It's time to The Undertaker to finally get his long title run. He'll hold the title for probably 6-8 months or possibly even a year after he beats Edge, so it will be interesting to see if Smackdown gets any better. This match will probably be a very good 4 1/2 star match, with Undertaker showing that he still has some gas left in the tank.

And that's the end of my predictions for the final pro wrestling event of WWE's season, Wrestlemania! Check back soon for the latest in Pro Wrestling news, rumors and spoilers.

Pro Wrestling News: Why WWE Brand Split is a Failure

If you're looking for Pro Wrestling News, you've come to the right place.

In 1997, pro wrestling was flourishing. WCW and WWE (then the WWF), in hot competition on Monday nights, were both pulling amazing ratings with viewership in the millions each show they put on. They were selling PPV's. More importantly, it was captivating, entertaining television.

You could flip the TV back and forth between The Rock and Hulk Hogan on the same night, considered the two biggest pro wrestling draws of all time. You could watch Undertaker's Ministry at one moment, then flip over and watch the nWo storyline progress. Both organizations had remarkable depth of talent on their rosters and both had amazing storylines to back up their in-ring product.

Then things started to change. WCW started becoming less and less entertaining, the downward slide beginning with the infamous "fingerpoke of doom" in which Kevin Nash dropped the WCW Title to Hulk Hogan only a matter of seconds into the match when Hogan "poked" him with his index finger. Nash dropped to the canvas and was pinned. Fans felt ripped off. There was also an incident where Eric Bischoff spoiled the end of a taped Raw live on Nitro, telling everyone that Mick Foley would win the (then) WWF Title. Many switched over to watch Foley win the title, and that was the start of the WCW ratings decline.

WWE remained relatively entertaining simply due to the talent of its roster, including The Rock, Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and the list goes on and on. The booking was at times horrible (anyone remember Katie Vick?), however the product remained strong. WCW continued its slide and eventually collapsed to be bought out by WWE.

Then WWE ran the catastrophically awful Invasion angle, where WCW and ECW stars were feuding with WWE stars in an admittedly clever way to assimilate them into the roster. However many of the former WCW 'stars' were quickly demoted to jobber duty, such as Diamond Dallas Page and Scott Steiner. WWE was now without competition, but instead of the ratings going up, they went down.

Bad booking made for boring television, and many former ECW and WCW fans were upset to see their favorite wrestlers mistreated (I still feel that WWE could have used Raven much better than they ever did). I still watched WWE though, at the least for its great in-ring PPV wrestling. And for The Rock. That guy is just awesome.

The invasion angle died with a whimper, and the WWE introduced the Brand Split in April of 2002. Different stars would be exclusively featured on each of their two shows, Raw and Smackdown. At this time they had just absorbed the WCW and ECW rosters, so this worked well for a while to add intrigue and make storylines more interesting. Lesser stars would get more time on their individual brand because there wasn't a top card traveling from show to show.

However today, the WWE roster is fractured. No more Rock, no more Steve Austin. The WWE only has perhaps 10 wrestlers that you could reliably put a World Title on, whereas they may have had 30 or even 40 back in 2002. They just don't have as many entertaining wrestlers any more, and their roster is spread far too thin between three brands. I tend to watch Raw for Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, and to extents Mr. Kennedy and Santino. I don't watch Smackdown right now, it just isn't good enough. I don't want to see Vicki Guerrero. I don't want to see Mark Henry. I don't want to see Big Daddy V. The only redeeming qualities of Smackdown are Edge, Rey Mysterio, Undertaker and MVP, but they aren't enough to make me want to stay in on Friday nights.

Collapse the three brands into one unified roster. Unify the IC/United States Title, The WWE/World Tag Titles, and the World/WWE/ECW Titles. Get all of your talent on all three shows - whether or not they want to work Tuesdays.

You know, I'd probably watch Smackdown for Hardy and Jericho.

Thanks for reading my Pro Wrestling blog.

Pro Wrestling's End of the Season; Wrestlemania

If you're looking for Pro Wrestling news, you've come to the right place.

Wrestlemania is right around the corner. We're coming up on a huge weekend in Orlando, with TNA, ROH, and of course the WWE all putting on shows.

TNA iMPACT! goes live for the first time on Thursday, and it should be interesting to see how it goes. I pray that they have issues with the commentator microphones, as Mike Tenay and Don West frustrate me on a weekly basis because they never stop talking. TNA is hoping to score big ratings on their first live iMPACT! on the back of a returning Sting as well as a Women's Title match where Awesome Kong will defend the title against an opponent chosen by the fans on their website at tnawrestling.com, where fans will vote for theirchoice during the broadcast, similar to WWE's 'Cyber Sunday' and 'Taboo Tuesday' flop interactive PPV's. The rest of this week's iMPACT! looks lackluster at best from what they've announced so far - when will TNA realize that you need to provide quality wrestling as well as intrigue in order to pop ratings?

As for Ring of Honor, they'll be in Orlando for 2 shows on March 28th and 29th, offering solid looking cards including Nigel McGuinness vs. Austin Aries and several excellent Japanese import stars. Tickets start at $20 and are available at rohwrestling.com.

WWE is of course 'tuning up the band', so to speak, as their season winds itself to a close. Wrestlemania is less than a week away and it looks to be a very solid show. The 7-man Money in the Bank match (sans a suspended Jeff Hardy) could very well be the show stealer as in years past, although the Shawn Michaels-Ric Flair retirement match will certainly be emotional, as in all likelihood it will be the Nature Boy's final match. I would rather personally see Triple H win the WWE Title than John Cena in the triple threat main event, though that's just personal preference, and if I had to make a prediction I'd imagine John Cena will win it as it seems he only dropped it due to that pesky pec tear. There's no way that they're ending Undertaker's 'Mania streak, so it looks like we have face champions on both brands emerging out of the show to end all shows. JBL-Finlay will probably be kept short, 10 or 15 minutes at best, and while it may be entertaining I don't imagine we'll be seeing that great of a wrestling match from these two. The women's match will be good for what it's good for. Big Show-Mayweather could be one of two things - very bad, or very ugly. It'll be very bad if it's your traditional 'celebrity' match where there isn't much action due to the celebrity not knowing how to work. Or it could be very ugly - and this I would find amusing - if Show decides to stiff Mayweather. It would be funny if he decided to throw a stiff blow or two and Show doesn't seem to be in a position to lose anything for doing so. At the least, it's the more interesting of the two options, though for all the hype I must say I'm not looking forward to Show-Mayweather.

All in all, it looks like we have a good, solid action-packed weekend ahead of us in pro wrestling, and I'll continue to be here to give you a rundown and keep you up on all the news, rumors and latest spoilers.

Thanks for visiting my Pro Wrestling blog.

Welcome to Pro Wrestling News Daily!

Welcome to Pro Wrestling News Daily! I'll try to keep this as updated as possible every day with the latest news, rumors and spoilers from the pro wrestling industry, as well as my own commentary. This will include coverage on TNA, WWE, ECW, and ROH. If you have any questions or comments please either comment here to e-mail adamfoxblogger@gmail.com