r-truth could have inadvertently stumbled upon a good heel gimmick for himself

R-poop turning heel this coming ppv, book it.

1. Managers are a lost art that really added something to wrestling in past years.
2. One of the best mic workers in the company is Arn Anderson, who rarely appears on-screen.

If he's willing to take on a regular on-screen role (and I have no idea if he is), WWE is missing out terribly by not using him in that kind of role. Or as a GM. Or something. I just know that I want a whole new batch of Arn promos in my life.

Do managers actually have a role? I always thought they were just storyline characters, so no wonder their influence has diminished as kayfabe becomes less and less important.

I used to like that heel one with the megaphone. Whatever his name was.

managers may or may not have an actual backstage role which relates to kayfabe. eg heyman managing brock was kind of a shoot.

jimmy hart.

I'm curious as to what this even means.

That was during a period where I lost interest and didn't watch much wrestling.

Just that Heyman really did teach Brock a lot of stuff and they are close friends to this day.

Is this because of the Trish thing, or something else?

When Mark Henry was managed by Tony Atlas it was mostly so Atlas could follow him on the tour and watch his weight which was really hitting problem territory (at least in creative feedback, if not healthwise).

Managers are an underused asset right now and its mainly because wrestlers are entertainers. They are expected to cut their own promos and be good all around whereas in the old days just being a weight bouncing roidhead mute who knew half a dozen moves was enough to be a wrestler.

The policy has harmed the careers of a few guys, but on the other hand learn to talk on a mic ffs, its not even close to the hardest skill you need to make it in the industry. Unless you literally dont speak English you should be able to cut a good if not very solid promo week in week out once you make it to that level and im happy to not care that much about people whose careers stall because they cant do it.

I mean, it's not that I feel sorry for Shelton Benjamin and his inability to break the glass ceiling, it's more that I feel sorry for myself as a fan of his ringwork that they didn't find a way to get him over.

Thing is, it seems like it overstates the matter to just say "cut a decent promo." Fact is that there will always be some who are better than others on the stick, and that's the baseline wrestling fans will judge them on and deem them to be entertaining enough or not to give a reaction to. It's not as though it's an act of will and effort for anyone to become a Jericho or a Rocky if they just put enough time in.

more than mic skill, it's incredibly important to just be relaxed and natural on camera. look at Christian, everything the guy does is fantastic because he doesn't ever seem like he's acting. you don't need to cut rock-level promos, just be believable.

Otoh JoMo is so wooden you get splinters.

Yeah, pretty much. Which is funny given the dirt sheet stuff he did with Miz on wwe.com was so highly rated. I never watched it, so im guessing now Miz was all the talent in that group.

Its like ring rust and sloppy work, it all comes from confidence or the lack thereof.

But all this stuff can be taught by acting schools, so when these guys are down in FCW learning how to fall over they should also be working up the street taking acting classes in the off time doing improv. As i said there is basically no excuse to cut a terrible promo, stumbling over your lines and delivering them in a monotone robotic way.

Sincere thoughts from Matt Hardy in which he claims that Jeff is considering career-ending back surgery.

Jeff's wife Beth subsequently twittered that Jeff hadn't said anything to anyone about retiring, but that tweet has been deleted.

"Not only are we brothers, but we're blood."

Matt is deep.

Does anyone have a reliable stream for tonights ppv?

I feel like torturing myself. Even more so than watching that Matt Hardy video.

Lol, there is a PPV tonight? TNA needs to start advertising during WWE shows so i can keep track of their shows.

We don't canoe down streams here. We prefer creeks and rivers.

Let's check out the card!

- TNA World Championship: Sting(c) vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Mr. Anderson
Sting and Van Dam can both work so anything is possible. I have always hated Anderson in the ring and even Kurt Angle couldn't carry him to watchable matches during their feud so hopefully he gets a kayfabe concussion and spends the entire match under the ring.

- Lethal Lockdown: Immortal (Ric Flair, Abyss, Bully Ray & Matt Hardy) vs. Fortune (Kaz, Christopher Daniels, James Storm & Robert Roode)
Fortune is an amazing stable all capable of putting on **** matches. But not against Immortal. And not in some overbooked royal rumble inna cage match.

- Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett
difficult for these two to have a bad match unless Russo gets hold of it. Angle choreographs everything so it's all good stuff and Jarrett can perform when told what to do.

- TNA Knockouts Title, Title vs. Hair: Madison Rayne(c) vs. Mickie James
Hair? I'm intrigued. We all love Mickey obv and Madison Rayne is not really that bad.

- Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan
Nobody gives a flying ****.

- "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero vs. Samoa Joe
Nearly the worst angle in history and one of the things that made me stop watching the show. Call it X-Pope heat.

- X Division Xscape Match: Amazing Red vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Lethal vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Robbie E vs. Suicide
This is what TNA should be built around

- Ink, Inc. vs. Crimson & Scott Steiner vs. Orlando Jordan & Eric Young vs. Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams.
lol what a cluster****. I still love Steiner despite him personally being kind of an ass hole. Last time I saw him, he was still throwing out Frankensteiners and trying to work so gods bless him. Orlando Jordan should just be killed. Magnus and Williams are just fine.

- Pre-PPV Match: Brother Devon vs. Anarquia
vs who?

idk, could be a couple good matches!

come on.

we all know orton NEVER wears jeans.

obv in today's wwe a streetfight would be contested in suits

Ba dum dum!

Card actually looks decent and opening promo was good as well...it can only go downhill from here considering TNA

Oop my bad, sorry guys

Got a semi-decent river right now hope it lasts.

curtain jerker is kind of a mess

but nice Buckle Bomb

Pretty underwhelming start some nice spots, but people getting took out in confusing ways imo. Enjoyable enough match I guess but all that talent in one cage and not much of it was put forward in a good light.