2007 is underway and some very interesting things are happening in the world or professional wrestling. These are some of the things that I am thinking about as we embark on a new wrestling year:
The Great Khali is in his third different brand and on his third different show in the few short months since Khali has been employed by WWE. After short feuds with the Undertaker and Tommy Dreamer, Khali is now on Raw, but this time without his mouthpiece Daivari. It is bad enough that WWE brought Khali to Raw with the belief that he has enough star power to make up for the absence of an injured Triple
H, a 10-Time former World Champion, but to allow Khali, who doesn't speak English very well as far as we have been led to believe, to cut a promo on his own without Daivari is just horrible. Khali, without the ability to promo in English is just a giant version of a luchador, but without the athletic ability; maybe a good talent in
the ring, but not very marketable. I love Double-Double-E.
Speaking of Triple H (and I did), during a critical story line, when Hunter and Stone Cold were silencing the critics and were helping to elevate young stars Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho, Hunter injured his leg and the story line was abruptly cut short. Fast forward to 2007, and Triple H and HBK are involved in a story line that is going to determine whether or not Edge & Randy Orton are the immediate future
of the business when suddenly Triple H injures his other leg. HBK can carry the storyline for a while, but in order for Edge & Orton to get the shot that they deserve, there needs to be a new DX member brought in so that WWE can continue the feud. Unfortunately for Rated RKO, the only person that could take Hunters place in DX, in my opinion, is Chris Jericho and it appears Jericho has no interest in WWE's heavy work schedule. Sucks for you, Rated RKO.
Kurt Angle beat Samoa Joe and then Samoa Joe beat Kurt. The two men are wrestling in a tie-breaker match that will almost certainly determine the new #1 contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Title because Sting and Christian will finally face off against each other, leaving Abyss in a search for an opponent. The sad part of Angle versus Joe is the fact that Angle already holds a submission victory over Abyss, so it would seem that TNA would not want to have an anti-
climatic title series between Angle & Abyss. So this means that Joe is going to win the feud with Angle, doesn't it? But since we as fans know this, what can TNA creative do to add intrigue to the culmination of the Angle-Joe feud?
The team of AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels has broken up. America's Most Wanted has broken up. The Voodoo Kin Mafia is chasing WWE and the Naturals seem to have been buried. Sabin and Sonjay Dutt are no longer teaming. As far as tag team wrestling in TNA, there is LAX and Team 3D. Suddenly, the tag team division in TNA has fallen on hard times, as if Eric Bischoff, a man long believed to have a great disdain for tag team wrestling, has come to work for TNA and has
destroyed one of the things that made TNA very different from WWE. People are saying that the story lines are becoming very WWE-like, and now that the tag team division is a two team horse race with no other credible teams in the federation, TNA seems to be becoming no different than WWE, and that is something that could permanently damage the little federation that could.
Speaking of TNA, and I was, there are rumors that TNA is waiting for Rey Mysterio's contract with WWE to expire, which it will at a point before he is scheduled to return from his latest injury. Rey Mysterio would be as perfect for TNA as it would be for him. The X-Division could use the shot in the arm and, just as they have done with AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio could venture into the heavyweight division and Rey could face Kurt Angle and could have really good matches with
Samoa Joe and Christian. As a fan of TNA and as a fan of Rey, I can only hope that TNAs lighter schedule and a genuine shot at championship gold are appealing enough to lure Rey away from what will certainly be a lucrative offer from WWE.
There has also been talk of bringing Psychosis back to TNA and having him join the Latin American Exchange. Psychosis is still a great worker and he would be an asset to LAX because if they ever decided to use the Freebird rule and have any two of the three LAX members defend the tag titles, then Psychosis could be substituted in for one of the other members. However, Psychosis is not very well versed in the English language and he cannot substitute for Konan as the voice
of LAX while Konan is recovering from his surgeries. If it were possible, Chavo Guerrero, Jr. would be a very good mouthpiece for the team, because he could also compete in the ring, but Chavito works for WWE.
Umaga is no longer undefeated. He has lost his first match, though to John Cena, in a title challenge situation. So now, what purpose does Umaga serve? WWE has scaled back Armando Alejandro Estrada's promos because the manager was becoming more over than the wrestler, but now that Umaga is no longer an undefeated Samoan Bulldozer, what purpose does he serve? As long as Cena is champ, Umaga has no shot. Once Cena is defeated, Umaga might be able to reemerge as a title contender, but until then, Umaga is no better than Great Khali, a monster with no direction.
The Paparazzi Championship Series is a great storyline because it allowed Kevin Nash do something that TNA has wanted done since the time when Dusty Rhodes was the Director of Authority in TNA. It has allowed the members of the X-Division to display some personality. Sonjay Dutt, Alex Shelley, Austin Starr, Jay Lethal & even Senshi have shown that they are more than the moves that they perform in the ring. TNA has wanted to show that these guys have what it takes to
entertain the fans in the ring and on the mic, and the PCS has shown that TNA might actually be getting their wish. I just hope that TNA takes advantage of what they have been given and uses it to advance the careers of these men. They work very hard and deserve a break.
Speaking of the X-Division, and I was, former champions Frankie Kazarian and Matt Bentley, along with former Team Canada member Johnny Devine were not a part of the PCS because they were being buried by the latest attempt at recreating Ravens Flock. Serotonin, Ravens latest stable has so far been shown losing matches to Sting and getting whipped in the ring by their leader. When you talk about wrestlers who deserve better, these three guys deserve better, and so does Raven. Raven should be the next feud for Sting or Abyss or one of the other top guys in TNA. He should be gearing up for a slot in the next King of the Mountain match because he should be competing in one of the elimination matches that will be taking place soon. Raven can stand alone and should be displaying his talents on the mic and in the ring. So should the three members of Serotonin. Bentley, Kazarian & Devine are good ring guys who should have been developing their charisma along with the other X-Division stars in the PCS. And to think, Kazarian left WWE for this.
After all these years, Vince McMahon still hasn't changed. No, I am not talking about that insipid cartoon about Vinces behind. Nor am I talking about the freak show that with the fake Rosie & Trump (because I talked about that in my previous column).
What I am talking about is Vince signing Claudio Castignoli to a developmental deal and then releasing him before he would ever be used. The move was done simply to throw a monkey wrench into Ring of Honors booking plans in my opinion. Vince claims to never pay attention to other federations, including smaller ones, but he seems to always make moves that he hopes will hamper these groups. ROH had to take the titles away from the Kings of Wrestling because Double C was leaving the federation, but as soon as the titles were placed on someone else, Claudio would be announcing the he was staying and now ROH has to decide what to do
with Claudio and Chris Hero. This was nothing more than an inconvenience to ROH, but it also served to show ROH, TNA and any other group that would hope to attempt to grow big enough to challenge WWE that Vince can get them anytime that he wants to. This is just Vince being Vince, just like always.
Well these are my thoughts going into 2007, and as the year progresses, you know that I will have a lot more to say about the world of professional wrestling.
Send comments, complaints or questions to me @ ericej@netzero.net
Eric E. Jenkins is an author who has written a semi-biographical book covering the last 30 years in professional wrestling through the eyes of a fan entitled Reflections of a Professional wrestling Fan: My 30 Years In the Business. He is currently writing Dead Too Soon, a book chronicling the careers of and paying tribute to many of the wrestling stars who passed away very young.