Category: Wrestling Musings

All posts related to pro rasslin’ that isn’t covering specific shows or events.

TNA Fan In Canada? Watch Impact Wrestling On This Link

Since there’s no television presence in Canada for TNA since their move to Destination America, TNA has graciously set up a page for Canadian fans to check out full episodes of Impact Wrestling online and for FREE. Good on TNA for providing this service to the Canadian masses. It’s not quite TV, but it’s better than nothing for you TNA fans out there… and it’ll give me some incentive to check a couple of their shows out.

You can reach the page by clicking the link below:

27 Years Ago… Hulkamania Came To A Close (The First Time)

The Main Event. February 5th, 1988.

The single most-watched wrestling match in North American history, as witnessed by 33 million people. No other wrestling program before or even since has come close to matching that number. And what was the big draw that drew that massive audience?

Well, it was the long-awaited rematch between Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The sequel to the main event of Wrestlemania III, the event that arguably put the WWF on the map. 33 million people got to watch these two titans go at it once more. 33 million people got to see history made, when Andre The Giant pinned Hulk Hogan to win his first (and only) World championship.

Of course, the win was not without controversy. Andre scored the pin, but the referee – supposedly Dave Hebner – had fast-counted Hogan. Hogan had cried foul – like he usually did when things didn’t go his way – but this time with just cause. He had been screwed out of the title and to make matters worse, the man who had “beaten” him for the title would not even be champion for long, as he immediately declared his intention to surrender the “World World Tag-Team Championship” (his words, not mine) to the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, who was Andre’s manager at the time.

Eventually, the real Dave Hebner showed up and confronted the evil twin. Hogan stared at both bickering Hebners before beating the shit out of both of them. A measure of revenge, sure, but it did little to change the fact that he was no longer the World Wrestling Federation champion. His four year reign as champion had come to a close.

Of course, it would be ruled that the title change was non-valid and thus a tournament would be established at Wrestlemania IV to crown a new undisputed champion… but that’s another story for another time.

Royal Fumble Is So Bad I Bitch About It On Twitter… WTF Indeed.

And yes, that’s my actual Twitter thing. Don’t expect much out of it, though. I only use it for medicinal purposes… just like Romulan Ale.

WWE Raw Tapings Cancelled Due To Storm

Source: http://rajah.com/node/45458

Tonight’s WWE RAW taping from the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut has been cancelled due to Winter Storm Juno. Some folks noticed the WWE crew packing up the trucks and as such, no live show to take place. The Smackdown tapings for tomorrow might also be affected. One has to wonder what WWE will air in its place… maybe they can re-air the Royal Fumble on free TV, but edited so that fans react positively to their chosen champion… worth a shot, I guess.
Still, good move on WWE’s part for their proactive thinking. Setting aside the recent controversy over their Royal Fumble showing, they avoided a potential disaster of a RAW taping going horribly wrong due to a possible power outage or other possible setback as a result of this storm. I suppose, if nothing else, it gives the hapless Twitterers something to add to their #CancelWWENetwork Twits that continues to be a major trend.

Remember the days when the most efficient means of display fan discontent was littering the ring with trash? Those were the days.

The Backlash to #RoyalFumble Getting Mainstream Attention

Well, WWE got their mainstream attention… and it only took pissing off their paying customers to get it.

Time Magazine:
http://time.com/3682093/cancel-wwe-network-royal-rumble/

USA Today:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/01/wwe-daniel-bryant-royal-rumble-eliminated-reaction

Fox Sports:
http://www.foxsports.com/buzzer/story/wwe-royal-rumble-daniel-bryan-brock-lesnar-roman-reigns-the-rock-012515

There’s laughter in Chicago on this cold night… if it were still night.

Macho

So, it’s been a couple days… and I’ve had time to digest this, but I decided to share a quick thought on the long-awaited induction of Randy “Macho Man” Savage into the WWE Hall of Fame. An induction that has been a long time coming and oft-delayed due to issues that have been documented elsewhere. You know what? I’m glad Savage is finally getting into it. It’s something that he deserved for a long time coming. Even in a business that is on the take and with a Hall of Fame whose legitimacy can be deemed “dubious” at best, it’s still a top honor to a top legend who has left us way too soon.

At the same time, however, this whole thing seems to reek of desperation on the part of WWE. That much is evident when it was announced that the Macho Man would be inducted posthumously by Hulk Hogan. The Hogan/Savage relationship has been “shaky” to put it nicely and while Hogan claims that fences were mended before Randy’s untimely passing, I’d have to question that because, well, Hulk Hogan… he’ll say just about anything to make himself look good.

Let’s be honest here; is this induction nothing more than a ratings grab? You’re damned right it is. There’s nothing subtle about it. WWE is desperate for eyeballs on their (currently shitty) product and they’ve reached a point where they’ll do anything to try and get there.

But even so… does that point make this induction any less meaningful?

Not a chance.