Weekly Wrestling Recap 10-15-11
The WWE walkout saw some resolution this week on Raw with Vince McMahon making a surprise return and relieving Triple H of his COO duties. The new interim Raw GM is John Laurinitis and now Triple H who is not an active wrestler by the way is feuding with management over a position that he was assigned to by the board of directors. This story has been wacky and I don’t see the payoff at all, although admittedly I enjoyed the beginning of Raw where Cena faced Sheamus with Triple H as ref and CM Punk on commentary. Maybe if they would have figured out how to do the whole episode with a limited staff and some out of the box ideas this walkout may have meant something. But it seems like it’s all just to lead up to another Triple H match at Vengeance as it was announced he will team up with Punk to face R-Truth and The Miz (both were reinstated by Laurinitis later in the show). Outside of that Raw has been pretty weak the last few weeks.
On the Smackdown side we saw the return of the Big Show who will face Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Title at Vengeance. I don’t expect Big Show to win as Henry has been a force to be reckoned with lately and has more heat than he’s ever had in his career before. I like the way the Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton feud is shaping up as Rhodes has really stepped up his game in 2011 and is on the cusp of main event status. If you watch the Randy Orton Experience DVD he mentions how he actually did bond with and mentor Rhodes and Dibiase when they were in a stable together and still kind of does. I think Orton takes pride in helping to be a main event guy getting Rhodes over and this feud has the potential to be very good. I’m also highly impressed by the Ziggler/Swagger/Christian stable and even Otunga’s new gimmick as the lawyer for the wrestlers. The biggest complaint about the WWE locker room has been that the mid carders aren’t finding ways to get over and into the main event and it seems the tides have turned as of late.
The new Laurinitis regime even had its first casualty this past Monday with Jim Ross being fired in his home state of Oklahoma. JR has been hinting on Twitter that he is most likely done with the Monday Night Raw announce duties for good. I think it’s classless for him to be blindsided the way that he was with his wife in the audience as well. I really hope this is just an angle that will get him his job back but WWE has taken extra pride in crapping all over him as of late so its doubtful.
TNA’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, Bound for Glory, is this Sunday live from Philadelphia at Temple University. The double main event features a TNA Championship match between Kurt Angle and Robert Roode. I’m not sure how Roode has been catapulted into the main event scene all of a sudden but from what I hear Dixie Carter is very keen on his abilities and sees him as the next top guy. Roode has everything to prove and everything to lose in this match. Angle can get a good wrestling match out of even a paint bucket, but whether this match will blow people away will remain to be seen. The other main event is Hogan vs. Sting and Hogan has been doing media appearances all week telling people he won’t be taking any bumps. I expect a ton of interferences and run-ins and Sting taking the majority of an ass kicking in what will probably turn into a no holds barred match. I don’t really see the point of this match to begin with other than TNA banking on some nostalgia from Starcade 97 and the WCW days to get a few extra pay-per-view buys. Hogan says this will be the last “match” that we see him in.. Unfortunately for him I think that moment should have come years ago as at this point he’s just tarnishing his legacy by giving subpar performances. Jeff Hardy is announced as making an appearance on the card too, TNA needs big stars and Hardy can still go if he cleans himself up. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with him on Sunday as I am expecting him to enter the title scene pretty quickly when he comes back full-time.
The undercard is not bad with an I Quit Match between AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels which will steal the show and Falls Count Anywhere match between Mr. Anderson and Bully Ray which could be entertaining. I don’t know why TNA is bringing up the RVD/Jerry Lynn feud with yet another rematch but seeing as the ppv takes place in Philly, I am assuming this is to please old school ECW fans that will undoubtedly be in attendance. Actually Philly is a great location for TNA as the fans are very vocal and die hard when it comes to wrestling. They also tend to support the indie promotions very well with New Japan and ROH holding shows there earlier this year and even promotions like Dragongate USA and Chikara which is based in Philly. If TNA wants a hot crowd they definitely picked the right city. As for if you should buy Bound for Glory or not? I would say that this is probably the best ppv that TNA can put on as they call it their Superbowl, which still doesn’t say much but if you watch one TNA ppv a year this one should probably be it.
Below is the full card:
TNA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP Bobby Roode vs. (c) Kurt Angle
THE IMMORTAL BATTLES THE ICON: Hulk Hogan fights Sting
FULL METAL MAYHEM: Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn
FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE: Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray
I QUIT MATCH: AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
TRIPLE THREAT: Samoa Joe vs. Crimson vs. Matt Morgan
Jeff Hardy will be LIVE in Philly for Bound For Glory
X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP: Austin Aries(c) vs. Brian Kendrick
KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP: Winter vs. Mickie James vs. Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne
WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: Mexican American (c) vs. Ink Inc
