Trench's Pro Wrestling Report: Good Week for Pro Wrestling

* Jack Hardy's Angry
* Matt Morgan's a STUD
* SummerSlam Match-up?



I've decided to do things a little differently this week and give the report a little more structure.

Smackdown 8/1: I really liked seeing an angry Jeff Hardy. I just wish they weren't using his personal tragedies to push the storyline. I don't see the point of jobbing him out to the Mediocre Khali either. Who does that really help?

Mick Foley's promo on Edge couldn't have been more awesome. Further evidence of why Mick Foley is such a legend. If you haven't seen his greatest promos you need to find his promos as Cactus Jack from the old ECW. (You knew I had to bring that up at least once.) Anyway if we're lucky this is the opportunity that brings back the Edge that we love to hate. Again, it's too bad that this storyline has to be driven by a bad wedding angle.

TNA Impact Replay 8/2: I don't watch TNA on Thursday Nights because Burn Notice is on at the same time so I try to catch the replays on Saturday nights.

Matt Morgan is a stud. They should be building the promotion around him not to mention some of the other younger guys. I mean wouldn't you rather see Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan than Samoa Joe vs. Booker T? As much respect as I have for guys like Kurt Angle, Sting, and Booker T, their names aren't exactly increasing TNA's ratings. If I was Jeff Jarrett and Jim Cornette I'd be pushing the young guys to the moon.

TNA loves to do comedy and I think they do it well. Curry Man, Shark Boy, and Super Eric just crack me up. But let's not overdo it. It's a rough transition to go from Shark Boy hilarity to a pissed off Samoa Joe.

The new women's champion is boring and generic. I can't even think of her name off the top of my head. She's a decent wrestler but she doesn't grab my attention. I don't find it believable that she beat Awesome Kong twice either. I'd rather see Roxxi or ODB holding the belt.

WWE Saturday Night's Main Event: I didn't watch it for two reasons. One, I forgot it was on which should tell you how great of a job WWE did in promoting it. Two, while I think Autism is a horrible disease I also think Jenny McCarthy is a tool for spreading fear for blaming her son's Autism on vaccinations. The Autism people may want to find a better spokesperson.

Anyway from what I read SNME was lame.

RAW 8/4/08: I actually like Mike Adamle as the RAW GM. It's something new which is something that wrestling in general is lacking these days.

Santino Morella is comedy gold. TNA should take note on how to do their comedy bits.

I thought it was ridiculous how much praise Lawler and Cole were pouring on Adamle throughout the show considering Michael Cole got his head handed to him last week because of Adamle.

CM Punk vs. JBL at Summerslam? Really? Why is JBL still even on TV? He's not being booed because he's the bad guy. He's being booed because people are tired of him. At least that's what I hope they're booing him for. Jericho vs CM Punk would have been epic but I realize they'll do something with Jericho and HBK at Summerslam. Hopefully Punk will retain and they can have the Punk-Jericho match later.

News: The big story on the dirt sheet sites this week was that WWE has parted ways with Ric Flair. The buzz is that Flair was unhappy with WWE not allowing him to book outside appearances. If I was TNA I'd be offering him whatever they could. Even to have him in a non-wrestling role would be quite the coup for TNA.

All in all a pretty good week. Which means next week should suck hard.

by Trench Reynolds

2008 WWE Draft Report

So, big doings on last night's RAW with the 2008 Draft. Not surprisingly, RAW got the better end of the deal. Since it's the flagship WWE show that was pretty much a given. However, the draft was a dead giveaway for what's going to happen at the Night of Champions PPV. HHH will retain the title and go to Smackdown, if he doesn't get traded back to RAW again. Edge will lose to Batista and Batista takes that title to RAW.



I'm glad they kept the Hardy's on separate brands, but Matt Hardy to ECW? He's about as extreme as wheat toast. Then again, it's still not the real ECW. And yes, I will bring that up every time--thanks for asking. I thought Umaga would have been a better fit for ECW than Matt Hardy.

Speaking of Hardys: if HHH stays on Smackdown, I hope they do a program with Jeff Hardy and HHH. Even with Jeff''s past transgressions, he's over with the crowd like crazy and deserves a chance at the title.

The HBK/Y2J angle went pretty much the way I thought it should. However, they need to make Shawn Michaels' 'injuries' more traumatic to really have impact. When HBK hit his face on the table, it made him look like the most fragile man in the world. If you want to see how to really make an impact with a fake eye injury, look up how Tommy Dreamer and the Sandman did it back in the original ECW. At least they let the heel (Jericho) go out on top. That's how you get the fans to keep coming back.

They'll pay to see the villain get his comeuppance.



Who is more boring on the mic, Randy 'Sominex' Orton or 'Talentless' Ted DiBiase Jr.?

Then, a pretty solid show turned into another typical WWE crapfest with the set collapsing on Vince McMahon. The last time they did an angle like this was right before Chris Benoit killed his family. You'd think they'd stay away from angles like this, just because of the history.

Anyway, I personally would like to see the angles revolve around the
wrestling--and not the soap opera.

by Trench Reynolds
images: Trench Network

WWE: RAW Giveaway Gimmick More Exciting than Action in the Ring

Trench's Pro Wrestling Report



[NOTE:DBKP's Trench Reynolds usually labors in the fields of crime. With this post, he begins a labor of love: reporting on the drama that is pro wrestling.]


My name is Trench Reynolds and I blog about cr...
No, wait. That's a different day.

My name is Trench Reynolds and I've been a professional wrestling fan since 1982. I first started watching wrestling when I caught a rare TV match of Superfly Jimmy Snuka vs. The Magnificent Don Muraco and I've been hooked ever since.

I've seen the glory days of The Four Horseman and the rise and fall of Hulkimania. I watched the WWF go from cartoonish to the Attitude Era. I watched every week of the Monday Night Wars.

I started watching the original ECW when the E stood for Eastern.

So I know a little bit about wrestling. I still haven't figured out where I'm going with these wrestling posts yet, but come along for the ride, won't you?

So last night was the first night of Vince McMahon's million-dollar giveaway on Monday Night Raw. I'll be honest with you: I was glued to the TV and my cell phone was always within arms reach, like a sucker. I only registered once, but I figured that would be enough. So basically, Vince McMahon's gimmick worked: he kept me--and probably millions of other fans--watching his program.

The only problem was that there wasn't much in the ring to keep me watching between giveaways.



For example, Ken Kennedy is probably the most entertaining wrestler on RAW today, but when you put him in there with plain Paul Burchill, it's a snoozefest. Burchill was more entertaining when he was a pirate, but I digress.

Then you throw the usual suspects of John Cena, JBL, and HHH, in there and I could really could've cared less. If Randy Orton had been on RAW last night, I probably would have killed myself due to boredom. The only interesting part of RAW last night was when Chris Jericho threw Shawn Michaels into the TV.

Not exactly Roddy Piper hitting Jimmy Snuka with a coconut, but not bad. I was actually surprised by that. I think it would have been more dramatic if HBK had been bleeding, but from what I understand, he doesn't like to blade all that much.

My point is: if you're going to use a ratings gimmick like giving away millions of dollars to attract eyeballs, you're going to need to do something to keep those eyeballs once they're there.

Right now, RAW is not putting that product on TV--and I don't see it improving anytime soon.

by Trench Reynolds
image: the sun; Trench Reynolds; Ultimate Wrestling Gallery