Pro Wrestling Ponderings

Kevin and Jerome make their grand return to podcasting, and they’re not alone. Drew Cordeiro from “Beyond Wrestling” joins the dynamic duo for a discussion on Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerilla, and of course Beyond Wrestling. What is this company you ask? Just listen and find out.

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After seven years of damn near perfect matches and awe inspiring loyalty to the fans of Ring of Honor, Ring of Honor is losing another founding father. He takes a trip to the fed, and in my humble opinion, no one can fault him or even fault the fed for taking him. No matter what the reason, Byran Danielson has deserved to be on a national product for years and now is his chance. Hopefully he’ll make the most of it and perhaps we could see a Kaval/Low Ki against Danielson in FCW and even possibly on the ECW brand. But despite those lofty goals there is still one last thing that Danielson could do for Ring of Honor. Actually, it’s more like what his leaving could do for Ring of Honor.

Bryan Danielson is on his ‘Final Countdown’ tour for his last showings in ROH. Six events that will showcase what ROH has meant to him and how ROH will honor his body of work throughout ROH history. But this could also be one of the few times that ROH will have the opportunity to entertain once more the fans that used to come to shows. We have all heard how some of the once ROH faithful have stopped coming to shows and stopped buying DVDs as loyally as they used to. Granted, in the current state of the economy, it’s not entirely responsible to buy in the large quantities that we used to, but at the same time it also speaks of the discontent for the product that they have. But the ability to see one of those who entertained us for the last time in the promotion that brought us such great memories, I believe they will take the time to come out to see his final matches.

What better time than now to show those who used to be so vocal and passionate that the product has changed and yet is coming back to the root of what made it great. Show case the story lines that made them buy every DVD or made them come out in the debt of night amidst horrid weather conditions just so they could see what was coming next. They made up a large part of the revenue and from trusted reports, we have all but had it confirmed that sales are down and ticket sales are not what they once where. But they could be at that level again, especially if you can show those who used to come out in droves that you can give them the product they used to clamor for.

Of course, nothing can stay the same forever. I am sure they don’t expect it to stay the same, but at the same time a watered down product for the sake of watering it down for the masses does no justice to those who were here from the beginning. Toning down a style for the sake of safety for the talent makes sense. Toning down a product that is too controversial and not monetarily responsible makes sense. But neither was the case in Ring of Honor. There was a changing of the guard. A changing of the backstage team and of course there is always a want to showcase something unique and different from the former. But to lose so many that used to support the product and not realize that some things should go back to how they used to be could be financially irresponsible. I have my own opinions as to what made ROH so intriguing in the beginning and after the rebirth and so on and so forth, but in the end it was the fans interest in the deep rooted stories that were being told in and out of the ring that brought them back.

I’m not one of those saying that the current product is all crap. In fact I’d be willing to make the argument that 80 percent of it is great stuff and handled very well. But it is that 20 percent that has made really turned away droves of fans and droves of possible income that obviously has affected the company over all. Sure other decisions, in hindsight, probably weren’t as good as they should or could have been but now is a time to rediscover what it is the fans want. These fans that ARE going to show up, if only for one last time to see their hero make his final performance are going to stay for the entire show. So there is that ability to give them a damn good show. A show that is going to make them reassess where they felt the product was going and where it actually is, and even more importantly, what it is going to become.

And maybe we’ll come back.

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Jerome and Kevin talk some more this week as they cover major happenings with PWG, Bryan Danielson, and the death of IWA-MS.

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Brad Garoon and Jake Ziegler have been found! They join Jerome and Kevin for an hour of wackiness. Want more? Download and listen.

For the sendspace version, click HERE.

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Jerome Cusson and Kevin Ford get right into some WWE discussion before talking a ton of Ring of Honor news and notes.  They talk about the possible futures of Larry Sweeney and Brian Kendrick. A fun show so please download and give it a listen.

Also, please consider sending us feedback at our new e-mail address: prowrestlingponderings@gmail.com

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Kevin Ford and Jerome Cusson make some huge announcements about the site and discuss a couple of the major headlines that have broken in recent days from the world of professional wrestling. We discuss the PWG and CHIKARA results from last night as well as make a joke at TNA’s expense.

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Kevin Ford and Jerome Cusson are back this week to discuss Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor weekend. We discuss why these shows weren’t all that great. We move on to some WWE discussion and why Night of Champions was also fairly mediocre. Kevin then talks about being at RAW and missing the infamous birthday cake fight. They end the show with a preview of both CHIKARA and PWG’s upcoming shows. Give the show a listen since all of your favorite companies are talked about (Well, not TNA but who could possibly have them as their favorite?)

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Have you ever had a weekend that made you question whether or not you wanted to continue being wrestling fan? Where you so much stupid garbage that you wanted to sell all those wrestling DVDs you’ve bought over the years. Where you want to desperately find something, anything to do on a Monday night just so you’re not home to see RAW. This is how the last two days have gone for me.

It all began on a cool July Sunday evening. This past weekend, I’d completely ignored professional wrestling in all forms. This did not cause me to ignore my rather nerdish instincts as I was enjoying all six of the Harry Potter films. It all climaxed with seeing the 6th film in a local theater Sunday night. After enjoying the movie and a lovely Prime Rib from Outback, I came home and started following the results of TNA’s July Pay-Per-View, Victory Road.

Coming into this night, I didn’t think TNA could anger me. I never thought I could muster enough energy to care one way or the other about this show. Yet, they found a way. I guess they always find a way.

You might be wondering how not even watching the show could anger me. Simple enough. You open the show with a stupid finish and do a useless title change. You have a guy who can’t even do a simple lock-up in Matt Morgan beat one of the most professional of professional wrestlers in Christopher Daniels. You have Abyss wrestling Dr. Stevie in a usless mid-card match. You have Team 3-D obliterate an entire heel group by themselves.

But see. That’s just the usual TNA crap. Of course, it’s not a single buy, but there really isn’t anything that can cause one to just simply want to quit watching wrestling. Little did I know. Little did anyone else know just what the little engine that couldn’t had in store for us. More on this metaphor later.

Jenna and Sharmell had what has been described as one of the worst wrestling matches in the history of this sport. Two women who are non-workers were allowed to compete… hell, people had to pay them 30 dollars to watch these two women fight. These women had an atrocity of a match while Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal, and Homcide sat in the back. I guess they can’t possibly draw the kind of money Survivor Chick can.

Kevin Nash then cut a promo saying all the babyfaces are the same place they were seven years ago. He then proceeds to beat A.J. Styles clean with a chokeslam. Yes folks, Kevin fucking Nash won a championship match clean in the year 2009. I kid you not. If I could put the visual evidence up on this website, I would. I want to hear the justification for this from someone in TNA management. Here you have a guy in Styles who goes out and busts his ass for seven years, who’s been loyal to this company from the beginning, jobbing to someone who helped kill WCW and has an amazing streak of luck when it comes to injuries just before jobbing.

Scott Steiner and Booker T then defeated Beer Money for the TNA Tag Team titles. I guess at this point we were just playing out the string, but here’s another young duo doing the J-O-B to a pair of individuals over the age of 40. Maybe Booker can still make a contribution to this sport, but Steiner has been done for the last 10 years. Beer Money has become one of the most over acts in the company, but the NW… I mean MEM RULZ!

Samoe Joe actually got to beat one of the so-called legends. Of course, this wasn’t without its’ own bit of calamity. Sting either forgot the ending or just plain didn’t want to take the Musclebeater because he was the first of two consecutive top babyfaces to tap clean. Pretending that Sting refused to take the Musclebeater, can you imagine if someone else refused to take Joe’s finisher? They’d be fired before they even got to the back. Now pretending Sting forgot the ending, what does it say about his professionalism that this happened? This man is supposed to be a model for a lot of the young kids to follow, and here is someone well-respecting “blanking out” on a main event match’s ending.

Also, some guy named Tazzzzzzzzzz (I believe that’s the new spelling.) debuted. Apparently, he’s like Paul Bearer in that Joe sees him and immediately can begin not selling anymore.

Kurt Angle had cut a promo earlier saying not to expect a Pay-Per-View quality match when he wrestled Mick Foley. He also said that if any Main Event Mafia member lost, they’d immediately be fired. This promo, recorded very early in the show, assured everyone of the ending of all the matches and thus a waste of their hard-earned money. Of course, it was probably 20,000 die-hards, but that’s still incredibly presumptuous to have Angle cut a promo like that.

Angle of course went on to defeat Mick Foley clean as a whistle with the anklelock, thus completing what some are calling one of the worst shows of all time. Judging by these results, I can almost guarantee the quality of this Pay_Per-View was below much of what even WWE has produced this year. I’m very interested in hearing what our own Zack Danielson has to say about this show. If he tries to justify any of this bullshit, there will be an argument. A long one and a very loud one. I cannot possible justify the existance of this company anymore.

I gave TNA four weeks. They not only squandered their chance but so angered me that I refuse to even watch and review their Pay-Per-View. When I called them “The Little Engine that Couldn’t,” I meant that every time this company has a huge signing or seems to take a step forward, they invent ways to take ten steps backward. They’ve pissed away so many chances. They signed away so much ex-WWE talent. What has it gotten them? A lousy 1.1 every single week. They can’t even defeat FCW on SyFy. They can’t defeat Smackdown, which is on a Friday night. They can barely beat Superstars and A.M. Raw on a weekly basis.

I want to see the wrestlers have jobs and be able to support their families, but how far can you possibly take this? TNA is an eyesore to every person who considers themselves a professional wrestling. This company is a slap in the face every single week it puts out their shitty television show. Every single week Impact airs is another slap to the face of everyone who’s made this wrestling business what it is today. Every single Pay-Per-View that airs robs the 20,000 or so people of cash every month. People, specifically wrestling fans, are so desperate for something, anything to entertain them when it comes to wrestling, that this has become an acceptable form of entertainment. I no longer consider this to be anything but a festering boil that continues to slowly kill the business

If anyone is curious about my thoughts on the Kurt Angle and Global Impact DVDs, please listen to the podcast this week. I’ve wasted enough column space on “The Little Engine that Couldn’t.” As for how to end this column, I can only think of one senetence containing five words. The first two words are a phrase echoed by thousands of ROH and PWG fans over the years as a representation of how they feel their favorite wrestlers have been taken advantage of. The third word joins together the first and second phrase. The fourth and fifth words are exactly how I feel about this company. And I can tell you that this how so many others feel as well.

Fire Russo and fuck TNA.

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Chris GST joins Jerome Cusson and Kevin Ford for an enjoyable hour of podcasting goodness. The jobs of each are discussed as well as some random RVD talk. Then Jerome and Chris gather around the learning tree to hear about the “Eye of Tear,” one of CHIKARA’s top storylines. Chris’ girlfriend chimes in from the background for some occasional commentary on such hot button issues as Zach Ryder and Sheamus’ paleness. Chris discusses why he’s bored with Bryan Danielson. We also talk about D-Lo-Brown, how KoT converted Chris and Kevin, and Jerome makes his feelings about Kevin clear. A fun show so give it a listen!

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Well, we had to contact the lawyers on this one. Rob Naylor joins Jerome and Kevin for one of the best podcasts of the year. This was epic as for over 90 minutes, they go over every topic under the son. They discuss Uncle Elmer, the first matches they ever saw, student advisor’s sucking, journalism sucking, ROH sucking, and the awesomeness of CM Punk. Please click and enjoy one of the best shows we’ve ever put together.

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