Things are looking up!

A few months ago I made the conscious decision to stop writing about wrestling until TNA got better. I was pretty down on the product and didn’t want to turn into one of those ‘smart marks’ who pick apart and highlight all the problems that a wrestling show has, thereby sapping the joy out of something which is meant to be entertaining. TNA has been great over the past month or so, so as my first dip back into writing after a few months hiatus here are my 10 reasons why TNA is great.
1) Austin Aries. I could just leave it there. I’ve been a fan of Aries for a few years now and I cannot for the life of me figure out why WWE rejected him for Tough Enough. Aries has great presence, he carries himself like a star, he’s great on the mic and he’s capable of pulling a five star match out of his ass (Aries vs Angle feud = awesomeness).
2) Beer Money are now main eventers. It is high time that some TNA originals were put in the top spot again. They are young and fresh, and it’s great to see the exposure and push they are getting.
3) Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett is an amazing heel; I want to see him on TV more.
4) Abyss. Abyss hasn’t been on TV much of late, this is a good thing.
5) Karen Jarrett. Like Jeff, she is a great heel. I hope that the knockouts storylines move beyond ‘she thinks you are a whore/skank/bitch’, etc.
6) AJ vs Daniels. Daniels is one of the most under-rated guys in TNA. His matches with AJ have been great, even though the I quit match wasn’t.
7) Bully Ray. What a prick, what a horrible example of human... I love it! Bubba knows his character better than anyone on the roster. Obnoxious and cowardly, the perfect combination for a heel.
8) Ric Flair. It’s obvious that Garrett Bischoff is not ready for TV and is only being pushed because he’s Bischoff’s son. When Ric Flair laid into him backstage a few weeks back on Impact it was one of the best promos I’ve seen all year. It reminded me of when Flair laid into Carlito in about 2005. He might be a crazy old man, but he’s the best crazy old man in wrestling.
9) Filming on the road. TNA have been doing more tapings on the road. This is great. New crowds and new venues make it seem fresher and make the stars seem bigger.
10) Raw has been so God-awful of late that TNA is objectively a much stronger product. The roster is stronger and the storylines seem to be building nicely.

I feel quite optimistic about TNA at the moment. Let’s see how it pans out, or whether putting on a good wrestling show is actually a swerve...a

For blog's sake...

Where to begin? TNA is capable of so much, that goes for shit and genius. One minute it produces some of the greatest matches I've ever seen, some of the worst swerves too. I thought it was a true spectacle to see AJ Styles drop onto Bully Ray from on basically top of building only for Bully Ray (I cringe when I type that name) to somehow pull the match out of the bag by knocking AJ through a wall and standing up for about a second. The sad part though is that I was half expecting the wall to be Vince Russo all along.

Sting - What the fuck? TNA have now decided that Heath Ledger was so amazing as the Joker (I have to say that he was good despite being shite because the fucker's dead) that they've basically made him as the next incarnation. I've heard that he's going to be having a match against Jack Nicholson with the reanimated ashes of Cesar Romero as special guest referee.

WWE - R Truth. Genius - He's a good R Truth! They should do the same with John Fucking Cena. They've really started to piss me off lately with Super-Cena Man - A man who can be dominated for 99% of a match and will still always win. Poor CM Punk doesn't stand a chance - if he isn't victim to a monumental WWE screwjob in his hometown he'll be tapping to Cena after delivering between 4 and 8 GTS's. I'm getting really bored of the rivalry between Randy Orton and Christian, both are capable of some great matches but enough is enough. Christian has had enough goes, I think it's time for a new face to step up - I'm thinking it could be Wade Barrett's turn.

Sticking with Smackdown, for once I was glad to see Daniel Bryanson lose what was another great match with Cody Rhodes - this one has got some mileage left in it yet. It was also good to see little Daniel to finally get some mic time. He's no CM Punk on the mic but he's pretty good - much better than Randy Orton.

I've never been good at closing articles, so long.

Paul Heyman is on the money...

Mr Socko's Pro Wrestling Podcast - Episode 3

At long last, we bring you episode 3 of Mr Socko's Pro Wrestling Podcast. In this episode we look at recent goings on in TNA, WWE and have a laugh about Summerslam 91 and the underused back rake...

Direct download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?6bl38zwt8t56bx5

Take care, get hit with a chair

TNA Sacrifice - predictions

TNA has been pretty horrible of late... the whole network angle was so dumb that Mick Foley left the company FOR REAL. We're basically at the same point in the 'they' angle that we were in October of last year. Hogan and Bischoff are in charge, and it's like watching WCW. Anyway, here are my predictions for the PPV.

* World Title Match: Sting © vs. Mr. Anderson

This match will be awful - the build-up has sucked and Mr Anderson is terrible. Both guys lost to undercard wrestlers - Anderson to EY, and Sting to Gunner. I was glad to see EY get a win, but this basically means that we know that both guys in the match are undeserving of the title.
Sting to win.

* #1 Contender's Match (Kurt Angle's Olympic Medals On The Line): Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle

Match of the night. Looking forward to this... hopefully it will be free from bullshit... I'm not sure why a normal match is the blow-off match for a feud, but I'm just looking forward to the in-ring stuff... I lost interest in a lot of the story-lines in TNA quite a few months back.
Angle to win

* Tag Team Title Match: British Invasion vs. James Storm and Alex Shelley ©

I like the British Invasion, but they haven't been on TNA for ages. Why are they number on contenders? Why not. It seems that Shelley and Storm are together in a tag team because Roode is 'injured'. And what is the name of this new team? Why, Gun Money of course... because JAMES STORM'S GIMMICK IS THAT HE'S A MONEY GUY... Such lazy writing it's not even funny. As for the finish? I smell bullshit, a swerve, something horrible... in-ring should be fun, though.
Brits to win

* Last Man Standing Match: Bully Ray vs. AJ Styles

I'm looking forward to seeing Bubba get his face kicked off by AJ.
AJ to win.


* Knockouts Title Match: Angelina Love vs. Mickie James ©
A drugged-up zombie in a championship match? TNA should have learnt from their mistakes with Hardy/Sting...
MJ to win.

* TNA X-Division Title Match: Abyss © vs. Kazarian vs. Kendrick
I hate this angle so much, it's not even funny.
Abyss will retain.

* Crimson vs. Samoa Joe
Poor Joe, jobbing to Crimson. This match needs to be short and sweet, otherwise it's going to suck.
Goldberg will win.

* Matt Morgan vs. Scott Steiner
A throwaway match that's going to be dull.
Steiner to win.

Mr Socko's Wrestling Show - Episode 2

With over 100 downloads of our last podcast, we have decided to continue on our quest to scrape the barrel with wrestling-related chat. Here we have episode two of the Mr Socko’s Pro Wrestling Review radio show with The Colin and the “Rumbling” Jonny Jay. In this episode we talk about Over the Limit, Raw, Smackdown and TNA. As well as a tongue-in-cheek look at the world of pro-wrestling there is music, laughter and lots of cups of tea...

Click the link to download, let us know what you think!

http://www.mediafire.com/?d9ln43d6k994d93