Greatest Matches Ever! WWF: Shawn Michaels versus Razor Ramone, Summerslam 1995

After watching this week's Raw and the Fatal 4 Way PPV, I have been left wandering why the hell I even what WWE anymore. Maybe I'm turning into one of those people who tell you that music in the 60s was better than it is now, because WWF/E used to put on some awesome matches. Then I think about some of the matches that TNA/ROH/PWG are putting out at the moment, and then I realise I'm not being nostalgic, some of the best matches I've ever seen have happened over the past 5 years, it's just WWE that has gone shit. I think it was the screwjob of Danielson on NXT, and then firing him for working an angle which has pushed WWE over the line for me. Of course, when the kids are chanting 'we love Cena' at any house show they can, when they're the ones buying the merchandise and pestering their mums and dads for them to buy the next PPV, you can see why dumbing down is seen as a good business decision. Shame.

Anyway, I'm coming across as one of those bitter people who rant about stuff they haven't a clue about on the internet, and I'm really not. Just to prove it I'm going to share one of my favourite matches. Now if you're a new WWE fan, you might not like it, but this will be because you're not used to watching decent wrestling. Any fan over the age of 25 will have fond memories of wrestling in the 890s, and most of the time it is just nostalgia talking, but Shawn Michaels versus Razor Ramone at Summerslam 95 is awesome, and set the groundwork for pro-wrestling since.

It's weird watching this match again and realizing that Scott Hall didn't always waddle to ring or get out of breath when climbing into the ring. Anyway, enjoy!









Rose-tinted specs or not, this match is awesome

That Clown from Outta Town - May 27th iMPACT

iMPACT time again. Hopefully Sting will attack wrestlers I don't like all night again. Plus, I want to see what happens to The Band following Scott Hall's arrest (although that may have happened after the show was taped - not sure), and I hope to see Angle vs Kaz - I want to get to Angle vs Joe ASAP! Please start with wrestling not talking this week TNA!

1:35 - Ooh, Band vs 3D vs Ink Inc :)
1:49 - Kaz vs Lethal - awesome :)
2:48 - Jeff, please be coming to fight, not to flap your lips.
3:51 - Ugh, talking :(
7:12 - Here comes AJ :D Hope this turns into a 3-way...
9:54 - Why does AJ look like a waxwork of himself?
11:11 - FUCK YEAH RING THE BELL
14:20 - Let's go Jesse! Show no mercy! Love TNA fans :)
18:48 - Cool, Jesse vs Bubba...hope it's no DQ!
20:29 - Whoa, RVD mentioning his opponent - is that a first?
21:04 - Kaz v Lethal :D Can't wait, this could easily be match of the night.
21:51 - Just noticed Lethal has new entrance music - guess Black Machismo is over :'(
29:43 - Cool match, slightly ruined by the postmatch drama, but at least Lethal slapped the shit out of Flair so it's all good :)
30:46 - Looks like Orlando Jordan laid out Shannon? He did that card thing before iirc...
32:15 - Here comes OJ...with Abyss stickers on his nipples? What?
32:53 - Abyss vs OJ - bit out of the blue. I'm sure Wolfe will be along shortly.
38:48 - Whoomp, there it is - haha, 'Get up, bubblegum'
39:47 - Freakbuster? Looks like a chokeslam to me...
40:38 - Here comes RVD - FUCK HIM UP STINGER
47:47 - They're promoting midget wrestling on TNA now...way to raise your profile.
49:33 - I was actually going to watch this match - Wilde and Sarita are pretty good - but they've got the midget wrestling guy on commentary. Fuck that. Fast forwarding.
56:28 - WOLFE V HARDY - This is either gonna be great, or a huge letdown. Don't fuck it up, TNA.
57:18 - FUCK YEAH ANGLE - Tell 'em, Kurt!
57:50 - Oh, he's commentating.
58:20 - Just realised, Kurt vs the top ten means Kurt vs Wolfe again as well as the Joe match - this is fucking awesome. I love this angle. Can't fucking wait for the Joe match though. Hope they have another red hot feud to hype it up, there was a time when I thought those two were going to kill each other.
61:00 - This match looks to be pretty good so far...please don't fuck it up with a run-in Abyss/Anderson/AJ/whoever
66:30 - Neat match, shame about the copout ending - I'd be happy to see these two go at it at PPV though
67:03 - Morgan's back :) FUCK HIM UP JOE
68:56 - Morgan issuing an open challenge for a tag partner - I'd love to hear Hernandez's music right about now :)
69:16 - Anderson calling out Angle? Is he mad?
71:24 - FUCK YEAH JOE FUCK EM UP JOE
72:18 - Joe and Angle eye to eye...you can cut the tension with a knife...Joe v Angle is going to be fucking awesome
73:24 - Cool, AJ vs Anderson...I'd usually write off an Anderson match before the bell rings but it's AJ...I'll give it a shot ;)
84:26 - Neat match, the post match drama wasn't much to write home about but I guess it continues the Hardy/Anderson love-in...

Pretty good iMPACT this week :) Joe vs Morgan seems to be brewing, Joe v Angle is going to be awesome, Jesse v Bubba is getting pretty hot...Sting v RVD is kinda going off the boil a little, Wolfe v Hardy will be great if it escalates into a feud - their match was pretty good until the ref bump. No Hogan, no Bischoff and minimal RVD makes for a great iMPACT, it seems.

Some suggestions for TNA should any of them actually read this:

1. Put Red back on TV! He's awesome! The fans love him!
2. Bring back Pope! Or at least update us on his condition! The fans love him!
3. BRING BACK SHARK BOY! THE FANS LOVE HIM!

The new improved TNA?

I think the question mark gives it away on this. TNA, for me, has been the most interesting and innovative wrestling company over past couple of years (Russo aside). With stars like AJ Styles, Joe and Sheik Abdul Bashir (RIP), TNA have proved themselves to be a forward-looking company. So fair enough, they may have recruited a few washed-up wrestlers who have long since had their day (Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, Booker T., etc.), but nothing could prepare me for the dullness of Hulkamania going wild all over me.
I grew up on wrestling in the 90s, when WCW was the most dominant force in wrestling, for a while, and ECW was out there smacking things up with steel chairs and beer bottles (real ones) and WWF (yes, F) had some of the greatest microphone wrestlers of all time. In the days before 'sports entertainment' I still thought Hulk Hogan was an arrogant arse. I'll back peddle a moment, the Hulkster did a hell of a lot for the idustry and NWO was pretty cool at first, that can't be denied, but, there's still this aching feeling that he's a complete cretin and only got where he was because Snuka wasn't a very good microphone wrestler. His in ring wrestling is mediocre at best and when he does that funny strainy arm thing, I was always worried that poo would suddenly pop out.
Hulk Hogan is a parody of what wrestling was, and to be fair to him, he noticed that TNA was the future of wrestling - mark my words that this will no longer be the case when Hogan and Sleazy E come in and bring all their shit friends along. With its mix of hardcore, high-risk and traditional wrestling, with its six-sided squared-circle and its plethora of unique talent, TNA was indeed the future. Then Hulk came along and messed it up for everyone.
TNA is on the verge of becoming the same kind of parody of wrestling that Hogan is, or even worse it will end up like WCW (in face, I hear that David Arquette is number one contender now). He's got rid of the six-sides, and wait for it, in a big statement of innovation and 'change', installed the tried and test four-sided six-sided squared-circle (can you imagine that level of innovation with your puny non-Hoganesque minds; of course you can't), in order to move forward and distinguish yourself from the competition I thought that you should, erm, move forward and try and distinguish yourself for the competition.
So maybe, I'm getting a bit bothered by the ring, who cares tight? It's all about the talent. And Hogan has brought some talent with him . Remember that guy who used to be Razor Ramone and looked like a date rapist? He's in. X-Pac, sorry Six Pac, is in, looking like a gay biker pirate. The nastiest boy's on the block are in. I'm pretty sure that the nastiness of these boys refers to their diet - they're a lot fatter than they used to be. They look like some sad bouncers who try and score with 17 year olds outside of lame bars in market towns up and down the country.
Oh, and they've got Jeff Hardy. But wait, wasn't Jeff Hardy world WWE champion only a year ago? Isn't he one of the biggest names in recent years in sports entertainment? Whatever, let's waste our time bigging up a guy who used to rip his t-shirt off 25 years ago.
My main worry about TNA is that Sleazy E and Hogan will try and relive the good ol' days of WCW vs Raw and move TNA to mondays in the US. This could spell disaster for TNA, trust me on this. WCW had a lot of money behind it which TNA does not, it shouldn't be trying to compete with WWE - TNA is not an alternative, it's just a additional product - it's doesn't need to be a case of either/or. The fact is that putting TNA on at the same time as Raw will only damage TNA. The viewers will still watch it by downloading it from a torrent site, but the TV viewing figures will suffer, which will mean less advertising revenue and will thus be perceived as a less-successful show.

What Hogan needs to realise is that growth and expansion are not ends in themselves, TNA will make more money in the long-run if they try not to expand too quickly and keep their core lines of income intact.

Is it best to compete, or just do your own thing well?

Here's an idea, and this might sound crazy, but instead of compete, why not work with WWE to create a better business, bringing stars across in an IWGP kind of way or even like the old US regional promotions used to. I remember when WWE let ECW onto Raw; it was awesome and great for the business as a whole.




Get with the programme TNA, Hulk Hogan and the Band is dragging you down.