Saturday, February 22, 2014

Thoughts on titles

We are on the eve of the WWE Elimination Chamber and the company has tried hard to make us think that Randy Orton is going to lose his belt.  But I would be amazed if he lost it, just like I would be amazed if he had it coming out of Wrestlemania.  Who in the chamber makes a good story against Bautista?  Only Orton.  Bautista might could get some cheers if he was solidly against the Authority, which we see hints of now.  I expect Orton to win the Chamber and at some point between now and Mania, we will see a main event on Raw where Bautista and Daniel Bryan team together.
What is worse, is that all the other titles are worthless now.  The tag title match is not even the mast tag match on the PPV with Shield going against the Wyatts.  I am not even sure who is the Intercontinental Champion right now.  And Dean Ambrose's lack of title defenses was even a joke on a recent Raw.  That is awful.

TNA is even worse, and that is saying something.

The NWA still has some clout with their titles and they take them seriously.  And as much as Kojima is worthy of the NWA belt, it is still painful to see him win matches with that lariat.  It is not high quality like JBL.  I am not a big fan of his finisher, and it makes his matches a little hard to watch.  It didn't help the Kojima match that Bryan Wilcott was awful.  Interestingly, Tarver and Wilcott lost the #1 contender match at New Beginnings two days later to Kojima and his partner.  I assume this means Rob Conway and Jax Dane are going back across the pond sometime later this year to defend the belts and maybe have Conway match up for the rematch.

The local belts are even more interesting to me right now.  Sometimes local NWA guys hold the belts forever.  Jason Kincaid in NWA Smoky Mountain has held his belt for over 800 days!  Lou Marconi held the NWA Eastern States title for sometime as well.  Marconi is usually in the Top 10 NWA wrestlers by PWI.  Well, Marconi just dropped the belt to Malice.  Malice is often seen also in NWA CIW, which is based in Toledo.  When the local titles change hands it is usually a big deal.  Marconi losing is a big deal.

Too bad the big companies don't make big deals of their belts.  Then I would actually care.  But no matter what happens in the Elimination Chamber, the belt is pointless.  Randy Orton was 2-3 since the last PPV, and yet he is still the champ.  How can you care about that?

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Oh the Possibilities

Can you imagine what a good indy wrestling company you could have right now.  CM Punk vs. AJ Styles for the title with Chris Hero in the title mix.  Two superstars complaining about their poor treatment fighting for the title with Hero coming in as the guy who never got a shot and wants to prove himself.  If I am the NWA, I am on the phone with Punk now begging him to do this.  Offer him a piece of the company, tell him to start his own company where he can headline (he probably has the money).  Promise him the NWA title if he does it.  Styles v. Punk.  I bet you could get some guys to buy in iPPV for that one.

Heck, you could even throw in Adam Pearce and Colt Cabana (probably only if it was not NWA affiliated) for a mid card feud.  Punk could probably pull his friend Luke Gallows, and then grab some young talent to fill out the roster.

And after the Styles v. Punk feud, you could easily bring in Chris Masters as the guy with the WWE look to feud with Punk for the title.  Ready made story line right there.

I am just saying, it would be a nice promotion with those guys at the top.

Friday, February 7, 2014

NWA and New Beginnings Hiroshima

Could this weekend be an NWA World Title Change?  Kojima defends against Bryon Wilcott on the 8th at New Beginnings Hiroshima, a New Japan event.  Is this the night Wilcott wins the championship?  It appears Wilcott dropped the NWA 360 title to Killer McKenzie last weekend, so he is free for a belt.  Also appearing there will be Michael Tarver, who takes on Kojima's tag team partner, Tenzan.  Remember Tarver tried to help Wilcott in his last attempt to win the NWA world title at NWA Houston Invasion, and Wilcott helped Tarver in his match against Jax Dane at that same event.  Expect more help as Feb. 11th NJPW advertises New Beginnings Osaka as having a #1 Contender match for the NWA World Tag Team belts where Tarver and Wilcott take on Kojima and Tenzan.  So, I expect big news to come out of this weekend.

One more thing about New Beginnings Hiroshima.  The main event is Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWPG Intercontinental Championship.  This is a great feud that has spanned years.  Tanahashi won the belt from Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom 8.  Now is the rematch.  Great stuff.  To whet the appetite, a little footage from their Heavyweight battle a few years ago.



Monday, February 3, 2014

Royal Disappointment

This was perhaps the worst PPV of all time for the WWE.  The tag title reign of the Rhodes family ends off air to an old out of shape team rather than one of their other good tag teams like the Wyatts, Shield or even Real Americans.  The most popular wrestler on the whole show loses the feud with the Wyatt family.  And we get another Orton vs. Cena match where outside interference is the difference after they each kick out of their finishes and each other's finishers.  Not very original scripting.

And the Rumble itself was awful.  One surprise return, and it was only Kevin Nash.  JBL was pointless.  Rey Mysterio was used pathetically.  Kane eliminating CM Punk was awful.  No one wants to see that feud.  Bautista winning the whole thing was easy to see coming, and it did nothing but frustrate the fans.

The only good thing was a few spots by Kofi Kingston.  He avoided elimination in some nifty ways.  I guess maybe Sheamus, but I have never been a fan of him and have no idea where they are going to stick him.

Not a good start to Wrestlemania season.  Not good at all.  In fact the ratings for the post Rumble RAW are in and they are lower than the week before.  A sign of discontent to be sure.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Reviewing the new NWA



In August 2012 R. Bruce Tharpe became the owner (basically) of the NWA thanks to a lawsuit.  This of course caused a major sensation, especially when he changed how the NWA would do business.  Groups no longer are members, but rather license the NWA for their organizations.  Many groups immediately left the NWA as did champ Adam Pearce and Colt Cabana after the NWA refused to sanction their final match in a best of seven series that had been going on prior to the change, and was going to result in Cabana regaining the world title.

Now we have had one full calendar year to see the new look NWA, and it is time to decide if it was a good or not.  

First, it has to be admitted the change from members to licensing cost them territories.  Good territories too such as NWA All-Star in Virginia, Battle Zone in Mississippi, NWA Capital in New York, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, and another of the same name from Florida, Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Kansas, Empire Wrestling from California, and many more.  Really, only a couple of other Texas promotions, NWA Mid-Atlantic in WV, and Smoky Mtn. Wrestling in TN stuck with Tharpe, who runs NWA Houston.  

However, this year past year saw the creation of several new organizations including Florida Underground, which seems to be doing rather well.  They have established relations with an organization in England, Australia, and have made several appearances back in New Japan.  More groups are starting up in 2013 so that the NWA appears to be recovering.

it has to be said that Tharpe has brought stability to the belts once again.  They basically turned over the champs quickly.  Kahagas won the World Title, which vacated his National Title allowing them to put it on Damien Wayne.  Chance Owens won the Junior Title in a tournament because Kevin Douglas would not defend it (probably in protest of new management, but I am unsure).  Kacee Carlisle won the Women's belt in October, and Carson won the North American belt in October, and the Tag Belts were won by December.  You need to remember the belts were really badly managed prior to this as Douglas had won his belt after Classic vacated in protest for the NWA's treatment of World Champ Shiek, who claims a miscommunication is why he did not defend it.  The Tag Belts were barely defend, and often defend by one half of the Dark City Fight Club with a local stand in as his partner.  

The belts were used wisely and well.  The Junior Title was basically controlled by NWA Smoky Mtn, but those  guys were brought in to NWA Invasion to show off their matches.  Florida Underground got the North American belt when Kahagas won it, and has used it wisely.  The Tag Belts were mostly defend in Japan, but it helped the NWA presence in Japan.  The Women's title has not changed hands making it look more prestigious.  Nitro has been able to be in Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio with the National title, and of course Rob Conway was based out of Houston, and from there could easily make appearances at many Texas affiliates.  Conway made several trips to Japan, and was often used to open new territories as he did in January to open a Knoxville territory.  

Overall, I am happy with the more focused direction of the NWA.  I like spreading the titles out to different places, but the question I have is will those companies have to give up control of that belt to another company?  For example, when will Smoky Mtn have to relinquish control of the Junior Heavyweight title?  Will it go to NWA Atlanta?  And maybe just as important, will the World Title go somewhere other than Houston?  Yes, it is in New Japan right now, but will it be won by a Michael Tarver from Florida or Charlie Haas from a different Texas promotion?  Or will it simply be more guys from Houston who pass around the title?  

Overall I am very encouraged about the NWA right now.  It is a great place to watch wrestling.  I look forward to the second year of this new group.