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Hot Threads: Serena Returns Home, Matt Hardy Claims He Didn't, What Ifs, Glory By Honor IX, Monday Night Football, and More
By Mike Johns
Sep 15, 2010 - 9:53 AM

Did you know that World Wrestling Insanity has a Message Board? Yep. We’ve done got us one of them there fancy Message Boards, where you, the random, unnamed wrestling fan can go and vent your frustrations. From WWE’s Family Friendly Direction, to ROH’s Production issues, to whatever stupid stunt TNA is running with this week, the Insanity Message Boards is your place to speak your mind. You can also interact with fellow Insanity Readers, as well as the Insanity Staff. We even have an E-Fed, if you’re into that whole “Role-Playing” thing, so feel free to stop on by and join in the fun!

In the meantime though, here's a taste of what you're missing –

  All right, let's be honest. You know I'm the Divas' Fan, and this past weekend, SHIMMER, the premier all-women's wrestling promotion in the US, held their most recent set of DVD tapings this past weekend. So, you're likely thinking, "Mike, you were totally there, weren't you?" Sadly, no. So, now, you're thinking, "Mike, you were following those tapings like a hawk, weren't you?" Um… not at first. In fact, it was WWI's own "Casual Smart Mark", ZAH, broke the following news –

ZAH
This should make somebody happy...

Yes. ZAH beat your boy Mike to the news that Serena Deeb has indeed returned to SHIMMER!

Speaking of the SHIMMER tapings, here's a quote from a fan who was actually there to witness them, LIVE –

MC_U.S.TitleBelt
These tapings were the most fun I've had at Shimmer since the May '09 tapings. I was seriously considering that this might be my last hurrah with Shimmer, but I am very glad to say that Dave's always surprising booking in concert with the girls' wealth of talent, that I am going to continue to go to Shimmer for as long as I am able and as long as the promotion continues. Madison Eagles is a great heel champ on all levels. The Shimmer mainstays like Daizee, Death Rey, Danger and Melissa were top notch. Serena Deeb coming back so quickly after being 86'ed by WWE. Rachel Summerlyn stepping up her game in matches against Death Rey and Daffney and proving to me and alot of other doubters that she really does belong in Shimmer. And of course, just having the Blue Lantern of Space Sector 2814, Leva Bates, on the show, you can't go wrong.

  Also going down this past weekend, perhaps the most talked about match in Ring of Honor's History, as the WWE-Bound Tyler Black defended the ROH World Title against Roderick Strong. We now know that Strong did, in fact, win the ROH Title this past Saturday Night in NYC, but, needless to say, most of us on the Boards were seriously doubting Roddy would come out with the title. Here are some of our Members' predictions and thoughts going into last Saturday's Glory By Honor IX –

TheGreatWhiteDope
with a PPV pick'em...I'm gonna go face heavy for this PPV

Tyler Black vs Strong - Black. Homicide causes double DQ. So maybe the title is held up.
KoW vs WGTT - The Kings
Cabanico vs Steen-a-rino - Cabanico
Aries vs Daniels - Daniels
Edwards vs Daivari - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......Edwards....Edwards so damn hard.

Mike Johns
See, the Daivari one, I think's more of a toss than people are giving it credit for now that Skullcrusher is gone, and the Embassy is without a real angle now. Unless Eddie's a bigger star than I'm getting the impression of, or the Embassy isn't supposed to matter, I actually think Daivari being TV champ may be a 'bail out" move to give the Embassy something to do now that Skullcrusher is gone.

James Bullock
My predictions: Edwards, Genericolt, Daniels, K...O...W(!), Black, Daniels (that's not a mistype).

ZAH
Tonight is gonna be an amazing show and I only wish I could be there in person. Here are my predictions:

- Tyler Black (c) vs. Roderick Strong for the ROH World Title <-- I just can't see Roderick Strong as ROH champ. He was never more over than he was about three years ago (around the time Matt Hardy wrestled him during his 'break' from WWE) and that would have been the perfect time to pull the trigger. Now? Not so much. Having said that, I also can't see Tyler "retiring" as champ. I fully expect this to end up being either a 3-way with Christopher Daniels or...somehow some way...Homicide. Maybe even Tyler winning the match and having an "open challenge" that Homicide accepts immediately (a la Ultimate Warrior / Honky Tonk Man). This finish could potentially be awesome, but also has a LOT of potential to let people down. Very interested to see how this ends.

- The Kings of Wrestling vs. Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin for the FIRST TIME EVER!!! <-- I'm hoping for either a double count-out or a time-limit draw. There is MUCH money to be made with a feud between these two teams. I don't know if TWGTT even want to wrestle in ROH multiple times going forward, but I'm really hoping this isn't a one-off.

- Double-Chain Match between Colt Cabana & El Generico vs. Kevin Steen & Steve Corino <-- Chain matches rarely live up to the hype. I really can't see this being much different. Four great wrestlers who will be handcuffed by the boundaries of being linked together. Should be bloody...should be brutal...should be kinda boring.

- The Greatest Man That Ever Lived vs. The Fallen Angel: Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels <-- Regardless of who wins, this should be an awesome match between two of the best wrestlers on the planet today. I'd like to see Daniels take it where Aries has been wrestling less and less lately, making Daniels a challenger to the ROH title.

- Eddie Edwards (c) vs. Shawn Daivari for the ROH TV Title <-- I may be alone here, but to me it's just a good business decision (especially it being 9/11 in NYC) to have Daivari win the title here. It may not be politically correct, but pro wrestling has never focused on being politically correct anyway. This is my "upset special".

- Kenny King vs. Jay Briscoe <-- It's funny...I've always found Jay to be the better of the two Briscoes, and yet he's always the one most willing to lay down and put somebody else over. For that reason ONLY, I'll go with King in this match.

- Rhett Titus vs. Mark Briscoe <-- I'd normally root for Titus because I'm a huge mark for the guy, but Mark doesn't normally lose singles matches...so I'm picking Briscoe here.


All in all, this should be a spectacular PPV and a great DVD once released. Hopefully the reports are favorable because this is definitely one I'd probably buy for future viewings.

TheGreatWhiteDope
out of all the things to consider for Daivari and Edwards, totally forgot it was 9/11 and in NYC.

That could change things a tad...or Daivari may have the most heat of the night until Black retains and leaves with the title.

ZAH
I just can't see ROH doing that to end a PPV in NYC. I mean, normally they end things on a high note. It would REALLY upset a lot of fans if that happened and that was the end of the show.

I dunno...I wouldn't mind that happening, it just doesn't seem like the way to end a huge PPV like this.

Mike Johns
ROh doesn't seem like the type of promotion that would allow its title to just be "handed" off in a tournament. What I mean is, its important to the promotion, the people who run it, and its fans that Black actually LOSE the belt. Black leaving with the belt really comes off as dishonorable, and I HIGHLY doubt ROH is going to allow a champion to leave without dropping the belt and doing the J-O-B to the new champ.

That, and ROH fans will likely not accept a new champ if he simply wins a tournament because the belt was held up. IF they're seriously going with Roddy Strong as the new champ, for example, it would virtually KILL HIM as champ if he doesn't beat Black here, and only becomes champ in a tournament.

TheGreatWhiteDope
I'm just having a very hard time seeing Strong as a World Champion. I see him getting a huge pop for winning tonight, if he does, just because he beat Tyler Black. But after that? I mean either he peaks right then, or descends and flat lines with momentum. Because almost half the company could do an equally good job holding the belt as him, and over half can promo better.

Aaron Wood
F*ck it. I'm giving it a go.

ZAH
Well...Davey Richards announced that he's NOT retiring at the end of the year. To me, that's good news. I believe he's one of the best all-around wrestlers on the planet today and I'm actually surprised that WWE nor TNA have picked him up yet.

Don't know if it'll happen tonight or not, but I totally see Richards as ROH champ sometime by the end of the year.

Aaron Wood
I'm enjoying the show itself thus far, but for a first time user of GFL, I have to say, it's a bit on the rinky dink side. Audio going up andd down, the video they were supposed to play but just got Redwood and Balls leavin instead. The hard camera moving up and down. But hey, it's a good price, I suppose.

exx
Good show I thought. I was a little bugged at some of the no selling that Strong was doing. I think that's the first time I've ever seen a superplex get no sold. Is that just normally how it is in roh?

The tag match was really good. Tired of seeing the loaded elbow pad but I guess that's their gimmick.

Daniels and Aries was very good too.

And the chain match was fun as hell. Steen and Generico have had a great series of matches on the internet ppvs. Great ending angle to set up yet another match down the line.

Aaron Wood
I drifted off to sleep in the middle of the WGTT/Kings match, so I haven't seen the finish and the main event (although I obviously know what happened), but I'll catch that later.

I really enjoyed what I saw of the show, but I wasn't overly impressed with the production. I mean, the stream itself, given that I've watched many a stream via the likes of justin.tv or whatever for nothing, was very poor. Not only did it buffer every 10-20 seconds before picking up, it would then occasionally correct itself and go back to the live shot meaning I'd miss moves. I think I missed the finishes to the first 2 matches and certainly missed how they went from the KRS ONE to the World's Greatest Double Team.

And then there was the production values such as white balancing the hard camera after the stream went live. And really, they should have done that in the lighting they were going to be using for the show itself, not with the ouse lights up and everything. It wasn't too bad an error, but really, when WB'ing with changeable lighting, if you can, you should do it in the lighting state you use the most. Then there was the Double Chain match video that didn't air and wasn't acknowledged to have not aired. Oh, and also, if the sound editor could pick a level and stick to it, that would be appreciated. Announcers go up, announcers go down. Crowd goes up, Announcers go up to compensate, the crowd volume goes down again, and so does the announcers.

I mean, sure ROH isn't going to have the best of stuff, but a lot of this stuff, especially the sound, is basics. They've produced enough DVDs and TV shows to know what they should be doing, especially in a somewhat regular building as the Manhattan Center. I mean, I can put the stream buffering down to a real bad night for my connection, although it all tested fine enough, and it wasn't unwatchable. And boy, it sure as hell seemed better than the stream TNA provided UK viewers for some PPV earlier this year which was apparently as shitty as all hell.

But at some point in the next day or so, I'll get round to watching the last match and a half.

  Speaking of ROHbots, our resident ROHbot, James Bullock, started a thread this past week asking Members about the Biggest "What If's?" in Wrestling in the past 20 years, such as "What if WCW and ECW never folded?" or "What if the Rock never left for Hollywood?". Here's what our Members came up with –

The Chosen 1
What if the McMahon Limo Exploding angle wasn't dropped. (The Benoit Incident of course also not happening)

People look at the fact that Hornswoggle ended up as Vince's son and assume that had the LIMO EXPLODING angle played out that's where it would have eventually led... those people forget that literally THE WEEK before they were going to reveal the illegitimate son, half the roster was suspended for being involved the steroid scandal.. including the guy that people thought would end up the Son: MR KENNEDY.

So it was a real serious angle... then Benoit happened... so when they brought it back they lightened it up a lot with the McMahon fucked everybody spin, BUT they still tried to make it a big deal with who was the son... then the steroid thing happened and they just said fuck it and make the whole thing a Kid's Comedy show... So if the Angle was never dropped This HORNSWOGGLE comedy generation might not exist the way it does.

James Guttman
What if Brock Lesnar never left?

What if Turner never merged with AOL? (not the same as what if WCW didn't fold. I ask because I wonder if it would have folded anyway eventually, despite what some say.)

What if Brian Pillman hadn't passed away at the very start of the Attitude Era?

What if Steve Austin had been given a brief but unsuccessful WCW World Title run? (taking away his eventual angry bitter gimmick)

What if Triple H had been fired for the MSG Curtain Call?

Squeaky
What if the Hollywood Blondes hadn't been prematurely broken up?

Hello? What if there was NO MONTREAL SCREWJOB? Ala, they did the double dq finish and Bret relinquished the title the next night on raw?

What if Shawn Michaels doesn't clip his back against the coffin versus Undertaker?

What if Triple H never married Stephanie?

Canadian Bulldog
Pffft... what if.

What if I'm taking a shower and I slip on a bar of soap? Oh my god, I'd be killed!

James Bullock
What if Shark Boy slips on a bar of soap in the shower?

Aaron Wood
Then Canadian Bulldog will say "I told you to watch that soap! I just fell on it myself! And why are you wearing your mask when I can see your cock and balls? And why are you in my shower?"

TheGreatWhiteDope
What if Katie Vick was the highest rated segment in Raw history, and the majority of the audience thought it was brilliantly hysterical?

Aaron Wood
What if Jeff Jarrett wasn't essentially ostricised from the WWE in 1999 and still around today?

What if whoever hired Dixie Carter for the TNA office decided to hire someone else? (Well, that one isn't hard to imagine)

What if John Cena didn't impersonate Vanilla Ice that one night leading to the rapper gimmick?

What if they had put Mark Jindrak in Evolution instead of Batista?

What if Austin hadn't suffered the broken neck that led directly to the "getting screwed with by "the man"" angle that saw him hit stunners on authority figures building up to the one on Vinny Mac?

What if that Buff Bagwell vs. Booker T "WCW" match on RAW didn't go over like a fart in church which led to them dropping any idea of WCW as a seperate entity, which not only meant the brand split the next year, but the inclusion of ECW and the beginning of the Alliance the very next week?

Mike Johns
What if Marc Mero never introduced his wife to the business?

No, seriously, think about that for a second. Would WWE have ever resurrected the Women's Title without Sable? Would they have ever signed Lita or Trish? You let that ball roll long enough, there's no SHIMMER, no Knockouts division, no LayCool, no Divas' NXT or Diva Search, or half the shit I've spent most of my audios talking about these past 9 months... or, at least, none of that stuff as it is now.

RowdyRodimus
What if Eddie Gilbert hadn't died in Puerto Rico?

What if Lex Luger hadn't given out the WrestleMania result against his match with Yokozuna? (If it's true and not what he said on here with Paul Roma) Just to be safe, what if Luger had won the WWF title at WrestleMania X?

What if Nora had married Aaron Wood when he was living in the bushes by her bedroom window during 2005-2009?

  Then… then there's Matt Hardy. I don't even know where to begin with that debacle. Long story short, word reached the Internet this past weekend that Matt Hardy had been "sent home" from WWE shows being held in the UK amid concerns over his condition. Now, what the common person would consider being "sent home" from an international booking amid concerns over your condition generally mean "they told the guy to go back to his hotel and sleep it off". Matt Hardy, in the meantime, took it as an incentive to rage against the 'Net in a YouTube vlog. Since then, it's gotten a bit, um… weird. Here's what some of our Board Members think of the situation –

TheGreatWhiteDope
"I've decided I have to make things happen, and I will make things happen." Come on Matt, this has been your entire catchphrase sense Edge took Lita from you.

Also, yeah dude, I'm a bigger guy, you need to lose weight after some of the pictures I've seen of you. So hopefully that is all fixed.

RowdyRodimus
He says he'll be where he needs to be
My take: He wants to be in TNA with the instant push that comes from being Jeff's brother

He says it was a stooging punk
My take: He seemed to emphasise the word punk, leading me to think he's meaning CM Punk, who Vince seems to be high on (no pun intended) and hoping he can get into another backstage fight with a top guy to get his release to go to TNA

I pretty much read Sent Home on all the updates as being sent back to the hotel, it would take an idiot to think they changed his travel arrangements to go back to the states early and I think Matt knows this, too. It's all just him working everyone to get want it seems he wants and that seems to be going to Florida and being back in the comfort of being with his baby brother and easy paydays.

Just my two cents.

Aaron Wood
Put it this way, asheard on the free audio Meltzer and Alvarez had this morning, they pointed out that Punk & Hardy haven't been booked against each other for a good long time.

ZAH
If Punk "stooged" out Hardy for being unfit to perform...then GOOD ON HIM. This isn't the fuckin' 70's. If he's unfit, he's unsafe. Period.

Mike Johns
Sh*t like this is why I unsubscribed from Matt's YT pages months ago.

ZAH
Somebody tell Matt to STFU!!

Tenchi
He'll be future endeavoured within the next 48 hours, I can see it coming a mile off.

Mike Johns
Great... let me go and get him off my twitter feed before he spams me to death with his shoot whining...

TheGreatWhiteDope
Oh, this is step 4 in Matt's 5 step plan to being a world champion. I feel bad for mistaking the last 6 years as steps 3-798.

Nice to know we're finally on step 4

Kira
I remember JBL constantly talking about Matt Hardy being a main event waiting to happen. I also remember him telling me the housing bubble would never burst, and to load up on Enron, Goldman Sachs, and BP stock. :/

James Bullock
Matt Hardy is so smart, always working us like we're stupid. Oh wait, now it's real. Wait, it's a work again. Nope, wrong, real. Work, real, work, real...OOOHHH, that Matt Hardy. So hard to figure out! If only every wrestler tweeted, myspaced, used the internet like him, we wouldn't have an undercard because everyone would be main event caliber. Just like Matt thinks he should be.

So, yeah… it's been a busy week on the boards. But, before we go, I bet you're just DYING to know what stupid thing Michael Cole said this week that got people talking during RAW. So, in case you missed it…

TheGreatWhiteDope
oh god, Cole has a hard-on for Chad Johnson. He must loathe T.O.

  I should likely note that you have to go nearly TWO PAGES into this past week's RAW Thread before anyone even talks about RAW itself. What was it that people were talking about before Cole began his lovefest with Ochocinco?

Aaron Wood
Hoo boy, the first game of the night, the Jets vs. Ravens, is delayed by at least 30 minutes, although they just said on MNF they're guessing nearer 8pm. This is due to thunderstorms in the area.

ZAH
Is it wrong that I really don't want to turn away from the Jets/Ravens game??

Aaron Wood
Not right now. It's pretty damn interesting.

TheGreatWhiteDope
I just feel cheated out of my fantasy game this past week...KK went down within the first 5 minutes of the philly game. I got no QB action at all.

As for Jets/Ravens.....I'm a steelers fan...as long as the Jets are winning, I'm happy.

tharvey1
I've already got my fantasy win in the bag for the week and I have Shonn Green going tonight too

Aaron Wood
I need Anquan Boldin to score better than the Chargers defence to be safe. I'm not feeling too safe right now.

TheGreatWhiteDope
Jesus the Jets D is f*cking them up. This is creepy as hell. They may be a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs (yes I'm saying they'll be there based on this half of football alone), and the Pats should be rather worried about winning the division.

I accept that the steelers are probably a wild card team this season, although Dixon isn't that terrible and can do just enough to pass, not sure if I wanna see them go against the Jets. Although I still think the Steeler's D could take down that Jets offense.

aliasyoshi
Oh sorry. I was under the impression this was the thread for RAW. Guess I will look elsewhere...

Seems everyone would rather talk about Football, Yoshi…

This is just a taste of what you're missing on the Boards. Why don't you come by sometime and check it out for yourself, eh? You never know when something you post may end up being the next Hot Thread.

http://s14.zetaboards.com/Wrestling_Insanity


*****

Mike Johns, imbued with special, shameless self-promotional powers the likes of which haven't been seen since the height of DX's self-fellatious babyface run in 2006, is a contributor to WorldWrestlingInsanity.com and ClubWWI.com, single-handedly responsible for WWI's coverage of All Things TNA. In what spare time he has left, Mike plays drums for a yet-to-be-named band in the Northeast Ohio area. He also produces and records original music under the name 'SaviorSelf.07.05.98' as well as remixes and mash-ups of far more popular songs under the name 'TMJ'.

You can contact Mike via e-mail at MikeJohns@WorldWrestlingInsanity.com

You can also follow him on the various Social Networking Sites.

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