Here we are nearly two months into the Hulk Hogan era in TNA and things are really looking up in my opinion. A star is breaking out and others seem on the verge. On Smackdown and RAW, we are heading into WrestleMania 26 and many of the matchups seem predictable, but that’s to be expected by now. On RAW, the Sheamus title run didn’t work quite right and Batista’s new and entertaining persona has appeared on the flagship show. Smackdown has become Rated R and everyone should be prepared for the evolution of the massive Ezekiel Jackson.
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TNA: Nearly two months into the Hulk Hogan era in TNA, things seem to be looking up for the company. They have become a viable alternative for those who are tired of the TV PG programming WWE puts out. In a few weeks, Impact will be going head-to-head with RAW on a full time basis. While many of their shows will not be live…at first…this will definitely help. Who knows, it might even light a fire under Vince McMahon’s butt again. TNA has also been successful in building new stars that people can care about, while infusing older ones that people have always cared about. AJ Styles is no longer a great talent with a boring persona…thanks to Ric Flair, D’Angelo Dinero is no longer being wasted in meaningless 6-man tag matches, and Abyss is no longer going to be a quivering, scared, Mick Foley wannabe (hopefully).
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Matching Ken Anderson with Kurt Angle was a brilliant idea. Mr. Anderson……………Anderson (sorry, I had to do it) was a guy who should have been pushed to the moon in WWE, and likely will get that push in TNA. TNA higher-ups are said to be very high on Orlando Jordan, and that is both good news and bad news. The good news is that he is a great worker with a good look. The bad news is the “alternative life-style” that he is portraying on TV. Let’s face it…most of TNA’s fan base is male. Most men don’t want to see a man kiss another man.
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RAW: It is very apparent that Sheamus was not ready for such an astronomical push…or maybe the RAW creative team couldn’t figure out what to do with him to make him a major star. Either way, it was a disappointing title run. For the three months that Sheamus was WWE Champion, he was barely visable to the WWE Universe (and no, that’s not a joke about his skin tone). The only time he was in the main event picture was when he was feuding with John Cena, and he was more of a background then too. I think the future is bright for the guy, but WWE needs to back off of John Cena for a while and set up their future stars.
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Batista is back on RAW. This time around, that’s a good thing. His selfish and narcissistic attitude over the past few months has been very entertaining to watch. It’s all about Big Dave and they should keep it that way for a while. That doesn’t mean that he has to be the main focus of the show, but they need to keep his persona the way it is.
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Smackdown!: By now everybody should know that Edge is back on Smackdown after his injury hiatus. For those who don’t, WAKE UP!!! Once again the TV PG WWE has become Rated R. The natural thing for him to do is to show up at the Royal Rumble, win it, and then take on the new World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 26. Hopefully, we don’t see a quick feud between these two after such a long build up. Edge should lose at WrestleMania and chase Jericho for a while. That makes more sense in my head.
With ECW gone, many Superstars will find new homes. We have already seen the Dudebusters debut on Smackdown and Yoshi Tatsu and Christian on RAW, but the big man is going to be a monster on Smackdown. That’s right, Ezekiel Jackson will be a dominant force on Smackdown for a long, long time. Now that Batista is back on RAW, look for Big Zeke to be that massive force on Friday nights. He will be the World Heavyweight Champion within a year. Mark my words, this guy is it! “The end has come. It has awakened against you!”
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Superstar Profile:
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D’Angelo Dinero
Age: 31
Height: 6’1
Weight: 230lbs.
Finishing Move: DDE (D’Angelo Dinero Express)
Notable Achievements: Dinero won the 8 Card Stud Tournament at Against All Odds in February 2010 to earn a TNA Heavyweight Title match.
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Bio: D’Angelo Dinero was born as Elijah Burke (familiar name right?) on May 24, 1978 in Jacksonville, Florida. A former officer in the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office, Burke became an amateur boxer. Some accounts have him having a career record of 103-1 with 102 KO’s.
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In 2004, Burke signed with WWE and was sent to OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling), where he became the OVW Heavyweight Champion in December 2004. He was brought up to the Smackdown main roster in 2006 and debuted with Sylvester Terkay as an MMA corner man. In November 2006, Burke and Terkay moved over to ECW. Following Terkay’s release in January 2007, began wrestling mainly in singles competition and proclaimed himself the “Future of ECW” and began a feud with the ECW Originals (Rob Van Dam, Sandman, Sabu, and Tommy Dreamer). With the aide of Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker, and Kevin Thorn, Burke became the leader of The New Breed. The New Breed continued the feud with the ECW Originals. Burke’s New Breed broke up later in the year. Elijah Burke’s time in the WWE was coming to a close as he was not seen on TV for about 6 months in 2008. He was finally released in November 2008.
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In August 2009, Burke reappeared in TNA under the name The Pope D’Angelo Dinero. In November 2009, Dinero aligned himself with Matt Morgan and Hernandez to take on Team 3D and Rhino, whom they were defeated by at Turning Point. Dinero’s current hot streak began with the Hulk Hogan era in TNA. On January 4, which was also Hogan’s debut show, Dinero defeated Desmond Wolfe. A month later on February 4, he also picked up a non-title victory against TNA Heavyweight Champ AJ Styles. His biggest victory came at Against All Odds when he defeated Matt Morgan, Mr. Anderson, and Desmond Wolfe to win the 8 Card Stud Tournament to become the number one contender to the TNA Heavyweight title.
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Dinero has always displayed great talent in the ring and ability to talk on the mic. I was extremely disappointed in the way WWE failed to push him when he was with them, but he getting the push he has always deserved with TNA now. He has all the talent and a great gimmick and look to be able to make it huge. The one thing I think he needs is a more impactful finisher or something more recognizable. Whatever the outcome of his Heavyweight title match against Styles, I think Dinero will be a mainstay in the TNA title picture for a long time to come. Why? Because Pope is Pimpin!
