Mike Rickard
Rickard's Ramblings: TNA Setback, Batista Heel Turn, Kennedy’s Rising Star, WWE On The Rise, and More
By Mike Rickard II
Feb 20, 2007, 23:53

Rickard's Five Questions:

1. If Teddy Hart signs with the WWE will it be a question of days, weeks, or months before he’s shown the door?

2. Did Michael Cole’s laryngitis at No Way Out make you believe in miracles?

3. Who’d look funnier, Vince McMahon with no hair or Donald Trump with his current hair?

4. Is it me, or does SmackDown! announcer Krystal sound like a English as a Second Language student?

5. Wouldn’t closed captioning make ROH DVDs a lot more enjoyable to watch?

One Step Forward Two Steps Back TNA’s Never-ending Saga

With no RAW last week, I had to tune in to TNA to see just how they would go about trying to lure fans in need of their wrestling fix. Coming off the really good Against All Odds PPV, TNA had lots of momentum. So what did they do? They put on a greatest hits package, replaying several of their best matches from the last year or so. Not a bad idea in theory but in execution the show looked like a glorified PPV pre-show. Every time I tuned in, TNA was running vignettes on its stars or certain matches. Worse yet, the matches shown were cut so fans didn’t get matches as much as they got highlights. Once again, TNA squandered a golden opportunity to draw in new fans. What in the blue hell made them think fans would want to sit through two hours of hype videos and match highlights?

Batista heel turn?

After The No Way Out main event it looks like Batista may be turning heel; not a bad move with his upcoming match at Wrestlemania against the Undertaker. While face vs. face matches are not unheard of in the WWE, Undertaker/Batista works a lot better with one of them playing a heel. I also think Batista works much better as a heel than he does a babyface. SmackDown! really needs a good monster heel and that’s a role Batista is best suited for. I haven’t been impressed with Batista’s babyface run as champion. It’s just not convincing to see him working comebacks against most of his challengers. If the WWE really wants to use Batista effectively, he needs to wrestle as a heel.

14-1 or 15-0

Speaking of Batista, rumor has it that the WWE is strongly considering giving Batista the win over Undertaker at Wrestlemania(WM) and making him the man to break the “Dead Man’s” WM win streak. While Batista isn’t the worst candidate to achieve that honor, you have to ask yourself how much it would benefit “The Animal”. After all, it’s not like Batista has a long career ahead of him. When you factor in how injury-prone he is along with his age (said to be anywhere between late 30’s and 40), you have to wonder why you would give him the win when it should be used for someone who still has a long career ahead of them.

A Star is Born

If you’re not on board the Ken Kennedy bandwagon yet, you need to watch Sunday's match between MR. KENNEDY and Bobby Lashley. Once again, Kennedy took an inanimate object (Lashley) and brought it to life. Judging him by face value, Kennedy looks like just another charismatic big man but there’s so much more to him. He really can wrestle and he knows how to bring out the best in his opponents, regardless of their lack of ability (Bobby Lashley being a great example). After Lashley’s truly awful match with Test, I was planning on watching Kennedy/Lashley with nose plugs. However Kennedy walked Lashley through a good match and told a good story in the ring. By now you’ve heard all the talk about how Vince McMahon sees a lot in Bobby Lashley (who admittedly has a lot of charisma and the WWE look) and he’s using ECW as a vehicle to build him. Whatever McMahon does with Lashley, I hope he doesn’t overlook the impressive abilities of Kennedy. Kennedy is the type of guy who could bring fans in to see SmackDown! either as a face or a heel.

WWE Resurgence? 

It looks like WWE has seen some increases in its house show business. There’s no doubt the PPV product has gotten better and that’s not a surprise. WWE traditionally puts everything into its product during the buildup to Wrestlemania. The real question is what they do after Wrestlemania.

TNA needs two hours

Whether it’s an extra hour to Impact or it’s an additional one hour show, TNA needs extra time if it’s going to grow any further or build up new stars. Yes, there are problems with having a two hour show. It’s a much different animal than a one hour show. Imagine what the WWE would be like though if RAW or SmackDown! were one hour shows. Now ask yourself, how can TNA get any bigger or build up any more stars when it’s shackled to a sixty minute show?