| From MOP Squad Sports Columnists : Views from the Stolen Gazebo
Bound For Glory
is this Sunday night and I’d really like to say that I’m psyched, but I’m not. To be honest, it’s been some time since I’ve seriously been enthusiastic about a TNA pay-per-view.
It all boils down to how they’re pushing the wrong wrestlers and the wrong storylines. With Impact expanding to two hours, TNA bookers have seemingly assumed they have to compete with World Wrestling Entertainment programming and, in an attempt to achieve that goal, they’ve turned into WWE’s inbred, backwoods cousin. Gone is the emphasis on wrestling—and specifically, the X Division—and in its place we have Kurt Angle and his wife in TNA’s answer to Days of Our Lives and cartoonish gobbledygook with Abyss and James Mitchell.
Thankfully, at least on paper, Bound For Glory looks like a night where the spotlight will be on wrestling. Will they deliver?
I sure hope so. Low ratings be damned, creatively speaking, the WWE are coming off a strong pay-per-view and an even stronger Raw, so TNA will have to pull out the stops if they truly want to compete at the same level.
Bound For Glory
Predictions –
Fight for the Right Match
Thoughts:
As far as I know, they haven’t announced exactly who’ll be participating in this match, so anything can happen at this point. Nevertheless, with the #1 contendership to the TNA World Championship at stake, I think the winner will be somebody they’ve been grooming for a main event spot for a while now – Abyss.
My Pick:
Abyss
Knockouts Gauntlet Match
For the TNA Women’s World Championship
Thoughts:
More ladies are supposed to be announced, but I don’t see any of the new names making an impact. It’ll more than likely come down to two of the following women in the end – Gail Kim, Christy Hemme and Roxxy Laveaux. I’m a longtime fan of Nikki Roxx (aka Roxxy Laveaux), but I don’t see them putting the belt on her just yet. Instead, I see the always-talented Gail Kim getting the win and becoming a wanted woman for several months to come.
My Pick:
Gail Kim
Tables Match
Steiner Brothers vs. Team 3D
Thoughts:
Are we there yet? I’m referring to the resolution to this damn angle. It seems as if this feud has been going on forever. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of both teams, but this is reaching the same point of tedium as Team 3D’s feud with LAX had right before Team 3D finally won the tag team titles. I’m going to cross my fingers and assume this is the final match of the feud and, with that in mind, I’m going to predict Team 3D comes out on top. I mean, this is their type of match after all. What a perfect way to end a feud and place Team 3D back into the title scene.
My Pick:
Team 3D
Singles Match
With Special Enforcer Matt Morgan
Samoa Joe vs. Christian Cage
Thoughts:
Samoa Joe/Christian Cage is a guaranteed classic in itself, so I don’t understand why they’ve thrown Matt Morgan into the mix. Hell, I don’t understand why TNA signed Matt Morgan period. Just because he once had a WWE contract doesn’t mean you should waste money on a guy with so little in-ring talent. Ah, well, this match is still Joe/Cage, so it shouldn’t disappoint. Inevitably, though, Matt Morgan will figure into the outcome. Will it be predictable or a twist? Probably the former, I’m afraid.
My Pick:
Samoa Joe
Thoughts: From a creative standpoint, Christopher Daniels has been one of the—if not the—most poorly booked wrestler presently on the TNA roster. He’s gone from being fresh, unpredictable and exciting, to becoming a cardboard cutout of a stale, stereotypical heel.
Nonetheless, I’m pleased he’s in a high profile match, but I hope he doesn’t get the title here. Jay Lethal is far more deserving of a win and a further push.
Ever since he started using the “Black Machismo” gimmick, he’s been nothing short of entertaining.
It fits like a glove with his exquisite in-ring skills. He’s one of the few good things the X Division has right now, so I’m hoping they don’t book a title change just for the sake of a title change.
My Pick:
Jay Lethal
Thoughts:
The good news is AJ Styles is receiving a shot at a TNA championship.
The bad news, of course, is that Pacman Jones is involved.
I’ve heard rumblings about Pacman reinstatement with the NFL, so I’m holding onto the hope his time with TNA will be coming to an end soon. Starting with this match, if we’re lucky enough.
My Pick:
AJ Styles & Tomko
The Return Of The Ultimate X Match
Thoughts:
While I like LAX as much as the next guy, I’m hoping their prolonged push ends here. I want to see another team nudged up the ladder for a series of matches with the World Tag Team Champions. There will be plenty of awe-inspiring high spots in this match, I’m sure, but it’ll be Senshi and Elix Skipper who walk away with the win, or so I’m hoping. LAX needs to back away from the tag scene and let some new guys shine for a while.
Maybe one or both members could chase the X Division Title for a few months.
My Pick:
Senshi & “Primetime” Elix Skipper
TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Thoughts:
As wrestlers, I love Sting and Kurt Angle. They’re definitely in my Top 10 of All-Time.
Unfortunately, as wannabe soap actors, they’re horrible. TNA really dropped the ball with how they booked this angle. It could’ve been great, the 21st century’s answer to the classic Sting/Ric Flair angle from the old NWA, but they booked it like a second-rate daytime drama. So far, we’ve seen Angle’s wife and now there’s a kid involved. Whatever happened to basing an angle around who the better wrestler is? There’s no doubt these two men could’ve carried the angle with some pure, honest-to-goodness wrestling. Ah, well, this angle is already tainted in my eyes, but I’m hoping the match will more than make up for the melodramatic rubbish we’ve seen thus far. Wouldn’t be surprised if Sting gets the title for one last title reign before his rumored retirement.
My Pick:
Sting
With all that said, I’d like to introduce a new feature here in the Gazebo that I’m hoping to turn into a monthly occurrence. Oprah has one and so does Dr. Phil, so why can’t I? No, I’m not referring to an addiction to Twinkies.
I’m talking about a book club.
Welcome to the first edition of Mr. Spears’s Wrestling Book Club, a place where I intend on recommending only the best wrestling literature out there. You will only hear about the books you, as wrestling fans, ought to read.
So, pay heed, boys and girls.
First up, we have Brody: The Triumph & Tragedy of Wrestling’s Rebel, the long-awaited biography of a man whom I feel was the originator of hardcore wrestling, Mr. Frank Goodish (aka the late Bruiser Brody). When you hear or see his name, certain words and phrases come to mind.
Ferocious.
Frightening.
Freak of nature.
But there’s another expression that describes Brody, one I never would’ve considered had I not read this book.
Family man.
Away from the ring, Bruiser Brody was a super-sized version of Ward Cleaver, a faithful husband to wife Barbara and doting father to their son. I don’t think I would have believed such a notion had this book not featured such a plethora of photographs and recollections of the man at home, at play and on the road with the family and friends he held close to his heart.
It’s chockfull of them, with every photo and story offering fans a chance to see what the Madman from Albuquerque was like when he wasn’t terrorizing the wrestling world.
What stunned me the most was how frank the writing was. When I read that Brody’s wife was one of the writers who collaborated on this project, I assumed the tale of the Bruiser would be told through rose-colored glasses, or even worse yet, be told completely in kayfabe in fear of ruining Brody’s monstrous mystique. Luckily, that isn’t the case. No punches are pulled, especially when it comes to the retelling of fateful events of July 16th, 1988 – the day a knife-wielding Jose Gonzales (aka Invader #1) allegedly stabbed Brody before a match in Puerto Rico. The Bruiser would later die as a result of the wounds he suffered in the attack. The chapters dealing with the murder are indeed tragic, graphic and, in a roundabout way, poignant.
My only gripe with Brody is that, while there are a couple interesting road stories, there aren’t enough. The man spent fifteen years in the business, so I was hoping the book would be overflowing with road stories and Brody’s own thoughts and feelings regarding some of the angles he participated in. However, Larry Matysik and Barbara Goodish opted to spend most of their time writing about the time he spent away from the ring. While fascinating, I’m sure those stories paled in comparison to what Brody saw and did while wrestling for practically every promotion that ever existed.
As far as wrestling biographies rank on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being atrocious (think the kayfabe-packed atrocity that was Arn Anderson 4 Ever: A Look Behind the Curtain) and 5 being extraordinary (think Ric Flair’s To Be the Man or Mick Foley’s first two autobiographies), Brody is a solid 4 and should be required reading for anybody claims to be a wrestling fan.
For more information on buying this book, you can check out the usual online sources –
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc. – or you can just buy the book from its publisher, ECW Press.
Until next time…
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