I think Angle has a no compete clause, so I doubt it is him.

Yeah, he's on the record saying he wants to return to the WWE eventually.

-- Former WWE Diva Search Winner Ashley Massaro interviews Chris Jericho in her latest "Bangin' With Ashley" column. Jericho definitely showed optimism about making a WWE return, offering, "I never planned to be away [this] long, and absolutely I plan on coming back. I’ve just had a lot of projects I’ve been working on, and each time one finishes up, another one starts, but I do hope the time will come soon that I come back and I’ll be better than ever. The Jerichoholics and myself would expect nothing less!"

From the Wrestling observer:

"The latest is that only seven people know, all of whom signed confidentiality agreements. Backstage the rest are under the impression that it is a wrestler, and that all seven who do know are very excited about it and say it will not be a letdown. It is doubtful the person will be brought to the building until the last minute, as they are obsessed with this information not getting out.

One would suspect, if it's talent, the only names that could possibly fit in this category would seem to be Bill Goldberg (who TNA has been negotiating with), Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho or possibly Chris Benoit. It also isn't necessarily talent, and I don't see it being Vince Russo based on reaction."

Benoit's contract status has been a bit of a mystery, that'd be pretty shocking and (almost) worthy of the hype. But ya, it's probably Goldberg.

The Benoit rumors are incorrect because he's still under contract with the WWE. He's taking a break to heal up and take care of personal stuff regarding his wife.

I'll toss out anonther name, more than likely not, but what about....


Trish Stratus.

LOL

That'd be a joke.

It'd accomplish nothing but with the way TNA is going .. wouldn't shock me

At least it would be a more appealing joke than the one they've played with the tie-in to Jackass 2. What they did with the Petey Williams match tonight was just pathetic, a complete waste of time & talent.

No offense, but the entire TNA promotion is a joke. Bringing Russo back is just par for the course with them.

Obviously (since I've spent the better part of a year watching them regularly), I disagree.

They're the only pro wrestling promotion with a TV deal that has entertained me in years (since WCW was murdered/committed suicide).

I wish ROH had a TV deal, but there's not much I can do about that but wish.

ROH needs to attempt to land some sort of a PPV deal. If they can get a backing of TNA to help promote it, using 'Cide, Joe, Styles and Daniels as guys that ROH has produced (An overstate on their part) to fuel people to buy it, they could go quite a long ways. It'd open up ROH and would allow for them to be legit.

They'll never get a TV deal because they'll never be able to sign enough guys to written deals to get it done and they're more nich then ECW, but I could see 3 PPV's a year increasing their revenue greatly.

And really as far as ROH getting a TV deal, for the products integrity, I'd hope they didn't. You cannot appreciate Danielson or McGuiness without seeing their ring pyschology. TV would make that obsolete. 20 minute masterpieces would become 7 minute clusterfucks and those guys have stiff offense but it's not spectacular. It takes a real appreciation, thus why ROH is so different then ECW. ECW was a spot fest. It had great wrestling but thrived on spots. It was perfect (in theory) for TV. ROH's product is not.

I don't mean joke in the sense that they do everything wrong, but they make some really dumb decisions. Instead of trying to be WWE Lite, maybe they should try and book a wrestling driven promotion. One of the best minds in the business works for them, and they don't have him anywhere near the booking committee in Cornette, but they bring in Vince Russo, the same guy who killed WCW. Brilliant stuff.

Russo didn't kill WCW. Hell, he couldn't get anything done because he had to check with every wrestler with a creative clause in their contract which was 3/4 of the roster. Nope, it was Steiner, Flair, Hogan, Nash, and company that killed WCW.

Russo in WCW once said he wanted to fire all the wrestlers and only hire Actors because learning wrestling was easy. This was after he fought Flair and said it was the easiest thing he'd done. This is not made up stuff lol, this is accounted by Lance Storm and Benoit. That in a nutshell should let everyone know what TNA is in for.

No it was Russo. He consistently killed peoples heat. Did you see how many times the WCW Title switched hands on his belt? It was EVERY THREE WEEKS.

That's not creative control, that's horrible booking.

When you are pissing money and everybody has their grubby dick beaters in the pot, there is going to be problems. That's is exactly what killed WCW.

David Arquette, WCW Champion.

well, the acting is bad pretty much across the board :) some of the best acting ive seen is being shown by Cena when he was being interviewed in the back by the bimbo....his timing and reactions (during that spot[s]) was perfect but everything else is equal to the rest of the bunch...which means bad.

Vince Russo, WCW Champion.

Bischoff claims that was his idea. :D

LOL

I watched a Lance Storm shoot interview. Now that's a mind for the business. He brings up the fact that instead of hiring guys with the look who can't wrestle, why not hire wrestlers and make them take acting lessons. That alone was enough to make me know his mind for the business. Then it was revealed he booked most of ECW from about a year after he got there till it ended. He, Dreamer and Paul. He went into so much detail about how Russo was a clown, it was remarkable.

ye gods this has been putrid.

That bad, huh?

easier said than done HOWEVER what also hurts the perception of the acting is the editing....when they "hold" on a shot and the actor/ress has to hold a facial expression or reaction for seconds after the event is over because they didn't "cut" or switch cameras fast enough, to me, is also a killer when it comes to, lets call it, immersion.

The only thing TNA has done right lately is push LAX.

Oh I agree. While by no means am I saying it's sure fire and easy, I just think it'd be a lot easier then spending years trying to learn to wrestle coherently.

worse. too much Jackass #2 promotion, the fans actually chanting "This is stupid" at a spot (which was well deserved).. Guh.

TNA tries too hard for publicity. Their shit with the White Sox, Jackass 2. It's stupid and it obviously hasn't worked.

actually, I can't describe the moronity, I'll let the Torch Match Recaps do it:

Williams got to the ring, but Lethal didn't come out to his music. They went backstage to Dutt, Lethal, and Sabin horsing around backstage. Dutt was threatening to fart on Lethal's face, I think. Jerry Lynn walked in to discipline them and chew them out for not taking their lives seriously. Sabin was pretty funny as he told Jerry he "forgot this chip." He held up a corn chip as Lynn walked away, disgusted. Petey was drinking from a bottle of water, and he suspected that the Jackass gang may have put laxatives in it since Dutt was holding up a laxative box backstage. Lethal walked to the ring and was tying his shoe as he entered the ring, showing he wasn't taking things seriously or preparing adequately. Within a few minutes, Petey began clutching his stomach, and then his butt, selling the idea that the laxative was taking effect. West said it's nice to see that happening to a former member of Team Canada after all the things they've done. West said things could get nasty. Tenay said, "Let's not go there, at least not yet." Williams was unable to execute some of his offense for fear of having an accident. Lethal began waving his hand in front of his face as iff Petey was stinking up the ring. Petey hit the tuck DDT for a near fall. Petey signalled for the Canadian Destroyer, but seemed to be fighting an accident. The fans chanted, "Hold it in! Hold it in!" He set up the Destroyer, but he couldn't do it. Lethal then schoolboyed him for the win. Dutt ran to the ring and laughed uproariously with Lethal at their plan working.

not impossible though, some could get it, others wouldnt (Improv classes would be critical) but in the long haul acting lessons across the board and better editing/directing would be greatly helpful.

and

5 -- SENSHI vs. CHRIS SABIN -- X Division Title match

This is an important match for both wrestlers to try to establish the X Division is actually alive and relevant since the departures of Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, and Christopher Daniels from the division. They had some nice feel-out early exchanges. Senshi roundhouse kicked Sabin's upper thigh, and Sabin bailed out to sell it. In the ring, they exchanged some nice spots in second gear. Senshi went on sustained offense. They exchanged mid-ring chops. At 7:00 Sabin made a comeback and went for a dive onto Senshi at ringside, but Senshi met him with a kick. Sabin threw a series of punches at 9:00, but Senshi turned an Irish whip into a round kick. He followed with a double-stomp off the top rope onto Sabin who was in 619 position on the ropes. West said: "This is not typical X Division. This has almost become a fight." I wouldn't consider that the best wording because it implies that X Division wrestling isn't usually "a fight." At 13:00 Sabin hit a springbaord dropkick on Senshi for a near fall. Senshi hit three roundhouse kicks to the chest leading to a near fall. Senshi followed up with a cartwheel roundkick on Sabin as Sabin climbed to the top rope. He followed with a superplex attempt. Sabin blocked it and knocked Senshi upside down in the corner. Sabin then hit his hesitation basement dropkick to Senshi leading to a near fall. Senshi fought back right away with his double stomp, with a mid-air scream for good measure. As he climbed to the top rope, Lethal and Duutt ran to ringside to distract the ref. Some fans began booing. They threw an inflatable doll into the ring which Senshi mistakenly almost double-stomped. Sabin then hit Senshi with a surprise clothesline. He threw the blow-up doll on Senshi, then went to the top rope. The crowd began a "This is stupid" chant. Good for them. Senshi got up and dropkicked Sabin instead, then covered him with is feet on the middle rope for added leverage to win.

WINNER: Senshi in 17:00.

The funny thing is Low Ki (Fuck Senshi) is probably fuming. He is literally like the Undertaker when it comes to being in character. He doesn't know where reality starts and ends. I am sure he will be out of TNA soon, because I doubt he can handle this.

who is booking this crap? Oh. Nevemind.

Lemme guess... the ending of Senshi/Sabin?

(which, at least from reading, sounds like it was even dumber than the shenanigans during Lethal/Williams, if only because the match was apparently otherwise solid)

edit: I guess you were elaborating while I was posting the question. I figured that was it.

taken from wikipedia:


Russo's writing style created a large turnover in title changes (the WCW World Title changed hands every 2.6 weeks on average under him). Swerves and everything being a "shoot" were emphasized; wrestlers did supposedly unscripted interviews using "insider" terms that were only recognized by the Internet fanbase and the wrestling community itself, and chaotic broadcasts became the norm. Russo booked actor David Arquette to win the WCW World title, and at one point toward the end of his WCW stay even booked himself to be champion. However, Russo explained both of these incidents during an interview with WrestleCrap Radio, saying he believed that he needed to produce television that would, in a sense, be a publicity stunt. Russo stated that when Arquette won the title, he did not pin a wrestler, he pinned Eric Bischoff, and that this was a realistic event, according to Russo. He even revealed that Arquette went to Hollywood the following weekend, where Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner were filming 3000 Miles To Graceland and did a photo shoot with Arquette holding the belt. Russo believed that he had to do something to get people's attention; ironically, Graceland was a box office bomb. The situation involving Russo himself winning the title was explained by Russo with a similar mentality. Vince Russo beat Booker T in a steel cage match. Goldberg entered the cage from under the ring and speared Vince Russo through the cage wall seconds before Booker T exited the cage. Russo would surrender the title at the next WCW Monday Nitro, and in an outlandish turn of events, would show on Nitro a brain operation he had due to a concussion he sustained in the cage match.

Russo began to de-emphasize the cruiserweight division as well as the luchadores and foreign talent; these were two of the things that distinguished WCW from the WWF. In the case of the luchadores and foreign talent, he argued that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get them over with the fans if they couldn't speak enough English to do a promo. In the cases of some wrestlers, such as Kaz Hayashi and La Parka, Russo would have them do promos in their native language and then use comical subtitles which had nothing to do with what they were actually saying. This was done for comic relief, as the wrestlers would either be squashed or have their match interrupted by an established star. The WCW Cruiserweight Championship itself was devalued as non-wrestlers such as fellow writer Ed Ferrera (as the controversial "Oklahoma"; a parody of WWE commentator Jim Ross) and Daffney were booked into title reigns under Russo's watch.

Oh, well :(

Well it only makes sense to job out LAX.

Actually, that does make some sense

Styles/Daniels were just put into the tag ranks & reportedly want to spend a year or so there. Let them pass some time by disposing of The Naturals, while LAX gets both more seasoning & additional credibility by winning a feud or two (most likely over the James Gang, the Dudleys, or possibly even both), and then re-visit this rivalry.

While I agree, TNA just missed the ball by pushing LAX too fast. They should've been slow building. It'd make more sense. Now they'll turn this into a three way clusterfuck. I have confidence in most of the performers to pull it off .. but yeah, not in the company.

I'll be damned, it's Angle.

I have mixed feelings on the announcement.... Hate to see the guy destroy himself.

Angle is coming to TNA.

he'll be dead within a year

That's exactly what I'm afraid of.

It's a much lighter schedule so maybe he can pull it off and rest. Christian seems to make it work quite well after supposedly being burnt out from the WWE schedule... Now they need a big timeslot though... going live would be a huge plus too.

For anyone that cares, the Big surprise is Kurt Angle.

And TNA is getting 2 hours in primetime starting on November 16.

Edit: I should have refreshed before I posted.

Really? How often is Angle going to have to actually get in the ring? Once a month? Every 2 weeks? Beats the shit out of his WWE schedule. Consider this a paid vacation.

Here's my question ..

How is HE NOT IN FLORIDA

It makes no sense. You hype this announcement and all it is is a video package? That's pretty fucking stupid.

im not watching it BUT i amin agreement that i cant believe that they would blow this in a video statement....are you serious?