OOPS! WWE Airs Survivor Series Commercial Advertising The Rock Before John Cena Chose The Rock as His Partner

In recent news, John Cena chose The Rock last week on RAW as his tag team partner to face The Miz and R-Truth at Survivor Series 2011 in what was supposed to be a mega surprise. However in waiting for the Rock's "yes or no" answer, the funny thing about this is that WWE was airing commercials advertising The Rock's return to action at Survivor Series before last weeks RAW even hit the airwaves thus spoiling the announcement later made by John Cena. They were also airing The Rock commercials DURING the broadcast BEFORE the John Cena segment. Even funnier than that, is that WWE is making a big spectacle out of whether or not The Rock will accept John Cena's invitation to be his tag partner at Survivor Series. Hello WWE, you already revealed that he's going to be there. I'm baffled by this, since they already aired commercials saying the Rock will be wrestling at Survivor Series yet they are making some big "will he, won't he" charade out of it. Basically, the story line hasn't caught up to the commercials. Why would you spoil a huge return, and then act like you didn't? It leads me to wonder whether it was done purposely or not. Surely it couldn't have been done on purpose, otherwise John Cena wouldn't have acted like it was some Earth shattering surprise. They were probably left with no way to write it off, so they just went ahead with it any way.

One thing to note, WWE aired the commercial on their wwefanation youtube channel before RAW aired... but apparently they took the commercial off and re-uploaded it after WWE RAW went off last Monday in an effort to cover up their blunder. However, another youtube account had the commercial upload date on their page as 10-23-2011 which is the day before that RAW aired which still proves me correct that the WWE bungled The Rock's return.

Why is WWE Burying Ted Dibiase?

by Brian Phelps

He won the World Tag Team titles in his very first match on RAW. A Two-time tag team title holder. A former member of the faction Legacy where he stood beside Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes. Son of WWE Hall of Famer and legend "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase. Star of The Marine II. All this and he's only 28. So, what's happened to Ted Dibiase over the last couple of years?

At one time, Ted Dibiase was at the forefront of the WWE. He was in the hottest faction in the business rubbing elbows with Randy Orton, holding the tag team belts with Cody Rhodes, and feuding with Degeneration-X's Shawn Michaels and Triple H. WWE even believed in him enough to give him the lead role in The Marine II. After Legacy ended, for some reason Ted Dibiase has been on a downward spiral. He suddenly for no apparent reason went on a losing streak, and was even on the losing end of a feud with Goldust. Goldust hasn't been relevant in over a decade. He lost his Million Dollar Title to Goldust, was beat up by Jerry Lawler, traded to WWE's B-Show Smackdown, and continued his losing ways there. Just when it seemed like there was no hope, the rising star Cody Rhodes decided to take pity on Dibiase and take him under his wing. However, Dibiase kept losing. Eventually they turned on each other, and Dibiase is back to wrestling on Superstars and making sporadic appearances on Smackdown normally in losing efforts.

So why is the WWE burying Ted Dibiase? There hasn't been any negative backstage news on Dibiase. He hasn't made anyone mad that anyone is aware of. WWE is severely dropping the ball with Dibiase. He has the look, the talent, the pedigree, and the build to be one of the WWE's best. If they aren't careful though and they keep treating him like some 2nd rate jobber he might eventually tire of it and end up jumping ship to TNA. He wouldn't be the first star to do so. Only time will tell. For now, time is on his side.

Sting's "Joker" Gimmick Officially Comes to an End After Bound For Glory

by Brian Phelps

Well, it now appears that Bound For Glory was the end of Sting's explosively popular "Joker" gimmick. Back during the Summer, Sting transformed from "The Crow" into "The Joker", taking on an even darker character in order to combat Hulk Hogan and his Immortal faction. His goal was to lead Hulk Hogan back from the dark side. He stated that he wanted to see the Hulkster, "not the Hollywood one". After defeating arch-nemesis Ric Flair in order to set up a match between himself and Hulk Hogan at Bound For Glory, Sting went on to defeat Hogan at the pay-per-view. After the conclusion of the match, Hogan's cronies came out and brutalized Sting. Sting cried out for Hogan's help, and Hogan seemingly having an epiphany came to the Stinger's aid. Hogan fended off his own Immortal members in order to save Sting. In essence, Hulk Hogan turned good again. The "Joker" Sting accomplished what he set out to do and thus it makes sense for the character to come to an end so that the normal Sting can return to the surface. Sting returned to Impact after Bound For Glory as normal old Sting, and was promoted to essentially a "General Manager" type of role on Impact.

It makes sense because Sting only became the "Joker" because he was driven to insanity by Hogan and his Immortal faction. If you recall, Sting tried to warn Dixie Carter about Hogan a year and a half ago and she wouldn't listen to him. Sting saw Hogan and Bischoff coming to TNA and taking over, and immediately had deja vu back to the mid 90's when Hogan and Bischoff came to WCW and took it over with their NWO faction. Sting foresaw the same thing happening in TNA and tried to warn the company, but no one would listen. Once Hogan and Bischoff swindled Dixie Carter out of the company, and formed the Immortal faction... he was driven over the edge. That's what prompted the change to the maniacal "Joker" gimmick. With Hogan returning to the side of good, there is no further need for "Joker" Sting.

However, back in the 90's Sting went from his "Surfer" gimmick to the "Crow" gimmick in order to defeat Hogan and his NWO faction and keep them from taking over WCW. After the NWO ended, Sting remained in the "Crow" gimmick and has carried it all the way to the present. Who knows... maybe one day we will see a return of the "Joker" gimmick. Only time will tell.

Wrestlers Way Podcast - On Hulk Hogan saying Robert Roode isn't the Guy

The Headbangers Call Out Air Boom, Mexican America, and Haas and Benjamin

By Brian Phelps

Recently, I witnessed a literal blast from the past as former WWE Tag Team Champions The Headbangers made their presence felt online as they laid down the gauntlet by challenging the current WWE Tag Team Champions Air Boom (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne). They also challenged the TNA Tag Team Champions Mexican America, as well as Ring of Honor's World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas). What's cool about this is that most of the time old stars spend their time feuding with other old stars online in frivolous twitter feuds, and youtube shoot interviews. This was great because it was kind of outsider-ish. Two guys from the outside looking in, challenging guys in different organizations. So, will any of these tag teams answer the challenge? ...More importantly, will any of these tag teams organizations allow them to answer the challenge? Let's take a look...

Air Boom (WWE) - There is no way that Vince McMahon would allow this to take place. Vince's policy when outsiders challenge his company has always been to ignore or deny the existence of any competition. That's why when Eric Bischoff challenged Vince McMahon to show up at a WCW PPV on live TV... Vince McMahon just ignored it and wimped out because he was scared of the possibility of a situation that he didn't have 100% control over. When the New Age Outlaws were in TNA as the Voodoo Kin Mafia, they challenged Triple H and Shawn Michaels to a fight. They even went to WWE Headquarters in Connecticut and Vince... just ignored it. So, odds are that Vince McMahon won't even bat an eyelash at this challenge by the Headbangers despite the marketability of the situation (Think of how big Zack Ryder has gotten utilizing social media and the thought that a tag team on the outside challenged your champions and then they actually showed up!). Plus, it would add excitement and an air of unpredictability to a long stagnant tag team division. As Evan Bourne christened it... "Attitude Era vs Altitude Era".

Mexican America (TNA) - TNA is much more likely than WWE to accept the Headbangers challenge. Eric Bischoff, the TNA Creative Team, and the rest of the TNA brass are risk takers by comparison. The pay off for TNA could be huge as it would liven up their tag team division that has cooled off over the last year. It would give people a reason to watch TNA Tag Team Wrestling again as we wait for Chris Sabin to come back from injury. Plus, a potential match-up between the Headbangers and Ink, Inc. would be interesting and fitting. Headbangers vs Tattoo Guys. This could be TNA's answer to WWE utilizing social media in the same way that WWE is embracing Twitter and Zack Ryder's Youtube fame.

World's Greatest Tag Team (Ring of Honor) - This is interesting and the most likely answer, but I don't think the pay off would be that great for ROH. However, it would still be exciting to see happen. 

Why does WWE insist on commentators wrestling?

by Brian Phelps

Is anyone else as tired as I am of WWE having commentators wrestle? I mean, no one that I know of ever wanted to see Michael Cole wrestle... let alone feud with fellow commentator Jim Ross or Lawler. There is no point to commentators feuding and wrestling each other as it does nothing to heat up the crowd or people at home. It was already a travesty that Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler was the 3rd most hyped match at Wrestlemania 27. WWE put more emphasis and promotion into Cole vs Lawler than they did for the World Heavyweight CHampionship match between Edge and Alberto Del Rio. What does it say about your company when your 3rd biggest headliners were two commentators fighting, while the United States Championship Match didn't even make the broadcast cut. Feuds between commentators are stupid because its just one big road to no where. No one is built from it, and since they're not wrestlers you don't gain anything from a win or loss. You just go back to commentating the next week. So what's the point?

Also, what does it say about your organization when you have to keep bringing back Jim Ross to pop a better rating? That means that Jim Ross is a bigger draw than the actual wrestlers themselves. Why don't you just leave Jim Ross on commentary? If your rating dips every time he's not on RAW, then why keep taking him off? If your company is in a transition phase then you push new wrestlers. However, the commentating team doesn't matter. The commentating booth doesn't suffer just because Jim Ross gets older. So once again I ask what's the point? Stop having Michael Cole wrestle. No one wants to see it. No one EVER wanted to see it. No one ever wanted to see two commentators wrestle. No one gives a rats tail about Michael Cole and Jim Ross feuding on Twitter lol, or challenging each other.You won't give Zack Ryder, Ted Dibiase, or Primo a real feud or air time, but you will waste valuable mic time and squander the creative teams efforts by having them take time to write out an off-and-on year long feud and pay-per-view matches for commentators when there are 50 hungry wrestlers in the back waiting for their shot at the big time? People can say what they want about TNA Wrestling, but until I see Mike Tenay vs Don West headlining Bound For Glory I can't criticize TNA too much. 

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Why Hulk Hogan is Wrong About Robert Roode Not Being Ready

by Brian Phelps

Just before Bound For Glory, Hulk Hogan made some negative comments about Robert Roode. Hogan claimed that Roode wasn't ready to be "The Guy" in TNA. In the last couple of months, TNA has been building up Robert Roode with good writing, good matches, great video packages and great overall build toward his title match with Kurt Angle which all pointed to Bound For Glory being Roode's "time". Originally, Roode was scheduled to beat Angle for the title. However, at the last minute TNA flipped and decided to have Angle win. Now, word has it that Hogan lobbied heavily against Roode winning the World Title and Hogan may have been the big factor in why TNA changed their minds on putting the belt on Roode.

There are a few things that just don't jive about this to me. Why does Hogan's opinions carry any weight? I mean wasn't it Hulk Hogan who was convinced for his first 6-8 months in TNA that Abyss was just "The Man" and pushed Abyss so hard in what was ultimately an epic fail? He wasted his first match in TNA tagging with Abyss, gave Abyss his Hall of Fame Ring, and even his WCW theme song all in an attempt to push Abyss to the moon because Hogan was convinced that Abyss was "the guy". I don't know anyone who ever thought that Abyss was the guy who would carry the torch for TNA. Where is Abyss now? He's barely on the card at the moment. So, why should we believe Hogan about Roode? Not to mention that Hogan never even explained why he felt Roode wasn't ready yet to be champion. There was no reasoning or substance given to Hogan's opinions about Roode. Hogan said if anyone was next in line to be "the man" in TNA that it would be Jeff Hardy. No offense to Jeff Hardy, but at this time he is unreliable. He ruined a pay-per-view event and has a storied history when it comes to drug use. I'm not saying he can't be the man again, but it's too soon in my opinion and he has not earned the right to be a top guy in the company again. I hate to say it, but he can't be trusted yet because he has to rebuild his trust. So let's look at the facts. Hogan said Roode isn't ready, but this is coming from the same guy who thought Abyss should be the top dog and then stated that Jeff Hardy should be the man mere months after he ruined TNA's Victory Road Pay-Per-View in addition to his already storied history of drug use and unreliable behavior. So, once again I ask... why should we believe Hulk Hogan's opinions on who should be the man in TNA?

WWE Expects Fans to Forget the Anonymous RAW GM Ever Existed

by Brian Phelps

You know in the midst of the whole Vince McMahon being let go by the Board of Directors, to Triple H taking over the company as Chief Operations Officer... a friend of mine asked me a question that I thought was so good I couldn't pass up posting it here at Wrestler's Way. Here goes guys...

What ever happened to the Anonymous Raw General Manager?

The Anonymous GM was never fired. On top of that, they never even revealed who the Anonymous RAW GM was. They went on and on for a year speculating about who the Anonymous RAW General Manager was... and now the WWE expects to just forget that the Anonymous GM ever existed? How are you going to go on and on for a year about who the GM of RAW is, and then just all of a sudden just pretend it never happened without ever revealing who the GM was? I just think it's funny that one day they just completely dropped the entire Anonymous RAW General Manager storyline without ever even coming close to resolving who it was. That's wrestling for you.

Top 7 Myths and Misconceptions About Impact Wrestling

by Brian Phelps

One thing I've noticed within the wrestling community is that there are a multitude of misconceptions about TNA Impact Wrestling. I've heard everything from TNA is just a bunch of has beens, to TNA is losing money to all sorts of myths within the Internet Wrestling Community... myths that are usually perpetuated or popular among the Anti-TNA WWE Fans (not to be confused with the casual WWE fans). I have come to you guys today to set the record straight on a number of urban myths about TNA Wrestling, and to debunk these misconceptions about TNA Wrestling.

1. Myth: TNA's ratings are horrible (1.0-1.3 average rating).
The Facts: TNA Wrestling does not get bad ratings. In fact, Impact is one of the highest rated shows on cable on Thursday nights. Of course, no one ever mentions that. Nor does anyone mention that Impact is normally the highest rated show on Spike TV (especially since UFC is inking a deal with FOX now and will presumably be leaving the network all together). Because WWE RAW is one of the highest rated tv shows on Cable for the entire week and averages a 3.0-3.3 rating... people think that Impacts ratings stink in comparison. The thing is, WWE Raw's ratings are the apex or peak of cable network ratings, so nearly everything else on Cable will have a significantly lower rating. Impact is one of the higher rated shows on Cable TV, just not near as high as RAW. Impacts ratings are highly respectable, seeings how its one of the higher rated cable shows on Thursday nights and consistently the highest rated show on Spike TV. It's easy to say RAW is one of the highest rated shows on cable, when it comes on the #1 Cable Network, not to mention WWE has 50 years of brand recognition. Spike TV isn't even a Top 25 Network half the time anymore. If Impact Wrestling came on the #1 Cable Network, It's logical to assume it would have an even higher rating because it would reach more homes and have much better lead in programming. Not to mention that USA network is a sister network to NBC and SyFy, which means from a business stand point... it has a lot more arms, money, and friends in high places. It's kind of the equivalent of the NFL. The WWE is playing for the New England Patriots (USA/NBC), while Impact Wrestling is playing for the Cleveland Browns (Spike TV). That's why Wrestlemania re-runs on NBC, and why WWE Saturday Night Main Event airs on NBC. WWE has friends in high places. Impact has had to scratch and claw for everything and it's still not properly promoted by Spike. However, to say that Impact gets awful ratings means you obviously have no understanding of ratings at all. Because RAW gets a 3.3 and Impact gets a 1.3 does not mean Impact gets bad ratings. That's like saying that Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl which made over 650 million dollars world wide did awful at the box office because it didn't make as much as Avatar which made over 2 billion dollars world wide. That's the equivalent of what you are saying when you claim that TNA Impacts 1.1-1.3 ratings are awful based on the fact that RAW gets 3.0-3.3 ratings. Impact gets successful ratings, RAW just gets MORE successful ratings.

2. Myth: TNA is losing money.  
The Facts: The facts are none of us casual fans know how much TNA has made or lost because they haven't publicly released their financial record books. However, there are those that run around proclaiming that TNA is bleeding money or in the hole. What I can tell you is that I don't believe that TNA is losing money. Allow me to break down why. First, Impact earns money from advertisers for allowing them to air their commercials during the Impact broadcast. Impact has also released a couple of video games both for consoles and for cell phones. Impact also has toy deals inked with Jakks Pacific (the same toy line that WWE used to be with for years), and trading card deals with Tristar. Impact also makes money off of merchandise from dvd's to shirts to autographed plaques to selling their theme songs as mp3s online. I myself have found TNA DVDs at Wal-Mart, FYE and other major retailers. I've also found their t-shirts at FYE. TNA also earns major advertising revenue off of Youtube seeings how as of today they have over 372 Million views on their videos and over 13 million channel views. TNA also currently has advertising deals with Stacker2 and most currently Direct Auto Insurance which you will see on their ring. This is before you even count money earned from their House Show Tours, monthly Pay-Per-Views, and their video library. I would wager dollars to donuts that TNA is not losing money. Otherwise, if they were I'm sure Vince would've bought them out lol.

3. Myth: TNA is just a bunch of washed up old wrestlers that won't retire.  
The Facts: This is one of the most popular myths. I've heard of TNA being referred to as a retirement home for old wrestlers. I find this to be far from the truth. Yes, TNA has and continues to have some veterans. However, let's look at the facts. There are only 3 "old guys" currently on the TNA Roster (Flair, Hogan, Sting). The rest are no older than most of the WWE Roster. The only veteran that wrestles on a fairly regular basis currently is Sting. Hulk Hogan is just an authority figure on TNA, not a wrestler. He operates in the same on-air role as Vince McMahon. He has only wrestled one match in the almost 2 years he's been there. Ric Flair has wrestled a handful of matches in nearly 2 years in TNA... maybe 6 or 7 matches tops in almost 2 years. He's normally a manager (like he was with Fortune), or a figure head like he is in Immortal. It's not like they're fighting every week contrary to what some might have you believe. None of the "old" wrestlers are monopolizing the world title or anything either so I don't get it. The only "old" wrestler to be champion in the last 2 years is Sting. Other than him, it's been AJ Styles, RVD, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, and Mr. Anderson. For the most part, the "old" wrestlers have been putting over young talent. Flair has put over everyone from AJ Styles to Jay Lethal to Matt Morgan, you name it. Sting has done the same. Hogan has brought attention to guys like Abyss and Gunner when no one used to care about them. So, say what you will... but the veterans have brought a lot more main stream attention to TNA and have put over a lot of young stars. Where was Kaz before Ric Flair put him over in Fortune? Oh that's right, he wasn't doing anything on tv.

4. Myth: TNA is just a bunch of WWE Rejects.
The Facts: This is the most preposterous one of them all, and yet it runs rampant all over the Internet Wrestling Community. People will claim all sorts of stuff like all the guys who jumped ship were fired from WWE. The fact is, they weren't. Jeff Hardy was granted his release so that he could take time away from pro wrestling to heal injuries such as his neck and herniated discs in his back. Kurt Angle asked and was granted an early release for health reasons because he couldn't get time off, and he was working hurt all the time. Ric Flair wasn't fired either. Just because someone leaves one company for another doesn't mean that they were rejects. It could just be WWE's road schedule of wrestling over 300 days a year wears you down. TNA's schedule has you wrestling 1/3 of the dates that WWE does. Maybe they were tired of being misused. We don't call sports players rejects for trading teams, so why is there this WWE bias that if you wrestle for anyone else that you are a reject or washed up?

5. Myth: TNA is just another WCW.  
The Facts: TNA is not another WCW. This one always makes me laugh. Just because you have some of the guys that were in WCW, apparently that means you are trying to be WCW. That's like saying that the movie "Cowboys & Aliens" is just another "Indiana Jones" because Harrison Ford used to be in Indiana Jones. It's completely illogical reasoning, but that's what the Anti-TNA contingent as come up with. Because Hogan, Bischoff, Flair, Nash, Booker T, and Scott Steiner are either in TNA or were in TNA that means that TNA is just another WCW. However, that is completely illogical thinking because all those men were in WWE too... but no one says that WWE ever tried to be WCW. At one point, Vince Russo, Hogan, Nash, Hall, Bischoff, Booker T, Goldberg, Jericho and others were in WWE around the same time and NO ONE ever claimed WWE was becoming another WCW. So, I don't understand that logic.

6. Myth: Hogan and Flair are wrestling all the time.  
The Facts: Hulk Hogan has wrestled one match in nearly 2 years in TNA. Ric Flair has wrestled what... roughly 6 or 7 televised matches in TNA in almost 2 years? The fact is Bret Hart has wrestled nearly as many matches as Ric Flair has in the last almost 2 years and even won the US Title, yet no one ever mentions that fact.

7. Myth: TNA doesn't push their young talent.  
The Facts: Robert Roode is challenging Kurt Angle for the World Title at Bound For Glory (TNA's Wrestlemania), Crimson has an undefeated streak, Mr. Anderson just won his first World Title earlier this year, and it wasn't that long ago that AJ Styles had a 7 month long World Title reign. To say that TNA doesn't push their young talent is laugable. The tag team division has been ruled by Beer Money and the Motor City Machine Guns the last couple of years, while Doug Williams, Brian Kendrick and others have held the X Division Title. It's WWE that needs to re-examine itself as the WWE Championship has been dominated by the same guy for the last 6 years.

In closing, there is a serious double standard between WWE and TNA. It's ok for WWE to do something, but when TNA does it they get heckled by everyone. Anti-TNA WWE Die Hards would show no mercy if Ric Flair won a title on TNA, yet they cheered as Bret Hart won the US Title last year and cheered for Jerry Lawler to beat Miz for the WWE Title in the ladder match they had on RAW earlier this year. They call Nash a washed up hack in TNA, but mark out for him at the Royal Rumble and cheered him during his feud with CM Punk. They condemn TNA for Nash and Hall winning the tag titles last year but they were the same ones who cheered back when Piper and Flair won the tag titles in WWE a couple of years ago. They bash TNA for using older stars, but cheered as Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat returned for a 2 month feud with Chris Jericho. They booed the Band (Nash, Hall, X-Pac) on TNA, but cheered them at the WWE Hall of Fame. They bashed Flair for rolling with Fortune, but cheered Flair for rolling with Evolution. They bash Rob Terry claiming he can't wrestle, yet cheer the Great Khali who to my knowledge has never done a standard wrestling move such as a suplex. A lot of people hate on TNA Wrestling, and the vast majority of it is completely unwarranted. People judge it without giving it a real chance. A lot of it are these 15 year old wrestling fans that have only watched WWE and didn't grow up with two companies, that seem to think that WWE can do no wrong and that anything that is not WWE is crap. I'm just sick of the misconceptions and double standards. If you are going to hate on TNA, then hold WWE to the same standard. That's all I'm asking. You don't have to like TNA, but give it a fair shake first.