WLH PPV Prediction League Phase 2: A Great Prize To Be Won

Here we are again, the next installment of the WLH PPV Prediction League, we have TNA's Turning Point this Sunday (13th) and I want all of you who have taken part to send in your predictions to wlhstu@aol.co.uk - Don't forget the prize at stake here, a multi-signed WWE DVD region 1 - Backlash 2006, autographs featured are Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Triple H and more.

Here is the line up, don't forget, if anymore matches are announced other than these, they will not be added to the list. Fingers crossed AJ Styles is fit enough to wrestle.

* Jeff Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett
* Crimson vs. Matt Morgan
* NO DQ MATCH: Rob Van Dam vs. Christopher Daniels
* KNOCKOUTS TITLE MATCH: Velvet Sky © vs. Gail Kim
* TNA X-DIVISION TITLE MATCH: Austin Aries © vs. Jesse Sorensen vs. Kid Kash
* TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Mexican America and Sarita © vs. Ink Inc and Toxxin
* TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Bobby Roode © vs. AJ Styles

Vince, what's Going On? By BuzzUK

Has Vince McMahon hit the nail on the head by insisting that no one use the wrestling word, and should we all just call it sports entertainment.

I think this is a fair enough question when all the TV shows we watch, whether RAW, Smack Down or even IMPACT. We are getting less and less wrestling on our TV. Every week there are those out there who watch the whole show through and make note of how much actual wrestling takes place. With out any actual data, but purely based on what I have seen over the weeks, I make it about an average of 40 minutes wrestling on 2 hour TV shows.

This can't be right can it, I mean do we really tune in week in week out and only get only 1/3rd of a show. Now don't get me wrong I appreciate a decent segment or skit like anyone else, but when it is taking over I have to say enough is enough.

I mean this coming week is a prime example, I will not be surprised if we have the least amount of wrestling in weeks, as we have the king of the segment The Rock back on our screens, a rumoured appearance by Mick Foley, Kevin Nash will take us back to the 1990's with another droning promo that adds nothing.

I guess that's why Vince wants us to call it sports entertainment, maybe we all had it wrong in the first place. We expected wrestling on a wrestling show, so stupid of us. I mean hell they can't even call themselves wrestlers any more.

I want to turn in to a TV show and not spend half of it, fast forwarding through things like Michael Cole and JR in some stupid adds no value skit. If you want Cole to be something else, make him something else, you want JR commentating then put him there. Don't waste your viewers time with such pointless things and expect them to keep tuning in.

This continual push away from actually put wrestling matches on TV outside of PPV is just bad business. You want viewing figures up, then it's quite simple:

1) Don't put the Muppets on wrestling
2) Don't mess with tradition, put your major segment first and get in to the
wrestling
3) Put something that people care about, not cole and jr...
4) Give us some real commentary, it can make a match.. Watch Undertaker vs. HHH at
Wrestle Mania and listen to JR
5) Give the Mid card guys something to aim for, that way matches mean something

Other than that quite simply put.... WE WANT WRESTLING???


Let me know your thoughts @buzzuk on twitter

The TNA World Title - Some Observations

I was listening to the Still Real To Us podcast this past week and the host 'The Champ' Jeff Peck came up with a thought that Booby Roode even though he is facing AJ Styles at Turning Point is just holding the belt for one Jeff Hardy. The thought of Hardy getting the belt back after what happened with him at Victory Road in his match, and I use that term loosely, with Sting. It's well-known the problems Hardy has had, for me, all brought on by himself but either way, TNA using him is one thing but making him the world champion again is something totally different.

The world title situation in TNA is to be frank, a bit shit at the moment. Kurt Angle, a guy I like as a wrestler has really come to that point now where he really needs to 'hang them up'. He faced Roode at Bound For Glory and after an extensive build up with really good video packages for Roode, we thought, well I thought the strap would change hands but it didn't, there was somewhat of screwy finish so I thought this would lead to him getting a rematch with Angle but that didn't happen. Any followers of TNA or users of the news sites will know that the IMPACT tapings following BFG James Storm beat Angle in a really quick match to become the TNA champion. Roode as his friend and partner in Beer Money was happy for for him on the surface at least. Roode had a match on IMPACT beating Samoa Joe to become the number 1 contender for the TNA title and he went on to beat Storm for the title while turning heel in the process. As stated earlier, AJ Styles is booked to face Roode at Turning Point but on a side note, he got injured at a house show this past Friday night but hopefully will be fit for the PPV.

Now, back to the matter at hand, could TNA really be considering putting the strap back on Hardy? I think TNA look at Hardy as the real big draw in the company, they
think if anyone can but asses in the seats it's him and we know he is the biggest seller of merchandise in the company, well he was before this latest bout of trouble at least. I personally think it's a real bad idea to give it back to Hardy but I suppose they will have to live by whatever decision they make.

I looked forward to any feedback you want to leave, either below this article, email at wlhstu@aol.co.uk or on twitter @WLHSTU

Cena, Rock, Survivor Series - Why It Fails By Shaun Nichols

The Rock's return should be a major event and I should be looking forward to it, but I have to be honest I'm not. I fail to see why the WWE think it's a good idea to put Cena and The Rock together in a match. The Rock's return to PPV will definitely mean a boost to PPV business and it may even double what last years event did. However that would be the same or even better if they kept Cena and The Rock away from one another.
The fans made it clear on the post-Wrestlemania Raw that they do not want to see The Rock being friends with John Cena, when The Rock did attempt to put over Cena by endorsing him all that happened was that the fans booed The Rock. Quite the result when you think that all The Rock was trying to do was make the WWE's biggest star even more popular. The fans do not want them to be on the same side, they do not want them to be friends but what they do want to see is The Rock give John Cena an ass kicking of a lifetime.
So apparently having learned this lesson to keep the two of them apart. We got the occasional promo from both guys trying to bury the other and reminding the fans that they will finally meet at next year's Wrestlemania. Great that's what they should be doing.
Then in a move that frankly defies belief if you give a damn about booking logic the WWE decide that John Cena should team with The Rock at the Survivor Series. During the summer if you have been watching Raw regularly you will have noticed that John Cena can beat Miz and R-Truth on his own. The Miz and R-Tuth have in no way been made into ruthless kick ass heels, they have not been booked strongly and were acknowledged on TV that they were brought back to the company because they are good ass kissers in a backstage segment with John Lauranitis. Well that makes me want to take them seriously.
In the handicap match that led to this PPV main event, John Cena was comfortably beating up both men until R-Truth in desperation had to resort to using a foreign object to lead to the DQ loss. So this leads to an obvious question, if Miz and Truth can't beat Cena cleanly 2 on 1 then why does Cena feel the need to call for help from a man that he doesn't even like because he feels that no-one else is cut out to help him. It's ridiculous he could partner Jim Ross and they would still be favourites to beat Miz and R-Truth.
The following week The Rock does a promo where he teases that he won't team with Cena but then because the fans want him to then he will because he's all about pleasing the fans. He then says that he thinks that The Miz and R-Truth badly need to get the asses kicked. Why? I can't remember them cutting promos against The Rock, its a real stretch to understand The Rock's motivation for aiding his enemy against two wrestlers who he doesn't seem to have any issues with.
It's also a really big leap of faith to accept that The Rock was convinced to do the match because his fans want him to team with Cena. When he did his taped promo the fans in the arena reacted biggest when he said that he wouldn't team with Cena. Here was a man with principles, a man that didn't want to stand with Cena but rather beat him up. And then he said he would team with Cena and the arena just sighed. Sort of excited to get to see The Rock return to the ring but not exactly thrilled with the match that they would get to see the Great One in.
To further build to this very anti-climatic PPV showdown, Cena yet again defeated The Miz by making him tap to the STF despite an attempt by R-Truth to interfere a couple of minutes earlier. After the match R-Truth tried again and Cena left him laying as well. So as Raw drew to a close we get to see Cena standing tall as he stands over both Miz and R-Truth and we ask the question again why does he need The Rock to help him? On commentary Jerry Lawler said that the only way Miz and R-Truth can win is if Cena and The Rock can't get along and basically cost themselves the match. Great way to sell me a PPV main event?
The only possible way that this match could be saved would be for either Cena or The Rock to turn on the other. But unfortunately circumstances indicate this isn't possible. The fans are not going to turn on The Rock if he attacks Cena and anyway The Rock has to be a babyface at Wrestlemania as it will be held in his hometown. The WWE will not turn Cena, despite the 'Cena Sux' chants, he is clearly the company's biggest star and he moves the majority of the merchandise. So they may tease problems but they will win and The Rock will disappear for a few months and as a fan watching I'll think what a waste of time. It will not make me any more excited to see Cena-Rock at Mania, they will have made The Miz and R-Truth yet again look like goofs and then wonder why we don't them take them seriously.

You Can’t See What’s Cooking At Survivor Series By Azan Saigol

So it has been a while since I’ve written an article, been taking care of some college applications. FINALLY I have returned, (just like The Rock). So let’s get right into this.

In two weeks is one of WWE’s Big Four PPV’S. The main event as well all know is Cena and The Rock vs. Miz and R truth. Everyone’s excited for this match simply because it’s the great ones return to the ring after seven years. After watching Raw for the past three weeks personally I feel as if this match needs more time to buildup on Raw. First off you need The Rock on Raw to do that. Secondly they need to show that R truth and Miz have an edge over Cena/Rock simply because we already know who’s going to win. Maybe they should simply have Rock/Cena not get along building up to the PPV. Overall this match is great as it being held in Madison Square Garden, which is just another way to promote Cena vs. Rock. Not only that but Miz and R truth will get a great boost and I don’t see why they wont be holding the tag titles after Survivor Series IF this match goes as planned.

Moving on, It is official that Mick Foley is back in the WWE. As he made his debut in Ireland this past week running in and putting Mr. Socko into Miz’s mouth. Now the bigger question is which storyline does Mick fit into? My guess would be HHH Vs. Nash, As a special referee of course. He did it once before and he can sure as hell do it again. Speaking of Kevin Nash.. He’s a main eventer again WHOOHOOO. (Sense the sarcasm?)

But honestly the way Nash attacked HHH was great, I haven’t seen someone get “injured” like that in a while on Raw. This story looks great as far as HHH out for 5 weeks I don’t think that’s true. This is going to be a great match IF it takes place at the Garden! And the stipulation would be great to see.

Now lets discuss Mark Henry and the Big Show as we all know that Show got his match vs. Henry this week on SD (sorry for spoilers LOL) .. Well really I don’t know what’s going to happen. I mean after seeing the ring collapse I don’t see Henry pinning Show clean, its either Show winning the title or Henry gets some outside help (care to disagree? HIT me up on Twitter! @azansaigol)

The second world title match is between Del Rio and Punk. Well as most of us know IF we read the dirt sheets Punk wont be winning the title. So im guessing after Del Rio wins punk will probably get one more re match. I’m hoping for a great match between these two. Would be awesome to see Punk take the title at the Garden. Then again this has been the year of Del Rio and he has indeed been the highlight of the “Big Four ”PPV’S. So Del Rio walking out with the title is pretty much expected. Also it will be CRAZY when punk honors The Macho Man with his Elbow drop at the Garden a place where Savage helped build!

Well this is about it for my article
Survivor series is live November 27 2011! It is worth the 40 dollars just because the Great One is wrestling! If I were you I would buy it! Also this would be a great time to tell you all to pick up the New Age Outlaws Shoot video that is coming out on the 21st Of November available for only 10 dollars message NAO at newageoutlaws@yahoo.com for more information!

I hope you all enjoyed this article IF any of you care to disagree with anything or have anything to add to this article or want to just talk about wrestling in general hit me up on twitter @azansaigol or E-mail azan.saigol7@gmail.com

The Indy Corner Presents An Interview with 'Prince' Fergal Devitt

Q: What are your memories of wrestling growing up –were you a big British Bulldog mark like myself and most other young UK wrestling fans? Which wrestlers inspired you to make this your career?

A: Actually one of my earliest memories, and the only memory I have of my granddad is of watching world of sport wrestling with him on a Saturday afternoon.... then when Sky came to Ireland I was a huge Ultimate Warrior fan, and The Rockers. I used to love everyone, especially the lads that moved around a bit Rude, Perfect, Razon Ramon, Savio Vega... I was never a huge Bulldog fan at that age.

Q: I read you played gaelic football when you were younger. Any ambitions to become a professional gaelic footballer, or did you always know you wanted to be a wrestler? Then again, I’ve seen Gaelic football – being a pro wrestler is probably less dangerous!

A: There is no such thing as a professional gaelic player, even at the top level the sport is played for pride of county. The players don't get paid which might sound insane to people watching the premiership. I played at quiet a high level and achieved quite a lot as a player, But when i started wresting at 18 that slowly started to take over and become my passion and gaelic football slowly phased out of my life over the following few years.

Q: You were relatively young when you made the choice to go to the USA to pursue your career as a professional wrestler. How difficult was the decision? What did your family and friends think about you going to the States at a young age?

A: If you want something bad enough there is NO hard decisions, you simply do EVERYTHING it takes to do to follow your dream. Its an easy choice, stay in Ireland and UK and imagine doing SOMETHING with wrestling OR go out and MAKE EVERYTHING happen! My family supported me, I'm sure some people though I was a dreamer and I would be back in a few months, because I thought the same too.

Q: You are now most well known for your career in New Japan Pro Wrestling where you have been extremely successful. What were the early days of training in the NJPW dojo like? Everyone has heard horror stories of how hard and intense the training is, how did you find it? How did it compare to the other training you had undergone in the UK and the US?

A: The horror stories are true, 1000 squats, 100's of push ups, cardio drills, endless bumps, etc etc, everyone knows what goes on in the dojo. But that is a small price to pay to wrestle for one or the most prestigious companies in the world. I was lucky to have come up the hard way. Andre Baker at hammerlock was no pushover when it came to training. They were some of the hardest sessions you could imagine, and having training like that behind me, and then my few months in the LA dojo had somewhat prepared me for what was to come in Tokyo. There are no short cuts training, you just have to DO IT! Simple. If you can do 1 squat you can do a 1000 squats, its just a mental wall in your head stopping you, all you need is some guts to push your self over that wall.

Q: In your early career in NJPW you were compared to Chris Beniot and even given the Pegasus Kid 2 gimmick. How did you feel about this at the time? Was it flattering to be compared to a worker as skilled and respected as Benoit was at that time? Or was it a case of you not wanting to be the 2nd Pegasus Kid but the first Prince Devitt?

A: It was flattering, but for me I was never a Benoit fan, I could never see the comparisons apart from being a foreigner in the dojo. Exactly I never wanted to be the next anyone, I cant understand people that think like that. I want to be ME

Q: Since your debut in NJPW you’ve worked regularly with one of the biggest legends in Japan, namely Jushin Thunder Liger, a man who revolutionized pro wrestling in the 90s with his gimmick, in-ring style and also his idea to create the Super J Cup. What are your thoughts on Liger? What kind of impact has he had on your career?

A: A fantastic man behind the mask. Welcomed me with open arms at the dojo, and has helped my training and development in the ring no end. I'm still learning and picking up things from him every time we lock up. Its the simplest of things, that most people wont even notice, but even still it blows me away to think I hadn't noticed it before. And whats more impressive is that he is showing no signs of slowing down!

Q: You have had a lot of success in tournaments in NJPW with wins in the J Sports Crown 6 Man Openweight Tag Team tournament. As well as a run to the final in the Super J Cup in 2009. After the disappointment of suffering injuries in the 2007 and 2008 BOTSJ tournament you got to the final in 2009 and of course won the whole thing in 2010. How important have these tournaments been to your career in NJPW? Why do you think the US promotions don’t use this same model to help establish new stars?

A: Injuries are a part of wrestling, and I've had my fair share but I won't complain, sometimes they have actually forced me to work harder and smarted and therefore have made me a better wrestler for it. I love the tournament format, people watching, the fans in the building, they know how hard the lads are working, when they see you walk through the curtain for sometimes the your 3rd match of the night, having already wrestled every night for the last 2-3 weeks straight to get there and you can feel the respect and the anticipation in the building. Of course when your presented in these situation time and time again it gave me the perfect stage to show people what i could do and gain some credibility as a serious challenger to the title. It is used in the states to an extent in king of the ring and the best of the best I think its called…? but in the states they relay more on stories telling to establish new stars so opposed to the Japanese method of work rate.

Q: Was your IWGP Jnr Championship win against Marufuji must have been the greatest moment of your career to date? Could you believe that the same kid from Ireland who started training 10 years before had now won one of the most prestigious titles in pro wrestling against a legend like Marufuji? It must have felt like a dream come true. How much did that moment mean to you?

A: It was a dream come true, but at the same time i wasn't bowled over by the moment. Obviously facing Marufuji, who I consider to be one of the finest workers in japan, was a big honor in it self. It had been a long and hard road to that point in my career so i didn't feel out of my depth but I was something that I had wondered maybe i was going to keep coming up short in attempting to active so in a way it was a relief. I was happy with the way the match went and mostly for the reaction for the NJPW fans in Osaka that night.

Q: NJPW really allowed you the chance to ‘run with the ball’ as the IWGP Jnr Champion, your Title reign lasted over a year and you faced some of the best Jnr wrestlers in the world during that run. No doubt a lot of the matches hold a special place for you. But if you had to list your top 3 favourite title defences, which would they be?

A: To be honest I can't remember many of the title matches, and I felt that the title run it self was hampered by injuries and that I could have gotten a lot more out of many of the matches. The match at the dome with Ibushi stands out in my mind only for the fact that it is a huge milestone in anyone's career to have a singles title match at the dome coupled with the fact that my parents had traveled out from Ireland to see it made it without a doubt that standout moment of the reign. Hopefully I can recreate a something like that I'm my 2nd reign.

Q: I’m going to name some wrestlers and I’d like you to give me one word or phrase that you would associate with them:

Kenny Omega - Ultimate Warrior
Kota Ibushi - graceful
Minoru - perfectionist
Ryusuke Taguchi - under-ratted
Giant Bernard - Gentleman
Koji Kanemoto - Face-wash
MVP - Dr.Dre
Davey Richards - Intense

Q: I know probably always get asked this question but have you had any offers from WWE to work for them? Does working for WWE interest you? If you did work for WWE do you think you’d be able to keep the style of in-ring work that has made you so successful in Japan?

A: It interests me very much. I'm sure a time will come where I want to try new things and new challenges and if the time was right i would absolutely be open to it. Its important for me to keep pushing forward and keep pushing myself. As regards style in the ring, it's still going to be Fergal Devitt, regardless of what name or guise I would be under, beneath it all it will still be me and I will work just as hard there as i would in NJPW.

Q: Who are you favourite wrestlers working today?

A: Nakamura, Tanahashi, Karl Anderson, Gedo, Orton, Cena, Ziggler, Paddy Morrow, Sean Maxer Brennan

Q: As a pioneer and inspiration to all UK based wrestlers, what advice would give to them to help them achieve their dreams of becoming a successful pro wrestler?

A: The person that will help you the most in life is YOURSELF. All it takes to get where you want to be is EVERYTHING. No 'what if's?'

Q: Finally, if you could have a dream match with any wrestler, past or present, who would it be with and why?

A: Shawn Michaels, in my opinion the greatest performer ever.

WLH & The Indy Corner would like to thank Fergal VERY much to take the time out of his schedule for doing this interview. And as WLH editor-in-chief I would personally like to thanks our very own WLHDuckman for constructing the interview for the site.

I hope you all enjoyed it.

Wrestling And The Internet by @buzzuk

The introduction of wrestling hotlines in the 1980's was huge business, for the first time people were talking about wrestling and giving you so called inside information. These were huge but in they still managed to keep the mystery to it all. You still had kayfabe, and the wrestlers on screen were their characters, you believed the Undertaker lived his live like that. It added to the power of what you watching.

Then gradually wrestling started to change in what it was showing and gradually the wrestling fan changed, they wanted to know more, they wanted to know what was going to happen before anyone sense. They also got a thirst for talking about wrestling with other people, they wanted to to like minded people and discuss the programming and in a lot of cases moan and complain about what was and what wasn't happening. Everyone thought they were. Booker, a promoter and better wrestlers, and then came along the greatest thing ever to a wrestling fan..... THE INTERNET

The Internet gave wrestling fans that place to vent and argue with one another round the world, there was wrestling sites popping up everywhere. It seemed at one point, unless you owned and were part of a wrestling website then you just were not a wrestling fan.

The Internet also bought about, in my opinion, the end of surprises in wrestling. Once the Internet became more readily available and as technology improved people from the industry or some who knew someone could have that information out in the wide world ready for everyone else to see. Taking away the days of turning on a TV show or PPV and getting a surprise return someone signing from another company. You could read about it in advance and that in it's self could be the difference between watching or buying a show and not.

The Internet fan was different to any other fan, the internet fan made his opinion very clear, if they thought your match sucked or thought you were just god awful then that is exactly what they put. There were a lot of wrestlers who started to hate the Internet fan, they didn't like being slagged off by some one probably sat in their mums basement getting out of breath just typing, telling them how to do their job.

I know that it is ironic that I am writing about such a thing when I read a lot of wrestling sites, I have written about wrestling for a long time on and off and the fact that your reading this right now on a wrestling site.

The reason I bring up now is the fact that we seem to have gone full circle in the sense that wrestling is now embracing the internet and social media. The use of twitter has exploded with the wrestling world, people can comment live as it happens with others, they can talk about a certain topic worldwide and have it trending. That right there has to be for someone like Vince McMahon a dream come true when people are talking about your show to the point it is one of the most talked about things in the world.

WWE alone have embraced twitter to the point they are putting the wrestlers handles on the screen graphic as they enter the ring and also encourage the use of hash tags for their show. You can't buy advertising and surveying like it, you instantly have a fans response to show at your fingers as it happens.

The word is that this is just the beginning, word is that WWE have big plans possibly set up with twitter for a major show in the future.

The Internet and wrestling will continue to grow and change the way it is viewed by its current fans and the future generation of fans as they become more interactive and with more information available to them at their finger tips.

Let me have your thoughts via twitter @buzzuk