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10/17 Dot Net One Shots: The Dot Net staff give their quick thoughts from the previous week in WWE, TNA, MMA and indie wrestling

Posted in: Blogs, MUST-READ LISTING
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Oct 17, 2013 - 04:30 PM

Welcome to the Dot Net One Shots. Each week, we will present a quick "one shot" thought from each staff member about the previous week in each of the following areas: WWE, TNA and Other (MMA, Indies, etc).

WWE

Will Pruett (Twitter - @itswilltime): Despite the misplaced focus in the main event of Raw, the moment of Cody Rhodes and Goldust winning the WWE Tag Team Championships resonated with me. These two could be major players for WWE in the next few months. Their renewed push is a result of the current main event story in WWE, which is a mixed bag at best, but could have some desirable effects.

Jeff Lutz (Twitter - @JeffreyDLutz): WWE almost seems to be letting fans dictate the story line involving Big Show, Triple H, etc., and at the very least is engaged in some pretty ludicrous reactionary booking. Once the complaints over babyfaces never standing up to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon reached their peak, it happened, basically out of nowhere. Once pleas for Big Show to finally do the right thing and stop putting up with Triple H and Stephanie's psychological abuse, he knocked out Triple H. And once calls for Triple H to finally act like a full-fledged heel got the loudest, he became a full-fledged heel. Fans are getting their wishes, but WWE is presenting viewers with rapid and clunky character changes that it just becomes confusing, rather than exciting, for the viewers. WWE doesn't appear to have mapped out a middle- or end-point for this angle, and is once again booking on the fly while listening too closely to feedback surrounding it.

Zack Zimmerman (Twitter - @InVasionZim): I don't get why Triple H and Big Show are being portrayed as the centerpieces of WWE right now. They've taken all of the heat away from the Orton-Bryan WWE Title program, and this week, they had to overshadow the Rhodes Brothers and the most meaningful tag title win in recent memory. I'm not the typical Triple H hater, but dude, get the hell out of the way and let the current stars, who are over with fans, shine.

Darren Gutteridge (Twitter - @Dazatheg): It's amazing that WWE puts out 6 hours of primetime programming a week, but still can't find time to give 95% of the roster promo time. Important things tend to go down on Raw, but why couldn't Bryan or the Rhodes boys get one quarter on SD to speak their minds? It seems unless you're the guy in the main event feud, you only get to speak at length during Wrestlemania season.

Chris Shore (Twitter - @TheShoreSlant): As much as I want to hate the return of John Cena to WWE, I'm taking solace in knowing that at least the top of the card will return to normal once he is back and the focus of the company. Right now, who is the top guy? Is it Daniel Bryan or Big Show? Who is the top heel? Is it Randy Orton or Triple H/Stephanie? The all over the place organization of the card won't get better from top to bottom once Cena returns, but at least the top of the card will settle into something recognizable.

TNA

Will Pruett: There is one show left to sell fans on Bound for Glory and build up the stories on this show to reach their climaxes. I don't feel like this is happening. Bound for Glory doesn't feel like a major show despite having some attractive matches on the card.

Jeff Lutz: The longer Hulk Hogan lasts as a free agent, the more likely he is to re-sign with TNA. If we know anything about Hogan, it's that he likes to feel important. WWE probably isn't too interested in a courtship or a bidding war with Hogan, and TNA likely values his services more, even though he's essentially a useless part of the show. I imagine WWE made its offer -- maybe not even a serious one -- and moved one, while Hogan looks to squeeze every possible dime out of Dixie Carter and Spike TV. His comments regarding one more match were probably a negotiating tool, too, as he can try to convince Carter and Spike that a huge payday will be attached to his in-ring return.

Zack Zimmerman: I'm having a difficult time justifying paying $50 to watch Bound for Glory. The build has been lackluster, the storylines aren't intriguing, and my interest in the company is virtually nonexistent. They say "if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all..." Well, J-Pow may have a silent co-host on the BFG post-show audio.

Chris Shore: Bound for Glory is one of those cards that look good on paper, and will probably deliver a great show, but just doesn't have the right hype going in. When TNA switched to this PPV format I championed the decision and was excited to see how they used the longer gaps between shows. Sadly, for every PPV since the change I have pointed out the giant blocks of time either wasted or telling a different story than the one they needed to tell. If you order BFG Sunday I think you walk away satisfied, but I fully admit that TNA hasn't given you a good reason to trust me on that.

Other (MMA, Indies, Etc)

Will Pruett (PWG): On Saturday night I'll be in Reseda once again for PWG's Matt Rushmore. I'm interested to see how Adam Cole, Kevin Steen, and The Young Bucks mesh as a heel faction. PWG is basically wrestling distilled to pure fun. I'm looking forward to it.

Jeff Lutz (Bellator): I covered a Bellator show just outside of my hometown last week and discovered that I am the very definition of a casual MMA fan. I did thorough preparation for writing about the event, which featured local product David "Caveman" Rickels in a lightweight bout, but outside of a work environment I'm not too interested in learning about the technical aspects of the sport. It is and always will be most interesting for me when someone gets viciously knocked out. I can also become interested in MMA's personalities, but outside of Brock Lesnar I haven't found one that I like or want to root for. They all seem the same to me. Another takeaway from Friday's show is that Bellator will never, ever be a threat to UFC. There aren't very many ways to present cage fighting, and with better fighters, better production and more money, UFC will always dominate the sport. Bellator, like TNA, is falling back on using past stars from the more prominent organization (Tito Ortiz vs. Rampage Jackson in Bellator's first PPV event next month) instead of giving their marquee spots to the young, talented fighters they have.

Zack Zimmerman (Rhodes Bros): Joey Styles tweeted something that struck me as odd. He reached out to the Twitterverse for potential tag team names for Cody Rhodes and Goldust. Now, if you have two brothers who share a last name, and are the sons of one of the most popular wrestlers of all time, why on earth wouldn't "The Rhodes Brothers" be an acceptable and marketable team name? No? Then may I suggest the "Rhodes Closed for Construction"? Or perhaps the "Two Scoops of Rocky Rhodes in a Cone"?

Darren Gutteridge (NXT): Xavier Woods getting named dropped is (more the likely) not by accident. What better way is there for HHH to get over as the new Mr. McMahon than by giving a new guy a chance to join the main roster, only for him to be brutally beaten week in, week out? Woods is good candidate too due to his instant like-ability and comedic character.

Chris Shore (WWE.com): I may be one of the few, but I enjoy what WWE does on their website to continue storytelling. The Michael Cole and Triple H videos have been a hit as a whole, the Backstage Fallout videos can have good moments, and the interviews often make more sense than what we see on TV. Now if they would just push the damn website during the show maybe more fans would benefit from the extra storytelling.

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