Welcome to another edition of Home schooling, my weekly blog about the goings on in this funny little thing we call professional wrestling. Or maybe that should be this funny massive thing. Anyway, I am The Aussie Mouthpiece, and hopefully you like what I have to say, and that's why you're here reading this.
Topics covered this week will include RAW, TNA's bound for glory (which I haven't seen, but I did read about and have some thoughts), Secrets of the Ring with Raven (all 5 volumes), and Mick Foley. I'm also in the process of writing a more specific blog about great promos, so that should also be up in the next few days.
I'm going to start with Bound for Glory. Now as I've said in the past, I haven't watched TNA for a long time. since around Destination X i'm talking about. I've been keeping up to date on what's been happening mostly through news sites, reading the results of the iMPACT shows, and then more recently today, the Bound For Glory results.
I don't have a lot to talk about, just a few things that intrigued me. Firstly, Hogan did the job. I assume you all know what I mean. I was kind of shocked when I saw that result. Hogan lost? Really? .. Wow. Maybe the 5th back surgery removed a part of his ego as well as fixing his back.
All i really have to say about Hogan losing is.. GOOD. Sting is still wrestling full time, and especially because Hogan said he wouldn't take bumps, if he had won it would have crapped all over Sting, and TNA in general.
While i'm talking about Hogan I want to mention Robert Roode not winning the title. Now, this whole Bound for Glory series was a tournament and the payoff was getting a match against the champion at Bound for glory right? Sounds kind of similar to the Royal Rumble concept, in the sense that it's pushing a new face up to the World title picture.
So why did the guy who won this *really* long tournament (only thing longer has been NXT.. week 142 i think we're up to now right?).. why did he not win? That just completely takes all the momentum out of his push. Bad decision. I read maybe they're thinking of having him win at Impact or the next ppv?.. How is that going to mean anywhere near as much as winning at TNA's "wrestlemania"? Dropping the ball.. well i guess in TNA's case it's more like.. "still not picking up the ball and it fell down a drain into the sewer".
And Hogan was talking on Radio or something saying that Roode wasn't ready? and that he isn't a main event guy or something? Before the event? Burying the guy before the pay per view? If the guy in control is saying Roode isn't ready, and you can't tell if it's a work or not.. why would that make anyone want to buy the PPV?
And then Hogan took a shot at AJ Styles because Styles stood up for Roode and TNA in general? Hogan.. just leave. You're only there for a paycheck and to boost your own ego. TNA would do better without you.
Ok onto cheery happy things, Velvet Sky won the Knockouts title. That is awesome! She was a favourite of mine when I watched, both for the obvious reasons, and also because you could see her trying (and succeeding) to improve in the ring, and you could tell she loved wrestling and wasn't there to be a model.
So congratulations to her.
I just quickly watched RAW tonight, didn't see everything, most of it bored me. Most of it felt like stuff i'd already seen.
I have a few comments about the show though.
Why did Laurinitis get so much promo time this week, when he is absolutely terrible, and yet, CM Punk, the guy who really shot to the level he's at right now because of his promo work YET AGAIN have no mic time?
Sure, his reactions to what Miz and Truth said were really good, and really funny, but the guy is known (at the moment) for saying controversial things, for his "pipebombs" .. and he doesn't get a chance to talk?? What is that??
David Otunga on WWE is a waste of time. Stiff as a board, Laurinitis is a better talker than him (yep, i said it), and more importantly, not really talented. I get the feeling he's going to be known as "the guy who sipped out of the tartan cup" ... or whatever the hell that is.
Immigration problems? And yet again Laurinitis stops a match half way through. Abusing power? Yes. Entertaining tv? No. Makes me stop watching? Yes.
At least J.R got a positive send off this time, no colon surgery spoof, or any other embarassing final moment. A match with Cena, and also getting to make Cole tap out. Problem is now we're going to have to hear Cole's whining about it.
One positive to me was Dolph Ziggler. So good on the microphone. And he's been really entertaining doing his little Ask the Heel spots on Zack Ryder's youtube show. Maybe instead of adding heel to the list of names he used this week, the show stealer.. i don't remember the other one, he should keep the gimmick going of finishing an "Ask the heel" by saying "Hashtag Heel". That would work well in this social networking era.
That's about it for RAW, other than it's getting less interesting to me. Hopefully things pick up again before Survivor Series. I really want it to be good. At this stage i'm not ordering Vengeance because again, it's another pay per view what.. 3 weeks after the last one? Space it out more WWE...
Ok onto Secrets of the Ring. For those who don't know or haven't heard of it, the Secrets of the Ring with Raven is a shoot style interview series that Ring Of Honor did I think something like 6 years ago with Raven, and I think also a few other people have done a Secrets of the Ring. I know that Jim Cornette and Al Snow have done an edition.
Anyway, I couldn't talk about everything in Raven's series (5 dvds!) even if i had 3 hours to do so. Basically each dvd covers a different part about wrestling. How to be a Babyface, Star power and Charisma, Odds and Ends (like etiquette), how to be a heel, and how to work angles. Anyone who's seen any of them I'm sure would agree with me that listening to Raven talk about this stuff is amazing. I watched all 5 dvds in one day, so we're talking nearly 10 hours of basically watching someone sit on a chair and talk.
He covers so much stuff, talks about his experiences, even gives a few demonstrations, and it's really just opened my eyes to a new way of looking at matches and what makes them good and what makes them bad.
I will probably even go back and watch them a second, third, maybe fourth time in the near future. They're that good.
I highly, highly recommend them if you can find good copies. (or illegal copies, you dirty pirates.. har har har...)
Last but most certainly not least, Mick Foley. Again wanting to talk about him came about from watching his Straight Shootin dvd, once again also from Ring of Honor. It came out I think maybe 2005, it was before the first ECW one night stand I think. I'm not entirely sure,but I do know that the last match he talks about wrestling in the WWE on this dvd is the amazing match he had at Backlash 2004 with Orton.
I'll never forget the first time I watched that match. Seeing (at the time) "pretty boy" Randy Orton bleeding, and then dropping into those tacks.. my jaw was on the floor. Also at seeing Mick still take that beating. Of course at the time I was upset that Mick didn't win, but of course now I realise he was putting Orton over to help get him over.
So I watched his shoot, he talked about Ric Flair a lot. Which was really interesting to hear parts of that, that I hadn't heard before, not having read Flair's (or Foley's) books. Mick always speaks very well, speaks from the heart, and it's always entertaining to listen to him.
I've since started reading his first book, and really liking it so far. I would imagine once i get through it (i'm not a huge book reader) I'll want to read his other two as well. But once again I definitely recommend getting the Straight Shootin with Mick Foley, and also Mick Foley's Greatest Hits and Misses, especially for the Mick/Vader match where Vader breaks Mick's nose.
While you're at it, get the straight shootin with Jim Cornette and Percy Pringle DVD. The stories are amazing and funny. Especially a gem about Undertaker.
That's about all I have to say for this week, hopefully i'll have my extra blog up in the next couple of days, so keep checking my twitter or just keep checking this page. I'm going to start doing more of them, reviewing old pay per views, talking about specific wrestlers etc. So hopefully I get some positive feedback on this first one.
Until then, don't forget you can follow me on Twitter if you're not already at @TheOZMouthpiece .. leave me a comment if you want, and for now, that's it and that's all!
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