The Iceman Was Awesome!

Last night, myself, Dan-e-o and Frank Fronte gathered at Darkside's home to catch the biggest pay-per-view event of 2007. UFC 66 featured a huge money fight in the main event, an and intriguing undercard.

In the end, this show totally delivered.

As expected, Chuck Liddell retained the Light Heavyweight Title by knocking out Tito Ortiz again. What suprised us was how long it took. At several points through the first two rounds, Darkside proclaimed that if Tito won, he'd be firmly convinced that the UFC was fixed. When Tito was down in the first round and in trouble, Liddell seemed to back off - adding to Darkside's conspiracy theory.

In the end, The Iceman knocked out his old buddy and was really never in any danger.


The big "O" of the night came just before the main event when crowd fav Forrest Griffen was (as he put it in the post fight interview) "knocked the fuck out" by 'The Dean Of Mean' Keith Jardine.

I really liked the look of this fight on paper. Forrest beat Stephan Bonnar by decision, and Bonnar beat Jardine (altough I thought Jardine deserved to win that one). Both guys like to stand and trade strikes, which is exactly what they did. Griffin got caught though. Late in the first round he was rocked, hit the canvas and was out cold. When he opened his eyes he had Jardine on top of him filling his face his stiff punches. Big John stopped the fight and the crowd was stunned.

The truth is, this result won't hurt young Griffin a damn bit. He's still going to be popular and be a good draw. In fact, he's now a bigger fav because he's an even bigger underdog. Jardine has cemented himself as a star in the division. Jardine-Griffin II should be great.

One of the other highlights was when Mirko Crocop and Quentin Jackson were mentioned as being part of the UFC. Crocop will own the heavyweight division, and Jackson will add even more personality to the light heavyweights.

Here are the results for the entire card.

• Christian Wellisch defeated Anthony Perosh by Decision (Unanimous)
  
• Yushin Okami defeated Rory Singer by Submission (Strikes) 4:03 of 3rd Round
  
• Gabriel Gonzaga defeated Carmelo Marrero by Submission (Armbar) 3:22 of 1st Round
  
• Thiago Alves defeated Tony DeSouza by KO (Knee) 1:10 of 1st Round
  
• Michael Bisping defeated Eric Schafer by TKO (Strikes) 4:24 of 1st Round
  
• Andrei Arlovski defeated Marcio Cruz by KO (Strikes) 3:15 of 1st Round
  
• Jason MacDonald defeated Chris Leben by Submission (Guillotine Choke) 4:03 of 2nd Round
  
• Keith Jardine defeated Forrest Griffin by TKO (Strikes) 4:41 of 1st Round
  
• Chuck Liddell defeated Tito Ortiz by TKO (Strikes)3:59 of 3rd Round
  

I'm curious to hear what you all thought of the show.

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Bag O' MMA News

The two biggest stories in the MMA world lately have been that of Fedor Emelianenko’s contract expiring, and Mirko Crocop’s migration to the UFC.

Firstly, Fedor’s contract as PRIDE Heavyweight champion has seen him fight some of the best in the world; Crocop, Nogueira, Herring, Coleman and now Hunt.

However, he has now been signed to fight for the upstart MMA organization Bodog, run by the casino giants. He is scheduled to fight in the spring next year, against (most likely) Jeff “the Snowman” Monson. This is scheduled to take place in Russia, where Fedor is allowed to fight whilst still remaining within his PRIDE contract.

This may be put back, as Fedor’s broken toe is a concern to his team, but he will still be taking on exciting Oceanic fighter Mark Hunt on New Year’s Eve. Hunt is a former K-1 World Grand Prix Champion with the best chin in MMA.

If Fedor was to leave, what would happen? There are a variety of ways you could view this. It could be viewed as a minor setback in PRIDE’s phoenix-like return from the ashes, or like the captain of the Titanic taking one of the few lifeboats left to safety.

PRIDE’s financial situation is only getting worse; the promised TV deal that was meant to emerge in November never came, and now it looks like the first Shockwave without a Japanese TV deal will go to air on New Years Eve.

There is still no word on the commentator for that event, so I would assume that it would be Craig Minervini, the same guy who called the USA event. Mauro Ranallo’s departure, I predict, will be a definite sore spot.

Mirko Crocop is expected to be fight for the UFC, after being unveiled on tomorrow night’s huge show. His first fight will be against Eddie Sanchez, although the date has not been confirmed. This will be a groundbreaking event, and will certainly add legitimacy to the weak UFC Heavyweight division. Not only will it give Tim Sylvia, Brandon Vera and Andrei Arlovski competition, but it is also a major coup for the UFC to gain PRIDE’s reigning absolute champion.

The only problem that Crocop may encounter will be the ban of Soccer kicks, but a Mirko Crocop with Elbows allowed may be even more of a threat. Although he is definitely ready for Tim Sylvia, the fact that 90% of the American market has not even heard of PRIDE will mean that they must first spend time advertising the Croatian sensation to UFC’s core audience.

Liddell vs Ortiz is being hailed as one of the most exciting events that they have ever been put on. The undercard does not look completely thrilling, but the past few UFC events have been worth watching. This show is expected to do an astronomical number of buys, with estimates being anywhere from 750,000 to 1,500,000. These are numbers that Vince McMahon can only wish he was getting, as recent WWE PPVs have been reported to have done little more than break even.

Infact, recent statistics have shown that in terms of buy-rates among the top 10 combat sport PPV’s this year, WWE only had one that made the cut. WrestleMania 22. The UFC had 4, and Boxing took the remaining 5.

Liddell vs Ortiz 2 is a fight which is interesting with many ramifications. If Tito wins, former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture is reportedly interested in having a rematch against him. Last time around, Tito was humbled with a good old fashioned spanking, and the Huntington Beach Bad Boy would certainly not want such a humiliation to occur again – especially if he was champion.

Frank Shamrock is reported to be fighting in the new Showtime promotion against Renzo Gracie in the spring, after pulling out of his match with the New York Bad Ass, Phil Baroni.

The K-1 New Year’s eve MMA show is looking horrific, with one of the main attractions being Akebono vs Giant Silva. To be honest, that match does not equal buy-rates. It equals major boredom, unless either fighter has been training with a new gym.

To conclude this week’s rant, I hope that you had a great holiday, a great Christmas and an even happier new year.

As always,

Luke.

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The Purpose of Television

I have wanted to write this article for a long time in response to all the talk about TNA “iMPACT!” going to two hours. I have thought for a while that for TNA to succeed they need two hours of television per week. I no longer believe that at all.

After watching “Countdown to UFC 66”, I am now a firm believer that one hour is all you need. I don’t want people to tell me that the two shows are different and that you can’t compare the two.

In 60 minutes, UFC sold me on their biggest fight of the year (Tito Ortiz VS. Chuck Lidell) while I spent the hour before trying to figure out what was happening on “iMPACT!” - and I am not any more interested in seeing Final Resolution as a result.

I realized after watching these two programs what the purpose of television is for - as it relates to Mixed Martial Arts and Pro Wrestling companies. Television is still the strongest medium to expose your product. No matter what anyone says about the internet, more people watch television today than ever before. Therefore, for any MMA or Pro Wrestling company to succeed, they need to use a television property as a vehicle to sell their product and to create other revenue streams (pay-per-view, merchandise, live events).

I am sick of hearing smarks talk about ratings as if they are the 'be all and end all'. This is the lowdown about television ratings: They mean NOTHING unless money is being made off the commercials. Higher ratings are good because that means you can sell commercial time for more money. However, none of the major companies including TNA, UFC or WWE make money off commercials.

Ratings don’t mean anything if you cannot entice your viewing audience to spend money on your pay-per-view or live event shows.

UFC is, by far, the best at getting their audience to spend money on pay-per-view. They often have 25% of the television audience of “Raw” and outdraw WWE 7-1 in pay-per-view buys. UFC understands the game; television is a means to an end. I bet you anything that the “Countdown to UFC 66” show will draw a lower rating than any “Raw” or “SmackDown!” did this entire year. I will also bet that this PPV will draw over one million buys, a number WWE can only dream of.

TNA and WWE don’t get it. This past week’s edition of “iMPACT!” had a super rushed segment where Samoa Joe was being presented with a “Mr. TNA” award and then watched Kurt Angle give his girlfriend an ankle lock. The segment was strong but was way too rushed to mean anything. If that segment was at least ten minutes long, the audience would have possibly cared more, or maybe found out what the name of the girl was that Kurt was hurting.

WWE can barely get 5% of their domestic television audience to buy pay-per-view. Why? Is it maybe because fans don’t care to pay money to see matches they can see for free? Why would you spend $40 to see DX and John Cena when you can catch them on “Raw” the next night, wrestling for free! When was the last time you saw Chuck Liddell fight for free on television?

I don’t want to see “iMPACT!” go to two hours. What I want is for TNA to use the time they have more effectively. If pay-per-view is the top revenue source, then television must be used to properly attract people to spend money. Hope you catch Ortiz and Liddell on Saturday, because unlike in WWE, it won’t be on free television next week.

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Thursday's Thoughts

This week's edition of Thursday's Thoughts contains a whole ton of crap.

Strange news on the life of Marty Jannetty, ECW updates, tons of TNA stuff and more. But first....

Amy Zidian was released by the WWE on December 13th.

Apparently, Jimmy Wang Yang’s TV girlfriend had a bad attitude and a habit of pissing people off, especially the other women working on “SmackDown!”.

Allegedly all of the boys liked Amy. Divas not getting along is not necessarily a new story. But a Diva who crosses Ms. Stephanie McMahon, is beggin’ for a pink slip.

The first complaint came from fellow Diva, and the 2006 contest winner, Layla (also known as Dan-e-o’s fiancé). Amy allegedly asked Layla if she was upset that she was getting the big push on TV while Layla was “collecting dust.” Ouch.

She also made fun of Dan-e-o’s first wife Kristal, saying her hair extensions looked ridiculous.

Amy pushed the enevelope by questioning Vickie Guerrero about what made her a Diva and how she got that spot, since she clearly wasn’t the right look. She didn’t have a clue who Vickie was, or what her role was with the company.

Then, a couple weeks ago, The Billionaire Princess was assisting Amy with a segment, telling her how she should perform to get her character over. Amy responded with something to the effect of ‘who the hell are you to tell me how to act?’. Of course, we all know Stephanie’s response: “Umm, hello bitch? I own this shit. And youuuuuuuu’rrree FIIIIIREEDDD!”. That woulda made daddy proud.

I can understand that some of these models the E bring in don’t have wrestling knowledge, but I’m begging them to AT LEAST give the girls a crash course. Some kind of orientation. The fact that she had never been properly introduced to Stephanie seems weird. Especially with the way every wrestling locker room operates, with everyone making sure they say 'hello' to everyone else – not wanting to look to standoff-ish and pick up any unwanted heat.

Not to mention, even if she didn’t know who Vickie or Eddie is/was, all she’d have to do is watch the damn show she’s on to piece things together. If you don’t get it –ask someone.

Jimmy Yang was apparently against his pairing with Amy from the beginning, aware that she was a heat seeker. Yang didn’t hang out with her at all backstage, and was only seen by her side when they were working.

John Laurinatis was the one who pushed hard to bring Amy in, and pushed hard to protect her. Some of her heat has now been transferred to him.

Marty Jannetty is not having a good time right now. Reports had been published back in September that he had been released by the WWE a week after being signed. Strangely, WWE did not acknowledge this release on their website. Marty blasted the internet media on his MySpace site, saying it was Marty Wright (Boogeyman) not Marty Jannetty that had been released. He maintained that he was under contract and that a big angle had been planned for him.

Marty, who is one of MySpace’s busiest users (his blogs are listed as one of the most frequently updated and replied to) has been criticized for online feuds with fans, and even feuds between fans and his cats – which he has created separate MySpace accounts for. Marty maintains it’s all in fun, while others seem concerned.

Marty posted on his site a week ago that he was approached by a friend’s kid at a Christmas party who mentioned that the January WWE Magazine poked fun at Marty for having the shortest contract in company history. Marty responded quickly by saying on his site that it wasn’t true and that both the article writer and magazine editor had made a major mistakes.

This was followed up by Jim Ross writing on his blog, that Marty Jannetty was no longer with WWE, but might be again one day – “stranger things have happened”.

Obviously Jannetty was aware that he hadn’t been receiving pay cheques for the last three months, so he was well aware of his status – but perhaps just too embarrassed to share the truth with friends and family. All of this would be very, very minor – if his entire life wasn’t so public on MySpace.

Jannetty then wrote this week about a woman on MySpace named “Barbara”. This woman had been posting sexy bikini pics of herself on Jannetty’s site. According to The Rocker, they had been talking on the phone for six months or so, and decided to meet over The Christmas Holidays. Marty is stationed in Florida, she’s in New York. Marty flew out there – apparently with the intention of moving in with this girl who had proclaimed her love for him. Well, the girl never materialized, and eventually admitted to being a big fat liar who had been sending fake pics. Now, Marty is stranded in NY, broke - and with no way to get home.

One of his most recent MySpace posts proclaims he is done with that website as it has caused him way too much trouble.

We here at Tha O Show feel for Marty, and want nothing but the best for him. Getting off MySpace is probably a great idea, and we hope to have him as a guest on the show sometime in 2007 to give him an opportunity to address all of these issues, in his own voice.

Jim Ross wrote the following on his most recent blog regarding Tha O Show contributor, Chris Kanyon. “Why was Chris Kanyon Fired? I have no idea. I was in Oklahoma and not involved whatsoever in talent relations when the dismissal occurred. Why I was dragged into the matter by Kanyon is still puzzling. I always thought Kanyon had an upside and above average abilities. I was not aware Kanyon was gay even though I could have cared less. Kanyon lashing out at me doesn’t give Kanyon’s cause much credence. I wish him well and have no ill feelings toward him.”

We will be asking Chris to respond directly to this comment.

David Lagana, the head writer for ECW, is pushing for Chris Masters and Gene Snitsky to be moved to his brand. The fear from the WWE at this point is that ECW will be viewed as a dumping ground for all of “Raw” and “SmackDown!” rejects. Well. Duhhhhhh.

Vince McMahon is dead set against keeping the Hardy Boyz together as a tag team. He also wants MNM kept separate. Apparently Nitro’s last appearance on “SmackDown!” will be the last time we see the former tag champs watching each other’s back.

CM Punk has a problem. His GI Joe inspired Cobra tattoo on his shoulder is being digitally blurred out of the December To Dismember DVD, because Hasbro owns the trademark to that logo. There is talk that Hasbro is looking for a full injunction and will try to prevent that logo from appearing on free TV.

It’s unlikely WWE will want to digitally distort every CM Punk match. This could cause him to be held off the show for a while, as the company decides what to do. Of course, he could wear some sort of ring gear to cover it up (a t-shirt maybe), but agents are concerned that skinny little Punk will look even skinnier if he’s dressed in street clothes.

Former WCW wrestler Tyler Mane has now made more money in Hollywood than Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, John Cena or Kane. Hell, he’s pretty damn close to The Rock and the great Tiny “Zeus” Lister. Now, you may be asking, “Who the hell is Tyler Mane?”. Good freakin’ question.

In WCW he has two very forgettable gimmicks: Nitron and Big Sky. He’s a big ass dude, who stands at 6’10” and 300 pounds. His movie credits include Sabretooth in the X-Men franchise and now he’s been cast as Michael Myers in Rob Zombie’s remake of the horror classic, Halloween. The new Halloween film is scheduled for release on August 31, 2007. WHAT? Halloween in August? What the fuck?

Konnan was scheduled to undergo surgery to replace his hip last week in Mexico. You may have noticed Konnan has been walking very gingerly for sometime, and at points even been reduced to a wheel chair. When the doctors in Mexico prepared Konnan for surgery, they realized his kidneys were a mess. The hip replacement has now been postponed a week, so Konnan can fly back to the U.S. to have to undergo kidney dialysis and a kidney transplant. Get better K-Dawg.
Missy Hyatt was, recently, backstage at a TNA “iMPACT!” show recently and was on her best behavior. Missy was apparently looking for work.

TNA officials have re-opened negotiations with MMA star, Bob Sapp. Sapp, recently, turned down a 1 million dollar per year contract offer from WWE. Jeff Jarrett really wants Sapp to come in for an extended program with Kurt Angle when his feud with Samoa Joe wraps up next month.

TNA did offer Daniel Puder a spot to come in and feud with Angle, but the money was apparently so low that Puder said 'screw it'.

According to various reports, TNA has been offered a two hour, Thursday night time slot. TNA has not yet agreed to the financial terms.

TNA’s “iMPACT!” will not be airing at its regular time on January 25 due to an UFC special, which airs from 8 to 10PM. One of my personal favorite shows (cough) will be airing immediately after… "Pros VS. Joes". Here’s hoping we get to see Goldberg “outwrestle” a 130 pound kid from Iowa again.

That’s it folks… get at me bigdaddy@thaoshow.com

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Time To Vote For “Tha Owards”

Tha O Show is proud to present the first annual edition of “Tha Owards” where you, the faithful O-sters, vote on who you think stood out in 2006.

What makes Tha O Show great is our readers. Tha O-sters (in our esteemed opinion) are the smartest and most passionate wrestling and MMA fans on the planet - and now its time for Tha O-sters to make their opinions count.

Each O-ster can vote once in each category. As always, we encourage you to post a comment with your opinions. However, all OFFICIAL votes will be tabulated via e-mail ONLY. Please send your votes for each category to thaoshow_frank@rogers.com or to bigdaddy@thaoshow.com. The deadline for all votes will be 5pm EST on December 30th, 2006.

If you only want to vote for certain categories and not others, that’s totally cool. However, you are only allowed One Vote, Per Category, Per O-ster.

Here are Tha categories for Tha Owards:

Wrestler of Tha Year

When casting your vote, it’s important to consider all the elements that make a great wrestler. This Oward should go to the man who brought it both in the ring and on the microphone. The winner does not necessarily have to have held a title in 2006 but they needed to show they were the most outstanding performer in the world of professional wrestling.

The list of potential winners is totally open as votes can be cast for anyone in any of the major wrestling companies all over the world.

Tag Team of Tha Year

A staple of professional wrestling, this Oward should go the duo that brought respectability to tag team wrestling and also made for excellent matches. 2006 was the hottest period for tag team wrestling in many years, so the potential winners are endless.

Worst Wrestler of Tha Year

This should be a favorite category among many O-sters. Who was horrible in every sense? Who is not worthy of a job in professional wrestling?

Match of Tha Year

In the spirit of Tha O Show, this match should be the one that made you say "O" over and over. Whether it was a match filled with plunder and props or a straight up presentation of wrestling purity, this Oward is open to any professional wrestling match that has taken place in 2006. Remember, this Oward goes to the most outstanding match you saw all year regardless of whether it popped a television rating or scored huge buys on pay-per-view.

Tha Best Talker of Tha Year

Who used the microphone to make you excited about a match? This Oward should go to the person that understands the true art of the promo and not necessarily crack jokes. Who used the gift of the gab to sell an angle, get over as a strong heel or face, or sell pay-per-view? This Oward is open to anyone from professional wrestling and MMA.

MMA Fighter of Tha Year

This, of course, is different from ‘Wrestler of Tha Year’ as this Oward should go to the most dominant MMA fighter in their respective weight class. The criteria for this Oward is solely based on fighting dominance and not necessarily one's ability to cut promos.

We want this to be completely open and not limit Tha O-sters to a list of nominees in each category. Tha winners will be announced January 1st, 2007.

Let the voting begin!

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Words From Stro: "James Brown, Rocky and 2007"

Ed: The following column was written by The Stro formerly The Maestro in World Championship Wrestling

Hello Everyone! Hope you all had a nice Christmas holiday! Mine this year has been pretty relaxing, hanging out and having dinner with relatives and family. I've got two new dogs now. One is named "Duke" who is half bloodhound, half german shepard and the other's name is "Charlie". He is half palmeranian, half chiwawa.

Thank you all by the way who have sent their thoughtful Christmas emails, ecards, cards, and gifts through the mail. I really do appreciate you all! I'm not sure what I am doing for New Years yet, but I am sure I will find somewhere to celebrate it last minute. Looking forward to a great 2007 as I wish the same for everyone. Now on with the "Words From Stro".

I was very sorry to hear about the passing of "The Godfather of Soul" James Brown. It was an honor and a pleasure to share the same stage and ring with him at WCW's 2000 Superbrawl PPV along with Ernest "The Cat" Miller. Meeting Mr. Brown that night in San Francisco was a real treat as he was such a class act. Also knowing that this man met and influenced my grand uncle Gorgeous George years ago made it extra special for me as well. My thoughts and condolences go out to his family, friends and fans. We all will never forget you.

Went to check out the Rocky Balboa movie yesterday. This latest installment in the Rocky saga has to be one of the best I have seen in a long time. The acting and the atmosphere of it was reminescent of the classics. There were a few scenes where you just couldn't help but tear up. The fight scene was fantastic with an authentic HBO/ESPN type appeal. Big thanks to Sylvester Stallone, cast, and crew for a great performance. I recommend this film as this is a must see for any Rocky fan!

I will be returning to West Virginia for NWA Mountain State wrestling January 13th in Hinton, West Virginia. Last year I had a great run there and I'm looking forward to returning there once again to see all the great West Virginia fans.

Talks are in the works for me to be possibly returning to Ontario, Canada January 26th for the WWA. January 26th is my birthday and if things are settled, we will be having a birthday celebration as well. I will keep you all informed as it will be great to see my Canadian fans once again.

Once again, big thanks to the WWE for their support of our soldiers in Iraq with their annual "Christmas with the Troops" special. One of my favorite WWE shows of the year.

Tales from the Lair
____________________

"I have played Santa Clause quite a few times over the years. But one of the most interesting I recall was several years back I was in Peterborough, Ontario Canada as I was hiding out in the snow and cold awaiting to go inside the Morley home where Sean "Val Venis", family,friends, and children were waiting. I was wearing the Santa suit Sean's sister Alana had given me as I pranced into the house chanting "Ho ho ho" to the kids. But what response did I get from the children? "Gorgeous George, you grew a beard!"


Stro Mailbox
____________________

Ron from California:

"Hi Stro! Would be great if you can come back to Cali. Got any shows this way?"

Stro: Talking about heading back to Cali sometime in the beginning of February. Will keep everyone posted.

Jessica from West Virginia:

"We miss you up here Stro! When will you be back in West Virginia again?"

Stro: Missed you all too. January 13th in Hinton, West Virginia

Zack from Nevada:

"Stro, will you be acting in any othe TV series or films this year?"

Stro: Plan to look into some auditions for more TV and film work for the coming year. Will keep you all posted.


To email feedback for the mailbox section
of the Words from Strozilla column, email to:
wordsfromstrozilla@yahoo.com. Let me hear from you!

To book Stro formerly WCW's Maestro (U.S. and Internationally) for
appearances,autograph signings,seminars,or for your
pro wrestling event,
email at:
stro4ya@yahoo.com (Please put booking somewhere in the subject line)

Some upcoming events and more:

January 5th
ACPW event
Kenansville, North Carolina
E.E. Smith Middle School
Belltime: 7:45 pm est.
http://www.freewebs.com/acpwpro

January 13th
NWA Mountain State event
Hinton, West Virginia
Belltime: 8 pm
http://www.mountainstatewrestling.com

January 20th
ACPW event
Kenansville, North Carolina
E.E. Smith Middle School
Belltime: 7:45 pm est.
http://www.freewebs.com/acpwpro

January 26th
Stro's Birthday and possible booking in
Brampton, Ontario,Canada for WWA. More information posted as it develops...

Thank you all for taking the time to read my column. Till next time,you all have a great week and a happy 2007!. Please remember our brave men and women soldiers who fight and protect for all of us. Be safe and Happy New Year! God bless!

"Nobody can go toe to toe with the Stro!"
TheStro.com

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WrestleMania 23 Has Been Booked

With the year coming to a close, and Wrestlemania 23 looming in the distance, I decided I would follow the trend of some of the O-Sters and make a few predictions as to how I want the year to unfold.

I've constructed a pretty jam packed card for the biggest pay-per-view of the year. For this to work, storylines and title switches will have to happen very shortly... so Vince, feel free to rip me off. Just do it quickly.

Wrestlemania 23 Card

WWE Title Match
Champion Umaga VS. Edge
Yes, I am hoping that Umaga will defeat John Cena at the Royal Rumble. I'm then predicting that the finish will see Umaga working Cena over with countless top rope splashes and top rope thumb spikes (the kind that made Kane spit blood on “Raw” a while back). This will be followed up by Rated RKO coming out to ringside to continue the Cena beat down. Orton delivers countless RKOs onto a chair. DX comes out to make the save... but after scaring the heels out, Triple H decides to plant Cena's corpse with a Pedigree! What the hell? HBK looks at HHH askin what the hell was that for?

HHH looks like he's going to apologize to his buddy, who turns around only to be RKO'd. Orton, Umaga and HHH are now beating on Cena and HBK. Edge walking back towards the ring looks confused and has a moment of clarity. He slides into the ring spearing Orton, tossing HHH over the top and staring eye to eye with Umaga. Instantly, The Rated R Superstar is turned babyface.

The next night on “Raw” he can cut a promo to justify the whole damn thing, saying HBK is one of his idles and as much as he hates Cena, he learned to respect him after all their battles. Neither man deserved to be beat down like that.

HHH comes out saying he is sick and tired of being seen as an after thought, and just a member of this goofy team. 2007 would be the year for The King Of Kings. He gets jumped by HBK setting up another match.

As far as my Edge / Umaga main-event... Edge wins and goes on a triumphant babyface tour as champ, sellin tons of merch to the Edge-heads.

DX Explodes - Iron Man Match
Shawn Michaels VS Triple H
(Special Guest Referee, Stone Cold Steve Austin)
We know these two guys can still go. Let's see them do it on a 30 minutes Iron Man Match. Most falls wins. Winner: Triple H with outside interference from Austin as we get flashbacks to the amazing Austin-HBK feud of almost a decade ago.

World Title Match – Hell In A Cell
Champion King Booker VS. The Undertaker
Screw Batista. Booker is taking that title before Mania, but will drop it to the deadman who deserves one last run - and where else to pick up the gold but at HIS show ... Wrestlemania. Just for shits and giggles, we'll make it a Hell In A Cell and chalk it up to more of Teddy Long's hate on for King Boookah.

Traditional Three Way Dance For ECW Championship
Champion Masato Tanaka VS. Tommy Dreamer VS. CM Punk
F' Lashley. Masato Tanaka baby. I want WWE to bring him back, and have him stiff the hell out of Blackberg to win the strap. Then put it on the line against the heir apparent CM Punk, and the people's champ Tommy Dreamer.

Hulk Hogan & Vince McMahon VS. The Big Show & Paul Heyman VS. Goldberg & Eric Bischoff
Oh man, the promotional possibilities ALONE are insane with this match. Play up the 20 year anniversary of Hogan-Andre. Play up Goldberg defeating Hogan in WCW. Play up the history between Big Show and Goldberg. And then you have the history between the three promoters. Ideally, I'd rather have ECW represented by someone like Sandman or Mike Awesome or best case scenario... Taz. But C'mon. We know that won't happen in tha E. Just make this happen and I'll be thrilled.

John Cena VS. Randy Orton
Ya I don't care about these two... so I set them up in this feud and um, screw it. I don't care who wins.

Intercontinental Title Match
Champion Carlito VS. Kenny Dykstra VS. Johnny Jeter VS. Chris Masters
This will be Kenny Dyskstra's crowning and his official launch into superstardom.

U.S. Title Match
Champion Benoit VS. Harry Smith
Harry Smith debuts on "SmackDown!" playing the heel. He's pissed at Benoit calling him a Canadian turn coat. He asks Benoit why he is announced as being from Atlanta Georgia when the whole planet knows he's from Canada. Is he ashamed of his roots? Smith talks about how he heard about Benoit his whole life from Uncle Bret, his dad Davey Boy and the rest of the fam. They all thought he was a piece of crap and so does he. BOOM. Feud.
And ya, Harry wins the belt.

Batista VS. Monty Brown
The Alpha Male is set to debut on "Smackdown!" and I think a little program with Batista would quickly cement a spot for him. As long as he promises to never use Tha Pouuuuuuuunnnceee again, I'll put Monty over in this match. Ah hell, I'd put a 6 year old boy with no arms over Batista.

Mr. Kennedy & MVP VS. The Boogeyman & Kane
Sure why not? Pair the freaks together. Of course next to Boogey, Kane will look like Lou freakin' Thesz.

JBL (accompanied by Ron Simmons) VS. The Miz
DAMN! I want JBL back in the ring, and he has been teasing a part time schedule for 2007. Put him in the ring for a quick squash with the guy he constantly says sucks ass.

Tag Team TLC For World Tag Titles
MNM VS. Hardy Boyz VS. World’s Greatest Tag Team
This will be insane. Period. WGTT takes the titles.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Kendrick & London VS. Gregory Helms & Jimmy Wang Yang
I love my new tag team. When 3 Count meets The Jung Dragons. Sweet. I saw this is a good time for a title switch, to give the Hooliganz something to do. Chase and regain.

Interpromotional Cruiserweight Title Match
Champion Jamie Noble VS. Little Guido VS. Super Crazy
I dare you to not mark out at these possibilities.

Gauntlet For A Contract
Ric Flair Test, Holly, Lashley, Sandman, RVD, Sabu, Val Venis, Trevor Murdoch, Lance Cade, Cryme Time, Highlanders, Regal and Taylor, Chavo, Mark Henry, Rey Jr, TJ Wilson.

The gimmick here is it's a TNA style Gauntlet match. Royal Rumble style, two men start and a new guy comes in every 30 seconds. Over the top rope gets you eliminated until the last two guys - then it's a straight match. The winner, gets a title shot at ANY BELT on ANY BRAND at ANY TIME they want. Putting names like RVD, Sabu, Rey, etc makes this thing legit. The finals will come down to TJ Wilson and RVD. Wilson, beats RVD when Nattie Neidhart distracts ref and Harry Smith runs down knocking RVD out with his newly won U.S. Title.

Ok, this is totally the Smarks' WrestleMania and a little too cool to actually happen, but hell, i'd pop. Damn, I'd drive to Detroit for this show.

I'd love to hear your opinions, or your proposed Mania cards.

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Merry Christmas From Tha O Show!

Merry Christmas O-sters!

On behalf of the entire staff at Tha O Show, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and an enjoyable and safe holiday season.

2006 has been a great year for Tha O Show - our first! We'd like to thank all of you O-sters for helping us to become the fastest growing (and downright coolest) professional wrestling website on the internet.

In many ways, the "O" stands for opinion - and we always welcome yours. Feel free to leave a post commenting on tonight's "Tribute To The Troops" edition of "Raw" under this column.

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Who's Your Favourite Fat Guy?

While deep into the holiday spirit, I thought I would pose this question: Who's your favourite fat guy of all time?

Now, this time of year, Santa Claus has gotta be my favourite fat guy. (I hope he's good to me this year!). But, in general, it would have to be Homer Simpson. With Peter Griffin pulling in at a close second. Man, if there's anything funnier than The Simpsons and Family Guy on television right now, I don't know what it is.

But, of course, I'm talking about fat guys in the professional wrestling world.

In fairness, pro wrestling has always provided job opportunities to the big man. And we're not just talking about Vince's favourite type of big man. You know, the Batistas, the Lesnars and the Lashleys. I'm not talking about the muscleheads, but instead, our rotund heroes.

You know, the Visceras, the Earthquakes and the One Man Gangs. The Uncle Elmers, the Abdullah the Butchers and the Yokozunas. Man, if ever there was a big guy who was as agile as he was powerful, it was the late former WWE Champion, Yokozuna.

But when it comes to the history of professional wrestling, which big man has impressed you the most?

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2006 A Strong Year For "SmackDown!"

2006 has been a great year for "SmackDown!". It has proven to me that it just might be the 'A-show' after all - as JBL loves to call it.

JBL, in fact, is one of the reasons that "SmackDown!" has been so entertaining to watch. Man, do Mike Tenay and Don West ever need to take notes from JBL and Michael Cole. Layfield and Cole have been the perfect commentating combo.

While JBL remains the classic heel colour commentator, he also is the champion of putting anyone and anything over that he wants. Just take last night's edition of "SD!" as an example of his prowess in this artform.

JBL gets in the ring to call out Teddy Long - mainly for putting MVP in a horrific Inferno Match with Kane at Armageddon. He reminds the viewers and the audience that this match hasn't taken place in seven and half years. He explains that MVP is still in a burn unit as a result of his injuries. He rips the crowd for continually thirsting for such mayhem.

He may no longer be a wrestling God. But he sure his a storytelling God. Hand it to Cole as well. The guy reacts to big moves and high spots (generally with a signature "O") better than most in the game. He also, very intelligently, asks JBL - a ring veteran - what something "feels" like when you're hit with it in the ring.

This team, most often, will explain not just what you're seeing - like Tenay and West always do - but why you're seeing it, the ramifications of what can happen to the competitors you're watching and why said competitors are so unbelievably talented and courageous for being part of what you're seeing.

As a result, "SmackDown!" has developed a host of new stars in 2006. Mr. Kennedy, MVP, Finlay, London & Kendrick, King Booker, Gregory Helms...and the list goes on.

Before you start clicking on 'Post a Comment', I know full well that some of the superstars on that list are not "new stars". What I'm saying is that in the past year, "SmackDown!" has helped develop these wrestlers as new stars.

Booker T is now a king. A champion of champions. And quite frankly, the cornerstone of "SmackDown!". He is among the most entertaining superstars on the show, can certainly still hold his own in the ring and has become a main event competitor at a level I don't believe he even reached as a five-time WCW Champion.

Finlay, a 48-year-old wrestler turned road agent turned back to wrestler is now a main eventer! And a good one at that. Each Finlay match is sure to have an array of moves, hard hits and good technical work. He's a veteran and consumate professional. I remember upon his return to ring action, I thought "Fit Finlay?" - remembering his days as a WCW mid-carder (and that's probably putting it nicely).

The new Finlay who "loves to fight" is a perfect example of what happens when WWE does something right. Finlay has not only been given new life as a pro wrestling star but he has helped elevate the "SmackDown!" brand.

Mr. Kennedy debuted over a year ago but his battles with main event talent in 2006 foreshadow his future: the main event picture. It is more than evident that the man is loaded with charisma. And his in-ring work is far from shabby. His sometimes-partnership with MVP also tells a story. Mr. Porter will likely join Mr. Kennedy in the main event ranks at some point over the course of the next couple of years.

As mentioned in a previous article, I believe that suffering brutal defeats at the hands of The Undertaker and/or Kane are rights of passage in WWE. Both of these guys were 'initiated', if you will, last week at Armageddon.

And what can be said about Paul London and Brian Kendrick? These guys, to quote JBL, are "exciting to watch". It's very fitting that they have been WWE Tag Team Champions since May. They are not only re-energizing the sometimes seemingly non-existent tag-team division in WWE, but they are making it a highlight of the show.

Speaking of champions, what better way to push a guy than have him become the longest reigning champion in "SmackDown!" history? Gregory Helms will long have this tag-line added to his name. And he's deserving.

While "SmackDown!", of course, has not been perfect - I mean Batista is holding the World Title, right now - the show generally seems to have the right guys in the right places. The appropriate individuals are being put over and the show has been fairly strong throughout the year.

"Raw", in my opinion, has had more downs than ups - especially in comparison to "SD!" - in 2006. Numerous lame DX skits and John Cena as WWE Champion are a couple of things that come to mind when thinking of some of the downfalls of "Raw".

Here's hoping that 2007 is a great year for professional wrestling in general. It just appears to me that "SmackDown!" might be the wrestling show of choice in the new year.

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TNA's O's And NO's For 2006

SUBMITTED BY 'THE HITMAN' BRIAN PLUNKETT

At the beginning of 2005, TNA was still incredibly small scale. Their only weekly show was on a satellite channel, so if you had cable and no channel that carried the syndicated "Xplosion", you were out of luck. I'll tell you first hand, it sucked.

However, at the beginning of 2006, things had changed for TNA. They had landed a spot on Spike TV, every Saturday night at 11 PM. They were taking baby steps towards greatness, and they continue to as 2006 comes to a close. However, for everything they've done right, they've also done a lot of things to show that they're a young company.

Here are my O's and NO's for TNA in 2006:

Tha O's:

First and foremost, moving to Thursday, and then moving to prime time. Slowly getting into better timeslots always helps.

Not giving Samoa Joe the title. In hindsight, I actually now agree with slowly building his character instead of giving him the title right away. He can put on a truly great show without having to have the NWA Heavyweight Championship, so why not showcase him as a guy who's slowly climbing the mountain instead of putting the belt on him immediately, a la Brock Lesnar?

I do agree with giving him a run with the X-Division Title right away, though. Having him compete with the high-flyers helped show that he wasn't one of the stereotypical powerhouse musclemen that you might figure he is at first glance.

Giving Christian Cage the title. There were two benefits to this. Firstly, TNA gained a lot of attention from fans because of how many people liked Christian in WWE, even though he was a heel. Secondly, it gained a lot of attention from disgruntled superstars in WWE. Don't be surprised if you see more WWE guys jumping ship within the next few years.

Giving Abyss the title. I admit it, I have seen the light. He is a good wrestler for someone his size, and a guy like him can be a legitimate top heel if they would just get Sting the hell away from him.

Signing Kurt Angle. When the news of this broke last September, many people called TNA irresponsible for pursuing him. However, so far, it seems like TNA has been very responsible, as far as booking Angle goes. He wrestles only two or three times a month, and for the times that he does that aren't on pay-per-view, they seem to keep his bumps to a minimum.

Take it slow and easy with Kurt, and he'll be able to be a flag-bearer for TNA for years to come.

The pay-per-views. Two Ultimate X matches, Lethal Lockdown, Six Sides of Steel at Bound For Glory, Joe vs. Angle, Monster's Ball, King Of The Mountain...almost every pay-per-view that TNA came out with this year can be argued that they were instant classics.

Kevin Nash. Having him around in a non-wrestling role was a very good call by TNA, as he has given the X-Division a boost in the arm. The Gauntlet match at BFG was a great match, and his commentary was gold. Now, the PCS is hugely popular. As a wrestler, he seems prome to injury, but just as an on-air personality, he's money.

Tha NO's:

Scott Steiner. Can anyone tell me why they even bothered bringing him back? I don't think he won a single match the entire time he was in TNA. Having Jarrett constantly on the TV was bad enough. Having Steiner right next to him made it worse.

The many storylines involving Larry Zbyzko. Remember the whole storyline at the beginning of the year when the "tape" was brought up multiple times every week? What came of it? The story just disappeared after three months and we never heard anything about it again. Wow, what a great payoff for such a long buildup. The only good storyline he was involved in was the "Don't Fire Eric" storyline.

Keeping Raven around. They were gonna release him because he wanted more money than he was worth. TNA should have let him walk. They've done next to nothing with him this year other than take up roster space and waste money. As far as the "Serotonin" storyline that he's involved in right now - the past has taught us that this angle will peter out just based on who it involves.

The James Gang/VKM. I didn't mind the James Gang as much as I do VKM, but neither are that great. They never did get a push with either gimmick, and now all they do is waste TV time. I'm starting to wonder if one of them is injured, and that's why they aren't ever wrestling, even in squash matches.

Don West. I honestly believe that Tenay wouldn't be as bad if he had a better color commentator. I'm sure that West is a great guy in real life, but he really sucks at calling wrestling, and TNA needs to hand him the old pink slip.

Some people may argue that having Sting be in the title picture is a "NO", but I disagree. If you think about it, the only guy that has truly jobbed to him is Jeff Jarrett. He helped put Christian Cage and Abyss over, and was able to get the nostalgic title run he wanted. Whether or not that counts as an "O" is up to you.

The O's are starting to outweigh the NO's in TNA, which means they're going in the right direction. They may need to take baby steps to get there, but it seems that they are headed in the right direction. I look forward to the product that TNA will put out in 2007.

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Give "iMPACT!" Some Time

It goes without saying that TNA's "iMPACT!" needs to become a two-hour program in order for its talent to truly shine. It also needs the extra hour for the betterment of its production value. The show remains a rushed production. Each week they present segment after segment squshed together with no apparent rhyme or reason.

One of the most evident examples of this occured last night on "iMPACT!" after The Naturals lost a Tables Match to Team 3D. Shane Douglas berates his fallen team and then exclaims that he's leaving them for good.

Here was the play-by-play preceding this occurance:

Don West: "Oh, I can't believe it! Shane Douglas says he's done. He feels they've gone backwards, Mike. They've not gotten better like he wanted".

Mike Tenay's response: "To JB, outside of the locker room of Samoa Joe".

Now, it's no secret that I think West and Tenay suck. Among the many reasons is that they call every damn thing they're watching as if the viewer is blind. Right on down to calling Abyss handing the bat to Sting last night after making a save from Christian Cage and Tomko. I felt like yelling, "Yeah guys, we know! We're watching it too! Be interesting for once!".

But the poor editing of the broadcast aren't these guys' fault. So sadly, just like the hurried editing job done to each "iMPACT!" broadcast, the announce team is forced to rush their lines and hit their cues without being given the chance to evoke the emotion necessary to properly tell the story.

Here's where WWE proves it knows its stuff. Not all storylines are good...but they are all TOLD. At the very least, time is provided to any given situation so that the viewer is aware of what's happening and how to feel about it. We are being 'taught' the story.

JBL often provides great examples of how this is done. You put a guy who is new to the television audience in a match...and you put him over like nobody's business.

So, for instance, by the end of Dave Taylor's first televised match on "SmackDown!" a few weeks ago, you know that he comes from a wrestling family. You know, not only his accolades, but those of his father and even his neice. It now makes sense to the audience why this guy is teaming with William Regal. We know why he is important. Why he should be regarded with respect. Why he will prove to be a force to be reckoned with. Why he and his partner deserve a shot at the titles.

On "iMPACT!", most competitors are not given enough time - and therefore not enough of a story - to garner any real emotion from the audience. Most 'stories' are hard to get behind. For example, Sting "caring" about Abyss just doesn't do it for me. What's the real reasoning behind this?

But, in fairness, I think TNA is doing a few things right. I'm behind Kurt Angle's...well...angle (I feel like Austin Powers right now). I've always felt that Kurt comes off much more natural as a heel. And his goals makes perfect sense. Being a legitimate Olympic gold medalist and multi-time professional wrestling champion, there should be nothing else on Kurt's mind but winning. Nothing should be more important than proving he's the best.

And that's why his overflowing frustration with not getting a rematch with Samoa Joe makes sense as a character trait. Furthermore, it allows TNA to provide a good set-up for, quite frankly, what they do best - presenting great O-filled wrestling matches. I look forward to the third encounter between these two.

That is not to say that no one in TNA should cut any promos. Here's what I've noticed lately: AJ Styles has definitely improved. His backstage interview last night went smoothly - no blunders, hesitations or signs of discomfort were visible.

Secondly, I'm in love with the Paparazzi Championship Series skits. Again, these are very original in their presentation. The camera work, editing and acting are all unique. And again, I think they're funny. This week's top line went to Alex Shelley in defense of a "Mr. Chlamydia" comment from Jay Lethal: "Wouldn't it be an inspirational story if somebody with chlamydia won this event?".

And what's with all the Bob Backlund references? They're so left field, I think they're hilarious. Kevin Nash is definitely racking up O's in a way I never thought he would. Good for him...seriously.

BUT...then there's K-Kwik. Yep, K-Kwik. Until this moron quits his "dancing" and "rapping", I will never refer to him as "The Truth". How insanely lame was his "Happy Holidays" rap last night? And Lance Hoyt's dancing didn't help either!

And there's also VKM - Okay guys, the joke was old a month ago. I seriously doubt the fans, let alone anyone in WWE, care about what you're doing. Give it up already and wrestle a match, why don't cha?

I agree with Frank Fronte. Give TNA another hour to truly prove if they have what it takes to entertain a wrestling audience adequately. I believe the company has it in 'em do it...but will they? Only 'time' will tell.

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Join Tha O League - Season 2

Congratulations once again to The Smashin' Masters who became the first-ever O League Champion this past week by not only winning, but dominating the WWE Fantasy Game played amongst us O-sters. He will be receiving his Tha O Show prize pack shortly.

Well, the time has already come to attempt to dethrone The Smashin' Masters. Tha O League - Season 2 (Season 9 in the WWE Fantasy Game) is already open to challengers. All O-sters are welcome to join by simply going to WWE.com and entering the WWE Fantasy Game for free.

Once your team has been created, simply go to CREATE/JOIN LEAGUE (there will be a box in a list at the lower left of the screen) and type "Tha O League" in the "Find League" box.

The new WWE Fantasy Game season begins the week before the Royal Rumble event in January. In fact, your first week's picks will include the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

I will be eagerly defending my O Show Intercontinental Championship (for finishing second in Tha O League's first season).

This season, the Grand Prize winner of the WWE Fantasy Game will receive a trip for two and two ringside tickets to SummerSlam in New York City on August 26, 2007. The winner of Tha O League will receive a prize pack from Tha O Show including Tha O Show t-shirt, CDs from Dan-e-o and Secret Suburbia and wrestling DVDs.

And of course...the best prize of all - the undisputed title of "Tha O League Champion". Will The Smashin' Masters be able to retain? Join now and be a part of determining the answer to that.

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Chair Shots And Table Spots

The last episode of ECW was truly memorable. In fact, I can honestly say that I will remember it for the rest of my life. It was the night that the new ECW champ, Bobby Lashley delivered one of the worst promos in the history of professional wrestling.

What the hell was Bobby talking about? I can only assume that they sent him out there with no script and let him "shoot" on the unsuspecting crowd in Virginia. That segment was beyond train wreck status. I knew Bobby was green, vanilla and soft spoken, but come on!

K-Fed's been in the business for ten minutes and he's running proverbial circles around Lashley on the mic. Did you catch the "I love you's" mouthed to the victims in the crowd? Are you kidding me? Fire the man responsible for handing Lashley a live mic! And if that was indeed a script he was reciting, fire the man that wrote it! If it was Lashley who just completely F'd up and went off on a tangent, strip him of the ECW title! How's that for "extreme"?

Now, as far as Rob Van Dam being the number one contender against Lashley, I look at this as the last opportunity for RVD to get in the title hunt. If Lashley pins RVD clean, I fear he may be TNA bound when his contract is up. And no, I don't think that's a good thing either.

Sure, the smarks might be treated to an RVD/Styles match, or perhaps RVD/Daniels, or maybe even RVD/Joe!...Okay maybe it would be pretty cool. But damn TNA for being the new (Russo era) WCW. I mean that in every negative way possible.

What the hell is the point of having Shannon Moore in ECW? Not only have I not seen him win a match yet, but I'm hard pressed to recall an offensive move! The most memorable part of the match against The Great Khali was the Tommy Dreamer bump that took place after the bell rang.

Which brings me to Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer is undoubtedly one of the sickest bump takers in the history of this business. It sucks that the E has no other ideas but to make the man continue to take these bumps well past his physical prime. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate a sick Dreamer bump as much as the next guy, but I really think the best way to get Tommy over is to play the Heyman-supporter heel role.

It would work now more than ever in light of the recent Heyman dismissal. I think we could all use a reality-based shoot style storyline in the new ECW.

What more can be said? Another lackluster, if not completely inept episode of ECW has come and gone and I'm having an increasingly dificult job writing about it... never mind trying to find a silver lining.

The E has got to do something fast if they genuinely want their third brand to succeed. With all the pun in the world intended, they need to do something "extreme".

PS...I am hereby putting myself over as the guy who will now cover "SmackDown!" every week on Tha O Show. I am also more than willing to pass the torch to a fellow O Show'er in terms of covering ECW on a weekly basis. I am very thankful for the opportunity to write for Tha O Show every week and I appreciate the support of Donnie and Dan-e-o. I would, however, love to expand my role on the greatest wrestling blog site on the internet.

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My Wrestling Wish List

In the spirit of the holiday season, I decided to make a wish list. Wrestling fans (especially fans of Tha O Show) are not at all shy to express how much they hate certain things about wrestling and how they wish some things were different.

So this year I want to know what Tha O-sters want from jolly old St. Vince and company. Would you wish for a retirement, a dream match, a title change? I’ve made my wrestling wish list and hope that with a little luck, 2007 will be the year many of my wishes come true.

WISH #1 involves Santa McMahon’s son-in-law - the Grinch that steals pushes - Triple H. My wish is that HHH decides to go into semi-retirement and realizes that he doesn’t need to be a full-time television character anymore. The “DX Reunion Tour” has just about run out of gas and the interest in seeing Hunter in the title picture at WrestleMania 23 is low.

Having Triple H wrestle only a few times a year, much like Mick Foley, would make his appearances mean more and be better drawing cards for pay-per-view. His desire to always be on-top, even without the title, has made HHH an overexposed character that needs some serious refreshing with some extended holidays.

WISH #2 involves CM Punk. Whether you believe the “CM Punk Conspiracy” and how it was Hunter who told Vince to get Punk eliminated from the Elimination Chamber first (in retribution for Punk stealing Triple H’s heat at Survivor Series) is up to you.

WWE needs to strap the rocket to CM Punk and make him their top star of 2007. He has made a solid connection with the audience and deserves a strong singles push on “Raw.”

WISH #3: For TNA to continue to succeed in 2007. In many ways, much of the future of professional wrestling rests on the shoulders of TNA. As the only viable alternative to WWE, TNA needs to continue to create exciting stars, book strong matches and write intriguing television. A two-hour time slot for “iMPACT!” is likely to happen and with that, they can make strong advances in this business.

In keeping with the prosperity of TNA, WISH #4 is for Rob Van Dam to head to Orlando in 2007. RVD could end up becoming one of the hottest free agents in years, as there would be potential offers from all over the world including independent promotions like ROH and from NOAH in Japan.

The best case scenario would be for Van Dam to leave WWE and compete in TNA where his career and passion for wrestling could be reignited. He will be able to wrestle top talent and not be creatively stifled like he has been for years in WWE.

In the spirit of Rocky Balboa hitting theatres today, I thought of a wish that would make even the most jaded wrestling fan happy.

WISH #5: For Ric Flair to win the WWE Title one more time! The best way to do it would be if somehow, WWE could get a PPV or “Raw” in Charlotte, North Carolina and pit The Nature Boy against a strong heel champ like Edge or Orton. The emotion would be greater than in any match in recent memory.

My last wish is something that a lot of Canadian wrestling fans might be wishing for this holiday season: The return of The Hart Foundation - Harry Smith, Teddy Hart, Nattie Neidhart and T.J. Wilson as the new stable of heels that could dominate all of the divisions on "Raw". With the 2007 Survivor Series happening in Montreal, a Hart Foundation versus DX feud could have some strong potential for business.

So what’s on Tha O-sters' wish lists? Feel free to leave your wishes in the comment section. Happy holidays!

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Three-Hour "Raw" A Bit Over The Edge

You know a wrestling show has run too long when one wrestler has to compete in no less than three matches. That was the task handed to 2006's pro wrestling MVP (as crowned by your friends here at Tha O Show) Edge, on last night's episode of "Raw".

Not that Edge wasn't up to the task. If nothing else, the overtime hours that Edge put in last night helped further cement his status as a main-eventer. But was it all that necessary?

I'm still trying to figure out what the real reasoning behind the Battle Royal was last night. Why did "Raw" need to go three hours?

In the end, Edge wins the Battle Royal, does NOT win the WWE Championship in his next match and then finds himself in a no-contest six man tag-team match that allows him to lay a serious beat down on the members of DX.

Now I understand that Rated RKO and DX are feuding. Even though Edge and Orton are the tag-team champions...and the feud has nothing to do with the straps (something I've always hated - Chris Benoit and Chavo Guerrero are doing this with the U.S. Title over on "SmackDown!")...why was it necessary for Edge to be so busy last night?

If anything, the Battle Royal would have been an excellent means to push a new and deserving superstar. A surprise finish would have been interesting. Oh, let's say if...Johnny had won (who looked like Chris Jericho, at first glance, in his new ring attire) and had gone on to have an impressive showing against John Cena.

Hell...have Edge interfere only to accidentally cost Johnny the match. Enter DX for the Cena save - same as last night anyways - and continue your DX/Rated RKO story. I just thought that it was overkill last night. Too many things taking place...but nothing really happening.

I mean, where are we now - storyline wise - that we weren't before the "Raw" broadcast? DX and Rated RKO still hate each other. Okay. They are see-sawing with one-ups-manship week in and week out. Yeah, we get it...that's how a feud works.

But why three hours? Why the Battle Royal if something NEW is not going to happen?

Anyway, I think I've made my point.

At least, WWE is throwing Kenny a bone. I complained recently that the dude needs to start chalking up a couple of wins. A victory over Ric Flair sure isn't bad...but Kenny Dykstra? DYKSTRA?! What's the deal with that?

As Kenny was introduced, I couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't using his real name - Ken Doane. And then J.R. answered my thought...by mentioning the name of the official refereeing the match - Jack Doan. WHAT?!

It reminded me of something Big Daddy Donnie recently mentioned: ECW's C.W. Anderson must be referred to as Christopher W. Anderson so as to not confuse him with CM Punk. Man, Vince must think us wrestling fans really are retarded. I suppose if Ken Doane were to use his real name, we'd all mistake him for a referee!!

I'm surprised they're letting him get away with the name "Kenny". For a minute, I thought he was a "SmackDown!" superstar currently involved in a feud with The Undertaker. Silly me.

Then again, maybe all this 'name separation' is necessary in WWE. Seeing as so many of the company's commentators can't seem to get all the names straight. Todd Grisham interviews Vladimir Kozlov (and introduces him as such) and when finished, says "Victor Kozlov". I guess Todd's been watching too much hockey (note to our American friends - Viktor Kozlov plays for the New York Islanders).

Either way, I have no idea what the E has planned for Mr. Kozlov, but I thought his reference to the company as "Dubble Dubble E" was pretty funny.

Sadly, last night's Cryme Tyme skit wasn't so funny. I thought the George W. Bush look-alike really...well...looked like George W. Bush. But I was waiting for a punchline that just didn't come. Sure, Cryme Tyme stole his wallet...but what else is new? Again, last night's three-hour edition of "Raw" should have provided new and intriguing storylines...and it simply didn't.

Officially the last real "Raw" of 2006 (next week's unwatchable Tribute To The Troops has been filmed already), WWE really should have created some plot twists and cliffhangers that should have had us begging for the new year to come to see what would happen next.

Especially considering that there will be a two week layoff from a live broadcast, it would have been sweet for there to be something special, something unique...something mind-blowing for WWE fans to experience with this longer-than-usual-year-ending episode of "Raw". Instead, while Armageddon ended with a bang, "Raw" went out with a whimper.

On another note, I'm actually amped for Rocky Balboa to hit theatres this Wednesday. A huge fan of the Rocky movies my whole life, I (like most fans) despised the fifth installment when it was released in 1990. Seems like Sylvester Stallone did too...as this new movie will have the Rocky character (the Ric Flair of the fictional boxing world) return - and then properly leave - as the champion he was known to be.

Like I do for professional wrestling's characters, I've always cheered for Rocky during his 'matches'. If the movie is as good as it is advertised to be, I hope that WWE and the pro wrestling industry in general take some serious notes as to how to build a character with staying power.

I thought it was great that Sly was on "Raw" last night...he paid so much respect to the business and was very classy throughout the interview. I wonder if Thunderlips will make an appearance in the new flick.

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Ending With A Bang!

Last night, WWE presented its last pay-per-view of the year in Armageddon. Looks like they wanted to live up to its name by throwing in some surprises, providing some O's and thereby ending the year with a strong PPV event.

Strange though - as pointed out by an O-ster in a recent post - that WWE would provide fans with a FREE three-hour event in "Raw" later tonight - one day after the pay-per-view...but hey, I ain't complaining.

The surprise ladder match was certainly O-worthy. Realest O of the night comes in the form of Joey Mercury's broken nose! Poor Adam Birch...he just comes back on TV to re-create MNM and now he's out again. Hopefully, it won't be for too long...but that stiff ladder smash to the face couldn't have felt very good.

I gotta, once again, tip my hat to MVP. Mr. Antonio Banks (which also could have been a cool ring name due to his money-grubbing ways) continues to show and prove with each and every performance. It seems his lame-ass ring debut at No Mercy was eons ago.

Now the man is being set on fire! Being in a match just involving fire is worth a shout out. Losing one - you deserve more than just an "O" and "job well done". (Get it - 'well done'...never mind). True, his ring gear should have been burnt a long time ago...but look for MVP to wear a strap at some point in 2007.

Speaking of straps...looks like Gregory Helms will become the first guy to hold on to a title for a full YEAR since...I don't even know! Yokozuna maybe? If he can keep the Cruiserweight Championship for another month - and he almost certainly will - he'll definitely secure quite a prestigious spot in pro wrestling history books.

I'm just hoping that his on-air push will match his booking. He may be the longest reigning champion in a while but his in-ring abilities and charisma during promos and commentaries are worthy of more air time.

I've always been an Untertaker fan...since day one. I don't know what day Armageddon was (nearly 6000 if you multiply his 16-year WWE career by the number of days in a year), but the man has still got it. He's never been Mr. Technical or "catch-as-catch-can" but he's always been a solid performer.

You gotta mark out for a guy who has matches dedicated to his character: Buried Alive matches, Casket matches...and of course, last night's Last Ride match. I put Mr. Kennedy, of course, in the same category as MVP in that I expect him to be a major star for years to come.

I now realize that perhaps LOSING to either Kane or The Undertaker should not be considered a 'de-push' as much as it should be perceived as a right of passage. Let's face it...EVERYONE has lost to these guys in major matches at some point in their careers...even the mighty Triple H. And has it really hurt any of them? Or has it, at times, propelled certain superstars to main event status?

Kennedy and MVP got their asses kicked last night. So it looks like they're on their way to the top.

Speaking of guys I've always been a fan of...Chris Benoit rules. However...I actually would have liked to see Chavo Guerrero go over last night. Holding the U.S. Title, he could have likened himself to his late great uncle Eddie, who once held that very title. He could talk about following Eddie's great legacy and perhaps start representing his uncle in a positive light instead of utlizing this confusing backstory about his estate as a reason for a feud.

And I've decided, I'm not even going to mention the 'main event'. I've decided not to mention the names of the winners...as I feel they don't deserve to be mentioned. I've decided that I'm going to use this time to state that in 2007...we will have new champions...and new reasons to "O".

Oh yeah...for Christmas, I'd like Layla.

AND Kristal...I can't decide!

And FINALLY...here are the FINAL results of Tha "O" League for this season's WWE Fantasy game:

The Bronze medal recipient (or Tha O Show's Cruiserweight Champion perhaps):
TheEndustry with 2650 points.

Winner of the Silver medal (and now Tha O Show's Intercontinental Champion):
YOURS TRULY: Dan-e-o with 2681 points!

(Now imagine the voice of Howard Finkel).

Your winner and the NEEEEEWWWWWW "O" League Champion, The Smashin' MAAAAAASSSTTEEERRRSSS!! With 2854 points and a stranglehold on this competition since it began, The Smashin' Masters is your first "O" League Champion.

Congratulations! We at Tha O Show will look for you to put your title on the line next season! Please e-mail me at dan-e-o@thaoshow.com for details on how to claim your prize.

Here are the final standings:

1 The Smashin' Masters - 2854 pts
2 Dan-e-o - 2681 pts
3 TheEndustry - 2650 pts
4 Phenominal_Angles - 2552 pts
5 The Omega Ones - 2295 pts
6 D.W.I - 2284 pts
7 Better_Than_Dan-e-o - 2198 pts
8 BigDaddyDonnie - 2170 pts
9 LO Destruction - 2077 pts
10 fabulousBagiuoIgorots - 2076 pts
11 Thrones And Patriots - 2046 pts
12 Second City Saints - 1944 pts
13 TheBIGBang112 - 1614 pts
14 Methods Of Mayhem - 1292 pts

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Armageddon Preview

WWE has their 17th pay-per-view of the year this Sunday when “SmackDown!” presents Armageddon.

If you have any money left over from buying holiday gifts and feel like spending $40 on a December PPV, I urge you to wait until December 30th when UFC presents their biggest show ever with Chuck Liddell facing Tito Ortiz.

“SmackDown!” has been a really strong show over the last few months since Michael Hayes took over. Unfortunately, this pay-per-view is coming at a bad time of year with it being the fourth straight wrestling PPV in four weeks and with the aforementioned UFC show lurking in the shadows.

WWE has really chosen a bad time in their history to over-saturate the PPV market with bad shows. Survivor Series and ECW’s December to Dismember were hardly worth spending money on as recent WWE pay-per-views have left the paying public with the feeling that they could have skipped the show and not missed much.

That is not the feeling you want to have after watching a PPV. It also seems that the wrestlers themselves are feeling the affects of working so many shows. The wrestlers don’t seem to be excited for PPVs and the in-ring action is proof of that. Matches are not of much better quality than the free matches you get on television and sometimes, they’re worse!

Armageddon could potentially have the strongest wrestling of any recent WWE PPV with matches that - on paper - look to deliver. People, however, don’t buy PPV to see the undercard. The main event needs to be enticing and I’m not sure if this one is doing much to peak interest.

Batista & John Cena VS. King Booker & Finlay

This was one of three possible main events that were supposed to be on the show. The first idea was to have Batista against Booker in a gimmick match. Vince got cold feet after these two had a less than stellar match at Survivor Series so the next idea was to throw Finlay in the mix and make it a three-way. That was also nixed with the idea that it wouldn’t draw - so Cena was put in to help save the buy rate.

Batista has lost it. His power is not what it was since he got back from his injury and thus his confidence is shot. Booker and Cena are not the caliber of workers that can hide Batista’s shortcomings so it looks like Finlay will need to do the work of four men. The faces should go over. What does that mean for future booking? Not much. Anything more than a decent match would be a huge surprise.

Undertaker VS. Mr. Kennedy in a Last Ride Match

Undertaker performed at a higher level in 2006 than he has in the last 10 years. His matches with Kurt Angle at the start of the year were excellent and I think this match should be good as well. Kennedy is a much better talker and worker than most of the stiffs WWE has had Undertaker feud with - including Heidenreich, Luther Reigns and Mark Henry.

I would love to see Kennedy win but the current plan apparently is for Undertaker to face Batista at WrestleMania 23. Expect Kennedy to go for the “last ride.”

Kane VS. MVP in an Inferno Match

There seems to be more long-term planning involving MVP than with The Big Red Machine. MVP raises his game well in these brawl type matches. Their cage match from “SmackDown!” showed how well MVP can sell and play heel. He also wears the crimson mask well...I expect MVP to go over.

Chris Benoit VS. Chavo Guerrero for the United States Championship

Benoit and Guerrero should have more time than they did at Survivor Series. That means a stronger match and anything less than very good would be disappointing for these two. The angle is horrible and takes away from these two as performers. Benoit won at Survivor Series so it’s his "turn" to lose. Parody booking is killing these titles.

Gregory Helms VS. Jimmy Wang Yang for the Cruiserweight Championship

If you were a fan of the old WCW feud between 3 Count and The Yung Dragons, then you will love this match. Helms will win. These two couldn’t have a bad match with each other if they tried.

The Boogeyman VS. The Miz

Do you guys honestly care? Boogeyman wins and Miz will eat worms.

Brian Kendrick & Paul London VS. William Regal & Dave Taylor for the WWE Tag Team Championship

This will be a great match. Kendrick and London remind me of The Rock and Roll Express and for that reason alone, they should come out on top. How the hell is Dave Taylor wrestling after his knee injury? If Taylor wasn’t injured, I’d say the Brits should win and keep the feud going. Now I’m not so sure. Who wins will tell you how badly injured Taylor is.

Overall, I expect this to be the best WWE PPV since Unforgiven. Unfortunately, with recent WWE PPV’s being horrible - combined with UFC on December 30th, I expect that Armageddon will be the least purchased pay-per-view in many months.

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TNA's Real "Turning Point"

SUBMITTED BY THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THA O SHOW WRITING TEAM: THE HITMAN

At last Sunday's Turning Point pay-per-view, TNA did almost everything right. The young talent got over, the main event was an instant classic, the X-Division got a kick with the PCS, a possible reunion of Roode and Young was teased and they managed to keep Ron Killings from going postal for one more week.

After an event that did so much to lay solid building blocks for both the near and distant future, TNA had to keep up their momentum on Thursday's "iMPACT!". While it wasn't a perfect episode, it was easily one of the best "iMPACT!" programs to be broadcast since the inception of the show.

Before the opening video was even shown, Don West was taken out by Kurt Angle. I'm going to start a petition saying that every "iMPACT!" should start like this. It instantly makes the program better.

Moments before West was taken out, Samoa Joe cut a promo stating that he was now more interested in the NWA Heavyweight Championship than he was in a rematch with Angle. A teaser for a future storyline: that's something TNA rarely does.

Build-up = ratings. There was one bad thing about this, though. Angle then spent the entire night going around the back acting like a lunatic, which didn't make any sense. Wasn't he supposed to be the bigger face of the two? And isn't taking out Eric Young backstage pretty much the most heel thing you can do these days?

Speaking of Eric Young, TNA is doing a good job of leaving the Young/Roode tandem in suspense. A lot of smarks would love to see these two as a tag-team again, and the way TNA is playing it out is going to make it red hot if it happens. I'll get back to that in a minute.

An Abyss squash, early in the program, I can somewhat understand - but to Ron Killings? Seriously, aren't they trying to keep this guy from wanting out? Killings has enough charisma and good enough in-ring skills to be a main eventer, but he's been overlooked ever since the summer of 2004. No wonder he wants out so badly.

It would seem that Petey Williams is actually going to get a push. Following what happened in his match tonight, a heel turn for Daniels seems imminent, so Williams, who is quietly one of the most over faces in TNA, might be in line for another run with the X-Division Title. Who wouldn't love to see that?

The PCS...it seems to be a see-saw storyline there. One week, it'll be entertaining, the next week it'll be cheesy or just plain not funny. I enjoyed the ink blot segment last week, as well as the match at Turning Point, but the push-up scene tonight was very poorly done. And the steroid jokes were old after about 10 seconds.

The time it takes you to read this sentence was about the approximate amount of time that VKM had anything shown this week.

Getting back to the Young/Roode thing...after what happened in the main event match, I think their reunion will most likely happen. I understand that putting over LAX is something TNA wants to focus on since they're a young team that will probably be around for a long time. The AMW gimmick has gone stale and pretty much run its course, but they could have given this feud a much bigger payoff match.

Have it at Final Resolution and make it a Full Metal Mayhem match or something of that sort. Also, I question breaking up AMW at this point in time. Team 3D doesn't wrestle as much as they used to, VKM never wrestles and with Shane Douglas leaving The Naturals, they may end up in creative limbo - there's not many teams left. The tag division in TNA is slowly shrinking without most of us picking up on it.

While I disagree with breaking up AMW, I'm interested to see how it will play out and what will happen to Harris and Storm after they're done feuding. History has taught us all that one of them is gonna become a star and the other one will end up jobbing.

Finally, we had Christian Cage and Tomko with the age-old, God-awful "I've got a secret" angle. I'm going to have to do my best Eric Young impression for a moment and be scared of the ghost of Katie Vick. This is one of the worst angles in wrestling, and why it gets used is beyond my comprehension. Another angle that gets used a lot is the whole "manager and wrestler coming to blows as one turns on the other" storyline.

The beginning steps of this are being displayed with Abyss and Mitchell. Why is this even necessary? Abyss is already in the middle of a storyline, with two feuds, no less. There's no real reason to tack this on right now.

However, for the sake of argument, let's just say that Abyss turns on Mitchell, or vice versa. What happens then? It would seem logical that TNA would partner Mitchell with someone new and have them feud with Abyss. So now, in addition to being the champion, he's feuding with three different people.

If this were to happen, one of two things would occur - either "iMPACT!" would have Abyss on screen for a good three quarters of the show - or suddenly the champion would be taking a backseat to other storylines, thus devaluing the belt in the eyes of viewers.

Would a Mitchell/Abyss separation lead to a good storyline? Maybe. But not while Abyss is the champ. And probably not for another 6 months or so after he loses the belt, because we all know how big of a hard-on TNA has for rematch storylines.

Overall, it wasn't a perfect show, but it would seem that TNA is starting to understand how to put together solid programming. Now they need to keep building on this. They need to use the momentum that they're gaining. TNA is starting to get it.

I wonder what the hell happened to Russo, though. There's no way in hell that he could be the one responsible for putting out this good of a product.

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Exclusive Interview with Robert Roode

You didn't think that Tha O Show would interview Traci Brooks without talking to the man she manages now would you? Big Daddy Donnie and Dan-e-o were fortunate enough to speak with one Robert Roode (Bobby to us!) for an exclusive interview recently. The man with the biggest push (a la vignettes) in recent TNA history is still awaiting his deserved spot as a main event contender in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Also a major star on Canada's Blood, Sweat and Ears roster, Roode is proving to be one of the greatest in-ring technicians in the business today. Following in the footsteps of so many Canadian wrestlers before him, Robert Roode is bound to hold gold in the near future creating a long lasting legacy. You know what to do. Click play on the Flash Player and hear Robert talk about: -training with Sean Morley (Val Venis) -having his favourite wrestler, Curt Hennig as a huge inspiration -his old-school robe that he wears to the ring and its significance to the tradition of professional wrestling -working with Traci Brooks -his time wrestling in Puerto Rico -the lost art of 'ring psychology' and who he feels are modern-day specialists -being part of the former Team Canada in TNA -Team Canada leader Scott D'Amore and his importance to the elevation of Canadian talent in the pro wrestling business -his frustration with the new Robert Roode character-push falling short And much more! For more on Robert Roode, check out TNA's website www.tnawrestling.com. Check out the official sponsors of Tha O Show interviews, Secret Suburbia at www.secretsuburbia.com and www.myspace.com/secretsuburbia. Special thanks to Tha O Show's Frank Forte for his research and assistance with the preparation for this interview.

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The Big Bag of News That Will Change 2007

With so much news taking place over the last few weeks, I thought it would be appropriate to give our O-sters the heads up on what is going on and how this will all affect 2007.

Not since 2001 has the wrestling industry changed as much as it did in 2006. 2007 is bound to be an even more newsworthy year and the industry we all know and love could go under some serious restructuring depending on how the chips fall.

The big news is the potential war between Ulitmate Fighting Championship and WWE’s Mixed Martial Arts group.

What is going to happen with WWE’s venture into MMA? The current plan of WWE is to start their own MMA group from scratch and not purchase Pride from Dream Stage Entertainment as was rumored before. Details are cloudy, but the current strategy is to make this MMA brand of WWE a Heavyweight promotion operated by Shane McMahon.

What affect will this have on the wrestling product? Time will certainly tell. All I can speculate for now is that Dana White and UFC have a lot of money and will do whatever they can to combat any WWE foray into Mixed Martial Arts. More importantly, 2007 marks the year that UFC needs to prove that they are here to stay and are not just some 'fad' sport that will fade into obscurity.

The new wrestling promotion to keep your eye on is not TNA. Wrestling Society X on MTV seems to be putting some major plans together on possible house show tours and pay-per-view events. With weekly television on a network with strong viewership and a roster of exciting talent such as Vampiro, Teddy Hart and the possible influx of talent from Dragon Gate could make this new promotion the one to watch.

Money and production values are their strengths, as being under the Viacom umbrella will allow them to make mistakes and have the resources to fix them. This is an opportunity that some new promotions almost never have.

And where will Paul Heyman land? Unless Vince Russo slips on a banana peel and hits his head so bad he gets amnesia, I doubt we will see Heyman in TNA. My guess is he will either go back to WWE in some capacity or take a hiatus from wrestling altogether. The man is burnt out and needs a break from wrestling. His baby - ECW - is now being turned into a shell of his original vision. The man needs to refocus.

The potential free agents in 2007 could make major “iMPACTs” in 2007. The contract of Rey Misterio is coming to an end in May and you know people in TNA are already calling to ask how is knee is healing. Rey is close friends with Konnan and he would be a perfect fit in the young company. RVD and WWE grow more separate by the day and some are speculating that 2007 will mark the end of “Mr. Monday Night” as a WWE fixture. RVD VS. A.J. Styles - can you say "OOOOH!"?

"iMPACT!" will become a two-hour show in 2007 and the future of the company rests on whether they can translate the added time into success on PPV and live events. 2007 will be the make or break for this promotion. Will they succeed? The last time Vince Russo had two hours to play with, WCW went out of business.

2007 looks to be a crazy year if you’re a fan of wrestling and MMA. And remember, Tha O Show will be your tour guides into the madness...buckle up!

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