Check This Out...

3.21.2007

Tha TNE Report

The following article has been submitted by long time O-ster, Jeff Brown. Tha O Show thanks him for his contribution. Enjoy.

I have decided to take it upon myself to give Tha O-sters their weekly feed of what will no longer be called ECW. From now on, I will refer to this program only as "Tuesday Night Extreme" or TNE for short.

The man only has ONE move, but Marcus Cor Von can lay "The Pounce" on a dude and make it look brutal. Screw that, he can make it look "brutal". Talk about putting Lawrence Taylor's shoulder tackle to shame! I like the fact that he's kept the whole "Serengeti, half man, half animal" character; some people don't get it, but I like it.

Here's a question: How does Ariel keep from smothering herself with those titties? For the best of me, I can't figure out how here ASSets were not mentioned during last week's show while the guys were trying to create their Diva-stein. Those are the kind of hams you just want to bite into and pray to get lockjaw...DAMN!

I'm not sure if it's even worth mentioning the ECW Originals as it's pretty obvious they're there to put over The New Breed. Once that is over, they're Orlando bound... and considering RVD hasn't re-signed, plus him and Heyman's contracts apparently run out around the same time. It'd be best for the Originals to leave and let there be no trace of ECW on "TNE".

That's OK though, because Elijah Burke is simply a talent to behold. He and Dreamer worked a damn good match. The "Elijah Express" is the new "Stinger Splash"...A good follow-up/finisher move is needed though. But, either way, the guy is mint; so far he hasn't done anything to point out any flaws, instead he's shown nothing but ability and limitless potential (unless you ask New Jack, then the color of his skin will be his downfall).

I honestly could not watch the Bibby Lindsay and Ass Master's match...I just couldn't make myself care. I do, however, regret not having Bibby on my roster though; he's in specialty match after specialty match and cannot lose. Sure the guy's over like Crystal Pepsi with us, but the few marks I know love the guy.

As far as Masters goes, "The Master Lack" (no O's allowed for this guy) has been broken. Soooooooo...Who cares? Who ever REALLY cared? Lex Luger's "Bionic Forearm" was more interesting than this amazing full-nelson. What does he have now? Hopefully a one-way ticket to Louisville or Atlanta.

All in all, the newly-named Tuesday Night Extreme is making strides to improve. The New Breed is coming together and could actually go somewhere after WrestleMania 23. I'm calling right now for a Tag Title unification; to where the titles are kept on the show of the title holders, all contenders come to that show to compete for the title, and TNE may just be the first home of those titles. If this happens, maybe TNE can go beyond just being Lindsay's show.


12 comments: on "Tha TNE Report"

Dan-e-o said...

Thanks for the article Jeff.

To respond to a comment you made about New Jack in this article...and also a comment you posted for his interview...I must agree.

Even as a visible minority, I recognize that the WWE locker room is probably equivalent to the actual population of our continent...with approx. 1/10th of it being black.

I guess I really can't complain...I would have played Devil's Advocate and mentioned that to New Jack but considering that I'm about to meet him, perhaps interrupting wouldn't have been smart.

In addition, I couldn't help but notice that each picture used in this article is of a brother puttin' the beatdown on a white dude! Go figure!

Tim Haught said...

I really dig the name Tuesday Night Extreme. Perhaps like Monday Night Raw, the Tuesday Night would end up being dropped, and you would have three brands, Raw, Smackdown, and Extreme. The only problem is, the current product on Tuesday nights is not "extreme" by pro-wrestling fan's standards. Still a great idea, that would likely lead to a higher acceptance of the product by ECW loyalists.

I have yet to see Cor Von in ECW, as I have decided not to waste the effort to hit up the one TV in our house with digital cable for what is typically described to me as a lackluster product.

However, I was big fan of Monty Brown in TNA, and was upset when they turned him heel and missed the opportunity to make him the new face of TNA. The half-man, half-animal shtick seems a bit weird in WWE, because Batista is apparantely 100% animal (Despite his penchant for turtleneck sweaters. He must be one of Paris Hilton's dogs). I liked Brown, and assuming Cor Von is Brown with a name change only, I would like him in WWE as well.

It will be interesting if the ECW Originals do end up in TNA as you said as Raven, Shane Douglas, Rhino, and Team 3D are there as well. However, don't forget that Vince has a firm grip over the ECW name. Whether the talent is in TNA or on TNE, the ECW name stays with Vince.

Burke seemed like a great prospect when he was with Terkay. Amazing to me that the WWE smartened up enough to push Burke and let Terkay go. Who would have thought WWE would take a charismatic agile young black man and give him the nod over a big white meathead with olympic experience. If you asked me which one of them could be a major star a year ago, I would have said Burke. If you asked me who would still be around now, I would have said Terkay. Credit to WWE on that one.

I think that Lashley currently is right where you need to be on the WWE Bell Curve. You have some guys that are really only over with smart fans and others who are really only over with marks. They are to the far left and right of the graph. Lashley is maintaining his spot for now in the middle, but is starting to lean towards the marks, as his inability to talk, quick push to a World Title, and position in a big Mania match have exposed him a bit to smart fans. Still, his brawl with Umaga and dive through the cage were exciting stuff for any wrestling fan. WWE needs to protect this guy from the wrath of the smarks, cause he's on his way down Batista Boulevard to John Cena Drive.

I don't agree with you about tag title unification and I could have done without the commentary on Ariel's anatomy, but all in all a great first effort on Tha O Show.

You definetely spurred some thoughts for me in thinking about ECW's present and future. A good read!

Anonymous said...

i liked ecw last night. In fact Ive been liking it quite a bit lately. The new breed is full of people who are full of huge potential to become huge future stars......and matt striker. The originals are here to put over the new breed but thats not necessarily a bad thing. The originals are older and arent going to be around forever. So they have to put over the new guys if ecw is going to be around for the long term. And really if one looks at the victories between the past few weeks, its been about 50/50. So the originals arent getting buried and are presenting a threat.

Im going to say something now that isnt going to win me many friends here, but i dont give a damn....i like lashely. He isnt the most polished champion and he's still pretty green, but i think hes got tremendous potential to be a huge star that wrestling fans of all stripes (i refuse to use the term smark)could either like or at least tolerate. However, the match last night wasnt that good and it was definitely lacking in relevance which is certainly problematic. But I can say it was nice to be reminded that chris masters is a wrestler not a a traveling side show of "who can break my full nelson".

Anonymous said...

The Tag Titles are going to go through a change this year... it's inevitable... there's been talk of bringing tag belts to TNE... and three tag belts is much, considering the walls between brands has been broken... I think i'm dead on with this one...

as far as my comments on Ariel... i stand by them

Tim Haught said...

I like the Striker joke, Mr. Omega. I also like that you are willing to stand beside the fact that you like Lashley, whilst admitting that he is a bit green. WWE has a problem these days with calling guys up too fast based on the fact that they crushed any and all competition to pull talent from.

I got two questions:

Mr. Omega or anyone else who saw it: How was Masters in the ring last night? I mean, obviously he's not going to pull out flippy dippy moves, but I see Master's as a guy with a lot of potential and his own unique charisma that could be a really fantastic upper level heel someday. I think it's great he had a chance to wrestle, and I just wonder how you'd rate the match, with the understanding that it's not expected to be HBK/Bret Hart.

Question 2 for Signguy: Don't you think that invasion angles are totally played out? I am not trying to say that the Invasion in TNA wouldn't make for interesting television, but with only an hour to get talent over, this would have to be THE storyline in TNA if it happens. Do you think it's worth the investment to do the same 1996 angle over again?

Anonymous said...

Oh I meant to call Cor Von's pounce from last night Br-O-tal... not just brutal with quotations... damn auto-spell check

Anonymous said...

I kept CM Punk on my Fantasy roster all season, and I dropped him for this week (along with Cor Von and Thorn) as I loaded up on my WM23 predictions (although I kind of defaulted into RVD and Orton). I dropped Edge, too. It's only fitting that it should come back to bite me in the ass. At least I picked up Lashley. But there's no way I'm ever going to make up the near 200 point gap between me and my wife. Egad, someone tear a corner off my Man Card.

Oh, and the show was alright, but nothing really engaging.

Anonymous said...

The Masters match was damn near a squash. He's being portrayed as a big musclehead again, only now he's a big musclehead who also jobs.

Anonymous said...

Signguy_shooter: how dumb would Sabu look trying to fight MCV's shoulder tackle?

Anonymous said...

If he was stoned, he might have tried to. God knows he's done things to get him backstage heat while stoned.

Anonymous said...

Master's being portrayed as a"big musclehead"? what a stretch

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's that big of a stretch. The dude's starting to look a little beefy again, commentators are no longer putting him over as being "more lean, more athletic", and he's being packaged the same way he was when he first debuted-Master Lack Challenge every week, wrestles once every few months or so.

This guy is wasted potential. It's already become obvious.