Raiders secure top draft choice

With the Raiders loss to the New York Jets
and the Detroit Lions victory over the Dallas Cowboys that gave the Raiders the worst record in the league and the top choice in April's NFL draft.

Continue Reading!

Pride Spoilers

Right Here

I didn't do great or terrible in my predictions for this show which you may or may not ever see.

Continue Reading!

Funniest YouTube Clip Ever

This is the funniest thing all-time, all my life

If you don't laugh at any portion of this you have no sense of humor.

Continue Reading!

For those that think TNA is complicated

With the New York Giants victory over Redskins

Here is how Green Bay can get in to the Playoffs

Its not just that 1 or 2 of those things need to happen but they all need to happen.

Continue Reading!

UFC 66 Post-Show notes.

Da Meltz has a few of them.

Shows in the UK and Mexico would be interesting. Rampage as the next contender is fine for me based on the fact that only Rampage is left for Liddell to avenge a loss to.

More heavyweights in the early part of the year? Please tell me that means Fedor is coming to eat Tim Sylvia.

Continue Reading!

Sheiky would not be happy.

It seems that the NFL network is not like our friend the Iron Sheik.

Sheiky is a profussiunal and he would not condone the 2 audible burps from tonight's NFL game on NFL network.

Don't believe me?

Listen
for yourself

Sheiky should humble Bryant Gumble in the Old Country way both for this and for sucking so bad on these games.

Continue Reading!

Looking Back

If you told me 1 year ago today that I would be arguing the finish of a fight in UFC with a friend on this day in 2006 I would've:


Laughed uncontrollably. The reason for this is that I was very new to the sport. I wouldn't watch my first UFC Pay Per View for another 3 months. I did so alone that night.

In April I had Scott and our friend Josh Haeder at my apartment for the show. Marcus came along in May. Then Wade watched his first in August.

The point of this is to say that a year ago this would not have happened and it would've shown no signs of happening.
I think that in a lot of ways myself and my group of friends are the posterchilds for the MMA boom in 2006 which in actuallity is a UFC boom.

Marcus and I argued the finish of the fight tonight, and there was some loud voices and good natured trash-talking thrown in. From the outside it might've looked like a real serious argument and while that was true for the topic itself it was a good natured one. There are things in MMA that you can argue about that you can't with pro wrestling. You can argue over the merits of the type of finish to a match you see on PPV or Raw or something but you can not argue it and say that if Nick Patrick were the ref he wouldn't have stopped it the way Charles Robinson did.

Here is what people need to understand about me. I am an argumentative person, I love to argue and I am very good at it. I love being with other people that can argue and it helps to raise my game.
The point is that tonight Marcus and I argued while Scott and Wade watched the show. I don't know what those 2 thought when the show was over and they decided to leave but I'm guessing they'll remember this one for quite some time. The thing that they don't see is that Marcus and I don't have these kinds of arguments all of the time and will spend hours on the phone breaking down strategies of wrestling and MMA companies. The kind of argument we had tonight is rare, we maybe have one a year.

I love arguing with him. I respect him and I think we learn from each other. That whole story though is really a sidetrack.


I don't know what I'll look back on 2006 and think in 5 years. The fact is that I feel that I have gotten smarter this year in terms of my knowledge of wrestling and MMA and other topics. The thing about it is though that it wouldn't have happened if not for my friends.

Breaking down raw with Marcus. Conversations with Ric about everything under the sun, listening and talking with Art and Euan. Reading those sites and posts on this blog. I owe a lot to everyone. I would be no where without a lot of people.

So at the end of this year I want to say thank you to all of my friends if you've been my friend forever or are 1 I picked up along the way this year. I have learned a lot from all of you and am a better person for the influences you have on my life. You all have taught me and entertained me.
I'm not going to lie 2006 was a bad year for me. I had difficulties at not 1 but 2 jobs. I found out this year to 1 person just how valuable our friendship was when he was willing to throw it away by being dishonest when we would still be friends had he told me the truth. I was mired in a deep depression for an overwhelming majority of this year.

But, just when things were bleak and didn't look so good

• I had a chat with Euan on MSN that brought a smile to my face when I had only hours earlier wondered if that would even be possible.
  
• Scott showed up and drug me out some place and bought me something to eat. He told me that he was worried about me because he hadn't heard from me in a few days.
  
• I could feel the stress building up and have it vanish away because I heard something on the Ric and Steve...er...Karl Show that made me laugh. Plus it made me feel good to know that these people were genuinely entertained by something that I had written.
  
• At the peaks of lonely nights when I was left alone to be torchured by my thoughts of my trials and difficulties I'd get that phone call and Marcus and I would talk about what stupid thing that TNA or the WWE had done. What we thought of the last shows we saw or what we hoped to see in the future. Those calls could last a couple of hours and when they were over they had been successful in that my thoughts no longer tortured me.
  
• Thinking that when I really needed to talk about what was on my mind that Duane was always there for the wisdom and advice that I have come to depend on him for. No disrespect to anyone else but Duane knows what is going on in my head more than anyone else and that can be a scary thought.
  
• There's Art's site and his support of mine and his willingness to help out whenever I asked.
  
• Wade who has been a presence in my life since I can litterally remember. I guess the best thing I can say about Wade may be the best thing I could say about anyone in my life in that he is old reliable.

So the true meaning of this is that I'd like to thank all of you. I may have written in words some of how you have impacted me for the better this year but my regret is that none of you will ever truly understand how much of a difference you have made and how much of a pick-me-up you have all been.

So, I say once again, thank you for everything. I hope everyone has a good 2007 and I know that with a family and friends like those that I am fortunate enough to possess mine will be just wonderful as well.

Continue Reading!

UFC 66 Live Coverage

Welcome to OCC Live Coverage of UFC 66. We'll have updates after each round so refresh your browser for the latest information.


The Card:

1. Eric Shafer Vs. Michael Bisping
   
2. Jason MacDonald Vs. Chris Leben
   
3. Andrei Arlovsky Vs. Marcio Cruz
   
4. Keith Jardine Vs. Forrest Griffin
   
5. Chuck Liddell Vs. Tito Ortiz

Eric Shafer Vs. Michael Bisping is up first.

Dave Meltzer says that UFC 68 has been moved to Houston.

Joe Rogan is in the house tonight.

Neither Shafer or Bisping has what I would call outstanding music.

9-1-2, 6'3, 205: Eric Shafer
Vs.
12-0, 6'2, 205: Michael Bisping

Round 1:

Shafer scored with an early takedown. Bisping was able to get back to his feet but Shafer took him back down to the ground.
Shafer had an arm triangle but Bisping was able to avoid having it locked on completely. Shafer has Bisping in big trouble in the full mount. Bisping uses the fense to make it back to his feet.
Bisping catches Shafer with a nice kick. Bisping on his feet is taking control with the striking. Shafer was busted open on the nose.
Bisping landed a bunch of shots, and it was all over.

Winner: Michael Bisping - 4:24 Via TKO (Ref stoppage)

Thoughts - Shafer had control of the early part of the round but Bisping was able to come back.

Bisping is being interviewed now and he has a more pronounced accent than Euan.

A commercial airs for UFC 67 and we have:

Georges St. Pierre Vs. Matt Serra

1. Anderson Silva Vs. Travis Lutter
   
2. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson Vs. Marvin Eastman
   
3. Merko Cro Cop Vs. Eddie Sanchez

Match 2: Andrei Arlovsky Vs. Marcio Cruz

As Arlovsky heads to the ring you can go to This Link for the CARE Preview of this show.

Arlovsky is younger, everything else is even.

I missed Cruz's stats

11-5, 6'3, 236: Andrei Arlovsky
Referee: Herb Dean

Round 1: I missed Cruz's stats because pizza was being handed around. I hope you understand.

Arlovsky uses the very definition of ground-and-pound and pounds Cruz in to oblivion.

Winner: Andrei Arlovsky - 3:15 R1 TKO

Thoughts - Welcome back to the UFC Andrei. Andrei's punches were so massive they gave us good base out of the sound system.

UFC coming in HD in February. Its time to get an HD-TV.

We're killing some time because of the short fights to start.

Match 3: Chris Leben Vs. Jason MacDonald

Dave's Live Coverage includes dark results

18-7, 6'3, 184: Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald
16-2, 5'11, 186: Chris "The Cripler" Leben

Round 1: They show Anderson Silva and he wants to kil you can just tell.

Leven blocks a kick and takes MacDonald. down.

Its a lot of work against the fense. Leben's striking is taking control of this round especially after the ref separated them.

Leben ends the round with a nice elbow.

Scoring: This was Leben's round 10-9.

Round 2: MacDonald kicks Leben and then finds himself on the end of a Leben takedown.

MacDonald with a knee to the mid-section and Leben responds with a left hand to the face.

A big right from MacDonald and a knee from Leben. MacDonald gets Leben to the ground for the first time.

MacDonald has Leben in a guillotine choke...and Leben taps out.

Winner: Jason MacDonald, at 4:03 in R2 via a choke

Thoughts - MacDonald is no stepping stone to anyone and I am one of the few that called this win for him.

MacDonald thinks people will start calling him the TUF killer. Well, he is 2-0 against TUF alumn.

We stall for some more time.

Match 4: Forrest Griffin Vs. Keith Jardine

13-3, 6'3, 205: Forrest Griffin

I missed Jardine's stats.

Referee: Big John McCarthy

Round 1: This is a big slugfest early as was expected. Crowd is way behind Forrest.
Pretty even and neither man has even come close to going off his feet. Griffin used the leg kicks early and Jardine picked up the strategy in the middle of the round.

Jardine knocks Forrest Griffin down and then continues the pounding and in a mild upset I'd say Jardine is the winner.

Winner: Keith Jardine via KO in 4:35 R1

Sorry this coverage hasn't been up to standards I've been burning some CD's while doing this and it has caused some delays.

Thiago Alves Vs. Tony DeSouza is next.

This must've been the best of the dark bouts.

Round 1: Well, it didn't start out that way that's for sure.
The crowd was booing early and often, the fact is though that the pase picked up with about a minute left in the round.

Scoring: Alves won the round 10-9 but its kind of pointless to score these since we know the result.


Round 2: Thiago Alves just clocked him with a big knee and it was all over.

Winner: Thiago Alves, via KO in 1:10 of R2

Match 6: Chuck Liddell Vs. Tito Ortiz

Marcus and I are arguing about the outcome of this fight.

Well, the fight and show have been over for quite some time.

Here's what happened.

Round 1 was definitely Chuck's round. Dave Meltzer thought it might've even been a 10-8 decision, though I'm not so sure and the judges ultimately didn't score it that way.

In the second round, Tito didn't start out so hot but he did finish with a takedown. Eddie Bravo gave the round 10-9 to Ortiz and I'm not thinking I would've argued otherwise.

Third round: Chuck pounded on Tito a few more times and Tito was knocked down a couple of times.

The argument that was the reason this has taken so long to post was whether or not the referee stopped the fight too soon.

It was a good fight and love Tito or don't he was definitely able to hold his own with Liddell more than before. Tito said afterward that he knew the better man had one.
I didn't hear Chuck's interview as I was out celebrating in the snow. I heard Tito's because the window was open a crack.

It will be interesting to see over the next few days if the debate rages online about whether the fight was stopped early. I don't usually wonder why a referee is assigned a fight or not but I wondered why Big John had not gotten this one. Mario Yamasaki was the man who the eyes of some will be pointed to in this one.

Sorry this wasn't the best coverage the OCC has ever given you.

Continue Reading!

Late News from Vegas

Thanks to the Dave who is at the show.

Continue Reading!

Bout order for New Year's Eve announced by DSE

Still not sure I'm ordering this but there will indeed be a CARE preview of the show.

Continue Reading!

UFC 'Live and Inside' airs tonight

All of the details are in the link. This show will feature the weigh-ins.

Have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to UFC 66 yet?

Continue Reading!

New Bout added to next Fight Night Live

Its an important fight as well in the Light Weight division. The fact that its a Light Weight fight means I am now looking forward to this show more than I was before this one was announced.

Continue Reading!

Teddy Long's announcement regarding the Royal Rumble

This was posted by Mike Johnson of PwInsider.com

This is a spoiler for Friday Night's Smackdown.

During tonight's "Best of Smackdown" World Wrestling Entertainment will air an announcement from Teddy Long that WWE World champion Batista will defend
the title at the Royal Rumble against the winner of the first-ever "Smackdown Sprint."

The first Smackdown episode of 12007 will feature a series of matches with the competitor that wins the quickest earning the title shot at the Rumble PPV
in San Antonio, Texas.

Thanks to Cameron Hamon for his help.

So there you have it.

Continue Reading!

Matt Hughes added to UFC 68 card in Columbus Ohio

Early rumor and the hope of many is that his opponent will be Diego Sanchez. I'm about to tell you why that has bad idea written all over it.

Just click the link and

It is a lose-lose situation for UFC that's why.

If Matt Hughes were to lose to Diego Sanchez you end up losing the intrigue of a Hughes/GSP rematch even if you do get the intrigue of a Sanchez/GSP fight. The fact is that the former right now is worth more money than the latter because of the fact it would be a third bout between the 2 not 2 guys meeting for the first time.
The reason the intrigue is lost is because now its less special that GSP defeated Hughes since another man would've done the same thing.

As for if Diego loses, yes you protect the Hughes/GSP rematch but you do so while sacrificing the momentum of Diego Sanchez. Yeah, perhaps he can recover but you don't know how long that can take.

I say you don't match Diego up with either Hughes or GSP until after they've had their rematch. The 170 pound Welterweight division is in my mind the deepest division in UFC. So as to the question of what to do with Diego if he's not seeing either Hughes or GSP until after their rematch I'll tell you what I'd like to see.

I'd like to see another fight between Diego and Karo Parisyan. The first bout was a very close one and might've gone differently had Parisyan been ready for a longer fight. I guess you have the same problem there that you would with Diego and Hughes in that a loss to Parisyan would hurt him but truthfully a loss to anyone would hurt him. You could protect him with a lower-level fighter but you can't protect a guy 100% just ask Jens Pulver about that one.

So it will be interesting to see how this shakes out but as I said in my mind Hughes/Sanchez is a bad idea. It eventually won't be a bad idea at all but it is now.

Continue Reading!

UFC scraps original plan for card in Montreal

It is too bad because a Hughes/GSP rematch in front of GSP's home fans would be great crowd I see all-time all my life.

However, I don't blame Hughes for wanting a fight before a rematch with St. Pierre.

Having it not be known when UFC could get into the Bell Center it is likely at least in my mind that the fight will never take place there but end up being held somewhere else.

Continue Reading!

Barry Zito agrees to $126 million deal with Giants

The Texas Rangers were also in the running for his services. That's quite the big signing it will be interesting though to see how Zito deals with pitching in the NL.

Continue Reading!

With Season over, Raiders look to Future.

I also look to the future of the Raiders and it looks bleak.

Continue Reading!

The Simpsons make their new year's resolutions

You've got to love Chief Wiggam's.

Continue Reading!

TNA Wrestling gets new TV deal in the UK

This has got Euan so excited it has put him to sleep.

I guess this is considered an upgrade but I'm not familiar with UK TV so don't quote me on that.

Continue Reading!

12/28/2006 TNA iMPACT recap

Welcome to the last OCC iMPACT recap ever


in 2006. Got you~!

That might've been a lame swerve but it was done to get you in the mood for Russo's booking.

T..N...A - We are wrestling!! Short matches that is.

A recap of last week starts with LAX giving Santa the Border Toss which still earns a thumbs up. Speaking of LAX we wish nothing but the best to Konnan as he battles his health issues.

JB outside Jim Cornette's office. Angle is arguing with Cornette which could happen on every show as far as I'm concerned. Since they're good together expect Russo to never write segments for them together again all-time all his life. Angle wants his rematch and he will get it.

The iMPACT opening airs and we got Mike Tenay. Tonight we get the presentation of Mr. TNA 2006, still the gayest name ever for an award.

We're headed to the ring for our first match.

Match 1: Chris Sabin and James Storm Vs. Petey Williams & Christopher Daniels
James Storm's new music has a very distinct country twang to it. At least its distinct. For those curious I have no idea why this match is taking place but I guess its because Sabin and Daniels are feuding and Williams and Storm are feuding even though Williams wrestled Daniels last week or was it 2 weeks ago? Oh well the important thing is that I navaire raspact a gay~!

We get the first reference to the knightstick on a poll match later in this show. It had been a couple weeks since anything was on a poll so really it was time.

In the breakup of AMW Chris Harris ended up with Gail Kim. This makes him the clear winner no matter how the feud plays out because dude, he got Gail Kim.

Williams went for the Destroyer but something happens. Sabin has a chair and this draws out Jerry Lynn. About a million things happen in 15 seconds and James Storm hits Williams with a chair and gets the pin.

Winners: Chris Sabin and James Storm

Jerry Lynn takes his shirt off cause you know that's when a man means business. Tenay calls the 3-way with Daniels/Lynn/Sabin the Past Present and Future of the X-division. I'm guessing Lynn is the past, Daniels the Present and Sabin the future...which is not a lock since Russo loves to swerve.

We go backstage to see Samoa Joe arriving late to the building that man has no respect for authority. He's on crutches which Tenay says is thanks to Kurt Angle.

Commercial Break!!!

JB is backstage and is too excited with the prospect of the Knightstick on a poll match. Abyss and Mitchell are there and Mitchell is asking Abyss who's side he's on. Mitchell says that Christian and Tomko know the result of Abyss' secret but Mitchell himself knows the cause. These guys need to get on Oprah right now.

Tenay and West say things and now Latisha is backstage with Samoa Joe. Joe claims to have no injury, well the therapists would disagree and so would the crutches. Joe says he wants the world title and Angle will get no rematch. At least someone wants the NWA title.

Team 3D come out and talk about how no tag teams are left. They say that the Naturals are gone, VKM is feuding with VKM (see its clever and by clever I mean stupid) they point out that LAX is the only team left even though they said no teams were left.
Runt wants to know where the hell Team 3D was when LAX was kicking his ass. Its now the family feud issue of TNA iMPACT with Geraldo Tenay and Montel West.
Runt attacks Brother Ray and Ray tells D-von to get a table but he won't because hell why should he? So Ray gets his own. Here come the champs. They take control of 3D and the brawl is on as we go to a ...

Commercial Break!!!
Joe is going to kill you ... at Final Resolution. The commercial talks about his quest for the title which he will not be questing for at that show.

We're back from the break and the brawl is still going on. Chairs are being used tables are involved and the crowd is definitely into this. This feud did have to happen eventually so its good that it has happened now. Team 3D apparently are the winners of the brawl because their music plays.

The PCS skit is on and god help me I can't believe I say this but I love these skits.

Latisha is now backstage with Christian. Christian the heel is so awesome. Latisha apparently is making the effort to learn about wrestling which instantly makes her better than a lot of the diva search bimbos.
Christian's brow-beating of her is funny. After he's done cutting an ok promo we go to a...

Commercial Break!!!
Its 8:28 PM and we've had 1 match. I don't necessarily mind angle heavy shows but this is a bit much.

Oh good we're back with VKM. B.G. asks a fan if the skits they put on are any good and we get a no. The fan could've been talking about these skits for all I know.

Match 2: Robert Roode w/o Ms. Brooks Vs. Lance Hoyt w/Ron Killings

Hoyt gets the "What's Up" song for his ring music instead of his other song which is less memorable.

Killings goes to the broadcast booth. Tenay used the phrase Shizzle and that is so out of place it earns a thumbs up.

Winner: Robert Roode
Don't ask me how because:

1. I was talking to Ric Gillespie on AIM.
   
2. I don't care.

JB is with Eric Young who is apparently going to lose control. He'd better shape p cause I need a man, someone to keep me satisfied...god bless Grease.

We then get the entrences of Christian and Sting for their knightstick on a poll match before the...

Commercial Break!!!

I want a poll on a poll match and I can't be the only one. I think we should take a survey to find out if I'm the only one so we have a pole to see about a poll on a poll match and the poles close at 8.

A commercial airs for the Ultimate Fight Night Marathon on New Year's Day and that is something I'm down with at this time.

Abyss comes out to the ring. Apparently James Mitchell is also losing control that seems to be a pattern tonight.

Sting has the knightstick as I missed a lot of this match talking to Ric about the Year-end awards we'll be doing and they will be known as the Sheikies.

Winner: Sting
Tomko holds Sting and Christian goes to hit him with the stick and not his famous stick if you smell what the rock is cooking cause that's how he roles and that's the bottom line because its time to play the game when hulkamania runs wild on you to be the man you've got to believe in distrusity Ooooooh yeah, its true, its true!

The year-end awards are announced I'm sure they'll be on the website.

Cornette and Tenay are in the ring. Cornette says he can see no other way that's fair so he makes an elimination 3-way for the title at Final Resolution. Uh, since Sting won the knightstick match isn't it fair that he should get the shot?

Joe wins Mr. TNA and Kurt Angle is with Joe's random wacky girlfriend and threatens the anklelock if he doesn't give him the rematch. Joe refuses and she gets anklelocked and lord was this terrible. So I guess Angle's back to being a heel for this week so expect the face turn next week.

Overall: What a piece of dreck this show was, nothing stood out as anything that meant anything. Nothing was wacky enough to earn an automatic thumbs up but the PCS skit did earn a thumbs up but it wasn't automatic.

Continue Reading!

New Fight added to 1/25 Fight Night Live

Heath Harring's first fight for UFC since the purchase of the assets of the WFA.

Continue Reading!

Gerald Ford, former U.S. President dead at 93

Trivia note about Ford. He served as both Vice President and President but was not elected to either office making him the only person in U.S. political history to accomplish that feet.

While his passing is sad for family, friends, fans and supporters I can't help but also remember the SNL skit with Dana Carvey doing his Tom Brokaw impersonation recording the news of Gerald Ford's death in case he died while Brokaw was on vacation.

Gerald Ford dead today, at the senseless age of 83

Gerald Ford dead today and I am gay.

Continue Reading!

The Latest from Jim Ross

I love reading his writings and that's all that needs to be said about that.

Continue Reading!

Silverbacks-Wolfpac final to air on Fox Sports Net

If I don't watch Pride and if I can figure out when this is on around here I'll check it out.

Continue Reading!

What did your favorite TNA stars get for Christmas?

I know you're all eagerly wanting to know.

Continue Reading!

Tribute to the Troops Rating

It did a 2.7 rating which is understandable given the day and how tough it is for ratings.

Really this is the 1 show a year that isn't about ratings anyway.

Continue Reading!

Pride Finalizes Card for New Year's Eve Show

I'm not going to say that its a definite or even better than 50-50 but I may order this PPV.

Continue Reading!

New Bout soon to be added to next Fight Night Live?

Ric has all of the info over at CanvasChronicle.com. I've got to say that while I'm going to watch this show I am not yet really crushing on this line-up.

I'll tell you what I am loving though. I'm loving the fact that Jens Pulver and B.J. Penn will be fighting after season 5 of the Ultimate Fighter and that it will be on Spike.

Continue Reading!

ECW Dismembered in December DVD Extras

According to Mike Johnson over at PwInsider.com

The extras are:

For those of you wondering if World Wrestling Entertainment was going to load up on extras for the December to Dismember DVD, which will be released on
12/26, the extras are:

*ECW World champion Bobby Lashley vs. Big Show from ECW on SciFi, Show's last match at this point for WWE.

*Post-match interviews from the Elimination Chamber.

That's all folks!

Just as well, the sooner people can finish watching that DVD the better.

Continue Reading!

Barry Windham hired as Producer

According to Jim Ross' latest blog and noted at PWInsiderElite.com and I don't think JBL will try to rough Windham up as they were former tag partners.

Continue Reading!

Shrek the Third Teaser Trailer Online

That link will take you to a page where you can watch the trailer in the format of your own choosing.

I laughed out loud at exactly 1 point in the trailer but don't take that to mean much as I hardly ever laugh out loud at teasers.

Continue Reading!

Story behind Chris Sanders' removal as Director of American Dog

Thanks to O-Meon by way of Animated News

Its quite an interesting story, and if it is true that all features from Disney after Meet the Robinsons will be in 2-D then I give it 2 big thumbs way up.

Continue Reading!

Christmas Hall

Its time to list the Christmas gifts. I invite all OCC contributors/readers to contribute their own list of gifts.



From Friends and Family I got:

1. New socks
   
2. New Pants
   
3. Friends: The Complete First Season
   
4. The Hulk Hogan Anthology
   
5. A New Remote for my Satellite Radio
   
6. A $50 Gift Card to Wal-Mart.
   
7. Some candy
   
8. A Popcorn tin
   
9. Everybody Loves Raymond Season 1.
   
10. The Simpsons Season 9
    
11. OldCountryTimes.net
    

I may have forgotten a couple of things and still have something coming.

Continue Reading!

Update on Konnan's Medical Condition

The following was posted at WrestlingObserver.com

--Regarding stories that have come out of Mexico on Konnan, he did not have the scheduled hip replacement surgery on Wednesday because when they opened
him up, they found his kidneys in terrible shape and didn't want to risk surgery. Konnan is back in the U.S. undergoing kidney dialysis regularly until
next week. He is scheduled for surgery late next week, but the bad news is his kidneys are so damaged he needs a kidney transplant.

We here at the Old Country Corner are wishing nothing but the best for one of our favorite promos in the professional wrestling industry.

Continue Reading!

TNA Newsbits

I guess this is the return of regular blogging for me.

Continue Reading!

Finalists for the TNA Year-End Awards announced

Find out who won on Thursday night.

Continue Reading!

Details on the Upcoming Best of AJ Styles DVD Volume 2

If I buy this it will be for the interview content as I already have a majority of these matches on DVD elsewhere.

Continue Reading!

Happy Holidays from the OCC.

Everyone here at the Old Country Corner wishes you a safe and happy holiday season. If you don't hear from Euan for the next month or so it is because on Christmas day he will be able to start playing his Wiii again and may be MIA due to that.

I will be away until probably late Monday night so I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Continue Reading!

Art's New Blog

You may or may not have noticed that the Schlock N Hyperbole Blog is dead and gone.

However, we direct you to Art's new blog which can be found Here

Continue Reading!

What are your favorite TNA stars doing for the Holidays?

I don't post this as an example of hard hitting journalism.

I post this because it contains proof that Gail Kim and I are meant to live happily ever-after together.

She and I have the same attitude about Cheese although she actually goes further than I do when it comes to that. I will at least put cheese on my pizza. But I could live without it for her sake.

Continue Reading!

TNA iMPACT 12/21/2006

It is time as I have returned to recap iMPACT once again.

Special note at the end of this report I will have an essay titled: "Why Dixie Carter should send Vince McMahon a Christmas fruit basket every year for the next 10,000 years".

TNA We Are Wrestling...at least compared to ECW.



We start out with a recap of the events of last week. Angle and Joe, Sting/Abyss/Christian...it was a decent show last week which is better than TNA has been lately and light years better than ECW.

We go immediately to the ring for our first match.

Match 1: Frankie Kazarian Vs. Sting
Sting gets a pretty big pop. Lets see former world champion, 1 of the 3 biggest stars in the company Vs. a jobber...I love these matches where you don't know who will win.

Serotonin is the most useless group in the history of wrestling. This covers a lot of ground. Tenay asks if we've seen anything as strange as what happened at Turning Point to Serotonin. He's referring to when Kazarian was caned for losing the match. My answer, yes I saw the same damn thing with Johnny Devine at Genesis. Seeing it more than once means its no longer strange.

Sting wins, duh.

Winner: Sting
Kazarian is going to be caned again.

Sting cuts a promo basically committing the crime of blackmail. He'll trade Abyss his belt for a shot at the title. Extortion was one of the tactics that the Jews used to flee Egypt in the Old Testament. Ok, that's not true although actually they did agree to lift the plagues if they were allowed to leave so perhaps it was.

Now we have the usual iMPACT opening and Mike Tenay and Don West are talking.

I like Don West for the simple fact that nobody else could possibly be Don West but I was glad to have Cornette in the booth last week.

Jeremy Borash is with Rhino and Angle talking about the main event tonight.

Angle: Samoa Joe I tried to be civil but it didn't work so I ankle locked some ass. He used more words than this but I don't care to rewrite them.

Raven canes Kazarian again it sucks to be him. It sucks to be this storyline.

Commercial Break!
A commercial airs for Inside the UFC. I'm down with this.

Borash is backstage with Eric Young. He seems to think Ms. Brooks wants a Bikini rematch, let me assure him that nobody wants this. Now Team 3D is back and they tell us they were in Japan the last month...Hustlemania! They remember what the Naturals did to them the last time they were in the ImpactZone...and they're the only ones. D-Von wants his brother to testify, but not against him in a court of law.

Match 2: The Naturals Vs. Team 3D
Mike Tenay describes the relationship with the Naturals and Shane Douglas the same way I describe it with an x-girlfriend or 2. On again, off again, roller coaster ride.

Team 3D hit the 3D on Chase Stevens like 30 seconds into the match. It sucks to be the Naturals but it sucks more having to watch them. According to the last Wrestling Observer Newsletter I read this is it for the Naturals and if this is true I am now the world's biggest TNA fan.

Team 3D wins this table match in like a minute and a half.

Winners: Team 3D
Yep, the Naturals are done, they got no offense and Shane Douglas kicked them to the curb.

Jeremy Borash outside the locker-room of Samoa Joe. Unfortunately, its Tomko we hear from and not Samoa Joe...that's a considerable downgrade.

Ron Killings is in the ring, and he's rapping. Rap is Crap, always remember kids. Killings does nothing to dispel that rumor either.

Commercial Break!
That last segment featured the burial of the Naturals which is a billion thumbs up. The segment also featured Ron Killings rapping badly for 10 million thumbs down. Factor in the fact that Tomko spoke and you are left with an overall rating of 1 thumb up.

Kevin Nash is back with the Paparazzi Championship Series. Its a lame set of skits every week but it is still 1 trillion times better than the Bowl Championship Series.

Speaking of things better than the BCS, its LAX!

Konnan on the stick. He is the minister of Propaganda and the spiritual leader, he should've worked for Saddam Hussein.

Konnan is pissed at Santa Clause. Konnan never got his Miami Dolphins jersey, Homicide never got his roller skates and Hernandez likes to beat up white boys on the holidays. If he agrees to come to the ring wearing them, I will send Homicide a pair of roller skates myself. That entrance would be so awesome.

Santa Midget is now talking and turning millions of children in to non-believers at the same time. Santa accused Konnan of having a dirty mouth and did so while swearing. Hernandez gives the Border toss to Santa Clause so this show can't earn less than a thumbs up. The jobberweights make the save.

Remember how I said the border toss earned this show an automatic thumbs up? It was followed by VKM B.G. James and Billy Gunn Hard Gay so we're back to square one. VKM does play a part in my essay to come about why fruit baskets need to go from TNA to WWE every year for the next ten thousand.

Borash is with AJ Styles and I love Styles as a heel. AJ says things, then Joe says things all while I type things to other people. Its basically a word explosion if you will.

Commercial Break!!!

We get a video recapping the breakup of America's Most Wanted. It brought a tear to my eye, of course I was looking at my cable bill at the time so that might have been it.

Tenay is talking with James Storm. Apparently, Chris Harris always thinks for himself. Well I'd be scared if he started thinking for other people. Apparently, this isn't over. Yeah in more ways than 1 this isn't over.

Abyss is headed toward the ring. It sucks to be Abyss, Sting tries to be his friend by stealing his stuff, Christian wants to tell his secrets, and James Mitchell wants to slap him around. Now I know why he is the way that he is.

He who violates 1 of the 10 commandments is out. Sting says Abyss has potential to be a great champion...not if you don't give him his belt back Sting!
I could be wrong but I think Sting is playing the role of the Ghost of Christmas yet to come. Abyss is Scrooge and this is 1 fucked up version of a Christmas Carol.
The Ghost of Christmas past as played by Christian Cage is now speaking and threatening to reveal the secret. Why didn't Christian try to get this secret about Abyss after he tried to kill him earlier this year?
I don't recall the Ghost of Christmas past arguing with the Ghost of Christmas yet to come in Dickens' classic. Then again I also don't remember the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come stealing Scrooge's belt in order to get him to quit acting like an asshole to everyone he knows but its been awhile since I read the book. Abyss attacks Sting and the fight is on. It would seem that for the moment Abyss has decided that in this version of the Christmas Carol Scrooge will be telling the Ghost to fuck off and pissing on Tiny Tim's grave.
Now the Ghosts of Christmas Past and his friend (Christian and Tomko for those of you having trouble following my analogy) and James Mitchell (the ghost of Christmas present) are out. A Knight stick gets involved. You know what'd be a unique idea? If they took that Nightstick and put it on top of something...like I don't know something you could climb that isn't a ladder. Then they could have a match surrounding this, nah, to weird could never happen. Nightsticks, polls, it just is too far fetched.

Commercial Break!

We come back with a recap of what happened before the break. I guess cause it was so important.

Match 3: AJ Styles and Samoa Joe Vs. Kurt Angle and Rhino
Gotta love how AJ and Joe are all of a sudden teaming with no mention that I've paid attention to referring to their long-running feud. It is 8:51 and Angle is headed to the ring, I'm not thinking long match.

Angle pairs off with Joe and Styles pairs off with Rhino, odd how that works?

You know if I were the type of fan to nitpick I might wonder how it is that Jim Cornette can book Samoa Joe in singles matches, tag matches Ultimate X-bra and Panties matches, but can't book him in rematches. Its a good thing I don't nitpick. As you ponder how an Ultimate X-Bra and Panties matches is supposed to work we go to a...

Commercial Break!!! Back-to-back episodes of Unleashed are up next, I can't help but give Thumbs up to that.

Angle had Styles in an ankle lock but Joe broke it up. This match has broken down. Rhino got the choke from Joe, Joe got the Olympic slam from Angle and Styles got the pin on Rhino.

Ok, I'm confused. Last week Angle was playing a heel to get a rematch with Joe but Joe was also playing a heel by denying it to him. This week Angle played the face and Joe was still a heel. In the next set of spoilers Angle plays heel again and Joe is a face. That Vince Russo he's such a booking genius.

Winners: AJ Styles and Samoa Joe
Angle attacks Joe after the match thus going back to being a heel for the moment, I don't know and you don't care.

My Thoughts: This was not the worst episode of iMPACT I have ever seen that was a few weeks ago. They've got their top few feuds and are only giving real time to focusing on them. The storytelling is still lame but then that's always been true of TNA anyway. The pace of the show slowed down both this week and last week as compared to the way it was between Genesis and Turning Point. Plus, it did feature the end of the Naturals and Santa Clause getting the Border toss and I can't hate those 2 developments.

Now for the essay on why Dixie Carter should send a Christmas Fruit Basket to Vince McMahon for the next 10,000 years.
It is really quite simple. Vince McMahon has fucked up ECW so bad that now at ECW events which are also technically Smackdown shows, he has gotten pissed off fans to chant TNA at the more shitty moments on ECW. So basically, Vince McMahon has gotten his own audience to chant for TNA at a WWE show. TNA itself has never gotten any audience to chant TNA at a WWE show not ever. So Vince McMahon has done more for TNA with his audience than TNA ever has just by fucking ECW up to the point that fans never want to chant those 3 letters again and TNA is an easier chant than RoH. So Dixie Carter should give McMahon the million dollars from the challenge and a fruit basket from now until the end of time or until the end of 10,000 years as a thank you.
Of course a lump of coal needs to go to whomever named TNA because when it is chanted at WWE shows many people might just think that these fans want the shitty ECW show or match to stop and some hot chick to come out and strip. Dixie if you don't want to spend the money on coal then a good hardy 10 to 20 thousand kicks to the balls should serve as a fair substitution.
So Dixie in the name of good cheer and the fact that ECW is the best thing to happen to TNA all year though I'm not entirely sure what if any benefit they gain from fans chanting TNA when they see shitty ECW matches, it is Christmas and that is something so send Vince the fruit basket. Send him the million dollars, stop the VKM storyline and as a Christmas gift to me shoot Billy Gunn HG in the head.

Continue Reading!

Nnamdi Asomugha should've made the pro bowl.

The rosters were announced yesterday and Derrick Burgess was the only Raider on the squad. Nnamdi Asomugha should've made it at corner and you can make a case for Warren Sapp at Defensive Tackle. This is reason 585436587428 why I don't watch the Pro Bowl.

Reason 1: Its still not real football.

Continue Reading!

WWE Fantasy Manager Season 9

It is time once again for WWE Fantasy Manager. This is the 9th season of the game and this year there will be a league put together by CanvasChronicle.com and OldCountryTimes.net (site coming soon

The scoop is behind the cut.



The season will begin on 1/22 and run through Wrestlemania XXIII.

Here's how to sign up:

For those of you playing for the first time:

1. Click on the link in the title of this post.
   
2. Register an account.
   
3. Go to "Create Team".
   
4. Give your team a nickname.
   
5. Go to the page that says "Create/join league.
   
6. Search for the league: Personal-Pan-Pizza, Number-Vun!
   
7. You will be prompted for a password to join. The password is sheiky.
   
8. If you could then email me at 1pixarnation@gmail.com or Ric@CanvasChronicle.com with your real name and the name of your team we would appreciate it. You can also post the relevant information in This thread at the Canvaschronicle.com message board. The only reason we want to know this is so we can keep track of who's playing. That part of the CC forum will also be used for fun smack talking.

If you are a returning player:

1. Log in to your account.
   
2. Click on Create Team.
   
3. Follow the previous instructions to join the league.

Our goal is to make this the biggest season ever. I am also thinking of giving something to the winner of our league, perhaps a DVD of their choice but haven't decided officially though I will by the start of the season.

Between us both Ric and myself will be giving this league a strong push. This may include:

• A weekly fantasy column from yours truly recapping the week that was and looking at the week to come.
  
• Mentions of fantasy points gained in recaps of WWE TV programming such as Raw, ECW, Smackdown and Pay Per View.

So we'd like to see everyone sign up and give it a shot. The game is free so what do you have to lose?

Continue Reading!

Razor Ramon HG day, where is it?

Today was intended to be Razor
Ramon HG day here at the OCC. However, due to a lack of time to do it the way we want the day is being postponed indefinitely.

Also for those wondering about the lack of updates I apologize for the lack of updates but there's been a lot going on behind the scenes of the OCC. Hopefully, updates will resume as normal by the end of this week.

Continue Reading!

GNR cancel more dates, Axl reveals album release date

By Art Shimko
shimko_7@hotmail.com

So yesterday Axl Rose posted a letter to GNR fans on the band's website announcing 4 dates in January being canceled due to tending business regarding the band's "Chinese Democracy" album which Axl Rose reveals a tentative release date for early next year in the letter. Below is Axl's letter in its entirety...





www.heretodaygonetohell.com

Thursday, December 14, 2006
An open letter to our fans:

Guns Ní Roses regrets to announce that the following concert tour dates have been canceled:

January 10: Sacramento
January 11: Bakersfield
January 13: Reno
January 16: San Diego

Because of the scheduling of these particular shows, valuable time needed by the band and record company for the proper setup and release of the album ìChinese Democracyî would have been lost. Rather than delay the album yet again, all involved have decided to remove these shows from GNíRís schedule. We hope our fans understand and we apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused. Tickets may be refunded at point of purchase.

To say the making of this album has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement. Overcoming the endless and seemingly insane amount of obstacles faced by all involved, notwithstanding the emotional challenges endured by everyone -- the fans, the band, our road crew and business team -- has at many times seemed like a bad dream in which one wakes up only to find that they are still in the nightmare. Unfortunately, this time it has been played out for over a decade in real life.

The true, ongoing, behind-the-scenes triumphs and casualties are much more complicated than any negative speculation that the media or otherwise has managed to hit upon. For much of the time, various legal issues have arisen, demanding that the best way to deal with these things publicly, quite frankly, was to keep our mouths shut in an attempt to ensure the best outcome-- especially one that wouldnít jeopardize the band or the album. Itís easy for people to point out how others have handled similar situations or how they would have dealt with these issues themselves if they encountered them in their own lives. But again, without full knowledge of the various dynamics and circumstances involved, these types of comments or commentary are just uninformed, disassociated, generally useless -- and often hindering --speculation.

When I agreed to do our recent North American tour, I did it with the understanding that my manager, Merck Mercuriadis, and I were in full agreement regarding our strategy and touring plans and, most important, that any and all things needed to release the album by Dec. 26 at the latest were in place. Unfortunately, it turned out that this was not the case, and I regret to say that the album will not be released by the end of the year. Although many things went extremely well and were very exciting, there were, in our opinion, unnecessary and avoidable complications on our tour having to do with the tour routing, scheduling and album and video plans that wreaked havoc on all involved. This was compounded by an overall sense of a lack of respect by management for the band and crew and each individual's particular expertise that has resulted, unfortunately, in the end of both Gunsí and my managerial involvement with Merck Mercuriadis.

In regard to a release date for the album itself, certain minor - aand I do mean minor -- additions, as well as contract negotiations, need to be completed. Barring any unforeseen complications, these things have now been adequately scheduled. The band and I, along with our record company, feel that this record deserves the proper setup and promotion, not the ì13 Tuesdays leftî and ìIt may just appear in your record storeî approach offered by management. We believe this strategy may have been used as a tool by management to sell this latest tour to the various promoters, and if this was the case, this was obviously unfair to them. The stress of dealing with this situation has been considerable for everyone, including the band, but more important, in our opinion, it was something utterly insane to do to our fans. You have our apologies, and please know we have been laboring over this with management for the entire North American tour.

It takes approximately eight weeks for an album to hit the shelves once it has been turned in to the record company. For whatever reasons, it appears that it may have been mistakenly inferred by management that this time period could be condensed to three weeks. With that being said, this is not a promise, a lie or a guarantee, but we do wish to announce a tentative release date of March 6. This is the first time we have done this publicly for this album. Others have made up all the other dates for their own reasons. We would like to assure the fans that everything in our power will be done to meet this date. Once it is finalized and official, you will be notified. If we are delayed for unseen reasons, you also will be notified as soon as possible in regard to a new date, and the album will be released as shortly thereafter as is possible. We thank you for your patience.

In the end, itís just an album, but itís one that I, the band, our record company and all involved believe and feel is a true Guns Ní Roses album. Ultimately the public will decide, and regardless of the outcome, our hearts, lives and our passion has been put into this project every step of the way. If for no other reason, we feel those elements alone merit your consideration. We do hope you can hold on just a bit longer, and if not, please take a break and weíll be more than glad -- if you so choose -- to see you again later.

Once again, we offer our sincere apologies and our deepest thanks. Guns Ní Roses also would like to thank all the fans who attended the 70 concerts in 21 countries for their support in 2006. All the best to each and every one of you over this holiday season, thank you and God bless.

Sincerely,

Axl Rose

Continue Reading!

Mirko Cro Cop leaves Pride for UFC

It is official according to several sources including Between the Ropes

I'm happy about this because it is the first step toward Tim Sylvia's eventual death.

Continue Reading!

UFC Fight Night Live Coverage

The show starts at 7 PM CT. and we will have live round-by-round coverage throughout the night. Remember to refresh your browser for the latest.

The Televised fights are all in the Welterweight (170 LB) weight division.

1. Marcus Davis Vs. Shonie Carter
   
2. Drew Fickett Vs. Karo Parisyan
   
3. Josh Koscheck Vs. Jeff Joslin
   
4. Diego Sanchez Vs. Joe Riggs

Quick Predictions as apparently I was out due to Senshi kicking me in the face. I like: Sanchez, Parisyan, Koscheck and Shonie Carter to win.

First fight will be Shonie Carter and Marcus Davis as Rogan and Goldberg have run the card down.

Fight 1: Shonie Carter Vs. Marcus Davis

Nickname Battle Mr. International Shonie Carter Vs. Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis. I prefer Mr. International.

Goldberg calls season 4 of Ultimate Fighter memorable. I call him a liar. Apparently, Shonie Carter attracted a new legeon of fans from this show. That must be the reason for the low ratings, all the Carter fans decided not to watch.

Bruce Buffer made a screw up.

14-4 5'10, 171: The Irish Handgrenade Marcus Davis
81-16-7, 5'9, 171: Mr. International Shonie Carter

Buffer called this the Welterweight champ division, lol.

Referee: Big John McCarthy

Round 1: Carter is a former Marine so he gets the support of the troops.

The crowd is chanting something that sounded like "Fuck Him Up"

Marcus Davis is trying to submit Shonie Carter as he's got a full body triangle and a choke. Shonie escapes the choke and is working his way out of the triangle. This fight has been on the ground for a vast majority of round 1 so far.

The crowd starts to boo but then they erupt as Shonie finally turns the tables on this fight escaping the triangle. Shonie nails some nice elbows.

Scoring: Davis started strong and Carter finished the round strong. It was a good round overall, I give it 10-9 to Davis though.

As a side note, this crowd is really hot tonight. Thank god its not the Hard Rock in Vegas that's all I've got to say about that.

Round 2: Marcus Davis hurts Shonie Carter bad with a bunch. Carter was hurt by the jab of Davis and is still trying to recover. Davis nails some more rights and then a couple of leg kicks. He's handling the standup pretty well so far.

Carter is bleeding from the nose.

Crowd is not happy as the round ends as Shonie is clearly their boy.

Scoring: All Marcus Davis in the second round. I'll give it to Davis 10-8 so Shonie needs a win in round 3.

Round 3: Fans get behind Shonie chanting his name early hoping he can turn it around.

A Majority of the round was spent by me looking for something to drink to go with my pizza. Marcus Davis fought like someone who knew he was going to win.

Scoring: Tough to score as neither man really did much of anything to merit a win. I'll go Shonie 10-9.

My Card: Davis 29, Carter 27.

The Official Decision: 30-26, 29-28, 30-27 Marcus Davis

Rogan with Davis: Davis knew he had Carter hurt in the second round but Shonie is a tricky dude. For those wondering, Shonie didn't nail the spinning backfist. Marcus Davis thanks the troops and then his family to get the crowd back behind him.

Fight 2: Karo Parisyan Vs. Drew Fickett

Nickname Battle: Parisyan is the Heat. Fickett is the Master, I go with the Heat.

A Kurt Angle commercial airs talking about him coming to TNA tomorrow at 9 PM.

Fickett will have the crowd as he is also a former Marine.

Tale of the tape: Parisyan is 2 years younger and has the reach.

30-4, 5'10, 171: Drew "The Master" Fickett
23-4, 5'10, 171: Karo "The Heat" Parisyan

Curious that Fickett wasn't announced as a former marine like Carter was in the last fight.

Round 1: Karo nails a big right in the early part of the round. Parisyan's last fight was against Diego Sanchez and it was so awesome. Parisyan got hit in the groine or as Rogan said: "The Gonads".

Parisyan takes a bit to recover and we're back fighting.

The fight has been standing for most of this round. It was thought that Fickett would be the better striker but Parisyan is holding his own and beyond. Parisyan has had great success with the right hand. Fickett tries for a takedown late in the round but Karo has none of it.

Scoring: Round was on the feet for the balance and Parisyan did more damage. It was a 10-9 round.

Round 2: Parisyan starts off round 2 with a takedown of Fickett. Fickett is taking some shots from Parisyan.

Both fighters have been cut by elbows from the other. Parisyan is bringing the heat in round 2 that's for sure.

The cut on Parisyan is very bad but we are returning to the fight. The cut is under his eye so it is not obstructing his vision. Parisyan has side control as the fight resumes. A Big right from Parisyan.

We're back to a standup fight. Now Fickett scores with a takedown and then lands some elbows. Parisyan's cut is really bad.

Scoring: That's a tough round to score. The fans are going crazy. I give that round to Fickett 10-9 but it is very close.

Round 3: The announcers talk about how you score the first 2 rounds. This round is about half over at this point and nobody has done anything definitive at this point.

After that, Parisyan takes Fickett down but elects not to follow him down. Now Parisyan is on top of Fickett. Rogan decides to combine the 2 in to 1 fighter Karo Fickett. Maybe he'll eventually fight Drew Parisyan.

Final seconds of the round, and it is over.

Scoring: Parisyan did more to win this round than Fickett. I'll give it 10-9 to Parisyan.

My Scorecard: 29-27 for Parisyan. Though a 30-27 desision for Parisyan wouldn't surprise me as you could argue he won round 2. Great fight!

The Official Decision: 30-27 Unanimous Decision for Karo "The Heat" Parisyan

It looks like no interview which is too bad. It was an awesome fight with close rounds. The thing is that if you have 3 close rounds of fighting then a 30-27 doesn't have to mean a victory was dominant or anything.

Fight 3: Josh Koscheck Vs. Jeff Joslin

I can't believe we have another American Pie film. Wait, this is Hollywood, Yes I can.

Joslin is the Inferno and Koscheck is well...nothing. So Joslin wins the nickname battle. Joslin is making his UFC debut tonight.

Tale of the Tape: Joslin is 31 and Koscheck is 29.

5-2, 6'0, 169.5: Jeff "The Inferno" Joslin
9-1, 5'10 169.5: Josh Koscheck
Referee: Herb Dean

Round 1: Jeff Joslin has a decision over Jon Fitch who is undefeated in UFC.

Koscheck scored a takedown. They spend a lot of time fighting for control. Joslin has good defenses on his back and even nailed a nice right hand.

Herb Dean is close to standing the fight back up.

Scoring: I'll give this round to Koscheck 10-9. It was a technically sound round of fighting. Its not going to be onsidered as exciting as most rounds you'll see but it was technically sound. 10-9 Koscheck.

Round 2: Joslin is happy to have this fight standing. He dominated the standup but the Koscheck scored with a takedown. Joslin is doing a good job defending himself on the ground, he just needs to keep from getting taken there in the first place.

Herb Dean stands the fight back up due to inactivity. Koscheck scores with yet another takedown. Rogan says that Koscheck is a better wrestler than Matt Hughes. Koscheck was also compared to GSP earlier in the fight.

Joslin had Koscheck in trouble as the round ended.

Scoring: Another fun round, I'll give it again to Koscheck 10-9 because of the 2 takedowns even though Joslin did defend himself pretty well at first.

Round 3: Same story as the beginning of the prior 2 rounds. Joslin does well for himself standing, Koscheck goes for the takedown again and finds it again.

Crowd chants "Fuck him up" again and this time Spike tries to mute it.

Rogan: I think they're chanting something you can't say on TV. I think its something him up. I think it rhymes with duck.

Scoring: I give this round to Koscheck as well 10-9.

My Scorecard: Koscheck 30-27.

The Official Decision: Unanimous 30-27 decision for Josh Koscheck.

Fight 4: Diego Sanchez Vs. Joe

Nickname: Joe Riggs is the Diesel. Diego Sanchez is "Nightmare" but I call him "Dirty" because I'm lame that way. Just because Diego won't call himself "Dirty" Sanchez I give the name battle to Riggs.

Second TNA iMPACT commercial of the night.

Tale of the Tape: Diego has the reach.

28-8, 6'0, 170: Joe "Diesel" Riggs
18-0, 5'11, 169.5: Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez
Referee: Big John McCarthy

Round 1: Joe Riggs started out as a 300 LB heavyweight and is now fighting at 170. That's impressive.

Diego Sanchez knocked Riggs the Fuck Out! Right Hook and then a big knee.

We'll get the official decision after the break but that decision looked pretty official to me.

The Official Decision: 1:45 R1 via KO: Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez

Rogan with Dirty: Diego thanked God and said he's improved in his striking. Well the way he humbled Riggs he should be thanking Jesus and Mr. McMahon.
If Diego gets a title shot against GSP this could be a big fight. He says that he'll get a title shot when God's will says he will get one.

Continue Reading!

Update on Lack of Updates

You may have noticed more speratic posts to the OCC lately especially from me.

This is for 2 reasons.

Firstly, I've been fighting through a bout of fatigue that has lasted for almost a week now.

Second, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the OldCountryTimes.net project and hope to have some news on that very soon.

Continue Reading!

WKRP in Cincinnati is getting a DVD Release

I never thought this would happen due to music clearance issues. There will be some music replacement as the article states but it has gotten Hugh Wilson's approval.

Continue Reading!

UWF President offers venue for Million Dollar Challenge

Yeah, this will happen.

Continue Reading!

Subsidiary of Zuffa LLC purchases select assets from World Fighting Alliance Inc.

The key is that there are a few fighter contracts they wanted like Quinton Jackson and Matt Lindland.

Continue Reading!

Zuffa to enter Syndie market

Yay! More UFC programming!

Continue Reading!

Matches announced for Thursday's iMPACT.

I know you're thrilled.

Continue Reading!

Early iMPACT Preview

The Baseball deal will continue.

I think Joe and Abyss are headed for one another.

Daniels and Lynn?

We'll have spoilers up at some point.

Continue Reading!

TNA: Turning Point Not-So-Live Coverage 12/10/06

Hello and welcome to the not-so-live coverage of Turning Point. As you can tell from the title of this coverage I will be doing my usual play by play but posting it after the PPV.

I’ve opted out of covering the pre show and lending some comments to Casey’s live coverage. I am glad to see the Hoyt/Truth vs. Serotonin match was on the preshow.

We start the PPV with the usual video package. The video has a Christmas theme along with a remixed Christmas song. TNA does have some innovative and entertaining video packages.

The first match is the PCS. Nash has joined the broadcast position again so expect some hilarious commentary. First out is Senshi followed by Jay Lethal, Alex Shelly, Sonjay Dutt (get back to the Quik-e-Mart!) and Austin Starr. Shelly and Lethal start out. Shelly wraps a leg around the rope and Lethal kicks his hand. Shelly now in control with a double foot stomp to the head and a tag to Starr. Great kick from Lethal on Starr who gets 2 and tags in Dutt. Starr tags Shelly then quick tags between Sonjay and Lethal who do a series of double team moves for a 2. Dutt goes for the Sprinkler but Starr stops him and Shelly gives Dutt rope burn. Senshi now in and chops Dutt hard. Dutt tries to fly but Starr cuts him off and dropkicks Senshi. Lethal hits a high risk move on Sneshi on the outside. DDT by Dutt in the ring gets 2. Great dropkick by Shelly on Dutt. Sonjay answers with a few moves then goes into a camel clutch and taps out due to Starr not letting him get to the ropes. Lethal and Dutt now in the ring and exchange moves then Senshi comes in with a wicked dropkick on Lethal who gets eliminated. Starr and Dutt in the ring now. Pendulum elbow gets 2. Another elbow gets 2. Tag to Senshi who gets 2 on a slam. Let the kicks begin! Dutt manages to kick out and Starr back in. Open hand chop on Dutt then throws him into the turnbuckle and Senshi takes control. Camel Clutch on Starr but Senshi breaks it up. Series of nearfalls then Starr hits 3 big moves in a row for the pin. Senshi now chopping the hell out of Starr. Starr gets a crucifix then goes for the 450 again but Shelly distracts him and Senshi gets the win.

Backstage now with EY and JB. Borash gives Young a little pep rally then shows his bikini and Borash tells him to put something on.

Back to the ring with the bikini contest. Like I said in my prediction, Traci’s bikini is gonna drive me nuts and EY’s is gonna be a very bad image. Young jumps at his pyro and the fans convince him into the ring. Ms. Brooks goes first and this is gonna be good. YOWZA!!! Awesome both front and back. EY up next and this is not gonna be pretty. Young doing a silly dance and disrobes. He’s wearing a T-Shirt with a ladies body on it. Oh crap, he’s not done. He’s wearing Spongebob Squarepants boxers and they say it isn’t a bikini. Double crap, still not done. EWWWWWWWW!!!!!! He’s wearing a bikini bottom with Spongebob Squarepants stickers. Eric got over with the ladies and won. Roode trying to attack Young but he slips out. Roode now griping to Brooks and the fans and tells her to do whatever it takes to sign EY to a contract with Robert Roode Inc. If she doesn’t, she’s fired.

Backstage now with Dumb to the Extreme with the fat guy they always talk about.

X-Division Title match up now. Sabin with a poke to the eye and gets control. Daniels takes control now and bounces Sabin’s head off the mat. Great kick by Daniels gets 2. Excellent suplex and split-legged moonsault gets another 2. Drop Toe hold then a dropkick by Sabin and pops Daniels in the kisser. Backslide by Daniels gets 2. Stepping on Daniels neck and choking him in the ropes. Legdrop by Sabin gets 2. Daniels reverses a whip into the ropes then an STO. Daniels with a backbreaker gets 2. Rams Sabin into the guard rail. Nice slide kick on Sabin and an elbow from the top to the outside. Reversal by Sabin and a dropkick gets 2. Awesome Tornado DDT gets 2 and 99/100s. Daniels now with a DVD for 2. Another STO and a submission hold on Sabin but he gets to the ropes. Sabin with another poke to the eye and a boot to the face. Daniels catches Sabin and gets the BME for the win. Lynn grabs the belt and tells Sabin to shake Daniels’ hand. Daniels refuses and Lynn slaps him. Daniels is furious.

Jim Cornette comes out to the ring. He brings out Perzinski, Dale Toreborg and David Eckstein. They talk about his MVP award and plug his book. Toreborg is tearing up the book and Perzinski is about to hit Rick Eckstein with a belt but Hoyt come sout for the save.

Styles and Rhino up now. AJ jumpstarts the match by attacking Rhino backstage. Rhino hits Styles with a pipe the a front suplex onto a trashcan. They’re now fighting in the crowd with Rhino creaming Styles. Styles now fighting back and throws him into the wooden wall twice. Styles ran at Rhino and Rhino throws him over the guardrail. Match now officially starts. Perfect standing dropkick by Styles gets 2. Rhino thrown into the buckle but hits Styles with an elbow but Rhino gets tossed outside. Belly to Belly suplex on the outside by Rhino. Exchange of blows and Rhino gets the upperhand with a spinebuster for 2. Chops from Styles and an attempt for the Clash but Rhino fights and throws him over the ropes and Styles hits his knee the wrong way on the mat. Styles was playing possum all along, snuck up behind Rhino and gets the rollup fro the win. Nicely done, I must say.

Backstage with another Vince McMahon impersonator who got the “You’re Fired!” line down perfectly.

Rhino and Styles have fought back out to the ring but security breaks them up.

LAX vs. AMW is up now. AMW waste no time. Doubleteam high risk move from LAX. Hernandez tries to fly but gets superkicked by Storm. Moonsault by Gail on Homicide outside. More double team moves from LAX. Storm in the Tree of Woe with a chair in his face but gets broken up by Harris. Powerslam by Storm on Homicide. Hernandez Belly to Belly Harris onto the ladder. Electric Chair drop and elbow drop from LAX. Three Amigos by Homicide and Gail distracts him which allows Harris to get a superplex. Hernandez now has the ladder up and grabs their flag but Storm stops him with a sunset flip. Harris now grabs the American flag but Homicide meets him on the top with a Diamond Cutter. Goes for the Gringo Killer but Gail dropkicks him. Gail now sets up the ladder and gets the American flag but Konnan comes in and takes Gail out. Konnan now tries but Petey comes in and tries for a Destroyer but Hernandez takes him out then suicide dives Storm. Homicide and Hernandez fighting to get their flag up but Storm comes up with the bottle, breaks it on Homicide but gets the shards in Hariis’s eyes which allows Hernandez to get the flag up.

Backstage with Storm saying Harris quit after getting hit with the bottle and demands an apology.

VKM are out now dressed like HBK and HHH. “DX Sucks” Chants. Now we have some people coming out impersonating the Spirit Squad. Now the Fat, Oily Guy. Vince Russo, you suck?!?!?! “Screw you, Vince” chant now. They issue a Million Dollar Challenge to HHH and HBK. VKM are really honked off at Vince McMahon and call him a piece of…crap.

3-Way for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship is now up. Sting taking the early advantage by throwing both Abyss and Cage out then crossbody blocks both of the. Tomko throws Sting into the railing then Cage smacks Sting on the steps. Back in the ring with Abyss in control over Cage. Kicks out Sting then tries for another move on Cage but Cage reverses with a DDT for 2. Basement dropkick gets another 2 for Cage. Tomko with some shots on Abyss. Abyss catches Cage on the top rope and Sting comes below Abyss and gets the advantage. Stinger Splash on Abyss then on both. Scorpion Deathlock attempt but Cage rakes the eys. Tomko with a big boot on Abyss. Sting with the Deathlock but Tomko throws the belt in and Cage misses. Sting almost had it but Tomko pulls the ref out. Abyss clotheslines Tomko out then Cage. Abyss going for a chokeslam but Mitchell wants him to go for the tacks. Abyss hesitates but lays them out. Sting trying to talk to him but goes for it, drops him then goes for Cage. Tomko stomps Abyss’ head into the tacks. Chair shot by Cage on Sting as Tomko throws the ref back in. Blackhole Slam by Abyss and gets the pin.

Backstage with Kurt Angle. Says it’ll be the last match they have whether he wins or not. I have my doubts about that.

Main Event time now. Angle with a takedown and a wrist lock. Single Leg takedown but Joe gets to the ropes. Vicious short arm clothesline from Joe then punches and kicks in the corner. More punches in the corner then throws him over the top. Exchange in the outside and Angle gets the upperhand. Rams Joe’s head in the steps a few times. Baseball slide by Angle then he goes out but Joe catches him with some punches. Suplex by Angle gets 1. Submission on Joe but he turns it around then Angle turns it around and gets 2. Joe fights back with punches then tries for a clothesline but Angle ducks. Slaps by Joe but Angle catches him with a Belly to Belly for 2. Joe fights out of a submission with an overhead Belly to belly suplex that turns Angle inside out. Joe with a series of clotheslines and tries for a submission but Angle reverses and gets the 3 belly to back suplexes. Olympic Slam reversed then Joes tries for a Musclebuster but angle reverses it to an ankle lock and Joe fights out. Olympic Slam gets 2. Another ankle lock which is reversed into the rear naked choke then the ankle lock again then rear naked choke again and back to the ankle lock fully sinched in but Joe reaches the ropes. Belly to belly from the top by Angle gets 2. Slam attempt but Joe rolls through and we got a ref bump. Joe goes the clutch and Joe taps but it doesn’t count. Low blow by Angle and an attempted chair shot but Joe ducks and gets the clutch again which gets him the win.

Continue Reading!

12/10/06 TNA Turning Point - Live Coverage

The show will start at roughly 6:30 PM Central Time which is roughly 40 minutes away as I type this. Check back then for the beginning of coverage and remember to refresh your browser throughout the show for the latest news.

Tonight's Card:

• Preshow match: Ron Killings/Lance Hoyt Vs. Serotonin
  
• Bikini Contest: Eric Young Vs. Ms. Brooks
  
• Paparazzi Championship Series Elimination Match: Alex Shelley Vs. Austin Starr Vs. Jay Lethal Vs. Senshi Vs. Sonjay Dutt
  
• Flag Match: LAX w/Konnan Vs. AMW W/Gail Kim
  
• AJ Styles Vs. Rhino
  
• X-division Title: Chris Sabin Vs. Christopher Daniels w/Jerry Lynn as special ref.
  
• NWA World Title: Sting Vs. Christian Cage w/Tomko Vs. Abyss W/James Mitchell
  
• Kurt Angle Vs. Samoa Joe

Also there will be some VKM silliness and something involving David Eckstein of the St. Louis Cardinals who is at the show.

Click here for our roundtable preview of the show.

We start with Christy Hemme who asks 2 fans who they want to win the match between Joe and Angle. She gets 1 who says Joe and another who says Angle. From this she deducts that the entire crowd is split.

Backstage Jeremy Borash is with Robert Roode and Ms. Brooks. Roode says words, Brooks says words and one of them is naked. I'm alright with this by the way.

Mike Tenay and Don West are now out running down the card for the show.

A promo package airs recapping the highlights of the 3-way feud between Sting, Christian Cage and Abyss.

Borash backstage with Abyss and James Mitchell. Mitchell says its been an interesting 3 weeks, I wonder what show he's been watching? Mitchell references the attempted drawning of Christian back in April. Mitchell says he owns this monster and both his belt and soul belong to Mitchell. Abyss seems to be decenting a little and Mitchell tries to put him back in his place. Mitchell's promo is awesome and he's telling Abyss to get his game face on.

Preshow match: Ron Killings and Lance Hoyt Vs. Serotonin
This is a 3 on 2 handicap match. Serotonin sounds like some sort of antacid or some such deal. Tenay explains that this is a natural chemical in your mind that affects your mood. My mood has been affected to bordom.

Lance Hoyt seems like the name of someone you'd meet in AV club. Ron Killings asks what.

Tenay hard sells the show, but for most people you have to order the show to see this. Tenay then says, there is something for everyone at Turning Point and I swear to god the first thing he brings up is the Bikini contest. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it with my own ears. Perhaps Tenay just threw up in his mouth a little bit.

I just had fun asking Scott who was wrestling Hoyt and Killings. Apparently its "Sereninininininin".

Killings hits the axe kick and gets the pin.

Scott: Someone's getting caneded.

Borash is backstage with Chris Sabin and Jerry Lynn who is referee. Lynn says he'll call it down the middle even though he's interviewing with Sabin. Sabin comes in and calls him Jerrald. He makes age jokes right now. Lynn says he was wrestling x-division matches while Sabin was still in diapers. Sabin must've still been in diapers in 2002.

West talks about how tonight's match between Joe and Angle will be the 1 rematch and 1 rematch only.

Seretonin comes back out and Raven canes Kazarian for taking the pin. Kazarian took it willingly. If I hear "Thee rematch" one more time...I won't be surprised.

The awesome video package from iMPACT this past Thursday airs hyping up the Joe and Angle match. I could have more fun by asking Scott the name of the Iranian Angle wrestled in the Olympics but I'll save it for later.

Borash now with Samoa Joe. Joe said he had the same nightmare for 3 weeks. He clearly was watching iMPACT. Samoa Joe apparently had a dream last night though. Him and Martin Luther King should really swap stories see if their dreams have any meaning. Although really, Joe's was way more violent than MLK's.

The nameless and faceless woman, ok so she does have a face but I don't care, is out as a car that is supposedly Angle's arrives at the building.

Don West is doing what he does best, the hard sell. He's really good at being Don West and I'm completely alright with this.

The preshow ending music video begins to play to rap the show up and lead in to the PPV. Its now time for the real coverage to start.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Presents Turning Point 2006.
date: 12/10/2006
Location: Orlando, Florida

"TNA, We are Wrestling" you wouldn't know it by watching iMPACT lately that's for damn sure.

The opening video airs, but Darth Vader making pronouncements about Dreams and Dreamers and Destinies are missing. Pyro goes off to start the show.

Your announcers are Mike Tenay and Don West as usual.

Match 1: Paparazzi Championship Series Elimination match
Alex Shelley Vs. Austin Starr Vs. Sonjay Dutt Vs. Senshi Vs. Jay Lethal

This is apparently only the first part of the PCS.

Nash is at the broadcast booth only 3 seconds before dropping in a wacky pop-culture reference. Today's winner is Johnny Quest. Senshi is first out followed by Lethal and Shelley is third. Nash still hasn't found his SEC championship ring. Sonjay is #4 and Austin Starr comes out last. I don't know why you needed to know the order of entry.

Tenay asks Nash if the PCS has anything to do with the Bowl Championship Series. Nash: "No, this isn't screwed up." Apparently, there are more competitions to take place in the following weeks on iMPACT. Given that this is TNA there is naturally a point system involved.

Nash makes a comment about breaking in Lynn in 1961 in Mexico City. The point system for tonight, 5 points for the win, and down to the first person who is eliminated getting only 1 point. Don't worry, I'll keep track.

This match is a good 5 minutes old, and nobody has been eliminated. Nash has made jokes about Sonjay Dutt being on the gas, having Scott Hall arrested and how Senshi should shake the ropes and wear tastles.

Alex Shelley is eliminated via camel clutch from Senshi. No confirmation as to whether his back was broken. Alex Shelley gets 1 point in the PCS.

Jay Lethal is next out via Senshi's ass kicking. Jay Lethal has 2 points in the PCS.

The name of 1 Jim Helwig is mentioned after Dutt does indeed shake the ropes.

Austin Starr hits a Brainbuster and 450 to eliminate Sonjay Dutt. Dutt has 3 points in the PCS.

Nash: Watching Starr do that 450 is like watching myself.

Shelley is back out and he's distracting Starr. Senshi gets the pin after a missed 450. Senshi gets 5 points in the PCS, Starr earns 4.

Winner: Senshi

PCS Standings after stage 1

1. Senshi: 5 points
   
2. Austin Starr: 4 points
   
3. Sonjay Dutt: 3 points
   
4. Jay Lethal: 2 points
   
5. Alex Shelley: 1 point

Borash is with Young. Borash says Young needs to be a man and win this bikini contest.

A recap of this stupid ass feud now airs.

Borash is the host. Ms. Brooks is out first. Eric Young is out next. He's still scared of his own pyro.

Ms. Brooks won the cointoss and is going first. You knew there was a cointoss because this is TNA. I would'v actually guessed they would've done the pick a number between 1 and 10 deal.

Don West is estimating breast size and gives Traci 40D's.

Mike Tenay is making masterbation references just in case you were unaware that Vince Russo was back.

Young is next and he hesitates to disrobe. Tenay and West are in their shining glory right now.

Ms. Brooks nearly wins the Bikini contest by Disqualification, and that would've been so awesome. We've got some Spongebob attire.

Eric Young wins the fans voting and so he is the Bikini contest winner. Robert Roode is not happy with the decision. This segment was pretty much not good but it was better than I thought. This would've been so awesome if it had ended in a disqualification.

Roode is now bitching out Ms. Brooks. He calls the crowd a bunch of filthy morons. Ms. Brooks promises to make it up to him. Roode says her task is to get Eric Young to sign a contract with Robert Roode Inc. The fans let him know that he sucks. Roode says if she can't do it, she may be the one who gets fired.

The idiot is outside the locker room of "Dumb to the Xtreme". Minus 10,000,000 points for this stupidity.

Match 3: Christopher Daniels Vs. Chris Sabin, Jerry Lynn Special Referee.
The match starts with the ringing of the bell and the fans immediately go to the dueling chants.

Its been about 8 minutes and I've had nothing to write. This may be because Duane showed up and we were talking about Churros...mmm, churros.

Daniels wins clean with the BME.

Winner: Christopher Daniels

Lynn wants Sabin to shake Daniels hand. Then next thing you know Lynn slaps Daniels.

Jim Cornette is headed to the ring to introduce David eckstein. The White Sox from last year come out first including Dale Torborg and AJ Pierzinzinzinzuzski.
Eckstein talks about his book or something. "We want Wrestling" is the chant from the crowd. I think they went to the wrong show. In order to make a long story short, Torborg turns heel and slaps Eckstein's brother. This brings out Lance Hoyt because David Eckstein is such a fan. An attempt to get on Sportscenter.

Match 4: AJ Styles Vs. Rhino
Styles attacks Rhino in the middle of his interview. He's taken some of Sabin's new attitude juice. Apparently, there are technical problems in the back. Although now we're back and the fight has gone outside. This is just turned in to a streetfight.

After a good 7 minute plus brawl the fight actually moves to the ring and we have a bell starting the match officially.

AJ Styles seems to have a knee injury of some sort. This after a pretty wild brawl. The injury would appear to be legit...nope, AJ suckered everyone. Ran in, and rolled up Rhino for the pin.

Tenay: Everyone bought it.

Winner: AJ Styles

Its the incredible heeling AJ Styles.

Another stupid dumb to the Xtreme skit airs. Vince McDaddy shows up again I guess. Latisha gets fired...I can only hope.

AJ Styles and Rhino are fighting in the back again.

Promo package for the LAX Vs. AMW flag match.

Konnan and Homicide and Hernandez cut a promo and say nothing of substance. Kind of a metaphor for this event so far.

This flag/ladder/whatever match is up now.

Match 5: LAX Vs. America's Most Wanted

I want to apologize for the lack of content to this report. Fact is that I'm pretty tired after a bad night of sleep. I'm just having a hard time consentrating on this. I'll write what I can but Wade will have a more thorough recap of the show when he gets home to post it.

Chris Harris gets some glass in his eye after a shot from a beer bottle from Storm. Hernandez who was the only 1 left standing hung the flag for the win. Storm hit Homicide with the bottle and glass flew in Harris' eye.

Winners: LAX
Storm and Gail Kim argue about this situation. Konnan claims this is the first time that the American side has lost a flag match. This is incorrect as Bret Hart and Davyboy Smith defeated Vader and the Patriot at Bad Blood 1997 in a flag match.

The Mexican Anthem plays and nobody interrupts. That may be a first.

Backstage James Storm calls Chris Harris a quitter and says he's got until Thursday to apologize for giving up.

Its the VKM skit. Tenay advertises this as the next Dumb to the Xtreme skit. They basically say, yeah we know this is going to be stupid. If that's true then why air it? This is so fucking dumb. Some stupidity goes down and Wade will have the recap.

Oh no, he's about to pull an Eric Bischoff from Slamboree. No, no, no. VKM issues what BG calls the million dollar challenge. A million dollars is nothing to Vince McMahon. Yup, he just challenged them to a fight. No spots, no finish. It woke the crowd up but is still so stupid. I guess the team that wins the fight wins the $1 million. B.G. calls DX Pussies and then calls Vince a piece of Sh*T".

Video package for the title match airs.

Sting is the only 1 that didn't get a promo. Christian teased revealing the secret about Abyss.


Match 6: Abyss w/James Mitchell Vs. Sting Vs. Christian Cage w/Tomko

All throughout this match I have been engaging in NFL related tasks.

The fans are chanting "Chris Chris Chris" as Abyss is threatening to chokeslam Sting into the thumbtacks. Sting has words with Abyss trying to talk him out of it this allows Christian to take advantage. Sting is spending more time talking than trying to win. I guess the title is not important to Sting.

Abyss hits a black hole slam on Sting and retains the title.

Winner: Abyss

It is now 9:13 PM. This show will definitely last longer than Dismember a Member from last week.

Borash backstage with Kurt Angle. He vows that this is the last match between them.

Then they show the awesome video package again and I'm still alright with this.

Match 8: Kurt Angle Vs. Samoa Joe

Short version, Joe tapped Angle out and it was an awesome match. The highlight was a series of reverses from Ankle Lock to Kokina Clutch to Ankle Lock to Clutch.

Winner: Samoa Joe
See this match.

I'm tired, I'm spent more later.

Look for Wade's play-by-play at around 11:30 PM ET 10:30 PM Central.

Continue Reading!

Backstage News from Turning Point

None of it in the least bit interesting.

Continue Reading!

TNA Turning Point 2006 Roundtable Preview

It is time for the 4th PPV out of 5 in 5 weeks. So lets see what the assembled gang of idiots led by me, the chief idiot have to say about this one?



Casey: It is time for Turning Point 2006. The slogan for the show should be it won’t be worse than ECW. I say that and yet I’m worried that Russo will somehow find a way to mess it up.

Wade: It is now time for TNA's final PPV of the year. I see we have an impressive line up and I hope it'll be entertaining.

Euan: Another month, another TNA PPV booked by the magnificent Vince Russo. What craziness can we expect this time? Oh wait, Eric Young in a bikini contest?
That just about covers it.

Pre-show Match: Serotonin vs. Lance Hoyt & Ron Killings

Casey: Serotonin are Raven’s new group and this will be Kazarian and Bentley. It’s the preshow match, so who cares? However, I think the idea behind the group is that there are consequences for losing and to show this they kinda have to lose.
Winners: Ron Killings and Lance Hoyt

Scott: Ron Killings and Lance Hoyt to win.
Winners: Killings and Hoyt

Wade: I care as much about this match as I do about VKMs crap lately. This is The Flock Revisited and I don't see them doing any better this time. Since I gotta pick a winner I'll go with...
Winner: Serotonin

Euan: Serotonin to win
Winner: Serotonin

VKM to perform their next “dumb to the Xtreme” skit.

Casey: I didn’t put this in the roundtable but I want to comment on this angle. This is a stupid angle for a lot of reasons. First, the TNA skits are just as lame if not moreso than the WWE skits. Second, the VKM is asking DX to stop doing dumb skits, so basically they’re telling their competition to put on better television shows. Yeah that’ll really help TNA if the WWE puts on better shows. I’m not sure it will help but Vince Russo thinks it will and he obviously knows more about this than I do because Dixie Carter had a choice between Vince Russo and anyone else in the world (including me) and she chose Russo.
This angle builds to nothing. Its not just that it won’t lead to a match between VKM and DX or VKM and Vince but this feud won’t even be blown off in TNA. The feud won’t have any winner and the only losers are going to be people like me who have to recap this crap and any other fan that decides to sit through this garbage. I don’t know what this skit will be but I can tell you this much. It won’t serve a purpose, it won’t be funny, it will only take up valuable air time that could best be used by showing a test pattern and I will hate it violently.
But this is the point of my rant. Two can play at this game. So if TNA doesn’t stop these stupid VKM skits I am going to do exactly the same thing that they are doing. I am going to declare war on them and do inane things to get them to stop these Vaginal Kunt Mucus skits. It will barely, if at all, be noticed by the company, it won’t get them to stop and it will end up going nowhere. Just like the TNA angle itself and that right there will be the entire purpose of my war declaration.

Bikini Contest: Eric Young Vs. Ms. Brooks (fans judge)

Casey: You know this will be interesting at least for me. Notice I said interesting, not good. In this Bikini contest you have a fan favorite in Eric Young against a heel. But, if Ms. Brooks comes out looking smoking hot will the fans pick her over their guy? I’m guessing that they will and Eric Young will get nervous about losing the support of the people to extend this storyline even further beyond the point of people caring.
Winner: Ms. Brooks

Scott: I want Ms. Brooks to win. Eric Young in a Bikini is just wrong. However, I think Young will somehow end up winning.
Winner: Eric Young

Wade: Seeing Eric Young in a bikini is gonna give me nightmares for weeks. The plus side, though, is that seeing Ms. Brooks in a bikini will give me great dreams for months. If I were judging I'd definetly pick...
Winner: Ms. Brooks

Euan: Ah, now we know for sure who is booking this PPV? Seriously, who in 2006 is going to buy a PPV to see a bikini contest and especially one where one of the contestants is a man. Well maybe that's being to kind...a retarded man. I am not even going to bother putting a prediction in because this is just so fucking stupid. Why waste time on this? Couldn't they not have this and give some of the matches on the PPV something called time which may help them?
Winner: ha, yeah right

Rhino Vs. AJ Styles

Casey: Well, I kind of like what they’ve been doing with AJ Styles recently. There are a billion faults with Russo but the one thing he does try is to cultivate personalities so now we know that aside from being a good wrestler AJ is a bit of a hot-headed temper as well. At least that’s something but whatever. I think AJ Styles is victorious because Rhino sure has done a lot of losing lately.
Winner: AJ Styles

Scott: AJ will win what should be a pretty good match and I’m not just saying that because he’s my favorite wrestler besides Samoa Joe.
Winner: AJ Styles

Wade: This match has had fairly decent build up. You could actually see this progress as opposed to other feuds that start for no reason and have a confusing end. I think the power of Rhino will be too much even for the Phenonenal One.
Winner: Rhino

Euan: I am going to pick AJ Styles to win here and only because he cut the best redneck promo in the world last week on Impact.
Winner: AJ Styles

Paparazzi Championship Series Elimination Match: Austin Starr Vs. Senshi Vs. Alex Shelley Vs. Jay Lethal Vs. Sonjay Dutt

Casey: Oh dear, this match. The only thing I can say for sure about this is that it will be a spotfest. I’m not altogether against this by the way. As for a winner, I think that Austin Starr will go over. He and Shelley are the focus of this whole angle and so Starr wins making Shelley even more jealous. However, if Euan’s prediction comes to pass I’m alright with that as well. Also maybe Euan should sue Wade for gimmick infringement.
Winner: Austin Starr

Scott: This should be a good spotfest that the crowd will probably really like. I think that Senshi will walk out with the win.
Winner: Senshi

Wade: I don't understand the point of this match but the skits for it have been highly entertaining. All I have to say about this match is...Senshi by kicking everybody in the head.
Winner: Senshi

Euan: Senshi by kicking each man in the face.
Winner: Senshi

Flag Match: Latin American Xchange w/Konnan Vs. America's Most Wanted w/Gail Kim

Casey: The booking of this is so obvious that it makes this segment ripe for a Russo swerve. But, I’m guessing that the swerve this time will be that there is no swerve. The booking is obvious, this is non-title so that AMW can win the match, play the anthem and get beaten down by LAX at the end. I realize that Russo wouldn’t care about changing titles but I don’t see it happening right now, even though LAX was actually stripped of them at the last PPV which I guess we’re not supposed to remember.
Winners: America’s Most Wanted

Scott: This match was not good last month, hopefully these 2 teams will step it up a little bit this month. The winners of this match will be America’s Most Wanted.
Winners: America’s Most Wanted

Wade: Why is this match on the card if it's non title? TNA must have some reason for that and I probably won't know until I watch the show. I don't see a lot of wrestling happening in this, more brawling and lots of interference. Konnan will try and use the blackjack but I think AMW will counter with the beer bottle or something.
Winners: AMW

Euan: The question here is...will the flag be on a pole? AMW suck, not as much as the Naturals but they are up there with them. The tag team division in TNA is currently owned by LAX and i do not see them being stopped anytime soon. LAX to win.
Winners: Latin American Xchange

NWA World X-division Title: Christopher Daniels Vs. Chris Sabin w/Jerry Lynn as Special Referee

Casey: Lets look at the facts as I see them. This match didn’t need Jerry Lynn as a special guest referee. Unlike Euan I am content to have these men wrestle for ever because the matches are good. However, back to the facts Lynn’s presence is done for a reason. It may be a stupid reason but Russo does have one. The reason is one of two things. Either Lynn will turn on Daniels and side with Sabin swerving the fans out of a match between Lynn and Sabin that they’ve been building up or Lynn is either the cause of or blamed for Sabin’s loss and that sets up Lynn and Sabin. Euan thinks he’ll turn and I will go the other way and say that Daniels retains setting up a match with Styles and Lynn and Sabin.
Winner: Christopher Daniels

Scott: Lynn will cost Sabin this match and will set up a match for down the road. Also it looks like Styles and Daniels are on a coarse to feud once again and it will probably be over the belt.
Winner: Christopher Daniels

Wade: I actually like this feud. Sabin is a great wrestler and he pulls this off well. Having Lynn on-screen more is great to see as well. This will no doubt be a high paced match with plenty of near falls. I think Sabin is going to find some way to cheat or get Lynn so angry that he'll try and take a shot at him and hit Daniels instead.
Winner: Chris Sabin

Euan: Why do we have to see this again for the 500,000 time? All they have done is add a special referee who i'm sure will play a role in the match somewhere. I am going to say Sabin to win the title thanks to a Lynn turn. Why not, the belt has changed hands about 5 times in the last month so another title change wouldn't hurt.
Winner: Chris Sabin

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Abyss w/James Mitchell Vs. Christian W/Tomko Vs. Sting

Casey: While I definitely don’t share Euan’s feelings toward Sting especially 1980’s Sting I see his point regarding this match. I like the fact that Abyss is getting some character development but I’m not so sure I like him turning face which is where this is headed. As for the match itself I don’t really know who will win. I’m going to make a prediction though which is that…
Winner: Christian Cage

Scott: I would like to see Abyss have a nice little run for the title. I’ve already seen Angle wrestle Christian in WWE so I don’t want to see that for the title right now. Abyss would be a good way to get the belt to Angle if they want to go with Angle as next champ.
Winner: Abyss

Wade: I have no idea where they're going with this match. I never saw Abyss as championship material. Sting or Christian would've made fine NWA World Champs for an extended period but they didn't hold it for long. I don't see Abyss retaining in this type of match but not being pinned either.
Winner: Sting

Euan: Yawn! I'm sorry i don't give two fucks about this title match. Only TNA could have taken one of the most prestigious titles in wrestling and made it about as meaningful as a Rey Mysterio title reign. Abyss to retain as i sure as hell do not need to see 1980's Sting again. He sucked then and he still sucks to this day.
Winner: Abyss

Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle

Casey: I’m in the camp of those that feel this match is too soon. However, I’m not surprised by this whatsoever. The questions I have surrounding this match are whether it will be better than the last one, and or longer than the last one? As for a winner, Joe definitely needs to get something back. He has now lost to Angle twice and he needs to not lose 3 in a row. That is what needs to happen, but I’m not altogether certain that it will happen. I guess I can hope.
Winner: Samoa Joe

Scott: Samoa Joe has to win to set up a match down the road for the belt. I hope that this match goes 30 minutes. I think Angle has something to prove with last month going so short and Angle always steps it up when he feels he has something to prove. Plus I’m bias as I love both wrestlers.
Winner: Samoa Joe

Wade: Their first ever match was sooner than I expected and this rematch is way too soon. Expect a lot of what we saw in their first meeting but hopefully some "trickery" from either Joe or Angle. I'm sure they're thinking of doing another match so I'm going with...
Winner: Samoa Joe

Euan: MAIN EVENT TIME!
"And now from the beautiful Manda"...NO! Bruce, i don't need you until December 30 ok. So until then go back to the strip bar and this time remember: the girls take off their clothes, you have to remain clothed.
Isn't this rematch happening a little too quickly? Would it have hurt so much to wait a couple of months and actually do this thing we call "build". Oh wait, Russo is booking...never mind. I'm just surprised he has not added some kind of crazy gimmick to this match, maybe they didn't let him touch this one. I have a feeling Joe will get his loss back but it will not be a clean win, something is going to happen to taint the victory but I do not know what.
Anyway I'm sure this will be a good main event to the PPV and hopefully if Russo has kept the stupidity to the minimum, the crowd will give it the attention it deserves. Samoa Joe to win.
Winner: Samoa Joe

Casey: The Old Country Corner will have live results from yours truly as the show takes place. Also after the show, Wade will be along with a report of his own.

Scott: This will probably be the best wrestling show of the month. However, for as much as I want to see Angle Vs. Joe again this month is all about Chuck and Tito for me.

Wade: I will be doing "not so live" coverage of this event so my results will be up a few minutes after it ends. Enjoy Casey's live coverage though!

Euan: I won't get to see this PPV until a week on Tuesday but i will have some kind of review of sorts for the fine people here.

Continue Reading!