Late Survivor Series Preview!

Ah, the Thanksgiving Eve (Eve Eve Eve) Tradition!

Quite a lackluster job by the WWF of generating interest in this show, but the matches themselves could be fairly good. Onto the card before the tryptophan kicks in....

Survivor Series Elimination Match
Morrison Starship (John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy, Finlay & Shelton Benjamin) vs. The Awesomenauts (The Miz, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler)
Ah, a rematch from the slightly-disappointing Morrison-Miz tilt at Bragging Rights! WWF brass are high on at least two of the heels, but I think Team Morrison still takes this one and gives John Morrison a win in the return match.

Winner: Team Morrison, with Morrison and Hardy surviving in a callback to their August alliance.
My Pick: The Same!

Batista vs. Rey Mysterio
Too early to end the feud, sure, but both brands need heels and Rey Rey needs some time off. We're in DC, which means any normal company would put the hometown guy over, but the WWF has a thing about that so you never know. Still, I think common sense prevails here.

Winner: Batista
My Pick: Batista

Black Power, Plus Christian! (Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Christian, MVP & Mark Henry) vs. The Royal Straight-Edge Legacy (Randy Orton, CM Punk, William Regal, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase)
Meltzer brought up a good point in the news update; regardless of who wins here, Kofi HAS to take out Orton to keep the momentum going from the MSG Raw (which was excellent, and I normally hate Raw). I think they do just that, but that Team Kofi still loses somehow

Winner: Team Orton, with Ted DiBiase as your Sole Survivor
My Pick: The above scenario sounds just fine as long as they put some effort into it.

WCW Championship
Triple Threat Match
The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show
I don't think they're about to break up JeriShow, but I'd have no qualms with Jericho getting the win here. Doubt it happens, though.

If they go through with Cena-Taker at Mania, are both guys going to drop their belts ahead of time? Is either?

Winner: The Undertaker
My Pick: Chris Jericho

The Spunky Hats (Mickie James, Melina, Gail Kim, Eve Torres & Kelly Kelly) vs. The Outfits of Puzzling Faith-Based Imagery (Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Layla, Alicia Fox & Jillian Hall)
Awww, no Nattie? Even with just six matches on the card, I expect this one to be short

Winner: I doubt McMahon even cared enough to figure this out before this morning, but let's say the faces, eh?
My Pick: Team Mickie, as it includes both her (cute even at a controversial higher weight class) and the great Gail Kim

WWF Championship
Triple Threat Match
John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels
Well, they did the right thing in the Michael Bay-esque Iron Man Match, and gave the belt and the ultimate victory to Cena. After they spent the year switching the strap every week or so, I will now stand by my promise to support a nice, long Cena title reign. Orton wasn't reaching any new heights with the strap anyway, so might as well keep it on the Franchise indefinitely and make it mean something again.

That starts TONIGHT, I hope.

Winner: John Cena, and a DX breakup angle, which will only be watchable in a "we didnt see this from 2002-2004" manner if Michaels is the one who heels out.
My Pick: Cena, and the Michaels heel turn to end all heel turns. Seriously, he would be AWESOME in the role.

Or, we're just gonna see months and months of DX vs. JeriShow. There are worse things.

Recommendation: Well, it's too late already, because this is going up after the show happened (although before I know anything of the results). I hope you read last week's TNA preview and splurged for that, because it was the best show of the year. I expect significantly less here, and will be watching it later by a means that will cost me 0 dollars.

Happy thanksgiving, all.
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TNA, yes, TNA Turning Point Preview

Very possibly the only time that I'll urge you to spend your money on this.

Way back in 1994, WCW had been in a funk for a few years running; more specifically, they'd spent the previous year doing this. However, when news broke of Hulk Hogan's imminent arrival, the good folks at WCW came together and delivered a run of excellent shows to rival even their 1989 peak period. This came to an end when Hogan eventually got there, but those few glorious months made for some great television.

Fast forward to 2009; Hogan, nearly 60, will be arriving in TNA in January with full control of the company, according to him. I was at first excited about this news, because initial reports implied the displacement of Vince Russo, the day-to-day involvement of Eric Bischoff and a Monday night timeslot, which could easily get things rolling again in a universe that's been devoid of big-fed competition for a decade. Since then, Hogan has announced that his Big Plans to resuscitate TNA include the pursuit of Steve Austin, Randy Savage, and "Nasty Boy" Brian Knobbs. Seriously, that's his plan. In the year 2009 (2010 once he takes over).

I could be dead wrong, but I don't see this ending well for TNA. Fortunately, we still have a month and a half left of actual TNA! If tonight's card is any sign, they're doing all they can to pull an early-1994 WCW and prove to posterity that TNA was, indeed, worthwhile before Hogan laid waste to it. Tonight, you get a rematch of the best match in TNA history, and a top-to-bottom excellent card with only one likely stinker.

Onto the show:

Six Man Tag
Matt Morgan, Hernandez & "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero vs. Rhino & Team 3D
Well, I like all three babyfaces, and Team 3D are a bunch of useless hasbeens, soooo......

Winner: Team Morgan
My Pick: The Same

Steel Cage Match
Tara vs. Awesome Kong
Very much looking forward to this one. I like both girls and hopefully the cage actually wards off Russorific booking. Don't bet on it though.

Winner: Tara
My Pick: Awesome Kong

TNA Knockouts Tag Match: All Titles On The Line
ODB, Taylor Wilde & Sarita vs. The Beautiful People
And here's your likely craptastic match. Yes, both the women's title and the pointless women's tag titles are on the line. Welcome to WCW 2000.

Winner: The ODB team
My Pick: Eh. Next match.
TNA X Division Championship Amazing Red vs. Homicide
Don't lnow what the issue here is, but the match itself should be fine.

Winner: Amazing Red?
My Pick: Fine with either as long as they get some time. TNA Tag Team Championship The British Invasion vs. Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money
Oh goodness, I want to see this. Nigel was allegedly supposed to be in the Invasion the first time they tried to get him. I think he's better off on his own.

Winner: The Brits
My Pick: Either of the other two teams, both of whom I greatly enjoy watching.

Bobby Lashley vs. Scott Steiner
Scotty looked great at BFG last month, and I remain a Steiner mark through and through. Besides, Lashley might be leaving for MMA anyway.

Winner: Lashley
My Pick: STEINERLINE!

Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe
Wolfe, of course, is Nigel McGuinness, the awesome former champion of ROH and the new poster boy for why indy guys should go to TNA rather than the WWF. McGuinness debuted a month ago with a sudden attack on Angle, and boom, now he's in the semi-main event, and instantly credible. What does this prove? Two things: that Angle (who dragged a **** match out of Matt Morgan last month) rules the world, and that the WWF development system is a mess. Yes, it's good to have guys work their way up the ladder, but wrestlers at McGuinness' level shouldn't have to go through the "year in FCW/year on ECW/MAYBE a US title reign four years in" cycle. You can effectively debut these guys in larger roles and have the fans buy it going in; you just have to do it right.

I anxiously await to see if the WWF follows suit with Bryan Danielson. If not, things may be hopelessly backwards for a while.

Winner: Kurt Angle
My Pick: Desmond, but Kurt will make him look like a million bucks either way.

TNA Championship
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels
A rematch of the best TNA match I've ever seen, their 2005 tilt which I had at somewhere around ****3/4-*****. Tonight's probably won't be that good, but still may be good enough to merit buying the show on its own.

Winner: AJ Styles
My Pick: AJ, too soon to take the belt off your franchise player.

Overall: Buy this, skip a lackluster Survivor Series next week, and enjoy the feeling. If you only base your selections on what I recommend, it's very possible that you'll love tonight's show and then never watch a TNA show again.

6 weeks left til Hogan. Go get 'em, boys.
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