WNS Column: Wilds' War Cry: Team Authority

I am excited, because it is tournament time in TNA, and these are interesting times we watch in. There were eight teams out there who thought they had what it takes to take on the hunters—The Wolves. There are only four teams now though, after some entertaining dynamics caused turmoil. Samoa Joe and Low-Ki were recently fighting over the title, but they make a good balanced team. I know everyone figured Eric Young and Rockstar Spud were going to team up, but I enjoyed that whole thing; especially Spud’s incredible top rope flip. I am not sure why The Menagerie was left out, but I am not sure anyone cared either. I am also interested to see how Storm and his group fit into all of this with The Wolves.

Most of the episode seemed to tie back into the tournament in small ways, which is good, felt more whole. I was especially intrigued by what they are doing with Samuel Shaw and Brittany. I say this because originally I thought the writers were going to have trouble figuring out what to do with his gimmick when the Christy Hemme storyline was done. Putting him with a knockout that seems equally as crazy though is a good move, and seems just different enough to be interesting. The make out session on top of Gunner brought on a good laugh. Speaking of the knockouts though, they were all over the place this week, but it was good to see Gail return. Is anyone going to teach Rebel how to wrestle? She is at least better than Eva Marie though, right?

NXT had some good tag team match-ups as well, but we all knew Titus had no chance against Neville. The real attraction of the night was no surprise to me, but it was fun to see my girl Becky expertly pull off her heel turn after the conversation with The Boss. I liked it. Young Ms. Lynch has a bright future ahead of her in my opinion, and hopefully they will build up a good face diva with her. Smackdown also happened this week, and between all of the recaps Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro reminded fans that some real wrestling can happen there. These are the people who deserve to co-main event. There matches make me feel things…

Raw was not too bad. One of my dirty secrets is that I am a big Randy Orton fan, and he was on fire during that opening promo. Randy seemed pissed, like he was actually trying to step up his promo game. Rollins also sold the hell out of that RKO; made it look like Randy really caught him off guard. Mark Henry’s heel turn was in a word: meh. I am not necessarily irked that the writers held it out this long; just that it felt like something better could have been done. I also really like the Dust Brothers—as I shall now call them—and think that that match could have been used to build them up a bit against two strong opponents instead of using them as rag dolls.

I love Paige, but I will not take up anyone’s time by talking about her Halloween pictures—Vicky agrees they are hot though. What I will talk about is how awesome she has been lately with her character, craziness and all. I loved the whole episode with her and Alicia Fox on Raw, even if it took the spotlight off of AJ and the title briefly, the whole thing was brutal and entertaining.

Stephanie came out to confront John Cena, delivering a promo that sounded real and passionate, and left Cena’s portion feeling like tripe and rehearsed. This led up to the reveal of the traditional Survivor Series match though. Team Cena will meet the Authority’s team. The participants for the Authority based team seem pretty predictable (watch it be Rusev), but Cena’s combatants could surprise us. Ziggler is a must, but I think this would be the best time to find Zack Ryder. The Mizs versus the Usos was filled with more “we want Mizdow” chants. I actually did laugh when the Usos just shrugged at their opponents’ actions and jumped over the top rope after them. I see the real brothers are also still getting away with face-cheating, doing a little twin magic. I like it. The Usos need a little something extra.

Thanks for showing up Hulk, but thanks more for leaving…

Ryback is back…

I am not sure why Dean Ambrose had to do that to Cesaro of all people, but boy did it prove he was angry. Wyatt’s promo was good though, and I think this feud has a ton of potential. Ziggler looked good against Kane, and the fracas afterwards was a teaser of things to come in the buildup to Survivor Series. Then, John Cena took on Seth Rollins in a damn good match that had a lot of moving parts to it—interferences, working around the outside of the ring, ect.—and some good reversals. I liked it because, even though Cena won, it appeared that both men truly got the hell beaten out of them. I would have liked Cena to show some more wear and tear from his previous match, but WWE stupidly does not like to do that with him. I am going to blame Rollin’s loss on that ninja RKO from earlier. No need to address the huge run-in at the end, other than the fact that I am sure you all saw Zack Ryder out there, fighting like a champ.

Also, I have not seen the new Rivalries show yet, but I think it could be good. One of my problems with the commercial though is that it advertises Cena v. Rock as one of the big rivalries. They only had two matches though, right? I will be nice and say three, since there was the match where they tagged together. That is not a rivalry. Cena and Orton, or even Edge, would have been a much better combination to do an episode on. I know WWE thinks Rock/Cena 1 and 2 were huge, but I know a lot of fans who would rather just forget they happened. The show should be good overall though.

I know there was something else I am forgetting, something else I should be talking about, but I just cannot remember. I am sure one of you will remind me though.

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Twitter: @StephenWilds

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