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The Specialists
MAGIC, MEMORIES AND MANIA: Top 10 Wish List for 2009 - Squashes, Swagger, Star Treatment, Shawn vs. Jericho
Jan 7, 2009 - 3:21:45 PM


By Shawn Valentino, PWTorch Specialist

Happy New Year everyone! I hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and are ready for another wild and wacky year of being a wrestling fan. I am always excited when the new year rolls around for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that WrestleMania is only a few months away, and I will be in Houston this year for the special 25th show.

One of the things we fans can generally count on every year is WWE providing us a great show on the grand stage. Unfortunately, one thing we have not been able to rely on in recent years is consistently good programming from any of the wrestling organizations. This week, I will discuss my top ten wishes for the new wrestling year that will hopefully make this year a joyous year to be a wrestling lover for all of us.

(10) Stop unnecessarily giving away big matches without build-up or meaning

With WrestleMania around the corner, I am excited, but at the same time I am puzzled as to what type of card WWE can put together that will make the show seem original, special, and unforgettable. The main reason for this is that the company unnecessarily gives away major matches with little context or buildup. In the past year, we have seen Cena-Batista, Triple H-Edge, Triple H-Undertaker, and Batista-Orton amongst other potential money-drawing programs with almost no back-story or intrigue.

It is absolutely absurd and shows how short-sighted the booking team is. Do we even need to mention TNA's failure in this department? I think the fact that A.J. Styles versus Kurt Angle in a ladder match was part of a low-rated Impact episode pretty much says all that needs to be discussed about their patience and booking philosophy.

Although there is so much talk about sports-entertainment, at the end of the day, wrestling fans really care about interesting feuds that creates tension and anticipation for matches between larger than life characters, and incessantly giving away major battles takes away from what makes wrestling special.

(9) Bring back squash matches

Wade Keller talks about this all the time, but one way to stop ruining the presentation of marquee match-ups would be to bring back some occasional squash matches. I still remember growing up and watching my favorite superstars fight scrubs that look like they could be my next door neighbor's uncle's paperboy. Despite the fact the outcome was never in doubt, these matches established a superstar's ring presence, entrance, and finishing moves. It allows the commentators to discuss the wrestler's goals and the strengths he possesses to accomplish them.

I know plenty has changed in the wrestling landscape over the last 15 years, but if the companies slowly train fans to enjoy these one-sided confrontations, it would not only get their stars more over, it would also make their matches between two big-name performers more important.

(8) The top superstars should not wrestle every week on television

This ties in with the previous two wishes because the main reason WWE and TNA have watered down their foremost matches is because their top superstars wrestle too often for free in meaningless contests. Guys like John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Undertaker should only wrestle about once a month at most on free television. This will help them develop their characters in other manners and also keep their bodies fresh from wear and tear. Not only that, it will sustain their more intriguing matches for bigger stages.

(7) Focus more on their younger stars

Yes, I know that we hear this cliche every single week as well, but WWE and TNA really do need to make a conscious effort to build their programs around the newer generation of talent. We saw signs of this youth movement earlier on in the year when Punk was world champion and Cody Rhodes and DiBiase, Jr. were being groomed for success. Unfortunately, for a variety of factors, they disappeared from the spotlight and seemed to be afterthoughts by the end of the year.

In 2009, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Triple H and other stars from a decade ago are still in the main event picture. Perhaps they are there deservedly there, but the wrestling world needs to commit to the HBK's and Dead Mans of the next generation. Guys like The Brian Kendrick, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, etc, should be not just the future of the business, but guys that are headlining today's shows. It is up to the companies to take some chances and let the young guys have a meaningful push.

(6) Name your superstars like superstars

Let us look back at the biggest stars in wrestling history. Gorgeous George, Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, Bret "the Hitman" Hart, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, The Rock, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin all had something in common. When you heard their names, they jumped out at you and they sounded like superstars.

Contrast that to the WWE marketing machine today when guys like Mike Knox, Bobby Lashley, and other lame names have plagued the wrestling circuit. Whoever is in charge of creative divisions must realize that for a wrestler to become a marketable star, they must have a name that will jump out at fans. It used to be that even mid-card talent were at least given a moniker that would allow them to sound larger than life. Any wrestler that has potential should be given a catchy nickname or a cool sounding regular name to brand them as a possible future superstar.

Caldwell's editorial note: Jack Swagger is a start! Paul Burchill is not.

(5) Bring back the heel commentator

One of the most bizarre shifts that the wrestling world has taken over the last fifteen years has been eliminating the heel commentator. When I was growing up, Bobby "the Brain" Heenan and Jessie Ventura could make the blandest match entertaining. The witty and often hilarious banter that would take place between the heel and their play-by-play counterpart would be one of the highlights of programming.

These days, commentators rarely add anything to the match, other than Jim Ross. JBL was a perfect recent example of how a terrific heel speaker on the headsets can enhance a wrestling show. Not only is the conflict on commentary entertaining, but it also gives an insight on the bad guy's point of view and sells the match from multiple angles.

Contrast this to the worthless, boring exchanges between guys like Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler and it is unfathomable to comprehend why wrestling has done away with one of their most successful devices. Speaking of Lawler, if I were running a wrestling company, one of the first things I would do is to get rid of him from the booth. He has been going through the motions for about 15 years, and his whiny delivery and lame jokes add nothing to the matches he calls. Go back and watch the performances of Ventura during the Hogan-Savage match in WrestleMania 5 or Heenan during the 1992 Royal Rumble and you see supreme examples of color commentators exponentially improving a match.

(4) Rearrange some alliances and bring back managers

It seems like there are so many wrestlers out there with no direction, especially in the mid-cards of the two major brands. It is as if WWE and TNA have no focus for the majority of the wrestlers in their companies. If they would create some alliances and give certain wrestlers managers, then we could see situations where the whole would be greater than the sum of the parts, and stars may be born.

Evolution was a perfect example of two young potential superstars who may have gotten lost in the shuffle, given a direction by being attached to established stars, and growing into main event players. TNA is attempting to do this with the Frontline angle, but throwing together too many wrestlers in a stable may eventually lead to nobody getting over.

Here are some ideas I thought about. Put Umaga and Manu together and obviously give them some type of manager and let them run loose as dominant monsters. Give MVP an entourage similar to Floyd Mayweather and make him a cocky young quasi-hip-hop celebrity type that people will hate but will find cool at the same time.

Although it will never happen, I think that turning Cena heel and attaching him with Miz and Morrison for awhile would not only build back his edge and cool factor, it would also elevate Miz and especially Morrison to a higher level. It would be the classic case of taking one step backwards to take two steps forward.

I still feel that Morrison has the look and the charisma and athleticism to be the star of the future. If WWE and TNA concentrate just a little bit on all of these wrestlers lost in the shuffle, they can align some of this talent together, or give them a manager, and I feel it would make a huge difference.

(3) The titles need to be reestablished

I wrote an article on this a few months ago, but one of the main reasons there are so many wrestlers without any direction or goals is that most of the championships have little or no meaning. The tag titles, X Division Title, and the Intercontinental Titles are a complete afterthought. It would probably take at least six months to a year of longer title runs and presenting those titles in a meaningful way to reestablish the importance of many of the belts. The companies are obviously in control of what they are presenting so they have the power to make these championships have weight, and if they do so, soon the stars that hold them will be elevated as well.

(2) Wins and losses should be given some semblance of importance

This has been a problem in wrestling for years, but one of the most inexcusable mistakes wrestling bookers have made is their lack of emphasis on the importance of wins and losses. How often do we care about the outcome of a match on any of the major television shows? It is because there seems to be little consequence to winning or losing in the ring. That is another reason why squash matches should be brought back, because if the outcome is not important anyway, it might as well not even be left in doubt.

I am not necessarily advocating a ranking system, but there needs to be some type of internal logic developed that showcases why a wrestler wants to beat his opponent. Commentators play a huge role in this. I remember when they would talk about how a wrestler winning elevates them towards title contention or a "winner's purse" on the line. I do not have an answer, but something needs to be done to make us care more about the centerpiece of the product being presented, the matches.

(1) The focus in modern day wrestling needs to be on intensity and athleticism

Over the years, it seems like the wrestling world has always had some type of central theme or direction. Let us take WWF/E for example over the last twenty years. The late eighties had the Rock and Wrestling era. The mid-nineties had the New Generation movement. Obviously the late nineties to early two-thousands saw the Attitude Era. It seems like wrestling has been in a state of flux the last few years and has not been on the cusp of popular culture.

We need to look no further than the success of MMA to realize that fans want to see competition based on intense grudges between two performers. Add to that the creativity and athleticism and drama that only wrestling can manufacture between combatants and we have the central focus upon which they can build around.

One needs to go no further than the feud between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho to see the success of a feud based on real emotion and intensity. That rivalry should be used as a template for what both companies should strive for. We do not want to see hokey dialogue and cheesy jokes and over-the-top stunts. Wrestling is at its best when based on real emotions that fans can relate to and charismatic stars that can tell a story with conviction.

These are my ideas and wishes for the wrestling universe in the upcoming months. I welcome your thoughts and proposals as well to make this a fabulous year to be a wrestling fan. Please seed questions, comments and feedback to valentino.torch@gmail.com

Comment on this Article Below

(CLICK FOR COMMENTS RULES OR TO REPORT ABUSE)

Mike
07 Jan 2009, 12:07
Havn't they been doing squash matches? Koslov is still doing them and Umaga did them for a while. They usally do them on all three brands for new stars. I thik they are used in just the right way.

And while Taker, Triple H and Shawn have been around for ages. JBL, Hardy, Orton, Cena, Batista, Rey and even Edge have only been in the main event scene for about 5 years. That's a lot of new talent! And as much as everyone complains Punk can move back in there whenever they want and there's strong potential with Kennedy, Koslov and Umaga. On top of that they are making great strides with Kingston, Bourne, Knox and Swagger. I also think things can still be salvaged with MVP and a couple of the Legacy guys. You can't have a new roster every year, but look at the roster a couple years ago and there's a lot of new blood floating around.

You made some good points on your list but some of the critisism either seems redundant or unnessesary.
curtis setter
07 Jan 2009, 12:19
wwe doesn't care about their brand split. wwe needs to go back to the wwe title, ic title, wwe women's title and wwe tag team titles. get rid of the world heavyweight, world women's, U.S and world tag titles. Then the titles will mean something again.
bill torres
07 Jan 2009, 13:19
Armando estrada with joey styles on a tuesday night program like primetime two hours no entrances in place of ecw.The brand split is fine as long as they have to have something on My network.Just split it right.Make the brands different.Idk make friday nights like a teenager wrestling show.put orton n his young stable.create more drama storylines.Make raw about 17-35 year olds again.Anything to differentiate the two shows.Two world titles are fine.But the i.c. belt, one tag one womens shared is fine more competition.But could they atleast make the women more relatable to real women.Have a goth.Have a religious girl.Have a slut an artistic girl etc...
mr.swagga
07 Jan 2009, 13:23
Nice.The two brands only share rumble,mania,king of the ring,sslam n sseries.Other than that each month they could do one brand ppvs.How about one ppv where there blood and a little nudity.For the mature fan.It could be held in vegas.doing this each brand can build the right way with time to there ppvs.
The internet
07 Jan 2009, 13:27
The reason those m-eventers are still there is cause vince rightfully so doesnt trust the young guys.Theyd rather be on there ipod or playing video games.To make it you really have to want to.These young guys seem ok with their spot.WM 25 cena-orton jhardy-mhardy hhh-edge hbk-taker austin-kennedy i think whoever wins mitb this year wins the belt this same night.Im guessing mvp right now.
Joseph Bukosky
07 Jan 2009, 14:19
10-longer matches on raw (smackdown has the right idea)

9-Matt Striker and Todd Grisham calling RAW (Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler move to ECW)

8-More promo time for The Brian Kendrick (anyone remember his "Art of War" promo before the championship scramble...gold)

7-An "ACM" (AUTOMATIC CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH) cash in of the MITB briefcase at Wrestlemania just after the Main Event

6-Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy for a world title main eventing SummerSlam

5-Triple H taking a finisher and not kicking out at 2

4-TNA becoming relevant

3-Stephanie McMahon taking an off-screen role

2-Chris Jericho vs. anyone in an Iron Man Match

1-All Fans attending live shows bringing signs to the Arena that read "I paid to see (insert name)". If these were the signs fans brought into arenas WWE/TNA managment would have no choice but to listen to the fans.
Jere
07 Jan 2009, 16:32
So basically... you want the 80s to come back? But seriously, I agree with numbers most of your points. A Bobby Heenan-style manager would add some focus to guys like Knox and Miz/Morrison.

My only problem with it is that alliances, even loose ones like a heel or face manager, create a very black and white, good vs. evil dichotomy which I think wrestling should get away from (and I think they've doing a good job of that when you look at Jericho/Michaels, or Jericho's slow heel turn before that).

I disagree with the heel commentator point, though. While I loved The Brain and enjoyed JBL on commentary, it always seemed really fake to have one person cheering one guy/team and the other cheering the opponent every time. (Fake to the point where it takes me out of the action) The idea's a relic from a bygone era. It grates on my nerves like Michael Cole's phony indignation at every action a heel takes (or his phony laugh every time someone does something that's written to be "humorous").

And I would get rid of King, too. Half the time when I'm watching old matches and he's, for example, ogling Lita during a great Edge/whoever match, it strikes me as distracting and juvenile.

Squash matches: WWE is doing fine in this regard. It means something when a "monster" like Koslov destroys someone like Jeff Hardy or goes through the lower roster in such a fashion. You don't see the NFL throwing their teams against high school teams to build anticipation for the playoffs (as hilariously entertaining as that would be); squashes mean more when the whole roster is capable of being competitive.

If anything, I wish WWE would give more of an equal chance for their lower rungs to prove their worth in the ring. Give, I dunno, THE Brian Kendrick vs. Zack Ryder about 15 minutes of Smackdown time 1 week and maybe the next week give 2 other under-utilized wrestlers a chance to show what they've got. It would, again, build the titles up as something important if WWE presented everyone in the roster as being the best at what they do. As it is, about 6 people per brand are presented as being worthy of the title, and 2 at a time are out with injuries.
Toby Aylward
07 Jan 2009, 17:17
Amazing article. I agree with you on everything here, especially bringing back heel commentators. I find it hard to stomach Jerry Lawler these days, what a puppet that guy has become.
Beer Baron
07 Jan 2009, 19:13
Since the Rock made it clear he wasn't coming back on a full time basis, I've said why not change the name of Friday Night Smackdown? Smackdown is a Rock-ism, and let's move away from him. The WWE owns WCW, why not turn Friday Night Smackdown into Friday Nitro? A name change will do it good, make it sound fresh.

And I agree also about Lawler. My god, he's fallen off. I've been recently doing a Royal Rumble rental via netflix from the first rumble to the most recent. Lawler was at his best when he was a heel. His heel commentary and his current(even from a few years ago) sound like night and day. Someone needs to pull this HOFer aside and tell him to shape up.
Billy Bob Tweed
08 Jan 2009, 05:45
Jere, I don't think SV's advocating a return to the 80s, I think he's recognizing the timeless positives from that era and the 90s that can still work today ~ classic elements of drama and suspense that Vince has overlooked and should re-examine.

Re SV's: "I still feel that Morrison has the look and the charisma and athleticism to be the star of the future."

SV is right. Morrison is a worker and a star right now, he could be a superstar main-eventer in a year-or-so, dependent upon his character development and skills on the mic.
Me
08 Jan 2009, 07:24
First off to whoever mentioned renaming Smackdown...why would you consider naming it Nitro?? Thats fresh and new? Naming a show after another former wrestling show that failed is fresh and new??...

Anyways, I agree wholely with the entire post. 2009 could be a great year with some changes such as those mentioned above. I had high hopes for the last half of 2008 with the youth movement and TNA possibly doing good with Foley and focus on their young stars but again both companies dropped the ball upon the returns of their "mainevent" stars. Heres hoping this year works out well for both WWE and TNA.
Learnl Jones
08 Jan 2009, 08:28
Get rid of the world title? Why? There's way too many superstars right now to have just one belt. And the person who would have that belt, some of you would complain that he doesn't deserve to be champion (like Cena). I mean, most of you were happy when Jeff Hardy won the title. And now you say, we don't need two champs. Typical Internet Geeks. Never happy with anything!
Learnl Jones
08 Jan 2009, 08:40
Oh yeah, one other thing. You keep saying that the younger talent doesn't get pushed. If memory serves me, Evan Bourne was on his way to being a breakout star until he got injured. CM Punk won the World Title on Raw over the summer. Kendrick was in the SD Scramble match at Unforgiven. And what about Orton? Or Swagger? Mike Knox seems to be getting plenty of air time these days for no good reason. Koslov was in the main event picture during the fall. Miz and Morrison are featured on all three shows. What more do you want? Maybe the real reason is that some of these young stars aren't ready to take the spotlight just yet. Look how long it took Edge to get to the main event spot. Hell, even Austin wasn't a big star in the beginning. Not everyone can get on as fast as a Goldberg or a Lesnar. It takes time. It takes years of paying dues, which is what alot of these stars are doing right now. It's that typical MTV mentality where we want something new all the time. Then when we do get something new, we get tired of it so fast that we're waiting for the next thing to come along. Sometimes life doesn't work that way.
Matt
08 Jan 2009, 15:07
Well I havent watched wrestling full time since a bit after the invasion but I guess the things that made it start to suck then still apply now.

-Wrestling should be more reality and people based in storylines,like during its prime (late 90s to early noughties) they should focus on why wrestlers want to win matches and titles, or beat ceratin other wrestlers or believe in certain things that put them at odds with other wreslters, such as themselves.

-Wrestlers should no longer be presented as characters as in 'movie characters' or entertainers as in clowns. In fact they should present wrestlers as we see them and try the blur the distinction between their characters/gimmicks and the people playing them. Stone Cold was believable as a badass in real life, the Rock was believable as as a cocky smart ass becuase he probably was one in real life too

-For the love of god, keep women in wrestling to a minimum, if fans want porn theyll watch porn or if they truly do want women wrestling then you'd think it'd score higher ratings if it was showcased more (which it hasn't)

-I agree with bringing back heel 'jerk' commentators, managers for musclmen with no charisma (we're looking at you Kozlov)and better wrestler names. Some wrestlers names are so bland you're led to believe the wrestlersthemselves are bland. Would The rock be as awesome as Dwayne Johnson? Would stone Cold rock as Steve Anderson, i dont think so. If I was a kid again I dont think the name 'Shelton Benjamin' or Bobby Lashley' would make me want to watch wreslting. Names like Hulk Hogan, Macho Man did

-Drop the brand split, fire crappy filler talents, and stop insulting the memory of ecw by dropping it totally. I understand every wrestling compnay needs an undercard but that doesnt mean it should be used as an excuse to insult the senses. Perhaps use house shows to help filler talent build up personality and ring skills, test gimmicks etc and lighten the loads of 'made-men' by letting them prepare for tv work only

-Finally I'd like wrestling to be less orientated towards kids as it is now. i'd like to think there is a place for cartoonish programming on the undercard and 'Poopy' but Id also like to think theres a place for betrayal injustice, social issues etc in storylines. Ultimatley theres a hell of alot more adults out there than there is kids and even kids like to think theyre adults by watching adult programming and pretending to be older.

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THE BASH PPV COVERAGE: Listing of the Torch's WWE PPV coverage - Title changes, Jericho writes on Rey match, Miz on Cena match
RADICAN'S WWE THE BASH PPV BLOG 6/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Orton vs. Hunter PPV
CALDWELL'S WWE THE BASH PPV REPORT 6/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Orton vs. Triple H, Punk vs. Hardy
TV Reports
PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 7/3: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Punk & Jeff Hardy vs. Jericho & Edge
WWE News: Preview for tonight's Smackdown - Mysterio vs. Kane and Edge & Jericho vs. Punk & Jeff Hardy
PARKS' TNA IMPACT REPORT 7/2: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Team 3D vs. Booker & Steiner
Arena Reports
7/3 WWE in San Diego, Calif.: First-hand report on Edge's apparent injury, Punk vs. Rey Mysterio, Ricky Steamboat in action
6/27 ROH in Chicago: Austin Aries vs. Nigel McGuinness, KENTA vs. Black, Petey Williams looks odd, Crowd eats up Flair's generic promo
6/28 PWG in California: Joey Ryan vs. Necro Butcher, Davey Richards vs. Young Buck, Michael Jackson entrance themes
MMA / UFC Coverage
UFC News: Kimbo Slice, Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans plus rest of cast of TUF 10 to be revealed...
UFC - ENNIS COLUMN: The Lay of the Lane - A look at MMA's top heavyweights from Brock to Mir to Carwin to Fedor to...
MMA: Plan a week of UFC and other MMA viewing with the Torch's viewer's guide including Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER: How bookers, like Jeff Jarrett last night, show that they're the toughest SOBs in the world
KELLER'S TNA IMPACT TAKE 7/2: Thoughts, observations, nitpicks, and quotebook
KELLER'S ECW ON SCI-FI REPORT 6/30: Results, star ratings, thoughts, observations, nitpicks, and quotebook
MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL SHORT: WWE Proving Once Again That Life is Easy...
MOJO MITCHELL'S 6/29 Raw Stream Of Randy Orton Faces ECW and Loses and That's The Main Event
Mitchell Short: Your Thank-You Note to WWE
MCNEILL'S TAKE
The Names Have Been Changed To Protect The Buyrates: McNEILL Previews WWE Bash 2009!
Redemption: McNEILL previews TNA Slammiversary 7!
MCNEILL BLOG: A Modest Proposal For Monday Night Trump
CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL: Analysis of WWE's roster shuffle from the 15-person trade - who benefited, which brand needs help
CALDWELL: Instant Reaction to key storylines on Raw and post-PPV developments
CALDWELL: WWE Smackdown/The Bash PPV analysis - Don't Mess with C.M. Punk's dynamic character
RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN: Torch readers sounds off on Mark Henry's shining moment on Raw (w/Radican Reax)
RADICAN: Mark Henry's shining moment on Raw leaves a bad smell in the room
RADICAN: A follow up on the Death Before Dishonor audio with Feinstein with notes on Special K angle, Punk-Raven feud, where's Misawa now?
The Specialists
CHARACTER MATTERS: Why The Game Doesn't Play with Me - The Flaws of Triple H's On-Air Persona
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - 7/2 TNA Impact: Kurt Angle saw "The Hangover," Stacker2, A.J. Styles Eats a Lot of Cookies, Stacker2, Jeff Jarrett Has the Power of Flight
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 7/2: Kevin Nash's sit-down, Kurt Angle Plays the Game, Matt Morgan a Hit?, Samoa Joe muted, Bad acting, Raven MIA
Guest Editorials
EDITORIAL: Historical perspective on Austin Aries's ROH Title victory - his journey from main event to mid-card back to main event
EDITORIAL: TNA needs to K.I.S.S. the King of the Mountain match to make it more appealing to TNA viewers
EDITORIAL: How WWE could have better handled the Vickie-Edge segment on Raw and caught up with the year 2009
Torch Feedback
Smackdown TV Reax #1: "Fresh match-ups, superstars, and storylines just create great TV"
Thursday Night TV Reax - SS/Impact: "X Division, we hardly knew ya after Abyss beat up the only two representatives who showed up"
ECW TV Reax #2: "Yoshi is already on the road to being the next Funaki at this point"
Ask the Editor
Ask the Editor: Wouldn't incorporating MMA-style holds into pro wrestling matches just be trying to be something it's not?
ASK THE EDITOR: Have the Michaels-Batista promos crossed a line with use of insider terms, references to "jobs"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"?
DVDs - VGames - Books
RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES: 2/7 "Proving Ground: Night 2" (Danielson-Generico, Steen-Richards)
RADICAN'S TORCH DVD REVIEW SERIES: YouShoot with Sabu: Sabu opens up about working in WWE, incident with Kurt Angle, negotions with TNA, more...
RADICAN'S PWTorch DVD review: The Best of RVD TV Vol. 1: RVD trains MMA with a UFC fighter, talks the power of the mind with The Ultimate Warrior, discusses love on a beach with Samoa Joe
Torch Flashbacks
KELLER'S TNA IMPACT REPORT (5 Yrs. Ago): Eric Young headlines, Jerry Lynn, R-Truth, Dusty Rhodes, Sabu, A.J. Styles, Jarrett, D-Ray 3000!
OWEN HART 10 YRS. AGO: Bruce Mitchell Feature Column - The Fluke Death of Owen Hart - May 23, 1999
OWEN HART 10 YRS. AGO: Torch Newsletter #550 cover story on Owen Hart's death (PART TWO) - May 23, 1999
VIP Exclusive Features
7/4 Bruce Mitchell Audio Show, part two: The Vickie Guerrero Injustice, Torrie Disrespect, Jericho Laments Schedule, Wrestler Twitters Going Too Far, Punk's Surprising Hardy Comment, TNA's Ho-Hum Kidnapping of Lauren (76 min.)
7/4 Wade Keller Hotline - The News: Edge Injured, Jeff Hardy's Uncertain Future, WWE PPV Strategy, Wrestling on FX? (19 min.)
7/4 VIP East Coast Audio - Smackdown: Punk-Hardy great exchange, Rey loses to Kane, Dolph and Maria an item? (40 min.)
Torch Trivia
TORCH TRIVIA 2/28: Which wrestler backed out of a WWA PPV in February 2002?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/27: Who said this quote about Hulk Hogan's athleticism 11 years ago?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/25: What said this quote about WWE's mid-1990s drug testing policy?
Torch Instant Polls
FOURTH OF JULY POLL: What's your favorite July 4th "gimmick" in pro wrestling?
7/3 SMACKDOWN MICROSCOPE POLL: What related topic from tonight's Smackdown do you want to see analyzed Under the Microscope?
TNA IMPACT POLL: Who was the MVP of the 7/2 episode if you saw the show?
PWTorch Free Podcast
6/23 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Former WCW rapmaster PN News joins Brian Hoops to preview upcoming Midwest shows (10 min.)
FREE AUDIO: Keller & Mitchell Discuss Randy Savage's Place in WWE History, Elizabeth's Strengths and Weaknesses
FREE FOR ALL TODAY - 5/31 Keller Hotline: Tons of info on Kennedy situation, immediate future, plus what top star's days in TNA are numbered, what's working against Kennedy getting big push in TNA, much more
Annual Obituaries
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 1999 - Muchnick, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Renegade...
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2000 - Solie, Albright, Duncum, Tsuruta, Blue Demon, Al Costello
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2001: Johnny Valentine, Terry Gordy, Chris Adams, Bertha Faye, Helen Hart