Email This Article - Contact Us - VIP Sign-Up - Back to Home Page

---

FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST

---

ELIMINATE ADS AT PWTORCH.COM - GO VIP - CLICK FOR DETAILS

VIP EXCLUSIVE - From PWTorch Newsletter #992...

End Notes editorial
Headline: Jericho the Savior?
By Wade Keller, Torch editor
Originally Published: September 29, 2007
PWTorch Newsletter #992

WWE could, perhaps more than at any time I remember, use a fresh, established, main event wrestler to inject some life into the product. There may not be a time where there were fewer "dream matches" in WWE than there are at this time. Are Hunter vs. Cena or Edge vs. Batista or Undertaker vs. Hunter "dream matches" that people see as being a level above what they get on a typical monthly PPV?

When Shawn Michaels returns, Michaels vs. Undertaker is perhaps the most anticipated match I can come up with as having that mix of clashing icons who have rarely wrestled each other, who can still "go," who are still over, have shown chemistry in the past, and would draw against each other.

Over the past 25 years, WWE has always had the benefit of another rival promotion (or dozens of other regional promotions) grooming stars, who when acquired and matched against WWE's long-time stars led to a "dream match" situation. WCW has been out of business for years and its top stars who haven't been in WWE, with the exception of Sting, have either since joined WWE or are long retired.

TNA should be a place where WWE could look to for future dream matches. Problem is, in TNA's five years, they have yet to create or cultivate anyone as being on par with WWE's top stars. Samoa Joe, obviously, is the only arguable exception, but he has been neutered by TNA's booking to a degree. TNA's ratings are not at the level of even ECW, much less Raw or Smackdown, so top stars on TNA Impact are seem by only a fraction of WWE's stars. So even if TNA had cultivated or created stars from scratch, it wouldn't matter to two-thirds of WWE's audience who never see them.

Christian, Kurt Angle, Matt Morgan, Rhino, Ron Killings, B.G. James, Kip James, Kevin Nash, and Team 3D have all been on WWE's roster and are now getting TNA TV exposure, but none present obvious dream matches were they to jump to WWE now or soon. Christian would return to a high-second-tier role (if for no other reason than Vince McMahon not wanting to admit he was wrong, although Christian hasn't exactly advanced his in-ring style to main event credibility since arriving in TNA, either). Angle, under fantasy-land ideal circumstances (healthy body, clear head, stable emotions) would be a nice addition, but he hasn't been gone long enough to present any dream match-ups since he's wrestled everyone getting pushed in WWE right now already. I won't even entertain the notion that Jeff Jarrett's five years pushing himself (until recently) qualifies him as a "dream opponent for anyone in WWE; even more so than with Christian, if Jarrett signed with WWE he'd be treated as a second-tier player, feuding with Carlito or Matt Hardy).

Brock Lesnar is more likely to sign with TNA than WWE, were he to chose to leave MMA and return to pro wrestling. He'd present the best dream matches in WWE from an in-ring potential (yes, more than Jericho), but on the mic he'd be a bit one-dimensional (good at that dimension, but still one-dimensional). Goldberg is a few years past being a big deal and at best would take part in a one-shot or two-shot brief run. Hulk Hogan is really beaten down physically and doesn't have any obvious "dream matches" left (Hogan vs. Batista doesn't exactly conjure cha-ching sounds from the fantasy box office).

That means, as WWE looks ahead to WrestleMania next spring, or in the short-term just boosting PPV buyrates and TV ratings, they have few options. That's where Chris Jericho comes in. The code games played over the last week have......

The second half of this article is available exclusively to PWTorch VIP Members as part of this week's new PWTorch Newsletter. The 16-page print newsletter is also published online at PWTorch.com's member's website each week featuring the VIP-exclusive Newswire, Wade Keller's cover story, Torch Talk interviews, other exclusive staff columns, Keller's VIP-exclusive PPV and TV reports with match star ratings, Wade Keller's End Notes, and more. VIP membership also includes:

-The Daily Keller Hotline and over 30 other VIP Audio Shows per month.

-Eight complete PWTorch Newsletter back issues from "Five Years Ago This Week" and "Ten Years Ago This Week" posted online for the first time ever, joining hundreds of other previously posted PWTorch Newsletter back issues dating back to the early 1990s through the early 2000s.

-Access to the PWTorch VIP Forum with daily interaction with the PWTorch staff and other well-informed PWTorch VIP members.

-Access to the PWTorch Appendix with a wide variety of reference articles and collections.

-Access to hundreds of previous audio updates, audio shows, and Torch Talk interview audio files.

-An ad-free version of the PWTorch.com Main Listing.

-VIP Email Express reports PPVs and TV shows by Wade Keller and VIP-exclusive Roundtables reviews PPVs and TV shows, plus occasional "Breaking News" emails for the biggest stories during the year.

For VIP subscription pricing info and to learn how to get Four-Days-Free of VIP membership, click here.

Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA...
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET

For UFC & MMA NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTorch VIP:
DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO (rates now as low as $2.99/month)

More Recent KELLER'S TAKE Articles

KELLER: March 8 - An evaluation of whether Impact is showing its ready to compete with Raw

KELLER'S TAKE: What's in a name? Survivor Series a goner, but does it matter?

KELLER'S WWE RAW REPORT 2/8: Bret Hart appears again after John Cena reveals to McMahon that Bret wants him one-on-one at WrestleMania

KELLER'S VIP BLOG: A ratings experiment for TNA to try with the Knockouts

KELLER: Vince Russo owes wrestlers another apology, plus one to the fans

KELLER: Russo wants to be a better friend, not explain his booking decisions

KELLER: TNA Genesis Preview - A look at the line-up, potential surprises, major change made

KELLER: I've been edited! Here's what Russo said, and here's what I wrote that was deleted from his fan page

KELLER: Russo's right, he's pushing young wrestlers in top positions, but there's a big catch that negates that mattering

KELLER BLOG: Our TNA polls this week should frighten TNA headed into Jan. 4

KELLER FLASHBACK: "Infidelity" turned into fake-shoot angle with Dallas Page-Buff Bagwell

KELLER'S BLOG: Ooops... I forgot perhaps the biggest problem with last week's "Worst Impact Ever"

KELLER BLOG: One of the biggest surprises TNA could deliver on Jan. 4 isn't a pro wrestler (w/Addendum)

KELLER: In defense of the Sheamus push - why this gamble by WWE is a smart move for the short-run and long-run

KELLER: Dixie's last speech on Impact was off-target; will tonight's heavily-hyped segment with her miss the mark again?

KELLER'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 11/26: Full quotes from Hulk Hogan on joining TNA, Dixie press conference hype, one-night title tournament

KELLER'S TAKE: Tito Ortiz took UFC into pro wrestling territory with his third round performance and post-fight interview (redirect)

KELLER BLOG: WrestleMania goes up to $55, all other PPVs $45 - let the pirate feed frenzy begin

KELLER BLOG: Dixie Carter asks wrestlers to step it up, but what does that mean? Shouldn't their goal to be winning matches and nothing else?

KELLER FLASHBACK: Review of Hulk Hogan's first autobiography - Hogan's political maneuvers evident in who he protects and buries

(c) 1999-2010 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.