How does TNA turn a half decent PPV into a steaming pile? Just watch Victory Road. I don’t care if the Hardy vs. Sting match was a work, either way it was a crappy excuse for a main event and not something you can really get away with if you want to be a proper company. This is something you would do as a main event on Impact but never as a return match on the main event of a PPV. Just because Bischoff doesn’t see the worth in having so many doesn’t mean that he can just treat them like they are meaningless, the whole thing is ridiculous. Still we’re growing closer to Wrestlemania and the WWE look to be on at least some kind of form going into the Grandest Stage of Them All. At this point I’m still leaning towards taking TNA off the chart after Wrestlemania as they seem to be a sinking ship but who knows, for now let’s just get on with the report…

Weekly Top Ten:

1st Place: The Miz (10/10)

For a fourth week in a row the WWE champion proves himself to be the clear leader of the heel chart. His destruction of Cena on Raw confirms just how over he is within the company that it is almost at the point where even if he loses at ‘Mania, the Miz will still be a main event player for the foreseeable future. Of course if the Miz can overcome the threat of Cena and retain his WWE title then he will pretty much be the most successful champion in years and will probably remain champion for a long time to come. I have to admit it would be cool to see a long standing heel champion for once who weathered the test of every face that came his way. An anti-Cena if you will.

2nd Place: Bully Ray (9/10)

While I might personally be that impressed with the efforts of one former Bubba Ray Dudley it seems like the TNA higher-ups are, enough to put him into the TNA title picture at least. Although at the moment that title picture is such a shambles that basically anyone could be thrown in and be made to look like a legitimate contender. TNA really does need to pull itself together soon.

3rd Place: Sheamus (8/10)

The Celtic Warrior managed to live up to his word and become the new United States Champion on Raw, leaving Daniel Bryan out in the cold. Perhaps there could be a return match at Wrestlemania so that Bryan gets to wrestle on the Grandest Stage of them all but what with the titles not meaning that much anymore it’s possible that there just won’t be a return match, or more likely that it will be held on Raw in a quick squash match to put Sheamus over once again.

4th Place: Michael Cole (7/10)

Another week of Michael Cole being on the chart and to be fair to him he actually performed some heel physicality to make it into fourth place. I have to say that I’m not a fan of the ‘An-Cole Lock’ though, while I usually like such play-on-words this one is just so weak that it would have been better if they had just left it alone.

5th Place: Jack Swagger (6/10)

Cole’s little helper plays second fiddle to his more vocally dexterous partner with a tap out victory over Chris Masters this week. Looking back it’s hard to say that Swagger has had a good year in the WWE as he started off with a MitB and World Title win and is ending as a manager to a guy who has never had a match before; I mean at least he’s going to Wrestlemania but that is a bit of a plunge.

6th Place: Alberto Del Rio (5/10)

Despite losing to Christian in the steel cage, Del Rio still finds his way onto the chart simply due to his heel presence, which is at an all-time high in the WWE at the moment. In fact you could say that the WWE seems pretty pro-heel at the moment, what with Del Rio and the Miz getting the upper hand on their Wrestlemania opponents at seemingly every given opportunity. Still you know they are only setting us up for a massive face comeback at Wrestlemania to satisfy the kiddie fans. Damn it.

7th Place: Hernandez (4/10)

Super-Mex has been on a heel tear since returning to TNA, his sole focus being on the Blue Print Matt Morgan, this personal rivalry has at least given the two a defined purpose in a company that seems to be living from week to week with no kind of plan or direction, and that’s something.

8th Place: Sarita (3/10)

With a generally decent heel persona, Sarita is a good female wrestler who makes her way into the chart due to her joint win of the Knock-Out Tag Team titles with her cousin Rosita. The whole Rosita thing seems a bit pointless, along with Amazing Red’s little brother who has seemingly disappeared for the time being. Seriously TNA, what has happened to your booking department?

9th Place: Gunner (2/10)

Another arbitrary title win by an arbitrary character, I have to be honest I can’t even remember why the TV title was vacated in the first place. I’m also annoyed by the constant name changes of the title. It might as well just be called the ‘Midcard Prop Championship’ as that is how it is being treated. No doubt it will change hands several times or just not be defended for months on end before becoming some other kind of belt. Sure the WWE is just as guilty of misusing their IC and US titles, but at least they have the common decency to have them keep the same names.

10th Place: Justin Gabriel (1/10)

The final place goes to one of the Tag Team champions, who I honestly thought would have lost the titles this week, simply to set up Jackson and Barrett vs. Big Show and Kane for the titles at Wrestlemania, a much better match in my opinion. I’m not really sure why the Corre hasn’t tried the same tactics as the Spirit Squad and Fabulous Freebirds and claimed that they can all defend the tag team titles as “equals” in their group, it would make things more interesting at least.

Overall Top Ten:

1st Place: C.M. Punk (82/100)
2nd Place: The Miz (81/100)
3rd Place: Alberto Del Rio (72/100)
4th Place: Jeff Jarrett (34/100)
5th Place: Dolph Ziggler (33/100)
6th Place: Wade Barrett (29/100)
7th Place: Michael Cole (20/100)
8th Place: Justin Gabriel (16/100)
9th Place: Jeff Hardy (16/100)
10th Place: Heath Slater (15/100)

Weekly Filler:

The Face-Off: Snooki as a Face

Fair enough to have a terrible guest star to boost buys for Wrestlemania but surely when you are in a PG era it is a strange choice to have a guest star who is known for being a classless slag, and then to make her a face of all things. I honestly don’t get it; surely she would have fitted in better with LayCool. All I can think is that the whole thing is a shot at TNA for having the lesser (characters?) of the show come on when they can get the biggest (star?). It seems strange to say but I think Snooki could be a little beneath even the WWE, especially on the Grandest Stage of them All.

Face the Facts: The Rock’s Promo on Little Cena

My point here is pretty simple, that it was just funny. Although I will say that it could have done with being after a match or something rather than starting off the show. I made the mistake of trying to show someone wrestling for the first time at that point and it was just confusing and therefore unfunny to them so just put the same conditions to anyone tuning in for the first time to check out the hype for the WWE. Better to put Snooki on first just to get her out of the way.

On the Rise: Miz Taking Out the Great Khali

I’ve already talked about the Miz’s domination of Cena at the end of Raw, but what about his vicious attack on the Great Khali. Not only did this unholy wailing completely upstage the attack by Ziggler on Khali that first launched him into the midcard scene, but it also was once again reminiscent of a non-PG era. Although I have to say even I was concerned when the chair leg broke and Khali looked to have a puncture wound in his back that was seeping blood as the next segway began.

Flat-Footed: NXT Season 5

The whole Redemption thing isn’t such a bad angle as it gives previously good NXT rookies the chance to compete again, but it’s just the way the WWE went about it. First in who they have chosen, for instance I’m not sure why Darren Young is there, and second in the fact that all they win is a chance to be on the next season of NXT, which doesn’t seem like it’s a very good prize to me. So these guys are competing for a chance to compete to be put on the WWE roster for a few months before being shipped off again back to FCW. It’s a fun competition.

That’s all for this week, with most of the matches set for Wrestlemania the card looks to be stacked with some interesting one-on-one matches, I’d like to believe that these will make for interesting competitions and to be honest for several of the matches I can’t really see who will win at this point but I’m hoping for a mass heel white-wash after last year’s face-fest. Recently I’ve been accused of being an anti-TNA report and up until now that was not entirely true, but after the events of the week I have to say that TNA can go die in a hole for all I care. This is James Wright signing off.

Source: wrestlingtruth.com