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THE GREATNESS OF THE CRUISERWEIGHT CLASSIC, IS TNA ON THE ROPES, HEATH SLATER’S RESURGENCE AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2016-09-18 10:00:00

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The Cruiserweight Classic was great.  I really enjoyed it.  What did you think about both Ibushi and Sabre being eliminated in the semifinals, and TJ Perkins winning?

Well, Ibushi and Sabre weren’t signed to contracts and didn’t want to sign, they had to lose in the semis.  If Ibushi wanted sign, I think he would have been the first winner.  But Perkins is definitely worthy.  His two matches were strong on Wednesday.  I know a lot of people were pushing for Sabre, but I think he made the right move in not signing with WWE yet.  I think he will be better served to keep working the schedule that he has been, continuing to improve.  I like Perkins and Gran Metalik a lot.  I loved the final.

After reading Billy Corgan’s comments, it seems like TNA is really bad shape.  Is it as bad as it seems?

It really all depends on whether Corgan, or someone else, can find the money needed to sustain their operations.  It is pretty clear given what Corgan said that the company needs an influx of capital, and they need it quickly.  I don’t know if the circumstances are dire yet, but they surely aren’t rosy (unless an investor has been found).

I saw the CM Punk fight, and I happen to agree with what Dana White said afterwards regarding Punk. I think if he continues with MMA it should be at a lower level than UFC. With that said, didn't Punk sign a mult-fight deal? Even if it was a one off, considering what he was paid, doesn't that send a horrible message to those on the undercard and prelims, sort of like Vince talking about the brass ring?

I think it was pretty clear that Punk was not ready to be on the PPVs yet.  I think he needs a lot more training before he steps on a PPV again.  He needs to fight, and that means against people of his skill level.  Training is great, but nothing replaces actually fighting.  UFC can cut fighters if they choose to.  In Punk’s case, I think he has value to the brand as a personality if they decide to go that way.  They also could have him fight less talented fighters and see if there is potential for him to improve.  As for a message, no I don’t think so at all. Punk had name value so he got a fight because Dana White knew it would sell PPVs.  That is just the sides taking advantage of their circumstances.  That’s business.

I loved everything about the presentation of the Cruiserweight Classic.  It was a textbook example of how to present wrestling as a real competition.  The only storyline it had was guys giving it their all in the ring in order to win the tournament and championship.  It had great matches every week, the matches were given sufficient time, and guys were not given any restrictions in the ring.  Not to mention the awesome commentary, which was some of the best I have heard in years.  How will the presentation of the Cruiserweights differ on RAW, given that the presentation of the Cruiserweights will be under Vince's direction?  Is it safe to assume they will not be given the same amount of match time and freedom in the ring?  And how long until the guys are put into ridiculous storylines and turned into comedy acts?

We will get an idea on Monday.  No one can say for sure right now.  My hope is that with Triple H’s influence on the product and the success of the tournament, Vince McMahon will take a different approach with the Cruisers.

I loved the Heath Slater storyline from not getting drafted to winning the tag titles and the way the fans got behind him was brilliant. His reaction after and AJ winning the title made backlash for me. On the storyline, how much of the Heath Slater story was planned from the draft and how much of it was WWE listening to the crowd. Also what are your thoughts on him as a worker as he has gone way up in my estimation.

The company couldn’t have known how much the fans would get behind Heath but once they did, Creative ran with it.  I applaud them for them.  I have always enjoyed Slater’s work.  I am glad he is getting a chance to show people what he can do.  Other than the bit they did at “his trailer”, I have enjoyed the storyline a lot.

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