NEW COLUMN: The Hot Button w/MNM Mikey Report by The Hot Button on 05/13/2008 at 10:07 PM
With MNM Mikey
Mikey's first Hot Button: The Old is New Again... And Old Again.
Scott Steiner has have formed a nice stable with his muscle bound-ness (yes that’s a word now). But why hasn’t his gimmick changed in 10 years? I love Black Machismo, Jay Lethal, whatever you wanna call him. I also am a fan of his gimmick (and entrance music!) but really, the best they can come up with is another 10 year old gimmick? And what about Kurt Angle? Yes I know he’s a big draw and really elevated TNA closer to WWE’s ‘big boy’ status than anyone in recent memory, but he’s the same Kurt from WWE. I guess it works because it brings in those who liked that Kurt, but don’t you think it’s time for some change? I mean he did do the whole “family” angle for a bit, which was a nice mix up, but we all know that bringing your family into the business just isn’t a good idea. And finally, the most painfully obvious, and most fun (in my opinion): Shark Boy. I must say I think they did a great job with the build up to his gimmick change and all that, and maybe they didn’t even notice that much. But it was subtle and felt so natural (until of course when he ‘awoke’). As opposed to all the other gimmicks (with the exception to Steiner/Kurt because they’re literally the same person) this has to be the most extreme (…no, not you animal planet). I know Lethal’s is very similar too, but how long ago did Savage actually wrestle? Exactly. But how long ago was it that Stone Cold gave someone the stunner, WM24? …Well no, but it should have been, it just didn’t feel complete without McMahon getting stunned…oh well. I mean “oh shell yea!”, is bordering on lame and entertaining. Trust me, I’m a fan of TNA, and I really don’t mind the gimmicks and most of them are pretty entertaining. HOWEVER, can we please get some originality? TNA needs to do away with Super Eric and have EY be the ‘scared’ guy with a lot of heart, he can easily always play the underdog, just watch how the crowd responds to him! His partner, Kaz, even has a nice “I’m the good guy who has lots of talent but can’t get over the hump yet” gimmick, even if they didn’t GIVE it to him. So TNA, as much as we love the nostalgic gimmicks, whether embodied by someone or simply kept by the same wrestler, I think I speak for everyone when I saw we’d like some new and different ones.
Mikey's second Hot Button: Judgement Day versus Sacrifice!
Even though Judgement Day is a week away (roughly by the time (if?) you read this) I’m not gunna wait to talk about its card vs. Sacrifice. Sacrifice was really nice even though there were only 3 matches outside of the Deuces Wild (DW) thing. The DW was a really nice break from the normal, tag or singles. The knockout’s ladder match was semi-predicable, there were truly only 3, maybe 4, who could legitimately win, but the shaved head thing was a real nice touch. The X division match was a whole new match altogether, that and the X’s always put on a good match, and great one if you increase their numbers (there’s an equation in there somewhere). The main event, well I think we all knew what the end would look like, but it’d still be a good match. Then you have Judgment Day. I’ll be honest, I hold WWE’s bookings and story’s to a higher standard than TNA. Why? Because they literally have 20 years on TNA, so I’m allowed. We’ll start low and work upward, like any good cavity search *shudders*. Shawn Michaels v. Y2J, this all because Y2J’s upset/suspicious about Shawn’s “faking” an injury to beat Batista last month at Backlash. Duh, who cares? The size and age really demand that HBK use his head to beat The Animal, which wouldn’t take too much work (oooh burn!). Then you have Cena v. JBL. Why? Because JBL was beat, fair and square, at Backlash (seeing a theme yet?). It’s just a regular match too, kinda vanilla don’t you think WWE? Undertaker v. Edge….again. I don’t mind rematches as much as the next guy, but give us something to them. Plus the build for this was lame it’s like they took a whole SmackDown to stripe the Undertaker of the title, and then give him and Edge a match for the belt, doesn’t sound much like a stripped title. Then it’s the Miz & John Morrison vs. ECW Champion Kane & CM Punk. I think my computer just went into sleep mode. Maybe they’ll FINALLY give the MiTB winner a win? Umm, I think not. Between Miz and Morrison, you know Punk’s gunna take the fall. Poor sap. And then the main event, thanks to the, umm, “questionable” finish to Raw of turning out the lights (????), is HHH v. Randy Orton, in a cage. At least it’s less vanilla than Cena’s match. This should turn out to be the only match halfway worth watching, but then again you’re only going to watch HHH carry Orton through it, as his infamous headlocks just won’t cut it in a cage. HHH is on his 12th world title reign, might as well have him drop it and win it on every occasion so we can get his 17th win out of the way as we all know he’s going to surpass Flair’s record. So while TNA’s PPV is fresh and new (and as always high quality wrestling), WWE’s got a PPV full of rematches from Backlash, which were practically rematches from WrestleMania. So 1 easy question for WWE: can we get some flavor?
WWE, give this man some FLAVOR!
Want to give Mikey some Flavor? Got a Hot Button you'd like to push? Then hit MNM Mikey up at mnm2317@aim.com. with feedback, questions and all that jazz.Until next time, your button has been pushed!
Mikey's first Hot Button: The Old is New Again... And Old Again.
