Time To Shine

It's been a while. I feel like I'm dusting off the cobwebs from this old file. Regardless, it's been a pretty demoralizing week for sports in the New York area which leaves more questions that need to be answered.

Did the Giants and Jets switch up their playbooks this week when they played their opponents?

Would it have killed Kevin Gilbride to call for one run play on that final drive against the Seahawks?

Did the Jets forget New England actually had a potent rushing attack with the "Law firm" Ben Jarvis Green Ellis ripping the Jets run defense apart?

Will anyone (And I mean ANYONE) actually buy Nick Swisher's music CD? Such awful post-season play deserves an equally awful music cover CD.

Will the NBA ever return? I hope so just so I can see the Hornets again. I miss the defensive master-mind, Monty Williams on the side, yelling at Trevor Ariza to stick to his Iso-defense.

Why do the Rangers have to open the regular season outside of the US? The Rangers deserve to play in MSG at least for their opener even while construction is going on.

With all that disappointment out of the way, wrestling provides that entertainment that you just can't get out of some sports event. The stories inside the ring are often more intriguing and entertaining than an Islanders/Panthers opening night contest. Lets be honest, that'll happen mostly any night regardless of who the Islanders are playing.

Anyways, with Pro Sports in the New York area in the dark and sound-proof basement, pro wrestling has that opportunity to take advantage and gain some noticeable attention. While I'm sure most will groan at that possibility and just wait for another eye-gouging moment in pop-culture on TV and the gossip pages, If you look at the product as it's currently constructed in both companies, there is alot to be excited about.

1) WWE: Chaos is the name of the game the WWE has been selling since 2011 started. The back-stories and character identities have changed immensely over the last 3-4 months but even if you look back to January, when the "Road to WrestleMania" was really taking shape, it's hard to deny that guys like R-Truth, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, Christian, Zack Ryder (To a lesser degree), The Miz, among others have risen greatly that most would not have predicted other than Sheamus or The Miz to important positions within the company. John Cena is off doing his thing with Albertoooooooooooooooooooooo Del Rioooooooooooooooooooo. But the most important and satisfying sign has come in the form of the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry.

After 15 long years, most were shocked that he was still apart of the WWE. Granted, due to the size of this guy and the weight he's carried since he competed in the 1996 Olympics (Kurt Angle was the only one to medal), crippling injuries and lackluster baby-face turns have sidelined Henry's emergence as the WWE's next diamond in the rough. Mark Henry is a believable Heel that just wants to beat people up and he looks convincing doing it. Sounds simple but somehow that philosophy and psychology had been dropped in recent years. Building up Henry as this unstoppable monster to WrestleMania is crucial to the long-term success of restoring faith and pride in actually holding a championship.

Did you know that Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne of Air-Boom and Kelly Kelly holding the Divas Championship (before she dropped it to Beth Phoenix at Hell In A Cell) had longer title reigns than any of the last WWE Champion over the last 5 months.

2) TNA: Quietly, maybe very quietly, but the last few weeks, TNA's Impact Wrestling program has been logical which is a far cry from the crap they showed just last month revolved around Joker Sting and Ken Anderson and Kurt Angle. The push of Robert Roode after winning the Bound For Glory series has been fun to watch. The dissension of his Beer Money group brings down a legendary Tag Team from that company and one of the best Tag Teams from the last 5-10 years. But what TNA is doing in pushing the younger talent brings hope that maybe 5 years later, TNA will have gotten the message to push the AJ Styles, James Storm, Austin Aries among other non-WWE talent that hasn't worked for years other than Christian. Let's hope this trend continues especially with Vince Russo stepping down as Head-writer in exchange for long-time former WWE employe, Bruce Pritchard. Brother Love to save the day?

Wrestling has a great spot to take advantage of the doldrums of the fall month. With Survivor Series around the corner in MSG, The Rock, John Cena, it's going to be crazy. You can catch all the excitement every Thursday Night at 7PM for Over The Ropes for the 2 greatest hours of wrestling analysis you'll ever hear with Chris Maffei and I, on this very page.

Till next time,

I'm Nick Malone.