Press Commentary
This is a listing of all commentary produced by The Wrestle Press staff touching on topics within pro
wrestling. Included are improvements, critics, and praises for what's happening now. Last Update:
Wednesday, September 29, 2004.
- Taboo Tuesday: How to Book the Tuesday PPV.
By: Mike Maccarone, Tuesday, September 28, 2004.
Sample: As for the fans, it gives them interaction with the WWE and makes them feel they are the
bookers for one night. This is something that the WWE has been lacking for some time now. They
haven’t been listening to the paying customers. Who knows better than the people who are paying for
your product like the Pay per views, t-shirts, house shows?
- WWE's Lack of Long Term Planning is Hurting.
By: James Caldwell, Friday, September 17. 2004. Part of the Weekend Edition (9/17).
Sample: Orton could have become greater than Triple H. He could have made Triple H so jealous of
him, that Triple H just couldn't accept the fact that Orton was better than him. Instead, Triple H proved
he was smarter, craftier, and wiser than Orton, and won back the WWE Title before Orton could run.
- Randy Orton Isn't To Blame for an Unsuccessful WWE Title Reign.
By: James Caldwell, Friday, September 17, 2004. Part of the Weekend Edition (9/17).
Sample: What has Orton done to give us a true reason to cheer for him? WWE simply dropped the ball
on giving us that one defining moment. That one moment that the production team can splice,
emboss, and repackage in so many ways, that we still remember it months from now.
- TNA Doesn't Need to Look Outside for Help.
By: James Caldwell, Friday, September 17, 2004. Part of the Weekend Edition (9/17).
Sample: TNA should not focus on the exterior, but simply focus on the internal. Trying to sell PPV's with
big names didn't work in the past. Allow the current roster to fill the #1 Contender spots. At least that
way, the fans aren't forced to cheer for one person for a few weeks, then never hear from him again.
- Raw Thoughts with James Caldwell.
By: James Caldwell, Monday, September 13, 2004.
Sample: It just seems that WWE is booking their main storylines on the fly and without much thought
put into it. See Benoit in the opening matches and Orton losing the belt to Triple H after less than a
month. It just seems like they're trying to make changes for the sake of making changes. That hurts the
product's consistency and the fans can't really get attached to one constant character or storyline.
- Triple H Has a Problem.
By: Greg Youncofski, Monday, September 13, 2004.
Sample: So no matter how many matches Paul Levesque will politic, and no matter how many
matches he goes half hearted, the good WILL ALWAYS out weigh the bad. And thats all I got to say
about that.
- WWE Really Blew It with Orton vs. Triple H.
By: James Caldwell, Sunday, September 12, 2004. Part of WWE Unforgiven Results (9/12).
Sample: If WWE wants to understand why buyrates are dropping and business is hurting, they need
not look further than this main event finish. I would expect something like this from TNA, but I thought
the WWE was finally above this type of ending.
- Why Randy Orton's Performance Didn't Click on Raw.
By: James Caldwell, Saturday, September 11, 2004. Part of the Weekend Edition (9/10).
Sample: Orton stumbled over his words, incoherently rambling for two sentences. Next, Orton tried to
play a comedy character by imitating a monkey in the form of Triple H. That completely bombed. Finally,
Orton tried to play the cool character, with a cockeyed eyebrow similar to the Rock's. That didn't work.
- TNA Didn't Just Drop the Ball...They Smashed Their Toes With It.
By: James Caldwell, Thursday, September 9, 2004.
Sample: My commentary for today is the train wreck that was the TNA Wednesday PPV which aired last
night. I'll try to begin with a positive, but what you'll mainly see is an outright rip on TNA because last
night, they didn't just drop the ball on the "Biggest Match in TNA History," they dropped the ball and
smashed their toes with it.
- Raw Thoughts with James Caldwell.
By: James Caldwell, Monday, September 6, 2004. Part of WWE Raw Results (9/6).
Sample: Something about Randy Orton just didn't click tonight. As much as my home state tried to get
behind Orton, it just didn't come across like Orton's night.
- WWE Thoughts with Greg Youncofski.
By: Greg Youncofski, Sunday, September 5, 2004.
Sample: I don't know how I could watch Smackdown ever again. But RAW wasn't much exciting this
week, as the show was pretty flat. So read on as I spit some wrestling opinions your way.
- Randy Orton's First Two Weeks Outside of Evolution.
By: James Caldwell, Saturday, September 4, 2004. Part of the Weekend Edition (9/3).
Sample: We closed the August 16 edition of Raw with Orton flat on his back in a blood soaked mess
created by Triple H. Triple H's jealousy over not having the WWE Title got the best of him. The victim:
Randy Orton. This was the set up for Randy Orton to become the top babyface on Raw with business
down and a new star to be made.
- The TNA Wednesday PPV Has Been Discovered!
By: Greg Youncofski, Friday, September 3, 2004. Part of the Weekend Edition (9/3).
Sample: We need to start the show off with a bang! So here is what we will have Dusty and D'Amore
open. After fifteen minutes of Hardy packages, at 8:15 this match will start. Since we have a big show,
that match will ONLY have 30 minutes. Sorry guys, but we need the show to start off with a bang! Dusty
goes over, because I said so and I'm the boss!
- Smackdown Thoughts with James Caldwell.
By: James Caldwell, Thursday, August 2, 2004. Part of the WWE Smackdown Results (9/2).
Sample: The best match of the night was definitely Kurt Angle against Eddie Guerrero. The pre-first fall
ring psychology was perfect. It played into the heel and babyface personas of Angle and Guerrero to a T.
- The Biggest Disappointment Ever.
By: Jordan Caldwell, Wednesday, September 2, 2004. Part of the Weekend Edition (9/3).
Sample: TNA has many things going for them, such as the Tag and X-Divisions, but if Jeff Jarrett
against Jeff Hardy is supposed to be the biggest match in TNA history, all I can say is that it is a lose-
lose situation for the fans and TNA.
- TNA's Buildup Towards Hardy vs. Jarrett is Unacceptable.
By: James Caldwell, Wednesday, September 1, 2004.
Sample: Jeff Jarrett can cut promo after promo hyping his task: retain the TNA Title, but there's one
other element that is missing from this equation: Jeff Hardy hasn't done anything to show TNA or
wrestling fans that this match is worth a flip in his mind.
- Raw Thoughts with James Caldwell.
By: James Caldwell, Monday, August 30, 2004. Part of the WWE Raw Results (8/30).
Sample: I felt like the show ended on a high note with a great “babyface undermines the boss”
moment, but couldn’t bring Raw to a respectable level.
- How WWE Missed the Boat with Chris Benoit.
By: James Caldwell, Friday, August 27, 2004. Part of the Weekend Edition (8/27).
Sample: For 18 years, Benoit tried to prove he was for real. His title reign proved he was for real, and
then some. Apparently, that’s not enough for WWE management.
- Where Have the Great Tag Teams Gone?
By: Mike Maccarone, Friday, August 27, 2004
Sample: It seems the WWE has forgotten they have a tag-team division sometimes. They are
promoting so much singles action I guess a lot of people have not realized or don’t care about it
anymore.
- WWE Tough Enough is a Fundamentally Wrong Concept.
By: James Caldwell, Friday, August 27, 2004. Part of the Weekend Edition (8/27).
Sample: What the WWE needs to do is take the $1 Million they’re planning on giving to one wrestler
and invest that $1 Million in training facilities to develop multiple wrestlers.
- Turmoil Continues in Camp WWE
By: Jon Beck, Friday, August 27, 2004, Part of Weekend Edition (8/27).
Sample: I was one of those who opted not to watch Monday's RAW. Instead, I decided to do more
productive things, like devote myself to my studies and my writing. And I'm glad I did.
- A Tribute to Greatness: Ric Flair
By: Jon Beck, Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Sample: Ric Flair is not just a wrestler, or a father, or a figurehead for an entire industry. He's not just
good, great, excellent, or even spectacular. He is, truly, the greatest wrestler in the world--and likely, the
greatest wrestler the world will ever see.
- Ripping on TNA's Lack of Consistency.
By: Jon Beck, Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Sample: In my mind, if TNA wants to be a solid contender, they must be prepared to deliver. I think that
moving to a monthly PPV schedule will help out. Having a three-hour show once a month, will allow for
more storylines that can last a lot longer.
- Raw Thoughts with Greg Youncofski
By: Greg Youncofski, Monday, August 23, 2004
Sample: Only two matches, but it was still a pretty good episode. The Rock made it special, and the
wedding was done great. There wasn't much to write about, though.
- TNA's Future Uncertain.
By: Jon Beck, Saturday, August 21, 2004
Sample: Though TNA's future as a promotion ultimately remains uncertain, I'd say its popularity will
grow over the next few months. Once the workers and staff become acclimated to the way things are
run...TNA may quickly establish itself as a top contender in the industry.
- Who will Replace Randy Orton?
By: Jordan Caldwell, Saturday, August 21, 2004
Sample: With Randy Orton being backstabbed by his former stable-mates in Evolution, one would
assume that Evolution would be looking for a new member to fill in the WWE Champ’s spot. I will take
a look at what various WWE superstars will bring to the table if each one is to become a member of
Evolution.
- How TNA Dropped the Ball.
By: Greg Youncofski, Friday, August 20, 2004
Sample: The number one thing that turned me off about the product was Jeff Hardy being treated like a
"savior" of some sort. I was constantly reminding everyone watching with me that AJ Styles is the man,
even though Tenay and West treated Hardy like a big star.
- Why This Year's Summerslam Was So Disappointing.
By: Greg Youncofski, Thursday, August 19, 2004
Sample: I couldn't wait for Summerslam, since it usually delivers. I was sure hoping that this year's
event would be a great sign of things to come. Boy, was I wrong or what? Not only was this year's event
disappointing, it was an embarrassment to WWE.
- Raw Thoughts with Greg Youncofski
By: Greg Youncofski, Monday, August 16, 2004
Sample: I really thought that Benoit would pull it out, in the end. The beat down on Orton was seen a
mile away. I like the way that Triple H did the thumbs down, and I wasn't expecting Batista to drop Orton
like that.
- Let Chris Benoit Keep the WWE Title Longer.
By: James Caldwell, Saturday, August 14, 2004
Sample: I know I would love to see Orton chase the Title a little bit longer. Benoit and Orton match up
perfectly. Technical skills vs. technical skills. Both guys like to grind out the match. I, for one, hope
Benoit keeps the Title at Summerslam. To me, his run as WWE Champion is just getting started.
- The Benefits of Matt Hardy vs. Kane
By: Jordan Caldwell, Thursday, August 12, 2004
Sample: For RAW stars such as Randy Orton, Edge, and Eugene this could be a break out pay per
view. Matt Hardy is another one of the young stars on the verge of main event status.
- Raw Thoughts with Greg Youncofski
By: Greg Youncofski, Monday, August 9, 2004
Sample: The main event was also off the charts. Benoit looked very good, by taking on both Trips and
Orton. I wasn't surprised Eugene ran in, and they furthered the Eugene and Triple H feud perfectly.
- TNA's new TV format could mean long-run success.
By: James Caldwell, Saturday, August 7, 2004
Sample: It has become quite obvious over the last month that TNA Impact is slowly becoming TNA's
answer to WWE Velocity or Sunday Night Heat. Part of the reason for that slide into non-essential
wrestling programming is the fact that a weekly Pay Per View every Wednesday Night has to be
promoted to the max every Friday on Impact.
- Why Chris Benoit continues to be great even without help.
By: James Caldwell, Friday, August 6, 2004
Sample: It's no secret that Chris Benoit has long been overlooked in his wrestling career. WCW had a
diamond in the rough, yet failed to push him to the top. WWE has had Benoit on its roster for six years,
yet never gave him the chance to suceed at the highest level. WrestleMania XX changed that and made
2004 the year of Chris Benoit.
- What can Teddy Long Contribute as Smackdown GM?
By: James Caldwell, Saturday, July 31, 2004
Sample: In wrestling circles, there was much discussion regarding Kurt Angle’s replacement as the
Smackdown General Manager. Some asked if there should there even be a Smackdown GM. Many
people believe that the role of a GM on a wrestling show has run its course and is no longer needed.
- Is Randy Orton ready to become WWE World Champion?
By: Jordan Caldwell, Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Sample: Randy Orton is a name synonymous with wrestling heritage. This “Legend Killer” could be
raising the WWE world title in a few weeks at Summerslam. But how does an Intercontinental
Champion go from defending, and losing, his belt in one pay-per-view to raising the World Title in the
next?
- Suggestions for improving TNA Impact.
By: James Caldwell, Saturday, July 17, 2004
Sample: Since TNA impact debuted a little over a month ago, the characters and feuds have become a
little more recognizable than when I first saw anything from TNA.
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