Basic updates 1

Been a busy week, which has kept me from writing here much... or at all. On the other hand, I have written about twenty pages for my first classes as a graduate student, and am waiting for the grades on the first of those essays that I have turned in. Hopefully they won't turn out too badly; I did work pretty hard on them, after all. Some news and notes, though, just in general:

1: I love writing for my hermeneutics and New Testament historiography class. The work is fascinating and I absolutely love learning more about Jewish culture and religion.

2: I am excited for TNA picking up two new women, Kat Waters and Christina Von Eerie. Hopefully this means we'll see these two ladies and my favorite wrestler, Daffney, in a program , and that TNA has realized that dark, pale and tattooed is just as beautiful as tall, tanned and blond.

3: I am pissed off all over the place about Serena Deeb getting released form WWE. She seemed like a nice lady and is a greally great wrestler, and has seemingly been released for basically NOTHING. It just makes me wonder who she refused to sleep with, especially since Batista isn't there anymore. They used to treat the whole Divas division like his personal brothel.

WWE NXT 2: Go Kaval!

So, Kaval got a chance to show off his freestyle rap skill tonight. He doesn't have quite the "flow" that Lord William Regal has (who does?) but he managed to rip everyone else on the NXT roster to shreds and to subtly plug TNA, the company which gave him his first big break back in 2002/2003. A little bit later, in a match against Husky Harris, Kaval amazed again with some of the stiffest kicks that I've ever seen in a wrestling match and a really, really brutal looking Warrior's Way off the top rope, and when Layla closes her eyes she hears his voice (!). I was disappointed to see the old school brute Husky cast aside in favor of Miz Jr., but it's good to see Kaval getting the recognition he deserves.

In other news, given Linda McMahon's recent remarks on Lance Cade I will not be purchasing anymore WWE pay per views or financially supporting them in any ways. I will give my support to Ring of Honor and TNA, companies which at least sort of treat their workers like human beings.

Joshi 11: TNA Xplosion, Daffney vs. Hamada

This match makes me, along with many other fans of women's wrestling, wonder why TNA Xplosion is a B-show, relegated to the United Kingdom and the internet and why, oh why, we only ever get matches involving the Beautiful People and Angelina Love on TNA Impact on Thursday nights. A short list of things I noted about the match:

1. They need to turn Taylor Wilde heel, like, yesterday. The girl cannot cut a face promo to save her life, and continually comes off as an unlikable little drip anytime she gets near a microphone and opens her mouth. From mocking Daffney a few weeks ago before their match, to her little 'talk to the hand' moments when discussing her feud with Sarita tonight, this girl was made to be a jerk. Funny thing is, too, that she doesn't really come off like that at all, in other venues like her twitter, but she seems like such a naturally snarky little machine on camera that I can't believe they don't run with that a little bit.

2. Daffney is hilarious. Her character work is almost perfect... the slurry voice, the sort of vague expression and the sense of 'wow, I really am a total psychopath... and I'm really happy with it!' make her totally engaging. I've been a fan of hers for years, since WCW, and don't even mind when I don't get a tweet back cause she gets so many and has had so many knocks on the head, and just don't understand why TNA won't push this girl to the moon as a manager, mouthpiece, wrestler... something. Her new teeny top hat and dress combo was nice, too... the blue, black, her very pale skin and her eye make-up mesh together and give her a sort of ethereal, unearthly look.

3. The match itself was good. Hamada looks as stiff as heck--how can somebody that adorable be that vicious?!?!--and Daffney sells like a champion. I really don't get why some reviewers said this was a terrible match, and am convinced that they are just somewhat prejudiced against women's wrestling or, perhaps, just don't watch the matches and grumble about them anyway.

4. Taz sounded drunk, like he usually does. He does a good job of selling the girls like they're made out of gold, but some of his lines are real groaners (and/or oinkers... I mean, jeez, dude). Although I will always love him for giving us the 'Zombie Hot' moniker, he often just sounds dumb. Don West wasn't much better, though, and either is miles better than most of what we get in WWE, so I won't complain too much.

5. Post match brawl was a little weak, due to time constraints, but I'd love it if this set up a little feud.

American Joshi 11: Why Daffney is more awesome than awesome.

1. She's one of the two best screamers in wrestling, and is the original Scream Queen. MsChif has a rawer, throatier shriek, but Daffney can go higher and has better vocal control.

2. Her finishers, the Lobotomy and the Daff-knees, look legitimately painful but she never botches them and makes me think she's killed some poor girl.

3. She may fall down, go boom and hit her head, but in a couple of week's Daff always struts back to the ring and shrieks her little lungs out.

4. I'm not normally into girls with tattoos--the blue tends to look dingy--but Daff's green, red and yellow ink is incredibly vibrant against that lovely, porcelain pale skin.

5. One of her newest tattoos, in fact, is a little Ganesha.

6. She's a Southern home girl, from Atlanta, GA (and Cybil,TX), got her start in WCW and currently works in TNA, both of them Southern promotions.

7. She was something interesting to watch in WCW in 1999 and 2000.

8. She seems like a sweet, genuine, funny, goofy chick and has a good creative mind for wrestling character development.

9. She wears tiny top hats.

10. She took the drop onto the tacks and had to get twenty tacks dug out of her head.

11. She can have convincing chemistry with anyone, including the delightfully large-headed blond Canadian midget Taylor Wilde and a hibachi grill.

12. "I'm a boogeeeeeeeeer!"

13. She's a better Sarah Palin than Sarah Palin.

14. Pale, quirky brunettes have got it going on.

15. She has the most wonderful, underrated promos in wrestling.

16. She's zombie hot and/or a pale, sadistic tomato what screams a lot.

17. She makes a creepy, pink shark mask kinda cute.

18. "Santa's gonna knock you out! Santa's gonna knock you out! Santa's gonna knock you out! Santa's gonna knock you out! Huh!"

TNA Impact 2: ECW reunion and Lacey is adorable

Okay, first things first... Sarita is downright awesome in the ring. She can move more crisply and brings more authority with her rolls and strikes than 95% of the male roster. I like her new outfit, too, and not just because--like Uncle Angelo--I'm a butt man (although... wow), but because it shows off her beautiful, dusky skin tone so well, and actually reminds us that Sarita is an Aztec princess and, yeah, we ought to pretty much be worshiping her. The match was pretty good and, although I'm not really an Angelina Love fan, I don't mind everybody being fed to her (I might as well not...) if it's not being done in matches that last 2 minutes, like what happened to poor Daffney a couple of weeks ago. It's good to see Sarita getting some screen time--especially in that outfit--and with a promised Hamada/Daffney showdown on Xplosion in a couple of weeks I can see wonderful things coming from the Knockouts division in the near future. Also... how freaking adorable is Lacey Von Erich? I didn't have that much love for her when I first started watching TNA, but as this storyline has developed I've really started getting into her sweet, very naive, gentle character. More of this Lacey, please! I adore her!

TNA Impact 1: I love confused Lacey

Okay, so my girls the Knockouts didn't have a whole lot to do on TNA Impact, tonight, but they did their best to make an impact (haha) with what little time they had. Madison Rayne is really coming into her own as a nasty little heel, and playing Sarita as her compatriot/bodyguard might be really awesome. Sarita is tough as a nut (and cute as a button with her freckles and little upturned nose... how I love me some Sarita!) but isn't a particularly good talker, so putting her with someone who has an... overabundance of personality, I guess is a way to say it... like Madison seems to be a good idea. Velvet has amazing chemistry with Angelina Love--the amount they communicated with their eyes, alone, tonight, was incredible and their little glance at the end was so, so smoky... ho yay, as the good people at Television Without Pity would say, I guess. Lacey von Erich is growing on me each week, especially playing this role as the 'Rose' of the group, a kind-hearted innocent who just wants everybody to get along and be friends, and I really and truly do like Taylor Wilde, even if I pick on her a lot for being a blond Canadian midget and for having an Amazon wishlist on which I would not be surprised to find a personal space ship, one day. The biker thing is kind of starting to wear thin and they need to reveal who she is, soon... or maybe there should be several bikers? Not sure. I'd like a coalition of bikers, personally, made up of people who have scores of various kinds to settle with Angelina Love and/or Vel Vel. That may be too difficult to pull off, though. I'd also like to see more Rosie Lottalove and Daffney, but I'll just settle, right now, for seeing anyone who isn't a part of the Beautiful People.

Other things I've seen tonight that I've enjoyed have included 1) Angle's four suplexes on Hernandez, 2) the, er... 'incident' during Anderson and Morgan's match and 3) AJ Styles hauling a good match out of Rob Terry's big, stiff butt and no muscles pulling themselves off Rob's bones and 4) Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe in a Fly Boy vs. Fat Boy brawl that took it to the time limit. Shut up, Impact Zone, that was a some good wrestling you bunch of yabbos!

Although, Impact Zone, I do love how bloodthirsty you are. WWE would pay for a crowd that ferocious, man.

Women's Wrestling 5: I finally weigh in on the Nikki Roxx fiasco, a month late

I love TNA wrestling, and I respect its president, Dixie Carter. This is why I have decided to finally weigh in on the mess that came up with Nikki Roxx back at the Victory Road Pay Per View, when Nikki was informed that she would be on the losing end of a retirement match only minutes before competing.

This was low class, Dixie; this was bush league. This is the kind of shit that Vince McMahon and Johnny Ace come up with, not what I'd expect from a decent, Southern woman who runs a decent, Southern wrestling promotion. I have always respected you, Dixie, because you seem to really care about your workers, the backbone of your company. The schedule is light, the wellness policy is... well, it's nonexistent, but it doesn't have the same problems that the WWE Wellness policy does, all the same, and you don't force workers into situations which they are uncomfortable with, as a general rule. You let people develop their characters, you let them have room to breathe, and you don't force them to fit a single mold. This is why dropping Nikki, rumored to be because she wasn't "pretty" enough, is such a disgusting situation. For one thing, Nikki is a very physically attractive woman. She is athletic and symmetrical, and beyond that is an accomplished fitness competitor. Even further, Nikki seems--although I don't know her--to be a really kind and decent human being, beautiful inside and out, and she didn't deserve getting screwed like that, not by a company that she's sweated and literally bled for. This was low, Dixie; this was some low class, stinking, black, grainy, stomach cancer, sewer shit, Dixie, and it's beneath you. Beneath Vince and Bikini Johnny? Hell no! But beneath Dixie Carter? I think so, or at least I want to. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't like to think so--I hate being--wrong, but maybe I am.

Furthermore, Dixie, this was a terrible booking decision. The Knockouts are one of your best divisions--heck, in my opinion they are the best!--and Madison Rayne is a great little worker. No one could enjoy her match or appreciate her victory, though, with what had just happened to Nikki Roxx. Any human being with a grain of soul remaining, on seeing her face before the beginning of that match, just wanted to put his or her arms around Nikki, to tell her it was going to be all right. You can't get hyped up for a title match in that situation, not if you're a human being. Afterwards, that same human being with a lettuce shred of soul couldn't boo Madison with a clean spirit, excited and waiting for the heel to get her just desserts the next time around, because that human soul would just want to wipe the blood and tears off Nikki's face, to comfort her, to make her feel better. Maybe that's just a macho trip I'm on, by God, and I know I'm a little too protective of ladies maybe, like I was living in the age of chivalry or something, but I like to think that it's just basic human decency and wrestling booking 101. If people are so uncomfortable that they can't hate the heel more than they hate company management... well, there's no reason for them to watch, right? I used to say that I was going to be quits with TNA when you guys found a crappy reason to cut Daffney--I've been a fan of hers for a long time and her appearance was one of the reasons I started paying attention to the KOs in the first place--but even if you and she come to a parting of the ways, I've been impressed enough and become invested enough in TNA as an alternative to WWE that I'll stick around. However, this will only hold, with me and many others, until TNA stops being an alternative to WWE, on stage and behind it. Be the alternative, Dixie... work hard, treat your workers and your fans well, and we'll treat you and your company the same way!

Other interests 1: TNA Knockout report for Impact Wrestling, 7/8/2010

Sometimes I like to write about things outside of picking up heavy stuff... actually, I like to write about that a lot! Here's the first such entry, a little commentary on my absolute favorite wrestler's match tonight against... well, it's basically being treated like a filler match before her opponent's match at a PPV (Daffney's feud is currently happening on the web show Xplosion), but Daffney (http://twitter.com/screamqueendaff) wrestled her heart out as always and looked great, especially considering this is her return to Impact after a long, nasty injury sustained against the ring rookie Rosie Lottalove. Angelina Love (er, I don't know her twitter) looked good, too, returning after an arduous few months of injuries and visa troubles, and it's great to see the TNA Knockouts division coming back together after a few wobbly, unfocused months.

The match was short but fierce and included lots of loud chops to the chest, which left pink prints on the Scream Queen's porcelain skin, a nifty looking arm-bar (Chris Jericho would be proud) and a vicious jawbreaker to the top of the head, which left Angelina reeling for a few moments. After few minutes (too few but you can't have everything, right? and most tv matches are fairly short...) of back and forth offense between the two women, Angelina won with a lifting reverse STO which she calls the Lights Out, a move that I've loved since Chris Kanyon called it the Flatliner and Edge called it the Downward Spiral. Madison Rayne, TNA's Knockouts champion, appeared on the ramp after the match to taunt her PPV opponent, Angelina Love, and a career vs. title (with the special stipulation that if Maddie's partners, Velvet Sky or Lacey Von Eric, interfered the title would be forfeit) gimmick was added to the upcoming contest. I enjoyed the match. Watching Daffney wrestle is always a treat, and the match--although short--showcased both women's talents and furthered at least Angelina's story line. All in all a decent show.

Watch the match here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZIUidfTdNE

For more information on this match and all your women's wrestling needs, check out diva-dirt.com. For all your Daffney merchandising needs (and believe me, if you see this woman wrestle you will have them) check out goth-goddess.org and daffneyshouse.com.