Wednesday, January 20, 2010

#231. Genesis 2010

#231

TNA's Genesis card has got to hold the official unofficial title of the company's most important PPV. This year it featured Ken Anderson's debut and was also the first show after the big Hogan renaissance. I know a lot of wrestling fans don't appreciate Anderson, which has been compounded by his "injury-prone" recent past, but the guy's gold, and TNA was right to market his acquisition as a big deal. He's the rare wrestler who's sell when he needs to without exaggerating it. You'll believe he's getting pounded, but you don't have to believe that he's some kind of super dominant wrestler, either, when he mounts a comeback. He's more organic than the typical superstar, more natural, which is confusing when you consider how most of them work. Given a real chance, he's make, ah, the impact due him, and TNA is ready to give him that chance. Thank you, TNA.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

#230. New Monday Night War

#230

1/4/2010 might go down as one of the most historic nights in wrestling history. Forget for a moment that it was "the return of the Monday Night Wars." Just having Hogan and Hart addressing TNA and WWE, respectively, was such a completely uncommon occurrence that either one would have been a story of the year, but to have both on the same night...It's like, can I have both shows on DVD already?

As it is, I thought 2009 was a good year to save on DVD, but if this is how 2010 stars, where the heck does it end? Is there anywhere left to go? Now, clearly, TNA was all about establishing a new direction, which was handled so much better than the endless attempts WCW made in its final years, but for WWE to devote an entire night to reflecting back (well, pretty much) is, quite frankly, unprecedented, certainly without the context of a recent death. Both companies tried to showcase the extent of their current offerings, and apparently provided at least one exceptional match each (but, sorry WWE, how were you going to top A.J. Styles/Kurt Angle?), making them worth the snapshot on just about every account. WWE is gearing up for its biggest show of the year, while TNA is, again, mounting an offensive on the wrestling zeitgeist. I expect an entire issue, at the very least, of Pro Wrestling Illustrated dedicated to the evening.

It was a gutsy move on WWE's part to hold the Sheamus/Cena rematch last week rather than last night, but having the new champion take on what was basically it's version of the typical TNA star was equally gutsy.

Seriously, it's suddenly a very good time to be a wrestling fan again.

Anyway, just wanted to make note of it...

Friday, January 01, 2010

#229. 2009 QBs, Finnegan

#229

I've posted the 2009 QBs at Lower Decks.com (link at right), my fourth annual look at the year in comics. The actual QB50 is in this week's HYGOTS column, but on Tuesday I posted a supplemental edition with a look at fifty additional comics. I thought it was a wickedly good year for the funny books.

The completion of that task required a balancing act that worked out nicely with the end run of Finnegan, which I finished early this morning. I spent two months, and wrote the equivalent of two and a third NaNos, which is why I'm still thankful to Chris Baty and that movement for getting me started and helping me write my first book, Cloak of Shrouded Men, which I hope to republish at some point in a slightly (more) corrected edition. I'm extremely pleased with Finnegan, which, combined with the Fall In Their Place blog poems collection and the outline for the twelve-issue Conformists comic, made 2009 an exceedingly fruitful year. I couldn't be happier about it, where it positions me in the future.

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