The Katz Files
Rating the RAW Roster 2
The Kingfish Arnie Katz completes his detailed month series that rates RAW wrestlers’ recent performances, analyzes strengths and weaknesses, and even charts future courses for major RAW stars.
Part 2
This column resumes the rating rundown of the RAW roster precisely where Part One stopped. So fittingly enough, this section begins with the wrestler who is currently the embodiment of the company, John Cena.
The Katz Files
Rating the RAW Roster
The Kingfish Arnie Katz continues his monthly series that rates each wrestler’s recent performances, analyzes strengths and weaknesses, and even charts future courses for major TNA stars.
Part 1
RAW is giving TNA a terrific battle in the Monday Night Wars and, so far at least, has blunted its rival’s campaign to bring iMPACT to a comparable level.
More than three times as many fans watch RAW as tune to iMPACT on Monday. That would be a very tough ratio to maintain, but RAW is making a mighty effort to do so.
The Katz Files
Lockdown Preview & Predictions
The Kingfish Arnie Katz gets you ready for TNA’s April pay per view with an entire card conducted inside the cage.
Lockdown, one of TNA’s better gimmick ideas, comes as the promotion is seeing some glimmers of hope. The last two PPVs got good critical notice, if not strong buy-rates, and the 1.1 rating for the second hour on the 4/12 iMPACT is also a positive sign.
Let’s look at the matches:
The Katz Files
Rating the TNA Roster 4
The Kingfish Arnie Katz concludes a new, monthly series that rates TNA wrestlers’ recent performances, analyzes strengths and weaknesses, and even charts future courses for major TNA stars.
Part 4
Check the first column in this series for the long-winded explanation if you haven’t yet read it.
Sean Morley
Comment: He may be out of TNA for good or just out getting a character transplant. Either way, he’s not currently visible.
The Katz Files
Rating the TNA Roster 3
The Kingfish Arnie Katz continues his monthly series that rates each TNA wrestlers’ recent performances, analyzes strengths and weaknesses, and even charts future courses for major TNA stars.
Part 3
Check the first column in this series for the long-winded explanation if you haven’t yet read it.
Jesse Neal
Mic: F
Ring: C-
Comment: He’s still basically a student. There’s little reason to feature him on iMPACT. Some time in the Indies might be more beneficial.
The Katz Files
Rating the TNA Roster 2
The Kingfish Arnie Katz continues his monthly series that rates each TNA wrestler’s recent performances, analyzes strengths and weaknesses, and even charts future courses for the hole roster.
Part 2
Check the first column in this month’s series for the long-winded explanation if you haven’t yet read it.
Daffney
Mic: B-
Ring: C+
Comment: The “Zombie Hot” gimmick crashed and burned in the aftermath of the match with the four briefcases. A woman can be weird and sexy – Elvira, Vampirella, et al – but her performance during the mandatory strip killed whatever chance she might’ve had to get over that way. TNA has pushed Daffney a lot, but they don’t push her consistently and they don’t seem to have a strategy for her. They give her camera-time on iMPACT, but there’s no storyline, no direction.
The Katz Files
Rating the TNA Roster: April ‘10
The Kingfish Arnie Katz continues his monthly series that rates each wrestler’s recent performances, analyzes strengths and weaknesses, and even charts future courses for major TNA stars.
Part 1
TNA is still in great turmoil as the new regime strives to find the success formula that will give David victory over Goliath.
Abyss
Mic: C+ He’s on the right track.
Ring: B He’s working matches much better with the tacks.
Comment: Things are looking pretty good for the Monster, even if they did blow through his title program in record time. He appears to be leaving the mindless brutality and whining voice behind in favor of a more forceful presentation that better fits his huge size. Making him captain of Team Hogan shows that Abyss is probably going to stay in the TNA spotlight for the foreseeable future.
The Katz Files – Arnie Katz
My Weekly (4/5) TNA Notebook
The Kingfish Arnie Katz provides insight and analysis based on the 4/5 episode of iMPACT.
Bad Night for the Knockouts
If TNA wanted a way to cheapen the Knockout Championship and give the entire division a kick in the head, the company certainly found it with the Eight-Woman Elimination Match.
It took just one show to destroy the Knockout championship and make eight of their best female performers look terrible in a match format that suffered from a lack of advance planning.
The match itself was a mess. It didn’t make any sense to have eight women in the ring and two of them wrestle while the others stood around. This would have worked much better as a series of four singles matches, evenly spaced through the two-hour show.
The Katz Files
Monday (3/29) War Journal
The Kingfish Arnie Katz delivers his report and analysis of the 3/29 episodes of RAW and iMPACT.
The Kingfish says: Given that I’ll post this column on April 1, I feel I should let you know, in advance, that you must search elsewhere for weak April Fool’s jokes.
The Kingfish’s April Fools Day Advice: In case you were wondering: WWE and TNA haven’t merged. Vince McMahon hasn’t run away with Dixie Carter. Sheamus was not spotted in a tanning salon.
And now, let’s moving along to the actual column…
The Katz Files – Arnie Katz
Hall of Fame Memories
The Kingfish Arnie Katz shares his thoughts and memories of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2010..
WrestleMania is surely pro wrestling’s grandest stage, but the Hall of Fame induction ceremony is now a WM eve tradition. Yes, the WWE Hall of Fame is hypocritical, self-serving and little more than an annual marketing tool. You don’t have to look much further than lovable Bob Uecker for an example of someone who got chosen for reasons other than his contribution to professional wrestling.
Yet even though we know it’s phony, there’s something about that Hall of Fame show that keeps us in front of the set for a very enjoyable 60 minutes of runaway nostalgia.
I babbled into my digital recorder while I watched the program and I thought I’d share some of my memories with you.