The Heat and the Shine

TNA Slammiversary happens this Sunday (June 5, 2016 at 5 p.m. PDT), and conventional wisdom is that the show will do tepid business.  TNA hasn't been touring and their weekly Impact Wrestling show on Pop TV has been beset by a string of bad luck .  The number of wrestling fans buying one-time pay-per-views has dwindled.  The main event is Lashley vs. Drew Galloway.  And there are ongoing questions whether it is worth wrestling fans' time  to emotionally invest in a promotion that has seen numerous departures and a decline in ancillary spending (production, promotion, marketing, etc). It is all quite bleak. Until, that is, a brief Twitter perusal  results in a viewing of this:   It is TNA's 'Contract Signing' video promo for the Matt Hardy vs. Matt Hardy "Full Metal Mayhem" match at Slammiversary. The video is an acquired taste, to be sure.  It has nearly as many Dislikes as Likes on YouTube.  The acting is campy and it hardly fits...

The highlight of Raw -- tonight, definitely; this year, probably -- was the Mark Henry retirement angle. Everyone loved the speech.  Everyone loved the swerve. The speech was beloved because it was real.  Henry may not have had time to recap his dark days of bag craps and storyline fetishes, but he really does have a career to be proud of.  Many thought the 10 year deal he signed in 1996 would be his last.  Few thought he had potential after he spent the first half of the deal in sputtered starts.  Yet he became a reliable performer who at times elevated himself into being one of the more entertaining wrestlers in the promotion. Cena being swerved was also well done.  Cena's skepticism kept him from playing the impotent babyface.  It made sense for Cena.  He kept his guard up until Henry had the audience duped.  Keep the babyface in step with the audience and the babyface keeps from looking dumb. There was one problem with the turn: it...