The Canadian Destroyer is Back!

[JulesWagner]

Nobody's sure but I sure as hell hope he is here to say. I miss Petey, the division needs Petey and the wrestling world needs Petey exposure so... TNA has everything to gain by putting Petey back on the map. To be fair, Kenny King has been very good but Petey could bring something very exciting to the division. Canadian Destroyer + pretty much anybody means ratings and an excellent show.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

After all the hype about this guy I was excited to see what he brought to the table. After watching the match, I was like "meh".

He was rusty in the ring and botched his own finisher. Thankfully Mason Andrews sold it, but Williams looked like hot garbage out there.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

After all the hype about this guy I was excited to see what he brought to the table. After watching the match, I was like "meh".

He was rusty in the ring and botched his own finisher. Thankfully Mason Andrews sold it, but Williams looked like hot garbage out there.

How exactly did he botch his own finisher? All he actually does is a slow front flip. He couldn't botch it even if he tried.

And I disagree. I think Williams looked great. Overall the match lacked fluidity. It was really chopped up and I'm used to X-Division matches kind of having a flow to them.

Either way, I'm excited to see what Petey will bring to TNA in the future.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I don't think Petey looked bad at all. I think the crowd reacted poorly for his return, and the three-way match that was obviously not overly scripted just looked a little choppy. The series of finishers at the end was very exciting, and he didn't botch the CD at all. Andrews actually sold it quite well, in fact.

This is actually one of those rare instances where the Impact Zone would have likely helped a wrestler returning, because Williams spent so much of his time there.

Remember — this was the second show in Jonesboro, so the crowd was also tired by the point Petey returned.

 

[ABMorales787]

I don't think Petey looked bad at all. I think the crowd reacted poorly for his return, and the three-way match that was obviously not overly scripted just looked a little choppy. The series of finishers at the end was very exciting, and he didn't botch the CD at all. Andrews actually sold it quite well, in fact.

This is actually one of those rare instances where the Impact Zone would have likely helped a wrestler returning, because Williams spent so much of his time there.

Remember — this was the second show in Jonesboro, so the crowd was also tired by the point Petey returned.

Horse poop. The crowd gave him a hell of a response. Two chants and a pop for his entrance and finish are great. It's not Triple H after a quad tear after all.


But lets not put our hopes on him. If there's been a recurring theme with the X Division, it's that people put their faith on these returning names to bring the division up. While there's nothing wrong with seeing them back, they're still acts we've seen before. Rather than relying on them to bounce the X Division from the abyss, TNA should look into new prospects as well.

 

[MisterRob]

After all the hype about this guy I was excited to see what he brought to the table. After watching the match, I was like "meh".

He was rusty in the ring and botched his own finisher. Thankfully Mason Andrews sold it, but Williams looked like hot garbage out there.

I don't know what match you were watching. The match itself was fine, but Petey Williams performed great in it. He got better reactions then anyone else, he didn't botch a thing, and he performed the Canadian Destroyer perfectly. He looked great in his return, and I'm looking forward to seeing him face the X Division champion.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

After that mess I saw last night, I hope Williams leaves ASAP. Dude was rusty, botched his finisher (thank God Mason Andrews sold the hell out of it), and the match was boring overall. Kenny King is 5 times the wrestler Williams is.

I just don't get the hype with Williams. To me he's "meh x 1000." He was boring and the crowd didn't get behind him.

 

[blockanWo]

I dont know how anyone thinks that Canadian Destroyer was botched. He just did it quickly rather than delaying the flip for a bit. It was fine.

As far as the match went, it was a fairly unstructured three way, by no means bad however. I love seeing Dutt back and Petey Williams was exciting to see. The crowd popped for him at the start and the end of the match and we saw a CD, Im happy.

 

[unknownvicelord5]

Ditto. I for one enjoyed the match and am happy as hell the x division is getting hype and TV time again. And I was loving the fast cd. IMHO both men sold it.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

On the lack of storylines in the XDivision, I'm sort of with Jack on that topic - there does need to be some semblance of a plot otherwise the division will just become a run of passionless matches... That being said, it doesn't require anything complicated - the best ever XDivision storyline was during Samoa Joe's period of dominance that resulted in several stellar bouts with him, AJ and Daniels with the only real plotline being Joe's lack of respect towards his fellow competitors. This is were I do see the current "All 3 way dance" format fall down as it complicates two guys feuding over the belt.

As for Petey; I am stoked to see him back. He is better than most between the ropes (particularly if he is given the opportunity to sell a storyline rather than the standard spotfest layout to XDivision matches), is reasonably proficient on the mic and (at 31) still has a lot of mileage in the tank. Something that I would like to see is him in a tag team with Doug Williams as I feel the two would make an excellent combo - they have two of the most distinct finishers about, I think their styles would mesh well and they have enough connections (surname, both being Commonwealth non-Americans) that they wouldn't feel overly thrown together... the 'Williams Empire' anyone?

 

[blockanWo]

I would like to see is him in a tag team with Doug Williams

Read my mind.

They both have a very similar look. Both are bigger guys in the X Division, Petey can fly a bit better than Doug but they for the most part, still wrestle a similar style. Both have a very unique finisher that people absolutely pop for. They dont even need to be a legit tag team. They team once in a while but for the most part they hit the X Division up and try out do each other.

"No my finisher is better" *hits with the CD* "You call that a finisher?" BAM, Chaos Theory.

 

[rdchili96]

I would personally love to see "the Canadian destroyer" finisher live in a front row seat. It just appears to be such a devastating and life risking move. Love it.

I want to vomit after reading that. The move is garbage as the person taking it does most of the work, a person is doing a back flip onto their own damn head. There has to be some believability in moves, and this move is anything but believable.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

I want to vomit after reading that. The move is garbage as the person taking it does most of the work, a person is doing a back flip onto their own damn head. There has to be some believability in moves, and this move is anything but believable.

Bingo!!!!! The CD is the most overrated move ever. I heard so much about it but man was I unimpressed when I saw it. He botched it so bad last week that Andrews had to sell the heck out of it. To bad great talent like Dutt and Andrews had to job to this subpar performer.

No way he wins the championship over Kenny King.

 

[~Heup©~]

OK OK. It does kinda look fake and it did get majorly botched on impact and yes the seller is the victim obviously but hell if someone could realistically pull that off? It would be serious. But vomit? Let's not over due it fella. Lol

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I thought this was a fill in the blank thread. I've never been a fan of the move. It looks contrived. Pro wrestling is seen as phoney, but this move is like seeing the green screen in a movie. After you get over the choreography (which takes like 2 views), it's really not that impressive or fun.

I mean, these 2 average joes can do it: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v69tLw3bqK0
I posted the link for descriptive purposes to show people who will say "OTZ TEH TEKNIKALSZ" that no....no it's not.

 

[Olly]

The first time I saw the Destroyer I was utterly blown away, my mind couldn't compute what it had witnessed. Now I'm familiar with it I can see it looks a little hokey but come on, being a pro wrestling fan means suspending your disbelief, at least to a certain extent. The move is still spectacular, even if you know the man receiving the move has to sell the hell out of it. I feel happier accepting a Canadian Destroyer as legit than I ever did Hogan's legdrop or Rock's elbow.

 

[Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D.]

I was a big fan of Petey back in the day. Little Petey Pump! I love the Canadian Destroyer.

 

[IT Factor]

I was shocked that TNA brought back Petey Williams, but happily so. I have seen Petey at live events and PPVs and he is part of the reason the X-Division became such a big deal. The Canadian Destroyer is fucking awesome and I hope TNA will capitalize by making him a long term X-Division champion and not relegating him to being another jobber.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Yeah, just as an update, I'm already over the hype. TNA is going in the "Here - Canadian Destroyer. Here, another Canadian Destroyer" route and I fear they'll use him for nothing more than that.

Dude needs promos and a storyline like a motherfucker.

 

[three count bout]

Yeah, just as an update, I'm already over the hype. TNA is going in the "Here - Canadian Destroyer. Here, another Canadian Destroyer" route and I fear they'll use him for nothing more than that.

Dude needs promos and a storyline like a motherfucker.

Agreed but that much could be said about alot of the XDiv excluding the Austin Aries era. If the X Division is really going to be Petey Williams, King, Sabin and even a mannequin it should be incredible.

 

[IT Factor]

Yeah, just as an update, I'm already over the hype. TNA is going in the "Here - Canadian Destroyer. Here, another Canadian Destroyer" route and I fear they'll use him for nothing more than that.

Dude needs promos and a storyline like a motherfucker.

Wow! An actual instance where Zion and I agree? Is it the end of the world or something? Petey has always been a great performer in ring, but a little bland and vanilla character wise. TNA missed a great opportunity when Williams was teaming with Steiner before to have his breakout moment. They should had Steiner turn on Petey and set up the traditional student vs. mentor storyline. That would've given Williams a good story and opportunity to speak. He seems good enough on the mic but doesn't get a lot of chances to show it. Hopefully TNA will give him that opportunity this time around.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Agreed but that much could be said about alot of the XDiv excluding the Austin Aries era. If the X Division is really going to be Petey Williams, King, Sabin and even a mannequin it should be incredible.

Is it?

I really think people miss the point. And by people I mean TNA.

Here's TNA adding these gimmicky things to the product. Match rules, new camera, old faces coming back. Now, I love those things, don't get me wrong, but in time it will be just lipstick on a pig.

Fact is, if you don't run interesting storylines within the division and if the characters are not developed well, nobody is going to give a shit. I don't count the purists as a relevant part of the wrestling audience. Fuck them, they're a freaking abomination.

For the division to flourish it needs something more than a match and lots of spotZ. I realize that it's the X-Division and that it's allergic to logic but if people were THAT into gimmicks and spots, the WWE would be choking on ROH's smoke right now.

If they take the roster you mentioned and develop their characters, and then throwing them into storylines where those personalities clash and all that hoopla then the Division will be watchable once again.

I just don't think sick moveZ have any long term effect on the product. I don't think about that sick dropkick someone did for weeks, but I do think of that awesome storyline I witnessed 10 years ago.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I realize that it's the X-Division and that it's allergic to logic but if people were THAT into gimmicks and spots, the WWE would be choking on ROH's smoke right now.

Don't get me wrong, while I totally understand the point that you're trying to make, this particular statement is more than a little misleading. On the list of reasons why the WWE's product trounces ROH's product from a popularity standpoint, their respectives approaches to in-ring action is likely not in the top 50. WWE's longeveity, mainstream exposure, multiple tv deals, star power, history, and shear amount of cash that is poured into the product resulting in things like promotion and stellar production value that an indy could never match, etc. are the primary reasons that they will never be "choking on the smoke" of any upstart independent no matter what style they are presenting. The fact that ROH has managed to survive running shows regularly for over 11 years with no national television and often no television at all, even despite routinely losing its top players to the national brands, is a testament to the fact that there is a strong enough audience/fanbase for the type of product they feature. (I would also argue ROH's product is not at all predicated primarily on "gimmicks and spots", but that's a whole different discussion.)

In fact, and I'm not advocating for this approach, when Russo was booking TNA and your average Impact was built less around well-developed main event storytelling and more around shock booking combined with relatively short and meaningless gimmick matches and weekly televised spotfests, TNA was drawing superior ratings to the ones they have drawn recently. So to completely discount the amount of extra viewers that are potentially brought in by these methods is not seeing the whole picture.

 

[three count bout]

Is it?

I really think people miss the point. And by people I mean TNA.

Here's TNA adding these gimmicky things to the product. Match rules, new camera, old faces coming back. Now, I love those things, don't get me wrong, but in time it will be just lipstick on a pig.

Fact is, if you don't run interesting storylines within the division and if the characters are not developed well, nobody is going to give a shit. I don't count the purists as a relevant part of the wrestling audience. Fuck them, they're a freaking abomination.

For the division to flourish it needs something more than a match and lots of spotZ. I realize that it's the X-Division and that it's allergic to logic but if people were THAT into gimmicks and spots, the WWE would be choking on ROH's smoke right now.

If they take the roster you mentioned and develop their characters, and then throwing them into storylines where those personalities clash and all that hoopla then the Division will be watchable once again.

I just don't think sick moveZ have any long term effect on the product. I don't think about that sick dropkick someone did for weeks, but I do think of that awesome storyline I witnessed 10 years ago.

Zion you better be careful if you keep railing for actual story lines and things for the X Division to do besides flips you're going to get Abyss wearing the belt again (jk). Seriously though, giving someone an opportunity to break out by letting them speak and gain a character like they did Aries would be great and very beneficial for the XDIV as a whole. I definitely think there's enough interesting guys for creative to cook up something of interest. So ummmm.. I assume option C doesn't exist anymore?

 

[Olly]

It's hard to write good stories for the x-division because by definition they have to pull off risky spots that no wrestler in their right mind would try outside kayfaybe if they wanted to win a title or settle a feud. The little guys don't have many high-impact finishers that don't involve going off the top rope in some way to a prone opponent who only has to roll out of the way to pick up a win.

So in a two-hour show, there is room for a match with minimal back-story if it gives the audience three or four amazing spots, as long as the next match continues an established story.

With that said, it shouldn't be impossible to give these guys a story. They could have had Petey come back saying his release in 2009 was an injustice and have him feud with one of the guys who appeared in the x-div with a contract out of nowhere, saying they took the spot on the roster that was his by right. Sonjay could have a similar deal. There's a great feud all lined up for Zema Ion when Jesse Sorensen finally makes his return. And if they swallowed their pride and gave Jay Lethal a contract, you've got a guy who could have a great feud with literally anyone.