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10 THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN 2006: SAMOA JOE, PAUL HEYMAN, KURT ANGLE, FIP, PHILLY, TNA, OVW AND MUCH MORE

With 2005 rapidly closing its doors, 2006 will soon spring forth with a world of opportunities and another 365 of professional wrestling and all the good and bad that comes with following this very unique industry. Here are a list of 10 things to follow as we break into another new year.

Ohio Valley Wrestling & Paul Heyman: When Paul Heyman took over the booking of the WWE developmental territory, some wondered if it would turn into a clone of ECW, but instead it morphed into almost a high drama version of professional wrestling with Johnny Jeter, Ken Doane, Brent Albright, and Matt Cappotelli, among others headlining some tremendous episodic television. With Heyman's WWE deal coming to a close (although he and WWE are negotiating), it will be interesting to see where that leads OVW, which has become a hotter property among DVD collectors online. While the wrestling is sometimes great, it is often secondary to character development and good promos. It's easy to follow the marked improvement of the performers though. In the 1999 documentary "Beyond the Mat", Heyman once likened helping wrestlers develop to watching his own children grow up and there is a whole new generation learning from him. How OVW continues or changes in 2006 will be something to follow, with or without Heyman, as its been WWE's most successful development project to date. Where Heyman ends up - WWE, TNA, his rumored MMA deal, an outside writing project or something else that's currently off the radar of rumors, will continue to be the talk of Internet fans who like Heyman's booking. For more on OVW, visit OVWrestling.com.

TNA: From an in-ring standpoint, I don't think TNA has ever had a better year with Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels, Petey Williams, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and the other X-Division performing setting a six-sided fire from their work inside the ring. The additions of Christian Cage, Team 3D and Rhino helped give TNA more of a rounded personality and some familar faces. While it is still the Jeff Jarrett show in many aspects, that also helped America's Most Wanted develop into a great heel team. It will be interesting to track the continued progress of a company that is so loaded with talent, they can't properly showcase it with the one hour of weekly TV their Spike TV platform provides. With talk of house shows and Sting coming in, it will be interesting to see how the company continues to change, for better or worse, in 2006.

Nostalgia: In 2005, there was interest in nostalgia like never before, with the return of ECW, Hardcore Homecoming setting ECW Arena gate records, a tribute to Starrcade, Bruno Sammartino revisiting his feud with Larry Zbyszko, and countless conventions. While it was a great thing for wrestling fans who miss the way things "used to be", it wasn't always a profitable business venture. For every Wrestlereunion or NWA Legends convention, there were smaller outings that lost their shirt despite strong lineups. The nostalgia interest has started to dwindle as no major conventions are currently advertised beyond Greg Price's August gathering in the Washington, DC area. It will be interesting to follow what pops up and who will be involved as we delve into the new year.

Ring of Honor: ROH had its best year to date, yet at times, felt like it needed some freshening up. They have done their best by introducing a regular set of newcomers on the undercard, bringing in special “guest stars” from time to time, placing Bryan Danielson into the role of a credible “World champion”, and moving up tenured performers into larger roles on the card. As 2006 continues, ROH will have the same problem it always does – it competes with itself – to top itself, for shows to stand out among a long line of solid events, and to continue to grow without making mistakes that would force it to slip back from its progress. As much a merchandise retailer as it is a wrestling promotion, it will interesting to see how the company continues to evolve from a booking, a growth, and a performance standpoint. For more on ROH, visit www.ROHWrestling.com.

Samoa Joe: Already a front runner for Wrestler of the Year awards, in recent weeks its come up that Samoa Joe and TNA are discussing a longer term deal for more money. That and rumored WWE interest have only served to make Joe an even hotter property with more buzz among Internet fans, an audience he has long since won over. Since his TNA debut , Joe completely changed the dynamic of the company, creating a much harder hitting X-Division by having a unique style that at the same time, still meshes and compliments the other TNA stalwarts, with great match after great match. Joe also continued his run as one of the true pillars of Ring of Honor, this time in the position of helping to bring names like Jay Lethal and Nigel McGuiness closer to the top-tier. His Kenta Kobashi singles match will be long remembered as one of the best matches ever seen in New York City and will only grow in legend as time passes and more fans see the DVD. 2006 could see a rise to more prominence in TNA, a departure for other waters (which would be a massive blow to TNA in my opinion), a potential rematch against Kobashi, more international dates and world of other options. The door is wide open for Samoa Joe – he gave it a running Ole Ole kick and left it decimated in his wake.

Full Impact Pro: Who? The most underrated wrestling company in the world, that’s who. Booked by Gabe Sapolsky of ROH fame, FIP runs small towns in Florida taping for DVD. The shows are an interesting mix of old school wrestling territory storylines with hot workers of today like Roderick Strong, Homicide, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Jay Lethal and others. Once a laughing stock for drawing 15-35 fans, they have increased crowds to the hundreds and are looking at running larger markets including the tough Orlando, Florida area. The promotion has been long criticized for their DVDs getting out beyond late, but are trying to rush them out to fix that problem. As more fans check out the product, I suspect there will be more of a buzz about it. I could be wrong, but see for yourself before dismissing it. For more on FIP, visit FullImpactPro.com.

The Philadelphia Wars, Round II: Here we go again. With Ring of Honor, CZW, and Pro Wrestling Unplugged already running Philly the same day next month, a few new competitors are hopping into the mix. JAPW has announced a February date at the ECW Arena, as has Dangerous Women of Wrestling. It’s also possible we’ll be seeing the return of Hardcore Homecoming, the debut of TNA, and even the Wrestling Underground project popping up within the City of Brotherly Love in 2006. Tod Gordon intends to open XFC in 2006 as well. At this point, can a 3PW revival be far behind? How many wrestling companies can run one city within the course of a year and which can actually make it out profitable and still in business? We may find out as it looks to be another long year of hard competition in Philadelphia, which while great for the fans and websites like this, may end up being a war of attrition for those involved.

ECW: With another ECW DVD and several books on the way, the ghost of Extreme Championship Wrestling’s revolution refuses to lay dormant. With another One Night Stand PPV scheduled, it will be interesting to see who actually ends up on the show if it takes place. While Rob Van Dam should be healthy and ready to go, a number of talents who were on the first show – The Dudley Boyz, Rhino, Tajiri – have departed the company. Sabu might not be available due to TNA. What will the card end up looking like? It will also be interesting to see how much WWE influence a second ECW show would have. Would we see more of the likes of JBL and Kurt Angle rerunning the Crusade against ECW? How would the potential lack of Paul Heyman effect the writing and booking of the show and would fans accept it without him? With the talents a year older and in different positions of their lives then they were at the height of their ECW runs, how realistic is it to expect an “ECW product” from them? Where will the show take place? Will there be more Hardcore Homecoming events playing off of ECW’s return to PPV? These are things every ECW fan will pay attention to as we get closer to June.

Rob Feinstein: Whether you are a fan of Feinstein or not, it will be interesting to see what his plans involve as his RF Video officially returns to promoting events in conjunction with Pro Wrestling Elite in Boontown, New Jersey. With RF’s Doug Gentry booking the promotion, a 1/28 event will feature Chris Hero vs. Harry Smith, Sabu vs. Mana The Polynesian Warrior, John Walters vs. Josh Daniels, Azrieal vs. Petey Williams vs. Brandon Thomaselli, CW Anderson & Simon Diamond vs. Chris Hamrick & Ricky Landell, The Backseat Boyz vs. The Outcast Killaz, and Josh Abercrombie vs. CJ Otis plus Vito and Sal Thomaselli, The Carnage Crew, The SAT, Archadia, Grim Reefer, Envy, Monsta Mac and more scheduled. With all the lawsuits and incidents of the past several years, Feinstein and his company hope to move forward with a lineup of names that worked for him during his ROH era and a mix of different workers from across the country. Whether lightning will strike twice, whether fans will accept his return and come out to the show, or whether this is just practice for another project are answers that will be learned as we move into the year. For more information on Pro Wrestling Elite, visit PWElite.com.

Kurt Angle: Kurt Angle has run himself hard and done everything he can to be a top heel performer for WWE’s Raw side. With questions about his neck and health, Angle has pushed himself to the brink with great performances against John Cena and Shawn Michaels. If there was ever a time to put the WWE title on him for another run, it would be at next month’s New Year’s Revolution PPV in Albany, the site of his first WWF championship win over The Rock in 2000. Still, the shroud of Triple H hangs over Angle – can he truly get a run as the top heel of Raw while HHH is also in the brand? Is he as healthy as he lets on to WWE management? Can he truly be the one heel that gets John Cena over as a stronger babyface? Will we get Michaels vs. Angle IV, this time for the WWE championship? As a Kurt Angle fan, I am hoping for the best and looking forward to finding out.

There are many, many, many other interesting stories to follow in 2006. Deep South Wrestling's potential TV debut, Rob Van Dam finally returning to the ring, the Brock Lesnar vs. WWE lawsuit, the continued influence of MMA as a competitor to professional wrestling, WWE’s creative team, talents who deserve the chance to break out but have yet to do so in their respective companies, the future of Smackdown as a brand, and New Japan looking into American PPV are just a few, and there are hundreds of others that I have yet to touch upon. Looking into 2006, it’s going to be a most interesting time and I am looking forward to following it along with the rest of you.

Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.

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