The two things I hear most about Gunner is that he is a jobber and that he has no charisma, and I must say that I respectfully disagree. Gunner started off as a security guard then began tagging with Murphy, then got lost in the shuffle for a while. Once they signed new contracts with TNA they began getting more air time, with Gunner starting his singles career. He got a reign as Television Champion and even got a pinfall victory over Sting on Impact, who was the World Champion at the time.

Gunner kept getting more and more of the spotlight and earned his way into the Bound for Glory Series Final Four, where he added another dimension to his character. He was aligned with Immortal and Bully Ray and it showed, but he refused to lay down and teased a turn when he was asked to ‘do the right thing’ and let Bully beat him. The result in the end didn’t matter since Bobby Roode ended up winning the tournament and Gunner went back to being loyal to Immortal, but he still showed progress.

A lot of people may have gotten ticked off that he was getting ‘embarrassed’ by a very green (and undeserving) Garret Bischoff, but he ended up being OK. Gunner got a good amount of heat and was there to make Garret look good, so they must have a lot of faith in him. Garret was taken off of TV following a piledriver by Gunner, so while he was made of fool of a few times, he ended up getting his revenge. Since then he has also injured Jesse Neal and Douglas Williams with DDT’s on the concrete floor and got an endorsement from Ric Flair.

Obviously with Flair being in his corner Gunner will learn a lot and get some help on the mic, but he is also a good worker. Say what you will about Flair, but he has always aligned himself with talented guys from the Horsemen to Evolution to Fortune. He is in a good role and does nothing but help a younger talent like Gunner. Immortal’s roster has gone through a lot of changes, but Gunner has benefitted through it by being a constant focus. James Storm and Bobby Roode have been Impact’s ‘it’ guys over the past few months, and the praise is well deserved, but Gunner also deserves it and should be one of the guys to pay attention to in 2012.

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WZ Presents Superstar Spotlight – Gunner

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BUCHANAN, Tenn.- The EverStart Series is headed to Kentucky Lake Oct. 27-30 for the 2011 championship event. This tournament will feature the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers from each of the five EverStart Series divisions. They are competing for a top award of up to $50,000 plus a Ranger 198VX bass boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard in the Pro Division and a Ranger 177TR bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard plus $5,000 in the Co-angler Division.

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EverStart Series Championship Set For Kentucky Lake

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LAKE GEORGE, Colo. – Aurora Marine and Great Lakes Marine are presenting the 12th Annual Serious Fishermen Team Pike Tournament, produced by the 11 Mile Marina and hosted by Eleven Mile State Park, on Saturday, September 10. The contest begins one half hour before sunrise and ends at 3 p.m. Teams will consist of two anglers who may fish from boat or shore. Last year, contestants weighed in over 450 pounds of northern pike.

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Eleven Mile State Park Hosts Annual Serious Fishermen Team Pike Tournament

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Last Saturday, the second annual Louisiana Saltwater Series made its third stop on the tournament trail at Sweetwater Marina in Delacroix, La., with 44 boats entered and over $7,000 awarded in cash prizes.

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Local Anglers Take Home Top Prize at Louisiana Saltwater Series Fishing Tournament

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SHREVEPORT, La. (May 5, 2011) – The Walmart FLW Tour on the Red River presented by OFF! will visit Shreveport, Louisiana, May 19-22 for the fifth tournament of the season. Hosted by the Shreveport – Bossier City Regional Sports Authority, the tournament will feature as many as 300 top bass anglers casting for top awards up to $125,000 cash in the Pro Division and up to $25,000 cash in the Co-angler Division.

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Walmart FLW Tour Gears Up for Red River Event

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GREENVILLE, S.C.- Diet Mountain Dew pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 13 ounces Sunday to lead the tournament wire-to-wire to win his first Tour title as well as $125,000 at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell presented by Chevy with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 70-11.

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Christie Dominates Walmart FLW Tour On Lake Hartwell Presented By Chevy

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Filed under: PGA

Stock Up

Mark Wilson — The biggest Packers fan on Tour couldn’t stay up too late to celebrate the Super Bowl victory because he had to return to the course Monday morning and hold on to his two stroke lead with six holes to play. The celebration will be twice as sweet after Wilson became the first two-time winner in 2011 by holding off Jason Dufner in a playoff. The man who sported a Cheesehead at one point during play on Sunday also won a weather-affected Sony Open with a 36-hole final round. With the win, Wilson takes the lead in the FedEx Cup standings and will now get a crack at the full slate of events this season.

U.S. Open Qualifying — The U.S. Golf Association will be making a number of changes to qualification criteria for the U.S. Open as a “direct response” to last year, when Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler both cracked the world top 50 just after the deadline. The quick fix will give players the May 23 and June 13 rankings to make it into the top 50 before this year’s tournament, but the bigger changes take effect next year. The USGA will do away with the money list qualifiers and instead take the top 60 from the world rankings published three weeks before and the week of the U.S. Open.

TV ratings — Even without the Tiger Woods effect on the PGA Tour to start the year, television ratings are up through the first month. The Golf Channel has enjoyed the biggest boost after showing the first three tournaments and the opening two rounds at Torrey Pines. While the Tournament of Champions was up 39 percent and the Bob Hope jumped 60 percent, Torrey gave both The Golf Channel and CBS the highest boost.

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Monday Movers: Mark Wilson Overcomes Weather for Second Win

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Filed under: Golf Odds and Ends

The Waste Management Phoenix Open is one of the few PGA events that has the feel of an NFL game or a NASCAR race — not to confuse the two demographics, but both atmospheres have very similar qualities. Huge crowds will again be in attendance, despite weather so cold the pro-am was canceled.

TPC Scottsdale’s par-3, 16th hole is the most exciting hole in golf with bleachers surrounding tee to green. It will serve as the Kodak Challenge hole for the week, which gives it an unneeded boost. Sit back and enjoy the party in Arizona, and keep an eye on these players.

The favorites for this week are familiar names who have started strong in 2011:

1. Phil Mickelson — After a strong performance at Torrey Pines, Phil heads to another course that he loves. With two wins and nine top-10s at this tournament, he is the favorite to win this week. The former Arizona State player will need to tighten up his game off the tee, but his short game looks to be in order.

2. Dustin Johnson — Any personal issues that Johnson might have been experiencing when he withdrew a few weeks ago are not affecting him. He was near the top in every major statistical category last week and finished with a final-round 66, which included no bogeys. With top-10s in both starts this year, it would be a surprise if he didn’t make it three.

3. Hunter Mahan — Last year’s winner should be primed for a title defense. Mahan entered Sunday’s final round last week in the last group, but a double bogey on the opening hole set the tone for day and he finished the Farmers T6. His win in Phoenix a year ago was highlighted by only 12 missed greens the entire week. If he can continue to hit his driver well, expect him to have a lot of birdie opportunities.

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4. Rickie Fowler — He came within one shot of winning here in just the sixth tournament of his rookie year. Fast-forward one year and the young star continues to look for that first Tour victory. Fowler didn’t play as well as his T20 finish last week would indicate. Following his 65 on the easier of the two Torrey Pines courses, Fowler shot 2 over for the remainder of the tournament, but he should feel pretty comfortable this week.

5. Jhonattan Vegas — It’s probably a bit premature to be including Vegas in the short list of favorites, but the rookie has earned it. The Venezuelan entered the 72nd hole last week just one stroke out of the lead and a realistic opportunity for back-to-back wins. The most impressive aspect of his performance was his calm and confidence in a high-pressure home stretch. The FedEx Cup points leader looks like he belongs.

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Phoenix Open Power Rankings: Mickelson Primed for Success

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Filed under: PGA

Tiger Woods‘ competitive edge and determination have almost never come into question, until now. PGA Tour rookie Brendan Steele told Sports Illustrated he thought Woods didn’t give his best effort in the final round at Torrey Pines.

“I don’t think he gave it everything today,” Steele said on Sunday after being paired with Woods for the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open. “Once it started going in the wrong direction, I don’t think it had his full attention.”

Woods started off well at Torrey Pines — a venue he’s had much success at — carding back-to-back 69s in the first two rounds to head into the weekend just back of contention at 6 under. But his putts again weren’t falling and he wasn’t able to align all the aspects of his game to ride the bogey-free first-round momentum through Friday and into the weekend.

In the final two rounds, he logged just four total birdies compared to nine bogeys to shoot 74, 75 and finish the tournament T44, 15 strokes back of tournament winner Bubba Watson. The poor results continue a major slump for Woods and mark his worst season debut since his first full season on the PGA Tour in 1997.

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Brendan Steele, PGA Rookie, Criticizes Tiger Woods’ Effort at Torrey Pines

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Filed under: Australian Open, ATP

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Andy Murray will get another chance to end a near 75-year winless streak for British men in Grand Slam singles tournaments after beating Spain’s David Ferrer 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1, 7-6 (2) Friday to reach the Australian Open final.

The semifinal win put Murray into Sunday’s final against Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the 2008 champion who holds a 4-3 edge in head-to-head matches. Murray, however, has won the last three.

No British male has won a Grand Slam singles title since Fred Perry in 1936 — more than 270 Grand Slam tournaments ago.

The drought endured through British hopes including Tim Henman and most recently by Murray in last year’s straight-set loss to Roger Federer at Melbourne Park.

Federer is gone from this tournament, beaten by Djokovic in the semifinals. Top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who was trying to win his fourth straight Grand Slam tournament, is gone too. He was hobbled by a thigh injury in his quarterfinal loss to Ferrer.

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Andy Murray Gets Another Crack at Title for England

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