All right, this is going to be a lengthy post. It has been a pretty heavy news week, and in fact this post will cover news that goes back as far as the middle of last week. I’ve been slacking a bit because I recently had a birthday and got Guitar Hero Metallica. Yes, I know it’s a poor excuse, but it’s Guitar Hero, and it’s Metallica, so I think that speaks for itself. Anyway, onto the news and comments
Former ECW/WWE talent Dawn Marie is now working with an organization called Wrestlers Rescue. This is a great organization. They do a lot for people in the wrestling business. Since wrestlers do not have a union, this is a very important organization, it and others like it. The Cauliflower Alley Club in conjunction with Wrestlers Rescue is holding an auction that began last Wednesday, June 3, and will go until June 10th for an autographed T-shirt featuring a great and rare collection of signatures. The auction is to buy a hands free speech assistance device for wrestling legend Dr. Death Steve Williams. I urge everybody out here to at least check the auction out. Number one, this is a great item for any wrestling collector, and more importantly it will help out a man who has given a lot to the wrestling business and entertained a lot of fans, myself included.
The list of signatures includes:
Superstar Billy Graham, Sgt. Slaughter, JJ Dillon, Akio Sato, Bruce Swayze, Mitchell Starr, Richie Rotten, Duke Myers, Robbie Ellis, Buddha Kahn, Tom Drake, Cowboy Bob Kelly, Alex Knight, Betty Nicoli, “Boom Boom” Art Michalk, “Moondog” Ed Maretti, Jake Shannon, Gene LeBell, Rock Riddle, Magic Schwartz, Ken Patera (former NWA Champion), Percival A. Friend, Dr. Ken Rayme.
For more info go to:
www.wrestlersrescue.org Don’t miss your chance to see the son of one of the all time wrestling greats in action. Wahoo McDaniel Jr. will be challenging Shane Chung for the Funking Conservatory World Championship on June 14 on !BANG! TV. Dory funk Jr. will also be making a rare in-ring return to face Blain Rage at the same show. Former XPW World Champion Damien Steel will also be in action in a Dog Collar Match against Johnny Romano. The show will be held at the !BANG! TV Sound Stage in Ocala Florida the show starts at 7 PM, with doors opening at 6. Advanced seating tickets are $10 and tickets at the door are $15. You can get tickets either at Pardee Moving and Self Storage in Ocala or online at www.dory.com.
ROH has signed a huge match in conjunction with Pro Wrestling NOAH. This is a match that ROH fans have been demanding to see for months now. Tyler Black has been on a fan-fueled rise to ROH greatness since his match with Nigel McGuinness at last Years Take No Prisoners PPV. I myself saw the match and was extremely impressed with Black. Therefore I agree that the match that has been signed is going to be awesome. On Saturday June 27th at the Frontier Fieldhouse in Chicago, Tyler Black will take on none other that Japanese star KENTA!
The GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title will not be on the line in this match. That being granted, Tyler Black is receiving an incredible opportunity here. This is a chance for him to establish himself on a multinational level. And anyone who saw the match between KENTA and Low Ki at Final Battle 2005 knows what they can expect from KENTA. This will be no less that a barnburner. You can expect great technical wrestling, high flying, and crisp martial arts style wrestling in this match. I live in the Chicago area and am definitely going to do everything in my power to get to this show.
Of course, for more info and tickets, go to:
www.rohwrestling.com
Make sure to check out www.corinowrestling.com. The site has now become a family site. Previously it was just a Steve Corino site, but it now features material about and from his sister Kathy Corino, better known to indy fans as Allison Danger. The site also follows the amateur-wrestling career of Colby Corino. The site features blogs by Steve and Allison Danger, as well as free text messaging updates, merchandise and more.
From Jan 5 to May 29, TNA Impact on Spike TV had an average neilson rating of 1.216. For the same period ECW averaged a 1.242 rating. This makes it seem like ECW is leading Impact for this period. Take into account also that Spike TV (or the Male Stereotyped Crap network as I like to call it) is available in more households than Sci If Network (or the Stereotypical Geek Crap Network if you prefer). Spike gets sent into 97 million homes, while Sci Fi only makes it into 93 million. Also, Neilson ratings are contingent on the Network itself. When you work out all the factors and do the math, which I’m sure you’re not that concerned about, TNA Impact leads ECW in viewers by quite a few thousand.
I previously gave the heads up on the TNA returns of both Raven and Shane Douglas. I also wondered how long they would be around and how it would impact (no pun intended) Douglas’ plans for an ECW reunion show later this year in Philly. It seems now that there are no plans for either Raven of Douglas beyond the Slammiversary PPV. This could change but as of now, that’s how it looks.
In a recent Maxim Magazine interview, Brock Lesnar talked about the WWE lifestyle. He likened it to brainwashing. He also said that a lot of guys just couldn’t let it go. They get too wrapped up in their characters and just lose sight of real life. He says that those who get out of WWE are smart. From this, it doesn’t look like he will ever be returning to WWE. There is still the possibility of a TNA run or more work in Japan, but at this point he looks to be really concentrating on his MMA career.
Also, Lesnar’s statements shed a lot of light on the current Ric Flair situation I have said exactly the same thing before. Though I have never worked for WWE and cannot understand it from that point of view, a fan that is educated enough about the business can see the signs of the things Lesnar talked about. The wrestling business had a profound and not necessarily good impact on the life of Randy Savage, and seems to have done the same to Ric Flair It begs the question of how long is too long to be in the wrestling business and who really is suited for such a life?
There was in incident this past week involving Randy Orton of a Mexico City talk show. Apparently, the host of the said show was joking with Randy about his past injuries, and in jest called Orton fragile. This sparked a seriously uncalled for temper tantrum form Randy. He actually went as far as the knock the host’s glasses off and say, “I’ll head butt your teeth through your skull.”
This leads me to wonder whether this was just more WWE hype or if Randy Orton is really becoming the character he plays on TV. Maybe he’s always been that guy, or maybe it’s just another case of what Brock Lesnar mentioned in his Maxim interview. I wouldn’t be surprised either way. Randy Orton has had a notorious streak of bad behavior in the last few years, and if I were to venture a guess, the steroids that he may or may not (got to cover my ass here) be taking could have something to do with all that. I’m not confirming that Orton is on steroids. I’m merely suggesting it. If you take a look at him then he premiered in WWE, even just three or four years ago during his run with Evolution, he was much more streamlined.
I have to think though that the streak has always been here. The man was dishonorably discharged from the United States Marine for the love of god. It takes some pretty poor conduct to get discharged from the devil dogs. Also, this certainly isn’t the first time Randy Orton has blown up at somebody. I’m sure if you were able to get the honest opinion of anybody in the WWE backstage, they would have at least some negative things to say about Orton. To me, for the WWE to endure this kind of B.S. behavior is completely unnecessary. For the last few months Randy Orton’s performance has been extremely substandard. Yes, it seems like he is over as a heel, but how much longer can that last?
The public battle between Hulk Hogan and his wife Linda continues. The mudslinging and hair pulling has escalated even farther. Linda recently accused Hulk of smoking marijuana with his daughter’s boyfriend. Hulk, outraged and incensed by such an accusation, turned on Linda and demanded she take a voluntary drug screening. There have been rumors of past drug use by both Hulk and Linda, sot this whole thing doesn’t really surprise me. The result was that Linda passed the drug screening. No evidence of any drugs was found.
Let’s break this crap down, folks. First of all, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Hulkster were smoking a few J’s here and there. It wouldn’t bother me either. The man is going through what might just be the messiest divorce of all time. His dirty laundry is right out there for just about everybody in the public to see. I would probably be doing worse in the same situation, and so would a lot of self-righteous people out there that have condemned him for these allegations.
Secondly, Linda is the one who has been seen club hopping and sleeping with nineteen year olds. Hulk may have said some regrettable things in some recent interviews, but from all appearances he is taking care of business and doing his best to keep his image clean. Whether this is because his image is clean or he’s damn good at covering up negative behavior, I can’t say and won’t venture a guess.
It should be noted that for a while now, both A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe have been working with injuries. They are not serious. A.J. sprained his ankle on a dive onto Shane Douglas at a recent TV taping and Joe fractured a couple of fingers at a house show. Neither has yet missed any time, as you can probably tell.
I have heard some and read some things that suggest Samoa Joe may have incurred a more serious injury, one that may keep him off the Slammiversary card. However, I cannot elaborate of substantiate this in any way. You’ll have to check around for yourself.
WWE seems to have started what may be another round of releases. It appears that the majority of the releases are to come from the FCW developmental roster. In fact, both Dakota Darsow and Lupe Viscara have been released from FCW. It is being said that other releases have already been made and that there are more to come.
Most notable in the releases up to this point is the release of Mr. Kennedy (Ken Anderson). Apparently this seems to have come out of nowhere, and it looks like a pretty hasty move. The deal is that Kennedy’s recent string of injuries was definitely a factor in the release. A couple months ago, I read that Kennedy was set to return to the ring, but then he reinjured himself. Also, he incurred a wrist injury on his first match back on RAW, that ridiculous Lakers vs. Nuggets match.
Apparently there was also an in ring incident with him and Orton during that same match that nearly resulted in the injury of Randy Orton. Randy Orton calmly (there’s a huge surprise) dressed Kennedy down after that match. It didn’t appear to be a huge deal until the news of the release came.
In my humble but outspoken opinion, Kennedy is a better wrestler than Orton anyway. He doesn’t have Orton’s record of bad behavior, and his injuries have numbered less than those of Orton as well. Randy Orton seems to be something akin to Mr. Glass from the movie Unbreakable. Everybody has to pussyfoot around with him in the ring so that he doesn’t get hurt. Frankly, it pisses me off. And to make it worse, Orton doesn’t even seem to be giving much of an effort out there lately.
Jeff Hardy recently spoke about Kennedy’s release on a Washington D.C. talk show. He said that the release was a shock to him. He also said that Kennedy was a good friend, and that he had done a lot of work and traveling with him.
In another interview of B95, Jeff discussed his current contract status with WWE. From what he said, it appears that there is nothing substantial to report right now. He said that he could still be on TV in six months, and if WWE is smart, they will find a way to get him resigned and happy. He is more popular now than ever before. Also, if Jeff is smart, he will milk his current main event run for every damn thing it’s worth.
Finally, it has been rumored that Chris Masters has resigned with WWE. As of now, those rumors are untrue. He released a statement saying he has been in contact with WWE and that there has not yet been any discussion of a contract. He is still appearing at his indy bookings and it appears he will be doing so for some time to come.
Personally, I think now would be a good time to bring Masters back. With HBK, Triple H, and Undertaker all taking time off, WWE needs some “new blood.” Not that Masters is really new, but before he was released for some violations of the WWE Wellness program, he was—again, in my opinion—going some good work. He was looking more impressive than I had ever seen him. I think that right now, RAW could really use Masters.
All right, so that my news and comments for this week. I’ll have a preview and expectations piece about Tomorrow’s Extreme Rules PPV, written with my potential cohost in the potential Low Blow Wrestling podcast up sometime tomorrow. Also, I’ll probably be posting a review of Extreme Rules either Monday or Tuesday depending on what my schedule turns out to look like.
Stay tuned.
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