Pro Wrestling Lounge

[jimmy]

Holy shit, I usually just tune out during the ladies matches or do the snack break, but Maryse is freakin' hot... are those playboy shots 'monkey? If so, kudos to them for not doing their typical over glossy done up photos with her and letting her natural beauty shine through.

As to the "list"... I'm still not convinced that the WWE had a real plan all along for who the leader of NXT was going to be. I mean this really has been the cursed angle on one hand, and on the other they started a significant angle with Hart just as his contract was expiring without having him signed, so I tend to think they just wing it week to week, ignoring what doesn't fit with this week's plan (see the week 2 Raw vs NXT beatdown, followed by pretty much pretending that didn't happen now).

I'm assuming the arm surgery that HHH got probably shot their plans as well, because I just can't see him sitting around for so long without getting the surgery, and then deciding he needed it. He probably hurt himself while training to come back, which necessitated another plan/delay.

Still, he remains the most likely suspect for the GM/Leader of NXT role.

[PurpleMonkey]

Don't quote me on it, but I believe those are her Playboy pics...and a rarity for that matter of those two photos online because all I searched up in the past was the "other" ones. Yes, Maryse is the reason why I watch WWE women's wrestling. Too bad, they are now pulling her back from fighting and aligning her with Debiase.

I agree with Jimmy's speculation that HHH was "the anonymous" GM until his surgery took over. Maybe it wasn't suppose to be anonymous originally. Although I still had a glimpse of hope to see a huge swerve and Danielson come back as GM, I doubt it will happen. Speaking of The American Dragon, he is fighting tonight in the EVOLVE...(hopefully I can find the match online in a couple of days) and this Saturday at the Dragon Gate USA PPV taped.

Here's a good piece on Danielson for those who want to know him

[jimmy]

Just an additional update, apparently Danielson is fairly booked up through the next couple of months with indy bookings, so at least as far as the WWE is telling him, he's not in the cards for the next little while.

When Matt Hardy did his little indy run after they canned him over the Lita, Edge stuff, they did allow him to honour those bookings when he came back. Still though, if Danielson knew he was in the cards I can't see him overloading on the outside bookings.

[jimmy]

WWE NEWS:

* Silly story to start, but apparently kayfabe is still alive and well in this day and age as word is going around that the WWE is angry that the Undertakers wedding photos with Michelle McCool were released to the public as it conflicts with the whole Taker being in a coma story. This is apparently why Taker wasn't at the recent Lesnar UFC fight despite being a huge MMA fan.

* Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat was just released from the hospital after suffering a minor aneurism the same night as his "beat down" from NXT. He should be backstage again within a few weeks to resume his normal duties as a road agent for the WWE.

* Mickie James, Shelton Benjamin, Katie Lea Burchill, Jimmy Wang Yang, Slam Master J, Kung Fu Naki and Mike Knox, are all free to sign anywhere as their no competes are up.

* Shane McMahon just bought into a sports management agency in England which overseas golf and cricket stars, guess those MMA rumours with Shane might be off the mark just now.

* Various news agencies are reporting that Linda McMahon has spent over $21 million dollars on her senate bid to date. Her total budget which is self financed is said to be $50 million dollars. Despite the large budget, she is not expected to win as numerous interest groups are coming out of the woodwork and making use of the WWE's extensive questionable past. Last week it was a women's group, now a group taking issue over people with dissabilities is calling into question the Eugene character from a few years ago.

* Video now out of Batista training for MMA... soon to follow, video of Batista
tearing something.... the idea of the oft injured Batista doing MMA is still silly to me.

* The Raw guest host abomination will be continuing until at least October with country singer Tobie Keith on tap, and some no name actor who will be co-starring with Big Show (or is it the Giant again...?) in his movie due out later this year ("Knuckleheads").

TNA NEWS:

* On the injury front, Scott Hall who is hospitalized with a severe pneumonia is still in bad shape. Hulk Hogan recently underwent back surgery again, and this is largely expected to be the final one that does in his career. That being said, Hogan has done a number of farewell tours, so I wouldn't imagine we've seen the last of him in the ring provided her can find a big money partner to go with. Jeff Hardy apparently hurt his hand in a match with Abyss over the weekend, no word on whether or not the injury will prevent him from being able to shoot up. Hardy's ongoing drug trafficking trial has been pushed back until September.

* In ECW news apparently former ECW champ and mainstay Steve Corino has not been asked to attend as of yet, while Lance Storm has been asked, but has declined as he feels given his critical views of the TNA product in the past would make him a hypocrite. He did put their generosity over though.

JR is stating in his blog that Heyman won't be there, and you can also include long time voice of TNA Joey Stylez who currently works for the WWE overseeing their website content.

Word has it talent are being offered between $500-$1000 per match for the "Hardcore Justice" event. Assuming this includes travel and accomadations most of these guys will probably line up a few Florida appearances and walk away with a nice bit of change for a weekends work.

* Speaking of Heyman, according to the UK's Sun, he apparently wants a piece of TNA ownership in order to sign up. He figures in order to really get TNA where is can be it requires a vision and plan that would take about 5 years to get over. Having a young family he has stated that the kind of commitment he is talking about should be worth $25-$30 million dollars over the duration of that 5 years in order for him to sacrifice the time from his family. Despite what JR say's, I think we'll see at least a promo from Heyman at the event.

* With former WWE/WCW writer Ed Ferreira (Oklahoma on screen in WCW) having been let go there's talk that former WCW booker Kevin "the dungeon master" Sullivan is interested in joining TNA in a booking role. Sullivan has long been acknowledged as having a good mind for the business, and would be a good addition to any booking group.

RETIRED and OTHER:

* Former women's champ Molly Holly got married. Holly is a lifelong devout Christian and had been saving herself for marriage, so at 32 she found her man. She met him while volunteering at a drug rehab clinic! He's a recovering junkie who's probably sucked more dick than she ever will.... talk about waiting for Mr. Right.....

* Goldberg still wants one more match so that his wife and kids can see him wrestle live. While this truly would be a coup for TNA, expecially if they can hit a home run with the ECW stuff, I think this one's more up the WWE's alley. Goldberg vs Cena anyone?

[PurpleMonkey]

Please do not read this section if you don't want to know the SPOILERS for next week's Raw..........



Opening video and pyro went off. The main event was advertised as Randy Orton vs The Miz.

Edge came out to open the show. After saying he doesn't trust his Raw team. Edge challenged Wade Barrett to a match. R-Truth came out and told Edge he needs to stop thinking about himself and get with the team. Edge threatened Truth with a spear.

The anonymous general manager chimed in. Cole stated the general manager wanted R-Truth to exit the ring for the next match, which was Edge vs. Barrett, Truth told Edge, "Good luck, you are on your own."

1. Edge fought Wade Barrett to a no-contest when Nexus interfered. Barrett nearly took the spear, but he got out of the ring and called for his Nexus teammates. Edge escaped through the crowd and ran right by correspondent Edward. Edge stared down Nexus from the crowd.

2. Alicia Fox, Jillian Hall, and Tamnia defeated Natalya, Eve Torres, and Gail Kim. Fox pinned Natalya to win the match. Fox got on the mic and said she's the best Divas Champion ever. Melina's theme hit and she ran out and beat up Fox. Melina did the splits and then posed for the live crowd.

Backstage, Cena found Edge and said they have to fight together in order to win at SummerSlam. Edge said Cena would have to win without him because he quit the team.

Jericho came to Cena and said Cena is the one who really needs to quit. He challenged Cena to a match for later in the show. The loser of the match leaves the SummerSlam team. Cena said no at first, but Jericho convinced him.

John Morrison and Great Khali were shown talking backstage. Morrison left and the Nexus arrived. They said they didn't attack Khali last week because they respect him and want him to join them. It was announced that Khali would face Ted DiBiase Jr. later in the show.

3. Sheamus pinned Goldust. Sheamus said what a difference a year makes. He said he became champion in one year and didn't need a briefcase, nor did he take as long as Orton did to win his first title. He said Orton couldn't beat Triple H, whereas he ended Hunter's career.

4. John Cena defeated Chris Jericho in a loser leaves Team Raw match. Cena won the match with the STF. The live crowd was really into this match. Afterward, Cena told Jericho he didn't want him to leave the team. He said Jericho is still the best at what he does, and said they could taken on Nexus together. Jericho shook his head no and walked out on Cena, so it looks like he's off the team.

Backstage, Edge and Chris Jericho agreed that Cena needed them, but they don't need him. The Raw general manager chimed in and announced that next week, Edge and Jericho will face Cena and Bret Hart. The Nexus members will serve as lumberjacks for the match.

Justin Roberts interviewed Randy Orton, who responded to Sheamus's promo by saying he gave Triple H a six-week vacation by kicking him in the skull. Orton invited Sheamus to ringside to watch his match against Miz. He said the good news for Sheamus is that he will beat Miz so bad that he won't be able to cash in his MITB contract. He said the bad news is that it will be Sheamus's turn for the beating in two weeks.

5. The Great Khali defeated Ted DiBiase. Wade Barrett and Skip Sheffield came to ringside and distracted DiBiase by grabbing his Million Dollar Title belt, which led to Khali getting the win via the Vice Grip.

The Miz came out and said Randy made a mistake. He said he will be champion if he cashes in on Orton or Sheamus, because he's The Miz and he's awesome.

6. Randy Orton defeated The Miz. Sheamus watched the match from the stage. Randy pinned Miz after hitting the RKO. Sheamus rushed the ring, but Randy saw it coming and struck the Viper Pose, which stopped Sheamus dead in his tracks. This may end up being the point where the television show will go off the air.

Cena came out while Sheamus, Miz, and Orton were still at ringside. Nexus came out and told Sheamus to leave because they have a truce. Mark Henry came out with the Raw crew to fight off Nexus. The Raw crew successfully chased off the majority of Nexus and then roughed up Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater. The Raw crew stood tall as Cena's music played to end the show.

[jimmy]

Sounds like there are a number of red herrings being put out there by Raw creative. While I applaude their attempts to muddy the waters a bit, I'm kind of suprised at who they are throwing out there.

So here's an updated who could be NXT's leader or even involved:

Khali
While imposing, and since coming in as a monster to face off against Cena, Khali really hasn't had much to do. Limited in the ring, and moreso in the promo department there aren't many possiblities for the big guy. I could see them trying to find a place for Khali as the groups "monster", but to put him in there would just overshadow other lesser members of the group.

Edge
With developments of late and Edge's general history of sneakyness he still remains a logical candiate. The beatdown that he suffered at the hands of NXT could have been staged easily enough. I wouldn't put him in this role as he would completely overshadow the resto fthe group.

Bret Hart
The hitman seems to be the centre of a lot of buzz as he was the one who hired NXT on, and much like Edge's beatdown, the whole limo thing could have been staged. I don't like this idea given Hart's reluctance to go heel in the past. With this likely being his swansong I just can't see him turning now.

JBL
On paper JBL could be the ideal candiadate as storywise he has the money to back a group such as this, left on poor terms storywise, and is excellent on the mic while not being able to go in the ring anymore.

The mystery continues...

With the completion of NXT season 2 not far off you have to wonder what they have in store for them. A quick rundown of this crop of rookies seems to be a lot better than the last (with a few exceptions of Barrett and Danielson) so you have to wonder what does the WWE do with them?

1) Push the winner, and take the normal route of introducing them individualy.

2) Have them join the NXT angle.

3) do their own thing on Smackdown.

Depending on who is revealed to be the brains behind NXT, I would be all for expanding the NXT storyline over to SD by having the season 2 guys "invade" over there. If they are destined to join up with their Raw brethren, it may be time to start cutting ties with dead weight like Darren "black cena" Young, Dave "grinning idiot" Otunga, and not Barrett, Tarver, or Gabriel guy (can't remember his name).

[jimmy]

Not sure how much of this has happened on TV as of yet, so please beware their may be some SPOILERS in here:


Word has it that the name of the ECW group will be EV2.0, which apparently can be credited to Eric Bischoff as the WWE owns the name ECW.

Tommy Dreamer is promising some suprises as to who will be showing up at the ECW PPV. So far the list includes the following:
* Balls Mahoney
* Axl Rotten
* Johnny Swinger
* Tommy Dreamer
* Mick Foley
* Rob Van Dam
* Raven
* Team 3D (Dudley boys)
* Rhino
* Al Snow
* Simon Diamond
* Stevie Richards

Can probably add Sandman to this list too, but he hasn't been announced officially on the TNA website yet.

My guess is you can probably count on Spike Dudley being there (not sure if he still works for TNA or not as Brother Runt?), Mickey Whipwreck, Justin Credible, Jerry Lynn, Shane Douglas, Blue Meanie, Little Guido (Nunzio) and other members of the FBI, Tanaka, and probably as you're super special suprise; Terry Funk.

Despite New Jack being closely associated with ECW, I don't think TNA will take a chance on him after he legitimately tried to murder another wreslter (Vic Grimes) in the ring.


With Hulk Hogan still being embroiled in a law suit with his insurance company over the injuries to his son's racing passenger a few years back (john grazanito? something like that...) he finally got some good news. Former wife Linda Bollea just got engaged, so those alimony payments will hopefully come to an end soon. Apparently Linda likes 'em young, as her new fiancee is only 21.

The aforemention accident and divorce, as well as mounting legal bills have really taken their toll on Hogan, who in a bid to keep his name out there has signed on with an advertising firm to serve as a Billy May's type pitchman.

Speaking of being broke, Flair is going on tour again in addition to his TNA duties. I guess supporting a number of failed businesses and ex wives gets costly.

Finally, Bobby "the brain" Heenan is in rough shape after falling down and breaking his hip. During rehabe he took another bad spill and also broke his shoulder.

[jimmy]

Apparently Jeff Jarrett just tweeted something in the last couple of days about the whole big news thing that Dixie Carter was hinting at a few weeks ago.

Basically he said the reason there have been no updates is because a "non-disclosure agreement was signed".

So what does this mean?

If it was just Dixie and JJ dealing with Spike TV (is that what its still called?) then I doubt very much that a non-disclosure pact would be required. I would also say the same if the change coming was more of an operation thing like production values, touring, broadcast time...etc.

So it probably means we're talking about a person, and if that's the case its a very short list to warrant the Earth shattering news that we'd be talking about.

Heyman - Probably your biggest suspect when it comes to this whole thing. Heyman would be an ideal fit if given the creative control to get things done, which he has publically stated is his caveat for signing on. This could be a real coup for them, as he would attract a number of lesser names to the company for behind the scenes work that could work as support to him.

JR - JR's done it all in his lengthy career, even serving as the #2 guy to Vince throughout the attitude era. JR's a classy guy, who again would really help TNA internalise a lot of things, but its just not happening. WWE.com recently brough back the Ross Report as a feature, so I can't see the WWE giving him increased exposure on his way out the door, and JR's too classy to screw them over like that no matter how many times they have done him wrong.

[PurpleMonkey]

TNA Update:

According to PWInsider.com, Samoa Joe as been suspended indefinitely. They claimed Joe was not happy when Jeremy Borash announced there was 30 seconds left in his time limit draw match with Jeff Hardy which aired on Impact. Joe should use this as an excuse to leave the company and join the Uso's. He's been overshadowed there at TNA as most of the attention are now shifting back to the old stars (Hardcore Justice as an example), side from Beer Money and MCMG.

Speaking of Hardcore Justice. Flair refused to do a match with Shane Douglas leading to Douglas going online as a "Me first, me first" response saying HE refused an offer to be at this Sunday's PPV. Tommy Dreamer called Heyman this past week and asked him to be there, as of now, Dreamer said he still doesn't know if Heyman will show up.

[jimmy]

Wow, this is why in a lot of ways I don't see TNA really getting off the ground. Joe was one of their top three guys over the past couple of years, and now in favour of a bunch of guys pushing 40 they've all but shown him the door... AJ next?

From what I've read there really seems to be a problem in TNA where a lot of the guys who are more "in-house" feel slighted as the flavour of the month new signings are given preference instead of building the roster, and rewarding guys who have been loyal since the start.

I think Joe would be a great fit for the WWE provided he's allowed to keep his name/gimmick, and probably slims down a touch. I'd like to see them maybe bring in Rikishi (who's the legit father of the Uso's), and throw Joe in there and you could have a whole Samoan faction.


Another little tidbit that made news recently, but was cut from the pre-taped Raw that aired this Monday was that Orton threw another of his little meltdowns in ring after Miz apparently moved into the RKO too obviously. Orton really likes it to come out of nowhere as its really his only real selling point. I wonder if we're going to see Miz's push gets squashed the way Kofi's did after Orton went nuts on him.... Maybe we'll see him get canned the way Mr. Kennedy did, lol

[PurpleMonkey]

TNA Lawsuit in the works:

According to Newsday.com today, WWE may be seeking a lawuit towards TNA BUT waiting until this Sunday for TNA to rake in some money first.......

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt responded to Alfonso Castillo's question on whether the company intends to pursue legal action against TNA over the Hardcore Justice pay-per-view. "The WWE is the sole owner of the ECW marks, and as with all of WWE's intellectual property it will be vigorously protected," McDevitt said. "TNA acts at its peril if its infringes upon WWE's rights."



Check out Gail Kim's interview with The Score:

http://video.thescore.com/watch/arda...-diva-gail-kim

[jimmy]

That's kind of disapointing to read about the WWE. I get that this is their property and its their right to guard it, but at the same time what they ultimately put out there was extremely wateredown, and not really emblimatic of what ECW was. If anything, I would say that it was ultimately the WWE that cashed in on the name to put over a product that just wasn't what it advertised. They own it though, and such is their right.

In a perfect world it would have been nice to see Vince take this one on the chin and let a bunch of a blue collar guys, and a company so far in his rearview mirror make a few bucks, as it can only increase the value of all that original video catalogue he has. It'd also be nice if they'd let Joey Stylez sit behind the commentary desk for one night too, afterall they've pretty much reduced his visability to nothing as he runs the WWE website content (at least until original announcing contract is up).

I guess maybe in the end, TNA kept teasing the line too much as they keep referring to it being One Last Stand, in reference to One Night Stand, and even the PPV name has changed as it was pretty close to a signature ECW PPV.

Here's the current list of who's going to be there as per the TNA website:

*Tommy Dreamer
*Mick Foley
*Rob Van Dam
*Team 3D (Dudley boys)
*Raven
*Rhino
*Stevie Richards
*Simon Diamond
*Al Snow
*Axl Rotten
*Johnny Swinger
*Sabu
*2 Cold Scorpio
*Brother Runt (Spike dudley)
*CW Anderson
*The FBI
*The Sandman
*Jerry Lynn

*I was suprised to see how out of shape Sandman got... guess all that beer and cigarettes catches up to you.

*Its really nice to see Dreamer on fire again. I really hope if the WWE gets its head out of its ass on what kind of stars they want to make that they let Tommy come back, because there are few with such a complete knowledge of the business.

*I still think we're going to get some kind of appearance out of a Terry Funk or someone like that.

*When this is over, Dixie needs to stay off of TV. Don't get me wrong, she's played her part well in this, but she's also not Vince McMahon who legit owns his company. I could see her overstaying her welcome and having to turn "heel" or something silly like that down the line. That being said, her showing up really did add the gravitas to this story.

* Flair says "No" to the Franchise Shane Douglas... actually he said something to the effect of mocking The Franchise's recent job of working as a manger at Target Superstores (think Walmart). I get that these two don't like one another, and that as such Flair has no real need to see Douglas prosper from the inevitable face off between the two, but insulting the man's finances is just low, expecially considering what a continued failure Flair and his own family have continued to be outside of the ring, while inside he is alternatively pissing and shitting on his own legacy.

[jimmy]

Lockdown 2008: Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe




This match is considered one of the better built up matches/feuds in recent years, and while built on a fair bit of history, the build up to the match itself saw no run ins, no tag team style confrontations, and no silly backstage attacks. As a point of fact, Joe pretty much stayed at home and was said to be training for the month building up to this.

No there's certainly a few visual cues, like the cage, and Angles attire, how it was shot, and the play by play, that give this a more legit MMA feel to the confrontation, but the whole buildup also helped in that regard by treating it like something serious.

I've said this before, but with how popular UFC and MMA is in general wrestling could really take a cue from it and try and cast aside a lot of the blind ref, run in shennanigans and present their stars as athletes and competitors first, instead of over hormonal highschoolers.

I think if they do this, then your overall TV product could be better as it would be weekly matches. PPV's would feel more like complete "cards" instead of last minute on the fly crapfests that they have become, and Michael Cole over the top yelling. You can still have your theatrics, and the rare run in, but it just seems to me like there's a better product out there.

The irony, this is how wrestling used to be, so it wouldn't even be copying MMA.

[PurpleMonkey]

SPOILER ALERT:



I believe it will be next week's edition of TNA Impact, that you will see RVD losing his world heavyweight title to Little Guido by a clean pinfall.









Ok, I'm joking. But seriously, RVD vacated the title and a tournament will be held leading up to Sept. 5th No Surrender PPV. Who will be crowned? Kurt Angle? Since he is doing his "If I lose one match, I retire" gig? Here's an idea.....I really hope it's Batista (wishful thinking).

The first set of matches:

-Mr. Anderson vs. Jay Lethal.

-Kurt Angle vs. Douglas Williams.

-Matt Morgan vs. D'Angelo Dinero.


This Thursday, you will see a beatdown of EV2.0 (ECW) by Flair's Fortune, leading to RVD getting badly beaten up (thus, can longer be a champ??) and taken off by an ambulance. Geez, RVD IS getting old, I remember The Giant (Big Show) being thrown off a building by Hogan and he returned the following week.


Hardcore Justice thoughts:

Read a lot of online reviews and nearly all were disappointed in the PPV. Not to break their eggshells, but c'mon now. They compare this PPV to 2005's WWE One Night Stand which they thought was the best "sendoff". In my most honest opinion, One Night Stand was good...not great. I know it's for a business perspective to show WWE Dominance over WCW and ECW, but I truly believe these were true shooted comments Vince wanted to convey (when the first time I watched it in 2005):

"You put my name on the markie by MSG it sells out, ECW can barely fill up a bingo hall........It remind you how low your world is."

-scripted for JBL by Vince.




Sunday's Hardcore Justice was a good attempt. With the limited personalities (Tenay????) and missing personalities like Heyman, Joel Gertner, Joey Styles, The REAL Blue Meanie, Funk and of course the ever famous ECW theme song....I think it did what it was suppose to do and it passed....not with flying colours of course, but it passed. Hey, it's TNA. And as if Hogan and Uncle Eric could do any better.

[jimmy]

That seems to be the general sentiment that i've read about TNA's offering of a farewell to ECW as well.

I kind of think TNA dropped the ball on this one because logistically they were handcuffed into offering second rate takes on names, themes, and prior video to sell this. Throw in that they were missing some key people, and your even further screwed.

Where I think they dropped the ball on this though, is that I now have no reason to continue watching TNA were I an ECW fan, as there was zero attempt to truly link the two products together to really pass the torch. This just seems like it was a money grab for one night that really does nothing to further the product. Hell, if I was just casually tuning into TNA tv I would wonder if I wandered into some time warp the other night with all the ECW guys and Hogan in the ring. An angle is supposed to draw people in so that the next one keeps them there. You could pretty much delete this entire month from TNA history without missing a beat.

I wonder what the deal with RVD vacating the belt is? Unless he's hurt this is another lost opportunity as RVD can still contribute unlike a Sting or Nash, and at the very least if he's on his way out the door with the rest of ECW then they should be having him put one of the TNA guys over, after all, isn't that why guys like him are supposed to be there?

Just as a kinda wondering type idea, as much as I believe Dreamers passion to do this night, I can't see him leaving WWE for just this, so he must be going to be around is some other capacity going forward. After all he had a fairly respected gig as a scout and trainer with the WWE which is at the least a steady paycheque (and probably close to whatever upside TNA could offer). I'm sure if he wanted to, he could have even done what a Finlay type thing where he could still be part time active while still doing the other stuff. At 39 I can't see him jumping ship for so little, not that Vince hasn't proven to be forgiving in some cases in the past.

[johnnyjohn17]

R.I.P. Lance Cade, died today of an apparent heart attack, he was 29yo.

[jimmy]

Yeah, I saw that about Cade. Its a shame because while not the best talker, he did have a good look that could have probably carried him to a midcard title if he was booked better.

I thought him and Murdoch made for a good tag team that maybe had the chops and look to be the next APA at the worst. It's just unfortunate that most of his time with the WWE came while they were virtually ignoring the tag division (granted that's like the last 8 years....).

In his last spell with the WWE where he got a nice pin over his one time mentor HBK (who trained Cade and got him his first look by the WWE) before they sent him out the door. I kind of always thought that they could have done a better job of really synching him up with Y2J as his lackey during his and Michaels last major feud. A story like that could have also brough Paul London into the mix better as well, as since the WWE offed the cruiserweight strap London was kind of left in the lurch as well, so being another former HBK pupil the four could have made for a nice little mixed feud.

I know Cade had some heart problems on an overseas trip a few years back, so I'm hoping that this story won't get any more tragic and drugs aren't found to be the culprit.

The WWE while offering their condolences is already in full on distancing mode by stating the time frame he worked with them, and that it has been some months since he worked for them. Given the problems Linda's senate campaign is taking with the string of dead wrestlers in recent years I understand why they are distancing themselves from this, but it still comes across as kind of cold.

In a morbid way I'm kind of wondering if they will hold off on bringing Danielson (another HBK training alumni) back as I believe he and Cade were a tag team for some time when both were starting out. The WWE wouldn't want any more reason to have extra footage out there of Cade making the rounds.

Anyway, RIP Lance.

[jimmy]

Oops, my memory is shakier than I thought....

Apparently Lance's teaming with CJ in 2008 against HBK came to an end because of that incident on a flight, which while initially the reasons were hidden away, were late revealed to have been an OD and not heart problems.

Hate to say it, but apparently Lance has had numerous other drug (pills) related problems in the past, so it won't be suprising if this winds up being the culprit.

Still too bad though, were it not for his demons he could have probably had a nice successful career.

[jimmy]

Team WWE vs. the Nexus (7-Man Elimination Rules Match)
(John Cena, Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Edge, Johnny Morrison, R-Truth, and ?)

I think the final outcome of this one will largely depend on A) where in the show it appears, as the WWE generally likes to either send 'em home happy or with a OMG moment, and B) how the rest of the card goes in terms of heels and faces winning.

I think the WWE has done a poor job of seperating the NXT from one another with the exception of Barrett, so the big selling point of this match really comes down to story elements like what's going to happen with the Raw team, and who is the 7th member.

Hart really can't do anything due to medical and his prior insurance pay out for when he retired before, so I expect him to either be the last one left with Cena if they go over, or maybe get tied up in something with CJ and Edge, which could play nicely into a potential Harts vs the two other villainous canucks.

As to the mystery 7th member... Miz has been campaigning to be the man, but I think getting passed over would play better into his character, and joining up really does nothing for him.

HHH showed up at Linda's recent GOP win for her senate race and was not sporting a sling or anything that would suggest the recent arm surgery, so it could be the WWE playing games and he's ready to come back. A HHH return though really only does two things though... 1)He comes back face, pops the crowd, but then shifts gears to revenge against Sheamus, or 2) Pulls a swerve, but in doing so overshadows Barrett who has been one of their better superstar making projects in a while, so that wouldn't be a good idea.

What I would like to see would be Ricky the Dragon return if he's healthy enough to even throw a few kicks, Austin style punches, before powdering out. It'd be a nice payback for him if you wound up having it down to a 4 on 1 against Cena when Dragon runs in as the 7th member. Dragon can do the man on fire for Cena and take out a NXT guy or two, before falling to a quick Barrett roll up (about the only one I would trust with Dragon's health as the others have hurt people in the past). Cena could then do his superman thing before either pinning or getting pinned by Barrett.

Either way, with the HITC PPV shortly, and the Cena vs Barrett feud really requiring a payoff I think this angle still has some legs in terms of the one on one matches.


Sheamus vs. Randy Orton (RAW Title Match)

Orton is a much better face when he's chasing the belt. Unfortunalely all of his title reigns have resulted in massive ratings death, so I'd have him job to Sheamus and maybe deal with the rest of NXT in some capacity as it would keep him face, and give the other NXT guys something to do while you home in on Barrett vs Cena 1 on 1.

Keeping the belt on Barrett, who could maybe do a one off against a guy like Bourne for a month, will help keep him as a monster, and the belt will help should HHH come back as a face... again, another possible HITC matchup.

Kane vs. Rey Mysterio (SD Title Match)

Swagger was champ less than 2 months ago and now doens't even appear on the 2nd biggest PPV of the year... lame. If there's any justice Swagger should do a run in and finally get his over Rey. With the big mystery being on the 7th member of team Raw I don't see Taker returning here... maybe some eerie light flickering or something? Either way, bye bye Rey, and good riddance.

Big Show vs. the Straight Edge Society (1-on-3 Handicap Match)

Show will probably take out the two jobbers in the SES before falling to some CM Punk chickanery in order to set up a future one on one would be my guess. I'm a big fan of both of these guys, so that works for me.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston (IC Title Match)

Kofi takes this one IMO, if only because you have a lot of heels poised to win in the other matches.

Alicia Fox vs. Melina (Diva Title Match)

I think there's some kind of secret rule that if you return from an injury, you get a win in your first big match back (with the exception of Edge at this years WM). So my guess, Melina takes back the title she never really lost.

Other?

Miz will need to get up to something, and I think they would be foolish to let him near the big belt at this time. I think we'll probably see some kind of promo, and a quick squash match for the US title.

News

Apparently there was some kind of domestic situation between newlyweds Tiffany and Drew Mcyntyre over the weekend... the twist, it was Tiffany who got arrested! Apparently she has already been edited out of SD's opening, so she's probably heading for the future endeavoured list in the next few days. It probably wouldn't suprise me to see Drew's name show up there as while they talk him up, he's really been spinning his wheels doing nothing.

Tommy Dreamer has confirmed no more ECW shows, as well as no more matches with Raven (I doubt the no more matches one, somewhere down the line some indy will pair them up). With EV.2.0 sticking around from the looks of it, there's a lot of talk about Dreamer taking on some backstage responsibility, something he said while it would be a lot of work, is something that interests him.

[PurpleMonkey]

Do we really need to refer to him as Daniel Bryan? At least "American Dragon" was mentioned by one of the announcers at last night's SummerSlam.

Yes, he's back. But Bryan Danielson is still scheduled to appear on the Sept. 11 EVOLVE show.

Interesting to see what happens tonight, how are they going to explain Bryan Daniels face turn. Did anyone else thought he would be switching sides and turning on Cena?

As mentioned months ago, Taker-Kane feud storyline build-up last night. Casket Match inevitable.

Melina wins the title from Alicia Fox and Laycool throws it like it's garbage (WWE's mindset) after the match after a beatdown on Melina.

Good PPV, but not spectacular.

[jimmy]

I'm pretty jazzed about the looming Miz vs. Danielson feud (I just wish they let him do his own name... I mean, Christ, they are already calling him the American Dragon which he owns himself, so the whole copyright thing can't be that big of a deal). I think it could really reinvigurate the dormant US title, while legitimately pushing both.

If you wanted to you could even shift the feud to a kind of rest spot by then having BD take on Alex Shelley (is that his name.. Miz's new NXT protege) for the belt once Miz goes over BD and onto the main event possibly. With guys like that keeping things going, I think you could really bring in Bourne then as he's about the same size.

With Orton having won Sunday, and then with Raw last night I'm sad to say that we're going to get more of him against Sheamus for the title. I'm split on this as yes, Orton winning would force him to feud with someone new possibly... Miz? This would then let HHH and Sheamus do their thing, while Cena deals with NXT, and Edge and CJ do a tag thing with the Harts.

On the other hand I really do think Sheamus needs the belt to keep his heat as a monster when he goes up against HHH. It would be too soon to put Miz in the ME, and would also cut one of the potentially more entertaining feuds against BD short. Orton just wouldn't have anyone to feud with (not to mention his title reigns equaling ratings death), so he's better served helping to elevate someone

Anyway, it looks like at least on Raw we finally have several storylines going on at once... kind of reminds you of the good old days when it wasn't just the main event story, and then whatever other PPV matches they crap out that day.... of course, the WWE could probably still mess this up.

[jimmy]

Just an excellent interview with Paul Heyman on an MMA show. It runs about an hour and half and covers some interesting views on the popularity of MMA and the various promotions, Vince McMahon, and why TNA isn't likely to happen.

The whole interview is very entertaining, but for the TNA stuff jump to about the 48 min mark.

http://www.tnawrestlingnews.com/head...84262863.shtml

[PurpleMonkey]

Samoa Joe is back tonight at the tapings facing Orlando Jordan (I believe). His suspension lead to ALL TNA Wrestlers banned from the production truck from now on due to his outburst for his match against Jeff Hardy (rewind: Joe didn't want the time remaining to be announced to the crowd (TV) as he wanted a surprise finish, but Russo told the ring announcer to say something like "1 minute" or "30 seconds" remaining.)

Good link on the Heyman interview Jimmy.

[jimmy]

It sounds like TNA kinda has a real powder keg on its hands when it comes to their locker room.

The Joe suspension is pretty big considering a little more than a year ago this was the face of their company (not saying he didn't warrant it). Apparently a lot of the in house talent are upset by the continuing influx of older talent who may pop the ratings slightly in the short term, but are doing so at the expense of guys who have been with the company for the long haul. Case in point, the ECW PPV cost a lot of guys money, as TNA contracts don't have downsides like WWE one's do, and are instead per appearance deals. In short, no PPV, no money.

I don't see the current crop of TNA leaders (Hogan, Bischoff, Russo) doing much to change that culture, as all of those guys have reps for protecting their spots.

The Heyman interview above kinda touches on this kind of thing, as he mentions the MSMG vs Beer money match taking place mid card with no follow up. You then have a 50 something year old guy, hyping a bunch of 40 something year old guys, only for all of them to get beat down by a 60 something year old guy. TNA is going to have to do something or the WWE won't have to worry about making their own younger stars, they can just poach all the ones that want out of TNA much like they are now doing to ROH (they just signed ROH champ the other day).

[PurpleMonkey]

Originally Posted by jimmy It sounds like TNA kinda has a real powder keg on its hands when it comes to their locker room. The Joe suspension is pretty big considering a little more than a year ago this was the face of their company (not saying he didn't warrant it). Apparently a lot of the in house talent are upset by the continuing influx of older talent who may pop the ratings slightly in the short term, but are doing so at the expense of guys who have been with the company for the long haul. Case in point, the ECW PPV cost a lot of guys money, as TNA contracts don't have downsides like WWE one's do, and are instead per appearance deals. In short, no PPV, no money. I don't see the current crop of TNA leaders (Hogan, Bischoff, Russo) doing much to change that culture, as all of those guys have reps for protecting their spots. The Heyman interview above kinda touches on this kind of thing, as he mentions the MSMG vs Beer money match taking place mid card with no follow up. You then have a 50 something year old guy, hyping a bunch of 40 something year old guys, only for all of them to get beat down by a 60 something year old guy. TNA is going to have to do something or the WWE won't have to worry about making their own younger stars, they can just poach all the ones that want out of TNA much like they are now doing to ROH (they just signed ROH champ the other day).

In the interview, Heyman says TNA is trying to impress and make too many masters happy. They are clearly not ready for Heyman, he'll cut off Uncle Eric and Hollywood-Nash.