Here are the quick results for WWE Night Of Champions. The pay-per-view was rated TV-PG, so it appears official that WWE is toning down its programming to be more kid-friendly. It should be mentioned that SmackDown has been TV-PG since 2000. Anyway, onto the results.
Jeff Hardy beat MVP in a dark match.
John Morrison and The Miz beat Finlay and Hornswoggle to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships.
Matt Hardy beat Chavo Guerrero to retain the United States championship.
Mark Henry beat Kane and Big Show to win the ECW championship.
Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes beat Hardcore Holly to win the WWE World Tag Team Championship after Rhodes turned on Holly.
Kofi Kingston beat Chris Jericho to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship after Shawn Michaels interfered.
Mickie James beat Katie Lea Burchill to retain the WWE Womens' title.
Edge beat Batista to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Triple H beat John Cena to retain the WWE Championship. This leaves the Raw brand without a World Champion of any sort.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
I found the interview!
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/articles/interview-with-bruno-lauer/
If Harvey Whippleman is this entertaining and honest in his book, it's going to be a must-read for wrestling fans.
If Harvey Whippleman is this entertaining and honest in his book, it's going to be a must-read for wrestling fans.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Updates on the Warrior, Jake Roberts and Joey Styles.
Ultimate Warrior agent Bernie J. Gernay posted an update regarding the UltimateWarriorTV.com server crashing on Wednesday during the airing of Warrior's return match. According to Gernay, certain individual(s) used a program to send 500,000 users to the site at once, causing it to overload. The site eventually went back up. On a related note, Warrior fans will be able to meet him in person on Sunday, July 20th in Uniondale, New York. He will be appearing in his ring attire autographing items, meeting fans and selling Warrior merchandise. They will also be giving away free cans of a new "Ultimate Warrior Endorsed" Power Drink. The event is scheduled to be held at noon at the Marriott located next door to the Nassau Coliseum, which is also the venue of the Great American Bash later that same day.
Joey Styles' profile has been added back to the ECW roster page of WWE.com. Currently there are talks of giving ECW a three-man commentary team, with Styles joining Tazz and Mike Adamle. This decision was made in an attempt to regain some of the audience that stopped tuning into ECW after Styles' departure to take a webmaster position with WWE.com. Many officials voiced such concerns when Styles was moved, which Vince McMahon dismissed. Last week TNA drew a higher rating than ECW, making it the third highest rated professional wrestling program on television. This prompted Vince to reconsider his opinion of Styles' importance to the ECW brand. Styles could be back in the announce booth as soon as Tuesday.
Jake Roberts told the Baltimore Sun that he doesn't think he'll ever retire from wrestling, and even hopes that he'll die inside the ring. "Going out in front of people always feels good," he said. "It’s sad that in reality, you cannot go out there and do the same things you could do 25 years ago—and neither do I wish to. … I’ll never retire. It’s my passion. I hope to die in that ring." He also said he's interested in working for WWE again, but confessed that he's not sure he'd be able to do so. "I would love to. I just don’t know if that’s possible. I have a tremendous amount to give yet. How I’m going to give it, I don’t know. Because I’m not sure at this stage of my sobriety if I would be strong enough to accept the changes and the enhancements that they would put on what I write." To read the full interview, visit BaltimoreSun.com.
Joey Styles' profile has been added back to the ECW roster page of WWE.com. Currently there are talks of giving ECW a three-man commentary team, with Styles joining Tazz and Mike Adamle. This decision was made in an attempt to regain some of the audience that stopped tuning into ECW after Styles' departure to take a webmaster position with WWE.com. Many officials voiced such concerns when Styles was moved, which Vince McMahon dismissed. Last week TNA drew a higher rating than ECW, making it the third highest rated professional wrestling program on television. This prompted Vince to reconsider his opinion of Styles' importance to the ECW brand. Styles could be back in the announce booth as soon as Tuesday.
Jake Roberts told the Baltimore Sun that he doesn't think he'll ever retire from wrestling, and even hopes that he'll die inside the ring. "Going out in front of people always feels good," he said. "It’s sad that in reality, you cannot go out there and do the same things you could do 25 years ago—and neither do I wish to. … I’ll never retire. It’s my passion. I hope to die in that ring." He also said he's interested in working for WWE again, but confessed that he's not sure he'd be able to do so. "I would love to. I just don’t know if that’s possible. I have a tremendous amount to give yet. How I’m going to give it, I don’t know. Because I’m not sure at this stage of my sobriety if I would be strong enough to accept the changes and the enhancements that they would put on what I write." To read the full interview, visit BaltimoreSun.com.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Jell-o wrestler arrested
Cambridge University student Nadia Witkowski punched a female spectator and assaulted two bouncers after onlookers deemed Witkowski's opponent the winner of a Jell-o wrestling match.
Nadia Witkowski lost her temper last Sunday during a "blazers and bikinis" themed garden party organized by the Wyverns, an all-male Magdalene College drinking society. Witkowski was booed by spectactors, which under the rules of the contest made her the loser. She gave one woman a bloody nose in response to the unfavorable match result before grabbing a bottle of Lambrini. She was stopped at the exit by two bouncers attempting to confiscate the bottle, but she punched one and headbutted the other, forcing them to call the police. Witkowski was taken to a nearby police station shortly thereafter, where she received a caution for common assault.
According to a witness, "Nadia had been a bit aggressive and probably wasn't as attractive as the other girl, so she was booed although she'd probably been the better fighter." A Wyverns spokesman said Witkowski's behavior was "unacceptable" and she would not be admitted to future garden parties. A university spokesman said the venue would not be made available for such parties again. "The college deplores conduct of that kind," he said. Witkowski, who hopes to go into law or investment banking, refused to comment.
Nadia Witkowski lost her temper last Sunday during a "blazers and bikinis" themed garden party organized by the Wyverns, an all-male Magdalene College drinking society. Witkowski was booed by spectactors, which under the rules of the contest made her the loser. She gave one woman a bloody nose in response to the unfavorable match result before grabbing a bottle of Lambrini. She was stopped at the exit by two bouncers attempting to confiscate the bottle, but she punched one and headbutted the other, forcing them to call the police. Witkowski was taken to a nearby police station shortly thereafter, where she received a caution for common assault.
According to a witness, "Nadia had been a bit aggressive and probably wasn't as attractive as the other girl, so she was booed although she'd probably been the better fighter." A Wyverns spokesman said Witkowski's behavior was "unacceptable" and she would not be admitted to future garden parties. A university spokesman said the venue would not be made available for such parties again. "The college deplores conduct of that kind," he said. Witkowski, who hopes to go into law or investment banking, refused to comment.
WWE news, Warrior's comeback, and Brooke Hogan's butt.
Several wrestlers are unhappy with WWE management's apparent lack of communication. Rey Mysterio, Matt Hardy, Jim Ross and Batista have all claimed that no one informed them of their moves to other brands before Raw's live airing. Jeff Hardy and Triple H say they were informed ahead of time. Reportedly there was even an argument between Jim Ross and Vince McMahon after Raw went off the air. McMahon allegedly told Ross that he (Vince) risked his life on Raw and ruined his son-in-law's life for the sake of the company. Many WWE talents found that remark amusing, since Triple H's move to SmackDown is actually greatly beneficial to his personal life. Ross reported in his WWE blog that he contemplated quitting the company, but decided against it. Rey Mysterio is particularly unhappy with his brand switch altogether, because he feels the SmackDown brand caters better to the Latino market.
In an interview with Slam Wrestling, Santino Marella said that he's going to be given a new on-screen Canadian girlfriend from one of WWE's developmental territories.
Here is an interesting ratings report for the 6/16 episode of Raw. Take from these figures whatever you'd like. The first Triple H versus Chris Jericho match in several years managed to lose a good portion of television viewers. The match was the main event and lost 205,000 viewers to do a 3.13 overrun. The main event almost never loses viewers, especially a main event that hasn't been repeated in several years. However, the John Cena versus Umaga match-which has been repeated more recently-gained 174,000 viewers. The bikini contest gained 63,000 viewers, which is less than recent TNA Knockout matches have done. Vince McMahon's phone call segment with Hacksaw Jim Duggan lost 16,000 viewers. The events that followed it (Jeff Hardy versus Carlito and part of the Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho and the return of Ric Flair) gained back 95,000 viewers. Flair's backstage segment with Jericho and Triple H, plus the brief Holly and Rhodes versus Cryme Tyme match, lost 174,000 viewers. Paul Burchill and Katie Lea versus Mickie James and Mister Kennedy lost 111,000 viewers.
In a related note, writer Brian Gewirtz has been pressured to devote more screen time to the top stars of Raw due to the show's continually declining ratings. Internally, WWE officials have a pecking order list of the people they consider to be the top five stars in the company. In no particular order, Triple H, Undertaker and John Cena are regarded as the company's three biggest stars. Batista and Shawn Michaels fall in the second tier level right behind them.
The WWE creative team has big plans for Lance Cade. They are having discussions on how to repackage him. They hope to make him a main-event level heel, and his partnership with Chris Jericho is expected to continue.
JBL's in-ring future may be short. His back is reportedly still in pain, and he is frustrated that he cannot wrestle at the level he would like.
Nu Wrestling Evolution's show at the Pavello Olimpoico of Badalona in Spain drew over 14,000 fans (many of them children). The show was headlined by the returning Ultimate Warrior. As expected, Warrior won his match against Orlando Jordan and immediately vacated the NWE title afterward. Perhaps the bigger story though is what didn't happen during the event. An Anti-Warrior group recently surfaced on MySpace, threatening to ruin the Warrior's comeback match by jumping the railing and entering the ring. The Warrior's official Web site provided links to the group's Myspace page as well as their video on Youtube, prompting talk that the group was merely a hoax created to further promote the Warrior's match. Warrior's agent, Bernie J. Gernay, shot down such speculation on UltimateWarriorTV.com. He wrote: "Furthermore, we have received thousands of emails asking if this is some type of a work generated by Ultimate Warrior TV to create hype and continued subscriptions for the Pay-Per-View. This is unequivocally false. It would not only be childish but deceptive. A simple Google search of the individuals name (which he has offered numerous times) who is behind this effort will prove he is a real person that does indeed exist." Gernay later asked Warrior for his take on the situation. Warrior said: "Bring it on. With all of the frustration and mishaps that happened in Spain, that will give me an excuse to kill someone and get away with it." The OJ/Warrior match went off without a hitch. The vacated title will be defended in a future tournament.
Brooke Hogan told USWeekly.com this week that she doesn't understand why the public became so uncomfortable over the pictures that have surfaced of her father, Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea, placing suntan oil on her bottom. Brooke said: "I know I'm a grown woman, but it's like he's touching an old car. He used to change my diaper."
The Online World of Wrestling Web site has an interview up with Bruno Lauer, better known to wrestling fans as Harvey Wippleman. In it, Lauer talks about a number of wrestling talents, his current duties in WWE, his new book, his career, how Giant Gonzalez is doing, why you never see him on TV anymore, and more. Lauer also pulls no punches when discussing the late Rhonda Singh, who portrayed Wippleman's love interest Bertha Faye in the WWF. Lauer stated "The Bertha Faye deal was (Vince Russo's) idea. No, I was not having fun; don't get me wrong, I didn't mind pretending to be in love with a hideous creature-that's business. I minded babysitting a smelly, alcoholic, argumentative, know-it-all person with no appreciation from her for anything."
The Sun has published an interview with Chris Jericho. Jericho talks about working with Shawn Michaels, his recent heel turn, the end of Ric Flair's career, his love for the wrestling industry, up and coming stars like Lance Cade, this weekend's Night of Champions pay-per-view and more. I've provided a link to the full interview below in my list of sources. Sadly, I've yet to find the full Bruno Lauer interview.
WARNING: SMACKDOWN SPOILERS AHEAD! If you haven't yet seen SmackDown and want to be surprised, do NOT read ahead.
SmackDown spoilers:
Tommy Dreamer beat Kevin Thorn in a dark match.
SmackDown opens with Vickie Guerrero talking about Vince McMahon's "accident" on Raw. She wishes Vince well and says she hopes he's not in a wheelchair. She introduces new SmackDown color commentator, Jim Ross.
Triple H comes out to cut a promo. He gets a huge pop. Triple H welcomes Jim Ross, then talks about Night of Champions. Edge comes out to interrupt him. Batista comes out soon after. Hunter pushes Edge and Batista hits him. They both hold the title up while Edge is on the ground.
Big Show and Kane beat MVP and Mark Henry.
Finlay and Hornswoggle beat The Edgeheads-Zack Ryder and Kurt Hawkins. The Miz and John Morrison stand on the entrance ramp with their belts during the match.
Edge beat Matt Hardy.
Maryse, Victoria and Natalya beat Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool and Cherry.
It is announced that Kennedy won't be on SmackDown until next week.
Vladimir Kozlov beat Domino.
Rey Mysterio comes out wearing street clothes and his mask to make his final SmackDown appearance. He explains to the fans that he has been drafted to Raw and he hopes everyone will tune in weekly to watch him. He goes on to say that hopefully he can fulfill more of his dreams. Batista then comes out and says he will back Rey wherever he goes.
Batista versus Umaga ended in a draw when La Familia interfered, attacking both men. Triple H made the save, helping Batista clear the ring.
SOURCES FOR THIS ENTRY:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/article1345875.ece
http://www.tmz.com/
http://www.usweekly.com/
http://www.ovwrestling.com/shop_ovw.htm
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/
http://www.wrestlezone.com/
In an interview with Slam Wrestling, Santino Marella said that he's going to be given a new on-screen Canadian girlfriend from one of WWE's developmental territories.
Here is an interesting ratings report for the 6/16 episode of Raw. Take from these figures whatever you'd like. The first Triple H versus Chris Jericho match in several years managed to lose a good portion of television viewers. The match was the main event and lost 205,000 viewers to do a 3.13 overrun. The main event almost never loses viewers, especially a main event that hasn't been repeated in several years. However, the John Cena versus Umaga match-which has been repeated more recently-gained 174,000 viewers. The bikini contest gained 63,000 viewers, which is less than recent TNA Knockout matches have done. Vince McMahon's phone call segment with Hacksaw Jim Duggan lost 16,000 viewers. The events that followed it (Jeff Hardy versus Carlito and part of the Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho and the return of Ric Flair) gained back 95,000 viewers. Flair's backstage segment with Jericho and Triple H, plus the brief Holly and Rhodes versus Cryme Tyme match, lost 174,000 viewers. Paul Burchill and Katie Lea versus Mickie James and Mister Kennedy lost 111,000 viewers.
In a related note, writer Brian Gewirtz has been pressured to devote more screen time to the top stars of Raw due to the show's continually declining ratings. Internally, WWE officials have a pecking order list of the people they consider to be the top five stars in the company. In no particular order, Triple H, Undertaker and John Cena are regarded as the company's three biggest stars. Batista and Shawn Michaels fall in the second tier level right behind them.
The WWE creative team has big plans for Lance Cade. They are having discussions on how to repackage him. They hope to make him a main-event level heel, and his partnership with Chris Jericho is expected to continue.
JBL's in-ring future may be short. His back is reportedly still in pain, and he is frustrated that he cannot wrestle at the level he would like.
Nu Wrestling Evolution's show at the Pavello Olimpoico of Badalona in Spain drew over 14,000 fans (many of them children). The show was headlined by the returning Ultimate Warrior. As expected, Warrior won his match against Orlando Jordan and immediately vacated the NWE title afterward. Perhaps the bigger story though is what didn't happen during the event. An Anti-Warrior group recently surfaced on MySpace, threatening to ruin the Warrior's comeback match by jumping the railing and entering the ring. The Warrior's official Web site provided links to the group's Myspace page as well as their video on Youtube, prompting talk that the group was merely a hoax created to further promote the Warrior's match. Warrior's agent, Bernie J. Gernay, shot down such speculation on UltimateWarriorTV.com. He wrote: "Furthermore, we have received thousands of emails asking if this is some type of a work generated by Ultimate Warrior TV to create hype and continued subscriptions for the Pay-Per-View. This is unequivocally false. It would not only be childish but deceptive. A simple Google search of the individuals name (which he has offered numerous times) who is behind this effort will prove he is a real person that does indeed exist." Gernay later asked Warrior for his take on the situation. Warrior said: "Bring it on. With all of the frustration and mishaps that happened in Spain, that will give me an excuse to kill someone and get away with it." The OJ/Warrior match went off without a hitch. The vacated title will be defended in a future tournament.
Brooke Hogan told USWeekly.com this week that she doesn't understand why the public became so uncomfortable over the pictures that have surfaced of her father, Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea, placing suntan oil on her bottom. Brooke said: "I know I'm a grown woman, but it's like he's touching an old car. He used to change my diaper."
The Online World of Wrestling Web site has an interview up with Bruno Lauer, better known to wrestling fans as Harvey Wippleman. In it, Lauer talks about a number of wrestling talents, his current duties in WWE, his new book, his career, how Giant Gonzalez is doing, why you never see him on TV anymore, and more. Lauer also pulls no punches when discussing the late Rhonda Singh, who portrayed Wippleman's love interest Bertha Faye in the WWF. Lauer stated "The Bertha Faye deal was (Vince Russo's) idea. No, I was not having fun; don't get me wrong, I didn't mind pretending to be in love with a hideous creature-that's business. I minded babysitting a smelly, alcoholic, argumentative, know-it-all person with no appreciation from her for anything."
The Sun has published an interview with Chris Jericho. Jericho talks about working with Shawn Michaels, his recent heel turn, the end of Ric Flair's career, his love for the wrestling industry, up and coming stars like Lance Cade, this weekend's Night of Champions pay-per-view and more. I've provided a link to the full interview below in my list of sources. Sadly, I've yet to find the full Bruno Lauer interview.
WARNING: SMACKDOWN SPOILERS AHEAD! If you haven't yet seen SmackDown and want to be surprised, do NOT read ahead.
SmackDown spoilers:
Tommy Dreamer beat Kevin Thorn in a dark match.
SmackDown opens with Vickie Guerrero talking about Vince McMahon's "accident" on Raw. She wishes Vince well and says she hopes he's not in a wheelchair. She introduces new SmackDown color commentator, Jim Ross.
Triple H comes out to cut a promo. He gets a huge pop. Triple H welcomes Jim Ross, then talks about Night of Champions. Edge comes out to interrupt him. Batista comes out soon after. Hunter pushes Edge and Batista hits him. They both hold the title up while Edge is on the ground.
Big Show and Kane beat MVP and Mark Henry.
Finlay and Hornswoggle beat The Edgeheads-Zack Ryder and Kurt Hawkins. The Miz and John Morrison stand on the entrance ramp with their belts during the match.
Edge beat Matt Hardy.
Maryse, Victoria and Natalya beat Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool and Cherry.
It is announced that Kennedy won't be on SmackDown until next week.
Vladimir Kozlov beat Domino.
Rey Mysterio comes out wearing street clothes and his mask to make his final SmackDown appearance. He explains to the fans that he has been drafted to Raw and he hopes everyone will tune in weekly to watch him. He goes on to say that hopefully he can fulfill more of his dreams. Batista then comes out and says he will back Rey wherever he goes.
Batista versus Umaga ended in a draw when La Familia interfered, attacking both men. Triple H made the save, helping Batista clear the ring.
SOURCES FOR THIS ENTRY:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/article1345875.ece
http://www.tmz.com/
http://www.usweekly.com/
http://www.ovwrestling.com/shop_ovw.htm
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/
http://www.wrestlezone.com/
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Three-day old news, WWE's clothing line, and an addition to the blog!
So I'm back from my aforementioned journey to Texas. I've missed a lot of wrestling as a result of the trip, but I can't let this post pass without discussing WWE's 2008 draft. The short results of the draft, including after-show trades and picks, are as follows: The Raw brand gained Batista, CM Punk, Kane, the injured Rey Mysterio, Michael Cole, Kofi Kingston, Chuck Palumbo, Deuce, Jamie Noble, Layla, and Matt Striker. SmackDown got Triple H, Jim Ross, Jeff Hardy, Ken Kennedy, Umaga, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, Brian Kendrick, Trevor Murdoch, Maria, and DH Smith. Likewise, ECW is now the home of Finlay (and presumably Hornswoggle), Matt Hardy, John Morrison, and Super Crazy.
I have several thoughts about the draft picks themselves. We'll get to them one by one, starting with ECW. First, I have to say that one part of the draft bothered me tremendously. Matches were held to determine which brand received a draft pick. I'll accept that. What I refuse to accept is ECW's almost total lack of involvement. Each match should've featured a member from all three brands, if only to give them the appearance of equality. This didn't happen. ECW got the short end of the stick and it was obvious from the start that they would. If WWE wants us to take this draft as seriously as the draft of any other major sport, they need to make us believe the playing field is even from the start. That being said, I'm happy to see Super Crazy back on the ECW brand. It adds another Original to the roster, and with none of the WWE brands currently featuring a lightweight division of some sort, ECW is likely the best home for Crazy.
DH Smith being a part of SmackDown is also rather interesting. No, seriously! His presence on the blue brand kills the rumor that he'll be revealed as the partner of Ted Dibiase Jr. at Night Of Champions. Many times, the wrestling business won't do what's predictable just because it's so predictable, even if the majority of fans know it's coming and want to see it. Many times, this logic blows up in the faces of the promoters/writers/bookers. For proof of this, see Hornswoggle being revealed as Vince McMahon's son instead of Ken Kennedy. With DH Smith out of the picture on Raw, it should be interesting to see who Ted's new partner is going to be. Only time will tell if it turns out to be a better or worse choice than the Bulldog's kid. Likewise, Carlito is now a part of SmackDown, which is where he began his WWE career. Carlito recently complained about his status in WWE, and has now been "demoted" because of it. Interestingly enough, he remains on the same brand as the man he buried, Triple H. Jeff Hardy, who also recently got in hot water with WWE management, is also now a part of the B show. For Hardy's health if not his career, I hope this serves as a wake-up call.
Does CM Punk's move to the Raw brand suggest a larger push for his character? One would think so. Deserved or not, WWE is currently in the aftermath of a steroid scandal. Considering this, a "straight-edge" smaller wrestler seems like the perfect person to feature on their lead brand. It should also be pointed out that the last time WWE rebounded from a steroid accusation, wrestling saw the rise of smaller wrestlers including Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. That worked out rather well. Furthermore, Punk's Money In The Bank title shot has yet to be cashed in. The storyline says he has between now and next year's WrestleMania to do so. How this will play out, especially with different champions switching brands in the draft, will hopefully make for fascinating TV. Kane re-joining Raw is also a good move in my opinion. He's far more associated with the red brand than with ECW. This move could be used to explain the upcoming working relationship between the Raw and ECW brands. Night Of Champions will now feature Raw versus SmackDown matches for two of the company's Heavyweight titles. How WWE writes themselves out of those corners should be fun to watch. Or just very confusing. Unfortunately, the results of the pay-per-view seem a bit more predictable now that the trades have been made.
In other news, WWE has launched an official t-shirt line similar to the Afflication brand. "WWE Top Rope" shirts will retail for about $45 USD. Normal WWE shirts sell for around $20-$30 USD. It is currently unknown whether the Top Rope shirts are of a better quality. The first two shirts in the Top Rope line are for Shawn Michaels and Triple H. They can be viewed at the links below:
http://www.wweshop.com/Product_detail.asp?cat=cat-shawnmichaels&productId=01-09882
http://www.wweshop.com/Product_detail.asp?cat=cat-tripleh&productId=01-09870
Lastly, I'm happy to announce that this blog will soon feature a female's perspective in addition to my own. A friend of mine who through the years has worked with me on various wrestling-related projects will soon be joining this blog with a regular column. We're still working out the specifics, but I assure you, her work will be worth reading.
Enjoy your weekend, loyal readers.
I have several thoughts about the draft picks themselves. We'll get to them one by one, starting with ECW. First, I have to say that one part of the draft bothered me tremendously. Matches were held to determine which brand received a draft pick. I'll accept that. What I refuse to accept is ECW's almost total lack of involvement. Each match should've featured a member from all three brands, if only to give them the appearance of equality. This didn't happen. ECW got the short end of the stick and it was obvious from the start that they would. If WWE wants us to take this draft as seriously as the draft of any other major sport, they need to make us believe the playing field is even from the start. That being said, I'm happy to see Super Crazy back on the ECW brand. It adds another Original to the roster, and with none of the WWE brands currently featuring a lightweight division of some sort, ECW is likely the best home for Crazy.
DH Smith being a part of SmackDown is also rather interesting. No, seriously! His presence on the blue brand kills the rumor that he'll be revealed as the partner of Ted Dibiase Jr. at Night Of Champions. Many times, the wrestling business won't do what's predictable just because it's so predictable, even if the majority of fans know it's coming and want to see it. Many times, this logic blows up in the faces of the promoters/writers/bookers. For proof of this, see Hornswoggle being revealed as Vince McMahon's son instead of Ken Kennedy. With DH Smith out of the picture on Raw, it should be interesting to see who Ted's new partner is going to be. Only time will tell if it turns out to be a better or worse choice than the Bulldog's kid. Likewise, Carlito is now a part of SmackDown, which is where he began his WWE career. Carlito recently complained about his status in WWE, and has now been "demoted" because of it. Interestingly enough, he remains on the same brand as the man he buried, Triple H. Jeff Hardy, who also recently got in hot water with WWE management, is also now a part of the B show. For Hardy's health if not his career, I hope this serves as a wake-up call.
Does CM Punk's move to the Raw brand suggest a larger push for his character? One would think so. Deserved or not, WWE is currently in the aftermath of a steroid scandal. Considering this, a "straight-edge" smaller wrestler seems like the perfect person to feature on their lead brand. It should also be pointed out that the last time WWE rebounded from a steroid accusation, wrestling saw the rise of smaller wrestlers including Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. That worked out rather well. Furthermore, Punk's Money In The Bank title shot has yet to be cashed in. The storyline says he has between now and next year's WrestleMania to do so. How this will play out, especially with different champions switching brands in the draft, will hopefully make for fascinating TV. Kane re-joining Raw is also a good move in my opinion. He's far more associated with the red brand than with ECW. This move could be used to explain the upcoming working relationship between the Raw and ECW brands. Night Of Champions will now feature Raw versus SmackDown matches for two of the company's Heavyweight titles. How WWE writes themselves out of those corners should be fun to watch. Or just very confusing. Unfortunately, the results of the pay-per-view seem a bit more predictable now that the trades have been made.
In other news, WWE has launched an official t-shirt line similar to the Afflication brand. "WWE Top Rope" shirts will retail for about $45 USD. Normal WWE shirts sell for around $20-$30 USD. It is currently unknown whether the Top Rope shirts are of a better quality. The first two shirts in the Top Rope line are for Shawn Michaels and Triple H. They can be viewed at the links below:
http://www.wweshop.com/Product_detail.asp?cat=cat-shawnmichaels&productId=01-09882
http://www.wweshop.com/Product_detail.asp?cat=cat-tripleh&productId=01-09870
Lastly, I'm happy to announce that this blog will soon feature a female's perspective in addition to my own. A friend of mine who through the years has worked with me on various wrestling-related projects will soon be joining this blog with a regular column. We're still working out the specifics, but I assure you, her work will be worth reading.
Enjoy your weekend, loyal readers.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
News, and another interview!
Chris Jericho completed his heel turn this week on Raw, which was capped off by the return of Ric Flair. Jericho's promo was excellent as usual, although some question if he should truly be getting booked as the bad guy in this feud.
Michael Hayes is back in creative, but he is being required to do a number of different things. He was made to sit down and speak with all black WWE wrestlers, and he is no longer allowed to drink on company time.
Randy Orton's collarbone injury will keep him out of action until at least this fall. However, Rey Mysterio is expected back in early to mid-July.
I will be in Texas over the next few days, so don't expect any updates for about a week. However, before leaving, I put in a request for an interview with Kiley McLean. She's an indy wrestler best-known for playing Rosie O'Donnell on Raw. My request for an interview with Kevin Nash has gone unreturned so far.
See you all in a week!
Michael Hayes is back in creative, but he is being required to do a number of different things. He was made to sit down and speak with all black WWE wrestlers, and he is no longer allowed to drink on company time.
Randy Orton's collarbone injury will keep him out of action until at least this fall. However, Rey Mysterio is expected back in early to mid-July.
I will be in Texas over the next few days, so don't expect any updates for about a week. However, before leaving, I put in a request for an interview with Kiley McLean. She's an indy wrestler best-known for playing Rosie O'Donnell on Raw. My request for an interview with Kevin Nash has gone unreturned so far.
See you all in a week!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
WWE/ROH news and notes
This week's Raw was rated TV-PG instead of TV-14. This could signal the official beginning of WWE marketing its TV product toward children. In the early 1990's, children were also the target audience of the then-WWF. SmackDown has always been rated TV-PG, even during the adult-themed Attitude era.
Carlito is said to once again be unhappy with his role in WWE. WWE continues to employ Carlito despite his continued unhappiness, in part because the company covets wrestlers with appeal to Hispanic audiences.
The recently released book Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry alleges that Vince McMahon has had a "love affair" with the drug cocaine that may or may not have subsided. "(McMahon) liked to brag with apparent justification that 'I can snort as much of that stuff as anyone can put in front of me and never get hooked.' One WWE employee of recent years told me, "The boys and former office staff use euphemisms when they talk about Vince's 'energy." The inside joke about it is that sixty-something Vince most likely isn't that energetic over multi-day sleepness stretches without help. I've seen him so wired that his eyes looked like they were going to pop,"" the book says.
Production will begin immediately on Ring Of Honor's next pay-per-view "Respect Is Earned II." It will premiere on IN DEMAND, The DISH Network and TVN cable systems on August 1st and feature a triple main event. The top three matches are: Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black versus Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries, Nigel McGuinness versus Go Shiozaki and Roderick Strong versus Erick Stevens.
In other ROH news, Jerry Lynn is only scheduled for the 6/28 ROH Chicago date. Also, Lance Storm will not be wrestling at the 7/25 and/or 7/26 ROH events, but he will have a role on each show and be available for autographs. Storm has already given advice to several members of the roster after watching their pay-per-view shows. KOCH Vision will release ROH's next two DVDs "Best In The World" and "Greatest Rivalries" into retail stores everywhere on July 8th.
Former WWE writer Seth Mates wrote in his "Steel Cage" column for Newsday that WWE has been sending various news outlets a "money-themed gift basket" as a way of promoting Raw's on-going million dollar giveaway sweepstakes. The problem with this? The gift baskets contain actual money. $4.94 USD to be exact. Technically speaking, does this mean WWE has attempted to pay off members of the press? Seth Mates believes so, stating that he refunded WWE's money for ethical reasons. For the record, I haven't received one of these gift baskets, but they sure sound neat. If any other members of the media find themselves facing this ethical dilemna, I'll gladly take Vince McMahon's gift basket off your hands.
SOURCES FOR THIS ENTRY: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/specialevent/wrestling/
Carlito is said to once again be unhappy with his role in WWE. WWE continues to employ Carlito despite his continued unhappiness, in part because the company covets wrestlers with appeal to Hispanic audiences.
The recently released book Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry alleges that Vince McMahon has had a "love affair" with the drug cocaine that may or may not have subsided. "(McMahon) liked to brag with apparent justification that 'I can snort as much of that stuff as anyone can put in front of me and never get hooked.' One WWE employee of recent years told me, "The boys and former office staff use euphemisms when they talk about Vince's 'energy." The inside joke about it is that sixty-something Vince most likely isn't that energetic over multi-day sleepness stretches without help. I've seen him so wired that his eyes looked like they were going to pop,"" the book says.
Production will begin immediately on Ring Of Honor's next pay-per-view "Respect Is Earned II." It will premiere on IN DEMAND, The DISH Network and TVN cable systems on August 1st and feature a triple main event. The top three matches are: Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black versus Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries, Nigel McGuinness versus Go Shiozaki and Roderick Strong versus Erick Stevens.
In other ROH news, Jerry Lynn is only scheduled for the 6/28 ROH Chicago date. Also, Lance Storm will not be wrestling at the 7/25 and/or 7/26 ROH events, but he will have a role on each show and be available for autographs. Storm has already given advice to several members of the roster after watching their pay-per-view shows. KOCH Vision will release ROH's next two DVDs "Best In The World" and "Greatest Rivalries" into retail stores everywhere on July 8th.
Former WWE writer Seth Mates wrote in his "Steel Cage" column for Newsday that WWE has been sending various news outlets a "money-themed gift basket" as a way of promoting Raw's on-going million dollar giveaway sweepstakes. The problem with this? The gift baskets contain actual money. $4.94 USD to be exact. Technically speaking, does this mean WWE has attempted to pay off members of the press? Seth Mates believes so, stating that he refunded WWE's money for ethical reasons. For the record, I haven't received one of these gift baskets, but they sure sound neat. If any other members of the media find themselves facing this ethical dilemna, I'll gladly take Vince McMahon's gift basket off your hands.
SOURCES FOR THIS ENTRY: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/specialevent/wrestling/
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
What's the best lesbian angle in wrestling?
Gay characters have been a staple in pro wrestling ever since Gorgeous George and the black and white television era, but lesbians have only recently become a part of the show. For about the last twelve years the largest wrestling companies in North America have emphasized storylines and characters aimed at adult audiences. As part of that push, promoters introduced lesbians onto their unique programming. It was a no-brainer.
Today I'd like to ask my readers which lesbian-themed storyline they believe is the greatest in wrestling's history. Usually "greatest" lists can be debated all night and day, however, the wrestling business only has a few storylines of this nature to choose from. Unlike gay villains and other wrestling cliches, lesbian characters and angles remain scarce within the industry. That fact could either make the selection process easier, or just much more difficult. I've detailed each memorable same-sex angle below, along with some pros and cons to consider when putting in your two cents. If I've forgotten an angle or simply weren't aware of one, let me know about it!
THE ANGLE: Beulah and Kimona, ECW's only lesbian storyline (and also it's only bisexual one). Shane Douglas promised to drop a bombshell on his opponent, Raven, the night they faced off for the ECW championship. Raven had replaced Beulah with Kimona after Beulah left Raven for his long-time nemesis Tommy Dreamer, claiming she was pregnant with Dreamer's baby. Kimona dumped Raven soon after herself and threw her support behind Douglas for the upcoming title match. Before the match took place, Douglas announced that Beulah wasn't really pregnant, and that she'd been cheating on BOTH Raven and Tommy Dreamer the entire time. It turned out she was cheating with Kimona! The girls kissed mid-ring to prove this. Luckily, Dreamer was "hardcore" enough to handle them both. He escorted the ladies back to the locker room, and was co-managed until Kimona left ECW.
PRO: The angle was timed perfectly. It took place during the height of shows such as Jerry Springer, where similar stories could be found on daytime TV. Also, the lesbian storyline wrote out Beulah's baby in a way that didn't involve a cliche miscarriage.
CON: The angle, which pretty much went nowhere after the kiss, got ECW kicked off of some TV networks. It doesn't seem worth it, all things considered.
THE ANGLE: Trish and Mickie, WWE's lesbian stalker. Mickie James jumped the railing and made the save for Trish Stratus a few times on WWE television before introducing herself to Stratus backstage. Trish identified Mickie as the girl who continuously wrote her letters and such. Her "number one fan" as it were. The two bonded and Mickie "learned to wrestle" from Trish. Slowly but surely Mickie James became increasingly obsessed with Trish Stratus, and even jealous when Trish announced she had a boyfriend. Stratus knew James was a bit psychotic, but didn't have the heart to tell her to buzz off. Finally, after a lengthy buildup that included a Christmas kiss under the missletoe, Stratus worked up the nerve to tell off James. This allowed James to turn on Stratus heading into WrestleMania, and produced an exciting feud for the Women's title that hasn't been duplicated since.
PRO: WWE women's wrestling was given a decent storyline and a good amount of airtime, while continuing to produce excellent matches between the ropes.
CON: Mickie James had nowhere to go but down. This feud got her over with the crowd, even to the point that they were cheering her during the WrestleMania match. Unfortunately, James has since been reduced to just another Diva.
THE ANGLE: Dawn and Torrie, a wedding and a funeral. Dawn Marie began to make eyes at Torrie Wilson's father, Al. It turned out Al felt the same way. Torrie wasn't a fan of this at all considering the age gap, and because she knew what a heel Dawn Marie was. Eventually Dawn and Al Wilson were engaged to be married, but Marie told Torrie she'd break off the engagement if Torrie agreed to sleep with her. Torrie agreed, but Marie went ahead with the ceremony anyway because she was evil! To make matters worse, she killed Al Wison the night of the honeymoon via marathon sex. The girls brawled at Al's SmackDown funeral, and had a blowoff match on pay-per-view.
PRO: The Al Wilson angle is now infamous, earning its place in history at wrestlecrap.com. It also served a purpose for WWE at the time: Producing event-driven television. Weddings, funerals, graduations, etc. Every show has them, and WWE wanted more of them at this point in time. They managed to get TWO events out of ONE storyline. Also, just like Trish and Mickie, the angle gave women's wrestling more airtime.
CON: Everything else! Torrie Wilson was pseudo-raped. The payoff match to the storyline lacked any kind of intensity or seriousness. The angle bored many viewers along the way. Oh, and Al Wilson's lack of both acting and wrestling abilities didn't help matters.
THE ANGLE: HLA, a sexy hate crime. The SmackDown wedding ceremony of Billy and Chuck was gaining WWE a lot of positive publicity. At the time, the Raw and SmackDown brands were also feuding with one another. To counter the mainstream coverage of SmackDown's gay wedding, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff decided to have lesbians on his program. The lesbians weren't getting married however. They were simply making out and removing one another's clothes for no apparent reason. Three Minute Warning interrupted the in-ring lovefest by attacking both girls before too much skin could get revealed.
PRO: It furthered a storyline, and continued to build Three Minute Warning as heels.
CON: Women getting beaten up for being lesbians, even by bad guys, sends a terrible message. The fact that this angle took place during a time when WWE was getting praised for gay-friendly TV makes it an even more questionable decision.
THE ANGLE: Marlena and Sable, the lesbian angle that lacked contact. The Goldust character had been "playing mind games" with male opponents since his debut in the WWF, but information about his valet Marlena was relatively unknown. When Goldust began a feud with Marc Mero, the valets became the reason for the fighting. Mero implied during an interview that Marlena sexually harrassed Sable in a parking lot. Innuendo continued to lace the promos between the two, leading to a forgettable blowoff match.
PRO: The angle developed the Marlena character, and created a nice mid-card storyline for a brief while.
CON: Possibly due to TV restrictions at the time, the two valets never actually interacted physically during the angle. All the talk of unwanted sexual advances that the viewer never got to see took away a lot of interest in the storyline.
I look forward to seeing how everyone votes, and here's hoping we have more gay angles to select from in the future.
Today I'd like to ask my readers which lesbian-themed storyline they believe is the greatest in wrestling's history. Usually "greatest" lists can be debated all night and day, however, the wrestling business only has a few storylines of this nature to choose from. Unlike gay villains and other wrestling cliches, lesbian characters and angles remain scarce within the industry. That fact could either make the selection process easier, or just much more difficult. I've detailed each memorable same-sex angle below, along with some pros and cons to consider when putting in your two cents. If I've forgotten an angle or simply weren't aware of one, let me know about it!
THE ANGLE: Beulah and Kimona, ECW's only lesbian storyline (and also it's only bisexual one). Shane Douglas promised to drop a bombshell on his opponent, Raven, the night they faced off for the ECW championship. Raven had replaced Beulah with Kimona after Beulah left Raven for his long-time nemesis Tommy Dreamer, claiming she was pregnant with Dreamer's baby. Kimona dumped Raven soon after herself and threw her support behind Douglas for the upcoming title match. Before the match took place, Douglas announced that Beulah wasn't really pregnant, and that she'd been cheating on BOTH Raven and Tommy Dreamer the entire time. It turned out she was cheating with Kimona! The girls kissed mid-ring to prove this. Luckily, Dreamer was "hardcore" enough to handle them both. He escorted the ladies back to the locker room, and was co-managed until Kimona left ECW.
PRO: The angle was timed perfectly. It took place during the height of shows such as Jerry Springer, where similar stories could be found on daytime TV. Also, the lesbian storyline wrote out Beulah's baby in a way that didn't involve a cliche miscarriage.
CON: The angle, which pretty much went nowhere after the kiss, got ECW kicked off of some TV networks. It doesn't seem worth it, all things considered.
THE ANGLE: Trish and Mickie, WWE's lesbian stalker. Mickie James jumped the railing and made the save for Trish Stratus a few times on WWE television before introducing herself to Stratus backstage. Trish identified Mickie as the girl who continuously wrote her letters and such. Her "number one fan" as it were. The two bonded and Mickie "learned to wrestle" from Trish. Slowly but surely Mickie James became increasingly obsessed with Trish Stratus, and even jealous when Trish announced she had a boyfriend. Stratus knew James was a bit psychotic, but didn't have the heart to tell her to buzz off. Finally, after a lengthy buildup that included a Christmas kiss under the missletoe, Stratus worked up the nerve to tell off James. This allowed James to turn on Stratus heading into WrestleMania, and produced an exciting feud for the Women's title that hasn't been duplicated since.
PRO: WWE women's wrestling was given a decent storyline and a good amount of airtime, while continuing to produce excellent matches between the ropes.
CON: Mickie James had nowhere to go but down. This feud got her over with the crowd, even to the point that they were cheering her during the WrestleMania match. Unfortunately, James has since been reduced to just another Diva.
THE ANGLE: Dawn and Torrie, a wedding and a funeral. Dawn Marie began to make eyes at Torrie Wilson's father, Al. It turned out Al felt the same way. Torrie wasn't a fan of this at all considering the age gap, and because she knew what a heel Dawn Marie was. Eventually Dawn and Al Wilson were engaged to be married, but Marie told Torrie she'd break off the engagement if Torrie agreed to sleep with her. Torrie agreed, but Marie went ahead with the ceremony anyway because she was evil! To make matters worse, she killed Al Wison the night of the honeymoon via marathon sex. The girls brawled at Al's SmackDown funeral, and had a blowoff match on pay-per-view.
PRO: The Al Wilson angle is now infamous, earning its place in history at wrestlecrap.com. It also served a purpose for WWE at the time: Producing event-driven television. Weddings, funerals, graduations, etc. Every show has them, and WWE wanted more of them at this point in time. They managed to get TWO events out of ONE storyline. Also, just like Trish and Mickie, the angle gave women's wrestling more airtime.
CON: Everything else! Torrie Wilson was pseudo-raped. The payoff match to the storyline lacked any kind of intensity or seriousness. The angle bored many viewers along the way. Oh, and Al Wilson's lack of both acting and wrestling abilities didn't help matters.
THE ANGLE: HLA, a sexy hate crime. The SmackDown wedding ceremony of Billy and Chuck was gaining WWE a lot of positive publicity. At the time, the Raw and SmackDown brands were also feuding with one another. To counter the mainstream coverage of SmackDown's gay wedding, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff decided to have lesbians on his program. The lesbians weren't getting married however. They were simply making out and removing one another's clothes for no apparent reason. Three Minute Warning interrupted the in-ring lovefest by attacking both girls before too much skin could get revealed.
PRO: It furthered a storyline, and continued to build Three Minute Warning as heels.
CON: Women getting beaten up for being lesbians, even by bad guys, sends a terrible message. The fact that this angle took place during a time when WWE was getting praised for gay-friendly TV makes it an even more questionable decision.
THE ANGLE: Marlena and Sable, the lesbian angle that lacked contact. The Goldust character had been "playing mind games" with male opponents since his debut in the WWF, but information about his valet Marlena was relatively unknown. When Goldust began a feud with Marc Mero, the valets became the reason for the fighting. Mero implied during an interview that Marlena sexually harrassed Sable in a parking lot. Innuendo continued to lace the promos between the two, leading to a forgettable blowoff match.
PRO: The angle developed the Marlena character, and created a nice mid-card storyline for a brief while.
CON: Possibly due to TV restrictions at the time, the two valets never actually interacted physically during the angle. All the talk of unwanted sexual advances that the viewer never got to see took away a lot of interest in the storyline.
I look forward to seeing how everyone votes, and here's hoping we have more gay angles to select from in the future.
Monday, June 9, 2008
sequels
This update should thrill fans of John Cena and women's wrestling.
Big Vision Entertainment has launched www.MySpace.com/glowrestling and are currently casting for a new roster of GLOW girls. They currently distribute Best Of DVDs of the former GLOW promotion run by David McLane. The all-female promotion ran nationally via syndication in the late 1980s out of Las Vegas.
WWE Films will be releasing a sequel to John Cena's debut movie The Marine. The movie grossed less than $20 million. However, it was successful on DVD and is WWE's most successful film project to date. The sequel will most likely be released directly on DVD.
Big Vision Entertainment has launched www.MySpace.com/glowrestling and are currently casting for a new roster of GLOW girls. They currently distribute Best Of DVDs of the former GLOW promotion run by David McLane. The all-female promotion ran nationally via syndication in the late 1980s out of Las Vegas.
WWE Films will be releasing a sequel to John Cena's debut movie The Marine. The movie grossed less than $20 million. However, it was successful on DVD and is WWE's most successful film project to date. The sequel will most likely be released directly on DVD.
Orlando Jordan's bisexual angle
In an interview starting to make the rounds on YouTube, former WWE wrestler Orlando Jordan partially discusses the much-talked about bisexual angle he was supposed to be involved in before his release from the company. I decided to post Orlando's side of the story because it obviously fits the nature of this blog. WWE has yet to comment on matters concerning Orlando Jordan, beyond making his release known on WWE.com at the time it happened.
According to Jordan, the storyline was going to start out with Orlando being told he was one of the best-dressed guys in the company. After that, he would start coming to the ring with an entourage while wearing a robe. The valet of the group (who was supposed to be played by Trinity of TNA and OVW fame) would disrobe Orlando and the bell would ring, but Jordan's crew would remain on the ring apron. OJ would give his valet a kiss, and then would also kiss the male counterpart. Everyone would act shocked by this, except Jordan and his group. Jordan would use the shock to his advantage and score a quick victory. Jordan would then be questioned about the kiss backstage, but would ignore the question and only discuss his victory and victories to come, etc. Jordan also claims the character was originally going to be a part of the ECW brand. He said the gimmick was considered too risque for network television, but ECW was on a cable network where the envelope could be pushed further. OJ claims Tommy Dreamer came up with a lot of the character, and that Dreamer also wanted to put it on ECW to better differentiate the brand from other WWE programs. Jordan says Vince McMahon supported the character and even saw big money in it. He claims McMahon viewed the character as "the ultimate player" who could get anyone he went after.
Following his release from WWE, rumors began that Jordan was traveling to shows each week (across different state lines) with a sixteen-year-old male. This was believed to be the main reason for the firing. Jordan claims the story got exaggerated by someone who didn't feel comfortable with his sexuality. Jordan claims many people were uncomfortable with him and the bisexual storyline, and so he was released from the company before problems could occur.
The bi storyline has yet to be done with another performer. Also, the ECW brand wasn't officially brought back to regular television until June of 2006.
According to Jordan, the storyline was going to start out with Orlando being told he was one of the best-dressed guys in the company. After that, he would start coming to the ring with an entourage while wearing a robe. The valet of the group (who was supposed to be played by Trinity of TNA and OVW fame) would disrobe Orlando and the bell would ring, but Jordan's crew would remain on the ring apron. OJ would give his valet a kiss, and then would also kiss the male counterpart. Everyone would act shocked by this, except Jordan and his group. Jordan would use the shock to his advantage and score a quick victory. Jordan would then be questioned about the kiss backstage, but would ignore the question and only discuss his victory and victories to come, etc. Jordan also claims the character was originally going to be a part of the ECW brand. He said the gimmick was considered too risque for network television, but ECW was on a cable network where the envelope could be pushed further. OJ claims Tommy Dreamer came up with a lot of the character, and that Dreamer also wanted to put it on ECW to better differentiate the brand from other WWE programs. Jordan says Vince McMahon supported the character and even saw big money in it. He claims McMahon viewed the character as "the ultimate player" who could get anyone he went after.
Following his release from WWE, rumors began that Jordan was traveling to shows each week (across different state lines) with a sixteen-year-old male. This was believed to be the main reason for the firing. Jordan claims the story got exaggerated by someone who didn't feel comfortable with his sexuality. Jordan claims many people were uncomfortable with him and the bisexual storyline, and so he was released from the company before problems could occur.
The bi storyline has yet to be done with another performer. Also, the ECW brand wasn't officially brought back to regular television until June of 2006.
Friday, June 6, 2008
spoilers and news
Today's entry will just be a bit of wrestling news as we head into the weekend.
More celebrities have agreed to participate in Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling, which begins airing this fall in the United States on Country Music Television. Ed Leslie and Brian Knobbs will train celebrities to wrestle, while Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Hart and Eric Bischoff will act as judges. The only people involved with the show who have any past in-ring experience are Dustin Diamond, Butterbean, Dennis Rodman and Danny Bonaduce. The celebs will compete in various challenges, with one eventually being named the "Celebrity All-Star Wrestling Champion."
The Undertaker isn't actually retired from wrestling, nor did he violate WWE's Wellness Policy. It should actually be interesting to see how they bring him back to television, since it was stated he couldn't be drafted to another show and that he was banished from the entire company if he lost. Teddy Long is now the General Manager of the ECW brand, so any chance of him taking power back from Vickie Guererro and reinstating the Undertaker to SmackDown is also impossible.
Despite WWE pulling him from appearing at the event, the NWA will still induct Ric Flair into its Hall Of Fame tomorrow night in Atlanta, GA. I believe this makes Flair the only man inducted into both the NWA and WWE Hall Of Fame. Dusty Rhodes and Gordon Solie were previously inducted into both the WWE and WCW Halls Of Fame, however.
D-Lo Brown has re-signed with WWE.
Randy Orton's injury at One Night Stand was in fact legit. He suffered a broken collarbone. Details are still sketchy concerning a return date.
WWE Heat, which for the last few years had been airing only in WWE's international markets and on WWE.com, will soon be going off the air completely.
Nick Bollea (AKA Hulk Hogan's son) has been moved to a communal jail facility. He was hoping for home arrest.
Mick Foley recently took a shot at Bill Goldberg on SmackDown, claiming he was a waste of Vince McMahon's money. Goldberg hasn't responded yet.
Scott Hall is once again taking independent bookings. You can find out more on his official Web site TheScottHall.com.
Bret Hart, Gangrel (AKA The Vampire Warrior), Eugene (now also sometimes going by U-Gene), Scott "Scotty 2 Hotty" Taylor and Tatanka will be touring Ireland with No Limit Wrestling this fall. Here are the dates and locations:
October 23rd, 2008 - Neptune Stadium in Cork
October 24th, 2008 - University Concert Hall in Limerick
October 25th, 2008 - Travellers' Friend Hotel in Castlebar
October 26th, 2008 - Basketball Arena in Tallaght
October 27th, 2008 - Leisure Centre in Letterkenny
October 29th, 2008 - National Event Centre in Killarney
October 30th, 2008 - Dundalk
November 1st, 2008 - White's Hotel in Wexford
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster. Go to http://www.nolimitwrestling.com for info about NLW and http://www.prowrestlingevents.tk for info about upcoming shows.
The TNA video game is scheduled to be released in September for the PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, and Wii. Go to tnagame.com for more info.
Kevin Thorn has returned to his vampire gimmick in FCW.
Rey Mysterio is being listed for WWE house shows in July. Expect him back on television soon.
TNA recently signed TV distribution deals in Spain and Portugal. Perhaps Aldo Montoya will make an appearance in the Impact Zone.
Jesse Ventura is considering a run for State Senator in Minnesota.
Roughly $10,000 in video equipment was stolen out of one of OVW's vans, forcing the promotion to borrow equipment from a local TV station in order to shoot their latest television taping.
I'm now going to post the 06/06/08 SmackDown spoilers. Some of you in the US may have seen the show already. If you want to be surprised, skip the rest of this entry and I'll see you all sometime next week. For the rest of you, I hope you find the show worth watching when it airs in your area.
SMACKDOWN SPOILERS:
La Familia is in the ring. Vickie introduces Edge, who comes out and dedicates his win over the Undertaker to La Familia. He says that Vickie completes him, and that 'Taker should thank Edge for allowing him to leave with dignity. Edge toasts the Undertaker. The lights go out, teasing an appearance, but it was a joke on the fans by Edge. Vickie announces she and Edge will get married on July 11th. Batista's music hits. Batista asks why he wasn't invited to the party, then congratulates Vickie and Edge. He says he hopes they're happy, then says he doesn't mean it. Batista then challenges Edge for the belt but Vickie says that for Batista to get a shot he must win in an eight man tag tonight, and Vickie will choose his three partners. If Edge wins the match, Batista gets no more title shots.
Finlay defeats Chuck Palumbo in a Belfast Brawl after interference from Hornswoggle.
MVP is shown sitting in the back by himself. He won a dark match earlier in the night and wouldn't be featured on the show beyond this point.
Big Show comes out for a promo. He talks about becoming top contender to the ECW Championship. Mark Henry interrupts and says all Big Show did was get put in a match with sticks to become number-one contender. Henry challenges Show, then leaves.
The Great Khali squashes Deuce & Domino in a handicap match.
Vickie Guerrero is now backstage with the Divas. She brags about having absolute power and compares herself to Fabulous Moolah. Vickie says she's going to crown a Diva Champion on Smackdown soon. Interesting that two out of the three WWE brands will now have a Women's division, unless of course the Raw Women's champion gets drafted to SmackDown. I'm still waiting for the ECW brand to get an independent set of Tag Team titles, personally.
Cousin Sal defeated Santino after interference from Jimmy Kimmel.
John Morrison and Miz are backstage and run in to Hornswoggle. They torment him before Finlay makes the save. Hornswoggle blasts the heels with a super soaker.
Edge pulls Chavo Guererro aside backstage, saying he'll soon be his "Uncle Edge." Edge asks Chavo to be best man at he and Vickie's wedding.
Natalya defeats Cherry, Maryse, Victoria, Layle El, and Michelle McCool to advance to Night of Champions.
Vladimir Kozlov defeats Jimmy Yang. Kozlov continues the assault until Shannon Moore makes the save.
Maria interviews Batista backstage.
Hawkins, Ryder, Chavo & Edge are out for the main event. Vickie introduces Batista's partners: Funaki, Nunzio, and Colin Delaney.
Batista's team defeat La Familia when Batista pins Ryder with the Batista Bomb. Edge will now defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Batista at Night of Champions.
This next part may not make it to the final TV broadcast, but: Vickie Guerrero announces her and Edge versus Batista in a handicap match. Batista low blows Edge and pins him. Match over. Batista then press slams Vickie over the top rope and onto the rest of La Familia. They escape to the back.
More celebrities have agreed to participate in Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling, which begins airing this fall in the United States on Country Music Television. Ed Leslie and Brian Knobbs will train celebrities to wrestle, while Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Hart and Eric Bischoff will act as judges. The only people involved with the show who have any past in-ring experience are Dustin Diamond, Butterbean, Dennis Rodman and Danny Bonaduce. The celebs will compete in various challenges, with one eventually being named the "Celebrity All-Star Wrestling Champion."
The Undertaker isn't actually retired from wrestling, nor did he violate WWE's Wellness Policy. It should actually be interesting to see how they bring him back to television, since it was stated he couldn't be drafted to another show and that he was banished from the entire company if he lost. Teddy Long is now the General Manager of the ECW brand, so any chance of him taking power back from Vickie Guererro and reinstating the Undertaker to SmackDown is also impossible.
Despite WWE pulling him from appearing at the event, the NWA will still induct Ric Flair into its Hall Of Fame tomorrow night in Atlanta, GA. I believe this makes Flair the only man inducted into both the NWA and WWE Hall Of Fame. Dusty Rhodes and Gordon Solie were previously inducted into both the WWE and WCW Halls Of Fame, however.
D-Lo Brown has re-signed with WWE.
Randy Orton's injury at One Night Stand was in fact legit. He suffered a broken collarbone. Details are still sketchy concerning a return date.
WWE Heat, which for the last few years had been airing only in WWE's international markets and on WWE.com, will soon be going off the air completely.
Nick Bollea (AKA Hulk Hogan's son) has been moved to a communal jail facility. He was hoping for home arrest.
Mick Foley recently took a shot at Bill Goldberg on SmackDown, claiming he was a waste of Vince McMahon's money. Goldberg hasn't responded yet.
Scott Hall is once again taking independent bookings. You can find out more on his official Web site TheScottHall.com.
Bret Hart, Gangrel (AKA The Vampire Warrior), Eugene (now also sometimes going by U-Gene), Scott "Scotty 2 Hotty" Taylor and Tatanka will be touring Ireland with No Limit Wrestling this fall. Here are the dates and locations:
October 23rd, 2008 - Neptune Stadium in Cork
October 24th, 2008 - University Concert Hall in Limerick
October 25th, 2008 - Travellers' Friend Hotel in Castlebar
October 26th, 2008 - Basketball Arena in Tallaght
October 27th, 2008 - Leisure Centre in Letterkenny
October 29th, 2008 - National Event Centre in Killarney
October 30th, 2008 - Dundalk
November 1st, 2008 - White's Hotel in Wexford
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster. Go to http://www.nolimitwrestling.com for info about NLW and http://www.prowrestlingevents.tk for info about upcoming shows.
The TNA video game is scheduled to be released in September for the PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, and Wii. Go to tnagame.com for more info.
Kevin Thorn has returned to his vampire gimmick in FCW.
Rey Mysterio is being listed for WWE house shows in July. Expect him back on television soon.
TNA recently signed TV distribution deals in Spain and Portugal. Perhaps Aldo Montoya will make an appearance in the Impact Zone.
Jesse Ventura is considering a run for State Senator in Minnesota.
Roughly $10,000 in video equipment was stolen out of one of OVW's vans, forcing the promotion to borrow equipment from a local TV station in order to shoot their latest television taping.
I'm now going to post the 06/06/08 SmackDown spoilers. Some of you in the US may have seen the show already. If you want to be surprised, skip the rest of this entry and I'll see you all sometime next week. For the rest of you, I hope you find the show worth watching when it airs in your area.
SMACKDOWN SPOILERS:
La Familia is in the ring. Vickie introduces Edge, who comes out and dedicates his win over the Undertaker to La Familia. He says that Vickie completes him, and that 'Taker should thank Edge for allowing him to leave with dignity. Edge toasts the Undertaker. The lights go out, teasing an appearance, but it was a joke on the fans by Edge. Vickie announces she and Edge will get married on July 11th. Batista's music hits. Batista asks why he wasn't invited to the party, then congratulates Vickie and Edge. He says he hopes they're happy, then says he doesn't mean it. Batista then challenges Edge for the belt but Vickie says that for Batista to get a shot he must win in an eight man tag tonight, and Vickie will choose his three partners. If Edge wins the match, Batista gets no more title shots.
Finlay defeats Chuck Palumbo in a Belfast Brawl after interference from Hornswoggle.
MVP is shown sitting in the back by himself. He won a dark match earlier in the night and wouldn't be featured on the show beyond this point.
Big Show comes out for a promo. He talks about becoming top contender to the ECW Championship. Mark Henry interrupts and says all Big Show did was get put in a match with sticks to become number-one contender. Henry challenges Show, then leaves.
The Great Khali squashes Deuce & Domino in a handicap match.
Vickie Guerrero is now backstage with the Divas. She brags about having absolute power and compares herself to Fabulous Moolah. Vickie says she's going to crown a Diva Champion on Smackdown soon. Interesting that two out of the three WWE brands will now have a Women's division, unless of course the Raw Women's champion gets drafted to SmackDown. I'm still waiting for the ECW brand to get an independent set of Tag Team titles, personally.
Cousin Sal defeated Santino after interference from Jimmy Kimmel.
John Morrison and Miz are backstage and run in to Hornswoggle. They torment him before Finlay makes the save. Hornswoggle blasts the heels with a super soaker.
Edge pulls Chavo Guererro aside backstage, saying he'll soon be his "Uncle Edge." Edge asks Chavo to be best man at he and Vickie's wedding.
Natalya defeats Cherry, Maryse, Victoria, Layle El, and Michelle McCool to advance to Night of Champions.
Vladimir Kozlov defeats Jimmy Yang. Kozlov continues the assault until Shannon Moore makes the save.
Maria interviews Batista backstage.
Hawkins, Ryder, Chavo & Edge are out for the main event. Vickie introduces Batista's partners: Funaki, Nunzio, and Colin Delaney.
Batista's team defeat La Familia when Batista pins Ryder with the Batista Bomb. Edge will now defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Batista at Night of Champions.
This next part may not make it to the final TV broadcast, but: Vickie Guerrero announces her and Edge versus Batista in a handicap match. Batista low blows Edge and pins him. Match over. Batista then press slams Vickie over the top rope and onto the rest of La Familia. They escape to the back.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Remembering "Buffalo" Jim Barrier
Today I'd like to tell my readers about a man named Jim Barrier, professionally known as "Buffalo Jim." Today's WWE fans have likely never heard of him. In fact, wrestling fans anywhere outside of Las Vegas have likely never heard of him. That's unfortunate, because Jim Barrier was a great man.
I first made contact with Jim in 1999. I was a punk kid still in school, but I'd managed to land a gig writing columns for a pro wrestling newsletter. I contacted Jim with some writing samples and asked if I could possibly do a spotlight segment on his promotion-the Buffalo Wrestling Federation-for the newsletter's next edition. To my shock, Jim actually replied to my message. To my absolute amazement, he said yes. I wrote my first article about an upcoming BWF show. The rest, as they say, is history. The next thing I knew I was writing about the BWF full-time. My gig basically became writing an unofficial BWF newsletter within another wrestling newsletter. Luckily my boss at the time was so excited to have a connection to an actual pro wrestling company that she didn't mind hyping the BWF every month. Looking back on it now, I can only think of two reasons Jim may have decided to talk to me that day.
The first reason was actually a brilliant move on his part. By agreeing to work with our newsletter Jim gained free publicity for his year-old company, while likely also figuring that we weren't about to bad-mouth a group that was helping us gain credibility within the wrestling business. To be perfectly honest, Jim figured correctly on that one. Our newsletter hyped up the BWF like it was the second coming of Jesus himself despite having never seen one of their shows live up to that point. Jim made all of this happen for his company by simply saying yes to a request. That kind of simplistic long-term thinking is why Jim Barrier was a fantastic promoter. In my opinion though, the second reason Jim probably spoke to me is even more impressive than the first.
Reason number two is...Jim wanted to give a shot to a young, unqualified wrestling fan with a dream. Jim Barrier's heart was truly just as large as his brain, if not ten times bigger. As time went on Jim gave the newsletter access to any information or interviews it needed. One day, Jim finally invited my associates and I to check out a live BWF show. From the front row no less. The show was headlined by Gary Nash, Kevin's "brother." One of the top good guys that evening was a fat, masked rapper who the crowd didn't want to wave their hands along with. Special ring announcer and former wrestling champion Nick Bockwinkle got a bigger reaction than the talents he was introducing. In short, the show sucked, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world. I met a lot of the BWF talent that night, including my first face-to-face meeting with "Buffalo" Jim himself. Then, just when I thought he couldn't treat me any more generously than he already had, Jim invited me to go meet the WWF's Godfather! Godfather was only signing autographs that evening during the show's brief intermission, but because I "knew" Jim, I got to speak to a huge WWF star for close to an hour. Jim gave me my first real break writing about the wrestling business. I'll never be able to thank him enough for it.
Jim was a large part of the Nevada community. He participated in various county events, even winning the title of Las Vegas' most colorful character for 2005 in the Review Journal. Jim entertained wrestling fans years before Eric Bischoff had the idea to relaunch WCW in Las Vegas. He also stood up for the rights of local wrestling fans when an attempt was made to restrict their access to BWF television tapings. More importantly, Jim Barrier stood up for what he believed was right. His court testimony helped convict Rick Rizzolo, owner of the Crazy Horse Too topless bar, which was believed to have a hand in numerous crimes between 1995 and 2001. Sadly, Jim Barrier was taken away from our world on April 6th, 2008. He leaves behind four daughters and numerous friends.
I'm proud to say I was one of them.
RIP "Buffalo" Jim Barrier
(March 22, 1953-April 6, 2008)
SOURCES FOR THIS ENTRY:
http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/ChildrenPicketToplessBar.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Barrier
http://www.kvbc.com/global/story.asp?s=8385555
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/2548
I first made contact with Jim in 1999. I was a punk kid still in school, but I'd managed to land a gig writing columns for a pro wrestling newsletter. I contacted Jim with some writing samples and asked if I could possibly do a spotlight segment on his promotion-the Buffalo Wrestling Federation-for the newsletter's next edition. To my shock, Jim actually replied to my message. To my absolute amazement, he said yes. I wrote my first article about an upcoming BWF show. The rest, as they say, is history. The next thing I knew I was writing about the BWF full-time. My gig basically became writing an unofficial BWF newsletter within another wrestling newsletter. Luckily my boss at the time was so excited to have a connection to an actual pro wrestling company that she didn't mind hyping the BWF every month. Looking back on it now, I can only think of two reasons Jim may have decided to talk to me that day.
The first reason was actually a brilliant move on his part. By agreeing to work with our newsletter Jim gained free publicity for his year-old company, while likely also figuring that we weren't about to bad-mouth a group that was helping us gain credibility within the wrestling business. To be perfectly honest, Jim figured correctly on that one. Our newsletter hyped up the BWF like it was the second coming of Jesus himself despite having never seen one of their shows live up to that point. Jim made all of this happen for his company by simply saying yes to a request. That kind of simplistic long-term thinking is why Jim Barrier was a fantastic promoter. In my opinion though, the second reason Jim probably spoke to me is even more impressive than the first.
Reason number two is...Jim wanted to give a shot to a young, unqualified wrestling fan with a dream. Jim Barrier's heart was truly just as large as his brain, if not ten times bigger. As time went on Jim gave the newsletter access to any information or interviews it needed. One day, Jim finally invited my associates and I to check out a live BWF show. From the front row no less. The show was headlined by Gary Nash, Kevin's "brother." One of the top good guys that evening was a fat, masked rapper who the crowd didn't want to wave their hands along with. Special ring announcer and former wrestling champion Nick Bockwinkle got a bigger reaction than the talents he was introducing. In short, the show sucked, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world. I met a lot of the BWF talent that night, including my first face-to-face meeting with "Buffalo" Jim himself. Then, just when I thought he couldn't treat me any more generously than he already had, Jim invited me to go meet the WWF's Godfather! Godfather was only signing autographs that evening during the show's brief intermission, but because I "knew" Jim, I got to speak to a huge WWF star for close to an hour. Jim gave me my first real break writing about the wrestling business. I'll never be able to thank him enough for it.
Jim was a large part of the Nevada community. He participated in various county events, even winning the title of Las Vegas' most colorful character for 2005 in the Review Journal. Jim entertained wrestling fans years before Eric Bischoff had the idea to relaunch WCW in Las Vegas. He also stood up for the rights of local wrestling fans when an attempt was made to restrict their access to BWF television tapings. More importantly, Jim Barrier stood up for what he believed was right. His court testimony helped convict Rick Rizzolo, owner of the Crazy Horse Too topless bar, which was believed to have a hand in numerous crimes between 1995 and 2001. Sadly, Jim Barrier was taken away from our world on April 6th, 2008. He leaves behind four daughters and numerous friends.
I'm proud to say I was one of them.
RIP "Buffalo" Jim Barrier
(March 22, 1953-April 6, 2008)
SOURCES FOR THIS ENTRY:
http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/ChildrenPicketToplessBar.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Barrier
http://www.kvbc.com/global/story.asp?s=8385555
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/2548
Monday, June 2, 2008
Raw's giveaway, PPV results & another question for my readers
Huge update today!
First of all, the Associated Press has released information concerning WWE's recently announced million dollar giveaway. I've been getting a lot of questions about it, so I thought I'd pass along the information available via this blog. As expected, there's a catch or two involved. The full AP article can be found at the following URL: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5indhctjJFAtfOVHroIOX_lG5-_GwD912264G3.
One thing that I find curious is WWE announcing they'll give out the codes at the start of each Raw episode. What would make the casual fan stick around to watch the rest of Raw after getting the code? WWE is doing this promotion to increase ratings, so logically they really shouldn't be telling you when during the broadcast the code will be given out. I suspect the only people who will enter this contest are the wrestling fans who already watch Raw now. Myself included. Hey, a man has to pay for gas, right? The giveaway begins June 9th.
Here are the short results for WWE's One Night Stand pay-per-view:
Jeff Hardy beat Umaga in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
The Big Show beat CM Punk, Tommy Dreamer, John Morrison, Bam Neely, and Chavo Guerrero in a 6 man Singapore Cane match to earn a shot at Kane's ECW championship at the Night Of Champions pay-per-view. Big Show became hurt legit during the match.
John Cena beat JBL in a First Blood match.
Beth Phoenix beat Melina in an I Quit match.
Note: At this point in the show Cena did a backstage skit with Mickie James. Cena said he enjoyed "girl on girl submissions." Cena's character has made both pro-gay and anti-gay statements in the past. I guess this one would fall on the pro side, technically. During this segment ECW's Mike Adamle suggested Cena and James were a couple, so I guess WWE is continuing on with the romance angle between them.
Batista beat Shawn Michaels in a Stretcher Match.
Triple H beat Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match. Orton may or may not have been hurt legit during the match.
Edge beat The Undertaker in a TLC match to win the vacant World title. According to the match stipulation, The Undertaker must now retire from the entire WWE.
Finally, I'd like to once again pose a question to you, my readers. Recently I've been struggling with a question: What's the best way to present this blog's content? On one hand, I want to present the content as professionally and close to journalism as possible. On the other hand, I feel like a little editorializing and personal humor interjected into the entries would add some more flavor to my blog, while also not hurting anyone. You can certainly find a ton of other so-called wrestling journalists who aren't shy about interjecting their own opinions into articles where they may not belong, but does that make it okay for me to do as well, or would I then become just as annoying as they are by stating opinions rather than strictly facts? What do YOU look for in a pro wrestling blog? E-mail me at donaldtbishop@yahoo.com or simply post a reply. I look forward to hearing from you.
First of all, the Associated Press has released information concerning WWE's recently announced million dollar giveaway. I've been getting a lot of questions about it, so I thought I'd pass along the information available via this blog. As expected, there's a catch or two involved. The full AP article can be found at the following URL: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5indhctjJFAtfOVHroIOX_lG5-_GwD912264G3.
One thing that I find curious is WWE announcing they'll give out the codes at the start of each Raw episode. What would make the casual fan stick around to watch the rest of Raw after getting the code? WWE is doing this promotion to increase ratings, so logically they really shouldn't be telling you when during the broadcast the code will be given out. I suspect the only people who will enter this contest are the wrestling fans who already watch Raw now. Myself included. Hey, a man has to pay for gas, right? The giveaway begins June 9th.
Here are the short results for WWE's One Night Stand pay-per-view:
Jeff Hardy beat Umaga in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
The Big Show beat CM Punk, Tommy Dreamer, John Morrison, Bam Neely, and Chavo Guerrero in a 6 man Singapore Cane match to earn a shot at Kane's ECW championship at the Night Of Champions pay-per-view. Big Show became hurt legit during the match.
John Cena beat JBL in a First Blood match.
Beth Phoenix beat Melina in an I Quit match.
Note: At this point in the show Cena did a backstage skit with Mickie James. Cena said he enjoyed "girl on girl submissions." Cena's character has made both pro-gay and anti-gay statements in the past. I guess this one would fall on the pro side, technically. During this segment ECW's Mike Adamle suggested Cena and James were a couple, so I guess WWE is continuing on with the romance angle between them.
Batista beat Shawn Michaels in a Stretcher Match.
Triple H beat Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match. Orton may or may not have been hurt legit during the match.
Edge beat The Undertaker in a TLC match to win the vacant World title. According to the match stipulation, The Undertaker must now retire from the entire WWE.
Finally, I'd like to once again pose a question to you, my readers. Recently I've been struggling with a question: What's the best way to present this blog's content? On one hand, I want to present the content as professionally and close to journalism as possible. On the other hand, I feel like a little editorializing and personal humor interjected into the entries would add some more flavor to my blog, while also not hurting anyone. You can certainly find a ton of other so-called wrestling journalists who aren't shy about interjecting their own opinions into articles where they may not belong, but does that make it okay for me to do as well, or would I then become just as annoying as they are by stating opinions rather than strictly facts? What do YOU look for in a pro wrestling blog? E-mail me at donaldtbishop@yahoo.com or simply post a reply. I look forward to hearing from you.
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