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For those who have inquired about the status of the Vince McMahon exploding limo angle in light of the Benoit double murder/suicide, it is officially over. It had been reported elsewhere that the story line would not continue, and that indeed is the case.
I will be discussing the Benoit killings on Sportsline with Steve Davis tonight at 7:30 on WBAL (1090 AM).
I had intended to take a little break from writing about Chris Benoit, but after watching some cable “news” shows on television last night, I had to get this off my chest.
I’m not going to say that WWE always handles every situation the way I think it should, but I couldn’t agree more with the company when it issued a statement saying it was “concerned with the sensationalistic reporting and speculation being undertaken by some members of the media.”
I think they key phrase in that statement is “some members of the media.” There has been plenty of good, solid reporting on the Benoit double murder/suicide, and there are certain indisputable facts regarding this case specifically and pro wrestling as an industry that WWE might not like, but it has to accept. But there also has been an abundance of yellow journalism on the so-called news channels, filled with rushes to judgment, disingenuous displays of moral outrage and leading questions.
Last night’s Nancy Grace show on Headline News was the final straw for me. First of all, I don’t expect all of these talking heads to be knowledgeable about wrestling, but seeing them try to fake it is embarrassing and weakens whatever credibility they do have. The way she introduced Bret Hart – who was a guest on the program via telephone – by gushing about how “he built wrestling,” made it clear that she had no idea what she was talking about and was just repeating something that someone on her research staff told her about Hart. Here’s my rule: Don’t speak with authority on subjects that you’re not actually an authority on. It just makes you look uninformed and phony.
Then she asked Hart “questions” such as this one: “I know that Chris Benoit had gone from the elite, the Four Horsemen, down to Raw. And that was a little bit of a demotion. How badly do you think he took it?” Beyond the fact that what she said doesn’t make a lick of sense, did she expect Hart to say, “Well, I think he took it so badly that he went crazy and murdered his family and himself”?
Of course, the buzzword on Grace’s show and the others was “steroids.” After saying that she knew that Benoit loved his son – which is interesting, because I’m guessing that she probably had no idea who Benoit was before Monday – she concluded that it “leads me to believe that he was under the influence of steroids” to have committed such a heinous act.
Ever since the Tuesday afternoon news conference in Fayetteville, Ga., when authorities acknowledged that anabolic steroids were found inside the house, the cable news shows seemed convinced that it was an open-and-shut case – the steroids made him do it.
Right after the news conference, the talking heads and “experts” in the Fox News Studio were going on and on about “roid rage.” Now, it might eventually be proven that steroid use (although not necessarily “roid rage,” because the drugs have other side effects such as depression and paranoia) played a role in Benoit’s actions, but we don’t know that for sure yet. More than likely, it’s not that simple. If steroids alone caused people to kill their families and themselves, there would be a lot of dead bodies throughout baseball, football, cycling, track and field and most other major sports.
The fact that Daniel Benoit was a special needs child and that it reportedly was a point of contention in the Benoits’ marriage sure seems like an important piece of information, but since that’s not as sensational as “roid rage,” it hasn’t received much attention on the cable shows.
It was more of the same on Dan Abrams’ show on MSNBC. During an interview with Joe Laurinaitis (Road Warrior Animal), Abrams was fixated on steroids. As Laurinaitis was discussing how demanding life on the road is for a pro wrestler, Abrams interrupted him and returned to the subject of steroids. Abrams also blasted WWE for airing the Benoit tribute on Raw, claiming it was a tasteless ratings ploy. Well, judging by the sensationalistic manner in which he was covering the deaths, it’s obvious that he knows all about tasteless ratings ploys.
Perhaps the worst performance, though, was by – what a surprise – Bill O’Reilly. He actually laid some of the blame for this tragedy on the late Nancy Benoit, saying that she had to know her husband was troubled and chaotic, and that by staying with him, she allowed the chaos and failed in her responsibility to protect her child.
Yeah, it would be great if life were really that black and white.
And these are the same people who consider WWE to be sleazy.
When I began this blog last month, I never in my wildest dreams imagined I’d have to be writing about a double murder/suicide. I’m certainly not ignorant to the fact that there is an alarmingly high death rate in pro wrestling, so I expected to be writing an occasional tribute, but the Chris Benoit family tragedy is way beyond anything that I’ve seen in my lifetime as a wrestling fan and observer.
I think the main reason the wrestling community is having such a hard time dealing with this is that there is just no way to make sense out of it. Investigators have concluded that an innocent 7-year-old boy was murdered by his father, and a wife and mother was murdered by her husband. That is just incomprehensible. For those of us who have children, harming even one hair on their heads is unfathomable.
The fact that Benoit was the one who committed these horrific acts makes it even more unsettling. During his 20-plus years in the wrestling business, he had built an impeccable reputation. Benoit was universally liked and respected by his fellow wrestlers and others who work in the industry, and he was regarded as a genuine person in a cutthroat industry filled with massive egos. How eerie was it to hear Chavo Guerrero, one of Benoit’s closest friends, say on Raw this past Monday that he would have trusted Benoit with the lives of his children?
I can recall a conversation I had with The Rock the day after Benoit won the world heavyweight title at WrestleMania XX. I was interviewing him at a Washington hotel for a story about his movie Walking Tall, which was about to be released, and we started chatting about the event at Madison Square Garden (he had appeared on the show in a tag-team match with Mick Foley against Ric Flair, Randy Orton and Batista). The Rock smiled and his eyes lit up as he talked about how happy he was that WWE “did the right thing” in putting over Benoit strong in the main event.
As far as being a star attraction, Benoit was never on a level with guys like The Rock, Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin, but any fan who knew anything about the business knew he was one of the best ever inside the ring. Now, instead of being known for his phenomenal skills and consummate professionalism, Chris Benoit will forever be known as “that wrestler who killed his family.”
It’s so odd to see Benoit’s face all over the news on television and the Internet and in newspapers, as he never had any mainstream appeal before this. I’m contributing to it as well, as I spent part of last night and today working on an article about the tragedy for tomorrow’s edition of The Sun. I couldn’t even get away from this story when I went to get a haircut this afternoon. I was the only man in the unisex salon, and the topic of conversation among the female customers and employees was the Benoit killings.
With information constantly emerging regarding possible motives and other details, I am now at the point where I just don’t want to see or hear any more about this depressing story. It’s time to embrace that healing process that Vince McMahon talked about last night.
This is probably not the last time I will be writing about Benoit, but I really look forward to the time when Ring Posts again reads like a pro wrestling blog and not a true crime book.
It’s all just so sad.
The wrestling world continues to be in a collective state of shock over the deaths of Chris Benoit, his wife, Nancy, and 7-year-old son Daniel, which authorities in Georgia are calling a double murder/suicide.
More details surrounding this incredibly sad situation have been made public. According to a law enforcement source quoted by the Associated Press, Benoit strangled his wife and smothered his son before hanging himself in his weight room.
Fayette County (Ga.) district attorney Scott Ballard told AP that whether steroids and “roid rage” may have been a factor is “one of the things we’ll be looking at.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also has reported that Nancy Benoit had filed for divorce and petitioned for protection from domestic violence in 2003. A restraining order was issued on May 12, 2003 that barred Benoit from the family’s residence, but on Aug. 19, 2003, Nancy Benoit filed to dismiss the divorce and protective petitions, according to the story.
Authorities in Fayette County have scheduled a 3 p.m. news conference regarding the Benoit family deaths, AP reported.
Regarding WWE’s Smackdown/ECW tapings tonight in San Antonio, the decision was made to do a show consisting entirely of matches and without any story lines or angles, according to wrestlingobserver.com.
Some fans have criticized WWE for making Raw a three-hour tribute to Benoit last night in light of the nature of the deaths. I certainly see that point, but I can’t fault WWE for what it did. We have to remember that Benoit’s peers and WWE officials were stunned by the news, and some of the details surrounding the deaths didn’t break until later in the day, most likely after the wrestlers’ personal memories of Benoit had been taped for the show. It is a fact that Benoit was universally loved and respected in wrestling circles, and the Chris Benoit that his peers were paying tribute to was the Chris Benoit that they knew, not the Chris Benoit that authorities reportedly believe committed an unspeakable act.
The shocking turn of events regarding Chris Benoit and his family have left me a bit shaken as I sit down to write this entry. At 10 p.m. last night, lead investigator Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County (Ga.) police department ruled the deaths of Benoit, wife Nancy and 7-year-old son Daniel to be a double murder/suicide, according to wwe.com.
I first learned of Benoit’s death during a phone conversation with a friend last night. No matter how many wrestlers die in their 30s or 40s (Benoit had turned 40 last month), it still stuns me when I first hear the news. The shock usually doesn’t last long, however, because often the wrestler in question will have had a history of drug or alcohol problems. I had never heard that about Benoit, though, and after my friend informed me that Benoit’s wife (who was 43 and had performed as Woman and The Fallen Angel in the 1980s and 90s) and son also were found dead along with Benoit in their home in Fayetteville, Ga., it quickly became apparent that this was a tragedy of a much different sort.
At that point, there were no further details. I knew that Benoit had missed a house show in Beaumont, Texas on Saturday and the Vengeance pay-per-view in Houston on Sunday due to what wrestlingobserver.com reported on Sunday as “a family emergency.” As I tried to make sense of it all, it hit me that Raw was scheduled to be a three-hour memorial show for Mr. McMahon. It seemed so surreal that a show that was supposed to pay tribute to a deceased character in a fictional story line was now going to be a real tribute show for Chris, Nancy and Daniel Benoit. I know that a lot of fans found the McMahon exploding limo angle to be offensive and I don’t really want to get into all of that right now, but I do think WWE handled a bad situation the best way it could by opening the show with a somber Vince McMahon distinguishing story line from reality.
After watching Raw, I began getting my thoughts together on what I wanted to write about Benoit. Before getting started, I got on the Internet to see if there had been any updates on the situation. The news kept getting sadder and more shocking. According to a story by the Associated Press, Atlanta television station WAGA said that investigators believe Benoit killed his wife and son over the weekend, and then himself yesterday. Lt. Pope told ABC News that there were no signs of gunshot wounds or stabbing. He also said that “the instruments of death were located on the scene,” but he didn’t specify what they were. I’m sure there will be more developments in this story in the coming days and weeks.
I didn’t know Chris Benoit personally (I went to work for WCW two months after he left for WWE in 2000), but I do know that his peers held him in very high regard. I always admired his incredible ability in the ring and his work ethic and professionalism. Benoit had a gift for making his opponents look good and getting them to elevate their game to his level. He did it recently with MVP, and his likely role in ECW was to do the same with guys like CM Punk, Marcus Cor Von and Elijah Burke.
One of the best matches I ever saw in person was the WrestleMania XX main event at Madison Square Garden in 2004 when Benoit won the world heavyweight title in a triple-threat match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. I will never forget how Benoit burst into tears after winning that match. We all know wrestling is predetermined, but not everyone gets to win the title at WrestleMania, and it was obvious how much it meant to him to be placed in that position. I also will never forget watching his family and his best friend, Eddie Guerrero, celebrating in the ring with him as confetti rained down on them and his entrance music played. It gives me a chill to think that four of the people in the ring at that moment – Chris, Nancy and Daniel Benoit and Guerrero – are no longer with us.
My sincere condolences go out to the Benoit family’s relatives and friends.
My predictions for tonight’s WWE pay-per-view:
WWE champion John Cena vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley vs. King Booker: My first instinct is that Cena overcomes the odds once again and retains the title. In this match, however, Cena could lose the title without even being the one who gets pinned. I definitely don’t see Foley or Booker winning. Lashley losing clean on Raw Monday almost makes me think he might win here, but it seems too quick to put the WWE title on him after he just arrived from ECW. That leaves Orton, who has gained a lot of momentum as a character recently. He’s the one that I think should win, but I’m going to stick with my first instinct and say Cena comes out on top.
World heavyweight champion Edge vs. Batista: For the past two pay-per-views, I predicted that Edge would beat Batista due to outside interference from Mark Henry. Edge won both times without Henry. Maybe “The World’s Strongest Man” will come through for me tonight. Even if he doesn’t, Edge wins.
Chris Benoit vs. CM Punk for the vacant ECW title: As soon as Benoit was drafted to ECW and Lashley was stripped of the ECW title, I figured Benoit would be the next champion. At this point, Punk is better suited to be a challenger chasing Benoit.
U.S. champion MVP vs. Ric Flair: In what could be one of the best matches of the night, MVP retains the title. I think it will be done in a way that makes Flair look strong in defeat.
Intercontinental champion Santino Marella vs. Umaga: The fans are not taking to Santino. Umaga regains the title in convincing fashion.
World tag team champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch vs. The Hardys: With Matt and Jeff Hardy seemingly getting pushes as singles wrestlers, look for Cade and Murdoch to keep the belts.
WWE tag team champions Deuce and Domino vs. opponents to be determined: The mystery opponents might be stars from the past, according to The Wrestling Observer, which named Sgt. Slaughter and Jimmy Snuka (who is Deuce’s father) as possibilities. I think whoever the challengers are, they will score the upset and win the titles – only to quickly lose them back to Deuce and Domino on Smackdown.
WWE cruiserweight champion Chavo Guerrero vs. Jimmy Wang Yang: This could be a really good match if they are given some time and the fans give them a chance. I think Yang wins the title.
WWE women’s champion vs. Melina vs. Candice Michelle: Candice is far from what I’d call a good worker, but she has improved a lot from when she started. I just don’t see her as championship material. Melina retains.
King Booker is back in the spotlight after sitting out two months due to injuries. After a highly successful run on Smackdown that included a reign of nearly seven months as world heavyweight champion, Booker moved over to Raw in the draft last week. On Sunday, Booker will be a participant in the main event of the Vengeance pay-per-view, joining John Cena, Mick Foley, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton in a five-way match for Cena’s WWE title.
I spoke with Booker, whose real name is Booker Huffman, in a telephone interview yesterday.
Q: What were the injuries that kept you off television for the past couple months and how are you feeling now?
A: I had a neck strain and a knee injury. I had to get my knee scoped. Had a big piece of cartilage floating around in there, and had a meniscus tear that I had to get repaired as well. It took me a good two months to heal, but I feel pretty good. I still have a little bit of pain. I’ll probably never be 100 percent again, but 80 percent is just as good as most of the guys.
Q: You said in the past that you would most likely stop wrestling when you turned 40. You’re still going strong, though, at 42. What changed your mind?
A: Well, I got to 40 and I was still better than everybody else. I still felt like I was at the top of my game as far as being one of the top guys on the card, so I thought it just wasn’t time for me to walk away at that time. There is a time for me to walk away, and that time is not that far away. I thought I didn’t have any more goals in wrestling, but I’ve never won the WWE title. That’s one title that has eluded me. That would be great on my resume to have completed the ultimate trifecta as far as winning every title in wrestling. There’s still a little bit left for Booker T. to do, so I’m just going to stick it out as long as I feel good. The fans still love me; they’re telling me to not go just yet. I’m sure when I do retire, they’re going to be asking for one more match. I’m going to just play it by ear right now.
Q: Now that you’re back on Raw, who are you looking forward to working with that you haven’t worked with before or in a while?
A: The only guy I haven’t been in the ring with that I’m looking forward to getting in the ring with is Shawn Michaels. I’ve pretty much worked with all of the guys from my generation, guys before my generation and guys of the next generation. But the only guy I haven’t been in the ring with is Shawn Michaels. He’s a guy I want to test my skills with. I always felt like I was one of the best in the business, and I always want to prove myself as far as being in the ring with the best in the business, and I consider Shawn Michaels that. Ever since the beginning of his career as far as him starting out with The Rockers, I always saw something special in him. Then when he went to WWE back in the day, he totally exploded and took it to another level. Even now, after he retired and came back, he’s still one of the most charismatic guys in the ring.
Q: What are your goals for your wrestling academy and the Pro Wrestling Alliance promotion that you run in Houston?
A: I started my school 2½ years ago. Our goals at that time were just to train wrestlers and further the wrestling game. I always felt like in the last 10 years the wrestling game dropped off as far as young guys learning the business the proper way. I knew they weren’t getting the right training and they had no territories to go and learn professional wrestling. It was a lot of backyard wrestling going on, where these guys are trying to get into the business by just watching what we do and going out there and trying to do it. A lot of kids were getting hurt that way, and they have no chance of ever getting to the next level because they know zero about psychology. I’m trying to give kids a platform such as the platform that I had when I broke into the wrestling business. I got my foot in the door by Ivan Putski opening a wrestling school and Scott Casey taking me under his wing and training me the proper way. And then going on the road with a lot of veteran guys – while I was driving the car, they were in the backseat drinking beer and teaching me as I went (laughs). But these days, kids don’t have that forum for learning their craft. I feel like if I get the right guys in, teach them the right way, give them a philosophy of what this is all about, not only might they get into the wrestling business, but they might be able to stay in the wrestling business for a while.
Q: What is your brother, Stevie Ray, up to these days?
A: To be honest, I really couldn’t tell you. We kind of went our separate ways. He’s doing his thing and I’m doing mine.
Q: Tell me about the foundation that you and your wife, Sharmell, started.
A: It’s called Booker T. Fights For Kids. It has a lot to do with my Pro Wrestling Academy and my Pro Wrestling Alliance. All the money that we make at our shows is donated to the Booker T. Fights For Kids Foundation – none of it goes into our pocket. We’re just trying to help the youth. I saw a lot of the great things that a man by the name of Paul Boesch, who promoted wrestling in Houston when I was a youth, did at the Variety Boys Club and PABA [Progressive Amateur Boxing Association] as far as taking kids and helping them and showing them a different life. That’s what my foundation is all about. It’s about helping kids get on the right track. We’re bussing kids into our shows, taking them out of the neighborhood, which some of them had never left the neighborhood before, and giving them a chance to see something different that maybe could take their life in a totally different direction. By letting them be around me – and I’m not The King when they’re around me, I’m just a regular person – they see that someone like myself can make it, so that might give them a little more hope to try and do a little bit more for themselves. We’re taking it to South Africa, as well. We’re going to do it there and try to help as many kids as we possibly can. I’m just trying to make the world a better place.
Q: What are your thoughts on Sherri Martel, your former manager who died last week?
A: Oh, man, memories just flow. Especially at this time, that’s something you think about. All the times you had traveling down the road, winning our first tag-team title – it was all because of Sherri. She made Harlem Heat a household name and pretty much put us on the map. You know, I gave Sherri away at her wedding. Her and I were real close. It’s a huge loss. We just have to know she’s in a better place.
Q: From a shoot perspective, is it harder to put together a match with four opponents rather than just one? And what can fans expect from you in Sunday’s main event at Vengeance?
A: It’s definitely harder. You have to prepare for so many more things out in the ring, but I’m sure we’re going to go out there and pull it off and make it as entertaining for the fans as possible. As far as what to expect from myself, I’m going to go out there and let it all hang out. I’m just coming back. After being out and being at my age, I’ve got a lot to prove. I want to come out, just like I did on Monday night, and show these guys that I still got it, I’m still the elite, I’m still just as good as I ever was and I’m still the best in the business. I want to walk out of that ring with something that I’ve never held before, and that’s the WWE title.
Photo courtesy of WWE
The well-publicized “Who Blew Up WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon?” story line has boosted the ratings for Raw, at least initially. Monday’s episode reportedly drew a 4.2 rating, an increase over last week’s 3.8.
The over-the-top angle also has resulted in a huge increase in traffic for wwe.com. As reported on cnbc.com, the total page views for wwe.com on June 12, the day after McMahon’s limo exploded on Raw, were 36.8 million, with two million daily unique visitors. That’s compared to the Web site’s three-month average of 14.3 million page views and one million unique visitors.
Although the angle created some confusion at first, I think almost everyone now realizes that the real-life Vince McMahon is alive and well. So now that the initial curiosity over his “death” has subsided, it will be interesting to see if WWE can keep people watching as the story line unfolds.
I received an e-mail on Friday about the death of Sensational Sherri Martel from a reader of the blog less than 20 minutes after the news had been posted on wrestlingobserver.com. Unfortunately, because of work and family obligations last weekend, I did not have time to post anything about Sherri, who died at 49 in Birmingham, Ala., of what police have confirmed as unnatural causes (foul play is not suspected). And with the controversial Mr. McMahon angle continuing last night on Raw, I felt I had to comment about that instead.
At that point, I decided that the window on writing about Sherri had closed because it was now old news. But a conversation with a colleague at The Sun tonight changed my mind. A longtime wrestling fan, he convinced me that I needed to write about Sherri, even if it was several days after the fact, because she had a career that warranted it.
I hate to admit it, but I almost had forgotten how much she accomplished in wrestling. My memories of Sherri, whose real name was Sherri Russell, are strictly as a fan and observer of the industry. I never had the pleasure of either meeting her or interviewing her. From what I have heard and read about her from those who knew her well, Sherri apparently was as tough as they come but also incredibly warm-hearted. The first quality was necessary for survival in an unforgiving and male-dominated business.
To my recollection, Sherri, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006, was the first woman wrestler to also become a main-event-level manager. She walked down the aisle alongside some of the biggest names in the industry — Ric Flair, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Shawn Michaels, Ted DiBiase and Harlem Heat, among others. Years before ECW made it edgy to have women taking bumps against men, Sherri, as a heel manager, was bumping for the likes of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior.
As a wrestler, Sherri, who was trained by the legendary Fabulous Moolah, was perhaps the best female worker I have ever seen. Before the diva era, women wrestlers weren’t usually regarded as sex symbols, but I remember being a teenager and thinking that Sherri stood out because she could wrestle and she was attractive. She was one of the main reasons to watch the AWA show on ESPN in the mid-to-late-80s, as she simultaneously held the women’s title and worked as a heel manager.
In whatever role she was given, Sherri was always entertaining. My belated but sincere condolences go out to her family and friends.
Some thoughts on last night’s Raw:
As expected, the “Who Blew Up WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon?” saga dominated the show, climaxing with a teary-eyed Stephanie McMahon cutting a promo in which she vowed that the McMahon family would avenge Vince’s “death.”
While there was speculation throughout the show about possible suspects, the “whodunit” aspect of the broadcast wasn’t as compelling as I thought it would be. I didn’t think the mystery would be solved in a week, but I did think the story line would be advanced a little more than it was. Perhaps things will pick up during next week’s three-hour edition of Raw.
It will be interesting to see what the ratings were for last night’s show, because ratings will ultimately determine whether this angle is a success. After the surprise demise of Mr. McMahon on Raw last week, the ratings for Tuesday’s ECW rose slightly, but the numbers for Friday’s Smackdown were at their normal level. …
When the limo arrived during the show and they kept cutting back to it, it reminded me of the glory days of WCW Nitro during the NWO angle. I was expecting Eric Bischoff to be inside. …
I was pleased to see Randy Orton score the clean pin on Bobby Lashley in the tag-team main event that pitted Orton and King Booker against Lashley and John Cena. Orton has been rejuvenated as a character and it’s important that he not lose any momentum. …
It sure seemed like Mr. Kennedy was turning babyface en route to a potentially hot feud with world heavyweight champion Edge on Smackdown. Instead, Kennedy was sent to Raw in the draft last week and he delivered a heel promo last night. That surprised me because I sensed the fans were ready to embrace Kennedy as a babyface. If the plan is for Kennedy to eventually challenge Cena for the WWE title, the fans might make Kennedy the babyface in that feud even if he isn’t supposed to be. …
The Iron Sheik is always good for a laugh. I wonder, though, whether his backstage vignette with Coach was live or taped. After seeing clips of The Iron Sheik’s profanity-laced shoot tape and reading reports of his unstable behavior at independent shows, I can’t imagine WWE would give him a microphone on live television. …
Unlike the Iron Sheik, Cryme Tyme is never good for a laugh, as last night’s skit once again proved. As lame as it was, however, the Cryme Tyme bit was like a classic episode of Seinfeld compared to Kevin Nash’s act in TNA.
I am intrigued by the report on wrestlingobserver.com that Jesse Ventura was in Stamford, Conn., yesterday to meet with Vince McMahon. No details about what was discussed in the meeting were provided, but I think it would be great if “The Body” returned to WWE in some capacity. Whether he was wrestling, providing color commentary for a match or governing the state of Minnesota, Ventura was always entertaining.
Watching WCW SuperBrawl III from 1993 on WWE 24/7 On Demand earlier today reminded me just how much Ventura could add to a broadcast (it also reminded me what Chris Benoit looked like when he had shoulder-length hair and what Steve Austin looked like when he had any hair). The banter between Ventura and Tony Schiavone was priceless, and it didn’t detract from the action in the ring.
I would love to hear Ventura’s acerbic wit again on WWE programs, although it’s probably unlikely that he would want to be a commentator on a full-time basis. It’s more likely that he would just make special appearances. Or, perhaps he and McMahon were discussing a role for Ventura in the “Who Blew Up WWE Chairman Vince McMahon?” story line.
By the way, I’ll be discussing the McMahon saga and other wrestling-related topics on The Peter Schmuck Show on WBAL (1090 AM) tomorrow afternoon in the 2 o’clock hour.
With former major league baseball player Warren Cromartie scheduled to make his debut as a pro wrestler this weekend in Japan (where he was a star for the Yomiuri Giants in the mid-to-late 1980s), I thought it might be fun to imagine how some other professional athletes would fare if they entered the squared circle. Plus, since this blog appears under the heading of “Sports,” I figured I had better write about “real” sports every once in awhile to justify my presence here.
Barry Bonds: The arrogant, irritable slugger is a natural heel if there ever was one. Whenever he's in danger of losing a match, Bonds temporarily blinds his opponents by squirting flaxseed oil in their eyes. Stealing Ric Flair's moniker of "The Dirtiest Player in the Game," Bonds goes on to win 15 world titles. As he closes in on Flair's record of 16, both Flair and the commissioner of wrestling vow not to be in attendance for the historic event.
Tim Duncan: A throwback wrestler in the mold of Jack Brisco and Harley Race, Duncan isn't flashy, but his no-nonsense approach results in multiple world titles. His reigns as champion, however, are marred by record-low pay-per-view buy rates.
The Manning Brothers: Peyton and Eli form the ultimate white-meat babyface tag team and enjoy numerous reigns as champions. However, when Peyton finds success as a singles wrestler, Eli – consumed by jealousy and an inferiority complex – turns on his brother and forms a new team with Peyton’s archrival, Mike Vanderjagt.
Jonathan Ogden: The Ravens’ perennial All-Pro, who once insinuated himself into a WWE hardcore title match in Baltimore, is a smiling, happy-go-lucky babyface most of the time. But when he gets angry – look out. One of his opponents is never heard from again after taunting Ogden by bringing up Stoney Case, Tony Banks, Elvis Grbac and Kyle Boller.
Shaquille O’Neal: Shaq Daddy borrows from two of wrestling’s noteworthy big men, combining Kevin Nash’s cool persona and work rate with The Great Khali’s promo skills. And if anyone has seen Kazaam, he obviously patterns his acting technique after Hulk Hogan.
Danica Patrick: Although attractive and athletic, Patrick’s career as a WWE diva stalls due to her lack of breast implants. She reinvents herself by competing exclusively in matches against men, but despite a huge promotional push, she has yet to win one.
Alex Rodriguez: He initially is pushed as a babyface, but promoters eventually are forced to turn him heel after fans fail to connect with the aloof pretty boy. A-Rod is so disliked among his peers that even his fellow heels won’t associate with him. A shameless rulebreaker, Rodriguez’s signature move is sucker-punching his opponents after telling them that their shoe is untied.
Ben Roethlisberger: Following in the footsteps of Mick Foley, Roethlisberger absorbs incredible amounts of punishment and keeps coming back for more. In a tribute to Foley, Roethlisberger is thrown 20 feet off the top of a cage, headfirst through the Spanish announcers’ table. When he is interviewed later, he says he hasn’t been knocked silly like that since Ravens linebacker Bart Scott laid the smack down on him.
Tiger Woods: He has a long run on top as a babyface, using the Tiger Driver as his finishing maneuver and always ending his promos by saying, “Whatcha gonna do when the Tiger tees off on you?” After fans grow tired of his act because he never loses, Woods turns heel and begins using his ever-present golf club as a foreign object.
Some fans loved the ending of Raw on Monday and some hated it, but one thing is certain: the “death” of Mr. McMahon had people talking yesterday. And that is exactly what WWE wanted.
It wasn't just wrestling fans that were talking about it, either. The shocking final scene on Raw was discussed on a number of sports talk shows and morning shows on local and national radio. In fact, I was a guest for a segment about it on Sun columnist Peter Schmuck’s show on WBAL last night.
I know that this kind of over-the-top, soap-opera-like story line turns off a lot of hardcore wrestling fans, but they’re missing the big picture. WWE is trying to broaden its audience, and becoming the subject of water-cooler talk is a way to do that. For WWE to get people talking, something that transcended wrestling needed to happen. Trust me, Schmuck was not going to bring me on his show to discus the merits of Torrie Wilson being drafted to Smackdown.
The “Who Blew Up WWE Chairman Vince McMahon?” saga (as it was referred to in a WWE news release yesterday) got under way the same week in which The Wrestling Observer reported that USA Network is pressuring WWE to increase the ratings for Raw. Time will tell if this angle, which will likely play out for several months, can deliver.
When last night’s special three-hour edition of Raw ended, I’m guessing most viewers reacted in one of two ways: they were either completely surprised by the final segment and anxious to see where it leads, or they just rolled their eyes at an angle that perhaps was too over-the-top.
The show, which was built around the WWE draft as well as it being Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night, concluded with Vince McMahon’s limo exploding into flames just seconds after the WWE chairman had gotten inside it.
In my opinion, WWE hit a home run in its attempt to end the show with a cliffhanger so compelling that you can’t wait to see the next episode. There have been very few angles in recent years that have surprised me, but they definitely caught me off-guard this time. We all knew something was going to happen when McMahon left the arena, but I don’t think anyone could have guessed we were about to see a scene right out of The Godfather (especially since WWE has always said that it doesn’t depict murder in its story lines).
Ultimately, I may end up joining the camp of those who groaned when the car exploded. I have never been a fan of story lines that insult the viewers’ intelligence, such as wrestlers being set on fire, or thrown off buildings, or involved in horrific car accidents, only to walk away relatively unscathed. For now, however, I’m going to give WWE the benefit of the doubt on this one until I see how it plays out.
On the WWE Web site after Raw went off the air, the incident was presented as breaking news. WWE reported that McMahon “has been presumed dead” as the result of an “apparent car bombing.” The story added that “no body had been recovered from the incinerated wreckage.”
Since the point has been made that McMahon had numerous enemies, I guess we are left with a “whodunit.” I’m betting it will be revealed in the end that the whole thing, including McMahon “losing his mind” recently, was an intricate ruse orchestrated by McMahon himself. When some unsuspecting high-level babyface least expects it, the evil McMahon will reappear to screw him over.
As for last night’s draft, it wasn’t nearly as unpredictable as the McMahon angle. Of the 10 performers who switched shows, the only one that really surprised me was Mr. Kennedy going from Smackdown to Raw. I figured a feud between Edge and Mr. Kennedy for the world heavyweight title was a given based on Edge cheating him out of his “Money in the Bank” contract last month.
The draft again made it clear what the pecking order is when it comes to the three brands. Raw, the flagship of WWE, gained the most and gave up the least. Raw landed three top-tier guys (Mr. Kennedy and King Booker from Smackdown and Bobby Lashley from ECW) and a monster heel getting a push (Snitsky of ECW).
Smackdown, the “B” show, got four performers from Raw in The Great Khali, Chris Masters, Ric Flair and Torrie Wilson. Flair, if used correctly, could make an impact. But The Great Khali is coming off three high-profile losses to WWE champion John Cena, Masters looks to be a mid-carder at best and Wilson is just another pretty face at this point.
ECW, already viewed as a distant third in a three-team race, lost Lashley (its champion and top babyface) and Snitsky (its top heel). In return, ECW got Chris Benoit and The Boogeyman from Smackdown. I think the Benoit move will actually benefit him and ECW, as he was never going to get a decent push on the other two shows and he gives the brand some credibility. Plus, guys like CM Punk, Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von can learn a lot by working with him.
Benoit would be my choice to be the new ECW champion (Lashley was stripped of the title last night after being drafted to Raw), but the drawback is that it would reinforce the perception of ECW as an inferior brand since he is coming off pinfall losses to Lashley, Edge and MVP.
Having been a Ravens cheerleader, WWE diva and reality television star before becoming an actress, Stacy Keibler has compiled a diverse body of work. Now, she is revealing how she works to get her body.
The Rosedale native will be one of the celebrities featured on TV Guide Channel’s Secrets of the Hollywood Body, which examines the most hip and innovative health and fitness trends that stars are using to get their sculpted bodies. The program premieres tomorrow at 8 p.m. and is repeated numerous times through next Sunday.
In other Stacy news, she wrote in an e-mail yesterday that she is renegotiating her deal with ABC and hopes to land a spot on one of the network’s fall shows. This weekend, she is in Napa, Calif., where she and president of ABC Entertainment Steve McPherson are attending Auction Napa Valley, which raises money for Napa County health, youth and low-income housing non-profit organizations.
Earlier this year, the former Dancing With The Stars contestant appeared as a recurring character on ABC’s What About Brian as well as two episodes of George Lopez, but neither program was picked up for the fall season. She has a role in the sports comedy movie The Comebacks, which is scheduled to be released in October.
Some thoughts from last night’s TNA Impact:
Unless TNA can actually deliver Chris Jericho at some point, I wish they would stop teasing that he might be coming. Last night, viewers were asked to vote on who they think will be Christian Cage’s opponent next week, and Jericho was one of the candidates. A while back, Jeff Jarrett also dropped Jericho’s name during a promo. Thus far, however, the only “appearance” Jericho has made on TNA television occurred when a Fozzy video aired on Impact last fall.
It makes TNA look minor league to keep teasing big names that they most likely can’t deliver. A few months ago, it was Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg who were mentioned on Impact as possibly being Christian’s consultant (the role that went to Scott Steiner). Whenever there is a mystery opponent or partner, TNA announcers are always pushing that it could be “someone from another wrestling organization,” strongly implying that someone is jumping from WWE. And don’t even get me started about how pathetic the Voodoo Kin Mafia vignettes of several months ago were.
As far as Jericho goes, there are reasons wrestling’s top free agent might consider working for TNA – a lighter schedule, less politics and the opportunity to be booked as the top star. Of course, he also would be welcomed back with open arms in WWE, especially with so many main eventers on the injured list. The difference is, WWE won’t tease that they have him unless they really do. …
The best wrestling match on television so far this week – not counting the classic Magnum T.A. vs. Tully Blanchard “I Quit” match that I watched on WWE 24/7 On Demand – was last night’s wild brawl between Chris Harris and James Storm. America’s Most Wanted was a decent tag team, but I think Harris and Storm are a lot more interesting as opponents than they ever were as partners. …
Two wrestlers that I don’t have much interest in seeing as opponents anymore are Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe. TNA did a good job of making their feud seem like something special when Angle first arrived on the scene, but I think the story line has lost a lot of steam. …
Gail Kim is always fun to watch. Melina might have more presence, but Kim is probably the most talented worker among active women wrestlers. I was surprised when WWE let her go a few years ago, and with Trish Stratus and Lita gone, I bet the company wishes it had her back. …
Last week, I wrote that the Mr. Backlund character is entertaining in a so-bad-it’s-good kind of way. The Kevin Nash “comedy,” however, is just so bad. Period.
