It was another evening of bad comedy on TNA Impact last night. In fact, for most of the episode – which was titled “Take my Wife … Please” – I felt like I was watching a parody of a wrestling show.

The show was salvaged, however, by the few segments that weren’t designed to be funny.

The emphasis on comedy – which in TNA is hit or miss, and usually the latter – is not helping pay-per-view buy rates or ticket sales, so if I were TNA, I would give serious consideration to cutting back on the funny business.

The highlight of the show was the attack by Robert Roode and Payton Banks on Booker T. and Traci Brooks. The segment, which featured the babyfaces being handcuffed and whipped with belts, got tremendous heat from the crowd and was effective in making you want to see a match between Roode and Booker.

The main event between Kurt Angle and Kevin Nash also was good, surprisingly so considering Nash’s physical limitations at this stage of his career. Angle carried the match, but Nash also put forth a good effort. The heat-getting moment in the bout occurred when Angle threw down his wife, Karen, outside the ring and showed no concern whatsoever for her. To add to the drama, Karen was bleeding from the mouth, and A.J. Styles scooped her up and carried her to the back.

Other than the fact that I thought TNA wasn’t allowed to do man-on-woman violence on television, I thought it was well done. I’m guessing that Karen will eventually turn on Styles and return to her husband’s side, which should mean a big babyface push for Styles.

Some other thoughts from last night’s show:

With just one more episode before the Destination X pay-per-view, only four matches have been announced. ...

TNA decided to open the show with something we have never seen before – the Angles arguing in the back. …

Styles really needs to lose that ridiculous-looking crown. …

The Team 3-D diet skits were nauseatingly unfunny. Ray and Devon were heat magnets, and now they are portrayed as clowns. …

More bad skits are on the way, as Scott Steiner has an initiation planned for Petey Williams. I’m still not certain whether they are heels or babyfaces. By the way, doesn’t it seem like Steiner has been carrying around those briefcases forever? …

I hope they were plants in the audience that were putting money in Sonjay Dutt’s tambourine. If they weren’t, why would anyone want to give away money to a wrestling character? …

Curry Man continues to bring a smile to my face. And Shark Boy continues to take it away. Shark Boy added some new puns to his repertoire – “kick some bass” and “gimme a shell yeah.” Ugh. At one point, Shark Boy clearly tried to get the crowd to do the “what?” bit. There was dead silence. Now that was funny. …

As if Dustin Rhodes needed any further evidence that his career has hit the skids, consider that he used to take stunners from “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and now he takes stunners from Shark Boy. …

Call me old-fashioned, but I think ladder matches should be used as the blow-off to an intense feud, not to decide the world drinking championship. …

Rhino delivered an awesome-looking gore to James Storm, but the clothesline Awesome Kong gave ODB looked even more devastating. Speaking of ODB, she has a lot of charisma in the ring, but her promos clearly are a work in progress. ...

Let me get this straight: Eric Young, a babyface, ran away rather than facing his fear. Who does he think he is, Floyd Mayweather?

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Some readers who have listened to the audio of John Cena’s interview with The Sun (U.K.) have commented to me that Cena’s statements about The Rock were not nearly as harsh as they seemed in print. One reader also expressed disappointment in me for not listening to the interview before I reacted to the story.

I just finished listening to the interview, and I do agree that Cena’s comments were not nearly as vitriolic as they appeared. In hindsight, I wish I would have listened to the interview instead of just relying on the printed story. Considering the British tabloid’s reputation for sensationalism, I should have known better. I also should have learned from the incident that occurred last November, when CNN took Cena’s quotes about steroid use out of context.

There are similarities in how The Sun (U.K.) and CNN presented Cena’s quotes, although I think CNN’s actions were more egregious. When CNN asked Cena if he had ever used steroids, the network aired an ambiguous sound bite from Cena that came across like a veiled admission. What CNN failed to do was air Cena’s initial response to the question, which was, “Absolutely not.” CNN completely misrepresented his answer.

The Sun (U.K.) also left out some key elements of Cena’s quotes about The Rock disassociating himself from wrestling. Not only that, but the paper published a story based on one small portion of a 30-minute interview and slapped a sensationalistic headline on it. The headline was “Cena: The Rock p***es me off.” The intro under the headline said: “WWE superstar John Cena has blasted ex-WWE champion The Rock for turning his back on the business.”

Cena’s quotes in the article, which I published yesterday, were mostly accurate, and he did indeed criticize The Rock. But, once again, segments of his statements were left out – segments that would have softened his comments.

Here are some of Cena’s thoughts on The Rock that were on the audio interview, but were conveniently left out of the story:

“He’s genuinely a nice guy. I’ve met him. And a fantastic human being.

“Like I said, he is a great guy. But I think we all know now that he wants to be an actor. And there’s nothing wrong with that, because he’s truly found another passion. He’s good at acting. His films make money.”

Cena also was quoted in the story as saying, “At one point Rock loved wrestling and wanted to do this all his life. So explain to me why he can’t come back.” The Sun (U.K.) ended the quote there, but what Cena actually said was: “So explain to me why he can’t come back for our 15th anniversary show or why he can’t make an appearance at WrestleMania. I wish he’d just show up, say hi and leave. Do the eyebrow once and get out of town.”

The harshest thing Cena said was: “Just don't [expletive] me around and tell me that you love this. That's the only thing that gets me really [ticked] off. Our fan base have so much admiration for him, he's got to respect that. He doesn't give anything back.”

It should be noted, however, that Cena said this in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, so categorizing what he said as “blasting” The Rock was quite a stretch.

I still think Cena’s criticism of The Rock is off base, but he certainly is entitled to his opinion. After being taken out of context for the second time in three months, however, I wouldn’t blame Cena if he decided to start keeping his opinions to himself from now on.

As far as this incident is concerned, I regret if I exacerbated it.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

Unless John Cena is trying to work some kind of angle, then his recent criticism of The Rock is way off base.

In a story in The Sun (U.K.) yesterday, Cena called out The Rock for turning his back on the wrestling business.

“What I kind of get peeved about — and this is my Achilles’ heel — is that I've wanted to do this my whole life. At one point Rock loved wrestling and wanted to do this all his life. So explain to me why he can't come back.

“Simply put it's because he wants to be an actor and there's nothing wrong with that. He's very good and very successful. Associating with sports entertainment doesn't do much for his acting career — I get it.

“Just don't [expletive] me around and tell me that you love this. That's the only thing that gets me really [ticked] off. Our fan base have so much admiration for him, he's got to respect that. He doesn't give anything back.”

First off, The Rock doesn’t have to explain himself to Cena. But that’s not the point. Like a lot of wrestling fans, I miss seeing The Rock in WWE, but I have never felt that he was dissing the industry or the fans.

On the surface, Cena’s comments seem to smack of jealousy, but I really don’t think that’s the case. I just think that Cena’s passion for the business is clouding his judgment. I certainly admire him for that passion, and if he truly is living his dream, I’m happy for him. But I find it hard to believe that Cena wouldn’t choose a movie career over wrestling if he were presented with the lucrative opportunities The Rock has had, even if he has repeatedly said otherwise.

When I interviewed Cena in 2006 prior to the release of his movie debut in The Marine, Cena said: “I really don't ever intend to leave wrestling. Sports entertainment has provided me with a great life and is something that I really do have a lot of passion for. I'm going to go full-steam ahead with sports entertainment and full-steam ahead with Hollywood.”

Of course, The Rock said the same thing at first. But his movie career took off to the point in which he had to choose between wrestling and acting. And, really, that choice was a no-brainer. Do you think that Hulk Hogan would have ever returned full-time to the ring if Mr. Nanny or Suburban Commando had become box office hits?

I believe The Rock when he says he loves wrestling. After all, he did grow up with the business and he was WWE’s first third-generation star. Wrestling, however, wasn’t his dream — playing pro football was. When that didn’t work out, he turned to wrestling and became one of the biggest stars in the history of the industry.

During The Rock’s time in WWE, I never got the impression that he didn’t love what he was doing. His work ethic and positive attitude were beyond reproach.

The Rock has always been very gracious, as well, at least whenever I have interacted with him. The first time I interviewed him was when he was just starting to get over in WWE, and I also talked with him when he was on top of the wrestling business and then after he had become a successful actor. He never changed, and after he became a movie star, he spoke well of wrestling and said he was very proud of what he had accomplished in WWE.

Just because The Rock has moved on doesn’t mean he has sold out or that he is thumbing his nose at wrestling fans. If Cena really can’t see that, then I’m as disappointed in him as he is in The Rock.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

As “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase used to say, “Everybody has a price,” and Floyd Mayweather’s supposedly is $20 million. During a news conference yesterday at Staples Center in Los Angeles, that was the figure the boxing star said — and WWE confirmed — he was getting for his match with The Big Show at WrestleMania XXIV.

I and many other industry observers believe that figure is about as exaggerated as Hulk Hogan’s claim that Andre The Giant weighed 700 pounds when he slammed him at WrestleMania III. Mike Tyson, who had significantly more of a mainstream presence than Mayweather has, was reportedly paid $3.5 for appearing as a special referee at WrestleMania XIV in 1998.

Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer said that he has heard that Mayweather was getting either $5 million or $2 million plus a percentage of the profits. That sounds more like it, but, hey, this is pro wrestling, and worked heights, weights and attendance figures just come with the territory.

Moving on to some financial figures that are not exaggerated, 2007 was a very good year for WWE. In fact, it was the company’s best year ever in terms of total revenue.

WWE took in $485.65 million last year. That surpassed the previous high gross of $456.04 million in the 2000-01 fiscal year, according to last week’s Observer. WWE’s 2007 profit of $52.10 million was the third-highest in company history.

It proves that while interest in pro wrestling isn’t nearly as high as it was during the Monday Night War era, the bottom line is that the bottom line is doing quite nicely.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

WWE issued a news release today announcing that MyNetworkTV will be the new home of Smackdown beginning next fall.

It had been announced earlier this month that the show, which debuted on UPN in 1999 and moved to The CW in September 2006, would be heading to another network.

MyNetworkTV was mentioned early on as a possible destination for Smackdown. Reportedly, NBC Universal, which owns the USA Network and Sci Fi Channel, the homes for Raw and ECW, respectively, had no interest in picking up another WWE program.

Other than MyNetworkTV, the only other network that expressed interest in Smackdown was WGN, which is owned by the Tribune Company, which also owns The Sun. Because MyNetworkTV is seen in more homes than WGN, it appears to be the best option.

Still, when I first heard that MyNetworkTV was in the running, my initial reaction was: What’s MyNetworkTV? And will I still be able to watch Smackdown? I did a little research and was relieved to learn that there is a Baltimore affiliate for the network — WUTB-24.

As I have written before, this seems like a step down for WWE. I went on the network’s Web site and looked at their programs, and I haven’t heard of any of them. Some of the titles included: Whacked Out Videos, Street Patrol and Jail.

The good news for WWE is that its presence on MyNetworkTV will increase the network’s profile and overall ratings. The bad news is that a network such as this doesn’t seem real stable.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Last night’s episode of Raw had a good mix of wrestling, promos and story line advancement, with a surprising revelation and a couple big announcements, too.

As far as the wrestling part, Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho delivered a pay-per-view quality match. Even though Hardy lost, it was a back-and-forth contest and had a nice finishing sequence, so the loss shouldn’t hurt him at all. Plus, the stipulation was that Jericho needed to win to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, so, theoretically, he had much more incentive to win than Hardy.

After a bit of a slow start since his return, Jericho looks to be gaining momentum after scoring clean wins over JBL and Hardy. And speaking of Hardy, when was the last time he had a match that wasn’t good? OK, it was last week, but that was against Snitsky, so that should have an asterisk.

The main event, in which John Cena and Triple H defeated Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy, also was good. The match was effective in building tension between Cena and Triple H.

Shawn Michaels’ win over Lance Cade was decent, too. I was surprised that Michaels won by disqualification (Trevor Murdoch interfered) rather than by pinfall, but it might have been to set up a tag-team match for next week pitting Cade and Murdoch versus Michaels and Ric Flair.

Other thoughts on last night’s show:

JBL revealed that Hornswoggle was actually Finlay’s son, not Mr. McMahon’s. McMahon seemed shocked by this news, which left me a little confused. I recall McMahon and Finlay discussing some secret that they were both in on last month. I thought the secret might be that Hornswoggle was Finlay’s son, but if that was the secret, McMahon’s reaction last night doesn’t make sense. …

Nearly three hours before Raw aired, a reader who goes by Everett W. posted a comment saying that Batista’s opponent at WrestleMania might be Umaga. I responded that the thought had crossed my mind, as well, but I dismissed it, thinking Umaga would end up in the Money in the Bank match. Well, Everett W. just might be right. It was announced last night that a wrestler of Smackdown general manager Vickie Guerrero’s choosing will face a wrestler of Raw general manager William Regal’s choosing at WrestleMania. Regal picked Umaga, and I’m guessing that Batista will be the Smackdown representative. I don’t think it will be Kane, and there really aren’t too many other choices. No disrespect to Umaga, but Batista has to be a little disappointed with his place on this year’s card. …

It’s official that The Rock will be inducting his father, Rocky Johnson, and grandfather, Peter Maivia, into the WWE Hall of Fame. The presence of The Rock adds even more excitement to what is shaping up to be an incredible weekend in Orlando, Fla., at the end of March. …

The Michaels-Flair match is on for WrestleMania. I liked the way it was set up, with Flair issuing the challenge and telling Michaels that he wanted to have a great match on the biggest stage the night after his Hall of Fame induction. There was just a hint of tension, which I’m assuming will grow between now and WrestleMania. …

In his match against Cade, Michaels got his nose busted yet again. If this keeps up, his nose is going to end up looking like Triple H’s prominent proboscis. …

I was a little surprised that Jim Ross didn’t mention the fact that Cade was trained by Michaels. If WWE ever decides Cade is worthy of a singles push, it could do an angle in which the student turns on the teacher a la Larry Zbyszko and Bruno Sammartino circa 1980. …

The opening three-way promo with Cena, Triple H and Orton was well done, and it was good to see Orton lay out both babyfaces. Orton needs to look strong in the buildup to WrestleMania so he doesn’t become just “the other guy” in a match involving the charismatic Cena and the legendary Triple H. …

I’m not sure what a BunnyMania match is, but it sounds like something that doesn’t fit with Beth Phoenix’s character. The match at WrestleMania pits Phoenix and Melina against Candice Michelle and Maria. I figured it was a sure bet that Phoenix would defend the WWE women’s title at WrestleMania against Michelle, who would be seeking revenge after suffering a broken collarbone and a concussion in a match against Phoenix last fall. It was a given that WWE would get Maria on the card in some form, as the cover girl for the Playboy issue that comes out in March always appears at WrestleMania. But couldn’t WWE just have made her the guest referee or something for a Phoenix-Michelle match? …

It was amusing that the “pee-in-the-tea” incident was referenced in the interaction between Regal and Jericho. …

After hearing Hardy’s entrance music a second time, I definitely think WWE should go back to his old music.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)
        

Regular readers of Ring Posts know that I am not a big Kevin Nash fan. That wasn’t always the case, however, and even now my feelings about him are somewhat complex.

A story in The Wrestling Observer last week forced me to look at Nash in another light. The story showed that, if nothing else, Nash won’t abandon a friend in need.

The Observer reported that Nash recently flew to Texas to check Sean “X-Pac” Waltman into a facility for both rehab and psychiatric care. The story said that Nash also was instrumental in getting Scott Hall to agree to go to rehab after he blew recent opportunities for a comeback in TNA and Puerto Rico.

Shawn Michaels told a similar story about Nash on The Shawn Michaels Story DVD that was released last November. Michaels said that it was Nash who told him several years ago that he was a husband and a father now and that he needed to get help for his drug addiction. Nash also confronted Michaels about his fractured friendship with Triple H, telling him that it was his fault and he needed to repair it.

Nash is to be commended for his loyalty and, as it pertains to Michaels, his brand of tough love. Having worked in WCW as the editor of the company magazine for a year while Nash was there, I also can tell you that he was generally well-liked by most of the wrestlers.

As a matter of fact, I was impressed with Nash as well the first time I ever dealt directly with him. In 1995, when Nash was WWE champion as Diesel, I conducted a phone interview with him for a story in The Sun to promote a WWE house show, and he was very pleasant, articulate and funny.

I liked the Diesel character, too, especially when he became an anti-establishment babyface that was a precursor to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. I continued to be a Nash fan after he went to WCW and formed the nWo with Hall and Hulk Hogan.

My opinion changed, however, when Nash started doing what was best for Nash, not what was best for the company. Nash had become a consummate backstage politician as a member of the infamous Kliq in WWE, but he took it to a whole new level in WCW. Coming up with health issues the night before having to do a job on pay-per-view, stirring up trouble backstage, going into business for himself and basically trying do as little as possible while he collected his big guaranteed paycheck were all part of Nash’s M.O.

He also could be petty and childish, as I found out firsthand in WCW. I’ve written about this before, so I won’t go into all the details, but Nash angrily refused to do an interview with me for the company magazine – you know, the same company that was providing him with that big guaranteed paycheck – for reasons he never made clear (although others told me it was because he disliked the publisher of the magazine and the fact that I was brought in as editor to replace a guy that he was friends with). That incident was disappointing to me, but I got over it, especially because Nash eventually agreed to do the interview when Vince Russo asked him to.

It was clear from his behavior in WCW that Nash – who was in a good financial situation and knew he always would be welcomed back in WWE – couldn’t have cared less whether WCW went out of business or not. I had a tougher time getting over that.

After WCW eventually did go down, Nash returned to WWE and wasted little time becoming a disruptive force. He and Waltman once demanded that a script be changed to their liking (Waltman reportedly threatened to quit on the spot if they didn’t get their way), and Nash also complained to management after The Rock ad-libbed a line in a promo about Nash that Nash didn’t like. That was hilarious coming from Nash, who often said things on the air that he was specifically told not to say.

Nash’s time in TNA has been more of the same. On Impact, he openly jokes about “doing nothing and getting paid,” and on two occasions he suddenly had health problems that prevented him from putting someone over on pay-per-view (funny how that never happens when he’s scripted for a big win). Amazingly, TNA keeps bringing him back and putting him in pay-per-view main events despite the fact that he can do very little in the ring at this point in his career.

I get it that wrestling is a cutthroat industry and wrestlers need to look out for their best interests, but Nash takes it to the extreme and is shameless about it. If I were running a wrestling company, I definitely wouldn’t want Nash in my locker room.

But I also can’t deny that he has another side. He played a huge role in likely saving the lives of three of his friends, and I certainly respect him for that.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

After watching Smackdown last night, it still isn’t clear who Batista will face at WrestleMania XXIV on March 30. Assuming that Shawn Michaels will be wrestling Ric Flair, that leaves Batista and Chris Jericho as the two biggest stars without an opponent for WWE’s marquee show.

I have a feeling that Jericho will end up in the Money in the Bank ladder match, so that leaves only Batista, who I don’t see as a participant in the ladder match. Here are a few possible scenarios for “The Animal” at WrestleMania:

A triple-threat match vs. Edge and The Undertaker for the world heavyweight title: I have seen speculation about this on various Web sites and message boards, but I don’t think it’s happening. For one thing, I don’t see WWE having two triple-threat world titles matches on the same show. Also, unlike John Cena, who lost to Randy Orton at No Way Out on a cheap disqualification, Batista was pinned cleanly by The Undertaker in the elimination chamber match, and thus has no case that he deserves to be in the title match. Finally, Batista, Edge and Undertaker just had a tripe-threat match at Armageddon in December, so it’s already been done. All of the focus of the Smackdown main event at WrestleMania is on Edge and Undertaker.

Teaming with Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show and Shane McMahon: There was talk that the original idea for this angle was to have Mayweather and Rey Mysterio face Show and McMahon, but that had to be scrapped due to Mysterio suffering a torn biceps. As it stands now, Mayweather vs. Show is a one-on-one match, but that could change. If it ends up becoming a tag match, Batista would be a logical choice because he and Mysterio are close friends in the story line. Plus, it could lead to a post-WrestleMania program between Batista and Show.

Facing MVP: This probably is a long shot, but it’s the match I would most like to see Batista in at WrestleMania. These two have wrestled a couple times recently, with Batista winning both matches. On Smackdown last night, MVP got in a lot of offense before Batista finally prevailed. This reminds me somewhat of MVP’s program with Chris Benoit last year, when he lost to Benoit a few times before finally getting that elusive victory over him. MVP was taken a lot more seriously as a result of those matches. Working a high-profile program with Batista would be an even greater boost to MVP’s rising career. If MVP were to lay out Batista in the next couple of weeks, there could be a lot of interest in a match between them at WrestleMania.

MVP’s U.S. title probably wouldn’t be at stake, as it has been established that the U.S. and Intercontinental titles are beneath guys such as Batista, Undertaker, Triple H, Cena and Michaels. The wildcard in this is Matt Hardy. If Hardy is back for WrestleMania, MVP would be his logical opponent. However, if Hardy’s return was held off until after WrestleMania, and if MVP were to upset Batista, or even if he fell just short in a competitive match, it would make the Hardy-MVP program even more meaningful.

A few other thoughts on last night’s Smackdown:

I’m not sure it was wise to have an injured Mysterio wrestle again. Gutting it out for a short world title match on pay-per-view is one thing, but the match with Chavo Guerrero seemed unnecessary. It’s probably past the point of mattering, but the match also further buried the ECW title, as the ECW champion was pinned by a one-armed man.

The post-match attack by Big Show – in Mysterio’s home town – was effective at getting Show a lot of heel heat. Actually, I think it would have been safer for Mysterio if they had just down the beatdown instead of the match. It probably wasn’t a great idea for anyone to be grabbing on Mysterio’s injured arm, but it was obvious that Show was being cautious with it. …

Benjamin and Jimmy Wang Yang had a really good match. Benjamin executed the move of the night when he leaped onto the top rope and hit an overhead suplex on Yang, who landed more than halfway across the ring. Benjamin never ceases to impress me with his athleticism and agility. There’s still something missing in his delivery on the mic, but he definitely deserves a push. As for Yang, he probably never will wrestle in a pay-per-view main event, but he also is very talented and fun to watch. I think Yang should be moved to ECW, where he would instantly become a top contender for the title. …

It’s very strange to have the announce teams for all three WWE shows do the “serious voice” when talking about an angle involving Hornswoggle. He had been depicted as a cartoon character who lived under the ring, and now they are talking about him suffering from “swelling of the brain.” Speaking of which, I'm not so sure I'd be doing angles involving brain injuries at this time. Here’s a thought: When Hornswoggle was cornered in the cage on Raw Monday, why didn’t he just spray paint a black box on the mat and jump into it like he did that time when he “ran through” a wall in front of Carlito? …

It looks like the days of The Great Khali being treated as something special are over. He has now been pinned by Finlay and Kane in consecutive weeks. …

Theodore Long was flirting with Maryse. Didn’t he learn anything from the Kristal Marshall debacle?

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

Following up on last week’s funny wedding ceremony, which saw Karen Angle “marry” A.J. Styles, last night’s episode of TNA Impact featured several entertaining vignettes of the new couple on their “honeymoon.”

I’m not sure where TNA is going with this, but if it doesn’t lead to a title program between TNA world champion Kurt Angle and Styles, then it has all been a complete waste of time. Hey, maybe TNA could book a Karen Angle-on-a-pole match. There’s a joke in there somewhere about Karen knowing her way around a pole before she married Kurt, but I digress.

The show did not get off to a promising start, as the Angles were yelling at each other in the opening segment. It would have been fine except for the fact that they are arguing on every other episode. And sometimes they are really mad at each other and sometimes they are pretending to fight so they can swerve people.

Conflict and tension are key ingredients in wrestling, but they don’t have any impact when two people on the same side are constantly at odds. If the Angles got along most of the time, the arguments would mean more and I wouldn’t get a headache trying to figure out the characters’ motives.

Speaking of motives, I didn’t understand why Kurt was jealous over Styles kissing his wife last week. Doesn’t Kurt encourage Karen to seduce other wrestlers – Styles, Tomko, Kevin Nash – whenever he is backed into a corner?

Even if the premise was flawed, the vignettes with Styles and Karen were silly fun. It was a nice touch to have Jeremy Borash as the cameraman (bringing back memories of Alex Shelley’s Paparazzi Productions).

The latest twist in the story line is whether Karen really is starting to fall for Styles after initially making it clear that she was just trying to make Kurt jealous. Something tells me this isn’t going to end well for “Prince A.J.”

Other thoughts on last night’s show:

Kurt Angle and Booker T. had a good TV match, but what was up with Angle’s tube socks? I don’t claim to be on the cutting edge when it comes to the latest fashion trends, so maybe that’s what the kids are wearing these days. …

Next week we will be treated to a match between Angle and Kevin Nash. Hey, wait a minute. I thought Nash would only wrestle if Jim Cornette cut him a check for $100,000. …

To the surprise of no one, Kip James turned on B.G. James and “Bullet” Bob Armstrong. The tip-off that the turn was coming occurred two weeks ago when Kip told B.G. and Armstrong that he was behind them all the way. After the match, an angry Kip cut a promo that might have been the best one I have ever seen from him. …

Why exactly was the 68-year-old Armstrong in the ring, anyway? And why in the world was Tomko selling his weak-looking offense? By the way, the TNA creative team sure has done a nice job of making me not care about Tomko, who was on the verge of becoming a breakout character – if he wasn’t already one – before his nonsensical heel turn. …

I liked the segment in which Jay Lethal was recognized for his accomplishments in TNA. Lethal has gradually climbed the ladder in TNA and he is looking more and more like a star. I also like the story line (so far) with Lethal, SoCal Val and Lethal’s pal Sonjay Dutt, who appears to be jealous of the budding romance between Lethal and Val. Knowing how story lines usually go in TNA, Dutt will turn on Lethal and Val will probably side with Dutt. Swerve! …

Cornette again tried to get Samoa Joe to sign his new contract. For those who missed it, can you guess how it turned out? …

Mike Tenay did a sit-down interview with Rhino, who talked about the risk of wrestling in an Elevation X match against James Storm. For this feud to be taken seriously, I think Storm needs to cut a promo saying that he’s got his focus back after getting sidetracked with the Eric Young foolishness. He should say that Rhino isn’t going to be facing the guy who played silly drinking games, he’s going to be facing the guy who intentionally tried to take out the eye of his former tag-team partner. …

In a fun interview segment, Curry Man’s music played and both he and Crystal started dancing. I thought Curry Man’s moves were great, but even he couldn’t compete with Crystal. Later, Don West said that if anyone doesn’t find Curry Man and Shark Boy entertaining, they must not have a pulse. I guess that means I’m only half-dead. …

The tension between Gail Kim and ODB, the company’s top two female babyfaces, boiled over after a long buildup of one whole week. …

OK, Team 3-D having to do the weigh-in was somewhat amusing last week, but now I’m already tired of it. This time, Brother Ray actually made weight (under 275 pounds). I’m having a tough time suspending my disbelief on that one. I did get a chuckle out of seeing Ray break out his old dancing routine, but I like Team 3-D much more as despicable heels than as comedic heels. …

Did you know that Rellik is Killer spelled backwards? Of course you do, because Tenay tells us every single week.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

It became official on Raw last night that the main event for WrestleMania XXIV on March 30 will be a triple-threat match for the WWE title, as champion Randy Orton defends against Triple H and John Cena. I think this is the best possible main event on the Raw side, as it’s more intriguing than any singles match-up involving these three.

When it had appeared that Cena would not return from his injury in time to be on the WrestleMania card, I was all for Jeff Hardy facing Triple H in the main event, or possibly having a triple-threat match with those two and Orton. But with Cena coming back earlier than expected, WWE had to put him in the main event. After all, Cena is the top star in the company, and I know that fact pains some fans, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Cena, Orton and Triple H all deserve to be in the main event. Hardy, even though he lost to Orton at the Royal Rumble last month and did not win the elimination chamber match Sunday at No Way Out, still is being given a big push. His time will come after WrestleMania, where I fully expect him to win the Money in the Bank ladder match, which he qualified for last night by defeating Snitsky.

Some thoughts on last night’s show:

There was nothing wrong with the Cena-Orton main event, but the crowd in Anaheim was nowhere near as good as the one in Las Vegas at No Way Out, and it hurt the match. Hopefully, there’s a good explanation for special referee Triple H counting Cena’s pin of Orton in the non-title match, which earned Cena a spot in the WrestleMania main event. As Triple H stated earlier in the show, it doesn’t benefit him to have it be a triple threat. He ended up giving both guys a Pedigree after the match, but I was thinking that he was going to do that during the match, which still could have led to a triple-threat. …

After a tremendous angle with Floyd Mayweather and The Big Show at No Way Out, last night’s segment was awkward and fell a little flat. It was quite a contrast to see Show so relaxed and confident when cutting his promo, while Mayweather seemed nervous and unsure of himself when speaking. It reminded me of when Mike Tyson appeared on Raw 10 years ago and said that he was a big WWE fan and his favorite wrestler was “Cold Stone.”

WWE has to be disappointed with the less-than-enthusiastic reaction Mayweather got from the crowd, as he was greeted with a mixture of boos and indifference. Show challenged Mayweather to a match of some kind, and the boxing star accepted. There has been speculation that it would be a tag-team match pitting Mayweather and Rey Mysterio against Show and Shane McMahon, but it was reported on prowrestling.net that Mysterio is scheduled to undergo surgery on his torn biceps Friday, which would put him out for four to six months. …

I’m not sure if the beatdown of Hornswoggle by JBL and Vince McMahon in a steel cage elicited heel heat or “we really don’t like this angle” heat. Personally, I didn’t care for it. I know that heels are supposed to do vile things, but I did not like the imagery created by two large men brutally assaulting a midget who plays a child-like character. With that being said, I did think that the emotion from Finlay, who was handcuffed and forced to watch the attack, was very good, and JBL is just great at being unlikable. …

By the way, where was Chris Jericho to “save us” during the Hornswoggle beatdown? …

It was a nice touch to have Shawn Michaels make the announcement that Ric Flair would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next month. Although it isn’t official yet, it sure looks like it will be Flair vs. Michaels at WrestleMania. I’m looking forward to the buildup to that one. …

Hardy and Mr. Kennedy both got new entrance music. Kennedy’s was a change for the better, but Hardy’s wasn’t. With Hardy being so hot right now, I don’t think I would tinker with anything involving him. …

WWE conducted a poll asking whether Maria should appear in Playboy, and 94 percent said that she should. You mean 6 percent actually voted no? …

If WWE had asked whether Val Venis could defeat Mr. Kennedy in the Money in the Bank qualifying match, the “no” votes probably would have exceeded 94 percent. …

Going back to Maria, I didn’t like the decision to have her beat Beth Phoenix, even if it was portrayed as a fluke because of the returning Candice Michelle’s distraction. Phoenix has been great as a monster heel, and it should take more than a simple distraction and quick roll-up to defeat her. I would have minded it a lot less if Michelle had actually physically interfered behind the referee’s back to cost Phoenix the match. …

During Paul Burchill’s match, Jim Ross asked Jerry Lawler if he could remember any other brother-sister tandems on Raw. No one said it, but what about Ken and Ryan Shamrock from 10 years ago? I know they weren’t really siblings, but neither are Burchill and Katie Lea. Supposedly, WWE wanted to do an incest story line with the Shamrocks, but – fortunately – it never happed (and let’s hope it doesn’t happen this time, either). Ironically, Ken and Ryan ended up dating in real life. You have to believe Burchill is hoping history repeats itself.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

Now that was a pay-per-view that packed a punch. If you don’t believe me, just ask The Big Show.

At No Way Out last night, WWE delivered two well-booked, exciting elimination chamber matches, a WWE title match with an incredibly hot crowd and an unexpected but very well-executed angle with the returning Big Show and boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather.

No Way Out is traditionally looked at as almost a throwaway pay-per-view because it is sandwiched between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, but I think it actually topped last month’s Rumble, which was a good show. The matches at No Way Out ranged from decent to excellent, and even the Edge-Rey Mysterio match was OK despite Mysterio being limited by working with a torn biceps.

The results last night were mostly predictable, but WWE showed that predictable is not synonymous with boring. In a couple of matches, even though I was convinced I “knew” what was going to happen, the storytelling was so good that I began to wonder before ultimately being proven right. Swerves are definitely a big part of wrestling story lines, but they should only be done occasionally so that they have maximum effect. Logical booking is what pays off at the box office.

While the wrestling world will focus on the chamber matches and the world title bouts, the Show-Mayweather angle is what those outside of wrestling will be talking about. WWE created a SportsCenter moment last night, which presumably will lead to Mayweather being involved in WrestleMania next month. That will generate a ton of mainstream publicity.

Here is a match-by-match look at last night’s show:

John Cena defeated WWE champion Randy Orton by disqualification: I know that Cena and Orton have their share of detractors, especially Cena, but I have never understood it. Cena is a superstar in every sense of the word, and Orton has made incredible strides over the past six months to also become one of the best in the business. In this match, they showed why they deserve their top-tier spots. They took the fans on a proverbial rollercoaster ride and told a great story, not only with the action but also with their facial expressions and presence. The enthusiastic crowd also helped make the match special, as Cena continues to elicit the most spirited responses whether they love him or hate him.

Before Cena suffered a torn pectoral muscle last October, Orton came close but he was never able to defeat him. Then, last week on Raw, Orton looked like he realized that his title reign would be ending at No Way Out, as Cena proved that he was 100-percent healthy. With that back story going in, Orton got to a point in the match last night in which he gave up trying to win and started looking for ways to escape with his title. After failing to get himself intentionally counted out or defeat Cena by countout, Orton slapped the referee to get himself disqualified. Orton comes out of the match with a lot of heat, and Cena comes out as the uncrowned champion. It looks like we are headed to a triple-threat main event at WrestleMania, which I think is the right call.

World heavyweight champion Edge defeated Rey Mysterio: This was understandably kept short because of Mysterio’s injury. Mysterio showed a lot of heart by going through with the match, but I’m not sure it was the wisest decision. My only problem with the match is that the finish – Edge speared Mysterio in mid-air for the pin – was too similar to their finish at the Royal Rumble.

The big news is what happened after the match. Big Show, who physically looked the best he has in years (he said that he has lost 108 pounds), got a good reaction when he made his surprise appearance. He began cutting a babyface promo, which surprised me because WWE needs more heel main-eventers, but then got annoyed because an injured Mysterio was still outside the ring, taking the attention away from him. Big Show went after Mysterio, which got a lot of heat, and then began taunting Mayweather, who was seated at ringside and had been established as Mysterio’s friend earlier in the show. This led to Mayweather hopping the rail and staring down Show in the ring. Show, who towered over Mayweather, got down on his knees to mock him, and Mayweather responded by connecting with three punches – which slow-motion replays showed were not pulled – to Show’s face. Show, bleeding profusely from the nose and mouth, became incensed and chased Mayweather, who took off through the crowd with his entourage. Show deserves a lot of credit for agreeing to take those punches from a man who is regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.

We all know this was scripted, but it came off very real, much like past angles involving Mike Tyson and Steve Austin, and Lawrence Taylor and Bam Bam Bigelow. Shane McMahon added to the realism by coming out and trying to calm down Show, while the announcers remained silent. This obviously sets up Mayweather to appear at WrestleMania, possibly in a boxing match against Show, who had been training to become a professional boxer during his absence from WWE before ultimately deciding to return to wrestling.

Triple H won the Raw elimination chamber match: This was the match of the night. Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho started it and worked well together, which was no surprise. Umaga, who was the one wrestler in this match that I really wasn’t interested in, ended up standing out. In a spot that I don’t recall seeing before, he executed a Samoan Drop with Jericho and Michaels on his shoulders. It took all of the babyfaces hitting their finishers on him to eliminate Umaga. Because the show was running late, Jericho and Michaels – who was a bloody mess – were then eliminated in rapid-fire fashion, leaving Triple H and Jeff Hardy (JBL had been the first one eliminated).

Triple H and Hardy went back and forth, and at one point it actually seemed like Hardy was going to win when he kicked out after a Pedigree and delivered a low blow to Triple H. But Triple H, who also was bleeding at this point, countered Hardy’s Twist of Fate and hit another Pedigree, this time on a steel chair, for the win and the right to be in the Raw main event at WrestleMania. Hardy showed a real aggressive side in the match and once again looked strong in defeat.

The Undertaker won the Smackdown elimination chamber match: With Big Daddy V and The Great Khali among the six competitors in this match, it obviously wasn’t as star-studded as the Raw contest, but it was way better than I expected. The match started slowly, but BDV and Khali didn’t last long and it really picked up after that. MVP took a big bump off the top of the pod and was pinned by Finlay, who was eliminated shortly thereafter by The Undertaker. Undertaker and Batista were the first two in and the last two remaining. In the latest chapter of their classic rivalry, the two bloody superstars took turns kicking out of each other’s finisher before Undertaker hit a Tombstone Piledriver for the win at the 30-minute mark. For the finish, Batista, standing outside the ropes, had Undertaker upside down on his shoulders, but Undertaker shifted his weight, landed inside the ring and placed Batista in position for the Tombstone in one fluid motion.

Undertaker is set to face Edge at WrestleMania, but Batista is left without an obvious opponent. Before the Mayweather angle, I thought it might be Big Show. I suppose Kane is a possibility. On the off chance that Cena isn’t involved in the Raw main event, perhaps we could see a Cena-Batista inter-brand match.

Ric Flair defeated Mr. Kennedy: The basic story was that Kennedy had no respect for Flair and dominated the match, but ultimately might have taken “The Nature Boy” too lightly. Flair got the clean win with the figure-four in what was a decent match. Kennedy is getting better and better at doing subtle things to get heel heat.

ECW champion Chavo Guerrero defeated CM Punk: This was a solid opener, although I was surprised to see Guerrero get the clean pin. I didn’t anticipate a title change, but I did think Guerrero would at least have to cheat to win. I’m not sure what this means for Punk.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

Predictions for tonight's WWE pay-per-view:

WWE champion Randy Orton vs. John Cena: It’s certainly not far-fetched to assume that Cena will win the title tonight and then face Triple H at WrestleMania, but I have a hunch that’s not happening. WWE has done such a good job of building Orton into a credible champion that I just don’t see him dropping the belt anywhere but on the big stage at WrestleMania. I think Orton will retain the title in a disputed finish, leading to a triple-threat match at WrestleMania between Orton, Cena and Triple H.

World heavyweight champion Edge vs. Rey Mysterio: There is some question as to whether Mysterio will be able to wrestle after suffering what was believed to have been a torn biceps during a match in Chile last week. Regardless of Mysterio’s condition, Edge will retain the title.

Raw elimination chamber match (Jeff Hardy, JBL, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels,Triple H, Umaga): There are only two people who have a shot at winning this match — Hardy and Triple H, and I already indicated in my analysis of the Orton-Cena match that I’m going with Triple H. Even though I think Hardy will come up short, I expect him to come out of this match with his momentum in tact.

Smackdown elimination chamber match (Batista, Big Daddy V, Finlay, The Great Khali, MVP, The Undertaker): Most likely it will come down to rivals Batista and The Undertaker, and I would be extremely shocked if The Undertaker doesn’t win.

Ric Flair vs. Mr. Kennedy: I’m looking forward to this match after their verbal confrontation on Raw last week. I expect Kennedy to dominate the match before Flair pulls out the victory and winds up his career at WrestleMania.

ECW champion Chavo Guerrero vs. CM Punk: I think it’s too soon for Guerrero to lose the title, so I anticipate the champion winning in nefarious fashion.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

For those suffering from Stacy Keibler withdrawal, help is on the way.

The former WWE diva and Rosedale resident appears in the current issue of Shape magazine and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

In the “Sexiest Bodies in Hollywood” edition of Shape, Keibler is featured in an eight-page spread for an article titled “Four Weeks to a Better Butt.” In the article and accompanying photos, Keibler goes through the exercise regimen that she used recently to tighten her gluteal muscles. No, I wasn’t aware that her glutes needed tightening, either.

Keibler also appears in a sultry four-page advertisement in the SI swimsuit issue promoting the new line of Axe Skin Contact Shower Products.

And if you want to see even more of Keibler, check out the faux commercial she did on Will Ferrell’s Funny or Die Web site. Go to funnyordie.com and do a search on her name.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Hulk Hogan told The Sun in the U.K. that he and former WCW boss Eric Bischoff are just days away from launching a wrestling company and signing a deal “with one of the TV networks here in America.”

“Once we’ve wrapped the TV up we’ll make the official announcement,” Hogan told the newspaper. “The network want to make a really big deal of it.”

Hogan certainly sounds confident that the deal will get done, and there is evidence to suggest that he isn’t bluffing. Still, you have to take much of what Hogan says with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to this subject.

Hogan has talked several times in the past decade about starting his own wrestling company, but nothing ever came of it, and wrestling pundits speculated that he only made the claims to get Vince McMahon to bring him back to WWE.

I asked Hogan anout the possibility of him owning a wrestling company in an interview I did with him for WCW Magazine in 2000. “That’s been thought of,” he said at the time. “But I don’t think I would take all the money I’ve made and put it into this business, as competitive as it is right now.” He indicated that he would be more willing at some point to join a start-up company with someone else providing the funding. In 2001-2002, Hogan was affiliated with the short-lived XWF before making his return to WWE.

While it would be easy to write off Hogan’s pronouncement as just another ploy designed to cut a deal with McMahon for a spot at WrestleMania, there does seem to be more to it than that.

As part of the ongoing coverage of Hogan’s divorce, it was reported last month that Linda Hogan had accused Hulk of taking a large sum of money and placing it in a Limited Liability Company that only Bischoff had access to. And The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer said on his Web site today that Linda Hogan had told him before the divorce that Hogan and Bischoff would be starting a wrestling company that would do overseas tours with Hogan as the star. According to Meltzer, Hogan and Bischoff have talked for more than a year about starting a company, and have contacted many former WWE and WCW stars.

The problem is that almost all of the top stars are under contract to WWE, TNA or Ring of Honor. “There are a lot of unhappy campers in the WWE and there are also a new breed of wrestlers that Vince McMahon hasn’t explored yet, that we have,” Hogan told The Sun (U.K.). “And I’m in better shape than I have been for about 10 years.”

An event last April at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn., that Hogan headlined with Paul Wight (The Big Show), included wrestlers such as Brutus Beefcake, Greg Valentine, Buff Bagwell, The Barbarian, Mr. Hughes, Brian Christopher and Kid Kash, and reportedly drew an estimated crowd of 6,000 in an arena that has a 20,000-seat capacity.

Whether another American wrestling company besides WWE can be profitable remains to be seen, but if Hogan and Bischoff have network backing, they could make a go of it. One thing that is certain is that Hogan is a good businessman, and he wouldn’t enter into any deal that wasn’t a good one for him.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

John Bradshaw Layfield, who retired in 2006 due to a severe back injury, hung up his headset and left the Smackdown announce table last month to return to the ring for a high-profile singles program with Chris Jericho on Raw.

On Sunday, JBL will be one of six wrestlers — along with Jericho, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy and Umaga — participating in an elimination chamber match at the No Way Out pay-per-view. The winner will wrestle for the WWE championship next month at WrestleMania XXIV.

I spoke with Layfield in a telephone interview yesterday.

From a physical standpoint, how does it feel to be back in the ring after such a long layoff, and how much did you miss being in the ring while you were out?

I missed it a ton. It’s something that I thought I’d never get to do again. Ever since I was a kid, all I ever really wanted to be was a wrestler. To get to go back and do that again, it’s just been phenomenal. Physically, I’m not there yet; I’m not even close. My body’s not hardened up to taking the beating yet, so I’m coming out with an inordinate amount of bruises and bumps, but that over time is going to heal up. I really planned on coming back later in the year, and the deal with Jericho just happened, so I came back a lot earlier than I expected to. I still don’t have the ring rust off yet and still don’t have my body hard enough to do what I need to be doing. And, honestly, my mind is not where I need to be to be in a truly important singles program yet.

You said you came back earlier than you had planned. What made you decide that now was the time to do it?

It was just a matter of the opportunity with Jericho, and I’m not sure how that came about. I really planned on coming back later in the spring when I felt like I was in better shape, even though I’ve lost about 50 pounds, because I was real fat for a while. I’m still not in shape like I need to be, so I was thinking it was going to be later. But the opportunity came up with Jericho, and I’ve always been a fan of Chris’ and a friend of his, and it was something that I just couldn’t turn down.

I can’t remember you and Jericho ever wrestling each other before this program. Had you ever met before in the ring?

Never in the ring. I’ve known Chris since back when he was Lionheart in Japan back in the early ’90s. I’ve known Chris throughout our respective careers, but we’ve never even been in the ring with each other.

That’s pretty amazing for two guys that have been around for as long as you both have.

Yeah, and we’ve both been in the same territories before, too. We both were in Japan together and we both were in WWE together, and for whatever reason, we just never met up.

What are your thoughts so far on your program with Jericho?

I think Chris is phenomenal. Working with Chris with me just coming back felt a lot like me working with Eddie [Guerrero]. I was just trying to uphold my part because I knew they would be there. I did that relatively well. Chris is a fantastic talent who probably covered up a lot of my inadequacies. I felt great out there with Chris. He’s a guy that doesn’t mind getting punched in the mouth and neither do I. It was the perfect guy to come back with.

It did look like you guys are working pretty snug in there.

We were. I’m not sure it’s because we meant to work snug or we’re both rusty. In fact, right now I’ve got a tooth that’s missing because of Chris. He knocked it right out, and I just haven’t had time to have it fixed because I’ve been traveling so much. It was initially knocked out by Finlay back in the early ’90s in Europe. And it’s not a fake tooth that’s supposed to come out. Finlay knocked out a real tooth and I had it fixed, and then Jericho knocked it out again at the pay-per-view.

I thought that you and Michael Cole worked very well together. Do you miss doing commentary, and is that something you plan to do again when you do stop wrestling?

Yeah, I do miss it. I really enjoyed working with Michael Cole. I think he’s a great play-by-play guy. He’s a great setup guy and he checks his ego at the door, which is so important when you’re doing commentary. I look at it now and I see Cole and I think, “Oh, I’d like to answer it like this.” Someday, I’d love to go back to it. I really had a lot of fun. The art of commentary is something that is really interesting to me.

You are in the Raw elimination chamber match at No Way Out on Sunday. Since you haven’t been in one of these matches before, will you do anything differently to prepare for it? I don’t mean that in a kayfabe sense. Do you watch tapes of past chamber matches, for instance?

The thing about this structure is there’s nothing that gives in this thing. You’re going to get hurt in this thing and there’s no doubt about it. There’s really not much you can do physically to prepare for it, because you know going in you’re going to get banged up. Mentally, yeah, I’ve watched all the old elimination chambers and we’ll watch more before the match Sunday to try to get a better sense of what’s going to go on in the match.

Who else on the Raw roster do you look forward to working with? Is there someone else who you haven’t worked with much that you’d like to?

Yeah, Shawn Michaels I just think the world of. I would love the opportunity to be in a meaningful match with him. We’ve wrestled before, just a couple times. Once early when he was champion back in ’96, and then right before I retired we wrestled about a 20-minute match in England on TV. But we’ve never really hooked up in any real meaningful sense. I just think the world of the guy and I think it would be great to be able to do that. The same with Triple H. Now, Triple H and I have wrestled many, many times, but never on a real meaningful stage. I would really enjoy that. There’s quite a few guys on Raw that I haven’t done that with. There’s a lot of opportunity there where I can do stuff that I haven’t done before.

Tell me about Mamajuana Energy, the new energy drink that your company, Layfield Energy, is putting out.

We’ve changed it to pronounce it like a drunk white Texan, so it’s Mama-ju-ana. Mamajuana is the original product from the Caribbean. Dominicans made it. It’s a legendary elixir. We took the name and changed it to Mamajuana Energy. We also had the formula changed completely. The Dominicans called their product liquid Viagra, and that’s pretty much what we’ve developed. We’ve developed an all-natural, no-prescription needed, two-ounce shot that’s got an energy and a virility component to it. It’s not for Bob Dole and it’s not for Rafael Palmeiro. It’s for virile people who want their sex life to be better. It’s a $5 billion market, and we really don’t think there’s an all-natural thing out there that is targeted to people who don’t have to go to a doctor, they don’t have to make an excuse, they don’t have to go to a pharmacy. It’s something you can pick up over the counter, or you can go to mamajuanaenergy.com. I want to make it clear that it’s not for the erectile dysfunction market — that’s Viagra, Cialis. They’re great drugs and they go after a specific symptom. This is something that people will take because they want it, not because they need it.

Can you personally attest to its effectiveness?

My wife has banned it from our house. Let me tell you a story. I was working with this thing for over a year, and when I first got it, it tasted horrible. I couldn’t give that to somebody else — what if something happens to them? So, I had to test the prototype on myself, even though we had a great [Research and Development] lab out in Long Beach, Calif., in Wellington Foods. I was testing all of them, and I think my wife got tired of me testing them [laughs], so she pretty much banned it from my house, which is possibly the greatest endorsement I’ve ever had. Actually, a few wives have banned it from the house because when I started getting the taste down, I starting giving it to other guys to try, and finally a bunch of the wives just told me, “Would you please quit giving that [stuff] to my husband?”

Since we’re conducting this interview on Valentine’s Day, it sounds like the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for the wife, or maybe the husband.

I didn’t have time because we just debuted it, but I was talking to some casinos down in Atlantic City, and they’re the ones that brought up a Mamajuana Energy menu for Valentine’s Day. We’ve got a lot of people making different Mamajuana Energy drinks, which I think is going to be a pretty good market for us.

Your company also is putting out T-Shot Energy, an energy drink designed specifically for golfers. What about the drink makes it good for golfers?

The main thing that makes it different is the anti-inflammatory. I noticed that a lot of golfers — and I love to golf — were taking an energy drink with Aleve, Advil or something like that, because most golfers have a bad something — bad back, bad shoulder, bad knees. So what we did was, we made it all into one shot. It’s all natural, so you’re not taking any drugs. It gives you five hours of energy for 18 holes of golf. It clears your head. It’s got cognitive ingredients in it, so if you’re hungover, you’re tired, whatever, it makes you focus. But the main thing that differentiates us is the anti-inflammatory stuff in it. The product has just gotten great reviews from golfers, because they don’t stove up on the back nine. Even if you’re riding in a cart, you’re doing a lot of walking. So it’s specifically designed just for golfers, which makes it the only thing out there that’s like that.

Are there any other business ventures that you want to talk about?

Just the mamajuanaenergy.com. We’ve got several things that we’re going to come out with in the next few months. We’re coming out with a ladies’ version of Mamajuana Energy, which is going to be big. One thing about ladies is that either they have kids or they’re working people, and they don’t have the energy, they don’t have the desire to have sex because they work all day. Every time we bring this out, women ask us, “Are you going to do anything for ladies?” and the answer is yes. We hope to have it out by summer, and we have several other products that we’re going to bring out by summer as well. The main thing to us is just building this product. We’ve got fulfillment being set up in Canada, in the [European Union], in Mexico, so there’s a lot of work ahead of us.

I can’t let you go without asking you about the political scene. What do you make of what’s gone on in the presidential race the past couple weeks?

I’ll tell you what is just amazing to me. I saw Sen. Arlen Specter request Super Bowl tapes to see if [New England Patriots coach Bill] Belichick was cheating. And I saw that [Rep. Henry] Waxman had [Roger] Clemens and [Brian] McNamee on the stand about this he said, she said. With two wars going on and this economic mess, the mortgage mess going on — and that’s Republicans and Democrats; being pathetic is not indigenous to just one party — they’re spending time with Clemens and McNamee trying to find out who’s lying, and they’re spending time on Belichick. I just think it’s a complete disservice to the American people. And there’s this pork-laden stimulus package. I just look at politics and I’m actually offended by what these guys are doing. I think it’s just pathetic. So when you’re looking at [John] McCain and [Barack] Obama, the problem isn’t who would make a better president — Obama’s stance against big business is the only thing that worries me about the guy — but the Congress that they’re going to have is so inept that I just don’t have much faith in politics right now.

Photo credits: WWE.com

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Q&As
        

For the loyal TNA fans who look forward to reading my thoughts on TNA Impact every Friday just so they can get angry and accuse me of being biased, well, I’m going to give you plenty of ammunition with this one.

First, I’ll tell you what I liked about last night’s show. I thought the angle in which Kurt and Karen Angle walked that aisle, with Karen lookin’ as only she can look, to renew their wedding vows was well done. TNA showed restraint by not having an excessive number of backstage skits leading up to the wedding, and the ceremony itself was kept rather short. This was far superior to the horrible Teddy Long-Kristal Marshall wedding on Smackdown last fall that made a two-hour show seem like six.

The payoff to the Angles’ wedding was a lot better, too. Instead of watching Long’s fake heart attack and Marshall’s horrible acting, this one ended with the twist of A.J. Styles “marrying” Karen and kissing the bride. I also thought it was funny that Jeremy Borash was the maid of honor.

The other thing that I liked about last night’s show was the brief video package on Rhino, although it was basically the same piece TNA showed the last time it tried to push Rhino. Also, the bit with Brother Ray trying to make weight was mildly amusing.

The rest of the episode was a convoluted mess. I literally got a headache trying to keep up with who was a babyface and who was a heel and why I should care anymore.

Here are my completely unbiased thoughts:

The weekly segments in which Samoa Joe is about to sign his new contract before something prevents him from doing so at the last minute got old last week. Now it’s become ridiculous. …

Mike Tenay and Don West both said they were shocked that Tomko turned on Cage Sunday at the Against All Odds pay-per-view. Why should they be shocked? Don’t they know by now that the idea is to constantly swerve everyone whether it makes sense or not? …

Actually, Tomko’s explanation for why he attacked Cage did make some sense, but the booking is all backwards. Back when Cage was an obnoxious jerk and Tomko used to roll his eyes behind his back, it seemed like they were gradually building to Tomko eventually getting fed up and putting Cage in his place. Tomko had been getting over as a cool, no-nonsense babyface and Christian is a natural heel, so to reverse their roles just for the sake of “surprising” everyone is a bad move. It just kills Tomko’s momentum. He broke away from the pack by becoming a lone wolf, and now he’s just another guy in a heel faction.

By the way, when he said he was joining the Angle Alliance because there is strength in numbers, I think he miscounted. The Angle Alliance had just two members, while their adversaries consisted of Cage, Joe and Kevin Nash. If Tomko believed in strength in numbers, shouldn’t he have joined the babyfaces to make it four-on-two? …

Speaking of Nash, it’s great to see that he’s going to be in another pay-per-view main event. You have to be happy when you see someone who works so hard get rewarded. …

So, Eric Young, who was involved in a pay-per-view main event two months ago and has defeated talented wrestlers such as Robert Roode and James Storm, is terrified of Rellik, who wins about as often as the Miami Dolphins did this past season. It’s one thing for a guy to play a sympathetic simpleton, but nobody likes to cheer for a coward. …

I have no idea whether Scott Steiner is a heel or a babyface. He turned on Petey Williams last week and he cut a heel promo before his match last night with Abyss, who is a babyface. But then Abyss inexplicably refused to wrestle, walked back up the ramp and took off his mask. Huh? So then Williams came out to wrestle Steiner, who went on to win due to outside interference from his new freak, Rhaka Khan (like Chaka Khan, get it?). Then, Steiner shook hands with Williams after the match and I took two aspirin for my throbbing head. …

The backstage interview with the Motor City Machine Guns, LAX and some NASCAR drivers (I really don’t care what their names are) was one of the worst segments I have ever seen. Honestly, I don’t know how that made it on the air. When TMCMG were speaking, LAX – especially Salinas – kept jabbering in the background to the point where I couldn’t follow what anyone was saying. Hermie Sadler is a total embarrassment, and those NASCAR drivers are in serious need of a charisma transplant. As a matter of full disclosure, I am not and have never been a fan of NASCAR or any other type of auto racing. So, yes, I am biased on this one. …

The finish to the triple-threat match between Homicide, Jimmy Rave and Chris Sabin, with outside interference by the NASCAR drivers, was amateurish. And the NASCAR announcer who was doing commentary was so bad that he made West sound like Jim Ross. …

While I liked the video package of Rhino, his promo was disappointing. With all the yelling, it came across like a parody of a wrestling promo. Rhino is back for revenge against Storm, which could have been a good angle, except that I no longer take Storm seriously after jobbing so often to Young over the “drinking championship.” …

Minutes after Gail Kim told ODB that she had her back, the two women were shoving each other. Couldn’t they get along even for one week before the requisite dissension?

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

I was going through some boxes in the basement the other day when I discovered a bunch of my old wrestling magazines from the ’70s and ’80s. To my surprise and delight, I came across the first wrestling magazine I had ever purchased (well, actually my parents bought it for me, because I was only 6).

The weathered, tattered magazine was the February 1974 edition of The Wrestler, part of the family of wrestling magazines that came to be known as “Apter mags” because famous wrestling writer and photographer Bill Apter worked for them. I got the magazine while attending my first live wrestling event, a World Wide Wrestling Federation show at the Baltimore Civic Center on the day after Christmas in 1973. The 66-page magazine cost just 75 cents (the year-end awards issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated currently on newsstands goes for $8.95).

Looking through the magazine brought back a lot of memories and was a reminder of how different the business was back in the days of the territories. This wasn’t sports entertainment, it was rasslin.’ There was no pyro, entrance music or prime-time television shows, just dimly lit, smoke-filled arenas and Saturday afternoon programs on grainy UHF stations. And while the product wasn’t nearly as salacious as it is today, it certainly wasn’t geared towards kids.

The magazine cover featured Andre The Giant, who literally and figuratively was the biggest attraction in wrestling at the time, winding up to deliver a punch to Blackjack Lanza. The headline read: “Top Stars Reveal: How I’d Beat Andre The Giant.”

The best quote from the accompanying article was from Cyclone Negro, who was billed as “wrestling’s most bloodthirsty man.” Negro said: “I’d cut him down to my size with a sharp razor. Then, once he was down I’d cut off his arms and legs and make him a vegetable.”

It wasn’t just the writing that was graphic, either. Gory pictures were a staple of wrestling magazines back then, and this one had a few, including one of The Sheik carving up the forehead of Mighty Igor with a pencil. Keep in mind that I was in first grade when I got this magazine. I’m not sure what my parents were thinking by indulging my fascination with all things wrestling – but I’m glad they did.

I’m also glad my mother never actually took a good look at the inside of this magazine. I’m pretty sure that if she had seen the ad for the “Love Doll: An amazingly life-like companion,” it would have been the end of my wrestling-magazine-reading days for quite awhile. The full-page ad for a blowup doll featured a very real topless woman sprawled across a bed. For only $9.95, you’ll “never be bored or alone again,” the ad stated.

Some other ads included: “The Secret Power of Chinese Kung-Fu: The Deadly Oriental Fighting Art of Instantaneous Death,” a book on “How to Pick Up Girls,” and the “Hercules Muscle Building Plan,” which featured a cartoon in which a bully steals a girl from a scrawny guy, who then transforms himself into a bodybuilder who beats up the bully and reclaims the girl. These ads don’t exactly paint a flattering picture of wrestling fans, do they?

Oh, well, back to the editorial content. The latest news was recapped in a column by Apter titled “Here’s What’s Happening, Baby!” The top story was that babyface Fred Curry was disqualified for using a foreign object in his match against “vicious maniac” Killer Brooks. I guess it must have been a slow news cycle. In other news: Larry Henning’s new nickname is “The Ax,” which was given to him by his manager, Lou Albano; and Florida Championship Wrestling with Gordon Solle (sic) was voted best syndicated television wrestling show by the NWA for the third consecutive year.

The Official Wrestling Ratings ranked the top 10 in the WWWF, NWA and AWA, as well as tag teams, midgets and women. The world champions were Pedro Morales (WWWF), Jack Brisco (NWA) and Verne Gagne (AWA). Actually, by the time this magazine came out, Morales was no longer the champion, as the WWWF title had changed hands twice, going from Morales to Stan Stasiak and then to Bruno Sammartino in a span of nine days in early December. Sammartino, who was not listed in the WWWF ratings, was the No. 6 contender in the NWA, and he was a member of two top 10 tag teams (No. 3 with The Bruiser and No. 6 with Edouard Carpentier).

The coolest feature in the magazine was a page that consisted of wrestling ads from newspapers across the country. Clippings that stood out included: The Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tenn. (NWA world champion Jack Brisco vs. Lou Thesz); The Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis (Harley Race vs. Dory Funk Jr.; Johnny Valentine vs. Gene Kiniski); and the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minn. (24-man battle royal featuring Superstar Billy Graham, Wahoo McDaniel, Andre, Ken Patera, Ray Stevens, Ivan Koloff and Bill Watts).

Oh, and there also was one other wrestler of note in that battle royal, although no one knew it at the time. It was a rookie named Rick (sic) Flair.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

A fantastic match between Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels put an exclamation point on a very good episode of Raw last night. The show featured a good mix of wrestling and talking and did a fine job of building interest for Sunday’s No Way Out pay-per-view.

Hardy’s exciting, clean pinfall win over Michaels shows that WWE has not halted Hardy’s push after his loss to Randy Orton at the Royal Rumble. That defeat was just a temporary setback and another chapter in Hardy’s ongoing pursuit of the WWE title. It’s good to see that WWE recognizes that Hardy is connecting with the fans as well as anyone in the company.

Jim Ross, who did a great job calling the Hardy-Michaels match, once again put over Hardy as the hottest wrestler in the business. And speaking of putting people over, I hope I never again hear a fan or wrestling pundit accuse Michaels of not wanting to do business. That might have been true of Michaels over a decade ago, but not anymore. In the past three years, Michaels has put over Kurt Angle, Edge, John Cena, Randy Orton, Mr. Kennedy and now Hardy. He is doing exactly what a legendary veteran who is still in the top mix should do: elevate the next generation of headliners.

Other thoughts on last night’s show:

Cena cut a good promo on Orton after he defeated Mark Henry. I also liked the video package that detailed the history between Cena and Orton. This is a story line that basically writes itself, and by keeping things simple, WWE has done an effective job in making people want to pay to see the match. It was refreshing to see the go-home show before a pay-per-view focus on the title and the competitors’ personal issue rather than on some third party and which side he is on (which then turns out to be an illogical swerve anyway). Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. …

Ric Flair delivered a strong promo, and he and Kennedy played off each other well. Flair was intense without going over-the-top, and Kennedy was convincing as the cocky, disrespectful up-and-comer. …

Chris Jericho and JBL had a good, hard-hitting match. I was a little surprised to see Jericho get the clean win, but I think he really needed it. …

I’ve thought all along that the choice of Hornswoggle to be Mr. McMahon’s illegitimate son was a terrible payoff to a potentially great angle, but I didn’t mind last night’s segments, which were highlighted by Hornswoggle delivering the tadpole splash to his “father” and pinning him after Finlay had knocked him out with his shillelagh. I’m actually looking forward to the McMahon-Finlay match that is likely to take place at WrestleMania. …

If someone else had said it, it probably wouldn’t have been funny, but I did chuckle when Santino Marella said, “Try having babies now, Melina,” after Maria dropped Melina stomach-first across her knee. Speaking of Marella, he must have some friends on the creative team, as he was scripted to make out with Jillian Hall and Maria on the same show. …

Paul Burchill looked good in his Raw debut. The fact that he was once a pirate on Smackdown was never mentioned, which probably isn’t a bad thing. He was accompanied to the ring by his “sister” Katie Lea. I’m just hoping that this brother-sister gimmick isn’t heading where it is rumored to be heading.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

After writing yesterday about the possibility of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson attending the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony next month to induct his father and grandfather, I started thinking about the Hall of Fame, specifically who isn’t in that should be, and who is in that shouldn’t be.

Unlike professional sports, professional wrestling doesn’t have an official Hall of Fame, although there are several of them. Because pro wrestling is entertainment and not actual athletic competition, the criteria for its Hall of Fame is less clear than it is for sports. The Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame is considered to have the most credibility among hardcore fans and many within the industry, but the WWE Hall of Fame has the highest profile.

The WWE Hall of Fame has been in existence since 1993, when Andre The Giant was posthumously honored as the first inductee. It currently has 57 members (I’m counting tag teams as one member). The selection process has never been explained, but it is believed that several people associated with WWE are polled about potential candidates, and then Vince McMahon makes the final decision.

Although the WWE Hall of Fame started out as a way to honor those who gained fame working primarily for the company, it became more of a Hall of Fame for all of pro wrestling in recent years after WWE was left as the last major U.S. organization standing.

When considering the list of wrestlers who I think deserve to be in, I focused mostly on former WWE stars rather than performers who made their marks in other companies. Also, I didn’t include Ric Flair, because it is almost a certainty that he is going to be inducted this year.

10 WHO SHOULD GET IN

Bruno Sammartino: Obviously, this is the biggest no-brainer. Wrestling’s “Living Legend” won the WWE world title from Buddy Rogers in 1963 a few months into the company’s existence and held it for nearly eight years. Then in 1973 he became the first man to regain the title and held it for more than three years. The problem is that Sammartino has been very outspoken about his disdain for McMahon and the direction that he has taken wrestling. WWE has contacted Sammartino on a few occasions about inducting him, but he has repeatedly said that he wants no part of it, and WWE simply won’t induct anyone who won’t cooperate. It’s a conflict that will probably never be resolved, which is a shame, because the WWE Hall of Fame will always take a credibility hit as long as Sammartino isn’t in.

Bob Backlund: “The All-American Boy” held the WWE world title for nearly six years, which is longer than anyone except Sammartino and Hulk Hogan. While he was never a huge draw before or after he won the title, Backlund was one of the biggest stars in wrestling from 1978-1983. Backlund, however, also has had his problems with McMahon, and has turned down past invitations to be inducted.

Lou Thesz: He never worked for WWE, but the six-time NWA world champion was considered the top wrestler in the business for several decades. He won his first world title in 1937 and remained an elite performer into the 1960s.

Randy Savage: “The Macho Man” was one of the biggest stars and most talented performers of the “Hulkamania” era through the Monday Night War era. He held the WWE world title on two occasions (and the WCW world title four times) and wrestled in the main event at WrestleMania in 1988, 1989 and 1992 (when he was part of a co-main event). He too has had a falling out with McMahon. I see a trend here.

Ricky Steamboat: A former NWA world and Intercontinental champion, he was one of the top stars and best workers in wrestling from the late ’70s to the mid ’90s. Steamboat, the ultimate babyface, is perhaps the only headliner of the past 30 years to never work as a heel. His rivalry with Flair, which spanned three decades, produced some of the greatest matches of all time, and his victory over Savage for the Intercontinental title in 1987 is regarded as perhaps the best WrestleMania match ever. Steamboat works as a producer (backstage agent) for WWE, so it is just a matter of time before he gets in.

The Ultimate Warrior: Yes, he is controversial. No, he wasn’t great in the ring. But there’s no denying that The Ultimate Warrior was a superstar when WWE was incredibly popular in the late ’80s and early ’90s. He made history at WrestleMania VI by scoring the first clean pinfall win over Hogan in nine years to capture the WWE world title and become the first man to hold the world and Intercontinental titles simultaneously. Here are three reasons why he won’t get in anytime soon: he also had a falling out with McMahon; he was the poster boy for steroid use in wrestling, and WWE wouldn’t want to be seen as glorifying that fact; and with a history of making homophobic and xenophobic comments, there’s no telling what he’d say in his induction speech.

The Road Warriors: Hawk and Animal formed one of the greatest and most influential tag teams of all time. The Road Warriors had their biggest success in the NWA, but they also made an impact in WWE. They are the only team to have held the WWE, NWA and AWA world tag-team titles.

Ivan Koloff: If for nothing else, “The Russian Bear” deserves to be in for being the man who ended Sammartino’s long first WWE world title reign in 1971. Although he held the belt for just a month, Koloff continued to be a frequent challenger to the title throughout the ’70s and was one of the biggest heels in the business during that time. He went on to form one of the top tag teams of the mid ’80s with “nephew” Nikita Koloff in the NWA.

Ted DiBiase: As “The Million Dollar Man,” DiBiase was one of WWE’s all-time great heels. The 1988 angle in which Andre The Giant sold the WWE world title belt to DiBiase after winning it from Hogan – with help from an “imposter” referee – is one of the most famous ever. DiBiase also was a star in several other promotions and was considered one of the best workers of his era.

Ken Patera: One of the top heels of the ’70s and early ’80s, Patera never won the WWE world title, but he was a top challenger to Sammartino, Backlund and Hogan. In fact, he was strongly considered by Vince McMahon Sr. to be the man to end Sammartino’s second reign, but the decision was made to go with “Superstar” Billy Graham instead. In addition to his WWE runs, Patera was a headliner in the AWA and several of the major NWA territories.

10 WHO SHOULDN’T BE IN

Pete Rose and William “Refrigerator” Perry: Obviously, these two were inducted to get mainstream publicity. From a business standpoint, I understand it. But as a wrestling fan, a Hall of Fame that includes Rose and Perry but not Sammartino and Thesz is hard to take seriously.

James Dudley: His induction shows that McMahon can be accused of many things, but not having a soft spot for people that were loyal to his father isn’t one of them. Dudley started out as Vince McMahon Sr.’s limousine driver in the ’50s, and went on to become McMahon Sr.’s confidante, working for him in various behind-the-scenes capacities. He also was occasionally the manager of Bobo Brazil, as well as the first African-American to run a major arena (Washington, D.C.’s Turner Arena). Although he was a loyal and beloved WWE employee, I think the Hall of Fame should be primarily for on-screen performers.

Johnny Rodz: “The Unpredictable” Rodz was one of WWE’s best enhancement talents in the ’70s and early ’80s. His job was to do “the job” and make the stars look good, and he did it well. But he was never anything more than a preliminary wrestler.

Baron Mike Scicluna: He had some success as a singles wrestler and was a co-holder of the WWE tag-team title in 1972, but he spent the better part of the ’70s and early ’80s as a jobber to the stars.

The Blackjacks: Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza weren’t long-time partners, and they only held the WWE tag-team title for three months in 1975. Both had success as singles wrestlers, especially Mulligan, but there are many other tag teams far more deserving of inclusion.

Mr. Fuji: He was a five-time co-holder of the WWE tag-team title who had some success as a singles wrestler before becoming a heel manager and leading Yokozuna to two reigns as WWE world champion. Fuji had a fine career, but not a Hall-of-Fame career.

Nikolai Volkoff: Like Fuji, Volkoff had a long career in WWE that was noteworthy, but not Hall-of-Fame worthy. The Baltimore County resident never held a major singles title in WWE or any other promotion.

Tony Atlas: “Mr. USA” was a big star in the early ’80s, even pinning Hogan in a WWE match in 1981. He never won a major singles title, however, and he had already dropped a few notches down the card by the time “Hulkamania” exploded in WWE in 1984.

“Cowboy” Bob Orton: He was a good worker and had an accomplished career in WWE and the NWA Mid-Atlantic territory, but he was never a headliner. He is best remembered for being Roddy Piper’s henchman when WWE was hot in the mid ’80s.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

WrestleMania XXIV is seven weeks away, which means WWE will soon begin announcing its Hall of Fame class for this year’s induction ceremony, which takes place the night before WrestleMania in Orlando, Fla.

It’s widely believed that Ric Flair will go in this year, and The Wrestling Observer has reported that there is a good possibility that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be on hand to induct both his father, Rocky Johnson, and grandfather, the late Peter Maivia.

The presence of “The Nature Boy” and “The Great One” on the same stage would make this possibly the most memorable WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony ever.

There had been speculation that Johnson was going to do the honors for his father and grandfather at last year’s ceremony, but he reportedly was unable to because of schedule conflicts. Johnson is scheduled to begin filming the Disney movie Witch Mountain next month.

It would be great to see Johnson rubbing elbows with his former peers at a WWE function. It would be even greater if he could be persuaded to make a special appearance the next night at WrestleMania, even if he just did a run-in like Hulk Hogan did at WrestleMania 21.

Better yet, how entertaining would a verbal confrontation between Johnson and Santino Marella be? Dare to dream.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

The final episode of TNA Impact before Sunday’s Against All Odds pay-per-view aired last night, and much of the focus was on the on-again, off-again friendship between Christian Cage and Tomko.

I enjoyed the segments because I find Cage to be the most entertaining performer in TNA, and Tomko has developed into a solid worker and an interesting character. The problem is that Cage and Tomko aren’t wrestling each other or even teaming together at the pay-per-view. Cage is wrestling Kurt Angle for the TNA world title, but the TNA creative team has devoted very little time to making people want to pay to see that match.

The title of last night’s episode was “Friend … or foe?” But isn’t that the theme of most TNA shows as of late?” Is A.J. Styles with Cage or Angle? Is he with Angle or Tomko? Is Tomko with Christian or against him? These weekly relationship dramas might have something to do with slightly increasing ratings, but they sure aren’t doing anything to increase the company’s minuscule buy rates.

Vince Russo has always been a mark for ratings, but unless I’m missing something, pro wrestling companies don’t make money off ratings, they make it primarily off pay-per-view buys and ticket sales.

As he has for the past several weeks, Mike Tenay was trumpeting “TNA’s great ratings success” last night. I’m waiting for the day when he can trumpet their great pay-per-view buy rate success. Don’t get me wrong — increasing ratings are better than decreasing ratings. But TNA’s ratings have to be kept in proper perspective. Yes, TNA is setting company records for ratings, but the high mark still is only a 1.2 (last night’s show did a 1.1). ECW, WWE’s “C” show, did a 1.3 this week. WCW Nitro in its final months never went below a 2.0.

TNA has a nice mix of star power, up-and-coming wrestlers and names from the past, and it has two hours of television time every week to sell its pay-per-views. There’s absolutely no excuse for its buy rates to be the lowest they’ve been since TNA had no television at all.

Other thoughts on last night’s show:

I do think that TNA has done a good job of building interest in the Bobby Roode vs. Booker T. match at Against All Odds. Roode cut another strong promo at the top of the show, and other than Edge and Randy Orton, I don’t think there’s a better heel in the business right now. I would think that Roode has to win on Sunday to keep the angle going, and I’m looking forward to the possibility of Sharmell getting in the ring with Payton Banks when she returns. …

A.J. Styles and Tiger Mask had a really good match, and I liked Cage’s match with Judas Mesias, too. However, I’m not sure I would have had Mesias get pinned cleanly already, especially three days before his barbwire massacre match against Abyss. …

The Samoa Joe contract signings that end with him not signing the contract are getting old. Why should fans care whether he signs it or not? I think Joe is horribly miscast as a guy obsessed with his contract and backstage politics. I thought Joe was supposed to be a no-nonsense wrecking machine. At least when Bret Hart played this type of character in 1996-1997 in WWE, it was because he was turning heel, but Joe is still a babyface. And why exactly would Joe want to be associated with a guy like Granddaddy Cool? …

I’ve seen some stupid gimmick matches in my time, but the Kaz-Black Reign mousetraps-on-a-pole match might be the worst. Either that or the Shane Douglas-Billy Kidman Viagra-on-a-pole match. Or possibly the pinata-on-a-pole match between a bunch of Luchadores. I wonder if Russo has ever sought professional help for his pole fetish. …

Speaking of all-time bad gimmicks, The Rock and Rave Infection has to be right up there. Does anyone really find this entertaining? It’s too bad because Lance Hoyt is a big guy with some potential and Jimmy Rave is a good worker. As for Christy Hemme, well, she is the female equivalent of The Miz. …

Curry Man, on the other hand, is a silly gimmick that is very entertaining. It’s amazing how much more charisma Christopher Daniels has as the hot and spicy masked man. …

Kip James said he is behind B.G. James and Bob Armstrong all the way in their quest for the TNA world tag-team title. Translation: Kip is turning on them. …

Brother Devon was a second too late for his run-in spot in the Johnny Devine-Homicide match. Devon was supposed to break up Homicide’s pin attempt, but when he didn’t hit the ring after the two count, Homicide just stopped covering him. By the way, Devine took a sick bump on Hernandez’s Border Toss. I’m amazed someone hasn’t been seriously injured on that move. …

I think Scott Steiner spoke for all of us when Jim Cornette was trying to explain the logic behind the two briefcases and Steiner just kept repeating, “So, what does that mean?”

Posted by Kevin Eck at 6:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Smackdown will be leaving The CW at the end of the 2007-08 broadcast season, according to a news release issued by WWE late last night.

WWE stated in the release that The CW’s exclusive negotiation period expired on Jan. 31, and the two parties have agreed to conclude their partnership. The release also said that WWE has been in talks with other networks about Smackdown, which debuted on UPN in 1999 and in September 2006 moved to The CW, where it was consistently one of the network’s highest-rated shows.

Smackdown, while considered to be WWE’s “B” show, still is a key element of the company. Where the show ends up will have a major impact on WWE’s business.

There were reports on entertainment trade Web sites last night that MyNetworkTV is a possible destination for Smackdown. If that were to happen, I think it would be a big step down for WWE.

If Smackdown became part of WWE’s deal with NBC Universal, perhaps the show could find a home on USA Network, which would be the best-case scenario, or Sci Fi Channel.

Here’s my idea: Since Smackdown and ECW already share talent and both shows take place at the same venue, reduce Smackdown to a one-hour program and air it and ECW back-to-back on Sci Fi Channel. Or maybe WWE could do 90 minutes of Smackdown and 30 minutes of ECW.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

If you’re anything like me, ECW for months has been nothing more than background noise while doing other things on a Tuesday night. Every once in a while, however, there is an ECW episode that is worthy of my full attention. Last night’s show was one of them – and the sensational Shelton Benjamin wasn’t even on it.

The show, which took place in Corpus Christi, Texas, was fueled by two strong segments that were a departure from the norm. The main event pitted ECW champion Chavo Guerrero against CM Punk in a non-title, first-ever Gulf of Mexico match, which was a come-as-you-are streetfight that began in the ring and could end only when one man threw his opponent into the Gulf of Mexico.

This was a good brawl with an entertaining stipulation that helped breathe some life into what has mostly been a flat feud between Guerrero and Punk. Before Guerrero ended up in the water, both wrestlers were nearly run over by a car, and they took turns slamming each other on the hoods of cars.

Hardcore matches that spill outside the arena were a wrestling staple during wrestling’s last boom period, but eventually they were played out and fans became bored with them. This match seemed fresh, however, because it hasn’t been done much in recent years.

The other element of the show that stood out was Joey Styles’ pre-taped sit-down interview with Stevie Richards. In the piece, an emotional Richards talked about the neck injury that he suffered in the original ECW and his multiple throat surgeries. It was compelling stuff simply because it was real. If WWE plays this one right, Richards could really get over as a sympathetic babyface, and whoever his adversary turns out to be could generate a lot of heel heat.

One final thought on last night’s show: I see something in Kofi Kingston. Although he’s a little green, Kingston is athletic, has some unique moves and showed a lot of charisma in his vignettes.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

WWE.com reported yesterday that it had come to terms with Bobby Lashley on his release. The news that Lashley had asked for his release broke a couple weeks ago, and WWE subsequently removed his bio from its Web site, but the company had not issued a statement until yesterday.

As I’ve said before, I do not think this is a big blow for WWE. Unlike when performers such as John Cena, Edge, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Batista were out for extended periods with injuries, Lashley was hardly missed after suffering a shoulder injury in July.

The problem was that Lashley was pushed too hard, too fast. The fans just weren’t ready to accept him as a main-event star, although Lashley might have gotten there eventually. He had a great look and was getting better in the ring, but his promos were poor. I think his best chance to make it big would have been to turn heel and hook up with someone like Matt Striker to cut his promos for him. …

Some thoughts on last night’s Raw:

There was electricity in the air as Cena and WWE champion Randy Orton signed the contract for their title match at the No Way Out pay-per-view on Feb. 17. Orton got a lot of heel heat and Cena got a huge babyface pop. …

After seeing Cena hoist Mark Henry up on his shoulders and deliver an FU, any doubts about Cena not being physically ready to return have been erased.

It would be fine with me if I never again have to watch Vince McMahon drop his pants and try to force someone to kiss his exposed derriere. Thankfully, McMahon’s backside was not facing the hard camera. As much as I am not a fan of McMahon’s bare butt and the Hornswoggle segments, I couldn’t help but laugh at McMahon’s promo because his delivery was so over-the-top. …

I liked the verbal confrontation between the competitors of the Elimination Chamber match. It really showed how much star power is on Raw. I don’t think it would be a good idea to try to do the same thing on Smackdown, however. Big Daddy V, The Great Khali, Batista and The Undertaker aren’t exactly silver-tongued speakers. …

The six-man match in which Michaels, Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho defeated JBL, Umaga and Snitsky was entertaining. It was a good sign for Hardy fans that he scored the winning pin and was put over in the commentary by Jim Ross as still being WWE’s hottest competitor. …

The tag-team match in which Mickie James and Kelly Kelly defeated Beth Phoenix and Victoria was one of the better women’s matches in WWE as of late. There was a nice sequence with James and Phoenix that ended with James catching her in a Guillotine. The match was well-booked, as James got a much-needed win, but she pinned Victoria, not Phoenix, which continues the story line of James being unable to get a victory over “The Glamazon.” I also have to give Kelly Kelly credit. She is far less experienced and skilled than the other three women in the match, but she was able to keep up. Kelly Kelly still has a long way to go, but she is improving. …

When Mr. Kennedy caught Super Crazy in a submission move, Ross said that Super Crazy was “tapping like a drunk amigo.” Huh? Ross does get points, however, for slipping in a reference to Baron Mike Scicluna from the Isle of Malta. That one takes me back to my childhood. …

Just wondering: Is it ironic for “Fake It” to be the theme song of a pro wrestling pay-per-view?

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

A stream-of-consciousness look at last night’s TNA Impact:

In honor of Groundhog Day, TNA is making A.J. Styles participate in the same lame story line over and over. First, Styles had to choose between Kurt Angle and Christian Cage, and now it’s between Angle and Tomko. Here’s the larger question: If Styles sees his shadow, does that mean six more weeks of bad television? Actually, the way Styles’ character is written, if he saw his shadow he’d probably be afraid of it. …

In the very first segment, Angle and Styles already are arguing. Has the Angle Alliance even been together long enough for dissension to mean anything? Also, if Angle was trying to put together a heel faction, doesn’t he need more than one member? That reminds me, didn’t Robert Roode join the Angle Alliance a while back? Did I miss the scene where Angle booted him out? …

The Motor City Machine Guns and Jay Lethal did a funny parody of Team 3-D and Johnny Devine, although I’m not sure everyone watching would remember that Brother Ray used to do a stuttering gimmick. …

TNA ruined the parody segment by having Team 3-D and Devine attack TMCMG and Lethal. This is backwards booking if I ever saw it. It makes the babyfaces look ridiculous to have them make fun of the heels and anger them, and then have the heels attack the babyfaces and lay them out (while they’re still dressed in their comedy attire). Plus, it was a three-on-three fight. The babyfaces weren’t outnumbered and they still were no match for the heels. …

Speaking of heels, I thought Brother Ray cut a great promo until he actually used the word “heel.” I don’t think wrestling vernacular like that should be used in the context of the show. …

I think Scott Steiner committed gimmick infringement when he asked Crystal her name and then cut her off by saying, “It doesn’t matter what your name is.” Hey, maybe Steiner will get a bigger push if he can do a good imitation of all The Rock’s catch phrases and moves. …

Speaking of gimmick infringement, Jillian Hall is much more entertaining doing the bad singer shtick than Christy Hemme. By the way, I thought Hemme was annoying in WWE, but she’s taken it to a new level in TNA. …

Steiner turned on tag-team partner Petey Williams. Does that mean Steiner is a heel? More importantly, does anyone care about these guys trading the briefcases back and forth? …

I was just thinking that we needed to see more dissension among factions, and then Kip James fired Roxxi Laveaux. And did I actually hear James make fun of how someone else dresses? …

Father James Mitchell was awesome on the microphone again and I’m into the Judas Mesias character, but I couldn’t be less interested in this story line with Abyss. For the good of the game, please end it soon. …

TNA obviously has no clue how minor league “Stone Cold” Shark Boy makes it look. And that’s all I’ve got to say about that. …

I don’t understand what makes Kevin Nash’s character a babyface. When a tough-guy babyface is challenged to a fight by a heel, he should respond by saying “Anytime, anyplace” or “Let’s do it right now” rather than “Sure, if you give me $100,000.” …

When Jim Cornette threatened to terminate Styles, I wonder if Styles thought: “That’s OK. I bet I can still get that developmental deal WWE offered me several years ago.” …

I’m glad that Awesome Kong did not cut a promo. Remaining silent adds to her mystique. It was a bait and switch, however, to promote it and then not deliver it. …

Usually when wrestlers act as guest referees, they still look like wrestlers by cutting the sleeves off the referee shirt or wearing a super-tight referee shirt. Styles, however, actually looked like a referee. Either that or the guy who sold me my shoes at Foot Locker. …

I’m guessing that the “White Sunshine” promo was an attempt to give Kaz some personality. Better go to Plan B. …

Cornette forgot to bring a pen to Samoa Joe’s big contract signing. Now that didn’t seem contrived, did it? …

Angle is defending the TNA title against Cage on pay-per-view on Feb. 10, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a build for that match. Angle vs. Tomko for the title would be a lot more intriguing. Honestly, how can you have Angle and Cage, the two most entertaining guys in the company, wrestling for the title on pay-per-view and not come up with a compelling story line?

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)