Just when you think you have WWE’s booking tendencies all figured out, they throw a curveball at you like they did with Friday night’s episode of Smackdown.

There were three Money in the Bank ladder match qualifying matches on the show, and in each one, the favorite lost.

The opener was a triple threat match between John Morrison, R-Truth and Dolph Ziggler. They had a good match, but as I was watching it, I was thinking how it would be even better if it wasn’t so obvious that Morrison was winning. As it turned out, not only did Morrison not win, but Ziggler – the least likely of the three – did. I’m glad that Ziggler has a spot at WrestleMania XXVI, because he’s earned it. As for Morrison and R-Truth, I fully expect Morrison to be on the WrestleMania card in some form, and it wouldn’t surprise me if R-Truth is, too.

The second contest saw Kane hand Intercontinental champion Drew McIntyre his first loss. That was an unpleasant surprise. It makes no sense to have McIntyre’s unbeaten streak ended by someone like Kane. Kane being in the MITB match doesn’t do much for me either. There’s no way that McIntyre – one of WWE’s chosen ones – isn’t going to be at WrestleMania, so perhaps losing here will work out better for him in the long run.

In the final qualifying match, Shelton Benjamin defeated CM Punk. The result is technically an upset, but I saw this one coming. Figuring there was a very good chance of a singles match between Punk and Rey Mysterio taking place at WrestleMania, I expected Mysterio to somehow cost Punk the match, and that’s exactly what happened. Plus, you can’t have a MITB ladder match at WrestleMania without Benjamin, can you?

Half of the eight slots for MITB are now filled, with Christian joining the aforementioned three winners.

Other thoughts on Friday’s show:

For the second time in a week, a Chris Jericho promo ended with him being speared by Edge. I thought for sure that Jericho would interfere in Edge’s match against The Miz in the main event, but Jericho was nowhere to be found. I’m guessing the next time Jericho and Edge cross paths, it’s not going to turn out so well for Edge. …

I was very disappointed to see Michelle McCool regain the WWE women’s championship from Mickie James. After all the humiliation that James suffered at the hands of McCool and Layla on TV, she deserved more than a three-week title reign. It looks as if the heels may end up having the last laugh. …

I have to admit that I did laugh when Layla was rubbing Vickie Guerrero’s butt after she took a bump. …

Now that Batista is feuding with John Cena on Raw, I guess we won’t be seeing much of him on Smackdown. I’ve been very into Batista as a heel character, and his presence was missed on this show.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (42)
        

It’s one thing for TNA to be rehashing WCW story lines from 1997 and 1998 – at least WCW was on fire at that point – but now it appears that TNA is stealing a page from WCW’s not-so-glorious 1994 playbook.

Back then, a big, strong, child-like wrestler named Dave Sullivan gained confidence after Hulk Hogan presented him with a pair of his wrestling boots, which were referred to as “magic slippers.” Fast-forward to TNA 2010: A big, strong, child-like wrestler named Abyss has gained confidence (and superhuman strength) after Hogan presented him with his Hall of Fame ring. Abyss even comes to the ring to Hogan’s WCW theme music from ’94.

On Thursday night’s episode of TNA Impact, Abyss used the magical powers of the ring to break free from handcuffs and save Hogan from an attack by A.J. Styles, Ric Flair and Desmond Wolfe. This led to the announcement that Hogan and Abyss will face Flair and Styles in the Impact main event on March 8, when TNA makes its permanent move to Monday nights.

The Hogan-Abyss story line is a little too cartoon-like for my tastes, but if it succeeds in getting Abyss over as a bigger star than he is now, more power to the TNA creative team. I suppose a magic ring is no more nonsensical than a wrestler who has supernatural powers or a leprechaun who lives under the wrestling ring.

Other thoughts on Thursday’s show:

It was hilarious watching Styles, Flair and Wolfe take turns running into Hogan’s fist. It was reminiscent of the Four Horsemen running into Dusty Rhodes’ elbow back in the day. Right after Taz remarked how good Hogan looked in the ring, “The Hulkster” took a couple steps and limped badly. …

If you’re a Wolfe fan (I am), there was good news and bad news. The good news is that Wolfe was involved in the big post-match angle with Hogan, Flair, Styles and Abyss. The bad news is that prior to the angle, Wolfe was pinned clean by Abyss in less than two minutes. I wouldn’t have as much of a problem with Wolfe losing to Abyss if it had been a longer, more competitive match, but the way this went down was absurd. TNA had done a tremendous job of establishing Wolfe as a major player right from the start, but the new regime has dropped the ball. …

Flair showed a lot of intensity – and that’s probably an understatement – in the show-opening promo. I don’t know if Flair could have been sweating any more if he were sitting in a sauna wearing a fur coat. It would be nice, though, if Flair got the name right of the guy TNA is trying to push as a super babyface. It’s Abyss, not “The Abyss,” which Flair said at least three times. …

I don’t think anyone has ever played an insincere wrestling character as well as Eric Bischoff. His scenes with Jeff Jarrett were really good. It was quite a sight to see the TNA founder wearing a hairnet and flipping burgers. …

I still can’t get over the fact that TNA is putting over the WWE Hall of Fame as the ultimate achievement in the business. I also wish Bischoff would stop talking about “turning the company around.” That implies that TNA was garbage before he and Hogan arrived to save it. It would be better to put a positive spin on it and say something such as “taking the company to the next level.” …

While talking with someone on the phone, Bischoff remarked that having celebrity guest hosts is “the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.” Really? Dumber than paying a large sum of money to the rock band Kiss and creating The Demon character? Dumber than bringing in Master P and the No Limit Soldiers? …

I liked the bit in which Mr. Anderson was cutting a promo on the ramp and Kurt Angle came up through the floor behind him. Anderson heard the crowd react when he mentioned Angle’s name and said, “Don’t worry, he’s not here.” Angle then blasted him with a chair. …

It was pretty unrealistic that one chair shot by Angle onto Anderson’s back would KO Anderson to the point that Rob Terry could pick up his lifeless body, carry him to the ring and pin him. …

I’m not sure what Anderson was going for with the reference to the Vietnamese soldier during his promo. …

I like Eric Young, but when he wears that black leather jacket and white T-shirt and stands next to Kevin Nash, he reminds me of one of the dorky guys from "Grease" that were Danny Zuko and Kenickie’s underlings. …

Young and Sean Waltman had a decent-looking brawl in the parking lot, but did I really see Scott Hall use a chop to the chest in a street fight? It’s interesting that we didn’t actually see Hall hit Nash in the knee with the lead pipe – we only saw the results of it. It still wouldn’t surprise me if Nash is working with his buddies to set up Young. …

After Samoa Joe was kidnapped by three masked men last week, the only follow-up on this show was Taz saying that he had been trying unsuccessfully all week to contact Joe. Perhaps someone should alert the police. …

It was shocking to see ODB being used as the sacrificial lamb to get Daffney over, but I think it’s great that Daffney is being pushed as a dangerous threat to the women’s title. ODB, who did a heel turn not all that long ago, came across as a babyface in this match. You can’t make this stuff up. …

The best match on a show that had very little wrestling was the one between Kazarian and Brian Kendrick. Kazarian won with the Flux Capicator. That’s a spectacular finishing move, but TNA didn’t even bother to show one replay. Instead, they cut right to Young and Nash taping up in the back. …

Taz said that Kazarian doesn’t show any ring rust. That was cute. …

Since Team 3D defeated The Nasty Boys in a tables match, I would love to believe the program between the two teams is over, but I don’t think that’s case. Jerry Sags doesn’t look too bad in the ring, but Brian Knobs is a total embarrassment. …

Beer Money was on TV for the second straight week, so things are looking up – well, at least for them. If you’re The Motor City Machine Guns or Generation Me, not so much. When Matt Morgan took issue with Hernandez for setting up a tag team title defense for them against Beer Money, Morgan said he would have preferred they defended the title against a team such as the Guns or Generation Me before working their way up to Beer Money. Ouch. ...

I must have been dreaming, because I swear I saw Jay Lethal make an appearance on the show.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (38)
        

WWE announced on its Web site that Maria, Shane “Hurricane” Helms and Paul Burchill have been released. None of the moves are much of a surprise, especially with the ECW show being done away with.

Maria, who was named Diva of the Year in a fan vote last December, said in a recent interview that she wanted to branch out in the entertainment field beyond WWE, so her release may have been something she was anticipating or possibly something she requested.

Helms, who had been with WWE since 2001, was an entertaining mid-card act as The Hurricane, but it was obvious that he was never going to be any kind of a major player. His recent arrest on a charge of alcohol intoxication in a public place probably didn’t do him any favors.

I’ve always thought Helms was a talented performer going back to his days in 3 Count in WCW. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him end up with TNA. Not only are there people there that he worked with in WCW, but Jeff Hardy – who reportedly is expected to sign with TNA at some point – is one of Helms’ longtime friends.

For some reason, Burchill – a skilled wrestler with good size – never got a real opportunity to succeed in WWE.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (44)
        

• I always enjoy watching The Hart Dynasty, so I thought the main event of Thursday’s WWE Superstars was entertaining. In it, Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith and Natalya defeated Matt Hardy, The Great Khali and Maria in a six-person tag team match.

• Jack Swagger and William Regal, who defeated Santino Marella and Chris Masters in a tag match, make an interesting team. I wonder if their partnership was a one-time thing. Swagger would benefit from an association with Regal much the way Ezekiel Jackson did. Speaking of which, the Jackson-Regal alliance is officially over, as Regal has moved to Raw, while Jackson has gone to Smackdown.

• Zack Ryder looked impressive in his win over Primo. Rosa Mendes looked impressive standing at ringside.

• Luke Gallows came off like a monster in his quick win over an enhancement talent.

• Serena is doing a great job in her role, especially with her facial expressions. From what I’ve read, she only got the spot in CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society because no other woman in WWE developmental was willing to have their head shaved. I’m guessing she’ll end up wrestling at some point.

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 2:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Former WWE star Al Snow is scheduled to appear at Saturday’s Maryland Championship Wrestling show at The New Green Room in Dundalk.

Snow will face Tyler Hilton. Other matches set for the card include: MCW champion Kent Brink vs. Cobian vs. Josh Daniels in a three-way match; Rage champion Ryan McBride vs. Adam Cole in a Last Man Standing match; and MCW tag team champions Team Macktion vs. The Best Around.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Bell time is 7:30 p.m. For more information, go to www.marylandwrestling.com.

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Having watched Mick Foley on TV for years, read his autobiographies and interviewed him a number of times, I always thought it would be fun to sit down with him one day, have a few beers and listen to him tell wrestling stories.

Wednesday night, I got to do it – along with about 300 other people. Instead of sitting down and enjoying a few beers, however, Foley was sipping from a bottle of water and standing up on a stage.

The hardcore legend headlined two comedy shows that also included Colt Cabana (formerly known as Scotty Goldman in WWE) at the Baltimore Comedy Factory. I attended the later show, which was a good decision according to Foley, who said he didn’t have to tone down his act like he did for the earlier show, which was open to all ages.

You could tell that Foley is not a polished stand-up comedian, and he doesn’t claim to be (he told me in an interview last week that he had only done about five shows before his stop in Baltimore). However, he did keep the audience laughing throughout his one hour and 15 minute act with his ability to tell humorous stories.

Fully aware that he was playing to a wrestling crowd, Foley entertained the audience with stories and one-liners about such wrestling personalities as Al Snow – who has been the punch line to numerous stories in Foley’s books – Vince McMahon, The Nasty Boys and Pat Patterson. One story involving Snow’s mustache, his wife and a tuna fish sandwich was especially funny (although it cannot be told on a family Web site). But he also had some good non-wrestling material, including a funny story about his daughter’s first date and a bit about Tiger Woods.

Audience members were not immune from Foley’s witticisms either, as I can attest. Even though I’ve known him for years, most of our conversations have been over the phone or via e-mail. We’ve only seen each in other in person a few times, and on those occasions my hair was a different color than it is now. During the show, he looked in my direction, said I looked familiar, and then said in a suggestive tone: “If you have bleached-blonde hair and you’re not a wrestler, well, I think there’s something you could do for me after the show.”

As for Cabana, his self-deprecating humor also was a big hit with the audience. Much of his act revolved around his less-than-memorable stint as Scotty Goldman in WWE, but he also had some aimed some zingers at Batista and Kelly Kelly that were hilarious (but also unsuitable for this Web site).

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Judging by the first episode of WWE NXT Tuesday night, the pairing of The Miz and Daniel Bryan (formerly Bryan Danielson) is going to make for some entertaining television. And in the process, Bryan may get over quicker and to a greater degree than if he had made a traditional debut in WWE.

The stark contrast in the personalities of Miz and Bryan was played up right from the beginning of the show. Miz is the charismatic but obnoxious “pro” who used a reality show as a vehicle for getting into pro wrestling, and Bryan is the “rookie” who has wrestled all over the world and is considered a great technician, but is lacking in personality.

Bryan got a lot of face time on the show, both interacting with The Miz – including getting slapped and beaten down by his mentor – and wrestling a non-title match against world heavyweight champion Chris Jericho.

For Bryan to be successful, it’s important for him to have a compelling story line, because when the eight “rookies" were all standing together, he looked the least like a star.

Other thoughts on the show:

I like the concept of WWE NXT, but a lot about the program is unclear. How does the actual competition work? Are people going to be voted off? What, if any, aspect of the show is “real?” It’s not at all like the old “Tough Enough” series, in which the business was exposed as a work. I’m just guessing, but I think the reality part in WWE NXT is that the “rookies” are being thrown into situations without any advance notice to see how well they can think on their feet. For example, when The Miz told Bryan to go to the ring, cut a promo and come up with a catch phrase, I have a feeling that Bryan had no idea he was going to be asked to do that. I also wonder if Bryan knew Miz was going to slap him. Miz sure did get out of the ring quickly after he did it. ...

That was a brutal-looking spot during the Bryan-Jericho match when Bryan overshot a suicide dive and crashed into the announce table, which resulted in a huge welt on his side. Before Jericho finished off Bryan with the “real” Walls of Jericho, he gave Bryan some good offense, including a spot in which it Jericho teased tapping out before making it to the ropes. ...

For his catch phrase, Bryan said that when you go against him, “you have two options: tap or snap.” Not bad, but hasn’t Kurt Angle used that one? ...

It look as if Michael Cole is going to play a heel announcer who favors the “pros” and rants about the Internet Wrestling Community and dirt sheets, while Josh Matthews is going to be on the side of the “rookies.” I get it that Cole is playing a character here, but to work in the wrestling industry and say you’ve never heard of Bryan Danielson just makes him look silly. He also said that it was Bryan’s first time on TV, which of course isn’t true. He has appeared on Ring of Honor shows on HDNet. ...

David Otunga came across as a star in his video package. I’ll need to see more of him in the ring to judge him as a worker, as his win over Darren Young only went about a minute. His finisher – which I think was supposed to be either a Uranage Driver or a Spinebuster – was pretty sloppy. ...

The complete lack of interest shown by CM Punk (who is Young’s mentor) outside the ring during Young’s match was hilarious. ...

Wade Barrett handled himself well on the mic, which is no surprise, since he does color commentating in Florida Championship Wrestling. I thought he showed poise when Jericho interrupted him. ...

Heath Slater and Michael Tarver came across well in their video packages and they didn’t look bad in the ring.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (55)
        

It’s fitting that Wendi Richter is going to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on the same weekend that Bret Hart is appearing at WrestleMania XXVI.

Richter and Hart have something in common. They were both double-crossed in the ring on Vince McMahon’s orders.

Twelve years before the infamous Montreal Screwjob, Richter went into a match at Madison Square Garden as the WWF women’s champion and had the title stolen from her in a conspiracy that involved the referee and her opponent – The Spider Lady, aka The Fabulous Moolah.

For those not familiar with Richter, she was one of the key players in the WWF becoming a pop culture phenomenon in the mid-1980s. The feud between manager Capt. Lou Albano and Cyndi Lauper – one of the hottest pop stars at that time – led to a match on MTV in July 1984 between Richter (with Lauper in her corner) and Moolah (with Albano in her corner). Richter ended Moolah’s 28-year reign as women’s champion in a match that delivered MTV’s highest rating ever at that point and kicked off the WWF’s Rock and Wrestling Connection era.

Richter became a bona fide star in the WWF, but she said in a shoot interview a few years ago that she never felt she was fairly compensated. Richter said she frequently went to McMahon and made it known that she believed she deserved more money.

Things came to a head in November 1985 at Madison Square Garden. Richter was scheduled to defend her title against a masked wrestler known as The Spider Lady. When Richter got to the arena, she noticed that the woman who wrestled as Spider Lady was backstage, but so was The Fabulous Moolah. Richter said in the shoot interview that it was highly unusual for Moolah to be at a show that she wasn’t booked on.

When Richter got in the ring to face Spider Lady, she could tell that it was Moolah under the mask, so she knew something was up.

“All I knew was, with [Moolah], I’ve got to look out for myself,” Richter said in the interview. “Everything. She’ll try to hurt you. She’ll try to pin you. And I knew she couldn’t pin me. She couldn’t. But what I didn’t count on was the referee getting paid off.”

Several minutes into the match, Spider Lady got Richter in a small package. Richter got her shoulder up after a count of one, but the referee quickly slapped the mat two more times, and the bell rang. At that point, it was mass confusion.

Richter went after Spider Lady and ripped off the mask, revealing Moolah. Richter then kept trying to continue the match. She slammed Moolah and went for a cover, but the referee wouldn’t count. Howard Finkel then announced Moolah as the new champion. Richter pried the belt away from the referee and refused to give it up. Moolah then tried to snatch it from Richter, but she was unable to do so and left the ring without it.

“I was so angry that I just walked right out of the building right in my wrestling suit, wrestling boots,” Richter said. “I grabbed my bag, went out and hailed a cab – and it was cold; it was in November – and went to the airport in my wrestling outfit and got my ticket. And then I went in the bathroom and put my clothes on at the airport.”

Richter neither wrestled in WWE nor spoke to Moolah – who trained her – ever again.

At the time, I think the majority of fans were confused with the way the title change went down. Obviously there was no Internet, and the insider newsletters were nowhere near as prevalent as they are today. I was 18 and had been a fan for over a decade, but I didn’t know anything about double-crosses. I thought everything was scripted and all the wrestlers were friends, although I do remember thinking how awkward the finish to that match and the post-match action looked. Unlike the Montreal Screwjob, the Richter-Spider Lady match was quickly forgotten and never referenced again on WWE television.

I’ll be very interested to hear Richter’s induction speech, not that I really expect her to say anything controversial. WWE announced that Roddy Piper will induct her, but I think Hart would have been a better choice.

Here is video of the Richter-Spider Lady match:

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)
        

With less than five weeks to go before WrestleMania XXVI, WWE turned up the heat (no Undertaker jokes, please) on Raw Monday night. There were some hot angles and promos involving the top guys, and three matches were announced for WrestleMania XXVI: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker, world heavyweight champion Chris Jericho vs. Edge, and WWE champion Batista vs. John Cena.

The set-up for the Batista-Cena WrestleMania match was especially well done. At the beginning of the show, Vince McMahon made a non-title match for Monday night between Cena and Batista with the stipulation that if Cena won, he would get a title shot against Batista at WrestleMania.

Batista did the stalling bit that he has done as of late, and then he kicked Cena low and was disqualified. From there, Batista destroyed Cena with chair shots in deliberate fashion, which got a lot of heat.

Other thoughts on Monday’s show:

Raw got off to a good start with Jericho coming out to gloat about winning the world heavyweight title at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view the night before. Edge eventually hit the ring, speared Jericho and declared that he would be challenging him for the championship at WrestleMania. Immediately after that angle, Cena’s music played, and he stormed to the ring to demand a WWE title match against Batista. He and McMahon then had a good verbal confrontation. ...

Unlike the Batista-Cena and Jericho-Edge angles, the segment with Michaels and The Undertaker did not involve any physicality or yelling, but it still was very effective. The key was that Undertaker said he would face Michaels at WrestleMania, but only if Michaels puts his career on the line. Michaels agreed to the stipulation. Both guys did a great job on the mic. ...

There was a new development in the McMahon-Bret Hart story line, as McMahon said that he was inviting Hart to next week’s show so that he could have a proper farewell. It was later announced that Hart had accepted McMahon’s offer. If it turns out that the car accident last week and reports of Hart suffering a broken leg are a ruse orchestrated by Hart to get McMahon in the ring at WrestleMania, there is a flaw in that logic: How did Hart know that McMahon would ask him to make one last appearance on Raw? ...

I liked how the Legacy angle went down. Before a six-man tag team match involving all three members of the group, Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes spoke backstage about “sticking to the plan,” with the inference that they were going to double-cross Randy Orton. During the match, however, it was Orton who laid out DiBiase and Rhodes, showing that he was one step ahead of them. So far, WWE has been on the mark with Orton’s gradual babyface turn. Now that Orton has demonstrated that he can outsmart DiBiase and Rhodes and hasn’t lost his mean streak, I’m guessing the next step in this program is to get some sympathy on Orton by having DiBiase and Rhodes sneak attack him and deliver a vicious beat-down, which will then prompt Orton to vow revenge at WrestleMania. ...

Michaels and The Undertaker were in the middle of a strong verbal confrontation when suddenly some idiotic fans began to give Michaels the “What?” treatment. I’m not going to mince words: If you chant “What?” during a promo – much less an intense one between two legends that is setting up a big match at WrestleMania – you are an idiot. Actually, you’re worse than an idiot, but since The Baltimore Sun is a family newspaper and Web site, I can’t use stronger language. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is one of the most successful wrestlers of all time, but I’ll never forgive him for bringing the “What?” chant to the business. I thought it was stupid from Day One, but it’s beyond lame for fans to still being doing the stale bit in 2010. ...

It sure was great to see Jericho with the big gold belt draped over his shoulder. By the way, how many times has he been “banned from Raw forever” before showing up again in a week or two? ...

Finally, we have a new Divas champion, as Maryse defeated Gail Kim in the tournament final to fill the vacant championship. There was an odd stretch in the match in which it appeared that Maryse might have been legitimately injured. She was holding her neck and was a bit wobbly. Then she suddenly regained the spring in her step and hit the French Kiss on Kim for the win. I guess she was supposed to be playing possum to catch Kim off guard. I think Maryse winning is the right call, but I do feel bad for Kim, who will probably never get anywhere near the push in WWE that she got in TNA. ...

I’m not too thrilled about Christian joining Raw instead of Smackdown, but perhaps it’s just a temporary move until the next draft. Maybe he’ll win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match – which he qualified for by defeating Carlito – and then cash in at some point if/when his old pal Edge is champion. ...

Guest hosts Jewel and the bull riding guy she’s married to seemed like pleasant enough people. The bit with The Big Show riding the mechanical bull – and later punching the bull after it was “taunting” him – was so silly that I couldn’t help but laugh. ...

I was surprised to see that Wendi Richter is going to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Not only because I don’t think had she anywhere near a Hall of Fame career, but also because she and WWE parted on really bad terms in 1985. I’m going to post a separate entry about Richter later. ...

Cheech and Chong – or as I like to call them, the Rob Van Dam and Brian Kendrick of comedy – are hosting Raw next week. Is it possible to get a contact high through your television set?

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (62)
        

Mick Foley is a hardcore legend, New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist and public speaker. And now you can add stand-up comedian to his resume.

Foley will be performing his act at The Baltimore Comedy Factory Wednesday night. Joining Foley on the Total Extreme Comedy show is fellow pro wrestler Colt Cabana (formerly Scotty Goldman in WWE).

I conducted a phone interview with Foley last week about his foray into comedy, his upcoming book, the renewal of the Monday Night Wars and what it’s like working with Eric Bischoff.

How did this comedy tour come about?

I was asked about eight or nine months ago whether I’d have interest in doing a show at The Improv in Los Angeles. It sounded like fun and something that was a little different than I’ve done before. I had spoken at several colleges, but there the focus is not all on comedy. I think doing The Improv is a little more ominous than doing a college campus because it was so different than anything I’d done. But I enjoyed it, and I think most people on hand enjoyed it as well, and it kind of opened up the door to doing a few more shows.

How many dates have you done so far?

I think we’ve only done like five, so it’s not something I do very often. I do realize that if I want to get better at it I’ll have to do more shows, which means kind of tagging along with other comics as they get their work in from club to club.

You are certainly no stranger to standing on a stage with a microphone in your hand in front of a crowd, but as you said, stand-up comedy is not something you had done before. Was it harder than you thought it would be?

Everything’s relative. I don’t think any new pursuit will be as difficult as trying to break into wrestling 25 years ago. But I realize that it’s very difficult to be really good at it. It’s not so hard to be decent at it, but there’s a big difference between being decent and being really good, and I think the difference comes in putting the time in and doing show after show instead of one every four or five weeks.

What is your act like? Are you doing one-liners or is it mostly you telling funny stories? And are you doing your own material or do you have someone writing jokes for you?

I’ve had some offers from people to do jokes, and if I get good at it and get to where it’s a little more regular, I might take them up on it. But I think as far as learning from the ground up, I’m better off doing my own material, which is mostly stories. But I’m trying to learn the art of having punch lines lined up even if the stories are mostly improv.

Do you do any topical humor or are the stories mostly wrestling-related?

That’s the biggest challenge – to delve out into other subjects without alienating the people who are there for the wrestling stuff. One thing I was proud of when I did the college talks was that, although stories revolved around experiences that I had in wrestling, one did not need to be a wrestling fan to enjoy them. I feel the same way about these shows. It won’t be so wrestling exclusive that a brave soul who wonders in to check it out will feel uncomfortable.

Yes or no: Are you funnier than Dennis Miller was on Raw?

(Laughs) I did not see that episode, but from your tone I’m taking it that he was not that great.

He bombed.

[Laughs] Well, you know, those guest hosts are hit or miss, too. It’s sometimes because they are coming into a new audience that might not be familiar with what they do.

Would you say that you have been influenced by any comedians, or is the act pretty much all you?

I’m trying to make it all me, but I’ve been corresponding with my comedy guru, my Mister Miyagi of sorts, who is Judah Friedlander. Judah’s recommending different comedians for me to watch, much in the way that I used to watch hours of wrestling every day in the ’80s and early ’90s. He explained that you can’t help but take on characteristics of your favorite comedians, and the secret is to be inspired by people without actually emulating them.

Do you have a favorite comedian?

There’s such a big list. I really enjoy Sarah Silverman’s fearlessness. You know, I would not have said I was a Wanda Sykes fan before I saw her recent show on HBO, but I thought that was hilarious. I loved Steve Martin during his stand-up days, and used to love the wordplay of George Carlin. I’ve been watching as much as I can on Comedy Central and I’ve even developed an appreciation for the blue collar guys, which is something I didn’t think I would be interested in.

How’s your new book, "Countdown to Lockdown," coming?

I just finished the afterword two days ago. The afterword I think is one of the best things that I’ve written. I think people will really enjoy it. During the afterword I talk about how in retrospect the period I chronicle may not seem important at all, but the journey that those six weeks led me on has become one of the most important periods in my life. There’s just so much going on in wrestling and the world moves so fast that we very seldom have a chance to look back and kind of appreciate the components of what makes a good wrestling show or a good wrestling angle, and I think that this book does that.

I look forward to reading it. When does it come out?

I believe September.

I understand that you donated your advance for the book to an organization known as RAINN. Tell me about that.

RAINN was actually founded in Baltimore. It’s the Rape Abuse Incest National Network. It was founded by a man named Scott Berkowitz and singer Tori Amos. I finally learned how to use the computer, so I went on her Web site and from there linked on to RAINN and became interested and became a smaller donor. As the book-writing process went on, because I spoke about RAINN and wrote about Tori Amos, it felt like the right move and the right thing to do would be to contribute a sizable amount. I split the advance between RAINN and Child Fund International. The Child Fund project is specifically geared to victims of sexual abuse form the Civil War in Sierra Leone and their children. It supplies micro loans and scholarships. So even if the book doesn’t sell like I’d like it to, I feel like the decision to donate was the right one – and it was a good amount of money, especially in this book economy. I do mention the figure in the book, but it’s a good amount and it’s going to help a lot of people.

You also contributed to Awesome Kong’s effort to raise money for relief in Haiti, correct?

Yeah. The amounts in the book are a lot bigger, but I did. It’s the power of numbers – people texting $10 at a time – that really ends up making a huge difference. I guess Kong said that it did inspire some of the other wrestlers to kick in and to meet my total, so I think all told she raised about $6,000, which is a great credit to her.

Let’s get into what the wrestling world is buzzing about – TNA Impact moving to Mondays to go head to head with Raw. You were a big part of the first Monday Night Wars. Do you think this is a good move for TNA?

I hope so. I think it is. I was not somebody who thought that two shows going head to head in the ’90s would have been good for wrestling, and it turned out to be the best thing that could have possibly happened. I think anything that gets a buzz going around the wrestling world is going to be positive for everybody, including me, including the wrestlers, including Vince [McMahon], including Dixie Carter. I think it’s going to force both groups to put out their best product, and I think the wrestling fans are going to be the main beneficiaries.

You know Vince McMahon very well. He never acknowledged the competition in the past until WCW began taking it to him. Where do you think TNA is on his radar? Will he no-sell the competition? Do you think it will light a fire under him?

I think he will no-sell it publicly for a while. I think it has to be a concern to him internally, if only because so many of the people who were big stars on his show are now working for the competition. I would say honestly with the exception of their top six or seven guys that we have a lineup that fans are really more familiar with.

There is no denying that TNA has a deep roster with a nice mix of young guys, guys in their primes and veterans. With that being said, what are your thoughts on the new regime bringing in guys from the past that are taking TV time away from talented guys already on the roster?

You’re speaking of, like, The Nasty Boys? [laughs]

Yes.

Well I know that match is something that The Dudleys had wanted for a long time, and I think the Nastys still have a little bit left in their creative tanks. But I don’t think that’s going to be indicative of what the new regime is about. I really think just in the last couple weeks you can see that Abyss’ character has really benefited, and I think we can see “The Pope” really breaking through as a big star. That’s been one of the problems for wrestling shows in the past – breaking new stars through to the next level. I mean, Abyss has been there seven years, but when I say new star I mean a TNA-created star. The fact that two guys simultaneously seem to be making giant strides I think is a good omen for TNA.

When the announcement was made that Hulk Hogan was coming to TNA, I think some people like me were wondering how long it would take before The Nasty Boys, Brutus Beefcake, Jimmy Hart and others showed up. And then on the very first show, there are The Nasty Boys. But you’re saying that guys like that being on the show is just one part of a larger story?

I hope so. I think Hulk wants to really show what he can do on this side of the business. And I think Eric Bischoff, who has always been a bright guy, wants to show that he has learned from the past and he’s going to apply all the positive things he brought to the table without repeating some of the mistakes that were made in the past.

It’s been a lot of fun to watch you and Eric Bischoff performing together. What has it been like for you?

[Laughs] You know, I do enjoy it. There’s always going to be that little part of me that resents not being more appreciated 16 years ago, and I think that’s good. I think it results in more emotional programming. He’s one of my favorite antagonists, and I’ve had some pretty good ones throughout my career, and without spoiling anything for anyone, the next couple weeks are going to be a lot of fun as far as the Foley-Bischoff dynamic is concerned [laughs].

One of my criticisms of TNA is that there are too many turns and it’s hard at times to tell who the faces are and who the heels are. Casual viewers especially have to be confused. Even your character has gone back and forth several times.

Yeah, but part of that was out of necessity. When Jeff [Jarrett] left, I was in a position of having to try to build a match for Bound for Glory from scratch. I mention in my book that the easiest thing to do is to just say “I respect you brother, but when I get out there I only know one way to wrestle,” and that’s boring and it’s the easy way out. I did not want to do a second heel turn in a year – I mean, I fought it off for eight years in WWE – and so I understand where there could be some confusion, but in that case, I was doing what I thought was best for everybody. But I think people have to remember that sometimes the best characters are painted in shades of gray. Real-life people are very seldom black and white. I’m very happy with what I’ve done with the character. I think stepping out and taking chances is something that makes the business interesting for me. I’m not really interested in being the same guy all the time.

The good thing for you is that the fans like Mick Foley the person, so no matter what your character does as a heel, you can go right back to being a babyface and they’ll cheer for you.

[Laughs] Yeah. I remember thanking Shawn Michaels one time for showing the possibilities of the short-term heel turn. He was able to have that really successful match with Hulk and then have everything be forgiven the next week. When guys have been around a long time I think fans will cut them that type of slack.

The big angle in WWE right now is the one with Bret Hart and Vince McMahon. Back in '97, you were so upset with what happened to Bret in Montreal that you thought about quitting the company …

I actually did quit for one day.

That’s right. So what do you think about Bret coming back now and doing an angle off the Montreal Screwjob, which is something he pretty much said he would never do?

I think it’s great if it brings Bret some closure, because he never had closure in WWE. I think every wrestler reserves the right to change their mind and have that right respected. I know I’ve done it a couple of times. So I don’t think any less of Bret and I don’t think anyone else should either.

What are your thoughts on ECW ending? I know it was a TV show and not a company, but the letters and the logo were still used.

I think you covered it. It had kind of stopped being ECW in anything but letters a while ago. It was a good vehicle for younger guys to get some notice, and hopefully their new show will provide that platform for younger guys as well.

You’re obviously a creative guy. You’ve written novels and you have a great mind for the wrestling business. Have you ever given any thought to leading the creative direction of a company that way Hogan is doing in TNA?

I used to think about it years ago. I think I could be a contributor, but I wouldn’t want to have the pressure of having people’s careers in the palm of my hand. And I don’t think I’d be that good at it. There were certain characters that I thought I could have good ideas for, and others that I just wouldn’t have a clue. I think it’s just too much time, pressure and energy – certainly more than I’m willing to commit at this stage in my life.

You mentioned being a contributor. Do you pitch ideas in TNA? I’m sure if you had something to say, people would listen.

Yeah, I do throw ideas out there. I have put a couple out on the table that I think are home runs waiting to be hit. We’ll just see if they are willing to let me get those at-bats in.

Mick Foley and Colt Cabana are scheduled to perform two shows at the Baltimore Comedy Factory, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets are available by calling 410-547-7798 or visiting www.baltimorecomedy.com. For more information on Total Extreme Comedy, go to www.totalextremecomedy.com.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Q&As
        

Just in case anyone hasn’t seen this story yet, Ric Flair’s wife was arrested Sunday night in an apparent domestic assault case, according to a report on charlotteobserver.com.

Jacqueline Beems was charged with misdemeanor assault, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police told the Web site.

Flair, who turns 61 on Thursday, and Beems, 41, were married last November. She is his fourth wife.

This is the third police incident in a little more than four years in which Flair has been involved. In 2008, his 22-year-old daughter was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. Eyewitnesses said at the time that Flair, his daughter and her boyfriend were involved in a fight that left Flair bloodied and bruised. In 2005, Flair was charged in a road rage incident when he was accused of grabbing a motorist by the neck.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)
        

The Undertaker suffered first and second degree burns on his chest and neck as the result of a pyro accident during his entrance at Sunday night’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, according to wrestlingobserver.com. The report said that he worked the match “in tremendous pain” but he “refused to shorten the match.”

WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman, however, categorized the injuries as less severe. “Thank God he was fine. It basically amounted to a sunburn,” Zimmerman told The Riverfront Times in St. Louis. “It wasn’t over a large area of his body, just a short area, just a little bit on his chest.”

Zimmerman said the accident was the result of “mistiming with the pyrotechnics.”

As The Undertaker was walking down the ramp on his way to the ring for the main event, he was suddenly engulfed in flames. He quickly threw off his long jacket and jogged toward the ring. The accident was not shown on camera, although the announcers did remark how unusual it was that The Undertaker did not make his usual slow walk to the ring.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

WWE threw in a twist in the form of an impromptu match for the WWE title immediately after a new champion was crowned in the Raw Elimination Chamber match on Sunday’s pay-per-view, but by the end of the night, the match-ups most fans are expecting to see at WrestleMania XXVI appear very likely to be happening.

After John Cena won the WWE title in the chamber, Vince McMahon announced that he would have to defend the title against Batista right then and there. “The Animal” made quick work of Cena to become the new champion.

It remains to be seen how Bret Hart and McMahon figure into the WrestleMania equation, but it seems probable that there will be a title match between Batista and Cena. So either McMahon and Hart will be in the corners of Batista and Cena, respectively, or there actually will be a singles match between them. I still find the latter scenario hard to believe given the physical limitations of McMahon and Hart.

As expected, Shawn Michaels caused The Undertaker to lose the world heavyweight title to Chris Jericho in the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match. However, the speculation that John Morrison would be too injured to compete in the chamber and Michaels would take his place proved incorrect, as Morrison did indeed participate in the match. Michaels made his “surprise” appearance late in the contest, coming up from under the steel platform.

So it looks like it’ll be Michaels vs. Undertaker, and Jericho vs. Edge for the world title at WrestleMania.

Both chamber matches were good, but the other three matches on the card came off as filler.

Here is a match-by-match look at the show:

Chris Jericho won the world heavyweight title in an Elimination Chamber match: R-Truth and CM Punk started the match. I think R-Truth’s entrance lasted longer than he did, as Punk hit the GTS and pinned him in less than four minutes. So much for that R-Truth push I was looking forward to. Just as he did in the Royal Rumble match last month, Punk cut a promo during the match. Unfortunately, he only got to do it once, as Rey Mysterio was in next and he eliminated Punk after hitting a hurracanrana onto the steel platform followed by a slingshot splash. So the build for a Punk-Mysterio match at WrestleMania continued. Jericho and John Morrison were the next two in, and Morrison took out Mysterio with Starship Pain. The Undertaker came in last. For a brief period, Jericho and Morrison worked as a team against him. As the final three went at it, there was a loud chant for The Undertaker, a lesser chant for Jericho and no chant for Morrison. Morrison had been moving fine on his “injured” ankle, but he was clutching it after landing a flying kick on The Undertaker. While The Undertaker and Morrison were battling, Jericho took refuge in one of the pods. That was tremendous. The Undertaker eliminated Morrison with a chokeslam. Morrison made a good accounting of himself in the match. It was down to “The Dead Man” and Jericho, who had a bloody right cheek. The two remaining stars went at it for about seven minutes, with The Undertaker surviving both The Walls of Jericho and The Codebreaker. The Undertaker rallied to hit The Last Ride and was about to follow up with a Tombstone Piledriver. At that point, Shawn Michaels popped up through the steel platform and hit Sweet Chin Music on The Undertaker. As Michaels stood over The Undertaker, a shocked Jericho covered him for the win at the 35-minute mark. The show ended with Michaels still standing over the fallen Undertaker.

John Cena won the WWE title in an Elimination Chamber match: Unlike the other chamber match, no eliminations took place in this one until after all six men were in the ring. Sheamus and Kofi Kingston started the match. In a nice touch, Kingston twice looked behind him when he was making his entrance (he was jumped from behind by Edge and taken out of one of the chamber matches last year). The other four competitors entered the ring in the following order: Triple H, Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cena. Orton was a house of fire when he got in. Once DiBiase got into the match, he and Orton worked as a team. At one point, Orton stuck Kingston’s head through one of the chain links in the cage while DiBiase had Kingston trapped in a Boston Crab. Orton later hit a DDT on Triple H onto the steel platform, but he didn’t follow up with a pin attempt, which made no sense. Cody Rhodes eventually came down to ringside and tried unsuccessfully to get Orton’s attention. Rhodes threw a steel pipe into the ring, which DiBiase picked up. While Cena had Orton set up for an Attitude Adjustment, DiBiase looked as if he was trying to hit Cena with the pipe, but he nailed Orton instead. He then hit Cena, too. After a moment of indecision, DiBiase covered Orton and pinned him at the 24-minute mark, further inflaming the tense situation involving the Legacy members. I would have never guessed that Orton would be the first one out. Suddenly, the eliminations began occurring rapidly. A minute after Orton was gone, Kingston pinned DiBiase with Trouble in Paradise. Right after that, Sheamus eliminated Kingston with the Celtic Cross. Two minutes later, Triple H pinned Sheamus after landing a low blow and hitting The Pedigree, leaving just “The Game” and Cena. Finally, the belt is off Sheamus. Cena quickly caught Triple H in the STF and forced him to tap out, winning the match and the title at the 30-minute mark. As it stands now, it appears unlikely that Triple H will be in a world title match at WrestleMania, which I consider a bit of an upset.

Batista defeated WWE champion John Cena to win the title: As Cena was selling the effects of being in the brutal match, Vince McMahon appeared on the stage and said that Batista was getting a title shot right now. Batista landed a Batista Bomb and pinned Cena in less than 30 seconds to steal the title. It’s obvious that McMahon had guaranteed Batista a title shot against the Chamber winner in return for his help against Bret Hart. As it turned out, Cena – Batista’s rival as of late – was the unlucky victim. My question is, what would have happened if McMahon’s son-in-law Triple H had won the match? Would McMahon have sent Batista out to beat him, too? There also is the issue now of both world champions being on Smackdown, but those situations always take care of themselves.

Intercontinental champion Drew McIntyre defeated Kane: There was nothing wrong with this match, but it followed the Raw chamber match and the angle with Batista winning the title, so the crowd was dead for it. McIntyre won after catching Kane with a thumb to the eye and then hitting the Future Shock DDT.

U.S. champion The Miz defeated MVP: This late addition to the show was the best of the three non-chamber matches. The Big Show and Mark Henry were outside the ring rooting on their tag team partners. There was a big spot on the floor in which Henry charged at Big Show, but Big Show moved and Henry went crashing through the barricade. Miz and MVP had a solid back-and-forth match that picked up in the final minutes. Miz came out on top after The Big Show hit the knockout punch on MVP behind the referee’s back. During the match, Miz’s forehead was busted open from a head-butt that he delivered to MVP, but the action continued. It wasn’t until after the match was over that the medic came into the ring and attended to Miz. At that point, why not just wait to do it backstage?

Michelle McCool and Layla defeated Gail Kim and Maryse: Kim and Maryse were about to lock up in their match for the vacant Divas championship when suddenly … “Excuse me!” Vickie Guerrero showed up and announced that she was postponing their singles match. Guerrero said she didn’t appreciate Kim and Maryse’s disparaging remarks as of late about the Smackdown divas, so she was forcing the two rivals to team up to face Michelle McCool and Layla in a tag team match. Man, is the Kim-Maryse match ever going to take place? The tag match only went about four minutes. Maryse never got in the match. When Kim went to make a tag, Maryse pie-faced her, which allowed McCool to hit the Faithbreaker for the win. After the match, Maryse hit The French Kiss (DDT) on Kim.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (52)
        

It will probably become clearer after tonight’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view what the WrestleMania XXVI match-ups will be. Judging by what has been happening on TV, here is where I think things are headed as far as the top matches:

John Cena/Bret Hart vs. Batista/Vince McMahon: I don’t think we’re going to see a singles match between Hart and McMahon, so it will either be a tag team match or Cena vs. Batista with Hart and McMahon in their respective corners. There is a possibility that Cena wins the WWE title in the Elimination Chamber, and his match with Batista is for the championship, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case.

The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels: I have been hoping all along for it to be Michaels vs. Triple H, and The Undertaker vs. Cena, but there’s little chance of the former and no chance for the latter. I’m betting that Michaels gets into the Chamber match tonight and causes The Undertaker to lose the title.

World heavyweight champion Chris Jericho vs. Edge: Jericho takes the title in the Elimination Chamber and Edge chooses to face his nemesis for the belt.

WWE champion Sheamus vs. Triple H: Sheamus manages to come out of the Elimination Chamber still the champion, and Triple H gets the title shot at WrestleMania, where he wins his 14th world championship. The last time Triple H wasn’t in a world title match at WrestleMania was 2001 (excluding WrestleMania 23 in 2007, when did not appear due to injury).

Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk: There’s a good chance this will be a Mask vs. Hair Match.

Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase Jr. vs. Cody Rhodes: The three members of Legacy battle it out to prove who was the real star of the group. I would expect Orton to be a babyface by the time this match rolls around, and DiBiase and Rhodes to be heels who don’t get along.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

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

World heavyweight title Elimination Chamber match (Champion The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and R-Truth): It seems to me that there are only two people with a realistic shot at winning – The Undertaker and Jericho. WWE has strongly teased a Jericho-Edge program, so I’m going with the obvious scenario of Jericho winning the match and then defending the title against Edge at WrestleMania XXVI. Like a lot of people, I expect Morrison to be unable to compete because of his injured ankle, and for Shawn Michaels to take his spot in the match. I’m guessing that Michaels eliminates The Undertaker, and then Jericho beats Michaels for the win.

WWE title Elimination Chamber match (Champion Sheamus, John Cena, Ted DiBiase Jr., Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton and Triple H): When this match was first put together, I would have bet anything that Sheamus was dropping the title to one of these guys, but now I don’t think so. The Wrestling Observer has been reporting that the plan – at least at some point – was for Sheamus to face Triple H at WrestleMania, and if that is indeed the case, it makes more sense for Sheamus to go into that match as the champion. Kingston and DiBiase Jr. have no shot of winning, and Orton probably won’t get the victory either. Something is likely to happen between Orton and DiBiase that will set up either a singles match between them at WrestleMania or possibly a triple threat match that also involves Cody Rhodes. I have a feeling that Batista may make an appearance and cause Cena to lose.

Intercontinental champion Drew McIntyre vs. Kane: McIntyre is billed as being undefeated and obviously is a rising star, so it wouldn’t make any sense for him to lose to Kane, who doesn’t need the title anyway. McIntyre will score one of his biggest wins to date.

Gail Kim vs. Maryse in the Divas championship tournament final: I’d be surprised if Maryse doesn’t come out on top here. Since there are only four matches scheduled for the card, hopefully they won’t have to rush through their match. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if a tag team title match pitting champions The Miz and The Big Show against MVP and Mark Henry was added. There also has been speculation that there might be a Batista vs. Edge match on the show, but I think WWE would have announced that one ahead of time.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

It’s not yet official that Edge and Chris Jericho will be wrestling each other at WrestleMania XXVI next month, but all signs certainly are pointing in that direction.

On Friday night’s episode of Smackdown, Edge and Jericho opened the show with a verbal confrontation that ended with Edge spearing Jericho out of his designer shoes. Then, at the end of the program, Jericho hit a Codebreaker on Edge after Edge’s match with Batista.

It seems so obvious that Jericho will win the world heavyweight title in the Elimination Chamber match at Sunday’s pay-per-view and then face Edge at WrestleMania – Edge even told Jericho that he hopes that’s what happens – that I’m starting to wonder if it’s too obvious.

Hopefully, WWE is more concerned with putting the best possible card together and delivering a match that the fans want rather than surprising everyone.

Other thoughts on Friday’s show:

After Edge got the better of Jericho in the first segment, I figured Jericho would get involved in Edge’s match with Batista, but it still caught me by surprise when it happened. I thought the show was over after Edge and The Undertaker had their stare-down, and then Jericho appeared out of nowhere to hit the Codebreaker. …

The main event between Edge and Batista was decent. It was just good to see Edge back on TV in a singles match. Batista continues to play his character very well. …

In my interview with John Morrison Thursday, he said that his ankle was “tweaked,” but it became crystal clear on this show that the “injury” he suffered on last week’s show was a work, which was my initial thought when it happened. In the tag team match that pitted Morrison and R-Truth against CM Punk and Luke Gallows, Morrison once again was unable to continue due to the bad ankle. It sure seems like WWE is scripting the injury to get Morrison out of the chamber match. …

As much as I like Morrison and R-Truth, I have to admit that their backstage promo together wasn’t very good. In their defense, they were given some pretty bad material to work with. …

The Kane-Dolph Ziggler match was good. Kane needed the clean win heading into his Intercontinental title match with Drew McIntyre at the pay-per-view, but it’s a shame that Ziggler’s role is to be the guy who does the job to get the challenger over. Despite his less-than-stellar won-loss record, I still think Ziggler can be an impact player down the road. …

It was announced that Ezekiel Jackson will be coming to Smackdown, so that answers that question. I’m more interested to know which show Christian is going to end up on. I think Smackdown makes more sense for him than Raw. …

The tag team match between Cryme Tyme and Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft was pretty good. It would have been nice if Barreta and Croft had gotten the win in their Smackdown debut, but I’m not surprised that they lost. Still, they looked impressive in defeat, and the way WWE books tag teams, I’m sure Barreta and Croft will beat Cryme Tyme in their next meeting. …

My interest in the Matt Hardy-Great Khali tag team has increased dramatically with the addition of Maria to the act. Watching her dance to Khali’s music isn’t going to get old anytime soon. Watching The Hart Dynasty win matches is always a pleasant sight as well. I’m curious to see where the Hardy-Maria story line is going. …

From a creative standpoint, Layla is the best thing to happen to Michelle McCool. On her own, McCool clearly didn’t have the “it” factor, but she and Layla are pretty entertaining as Simply Flawless.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

Thursday night’s TNA Impact was easily the best episode of the program under the Hulk Hogan-Eric Bischoff regime. Except for one groan-inducing segment with Hogan and Abyss, it was an entertaining show.

There weren’t any great matches, but there was a lot of strong mic work. Bischoff was especially good. It seemed as if he was in every segment, but he plays his smarmy character so well that I never got tired of seeing him. The story was that he was running things like a tyrant while Hogan was “off taking care of business” for the majority of the program.

In addition, “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero, Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson all delivered effective promos.

What also made the show good was the fact that all the story lines were easy to follow. Oh yeah, and The Nasty Boys and Bubba The Love Sponge were nowhere to be found.

Other thoughts on Thursday’s show:

There were two really good segments. One was the confrontation between Angle and Anderson. Angle cut an emotional promo in which he referenced his divorce and his arrest last year. He also revealed the story behind the dog tag that Anderson spit on and used to bust him open at the Against All Odds pay-per-view last Sunday. Angle said the tag belonged to a soldier he met at an Army base last year who told Angle that he believed in him. Angle said that when Anderson spit on the tag, he was spitting on the soldiers and the United States. It could have come off hokey, but Angle made it work. Anderson then came out on the ramp and mocked Angle, getting massive heel heat. The only thing I didn’t like about the segment is that Anderson challenged Angle to a fight and then beat him down pretty quickly. Main event babyfaces should never lose a fair fight – especially a tough guy such as Angle. It would have been better if Anderson had hit him with the microphone or something. The announcers tried to play up the fact that Angle’s forehead wound from Sunday made him vulnerable, but I don’t buy that one. ...

The other strong segment was the one involving Dinero, A.J. Styles and Ric Flair. Coming off his big win in the Eight-Card Stud Tournament Sunday to become the No. 1 contender for Styles’ TNA world title, Dinero opened the show with a charismatic promo. He referred to Flair as “Dick Flair,” copying “The Franchise” Shane Douglas’ old shtick in ECW. “The Nature Boy” did almost all the talking for his side, and that’s exactly how he should be used. The segment ended with Styles and Flair laying out Dinero. ...

Kevin Nash also cut a decent promo in which he discussed his former friends Scott Hall and Sean Waltman, but, unfortunately, he had the unenviable task of following the Angle promo. ...

The endings to the previous two episodes of Impact were predictable, but that wasn’t the case this week. When Hall and Waltman came to the ring to confront Nash and Eric Young, I was expecting Nash to turn on Young, but it didn’t happen. This likely is building to a tag team match pitting Hall and Waltman against Nash and Young. Hall doesn’t look good just taking a few bumps in pull-aparts, so I can only imagine what he’ll be like working an actual match. Waltman appears to be in good shape, so he’d probably be in for the bulk of the match. ...

Abyss’ acting during the scene in which Hogan was giving him a pep talk was excruciatingly bad. As for Hogan’s over-the-top promo, it would have been great – if this was 1988. ...

Hogan said that Abyss was going to be the “god of wrestling” and “10 times the man” he ever was. Oh, is that all. For a second there I thought he was going to set unrealistic expectations for the big man. ...

It was nice of Hogan to put over his WWE Hall of Fame ring as his most prized possession. I’m sure Vince McMahon appreciated the recognition. By the way, since Abyss is now wearing Hogan’s ring, does that mean they’re going steady? ...

I had to laugh when Bischoff referred to himself as “ATM Eric.” For those who didn’t get it, he got that nickname for his practice of signing wrestlers with varying degrees of talent to huge guaranteed contracts when he ran WCW during the Monday Night Wars. ...

After Samoa Joe was jumped by three masked men and thrown into a white van, Mike Tenay took the words right out of my mouth when he said, “What the hell did we just see?” ...

It was quite a shock to see Orlando Jordan defeat Samoa Joe. He now has pinfall victories over Joe and Dinero. Amazing. ...

Jordan, who is openly bisexual, was accompanied to the ring by a man and a woman, so it looks as if TNA is going where WWE wouldn’t go. When Jordan was in WWE several years ago, there was talk of him playing a bisexual character, but it never came to fruition. Since this is pretty much new ground for pro wrestling, I could see Jordan getting over in this role. Apparently TNA is willing to push the envelope only so far, however. It was reported that Jordan kissed both the man and the woman before his match against Samoa Joe, but that was edited out of the show. ...

Daniels has gone from pay-per-view main-eventer to glorified jobber in record time. I know that Angle needed a convincing victory after losing to Anderson at Against All Odds, but Daniels tapping out in a one-minute match is ridiculous. It’s a shame because Daniels was doing some of his best work in his program with Styles. ...

When I saw that Daffney was wrestling TNA Knockouts champion Tara, I thought: “Well, Daffney’s going to get squashed, but at least she’s on TV.” I was pleasantly surprised when Daffney laid her out. Hopefully this is the beginning of a title program. ...

Why in the world was Desmond Wolfe included in the group of random heels that attacked Abyss? He’s gone from wrestling Angle on pay-per-views to being in a goon squad with Raven, Rhino, Tomko and Homicide. Wolfe in his dress clothes looked totally out of place with all the other guys wearing jeans and t-shirts. ...

Kazarian made his return, which I suppose means that Suicide has gone to parts unknown to hang out with Curry Man. I never cared that much for the Suicide character anyway. That last time we saw Kazarian – in 2008 – he quit the business after suffering some frustrating loses (basically the same story line that was done several months ago with Styles). I hope he gets the opportunity to cut a promo explaining why he decided to come back. ...

The eight-man X Division tag team contest which saw Kazarian, Generation Me and Amazing Red defeat The Motor City Machine Guns, Brian Kendrick and Doug Williams was a fun five-minute match. I still can’t figure out whether Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley are heels or babyfaces. ...

It was nice to see Beer Money back on TV. ...

So Big Rob Terry is now the Global champion and a babyface. I’m not sure that’s going to work, but you never know.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
        

• Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars featured three good matches. In the main event, Rey Mysterio defeated Mike Knox. It was the typical Mysterio-Knox match, meaning Knox controls the match but Mysterio rallies for the win.

• Evan Bourne put on a show in the exciting tag team match that saw him and Primo defeat Carlito and Chavo Guerrero. Bourne definitely was over with the crowd. It’s a shame he isn’t better on the mic, because WWE could really do something with him.

• With Gail Kim wrestling Maryse in the finals of the tournament to crown a new Divas champion at Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, the outcome of Kim’s match against Katie Lea Burchill wasn’t really in doubt, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Mick Foley will be doing stand-up comedy at the Baltimore Comedy Factory on Wednesday.

Also appearing on the Total Extreme Comedy tour will be Colt Cabana (formerly Scotty Goldman in WWE). They’ll be doing shows at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Tickets are available by calling 410-547-7798 or visiting www.baltimorecomedy.com. For more information on Total Extreme Comedy, go to www.totalextremecomedy.com.

Note: I will have a Q&A with Foley posted early next week.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I conducted a phone interview Thursday with John Morrison, who will be a participant in the Elimination Chamber world heavyweight title match at the WWE pay-per-view Sunday.

You are the only “Tough Enough” winner to make it big in WWE. Why do you think you’ve been able to succeed while the others failed?

I think it’s a variety of reasons for why some people didn’t succeed. I think the reason that I’ve been able to succeed is that I was a fan of sports entertainment when I was a kid – that’s what I wanted to do. The way I look at sports entertainment now and my career is [that] I am constantly moving down a path, constantly evolving, and I don’t know where the path is going to lead. If the path is taking me to a world heavyweight championship, that’s great, but all I really strive for and care about is putting on the best matches I possibly can. I try to do that by staying on top of the game – studying, watching tape, working out, staying in shape, staying injury-free. I think when you look at someone you work with and they’ve got those qualities and all they want to do is have the best match they can possibly have and they’ve done their homework, they’re someone that you like having around and you want to work with. I think that’s really what’s made the difference for me.

You had tried out for “Tough Enough” the previous season and didn’t make it. Did you consider giving up your ambition of getting into wrestling at that point?

Absolutely. When I didn’t make it for the [second] season of “Tough Enough” it was a huge setback. Especially when you come close to something and you fail, of course those thoughts run through your mind, like “Man, I wasted my time,” and “I shouldn’t have done that,” and you start doubting yourself. But I think ultimately I knew that I wanted to be in sports entertainment, and at that point I figured, “Well, ‘Tough Enough’ was a great opportunity, and now that it’s gone, I’ll start training on my own, and if I have another chance to be on ‘Tough Enough,’ I’ll do that. If not, I’ll just try to get as good as I can on my own.” I started training in Sacramento. And then Season 3 of ‘Tough Enough’ announced that they were going to have auditions not too long after Season 2 was over, so I figured I’d just reapply, and I ended up making it. Now I think that not making Season 2 of ‘Tough Enough’ was the best thing that could have happened to me.

I was on a conference call with The Miz last week and he talked about the veterans not accepting him and giving him a hard time when he got to WWE after coming from reality TV.

He tell you about eating that chicken?

[Laughs]. Yes, he told that story. Coming from “Tough Enough,” did you have a similar experience as far as being accepted?

Yeah, for me it was a little bit rough. I remember the first day I went to OVW, and everyone had already been there for a few months, for a few years, to several years, and seeing me and [fellow Tough Enough winner] Matt Cappotelli walk in fresh off the MTV show. ... If you put yourself in their position, they’ve been working at something for a few years and here comes some kid who right now is way more popular than they ever were because we’ve got all this hype and publicity from MTV. And so I think they were a little bit jealous and they didn’t know us yet either, so of course you come in and you have to battle kind of a negative attitude from other people straight from the beginning. But if your attitude is good and you want to have good matches and you want to be employed for the right reasons, then I think people start to see that and respect that and respect you as a person, and you can fit in anywhere.

Do you still keep in touch with Matt?

Yeah, I talk to Matt like every couple weeks. I had lunch with him when we were in Louisville the other day.

How’s he doing? [Note: Cappotelli has been battling cancer for several years].

Matt is the most positive person that I’ve ever met. He’s doing really well considering he’s the most unlucky guy that I’ve ever seen. It’s setback after setback with him. The way he deals with it, though, is really inspiring. He found out he had a malignant brain tumor the size of a golf ball. They ended up removing it, and he finally finished his chemo back in November. He’s been dealing with that for about three years. When I saw him, he had torn his patella tendon right as he was finishing up chemo, and broke his elbow playing volleyball somehow. Every time something good happens to him, something bad happens also. Given all that stuff, he’s just so positive. He’s managing a gym right now in Louisville and he’s trying to just get healthy and get back in shape, and he looks like he already is in good shape.

How disappointed were you that your match with The Miz against Carlito and Primo at WrestleMania last year was bumped from the pay-per-view and was a dark match instead?

It really sucked. You know, you work all year. ... You think like WrestleMania is the Super Bowl of wrestling, and to not be included on the biggest show of the year after you’ve already invited your family and friends and told them that you are going to be is a real bummer, but at least I did get to do the dark match, which is really cool because I got to perform in front of that huge crowd in Houston. It’s something where you just have to get used to it with World Wrestling Entertainment. You get a lot of curveballs and you just have to learn to roll with the punches.

When did you get the word that you weren’t going to be on the show?

It was about a week or two before. We got the word that Kid Rock wanted to play music for like 25 minutes and they were going to cut our match from the pay-per-view.

You had a string of great matches last summer and fall with Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, Edge, Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio. Do you have a favorite match among those?

It’s tough for me to say which one is my favorite. All those matches are on the DVD “John Morrison: Rock Star,” which just came out Tuesday. I think for me the defining moment of the past summer and all those matches was my match against Rey Mysterio. I think it’s because Rey Mysterio is someone I always looked up to, and when I was first getting into wrestling I watched hours of Rey Mysterio on tape and imagined, “Man, if I could wrestle him,” or “if I could move like him, how great would that be?” When I wrestled him, though, it was cool, but, I got a feeling the fans were going to start booing me because Rey Mysterio is so popular that they’re not going to want to see me beating up on Rey. What was so cool about that match for me was that that didn’t happen. They didn’t boo Rey, and they didn’t boo me either. They cheered for both of us, and I ended up beating Rey for the Intercontinental championship, and they cheered for me at the end, too. I picked Rey up and hugged him and they cheered for both us because we had such a good match that the fans were cheering for the match, and I think that’s really what the object of sports entertainment is.

It seemed at that time that you were on the verge of becoming the world champion. What do you think you need to do to take that next step?

It’s just the right combination of time and place. I think I’m ready to be a world champion. I think I just need the right opportunity and the right time. As far as things to do, there’s plenty of stuff I can work on. I can always improve in the ring; I can improve on the mic; I can consistently keep improving. I think that’s what you have to do because sometimes for political reasons some people become champions; sometimes it’s because people deserve it; sometimes it’s just a fluke – right time, right place. HBK [Shawn Michaels] told me and Joey Mercury a story when we first started and we were kind of asking him for advice. We were a little bit frustrated with our position at the time because we wanted more time on TV, we wanted to wrestle people that were higher up the card, and he kind of gave us the same advice. He said, “Right time, right place.” He said, “Ten years ago I asked ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage the same thing, and Macho Man told me, [imitating Savage] ‘Don’t take yourself out of the game, kid.’ And that’s what he told us. As weird as it sounds, I think that’s exactly the right advice for sports entertainment. You don’t take yourself out of the game. As long as you keep improving and you’re there and the fans are responding to you, sooner or later you’re not going to be denied anymore.

You’re in one of the Elimination Chamber matches Sunday. Do you prepare differently or have a different mind-set when you’re going into a gimmick match such as that? Do you watch tapes of past Elimination Chamber matches?

I wouldn’t say necessarily a different mind-set. You definitely have to be more psyched-up and ready than you would for a normal match. I know for sure in an Elimination Chamber match or a ladder match, you just have to prepare yourself for pain because you know that it’s going to hurt. You just have to get over the fact and accept that, “All right, this match is going to really hurt, so I’m not going to worry about that until after the match. I’m just going to go in, do everything that I need to do, stay focused and not lose my mental concentration.” That’s usually the best way to go into it. And, yeah, I have been watching a lot of old Elimination Chamber matches. I’m really excited because I think this has the potential to be the best chamber match that they’ve ever had. Both matches do, but I think the Smackdown one in particular, because it’s my first chamber match; it’s R-Truth’s first chamber match; you got Rey, Punk, Jericho and Undertaker in there also. So I think the potential for a lot of innovative, interesting and original stuff is all there.

There’s some question as to whether the ankle injury you suffered on last week’s Smackdown was real or part of a story line, so I’ll just phrase the question this way: How’s the ankle?

The ankle is tweaked. The ankle has been bothering me. It’s something that, if it had happened to John Cena, it would have pulled John Cena off the shows. But I’m trucking through it because I don’t want to let the fans down. And I didn’t want to let the fans down when we were in South America just recently. So I figure as long as I’m preparing myself for pain in the Elimination Chamber, I can mentally prepare myself for a bum ankle while I’m there.

Photo courtesy of WWE

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
Categories: Q&As
        

Just as I expected, the Internet Wrestling Community is not pleased that The Miz will be mentoring former Ring of Honor champion Bryan Danielson (who is now going by the name Bryan Daniel) on the new WWE NXT show, which debuts next Tuesday in ECW’s old time slot on SyFy.

The premise is that eight WWE “pros” will mentor eight “rookies” from WWE’s developmental territory. Despite the fact that Danielson has several more years experience than Miz and is regarded by many as the best technical wrestler in the business, he is the “rookie.”

I understand why fans find it absurd, but I think there is a method to the madness. It’s not just by chance that Danielson was paired with The Miz rather than someone he seemingly would be more compatible with such as Chris Jericho or CM Punk.

First and foremost, I have little doubt that WWE decision makers are getting a kick out of tweaking the smart marks, and they also want to make it clear that being a star on the independent scene means nothing to them. Punk found that out.

But beyond whatever message WWE wants to send, I think Miz and Danielson were put together for the very reason that they are such opposites. We all know that a key element of reality TV (WWE has described NXT as a hybrid live event/reality show) is conflict, and the odds are decent that Miz and Danielson will have a personality clash at some point.

As far as The Miz coaching Danielson, obviously he isn’t going to take Danielson to school when it comes to working ability, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that there is more to becoming a star than how many holds you master. The Miz could help Danielson as far as developing his persona and mic skills.

Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing this odd couple work together.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (43)
        

The curtain closed on ECW Tuesday night with Ezekiel Jackson becoming the answer to a trivia question. He defeated Christian in an Extreme Rules match to become the new – and final – ECW champion

Nothing special was done to commemorate ECW’s last episode, although Christian did put over the ECW originals in his pre-match promo. I thought perhaps WWE would have Joey Styles, the voice of the old ECW and currently WWE’s director of digital media content, call the last match, but it didn’t happen.

Actually, it probably was fitting that Styles wasn’t on the broadcast. The WWE TV version of ECW really had nothing to do with the original ECW anyway. The edgy, innovative Philadelphia-based company died in 2001, and the show that has been airing Tuesday nights on SyFy the past four years may as well have been called Heat or Velocity.

Other thoughts on Tuesday’s show:

Jackson and Christian had a good brawl that included run-ins by Zack Ryder and William Regal as well as a spot in which ECW general manager Tiffany speared Rosa Mendes. Since Josh Matthews and Byron Saxton didn’t do it, I yelled “Catfight! Catfight! Catfight!” at the TV screen. ...

I won’t be surprised if Jackson ends up becoming a money player at some point on Raw or Smackdown. I hope Christian does, too. If he doesn’t, it will be a real waste of talent. ...

The WWE unified tag team title match that saw The Miz and The Big Show successfully defend their championship against Goldust and Yoshi Tatsu was entertaining. Miz and Big Show got a nice win and Goldust and Tatsu looked good in defeat. ...

Vladimir Kozlov actually got a decent pop when he came out during The Abraham Washington Show. The fans also cheered when Kozlov and Shelton Benjamin shook hands after they cleared the ring of Vance Archer, Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft. ...

I’m sure that Washington will end up on Raw or Smackdown in some capacity, but if he no longer does the talk show gimmick, I hope WWE finds something for Tony Atlas to do. Am I the only one who was laughing out loud every time Atlas did “the laugh” on this show? ...

The talent that will appear on WWE NXT – the hybrid live event/reality show that takes over ECW’s time slot beginning next week – was revealed. The premise is that eight WWE stars will each mentor a “rookie.”

Here are the pairings:

• Chris Jericho – Wade Barrett
• Matt Hardy – Justin Gabriel
• MVP – Skip Sheffield
• Carlito – Michael Tarver
• The Miz – Daniel Bryan
• Christian – Heath Slater
• CM Punk – Darren Young
• R-Truth – David Otunga

A report on pwinsider.com Tuesday afternoon had a slightly different list of WWE developmental talent that supposedly was going to be on NXT, including Kaval (Low Ki), Brett DiBiase (Ted Sr.’s son) and Joe Hennig (Curt’s son). I’m surprised none of them will be a part of it. ...

I’m betting that the heads of hardcore Ring of Honor fans exploded when it was announced that The Miz would be mentoring Bryan. While Miz was doing his pro wrestler-wannabe shtick on “The Real World,” Bryan was forging a reputation as “The Best Wrestler in the World” on the independent scene and in Japan. ...

I like the group of veterans WWE selected for NXT. I didn’t expect a guy at Jericho’s level to be a part of it. ...

The thought of an impressionable talent taking their cues from Carlito – a frequent occupant in WWE’s dog house – is kind of a scary thought. ...

I wonder if Punk will be a stickler for Young adhering to WWE’s dress code.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)
        

The featured Ring Posts comment for the week of Feb. 8-14 comes from Christopher, who responded to the entry “Quick hits on ECW".

Here is Christopher's comment:

With ECW about to close its doors, I sense that the future holds many endeavors: It's been fun, Funaki; don't hurt yourself cartwheeling out the exit, Primo. Stay away from TNA, Charlie Haas, as we may call you in a year or two. Curt Hawkins? Even John L. forgot that you were still with the company. Tyler Reks? (Insert your own punchline)

Posted by Kevin Eck at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Comment of the week
        

The WWE NXT show, which premieres next Tuesday on Syfy and replaces ECW, will be a hybrid live event/reality show featuring eight well-known WWE stars mentoring eight WWE developmental wrestlers, according to a WWE news release.

WWE refers to the young wrestlers as “rookies,” although veterans Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) and Kaval (Low Ki) are reportedly among those on the roster.

“This is a unique combination of heart-stopping entertainment and gritty behind-the-scenes reality,” Syfy president Dave Howe said in the release. “The NXT Rookies take the challenge of our new tagline ‘Imagine Greater’ to heart as they embark on their ultimate dream quest to be the next generation of revered heroes and champions in the fantastic arena of the WWE.”

The show sounds similar to WWE’s “Tough Enough” series, which ran on MTV in the early part of the decade.

WWE did not release the names of the veterans or “rookies” who will be on the show, but pwinsider.com, citing WWE sources, reported the names of the developmental talent. The report, however, listed nine names, not eight. In addition to Bryan and Kaval, Justin Angel, Skip Sheffield (who was on the fourth season of Tough Enough as Ryan Reeves), Joe Hennig (Curt’s son), Brett DiBiase (Ted Sr.’s son), Darren Young, Heath Slater and Michael Tarver were on the list.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 8:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)
        

With six weeks to go, it was obvious that the Bret Hart-Vince McMahon program was going to have to take a detour on the Road to WrestleMania to keep it interesting.

Based on what happened Monday night on Raw, the idea of a Hart-McMahon match taking place at the big event on March 28 appears to be dead. Appears, of course, being the key word.

After McMahon said on last week’s show that he would not accept Hart’s challenge to a match at WrestleMania XXVI, Hart cut a promo Monday in which he said goodbye to the fans and prepared to ride off into the sunset.

Instead, Hart rode off in an ambulance.

As Hart was getting into a limousine, an unidentified blonde woman backed up her car into the limo, smashing Hart’s leg in the car door. The plot twist accomplished the goal of putting yet another obstacle to overcome for a Hart-McMahon match to happen.

I’m curious to see if Monday’s fender bender truly was unintentional, or if it will be revealed that the woman was involved in a scheme to injure Hart that was orchestrated by McMahon.

When Hart makes his inevitable return, the incident provides a story line reason for whatever physical limitations he may have in the ring. It also could set up a scenario in which Hart doesn’t wrestle, and he and McMahon each choose a representative – John Cena and Batista, respectively – to fight their battle. If that is the way WWE decides to go, there likely would be a spot in the match in which Hart gains revenge by decking McMahon and slapping the Sharpshooter on him.

Other thoughts on Monday’s show:

This episode wasn’t as good as the past several. The main event between Cena and Triple H surprisingly wasn’t pushed hard throughout the show and didn’t have as much heat as you would expect. The match was basically designed to get some get some heat on Sheamus – who laid out both guys – heading into Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. The rumored Triple-Sheamus match-up at WrestleMania is looking more and more likely. I’m not too excited about that one. ...

Michael Cole said twice during the broadcast that it was “the worst night in Bret Hart’s life.” Think about that for a moment. I know the announcers are often fed lines that they have to say, so perhaps Cole isn’t to blame, but that was poor judgment on someone’s part. ...

Shawn Michaels was not on the show, selling the angle that he has quit the business. Michaels not appearing was expected, but his absence did contribute to the show being less interesting this week. ...

Guest host Jerry Springer was limited to two segments, the second of which was brief. The guest hosts have been less involved in Raw recently, as the focus has wisely has been on the WrestleMania story lines. ...

The segment that was a takeoff on Springer’s talk show seemingly involved a cast of thousands, and shockingly, Big Dick Johnson wasn’t among them. I didn’t think the bit was terrible – although I’m pretty certain some did – but it probably went on too long. The punch line of Hornswoggle being the father of Kelly Kelly’s baby was very predictable (for those who didn’t see the show, it was revealed that the Kelly Kelly pregnancy thing was a put-on). ...

Springer got in a couple of great lines when he said that Kelly Kelly was probably too old for Jerry Lawler. She’s 23. “You usually pick them up at recess don’t you,” Springer said. That isn’t too far from the truth if you know Lawler’s history. ...

Santino Marella also got in a good dig at Lawler. He said that if Lawler had been the father of Kelly Kelly’s baby, “the kid would be a major screw-up. Remember Grandmaster Sexay?” ...

The double entendre during the Springer segment pushed the envelope a bit in the current kid-friendly climate in WWE, but it was tame compared to what a Springer appearance on Raw would have been like during the Attitude Era. Actually, WWE was a lot like the Springer show at that time. ...

Randy Orton was put over strong, as he laid out Sheamus and Cody Rhodes with RKO’s. It’s looking to me like a triple threat match at WrestleMania between Orton, Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr., with Orton as a babyface and the other two as heels. Orton is a tremendous bad guy, but a run as a no-nonsense babyface with heel traits (ala Steve Austin and Triple H) could be good. ...

DiBiase really needed that victory over Kofi Kingston after being destroyed by Cena last week. Kingston’s stock is plummeting. ...

I was initially surprised that MVP and Mark Henry defeated WWE unified tag team champions The Miz and The Big Show in a non-title match, but, in retrospect, it makes sense. It keeps the issue between MVP and Miz going and also sets up MVP and Henry as challengers to the title.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (56)
        

As expected, TNA and Spike TV announced at a news conference this afternoon in Orlando, Fla., that Impact will be moving from Thursdays to Mondays beginning March 8.

The show will air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. to go head to head with WWE's Raw, and will be live every other week.

TNA president Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan spoke about the move at the news conference, which was broadcast online. Both expressed their excitement about going against Raw, but Carter seemed to be keeping the "ratings war" in proper perspective.

"War is usually fought over a long period of time," she said. "Our goals have not changed from the very beginning, and that was to put out the very best wrestling company and continue to grow that product slow and steady.

"If we can hold numbers like we've had success on big Thursday nights and continue to grow that, and even have the kind of success we had on that one Monday night on Jan. 4, it'll be a good place to start. And then we'll just continue to grow it from there."

Here is the video of the news conference (it begins at the 6:30 mark):

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)
        

• The big news coming out of Sunday night’s show is that TNA is serious about elevating “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero to main event status. Dinero defeated (in succession) Desmond Wolfe, Matt Morgan and Mr. Anderson to win the Eight-Card Stud Tournament and a shot at the TNA world title at the Lockdown pay-per-view in April. Dinero’s recent non-title win over TNA champion A.J. Styles now makes more sense (although I still can’t fathom why he did a job for Orlando Jordan). Not only did Dinero come out on top in the tournament, but he had to overcome a backstage sneak attack by Scott Hall and Sean Waltman prior to his match against Anderson in the finals.

• While Dinero is about to get a major babyface push, it appears that Morgan may be turning heel. During a first-round match against Hernandez, Morgan took advantage of his tag team partner’s shoulder injury to gain the victory. He also wrestled in a heel style against Dinero. I think TNA has done way too many turns as of late, but if this one is done correctly, Morgan will end up becoming a bigger star than he is now.

• Mr. Anderson also came out of this show looking strong, as he appears to be headed for a program with Kurt Angle. Anderson pinned Angle in the first round, busting him open in the process and then spitting on him at the end of the match.

• As expected, Styles successfully defended the TNA world title against Samoa Joe. I’m guessing that some hard-core TNA fans will say there was too much focus on Ric Flair and special referee Eric Bischoff in this match, but I don’t agree. Styles and Joe always have good matches together, but fans have seen them wrestle each other numerous times over the years. Using two great performers such as Flair and Bischoff to add a new wrinkle to the match makes perfect sense.

• I think the booking on this show was pretty much on the money – with one glaring exception. The Nasty Boys shouldn’t even be wrestling on a pay-per-view much less defeating a team such as Team 3D on one, but that’s what happened. Thanks to outside interference from “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart, Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags got the victory, which, unfortunately, means this program will continue.

• I knew it was just a matter of time before Hart, a longtime Hulk Hogan ally, showed up in TNA, but that’s fine with me. I’ve always found Hart entertaining as a character and he’s also a valuable guy to have around behind the scenes. I’m just wondering how much longer until Brutus Beefcake makes his TNA debut and squashes Daniels.

• TNA is teasing that Abyss may be forced to unmask. To insure that pals Mick Foley and Abyss weren’t going to take it easy on each other in their tournament match, Bischoff said that if a barbed-wire baseball bat isn’t used in the match, Abyss will have to unmask. Abyss won after delivering the Black Hole Slam to Foley onto thumbtacks, but the bat was never used. I don’t think taking off the mask would be a good career move for Abyss.

• Jeremy Borash returned as the backstage interviewer. I’m hoping that means I never have to see or hear BTLS ever again.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

Back in 2003 when I was writing for the now-defunct Wrestling Digest, I did a feature story on the Top 10 on-screen couples in wrestling history. With today being Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be fun to revisit the list and update it.

1. RANDY SAVAGE & ELIZABETH: “The Macho Man” had all the necessary tools to be a superstar when he entered the WWF in 1984. But what really shot him to the top was the decision to make the lovely Elizabeth his manager in 1985. Elizabeth, Savage’s real-life wife at the time (but not acknowledged as such in story lines), was the first female manager in WWF history. The couple made for an interesting dichotomy, as people loved the elegant, quiet Elizabeth, but hated Savage, who verbally abused and bullied her. Savage’s jealousy over then-tag partner Hulk Hogan “having lust in his eyes” for Elizabeth was the basis for the main event at WrestleMania V in 1989 between Savage and Hogan. After Savage and Elizabeth spit in the story line, they had a memorable and emotional reunion at WresteMania VII. Their on-screen marriage at SummerSlam several months later produced a famous angle in which Jake “The Snake” Roberts crashed the reception after giving the couple a gift that had a cobra inside the box.

2. TRIPLE H & STEPHANIE McMAHON: The McMahon-Helmsley Era was a glorious one indeed. The couple’s reign in the WWF, which spanned the latter part of 1999 through 2000, was the main story line during a time when the WWF was at its peak both creatively and in popularity. It began when Triple H tricked the wholesome daughter of Vince McMahon into marrying him. At first she seemed mortified at having married the crude leader of D-Generation X, but she eventually turned on her father and revealed that she and Triple H were indeed a couple. Overnight, sweet, innocent Stephanie morphed into an obnoxious, screechy-voiced, scantily-clad heel. After a disgusted Vince McMahon took some time off, the power-hungry couple had all the stroke in the company and constantly stacked the deck against the babyfaces. The couple eventually split up on camera, and then got married in real life.

3. EDGE & LITA: The key to Edge going from an upper mid-card heel to a main-event heel was his association with Lita in a 2005 angle that played off the real-life love triangle involving the two of them and Matt Hardy. When Lita, a babyface at the time, was mercilessly getting jeered by the crowd due to her real-life affair with Edge (supposedly while she was still Hardy’s girlfriend) becoming public knowledge, WWE had no choice but to turn it into a story line. Edge and Lita had tremendous chemistry as a sleazy heel couple. In one of the most notorious scenes in WWE history, Edge and Lita stripped down to their underwear and engaged in simulated sex acts under the covers in a bed that had been set up in the ring on Raw.

4. EDGE & VICKIE GUERRERO: Edge cemented his reputation as the ultimate opportunist by engaging in a romantic relationship with a woman he clearly was not attracted to, but who wielded power as the general manager of Smackdown. All Guerrero had to do to generate heat was show her face before the crowd, and when she would yell “Excuse me!” in an attempt to quiet down the fans, the heat was off the charts. The on-again, off-again union between Edge and Guerrero was the dominant story line on Smackdown for more than a year.

5. TULLY BLANCHARD & BABY DOLL: Blanchard, one of the top heels in Jim Crockett Promotions in the mid-80s, went on a search for his “Perfect 10.” His quest ended when he laid eyes on Baby Doll, a tall, big-boned blonde whose physical stature rivaled some of the male wrestlers. The leather-clad Baby Doll was the antithesis of the WWF’s Elizabeth – she spoke her mind, taunted fans and never hesitated to interfere in Blanchard’s matches. She was a big part of Blanchard’s act as he engaged in classic feuds with Magnum T.A. over the U.S. title and Dusty Rhodes over the NWA television title. Blanchard and Baby Doll eventually had a falling out, and she became an ally to Rhodes.

6. “GORGEOUS” JIMMY GARVIN & PRECIOUS: The real-life married couple got over as a heel act in World Class Championship Wrestling in the early ’80s before moving on a few years later to Jim Crockett Promotions. The flamboyant Garvin often won matches with the aid of Precious, who blinded his opponents by spraying perfume in their eyes. Garvin and Precious eventually became babyfaces, and he engaged in a memorable program with NWA world champion Ric Flair after “The Nature Boy” repeatedly hit on Precious.

7. TRIPLE H & CHYNA: A facet of Triple H’s Connecticut-snob gimmick in 1995 was that he would always come to the ring accompanied by beautiful women. Two years later, Triple H settled on having just one woman by his side, and she looked nothing like the fashion-model types he had previously been hanging out with. The muscular, masculine-looking Chyna made her debut by coming out of the audience and attacking Goldust’s valet, Marlena, and violently shaking her like a rag doll. Chyna, who was Triple H’s real-life girlfriend, routinely helped him win matches by delivering low blows to his opponents. Along with Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Chyna comprised the original D-Generation X, the top heel group in the WWF at the time.

8. DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE & KIMBERLY: Early in his career, Page was always surrounded by a bevy of beauties known as the Diamond Dolls. Eventually in WCW, DDP came to the ring with just one Diamond Doll – his real-life wife at the time, Kimberly. Initially, Page and Kimberly had a Randy Savage-Elizabeth type dynamic in that the fans booed him and cheered her because of the way he mistreated her. After the couple split and subsequently reconciled, DDP got a major push in 1997 when he rejected an offer to join the nWo. Page became a bona fide main-eventer during a series of matches against Savage, with Kimberly (who was now acknowledged as Page’s wife on television) and Elizabeth in their respective men’s corners.

9. GOLDUST & MARLENA: WWF fans didn’t know what to make of this bizarre heel duo when they debuted in 1995. Goldust, sporting a blond wig and gold and black face paint, was portrayed as being either gay or bisexual (it was never made clear), and he had a habit of quoting lines from movies in his promos. Marlena (Terri Runnels, Dustin’s wife at the time) was his sexy, cigar-smoking accomplice. The antics of Goldust and Marlena were at the forefront of the WWF’s transformation from family entertainment to an edgier, more adult product.

10. “EXOTIC” ADRIAN STREET & MISS LINDA: While Gorgeous George was the first effeminate wrestler to make it big, it was Street who pushed the envelope even further with the gimmick. The native of Wales created an androgynous character that would serve as the inspiration for flamboyant wrestlers such as “Adorable” Adrian Adonis and Goldust. Wearing lipstick and garish eye makeup and putting his hair in pigtails, Street would skip to the ring and prance around like a ballet dancer. He also was one of the first wrestlers in the early ’80s to have a female valet. He and Miss Linda worked in various territories, with their most successful runs occurring in Florida and Tennessee.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

• Here is an excerpt from a July 2007 blog entry I wrote about The Miz: “I just don’t see anything remotely entertaining about this guy. If he hadn’t been on MTV’s The Real World, would WWE have even given him the time of day? You would think someone with such an annoying personality would be a great heel, but The Miz doesn’t make me love to hate him, he just makes me want to turn the channel. His work in the ring is average at best, his catchphrase is lame, and when I say his look is strictly mid-card, I’m talking mid-card at an indy show.” Wow, that was a bit stiff, but I meant every word of it at the time. I’ve already said a number of times recently that The Miz has won me over as a performer, but beyond his vast improvement in the ring and on the mic, Miz has impressed me with the way he handles himself with the media. I had a brief sit-down interview with Miz when Raw was in Baltimore in November, and I also participated in a conference call with him last week, and both times he came across as grounded and a guy who “gets it.” He represents WWE well.

• There were a couple things that The Miz said during the conference call that really struck me. When discussing the injuries that he has suffered in wrestling, he said, “I get concussions quite a bit.” The matter-of-fact way that he mentioned it is disturbing to say the least. He also said that he was hazed in WWE because the veterans wanted to see if he would quit. “I’m not a quitter,” he said. “I’m more of a person that says bring it on.” I find hazing to be repugnant, and I give Miz a lot of credit for refusing to be bullied. It’s a testament to his mental toughness and determination to live his dream.

• I said above that The Miz “gets it.” Unfortunately, not everyone in wrestling does. In my 15-plus years of interviewing figures in the industry, it’s been my experience that the biggest stars are often the easiest to deal with, while those who haven’t been relevant in quite a while are often the most arrogant and difficult. Recently, I was “big-leagued” by a female wrestling personality who hasn’t done anything meaningful in the business in well over a decade. I’m guessing that her ’tude stems from her difficulty coming to grips with the fact that her only talent was her looks and now they’re gone – and no amount of plastic surgery is going to bring them back.

• I’ve read where there’s a possibility that TNA will form a Four Horsemen-type stable with Ric Flair in the J.J. Dillon role. That got me to thinking about who would be a good fit for such a group. A.J. Styles, of course, is a given. As for the other three, I’d go with Matt Morgan, Desmond Wolfe and Robert Roode. It would be a little risky to turn Morgan heel since he’s over now as a babyface, but I could see him becoming a bigger star down the line once he broke away from the group and returned to being a babyface.

• I’m a little surprised that some people are bent out of shape over WWE’s plans to change the name of the Survivor Series pay-per-view. I know it’s one of the Big Four (along with WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble and SummerSlam), but the name no longer applies and it hasn’t for years. Having team elimination matches as the focal point of the show was largely abandoned over a decade ago.

• Speaking of name changes, former Ring of Honor star Bryan Danielson is wrestling as Daniel Bryan in Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE’s developmental territory. In this case, I don't think a name change was really necessary. Although if you're going to do it, at least call him something cool like "Desmond Wolfe." On a side note, the Danielson story reminded me of when Mike Tyson appeared on Raw back in 1998 claiming to be a big WWE fan. “I just love that Cold Stone,” he said.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

As evidenced by Friday night’s episode, Smackdown continues to be the most entertaining wrestling show on television. All the top guys are really connecting with the audience, and the story lines are developing in such a way that you are always looking forward to the next show.

One of the main angles this week focused on who Edge might choose to face at WrestleMania XXVI. It was teased that it would be either The Undertaker or Chris Jericho. Those two wrestled each other in a no-disqualification match in Friday’s main event, with Edge doing commentary at ringside.

Prior to the match, Edge and Jericho had a verbal confrontation. During the match, The Undertaker kicked Edge in the face in an unprovoked attack, but Edge came back later and speared him, which led to Jericho hitting The Codebreaker on The Undertaker for the upset victory.

As a result of all that, Jericho looks strong heading into the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in two weeks, The Undertaker appears vulnerable, and Edge has a beef with both of them.

Other thoughts on Friday’s show:

We likely saw the beginning of the rumored hair vs. mask WrestleMania program between CM Punk and Rey Mysterio. Mysterio scored a hard-fought win over Punk, but Punk, Luke Gallows and Serena laid out Mysterio after the match. …

It looks as if those who thought that Shawn Michaels would somehow end up with a spot in the Elimination Chamber match for the world heavyweight title at the expense of R-Truth had the right idea but the wrong guy. A match between R-Truth and John Morrison lasted less than a minute, as Morrison appeared to suffer an ankle injury that ended the match prematurely. There was some question this week as to whether the injury was a work or a shoot, but judging by the reaction of the referee, it looked to me like a work. I’m guessing that Morrison will be unable to compete in the Elimination Chamber and Michaels will take his place. On a side note, I was really looking forward to the Morrison/R-Truth match. …

Batista delivered his most-heated promo ever – and he didn’t say a word. That was pure genius. It had been advertised that Batista was going to explain his recent actions regarding John Cena and Bret Hart, but nothing he could have said would have been as effective as simply refusing to say anything at all. I especially liked the way he came back to the ring a second time, teasing that he was finally going to speak before nonchalantly dropping the mic again and leaving for good. …

The boot to the face by The Undertaker on Edge apparently was a bit stiff, as Edge had an abrasion on the side of his face afterward. …

Jericho had a good line during his promo with Edge when he said that he didn’t know what it was like to come back from an injury because he never gets injured. Jericho’s ability to avoid serious injuries has always amazed me, especially when considering that he never just goes through the motions in the ring. …

The Drew McIntyre-Kane match, which ended in a double-countout, was serviceable. That’s not a program that I’m overly excited about, but a victory over Kane would probably help McIntyre get over more. …

You have to give it to Matt Hardy. No matter how much he is buried, he still gets a big pop (I’m assuming the pop was for him and not his tag team partner, The Great Khali). …

I thought it was funny that Vickie Guerrero, after getting cottage cheese inadvertently dumped on her by Mickie James backstage, came out to interrupt the James-Layla match minutes later and was still covered in it. Don’t they have towels back there? By the way, given all the fat jokes that have been directed at Guerrero over the years, wouldn’t it make more sense if she sided with James rather than Michelle McCool and Layla?

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

For the second week in a row, the final segment on TNA Impact Thursday night featured a “swerve” that couldn’t possibly have been more obvious.

As Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac were beating down Kurt Angle, a smug Hulk Hogan entered the ring and did the too-sweet finger-touching thing with his former nWo mates. Taz and Mike Tenay were going on and on about how Hogan had pulled “the ultimate con job,” as “The Hulkster” prepared to punch Angle in the face with brass knuckles while Hall and Syxx-Pac held him.

Hogan teased doing the punch forever, and then finally nailed Hall and Syxx-Pac instead. Surprise!

The telegraphed climax notwithstanding, I thought the show was better than it had been in recent weeks, but it still was an uneven effort.

The prevailing problem is that the frequent face/heel turns and characters with shades of gray make it nearly impossible for viewers to have a rooting interest. Take Eric Young for example. He had been playing the role of a cunning, anti-American heel, a guy the fans had been conditioned to love to hate. But on this episode he was a total babyface looking to avenge the attack by Hall and Syxx-Pac on his BFF Kevin Nash last week. Of course it wasn’t all that long ago that Nash and Young were adversaries, so Young’s undying loyalty to someone he has no real history with is a stretch.

I also can’t figure out Jeff Jarrett. Last month he was acting like a full-fledged heel, hiding behind his lawyer and bad-mouthing the young talent in TNA, and then he suddenly had a change of heart and is a babyface again.

For story lines to resonate with viewers, it’s imperative that the characters be more clearly defined.

Other thoughts on Thursday’s show:

After being totally dismissed last week by Eric Bischoff, Young got a rub by doing a promo with Hogan in the opening segment – and Hogan actually knew who he was. By the end of the show, however, I thought Young was made to look weak. He vowed to Hogan that he was going to take care of Hall and Syxx-Pac out on the street. The problem is that he never followed up on his threat. In fact, he allowed Angle to basically order him to stay away from Hall and Syxx-Pac. It came across as Angle saying that he’d take care of it because Young was in over his head. I have a feeling that Young is going to end up looking even sillier, as I’m betting that Nash attacks him and joins back up with Hall and Syxx-Pac. No one outsmarts Nash. …

I have to reiterate just how good Bischoff is in his role. Say what you want about his ability – or lack thereof – to run a wrestling company, but he is a tremendous on-air talent. …

The best segment on the show was the confrontation between A.J. Styles (with Ric Flair) and Samoa Joe. Styles came off as a believable cocky heel rather than a goofy “Nature Boy” wannabe. Styles brought up all the times that Joe has turned in the recent past, and I was glad he did, because to ignore it would insult people’s intelligence. Joe acknowledged it and tried to put a little spin on it before moving on, which was the best way to address the wishy-washy booking. …

Right after I wrote in my notes that I liked how Styles was playing his character this week, TNA cut to a backstage segment between Styles and Bischoff that totally negated his earlier performance. Styles reverted back to doing an exaggerated and totally unconvincing Flair imitation. It was so campy that it reminded me of Little Petey Pump and Scott Steiner. It would be better for Styles’ character if he was influenced by Flair without trying to become Flair. Styles just can’t pull it off, nor should he be asked to try. When I was watching wrestling as a kid in the ’70s, Freddie Blassie often managed the turncoats in the WWWF. After aligning with Blassie, their personalities drastically changed, but they didn’t start wearing pink sequined jackets, carrying a cane and calling everyone a “pencil-neck geek” in a gravelly voice. …

The lineup is set for the Eight-Card Stud tournament, which takes place at Sunday’s Against All Odds pay-per-view, and it looks promising. In the first round, it’s Pope D’Angelo Dinero vs. Desmond Wolfe, Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan, Angle vs. Mr. Anderson, and Mick Foley vs. Abyss. …

The tag team match in which Angle and Mr. Anderson defeated Wolfe and Hernandez was entertaining. Pairing a face with a heel on both teams made the match more interesting. It worked because all four competitors’ personas have been firmly established. …

Hogan just can’t get through a show without mentioning “the brothers up North.” He also said that he was “cool again” because of being in TNA. Perhaps if he says it enough times people will actually start to believe it. …

I still don’t understand what the benefit is of having Hall on the roster. He has yet to wrestle a match, and I can see why, as he looked horrible taking bumps during the final segment. …

It was nice to see Dinero get his win back over Orlando Jordan. I also was happy that Morgan scored a decisive victory over Suicide. Dinero and Morgan are way over with the Impact Zone crowd. …

Speaking of the fans in Orlando, they again made it clear how they feel about TNA Originals as opposed to cronies that Hogan brought in. They chanted “under-rated” when Young was in the ring with Hogan, while Jordan was hit with a “you still suck” chant after he executed a swinging backbreaker on Dinero. …

Wolfe cut a good promo when being interviewed by Christy Hemme, but I thought her laughing during parts of it was distracting. …

X Division champion Doug Williams and Amazing Red are always fun to watch. …

Lacey Von Erich did something I have never seen her do before. No, I’m not talking about walking and chewing gum at the same time. During the handicap tag match between The Beautiful People and the team of Tara and Angelina Love, Von Erich did a moonsault, landed on her feet and then dropped an elbow. “That was a lot of work for an elbow,” Taz said. I was just shocked that she actually pulled off a moonsault without injuring herself. …

Good news: Bubba The Love Sponge and The Nasty Boys were not on the show. Bad news: Neither was Beer Money – again.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

TNA has issued a media advisory that TNA president Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan will be making a major announcement at a news conference Monday, and the belief is that it will be regarding Impact’s permanent move to Mondays.

According to wrestlingobserver.com, the move would take place next month, although not on March 1, as was originally reported by The Observer last month. During a radio appearance a couple weeks ago, Hogan said that he was pushing for the show to move to Mondays, but “nothing has been confirmed.”

As I have said in the past, I think Impact going head-to-head with WWE’s Raw on Mondays is a good thing for TNA and for fans. There is a segment of the Raw audience that doesn’t watch TNA on Thursdays, but they may be willing to flip back and forth on Mondays since they are already watching wrestling at that time anyway. I don’t think Impact will beat Raw in the ratings or even come close to doing so, but I do think TNA can grow its audience by switching to Mondays. Plus, direct competition will likely push WWE not to rest on its laurels, so it’s a win-win situation.

Note: My thoughts on Thursday's episode of TNA Impact won't be posted until Saturday. I inadvertently left my notes at home and I will be at the office until late this evening. For all the conspiracy theorists out there, it's an honest mistake and not meant as any kind of slight to TNA.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
        

• I wasn’t too excited when I saw that the main event for Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars was Dolph Ziggler versus JTG, but I actually thought the match was pretty good. Also on the show, Jack Swagger defeated Santino Marella in an entertaining match. You don’t often see Swagger and Ziggler both winning matches in the same week. If nothing else, WWE Superstars provides a vehicle for talented guys such as these two to get a victory every so often.

• While I liked the Swagger-Marella match, it’s a shame that Swagger is relegated to programs with comedic characters such as Marella. Swagger and Sheamus should switch places and then everything would be right in the world.

• I also liked the Christian-Zack Ryder match. Ryder always seems to have good matches with Christian, but then again, doesn’t everybody?

• I almost didn’t recognize Beth Phoenix in the “Ask the Divas” segment. She looked more feminine than usual.

• It looks as if the ridiculous ban on using referees’ names has been lifted, as Michael Cole identified the official during the Ziggler-JTG match as Mike Chioda. Cole did the same thing on Raw Monday, when he referred to referee Charles Robinson by name. Now if WWE would just start saying “belt” again instead of “championship.”

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

I participated in a conference call on Wednesday with WWE star The Miz, who was on hand to help promote Jerry Springer’s appearance as guest host of Raw next Monday.

Here are the highlights:

On how much reality TV played a part in him achieving his dream of becoming a wrestler: “If it wasn’t for being on ‘The Real World: Back to New York’ 10 years ago, I would have never become a professional wrestler. I would probably be working at my dad’s Mr. Hero and flipping burgers for the rest of my life. I credit a lot of it to reality television just because it gave me the opportunity to have the feeling that I could follow any dream I wanted. After trying out for ‘The Real World’ and actually making it on there, it made me realize that I really wanted to follow my dream of becoming a professional wrestler.”

What he thinks of older wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair still getting in the ring: “I obviously respect them. I’ve watched them growing up as a kid, but now I’m looking at them as I want their spot. I want to be remembered as a legend in the WWE. I don’t just want to be world champion or WWE champion, I want to be the poster child of WWE and wrestling, just like Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin – I want to be in those names. To see those names still in marquees is incredible to me, but I want their spot.”

At what age it is appropriate to pursue a career in wrestling: “When you become an adult is when you should actually start thinking about becoming a professional wrestler. It’s a very, very hard sport. It’s demanding, a lot of pressure. ... If you are a kid and you really do want to become a professional wrestler, you should ask your parents first, and then find a great, great independent wrestling school that knows exactly what they’re doing and how to teach you how to become a professional wrestler, because it is a very, very dangerous sport. That’s why we basically tell kids, do not try this at home. But I also don’t like to discourage going for your dreams, because becoming a professional wrestler was definitely one of my dreams, and I always encourage kids to go after what they want.”

How much wrestling has changed over the years: “Right now we have guest hosts. Jerry Springer is guest hosting Monday Night Raw. That’s something I would have never told you would be happening 10 years ago, but right now we’re having guest hosts. It’s fun; the ratings are up 12 percent since guest hosts have come on. Since the 1980s and ’90s, WWE has been an evolution I guess you could say. It keeps growing and growing. It’s ever-changing. The superstars are changing. And by next year I plan on being the main event, the talk of the town and having more titles than just the United States title and the unified tag team title. So is WWE different from what it was 10 years ago, five years ago, one year ago? Absolutely."

The worst injuries he’s suffered in wrestling: “My first three months wrestling on the independent leagues, I broke my ankle. I basically landed on my ankle wrong and broke it. I’ve had bruised ribs. I get concussions quite a bit. Luckily we have the greatest doctors in the world that are able to tell you if you can go next week or if you can’t. There are injuries all the time, but there are doctors on call. If you watched ECW [Tuesday night], you saw that any time we bleed now, the doctor is right out there to make sure that we stop bleeding, because we are PG and we are kid-friendly.”

Who the up-and-coming WWE stars are that fans should watch out for: “I think I’m the biggest up-and-comer right now. Obviously, Sheamus is doing incredible because he is WWE champion and he’s done it quicker than I’ve ever seen anyone do it. Evan Bourne I feel like is the new Rey Mysterio. He has an incredible mind in and outside the ring. I can’t say enough about all the new up-and-coming WWE superstars. I mean, it’s not all about John Cena, D-Generation X and The Undertaker anymore. It’s all about the new up-and-comers, because we are going to take over WWE – and we are doing that right now.”

Whether his promo about being banned from the locker room was true: “Yeah, that was absolutely true. I got kicked out for eating a piece of chicken over a guy’s bag in the locker room, and I got kicked out for six months. I had to find a place to shower, to use the restroom, to change. I’ve had it pretty rough in the WWE just because I’m an outsider, and WWE is kind of like a close-knit family or like a fraternity. Once you’re an outsider trying to lurk in, they will haze you and haze you and try to see if you’re up for the task or if you’re just going to quit. I’m not a quitter. I’m more of a person that says bring it on.”

Whether there is any talk of getting involved in acting: “There’s always talk about that, and I just want to find the right movie, the right gig if you will, that will really set me off. I don’t want to just get thrown into something that I don’t believe in, that I don’t feel. So I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to do that. I’m taking the right way of doing it by doing acting classes as well as improv classes, just because I want to be better than everybody else. I want to be No. 1, and I know that you have to really work hard for it or else you’re not going to get there.”

What he needs to do to be a top guy in WWE: “It’s all the hard work that I’m putting in right now. You don’t just become the top guy. You work for it ... and hopefully that moment will come. I remember when ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin really had that defining moment. It was when he won the King of the Ring and he said, ‘Austin 3:16 said I just kicked your ass.’ So I guess I’m waiting for that defining moment that just sets me apart from everybody else. So time will tell.”

Photo of The Miz courtesy of WWE.com

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
        

I participated in a conference call on Wednesday with infamous talk show host Jerry Springer and WWE star The Miz to promote Springer’s appearance as guest host of Raw this Monday.

Here are some of Springer’s comments (I will post comments from Miz later today):

Why he wanted to host Raw and whether he is a wrestling fan: “More so when I was a kid, I would always watch wrestling. I grew up in an era when you had Antonino Rocca and Haystacks Calhoun and Ricky Starr and Gorgeous George – all these old-time wrestlers. I haven’t seen that much of it recently, although, obviously, I know about it, and I’m looking forward to doing it. Although, you know how opposed I am to fighting on television, so it’s going to be a real stretch for me. In fact, the only difference between this and my show is here the wrestlers have teeth.”

His thoughts on pro wrestling: “It’s all a circus and it’s all entertainment. If you’re prepared to take it in the spirit in which it’s given, then you can really enjoy it and have a great time. If you’re going to sit back and just be in judgment of all this, then you’re not going to have a good time. The fact is, particularly young people enjoy it, love it [and] they don’t grow up to be dysfunctional because they see it. A whole nation has watched wrestling for the last 50 years on television. It really was one of the first sporting events on television because it was very easy to televise. Millions and millions of Americans have grown up enjoying the entertainment, and I don’t think it should be taken any more seriously than that. One thing that is very clear when you watch professional wrestlers is what phenomenal athletes they are. There’s so much emphasis given to the drama and all of that, but if you really look at it, they are in phenomenal shape. I’m going out on a limb here, but I think there probably are one or two of them that could even take me down. [pauses] Please, no one try. That was a bad joke. I’m old and I need to have my warm milk.”

On the popularity of wrestling: “The marketing of it is just genius. You’ve got these great guys, such as The Miz, and they catch the imagination of young people. And the way they have marketed this and made it more mainstream is phenomenal from an entertainment and business point of view. It’s a wonderful model for how to be successful.”

Whether all the fighting on his show has prepared him for being on Raw: “I’ve lived my whole life as a chicken, so I’ll just go back to my natural instincts and I’ll be fine. I don’t think you’ll see me jumping into the ring taking anybody on. No, I’m pretty much of a wimp. Ever since [name unintelligible] pushed me into the bushes in the third grade on the way home from school, I haven’t fought anybody.”

Whether he has anything to promote on Raw: “No, I’m just there to have fun. I’m real lucky. My show is in its 19th year going strong – there’s obviously no accounting for taste [laughs]. So that’s going well, and I do ‘America’s Got Talent,’ the live show. .. I’m truthfully staying busier than I’ve ever been, but, no, I’m not there promoting anything. WWE is just a great product, a great entertainment vehicle, young people love it, and so it’s just fun to be on. It kind of keeps me in touch with pop culture, because as I get older, if I don’t make an effort to stay in touch with pop culture, I can become passé pretty quickly. So I’m just in it for fun. I’m not pushing anything.”

Whether he could “take” Vince McMahon: “I could take him to dinner, but that’s about it [laughs]. No, he could wipe me out with a sneeze. There’s no one on this earth I can beat up.”

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

The featured Ring Posts comment for the week of Feb. 1-7 comes from Common Sense, who responded to the entry “ECW: Fate of show revealed; John Cena-Batista footage teased".

Here is Common Sense's comment:

I' ve been reading that former ECW talent like Taz and Dreamer have been blasting Vince for what he's done to the ECW brand and are upset that he hasn't given the brand it's due. How about the both of them and others blast Heyman for being a bad businessman, while Vince was fronting Paul money to keep ECW afloat? Or the ones like Taz, The Dudley's, Raven, Douglas and the others who took the money from the WWE or WCW and ran? Newsflash for them, "Extreme" or "Hardcore" wrestling ended almost 10 years ago with backyard wrestling. Giving those whose best talent (Dreamer, Sandman, Mikey Whipwreck and others) was bleeding or being slam through a table that was fire while having not much other in ring skill, their due is laughable. Some of them should look in the mirror and blame themselves for what ECW became.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Comment of the week
        

• The next-to-last episode of ECW Tuesday night wasn’t anything special. The main event, in which Shelton Benjamin defeated Vance Archer was decent, but Archer isn’t over. I don’t see him getting much of a push once ECW ends, and, honestly, he hasn’t done enough to warrant one.

• With the ECW title going away after next week, it seems a little pointless to have a championship match between Christian and Ezekiel Jackson on the final episode. However, it will be interesting to see who wins, as it might indicate what kind of push Christian and Jackson will be receiving on their new shows. After watching Christian job to Sheamus on Raw Monday night, I’m not optimistic that he will get the push he deserves. Hopefully, he will end up on Smackdown, where he has an obvious program with Edge awaiting him. As for Jackson, he squashed an enhancement talent on this show and also looked good in defeat against Christian at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view last week, so WWE may have some plans for him. He has the look that Vince McMahon likes, but he still needs some work on his promos. It would be to Jackson’s benefit for his association with William Regal to continue.

• Benjamin seemed surprised when he got a nice pop as he was starting his promo. Hey, it surprised me, too.

• The Benjamin-Archer match was stopped briefly while a medic entered the ring to close a cut on Benjamin’s forehead. I understand that WWE doesn’t want excessive blood on its shows due to being family friendly, but I thought it was a little ridiculous to interrupt a no-disqualification match for a small cut. I mean, it’s not like he bladed and was dripping blood all over the place. The incident perfectly illustrated the stark contrast between the old ECW and WWE’s ECW.

• Speaking of blood, Caylen Croft bled hardway from the nose and/or mouth after being on the receiving end of a kick by Yoshi Tatsu in the tag team match in which Tatsu and Goldust beat Croft and Trent Barreta. There was a lot more blood on Croft’s face than there was on Benjamin’s head, but he did not receive any medical attention. For some reason, WWE seems to view nosebleeds differently than lacerations on the forehead. The Undertaker was bleeding a lot from his nose during his match against Rey Mysterio at the Royal Rumble, but that match wasn’t stopped either. In the case of Croft, the blood didn’t appear until shortly before the finish, so that may have had something to do with letting the match continue.

• With their victory, Tatsu and Goldust earned a title shot on next week’s show against WWE unified tag team champions The Miz and The Big Show. I don’t like Tatsu and Goldust’s chances in that one.

• I hope the end of ECW doesn’t mean the end of general manger Tiffany appearing on my television on a regular basis.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels have not wrestled on the same WrestleMania card since they had their classic Iron Man Match at WrestleMania XII in 1996. Who would have believed that in 2010 “The Hitman” and “The Heartbreak Kid” would once again be the focal points at WrestleMania?

It was evident watching Raw Monday night that the most compelling programs for WrestleMania XXVI are Hart vs. McMahon, and Michaels vs. an opponent to be determined.

Of the two, even though Hart-McMahon has something of a surrealistic quality to it, I’m more intrigued by the Michaels angle. A big part of it has to do with the Hart-McMahon storyline being somewhat predictable, while the story line of Michaels being obsessed with facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania has a lot of twists and turns. I also think that too much time may have passed – 12-plus years to be exact – for the Hart-McMahon feud to have as much juice as everyone always believed it would.

On Raw, Michaels inadvertently caused DX to lose the WWE unified tag team championship to The Miz and The Big Show in a triple threat elimination match that also included CM Punk and Luke Gallows. That created even more tension between Michaels and partner Triple H.

After the match, an unstable Michaels confronted Smackdown general manager Teddy Long and frantically demanded that Long bring him to Smackdown and put him in the elimination chamber match for the world heavyweight title. Long said that he couldn’t do that, and Michaels super-kicked him. Triple H then asked Michaels if he wanted to throw his career away, and Michaels replied, “My career is over” and stormed off.

It seems like we could be heading to a match at WrestleMania in which Michaels puts his career on the line against The Undertaker’s streak. That would certainly make their rematch from last year more interesting, but, personally, I’d still rather see Michaels vs. Triple H. Their interaction on this show made me want that match even more.

Sure, they have wrestled many times, but it’s been several years since they were in a program together, and this time it would be different in that Michaels would be the heel, which is something I didn’t think would happen. Triple H, surprisingly, has played the concerned friend role very well, which has added a layer to his character.

As for the Hart-McMahon segment, I didn’t think it was as good as last week’s. Something just seemed to be a little off with the verbal exchange between McMahon and John Cena. I think it was Cena’s delivery, which was not as intense and realistic as it was during his previous confrontation on the mic with McMahon.

Hart appearing at the end of the scene and trashing the set – a recreation of what he did at the 1997 Survivor Series – also seemed a bit flat to me. Again, with so much time having passed since The Montreal Screwjob and with as many times as the angle has been copied, it felt somewhat anti-climactic.

Other thoughts on Monday’s show:

After all the attention paid to Batista’s brutal attack last week on Cena – including showing the footage twice on Raw – it would have been nice if Cena sold even a hint of a back injury. ...

I’m not a NASCAR fan at all, but I liked Carl Edwards as guest host. Unlike previous hosts from NASCAR – Joey Logano and Kyle Busch – Edwards actually had a personality. I love that he took a shot at those two during his promo at the top of the show. By the way, has anyone ever pointed out that Edwards bares a resemblance to Richie Cunningham? Too bad Deuce and Domino and Joanie Laurer are no longer with WWE. ...

It was a pleasant surprise to see ECW champion Christian on the show. Well, it was until he lost clean to Sheamus. I get it that Sheamus is the WWE champion and WWE is trying to make him look strong heading into the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on Feb. 21, but there had to be another way. Have him destroy Mark Henry or something. Christian has so much more to offer than Sheamus. It wasn’t all that long away that Sheamus was in a program with Goldust on ECW that did more to get Goldust over than it did him, while Christian was the ECW champion. Bottom line: Sheamus as champion isn’t working and it’s lowering the importance of the title. ...

It didn’t surprise me that DX dropped the tag team title, but I thought Punk and Gallows would go over rather than Miz and Big Show. How great would it be to have Punk on both shows on a regular basis? Miz, also the U.S. champion, now gets to walk around with three belts. Considering how bad Miz was when he first started, that’s amazing. ...

It’s still unclear where The Legacy story line is going, but it does seem almost certain that Orton will end up as a babyface. Cody Rhodes figures to remain a heel, but I’m not sure which side of the fence Ted DiBiase Jr. will be on, although I’d guess he’ll turn babyface. Rhodes got an unexpected pinfall over Orton, but it came off as a bit of a fluke since it was the result of a distraction by Sheamus. ...

It’s nice to see that “The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase will be getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. It’s well-deserved and overdue. ...

When Cena said that he is in the business to experience the rush of being in the moment and that McMahon was just in it for the money, he referenced DiBiase Sr. as a guy who also was in it for the moment. Bad example. DiBiase’s character was the epitome of being all about the money. ...

I’ll bet Michael Cole got a stern talking to. He committed the unpardonable sin of calling referee Charles Robinson by name. ...

I could have done without Jared the Subway Guy on the show. It did make me hungry for a BMT, though. ...

Since WWE’s main angle right now is based on something that happened in 1997, it’s fitting that Jerry Springer will be the host of next week’s show.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (70)
        

If Edge and Chris Jericho end up facing each other at WrestleMania XXVI – and I’m pretty sure they will – the road to WrestleMania is going to be a fun ride. The two superstars opened Friday night’s episode of Smackdown with an effective verbal confrontation and closed it with another one, whetting the fans’ appetites for a match between them on the grand stage that seems inevitable.

Jericho was gold on the mic as always, and Edge did a nice job of playing the babyface role without losing the “edge” that made him such a great heel. It’s too bad Edge got injured shortly after he and Jericho were put together as a tag team last summer and we never got to see their story line play out as it was originally intended.

For these two to meet at WrestleMania on March 28, Jericho is likely going to have to win the world heavyweight title in Smackdown’s Elimination Chamber match on pay-per-view in two weeks. By winning the Royal Rumble match last Sunday, Edge is guaranteed a title shot at WrestleMania with the world champion of his choosing.

Other thoughts on Friday’s show:

The war of words between Edge and Jericho at the end of the show was interrupted by CM Punk, so we had three of the top promo guys in the business with microphones in their hands. Good stuff. The Undertaker also showed up, and after he and Edge cleared the ring during a brief brawl, the two of them stared each other down in the final shot. ...

In addition to the Edge-Jericho segments, the entertaining episode featured five Elimination Chamber qualifying matches: John Morrison defeated Kane and Drew McIntyre in a triple threat; R-Truth defeated Mike Knox; CM Punk defeated Batista by countout; Jericho defeated Matt Hardy; and Rey Mysterio defeated Dolph Ziggler. ...

I liked the angle in which Batista refused to wrestle Punk and just walked to the back, taking a countout loss. It raised the question of why a guy so obsessed with being champion would give up his only hope of getting a title match at WrestleMania. I’m guessing it will be revealed that Batista was promised a world title match at the pay-per-view after WrestleMania by Vince McMahon for Batista helping McMahon lay out Bret Hart on Raw. ...

The footage from last Monday after Raw went off the air was edited to make it appear as if Cena saved Hart from McMahon and Batista, and then Batista came back and laid out Cena. What actually happened was that Cena made the save, but he then wrestled Sheamus in a dark match. Batista jumped Cena during the match, causing a disqualification, and power-bombed him hard on the ring steps. However, Cena still managed to get up and hit the Attitude Adjustment on Sheamus to send the crowd home happy. ...

It looks as if the rumors of Cena battling a back injury have been exaggerated. Either that or he is insane. There’s no way to protect yourself when taking a powerbomb from Batista on the steel steps. ...

The Mysterio-Ziggler and Morrison-Kane-McIntyre contests were both good, and the Jericho-Hardy match wasn’t bad either. Ziggler is one of the most underrated guys in the business. I really liked the triple threat match because I had no idea who was going to win it. I’m a little surprised that it wasn’t McIntyre. ...

In regard to Hardy’s performance in the Royal Rumble match, Todd Grisham said, “There’s no shame in being eliminated by Kane.” No, but being eliminated by anyone 10 seconds after entering the ring is pretty shameful. ...

It looks as if WWE is really serious about pushing R-Truth, as he beat Knox in less than two minutes. Normally I would complain about Knox getting squashed, but R-Truth needed to be put over strong. It’s great to see him booked in a high profile pay-per-view match. ...

When R-Truth defeated Knox, Grisham breathlessly said, “R-Truth just scored another upset!” Really? R-Truth defeating Jericho could be categorized as an upset, but Knox hasn’t won a match in forever. ...

It was nice to see a segment with multiple women cutting promos in the ring. Mickie James and Beth Phoenix both did a nice job on the mic. I think Vickie Guerrero, who interrupted them, set a record by saying “Excuse me!” four times in one promo. ...

Phoenix plays the tweener role very well, and I’m looking forward to another program with her and James. I would expect Michelle McCool to remain in the WWE women’s title hunt as well. ...

I liked the finish to the tag team match that pitted James and Phoenix against McCool and Layla, who are now known as Simply Flawless. After Phoenix laid out both James and McCool and left the ring, a fresh Layla tried to steal the victory over James, but James caught her in a small package for the three count. That keeps James looking like a resilient champion heading into her showdown with the dominant Phoenix. ...

Cryme Tyme’s “Word Up” segment made its return. What’s next, a Pretty Ricky sighting? ...

Wow, Jerry Lawler actually said the word “puppies” during his cameo with Cryme Tyme. Since this is the family-friendly era in WWE, I’m guessing he was talking about cute young dogs and not cute young women.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

After TNA Impact did the highest rating in company history for a Thursday episode last week, it took a step back this week.

Thursday’s episode did a 1.2 rating (1.6 million viewers), down from the previous week’s 1.4 (1.9 million viewers), according to various reports. To put it in perspective, a TNA show that featured marquee names such as Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle and Mick Foley, barely beat Thursday’s WWE Superstars, which did a 1.0 with an episode that had little star power.

I’m guessing Hogan will go with the theory that the rating fell because Bubba The Love Sponge and Sean Morley weren’t on the show and The Nasty Boys only had a cameo.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

In the climax to Thursday night’s TNA Impact, Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac attacked “bandmate” Kevin Nash after Nash’s hardcore match against Mick Foley, a development that no one could have seen coming. Well, actually, everyone saw it coming, especially since the title of the episode was “Breaking of the Band.”

And here I thought Nash was supposed to be the smartest man in wrestling. Doesn’t he know that TNA 2010 is basically WCW 1998? Hall turned on Nash back then, too.

Then again, perhaps Vince Russo’s master plan is that this swerve is just part of an even bigger swerve in which Nash joins Hall and Syxx-Pac in a beat-down of Hulk Hogan. Just one question: When does the “Finger-poke of Doom” come into play?

Maybe I’m being too snarky. I’ve been accused of always seeing the glass half-empty instead of half-full when it comes to Impact, so let me see if I can change that perception. Here are some positives from the episode:

• There was no Bubba The Love Sponge on the show.

• Foley and Eric Bischoff were both really good on the mic during their war of words.

• The Nasty Boys made an appearance, but at least it was brief and they didn’t speak or wrestle. Actually, that was a little snarky, wasn’t it?

• Mr. Anderson looked impressive in his win over Brutus Magnus, as did Samoa Joe in his victory over Jesse Neal.

• The Eight-Card Stud tournament is shaping up nicely. So far, Desmond Wolfe, Kurt Angle, Mr. Anderson and Hernandez are in.

• Pope D’Angelo Dinero, one of TNA’s most promising young stars, pinned TNA world champion A.J. Styles in a non-title match. One nitpick with that, however: Dinero’s win was somewhat over-shadowed by the post-match angle between Samoa Joe, Styles and Ric Flair. Still, a pinfall over the world champ bodes well for Dinero.

• Did I mention Bubba The Love Sponge wasn’t on the show?

OK, enough of that. Now let’s get back to the usual negativity.

Other thoughts on Thursday’s show:

The finish to the Nash-Foley match was pretty silly. Foley was about to KO Nash with a framed picture, but he hesitated because he didn’t want to ruin the caricature of him and Abyss together. Please. Nash took advantage of the momentary lapse by kicking Foley in the head and pinning him. So after all the punishment that we’ve seen Foley absorb over the years, we’re supposed to accept that he was done in by one kick in a two-minute match? ...

Foley told Bischoff that he likes just about everyone in wrestling but him, even unpopular guys such as Buff Bagwell, Paul Heyman and Jim “Ultimate Warrior” Hellwig. One of those three guys would be a huge asset for TNA. The other two, though, probably have a lot better odds of ever getting anywhere near the Impact Zone. Can you guess who fits into what category? ...

Mr. Anderson knew he would get easy heat with the Impact Zone crowd (I mean cast members) by saying that he was “the future of the four-sided ring.” He even repeated “four-sided ring” just to make sure they got it. ...

It wasn’t all that long ago that Styles was upset with Joe for turning heel; now the roles are reversed. I’m sure they’ll have a fine match at the Against All Odds pay-per-view on Feb. 14, but the characters in TNA turn so frequently – especially Joe – that it’s hard to get emotionally invested in them. ...

It appeared that Tara had a wardrobe malfunction during her match against Angelina Love, as her chest was digitized. I didn’t know the nip-up was part of her repertoire. ...

Bischoff unnecessarily buried Eric Young by acting as if he didn’t know who he was. I get it that Bischoff’s character is supposed to be a smug jerk and he did it to get heat, but the message that comes across is that Young isn’t a star. I think Young has done a good job since turning heel. Plus, he’s a homegrown guy, and TNA needs more of those and less nostalgia acts such as Sean Morley. ...

Abyss doing his “Am I gonna be OK?” little-kid bit was embarrassing. ...

After Foley told Bischoff that he was the worst announcer in wrestling, Taz said, “He must have never heard of Mike Adamle.” Adamle was horrible for sure, but Taz isn’t exactly Jim Ross himself. ...

Not that it’s a big deal, but Angle got the “shame on you, shame on me” saying backwards. ...

Just wondering: Whatever happened to the alliance between Team 3D, Rhino and Neal? And is Beer Money still on the roster?

Posted by Kevin Eck at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (37)
        

• Evan Bourne and Carlito had a very good match – which Bourne won with the Shooting Star Press – to highlight Thursday night’s episode of WWE Superstars. It was a welcome change of pace to see these two in a match in which both of them had a chance to win rather than playing their usual roles of jobbers to the stars. Bourne is always fun to watch, and the inconsistent Carlito stepped it up in this match.

• The Divas tag team match, which saw Alicia Fox and Katie Lea Burchill defeat Kelly Kelly and Eve, was fun as well. It was smoother than a lot of the women’s matches in WWE because they actually had some time (approximately six minutes) to have a match rather than just trying to get in as many spots as possible in two minutes.

• Of the three matches that were on the show, the main event, in which The Great Khali, Matt Hardy and John Morrison defeated The Hart Dynasty and Drew McIntyre, was actually the least interesting. It wasn’t bad; it was just kind of there.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Tuesday night’s episode of ECW was a newsworthy one. First and foremost, WWE chairman Vince McMahon announced that the ECW brand was going away, which wasn’t a very well-kept secret. He said the show is going off the air in three weeks and a new WWE program will take over the time slot. He didn’t provide any specifics, only saying that the show will be “the next evolution of television history.” At least he’s not over-hyping it.

The new show will be called WWE NXT (as in next generation) and will feature young talent and fresh faces, according to a report on pwinsider.com that cited sources in WWE. It stands to reason that the roster will consist largely of developmental talent from Florida Championship Wrestling. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Bryan Danielson and Kaval (formerly known as Low Ki) were made the centerpieces of the show, even though they have both been wrestling for more than a decade.

I’m interested to hear how the demise of ECW – which debuted on SyFy in June 2006 – will affect ECW champion Christian. I would guess that he will end up on either Raw or Smackdown once WWE NXT premieres.

I like the idea of a show focusing on new talent, and while ECW did feature good wrestling a lot of the time, I won’t really miss it that much. Calling it ECW didn’t make sense anyway because it had virtually nothing to do with the original company of that name. The edgy content and hardcore style of wrestling that made the ECW of the 1990s so distinctive were absent in the new ECW, as the show looked like Raw and Smackdown, just with a lot fewer stars. And once talent from the old ECW such as Rob Van Dam, Paul Heyman, Sabu, The Sandman, Balls Mahoney and others were all gone – leaving Tommy Dreamer as the last man standing – it really was silly to keep using the ECW name and logo.

Also mentioned on Tuesday’s show was the fact that footage of what happened after Raw went off the air Monday night involving John Cena and Batista will be shown on Smackdown Friday night. The fans who chanted for Cena to make the save that night when Batista and McMahon were beating down Hart got their wish. That virtually guarantees a Hart-Cena vs. McMahon-Batista match at WrestleMania XXVI. Some have suggested that it will be a singles match between Cena and Batista, with Hart and McMahon in their respective corners. That’s a possibility, but I still think it will be a tag match. Yes, Hart and McMahon are physically limited as to what they can do in the ring, but I’m guessing they can do enough to work a tag match.

Other thoughts on Tuesday’s show:

Christian is really at the top of his game. He was entertaining on the mic during the Abraham Washington segment, and also had a good match with Zack Ryder in the main event. ...

Ezekiel Jackson got his heat back after losing to Christian at the Royal Rumble Sunday by laying out the ECW champ at the end of the show. Big Zeke is growing on me more and more. ...

I was surprised that Gregory Helms’ arrest was made into a story line. His mug shot was even shown on the big screen. ...

William Regal’s delivery was awesome when he asked Helms if he was having a tough week, and then said matter-of-factly, “It’s about to get worse.” Regal and Jackson then proceeded to destroy Helms. ...

It was funny when Ryder pie-faced Christian in a realistic-looking way, and then said, “Woo, woo, woo.” Could you imagine someone doing that in a real fight? ...

Tony Atlas’ shtick still makes me laugh out loud. I love how he takes shots at Washington and then does his laugh. ...

The finish to the Vance Archer-Shelton Benjamin match appeared to be botched. Archer got Benjamin into a pinning position and tried to use the ropes for leverage, but he did it in plain view of the referee and seemed to have trouble gaining his balance. Immediately after that spot, Archer took Benjamin down and pinned him with his feet on the ropes. That wasn’t much better, because Archer’s feet were still on the ropes when the referee looked up to call for the bell. There’s no way he could have missed it. Anyway, since Benjamin won their last encounter, I figured Archer would win to keep the program going. ...

Benjamin showed once again that his agility and athleticism are sick. The ease in which he dove over the top rope was very impressive. ...

There was a creative spot during Yoshi Tatsu’s win over Trent Barreta. Barreta hit a top rope hurricanrana, and Tatsu rolled through it almost like a sunset flip to get Barreta into a pinning position. Barreta, however, rolled through that and got Tatsu down for a two-count.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 8:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)
        

Baltimore native and former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler returns to the USA Network – but not for an appearance on Raw. She is guest starring in an episode of “Psych” at 10 p.m.

“My character is into extreme sports, so I’m white-water rafting and rock climbing," Keibler told me in an interview in November.

The episode is titled “Thrill Seekers and Hell Raisers.” Sounds interesting, but I’m guessing it has nothing to do with Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Road Warrior Hawk and Kensuke Sasaki (some of you will get that).

Getty Images photo

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

The featured Ring Posts comment for the week of Jan. 25-31 comes from Barney, who responded to the entry “Raw: WWE tries to get viewers 'psyched about Royal Rumble".

Here is Barney's comment:

My review of Raw, written from the perspective of Kevin watching Impact:

The show wasn't all bad - this week was the first show since the guest-host format started that didn't involve a wrestler getting beaten up by either the guest host or a midget.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 9:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Comment of the week
        

There’s no question about who screwed Bret this time. It was Vince McMahon ... and Batista.

A compelling closing segment featuring a confrontation between Bret Hart and McMahon – with a surprise appearance by Batista – highlighted a very good episode of Raw Monday night.

Both Hart and McMahon cut strong promos on each other before things got physical. Hart was especially good, as he brought up the stroke he suffered in 2002 and how hard he had to work to come back from it. He seemed a little more comfortable on the mic than he did during his appearance a month ago, and he also looked and sounded more like his old self (I think the wet hair had something to do with the familiar look).

As McMahon went on and on about how little he thought of Hart, “The Hitman” asked him a few times, “Are you finished?” Finally, after McMahon told Hart that he wasn’t going to put his father into the WWE Hall of Fame because he didn’t deserve it, Hart kicked McMahon in the gut, pulled his jacket over his head and began wailing away on him. The bit with the jacket was a nice touch, as it was a re-creation of a famous televised scuffle between Hart and McMahon in 1997.

As Hart was about to put McMahon in the Sharpshooter, Batista hit the ring and attacked Hart. Batista then held Hart down while McMahon spit in his face. He's been waiting 12 years to do that. It will be interesting to hear what Batista’s motivation was for going after Hart.

It’s seems likely that the proposed Hart-McMahon match at WrestleMania will be of the tag team variety, which is a good idea considering the respective ages and limitations of McMahon and Hart as in-ring performers. Batista appears to have the spot as McMahon’s partner, but it’s unclear who would be paired with Hart. There was a chant for John Cena to make the save during the attack on Hart, and Cena would make sense since he was the one who talked McMahon into bringing Hart back for Monday’s show.

Another possibility for Hart’s partner is his old rival, Shawn Michaels. It was Batista who eliminated Michaels in the Royal Rumble match Sunday, so there is an between the two. Plus, the novelty of seeing Hart and Michaels as partners given their history would probably boost the buy rate. Personally, that’s the scenario I’m hoping for. That way we can still get a fresh matchup between Cena and The Undertaker at WrestleMania rather than a Michaels-Undertaker match two years in a row.

Other thoughts on Monday’s show:

Hart must not have gotten the memo about WWE going PG. He said the word “ass” three times during his promo. The segment did air after 11 p.m., though. I wonder if McMahon knew that he was going to say that, and if he didn’t, I wonder if there was any heat on Hart for it. ...

William Shatner did a nice job as guest host. The spoken word CD and “Raw Negotiator” bits were funny. What I really like about Shatner is that he is perfectly willing to be the butt of the joke – it’s what’s helped keep him relevant. I’m still not sure whether his fall entering the ring was a pratfall or if he just tripped coming through the ropes. ...

More Shatner: I can’t believe there were no “Star Trek” skits. I thought for sure we’d see Santino Marella with pointy ears and a Vulcan bowl cut. Perhaps Marella not being on either Sunday’s pay-per-view or Raw is an indication that he was legitimately hurt when he was attacked by Jack Swagger last week. There were reports that after Swagger’s attack, Marella stayed down for several minutes during the commercial break and had to be helped to the back. ...

The elimination chamber match for the WWE title at the Elimination Chamber (catchy name) pay-per-view on Feb. 21 is set: Sheamus will defend the title against John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, Kofi Kingston and Ted DiBiase Jr. ...

Speaking of DiBiase, there wasn’t much of a follow-up on the Legacy angle from the Royal Rumble. Orton and DiBiase had a brief, tense exchange backstage, but Rhodes wasn’t involved at all, which was strange since he was the one who cost Orton his match against Sheamus at the pay-per-view. ...

Despite what looked to be the start of a babyface turn at the Rumble, Orton pretty much played his usual character. I actually like that. The turn should be gradual, not something that happens overnight. If and when Orton does become a face, hopefully WWE will let him maintain some of his “Viper” characteristics. When they tried to turn him in 2004, he became a smiling, respectful babyface. It didn’t work, which was no surprise, because that role just doesn’t suit Orton. ...

Edge cut a nice promo to open the show. He made a crack about Chris Jericho’s mug shot being on TMZ, and he also referenced Dennis Miller’s awful performance on Raw last December. He said when Jericho made light of his injury on that show, “the room went silent, and not just because Dennis Miller told another joke that bombed.” ...

Edge ended up brawling with Sheamus, a tease that the two of them could meet at WrestleMania. No way. ...

In three of the elimination chamber qualifying matches, the winner was easy to predict (Cena over Rhodes, Triple H over Swagger, DiBiase over Mark Henry), while the other two – Orton vs. Michaels, Kingston vs. The Big Show – were more competitive match-ups. For story line purposes, Michaels had to lose, so it made sense to put him in with someone of Orton’s caliber. I liked the finish to the match, as Orton rolled Michaels up for the pin after Michael did his “vintage Shawn Michaels” nip-up. ...

Michaels did a good job of selling his despair after losing to Orton. It almost seems as if WWE is setting him up for a heel turn. I’m very interested to see where this is going. Before Michaels’ match against Orton, Triple H told him that he would love it if they wrestled each other at WrestleMania and tore the house down together. The fact that a Michaels-Triple H match was teased makes me think that it’s probably not happening. ...

While Triple H defeating Swagger was a foregone conclusion, at least Triple H gave him a lot of offense. Swagger actually controlled the match before his cockiness cost him the victory. I would like to have seen Swagger wrestle someone else and get into the chamber match, but there’s really no one I would take out of it – except for Sheamus, but he’s the champion, so he has to be in it. ...

Big Show was not moving well during his match against Kingston (no jokes please about him never moving well). Kingston was off his game a bit, too, as he slipped climbing the ropes and then delivered a dropkick off the top that missed the mark. The ending to the match was weird. Big Show was disqualified for inadvertently hitting the referee, which made him come off as a sympathetic figure and made Kingston’s win look like a fluke. ...

The video tribute to the late Jack Brisco was well done. ...

Oh great, there’s going to be another NASCAR guy hosting Raw next week. Yeah, because the last two guys did such a fantastic job.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 8:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (53)
        

Jack Brisco, one of pro wrestling's top stars in the 1970s, died today due to complications from open heart surgery, according to multiple reports. He was 68.

Brisco had undergone the surgery a few weeks ago, and a little over a week ago he collapsed while undergoing rehab and was in rough shape, according to wrestlingobserver.com. There are no further details at this point.

For longtime fans as well as younger fans who know the industry’s history, Brisco’s name is synonymous with wrestling excellence. His long program with then-NWA world champion Dory Funk Jr. in the early 70s is considered the standard for outstanding technical wrestling.

Shortly after winning the 1965 NCAA wrestling championship at 191 pounds while at Oklahoma State, Brisco made a seamless transition from amateur to pro wrestler. Regarded as one of the greatest in-ring workers of all time, Brisco won the NWA world title – which at the time was considered the true world championship – from Harley Race in July 1973 and held it for nearly a year and a half, except for a week in December 1974 when he lost and then regained the title from Shoehei “Giant” Baba in Japan.

In addition to being a singles star in various NWA territories into the early 80s, he also formed a very successful tag team with his brother, Gerald “Jerry” Brisco. In any discussion about the greatest tag teams of all time, the Briscos and the Funks (Terry and Dory Jr.) are often the first two mentioned. The Briscos had a classic feud against Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood over the NWA world tag team title in 1983, culminating in a match at the inaugural Starrcade that was billed just below the NWA world title match between Race and Ric Flair.

The Brisco brothers also played a huge role behind the scenes in changing the course of wrestling history. In 1984, Jack and Jerry gained a majority interest in Georgia Championship Wrestling and sold the company to Vince McMahon, which resulted in the WWF taking over the coveted 6:05 p.m. Saturday time slot on SuperStation TBS. A year later, McMahon sold the slot to Jim Crockett Promotions.

In the 1970s, the Briscos discovered a twenty-something blonde-haired muscleman in Florida who was interested in becoming a pro wrestler. The young man’s name was Terry Bollea. They referred him to trainer Hiro Matsuda, and Bollea eventually became the biggest star in wrestling history as Hulk Hogan.

Having grown up in Baltimore, a traditional WWWF/WWF city, I only got to see Jack Brisco wrestle in person on a couple occasions, although I knew about him from wrestling magazines. When I began following wrestling, Brisco, Bruno Sammartino (WWWF) and Verne Gagne (AWA) were the three world champions.

I was excited the first time I actually got to see the legendary Brisco in action. It was April 1984 at The Baltimore Arena shortly after the Georgia territory began expanding into the Northeast. Brisco was in the main event, challenging another superstar who I had never seen in person until that night for the NWA world title – Flair.

After the Briscos had cut the deal with McMahon for the sale of Georgia Championship Wrestling in the summer of ’84, the Briscos came to the WWF as a tag team later that year, and I saw them unsuccessfully challenge then-WWF tag team champions Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis at the Arena.

Jack Brisco retired not long after that at 43. According to The Wrestling Observer, while the Briscos were wrestling in the WWF in late ’84, there was a blizzard in the Northeast and Jack told his brother that he was flying home and calling it a career. He never wrestled again.

The Briscos were inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008, and Jack also is a member of The Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame and the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum.

I extend my condolences to Brisco’s family and friends.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)
        

I don’t think the “big surprise” of Edge showing up as a participant in the Royal Rumble match at Sunday night’s pay-per-view was really much of a surprise to most fans, but Edge winning the Rumble certainly was – at least for me.

Edge – who had been out of action since suffering a torn Achilles tendon last July – drew No. 29 in the 30-man contest, and he immediately eliminated former tag team partner Chris Jericho, which is exactly what I and probably everyone else who expected an Edge appearance believed would happen. When it came down to Edge, John Cena and Batista as the final three, I turned to my wife and said it’s going to Cena who wins, or maybe Batista, but it definitely won’t be Edge. I should have heeded the old adage that it’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

So what does Edge’s victory mean as far as the road to WrestleMania is concerned? Beats me, but you can bet there will be some detours as the road passes through the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on Feb. 21 on the way to Phoenix for WrestleMania XXVI.

I’m still expecting an Edge-Jericho match at WrestleMania, but the question now is whether it would be for the world heavyweight title. Edge earned a world title shot by winning the Rumble, so that could mean Jericho wins the Smackdown elimination chamber match to become champion. Another scenario is that Edge puts his title shot on the line in a match before Mania and he loses – perhaps thanks to Jericho, which would set up a grudge match at Mania.

In other major developments at the Rumble: Shawn Michaels super-kicked DX partner Triple H over the top rope and out of the Rumble match, so the possibility that they would face each other at Mania is still there. Michaels was eliminated by Batista, so we’ll see if that leads to something between them before Mania. … Randy Orton appears to be doing a babyface turn, as outside interference by Cody Rhodes caused Orton to be disqualified in his match against WWE champion Sheamus. After the match, Orton attacked both Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. before Sheamus laid him out.

With Edge seemingly a babyface now, if Orton does turn it will mean that two of WWE’s top heels will have switched sides.

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

Edge won the 30-man Royal Rumble match: The star of the match in the early going was CM Punk. He entered the ring at No. 3 and quickly eliminated Evan Bourne and Dolph Ziggler. He went on to throw out three others (JTG, Zack Ryder and surprise entrant Beth Phoenix), and every time he cleared the ring, he cut a promo about “saving” people. That was great stuff and it made Punk stand out, but I wish he would have lasted longer. Triple H came out at No. 8 and put an end to the fun by tossing out Punk at around the 12-minute mark. … Before she was thrown out by Punk, Phoenix eliminated The Great Khali by putting a liplock on him and pulling him over the top rope. … MVP was No. 14, but before he could even get in the ring, The Miz attacked him on the ramp and he was taken to the back. Miz came out two spots later, and MVP hit the ring and clothes-lined Miz over the top, with his momentum carrying him over as well. They continued to brawl to the back, so it appears that their program isn’t finished. … Matt Hardy was the 17th man to enter and in a matter of seconds he was thrown out by Kane. Talk about what a difference a year makes. At last year’s Rumble, Hardy turned on his brother Jeff to kick off the biggest singles push of his career. Now he is buried deep. … Shawn Michaels was No. 19, and he eliminated six guys in succession (Carlito, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase Jr., John Morrison, Drew McIntytre and Triple H). The announcers pointed out that Triple H had saved Michaels from being eliminated by John Cena right before Michaels eliminated Triple H. …

R-Truth was No. 25, and he took out The Big Show and Mark Henry simultaneously, which was a nice feather in his cap. … Jack Swagger came out next, and he started like a house of fire, hitting moves on R-Truth, Cena and Michaels. Before he could eliminate anyone, however, he was thrown over the top by Kofi Kingston, who was in at No. 27. Kingston was eliminated by Cena, which the crowd didn’t like. … That left Cena, Michaels and Chris Jericho – who was No. 28 – in the ring with two entrants still to go. When it was time for No. 29, Edge’s music hit and the crowd popped. Jericho (who was sporting a shiner, possibly from his much-publicized incident with Gregory “Hurricane” Helms last week) had a look of disbelief and fear as Edge charged the ring and quickly disposed of him. … Batista was the last one in, and he eliminated Michaels, who totally snapped and attacked two referees as he kept asking for “one more chance” before finally going to the back. … Cena eliminated Batista, which left longtime rivals Cena and Edge as the final two. Edge went for a spear but Cena caught him with a kick to the stomach. Cena then charged at Edge, but Edge sidestepped him and threw him out for the win. ... It was a fun match, but there have been better Rumble matches. It was interesting that no one with a low number lasted a long time this year.

World heavyweight champion The Undertaker defeated Rey Mysterio: This is pretty much what you would expect from these two: a good match in which Mysterio put up a courageous fight against his much larger opponent before finally succumbing. Mysterio really took it to The Undertaker, who had a lot of blood coming from his nose, which made for a great visual. I guess nosebleeds are allowed in WWE, as there were no medics running in the ring to shove cotton swabs up The Undertaker’s nostrils. After hitting consecutive 619’s – one on each side of the ring – Mysterio attempted to springboard off the top rope, but he was caught by The Undertaker, who hit The Last Ride for the win.

WWE champion Sheamus defeated Randy Orton by disqualification: Before the match, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. went to Orton separately and said that they had his back while selling out the other. Orton later told them not to interfere because he wanted to beat Sheamus by himself. There wasn’t a lot of heat during the match because the majority of fans just don’t buy Sheamus as a world champion. The crowd was behind Orton and there was a “Randy” chant early. Later, I think there were about three people chanting “Let’s go Sheamus.” The match had a slow pace and was only average at best. Sheamus focused his attack on Orton’s arm, while Orton targeted Sheamus’ knee. Orton did a great job of selling his arm, but Sheamus was inconsistent in selling his knee. The finish and post-match happenings were the real story. At about the 12-minute mark, Rhodes came down to ringside and attacked Sheamus right in front of the referee, making it appear as if he may have intentionally gotten Orton disqualified. While the referee chastised Rhodes, Orton hit the RKO on Sheamus and covered him. The referee, however, called for the bell and awarded the match to Sheamus. Orton attacked Rhodes after the match, and when DiBiase tried to intervene, Orton laid him out, too. When Orton turned around, Sheamus nailed him with a bicycle kick. There are several directions this story line could go from here. DiBiase came off looking less like a heel than Rhodes, so I could see DiBiase turning babyface and wrestling Rhodes at WrestleMania, while a babyface Orton challenges Sheamus for the WWE title (although the speculation is that the plan is for Sheamus to face Triple H at WrestleMania). Or, DiBiase and Rhodes could both remain heels and feud with Orton. The long-rumored Orton-DiBiase singles match at WrestleMania doesn’t seem likely.

ECW champion Christian defeated Ezekiel Jackson: This match, which opened the show, was a lot better than most probably expected. There were several signs during the course of the match that pointed to a Christian victory. Right off the bat, color commentator Matt Striker said, “How can Ezekiel lose?” Then William Regal was ordered by the referee to go to the back, so my theory about outside interference costing Christian the match was out the window. Jackson also was getting an awful lot of near falls, but he couldn’t keep Christian down for a three count. The match told a good story, as Christian tried to counter Jackson’s substantial size and power advantage by using stick-and-move tactics. Christian absorbed everything Jackson dished out, and in the end, the savvy veteran overcame the inexperienced powerhouse. In his biggest match to date, Jackson made a good accounting of himself.

U.S. champion The Miz defeated MVP: Smackdown general manager Teddy Long made this match early in the show. The match was fine, but it only went about seven minutes and seemed more like a TV match than a pay-per-view contest. Miz won with a small package after catching MVP off guard as MVP was coming through the ropes. Miz retaining the title was not a surprise, as is he clearly higher than MVP in the pecking order at this point. MVP did get some heat back by hitting The Playmaker on Miz after the match, although he got a lot of boos for it.

Mickie James defeated WWE women’s champion Michelle McCool to win the title: After McCool hurled more insults at James on the mic and Layla came out in the fat suit, James ran down the ramp and immediately jumped on Layla. Once the bell ring, McCool attempted to kick James but she missed and nailed Layla, who was standing on the apron. James than hit a big DDT on McCool for the win in 23 seconds. After the match was over, several female babyfaces came out with a big cake, and James smashed it in the faces of McCool and Layla, who both sold it great. After all the humiliation she had suffered as of late, it was a sweet victory for James, and McCool and Layla finally got their just deserts. The only drawback to the quick finish is that it almost came off like a fluke victory. I’d like to see McCool get a rematch and this time have James score a decisive win in a longer match.

Here is the order of entrance for the Royal Rumble match, with the order of elimination in parentheses:

1. Dolph Ziggler (2)
2. Evan Bourne (1)
3. CM Punk (7)
4. JTG (3)
5. The Great Khali (4)
6. Beth Phoenix (5)
7. Zack Ryder (6)
8. Triple H (17)
9. Drew McIntyre (16)
10. Ted DiBiase Jr. (14)
11. John Morrison (15)
12. Kane (11)
13. Cody Rhodes (13)
14. MVP (T-8)
15. Carlito (12)
16. The Miz (T-8)
17. Matt Hardy (10)
18. Shawn Michaels (27)
19. John Cena (29)
20. Shelton Benjamin (18)
21. Yoshi Tatsu (19)
22. The Big Show (T-21)
23. Mark Henry (T-21)
24. Chris Masters (20)
25. R-Truth (24)
26. Jack Swagger (23)
27. Kofi Kingston (25)
28. Chris Jericho (26)
29. Edge (winner)
30. Batista (28)

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (59)