A little over a week ago, wrestling fans and pundits were perplexed by the abrupt change in direction regarding Kharma’s character in WWE.

It seemed like a lock that she was going to interfere in the match between WWE Divas champion Brie Bella and Kelly Kelly at the Over the Limit pay-per-view on May 22, but Kharma did not appear on the show.

The next night on Raw, instead of brutally attacking the Divas as she had been doing for weeks, Kharma dropped down to her knees in the ring and began crying.

For viewers, it was a WTF moment for sure. Shortly thereafter, it was reported on wrestling websites that the angle on Raw was actually done to write Kharma off TV for “more than nine months.”

Well, it didn’t take a gynecologist to figure out what was going on at that point.

On Raw Monday night, Kharma broke her silence and cut a promo in which she confirmed that she is indeed “with child.”

I congratulate her on her pregnancy, and being a mother certainly takes precedence over her career, but as a fan, I’m a little disappointed that the original story line had to be scrapped before it could play out. Kharma’s arrival on the scene was the best thing to happen to the Divas division in quite some time.

Faced with a sudden need to come up with a Plan B, WWE did a good job of adjusting on the fly. The bizarre segment last week created a buzz and likely had viewers tuning in Monday night out of curiosity.

Kharma, speaking in her natural voice, cut a babyface promo about having two dreams. One was becoming a WWE superstar, and the other was to become a mother. She then said that she was pregnant and needed to take some time off.

She did a very nice job on the microphone and the crowd reacted favorably to her. I was afraid that she was going to get the “What?” treatment, and I give credit to the fans in Omaha, Neb., for having the class and good sense not to do so.

The Bellas then interrupted and made fun of Kharma’s weight and her pregnancy, basically playing the “mean girls” role that would have been perfect for LayCool if Michelle McCool and Layla were still around.

Brie and Nikki Bella delivered their lines well and they got a lot of heat from the crowd. Kharma said that she hopes the Bellas are still around when she comes back in a year.

I wish Kharma the best and look forward to her return.

Other thoughts on Monday’s show:

I felt bad for Jim Ross when Kharma said that when she tried out for the second season of Tough Enough, he told her that she was “too fat to be a WWE Diva.” The crowd booed Ross for that, but I don’t think it was fair to him. Of course I wasn’t there for the conversation in question between Ross and Kharma, but he has always struck me as a decent guy, and my guess is that he was just saying that she didn’t fit the Diva mold, which is certainly true. After hearing Kharma’s promo, Ross wrote on Twitter: “Kharma will never be a standard issue wwe diva. She’s a wrestler and a keeper. … I met her 4 1st time 3 yrs ago at [Cauliflower Alley Club] w/Steve Austin & we both endorsed her to WWE.” …

I wonder if Kharma was chewed out backstage for saying “wrestling” a couple times in her promo. …

R-Truth was highly entertaining in the opening segment, and I especially liked his interaction with the father and his young son (who were plants, obviously) in the crowd. It’s a shame there were technical difficulties for a good portion of the segment, but that actually plays into R-Truth’s conspiracy theory. I was glad WWE replayed much of the segment later in the show. R-Truth tossing a drink in the father’s face at the end of the show was a nice touch, and the father’s reaction was good. If the little boy had acted more upset – he completely no-sold his father getting humiliated on live television – the angle would have gotten even more heat. …

The match between R-Truth and John Cena wasn’t really much of a match, but it wasn’t supposed to be, nor should it have been. It was simply a means to set up a rematch between the two for Cena’s WWE title that will take place on the Capitol Punishment pay-per-view on June 19 in Washington, D.C. R-Truth kept bailing out of the ring, a tactic that paid off when he lured Cena outside the ring and ended up winning the match by countout. The match at Capitol Punishment was announced by the anonymous Raw general manager to the live crowd after Raw went off the air, with the stipulation that R-Truth must apologize next week for his actions Monday night in order to get the title shot. …

Cena giving his armband to the father – a grown man – after R-Truth doused him instead of the little boy was pretty funny. …

Alex Riley and The Miz had another heated brawl, and for the second week in a row, Riley got the better of his former mentor. It looks as if WWE may have a new babyface star on their hands in Riley, and who would have believed that was possible just over a week ago? I thought Riley had potential after watching him on NXT Season 2, but I really didn’t think he’d get over to this degree this early in his career. …

It was announced that the Raw GM had re-signed Riley after Miz fired him from his personal services contract last week. I thought Riley was officially part of the Smackdown roster. …

Michael Cole cut a good promo on Riley. I was surprised, though, to hear him refer to Riley as a “bastard.” It seems as if the restrictions regarding language are being relaxed a bit. …

Speaking of WWE’s content perhaps becoming a little less tame, there was a close-up of Eve Torres’ cleavage as she was stretching backstage before her match. …

The Divas tag team match in which Kelly Kelly and Eve defeated the Bellas wasn’t bad. By the way, it looked to me as if the Bella who was pinned nearly popped out of her top. …

WWE may have banned the word “wrestling,” but it appeared by watching this show that “wrestling matters” on Raw. There were two really good matches: CM Punk beat Rey Mysterio in one, and Dolph Ziggler defeated U.S. champion Kofi Kingston in a non-title bout in the other. …

Speaking of Kingston, a co-worker of mine who is a casual viewer noted that Kingston “sure does lose a lot for being a champion.” Indeed, he does. …

I thought Cole and Jerry Lawler were too chummy for a couple of guys who wanted to kill each other a week ago. I’m not saying that I want them bickering non-stop for two hours, but there should have been a little more tension than there was. On a side note, while I think Josh Matthews does a serviceable job as an announcer, I didn’t really miss him this week. …

I really liked Alberto Del Rio’s promo, especially the line about him sending The Big Show the bill for damaging his car. …

I’m hoping that Jack Swagger’s loss to Evan Bourne will lead to Swagger re-focusing [in the story line] and getting a push. It was noted in commentary that Swagger losing to Bourne was a “major upset.”

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)
        

Christian appeared to move one step closer to a heel turn during Friday night’s episode of Smackdown.

He interrupted a promo by world heavyweight champion Randy Orton in the opening segment, and after congratulating Orton on his victory at last Sunday’s Over the Limit pay-per-view, Christian said that he knows he can beat Orton and wants one more title shot.

Before Orton could respond, Sheamus and Mark Henry came out separately to throw their hats in the ring for a title shot. Both guys said that Christian already had his chance and doesn’t deserve any more.

Smackdown general manager Teddy Long then announced that there would be a triple threat match between Christian, Sheamus and Henry in the main event to determine who gets a shot at Orton’s title on next week’s show.

In a well-worked and well-booked match, Sheamus emerged victorious, thanks in part to an unintentional assist from Orton that cost Christian the match.

After Christian hit a spear on Sheamus and had him pinned, Orton – who was watching the match at ringside and had just been shoved down by Henry – entered the ring and delivered an RKO to Henry. The referee was distracted for several seconds by Orton’s interference in the match, and by the time he got down to make the count, Sheamus had recovered enough to kick out at two.

After jawing briefly with the ref, Christian turned around and walked right into a Brogue Kick from Sheamus, who covered him for the win.

It will be interesting to see what role Christian plays in next week’s Orton-Sheamus match.

Other thoughts on Friday’s show:

Christian, Sheamus and Henry all did well on the mic both in the opening segment and in backstage interviews. One would expect Christian and Sheamus to be good, but I was surprised at how effective Henry was. I liked his bit about not having to stand in lines when you’re the World’s Strongest Man. ...

I also liked Christian’s humorous promo about overcoming adversity his entire life. ...

Daniel Bryan and Cody Rhodes had a very good match, and Bryan winning was a pleasant surprise. The finishing sequence saw Bryan counter Cross Rhodes with the LeBell Lock. Rhodes tapped out before the hold was even fully applied, which was a great chicken heel move. Rhodes got his heat back after the match by attacking Bryan. ...

The Kane-Great Khali match was bad but at least it was short. After Kane scored the victory, Jinder Mahal came out and yelled at Khali and slapped him in the face again. Ranjin Singh and Mahal started arguing, and Khali then attacked Singh. I’m not a big fan of Khali getting a push at this point, but Mahal is a compelling character. He has a great heel facial expression and shows good intensity. ...

Booker T. remarked that Khali is even slower than The Big Show. He’s absolutely right, but why draw attention to it? Khali was moving so slowly against Kane that Scott Hall’s Discus Punch at a Massachusetts indy show last month looked lightning-like by comparison. ...

It looked as if Sin Cara attempted to do the same finishing move on Chavo Guerrero that he and Guerrero botched last Sunday, and while this one was better, it still wasn’t smooth. I believe Cara was going for his La Mistica finisher. I thought Cara and Guerrero would really click together in the ring but that sure hasn’t been the case. ...

Michael Cole had a great line after Booker said that he spoke to Cara through a translator. “Did they need a translator for you as well?” he asked. ...

Speaking of Booker and Cole, their in-ring segment was pretty pointless. ...

I do have to give Booker props for getting in a One Man Gang and Devastation Inc. reference. ...

The Ezekiel Jackson-Heath Slater match served its purpose, which was to get Jackson over as a powerhouse. After manhandling Slater, Jackson then fought off The Corre’s three-on-one attack. ...

It was nice to see A.J. on Smackdown, as she teamed with fellow NXT Season 3 competitor Kaitlyn in a loss to Alicia Fox and Tamina. Kaitlyn looked pretty tentative in the ring. ...

I was surprised to see Tamina teaming with Fox. When did Tamina turn heel?

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

By watching Thursday night’s episode of Impact Wrestling, you’d think it’s TNA, not WWE, that owns the intellectual property rights of WCW.

Included on the show was an angle based on the infamous Fingerpoke of Doom, an appearance by Disco Inferno and a guy masquerading as blond-haired Sting.

In addition, we also had the usual promo segment with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff talking about how they are the ones running the company.

It’s beyond me why TNA has such a fascination with a wrestling company that has been out of business for a decade.

For the uninitiated, an incident from 1999 that has become known as the Fingerpoke of Doom saw then-WCW world champion Kevin Nash lay down for Hogan after receiving a light poke to the chest. Many believe that mockery hastened WCW’s downfall.

On Impact, Eric Young – who had possession of TNA TV champion Gunner’s title belt – offered to lay down for him in a reenactment of the Fingerpoke. After Gunner agreed to it, however, Young caught him in a small package to win the championship. Yeah, it sure is good to see that wrestling matters again.

In another head-scratching angle, Mr. Anderson – who was dressed up as old-school Sting (something that Jeff Jarrett did in WCW 10 years ago) for the second straight week – hosted an interview segment, and his special guest was none other than Disco Inferno, the not-so-lovable former WCW mid-carder. I guess The Maestro and The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea were busy.

After Disco refused to play along with Anderson and bury Sting, Anderson attacked him and busted him open. I have no idea what this segment was supposed to accomplish, unless, of course, TNA’s goal was to get viewers to change the channel.

Other thoughts on Thursday’s show:

Impact got off to a promising start, as it opened with a street fight that pitted A.J. Styles and Daniels against Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer. It was refreshing not to see Bischoff standing in the ring with a microphone in his hand in the first shot. It also was nice to see Styles beat Dreamer for a change, although it did take a double-team move (a spike piledriver) to put down Super Dreamer. …

This week, Anderson seemed to be a full-fledged heel and not a tweener. After mocking Sting and attacking Disco Inferno – which got heat from the crowd – Anderson ran away like a coward when Sting came out to make the save. …

Commenting on Anderson masquerading as Sting on last week’s show, Taz said that “Anderson hoodwinked everybody.” Well, just substitute the word “nobody” in place of “everybody” and he’d be correct. …

Brian Kendrick did a nice job on the mic when he confronted Hogan and volunteered to take Mick Foley’s place in a match against TNA X Division champion Abyss. The way Hogan and Bischoff treated Kendrick as if he was a total joke, I thought for sure that Kendrick was going to pull the upset and win the title. Instead, Abyss beat him in less than five minutes, which made it seem as if Hogan and Bischoff were right not to take Kendrick seriously as a threat. …

The Kurt Angle-Rob Van Dam match was a good TV main event. If these two faced each other on pay-per-view and had more time, they could probably put on a great match. With Angle having a No. 1 contender’s match against Jarrett coming up at the Slammiversary pay-per-view on June 12, it made sense for him to score the clean win here. …

Even though it was predictable, I liked the way the Jarrett-Matt Morgan match was booked. Morgan kicked out of Jarrett’s finisher and then appeared to have the match won after hitting the Carbon Footprint. Karen Jarrett distracted the referee, however, and that allowed Scott Steiner to sneak into the ring, attack Morgan and place Jarrett on top of him for the three count. So Jarrett gets the win, Morgan looks strong in defeat and the issue between Morgan and Steiner is advanced. It also made Morgan seem like a big deal by having Angle hand-pick him to face Jarrett. …

It’s kind of weird seeing Karen selling an ankle injury just a couple weeks after we saw her faking one. …

ODB’s explanation for attacking Velvet Sky last week was very contrived. In her mind, she was fired because Sky has slept her way to the top. Um, OK. Why does everyone keep making that claim about Sky – is it an inside joke or something? I also could have done without yet another wrestler complaining about “management.” TNA really needs to get away from the tired backstage politics/insider angles and concentrate on telling good stories. …

The Mickie James-Winter match – which James won in convincing fashion – looks as if it was a means to set up a title program between James and Angelina Love for James’ TNA Knockouts championship. That has potential to be good. …

An angle involving “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero and Devon’s kids was started. My guess is that Devon’s sons end up turning on their father and joining Pope’s congregation.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (28)
        

• There were two eliminations on Monday night’s episode of WWE Tough Enough, which means we’re down to the final three. As expected, A.J. got booted off this time, and Christina – who had been the only woman left in the competition – also was sent home. So that leaves Luke, Jeremiah and Andy.

• Andy was in the bottom three this week and I thought there was a decent chance that he was going to be the one to leave the house instead of Christina. However, she wasn’t able to do much physically because of the sprained ankle she suffered on last week’s episode, and she did not do well when given an opportunity to display her verbal skills. Andy was even worse on the mic, but he did have a good session in the ring and he obviously has his size going for him.

• The “bottom three” segment with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was intense. He gave a verbal beatdown to Andy, who was fighting back tears and looked as if he was about to explode. I actually thought for a second there that he was going to take a swing at Austin.

• I had been anxiously waiting for an episode like this one in which the focus was on charisma and promo skills. The contestants were asked to cut a promo in the ring on trainer Bill DeMott, and – in an effort to gauge how capable they are of engaging a crowd – they each hosted a Hollywood Walk of Fame bus tour. As I expected, Luke handled himself well on the mic, but as far as the promos with DeMott, A.J. surprisingly delivered the best one by far. Unfortunately for him, one good day wasn’t enough to save him, as both DeMott and Austin noted.

• It must have been quite a thrill for the contestants to not only lock up in the ring with The Rock – this week’s guest star – but to also have "The Great One" cut a promo on them.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Layla has suffered tears of the anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in her knee and will undergo surgery Thursday, she announced on Twitter Wednesday night.

Here’s to wishing Layla – one of the top all-around female performers in WWE – a speedy recovery.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

I sat down for an interview with former WWE Diva and Baltimore native Stacy Keibler at her parents' house earlier this week while she was in town to host last Saturday's Preakness infield party.

Stacy discussed her acting career, former WWE star Chris Jericho's performance on "Dancing with the Stars," the Preakness, making Maxim Magazine's Hot 100 list again and the Ravens' upcoming season (if there is one, of course).

To view a photo gallery of Stacy Keibler, click here.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Video interviews
        

I made mention of this in the Raw recap/analysis that was posted earlier, but in case anyone missed it, here's the news regarding Kharma.

According to wrestlingobserver.com, the bizarre segment on Raw Monday night in which she dropped to her knees in the ring and began sobbing and talking to herself was designed to write her off of TV for the time being.

The report said that Kharma is expected to be out for more than nine months, although no further details were provided.

Let the speculation begin.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

Monday night’s episode of Raw certainly had its share of interesting story line twists.

We saw the seemingly unbeatable combination of Big Show and Kane drop the WWE tag team title to the unheralded team of the Nexus’ Michael McGillicutty and David Otunga, and afterward, The Big Show had his leg run over by a car driven by Alberto Del Rio’s personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez.

Also on the show, Kharma interrupted an eight-woman tag match, but instead of going on the attack as she has done the past several weeks, she fell to her knees and began sobbing and talking to herself.

But the most compelling and well-executed angle on Raw involved The Miz and Alex Riley. Not surprisingly, Miz blamed his loss to John Cena in an I Quit Match at the Over the Limit pay-per-view the night before on Riley.

Miz did a fantastic job on the mic as he berated and ultimately fired Riley, whose subtle facial expressions while Miz was yelling at him were excellent. After Miz pie-faced Riley for a second time, however, Riley snapped.

He proceeded to beat the heck out of Miz in the ring, on the floor and on the announce table. It was a realistic-looking fight, and the crowd immediately got behind Riley, who showed a lot of fire.

The fact that the fans were chanting Riley’s name during the beatdown is a real testament to how effective Miz is as a heel, because the crowd couldn’t have cared less about Riley when this segment began.

I’m curious to see what happens next with Miz and Riley. In the story line, Riley was under a personal services contract to The Miz, but he also is supposed to be a member of the Smackdown roster.

Other thoughts on Monday’s show:

The video tribute to the late Randy “Macho Man” Savage was very well done. When Jerry Lawler introduced the piece, it was interesting that he said that Savage “will always be a Hall of Famer no matter what.” ...

I didn’t know what to make of the Kharma segment, but wrestlingobserver.com reported on Tuesday that it was designed to write off her character for the time being. The report said that she is expected to be out of action for more than nine months, but no further specifics were provided. ...

R-Truth was very entertaining on the mic during the opening segment with Bret Hart and John Cena. R-Truth is getting a lot of heat from the crowd, and his “little Jimmy” shtick is tremendous. ...

It appears that the injury angle with Big Show was designed to give him some time off as well as to set up a future program with Del Rio. ...

McGillicutty and Otunga winning the tag team title was a surprise. I was pretty convinced that CM Punk and Mason Ryan were going to beat Big Show and Kane for the belts at Over the Limit. ...

It looks as if the Michael Cole heel character is going to be toned way down. He was very contrite as he apologized to Lawler, the fans, Josh Matthews and others for his behavior over the past several months. He still favored the heels in commentary but not in an over-the-top way. ...

It was nice to see Cena selling the beating he took at Over the Limit by walking gingerly to the ring for the opening segment. However, he seemed to be a lot better while working in the tag team main event, which saw him and Rey Mysterio defeat Punk and R-Truth. Cena even did a big leap in the air to celebrate the victory. Are he and Randy Orton having a contest to see who can do the goofiest babyface post-match routine? ...

The main event was fun, but I didn’t care for special referee Hart getting physically involved and costing the heels the match. It would have made more sense for Hart to put Punk in the Sharpshooter after the match. ...

Kudos to Punk for wearing the Savage-inspired tights and boots. ...

The Kofi Kingston-Drew McIntyre match was decent, although the botched leapfrog (I’m assuming it was a botch and not a planned spot) made me think I was watching Tough Enough. ...

In a major positive development, Dolph Ziggler – who was shown backstage with Vickie Guerrero during the Kingston-McIntyre match – has blond hair again! ...

The Jack Swagger-Evan Bourne match was short and sweet. Swagger scored a convincing win, but Bourne got his heat back after the match by delivering a kick to Swagger as he was taking a victory lap. Nothing against Bourne – who I enjoy watching – but I’d like to see Swagger involved in bigger and better things at this point.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)
        

Former WCW and WWE star Diamond Dallas Page has posted a moving video tribute to the late Randy "Macho Man" Savage on his website, ddpbang.com.

For those who don't know, Page's program with Savage in WCW in the late '90s transformed Page from rising mid-carder to bona fide superstar.

I've known DDP for more than a decade, and he has said many times over the years that had it not been for Savage being so giving and putting him over, he never would have risen to the heights that he did.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Thoughts on TNA's rebranding campaign, plus a special YouTube video of "Matt Hardy."

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Ring Posts Xtra episodes
        

The Miz vowed on Raw this past Monday that he had come up with a way of defeating WWE champion John Cena in an I Quit Match at Sunday night’s Over the Limit pay-per-view that had never been done before. He also guaranteed that he would be declared the new champion.

Miz made good on both of his promises – yet he still walked out of Over the Limit a beaten man and without the championship belt.

Since anything goes in an I Quit match, Miz’s master plan was to have Alex Riley join him in the bout and basically turn it into a handicap match.

Miz and Riley double-teamed Cena for well over 20 minutes, battering him with a chair, kendo stick, leather belt, ring steps and television equipment, but Cena refused to give up.

Ultimately, the heel duo tried to recreate the finish to the famous Rock-Mankind I Quit Match from 1999, as Riley played a recording of Cena saying “I quit” into the microphone. The referee called for the bell and Miz was declared the new WWE champion.

But no so fast. Riley – being the bumbling henchman that he is – had dropped the recording device (his cell phone) on the floor, and the referee discovered it, listened to it and ordered the match re-started.
Given new life, it took Cena less than two minutes to take out Riley, put Miz in the STF and make him say “I quit.”

In the other world title match, world heavyweight champion Randy Orton turned back Christian’s challenge in one of the best matches of the year.

Also on the show, Michael Cole did indeed finally get his comeuppance, as he was humiliated by Jerry Lawler in a Kiss My Foot Match that included cameos by Bret Hart and Jim Ross.

Overall, this was a serviceable show. Orton-Christian is worth going out of your way to see, and WWE finally delivered the payoff to the Cole-Lawler feud. As for the Cena-Miz match, I found it compelling, although it was probably not everyone’s cup of tea (the Super Cena detractors hated it for sure). The rest of the card was nothing special.

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

WWE champion John Cena defeated The Miz (with Alex Riley) in an I Quit Match (24:48): It’s hard to even categorize this as a match since it was basically a two-on-one assault that went on for over 20 minutes. After Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on Miz in the first few minutes, Riley smashed Cena in the head with the briefcase. He proceeded to hit Cena with it several more times, and the brutal beatdown was underway. Cena endured multiple kendo stick shots to the chest and stomach and one to the head and 17 lashes with a leather belt, but he wouldn’t quit. He also took the Skull-Crushing Finale on a chair and was blasted with a TV monitor, microphone and the ring steps. As the match was going on, I kept waiting for Cena to find an opening, take out and Riley and make his comeback, but it never happened. Around the 20-minute mark, Miz began taunting a young Cena fan in the front row, telling him that he had better ask his hero to quit unless he wants to see him suffer even more pain. The kid refused to give up on Cena. Smart kid.

At 22:30, Cena was trapped in the exposed barricade, and Miz nailed him with a chair shot that may have been to the head (it was difficult to tell from the camera angle). At that point, Riley played the recording of Cena saying “I quit” into the microphone, and Miz was announced as the winner at 23:07. After the referee realized what had happened and re-started the match, Riley went to hit Cena with the title belt, but Cena ducked and Riley hit Miz instead. Cena then delivered the Attitude Adjustment to Riley through the announce table. Cena took off his leather belt and began whipping Miz, who unsuccessfully tried to escape up the ramp. Cena then locked on the STF on the ramp and Miz wasted no time in screaming “I quit.” The re-start went just 1:41. I never expected Miz to win this match, but I was surprised – and disappointed – that he was made to look so weak. Not only could he not get the job done in a handicap match, but after being on the offensive for so long, he quit almost immediately.

World heavyweight champion Randy Orton defeated Christian (16:50): There were dueling chants at the beginning of the match, but as the bout went on, the crowd was hotter for Christian. After Christian landed a flying headbutt off the top rope for a near fall at the 8:30 mark, a “Christian” chant broke out. A couple minutes later, when Christian made it to the ropes to force a break while Orton had him in a reverse Boston Crab, the crowd chanted “Let’s go Christian!” While Christian was on the second rope at 11:50, he head-faked Orton into setting up for an RKO and then hit a sunset flip for a two count. That was a nice play off the finish to their match on Smackdown when Orton won the title. To show that Orton also had Christian well-scouted, he blocked Christian’s attempt at a pendulum kick and turned it into a draping DDT for a near fall. At 13:45, Christian pushed out of an RKO attempt and set up for a spear. As he charged at Orton, however, Orton caught him with a perfectly timed snap powerslam for a near fall.

At 15:30, Orton had Christian set up for the punt to the head, but he began to have second thoughts. After hesitating, Orton ultimately decided to go for it, but Christian nailed him with a spear for a fantastic near fall. Christian was super frustrated that he couldn’t finish off Orton. The finish saw Christian counter another RKO attempt by maneuvering Orton into position for the Killswitch. Orton countered by flipping Christian over and finally hitting the RKO for the win. While many in the crowd clearly wanted Christian to win, there still was a good pop for Orton getting the victory. Orton helped Christian get to his feet after the match, but Christian pushed him away and began to leave the ring. Orton invited him back in the ring for a handshake, and after thinking about it for a few seconds, Christian shook Orton’s hand. This was simply a great match with two talented veterans who know how to tell a story in the ring. My guess is that Christian’s frustration over his inability to regain the title will eventually result in him snapping and turning heel, but it’s clear that right now the fans are into him as the lovable underdog.

Jerry Lawler defeated Michael Cole in a Kiss My Foot Match (3:02): Cole came out still dressed in his street clothes and walking with a limp. He read a note from his doctor that said he would be unable to compete because of his athlete’s foot. The referee ripped up the note, however, and the match was on. Lawler immediately went on the attack. Cole gained a brief advantage when he suckered Lawler and rammed him into the ring steps, but Lawler recovered quickly and threw Cole into the Cole Mine, destroying it in the process. He then put Cole back into the ring and hit a fist drop off the second rope for the victory. Then the real fun began.

Lawler called out Eve Torres, who hit a moonsault on Cole as retribution for all his insulting remarks about the Divas. Next out was Jim Ross, who squirted barbecue sauce all over Cole. Before Lawler could force Cole to kiss his foot, though, Cole exited the ring and said he wouldn’t do it. As Cole stood on the ramp, I was expecting Jack Swagger to come out and prevent him from leaving. Instead, Bret Hart’s music hit. “The Hit Man” threw Cole into the ring and put him in The Sharpshooter. While Cole was trapped in the move, Lawler stuck his bare foot in Cole’s mouth. The match and the post-match angle were exactly what they should have been (although it would have been nice for Swagger to get a rub, but I’m guessing WWE just doesn’t want to turn him babyface at this point). It will be interesting to see what happens next with Cole. There is a lot of speculation that he will be revealed shortly as the anonymous Raw general manager.

R-Truth defeated Rey Mysterio (8:11): This opened the show and it was pretty good. R-Truth cut an entertaining promo before the match in which he complained about not having a parking spot when he arrived at the arena. The finishing sequence was well done, as R-Truth went for his finisher, but Mysterio countered with a huracanrana that put R-Truth into position for the 619. R-Truth rolled out of the ring before Mysterio could hit the move, however, and when Mysterio went for a kick, R-Truth yanked him out of the ring and crotched him onto the banner on the apron. R-Truth then threw Mysterio back in the ring and hit his finisher for the clean win. After the match, R-Truth smashed Mysterio over the head with a water bottle. R-Truth got a good heel reaction before, during and after the match.

WWE tag team champions The Big Show and Kane defeated CM Punk and Mason Ryan (9:05): With all the Internet speculation about Punk’s contract situation, everything he does is under a microscope, so read into this what you will: he and Ryan lost, but it was Ryan who did the job. After Kane clotheslined Punk over the top rope and onto the floor, he and Big Show hit a double chokeslam on Ryan for the victory. Ryan is green but he didn’t look bad in this match. On a side note, Punk – in an obvious tribute to the late Randy “Macho Man” Savage – went for a flying elbow off the top rope and imitated Savage’s mannerisms before doing so. The crowd reacted to it, but the announcers either didn’t get what he was doing or just chose not to acknowledge it.

Ezekiel Jackson defeated WWE Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett by disqualification (7:26): After several minutes of back-and-forth action, Jackson body-slammed Barrett five consecutive times and then put him in the Torture Rack. Barrett’s fellow Corre members Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater then hit the ring and assaulted Jackson, causing Barrett to be disqualified. Jackson fought them off at first before eventually succumbing to the three-on-one attack. The match was OK.

WWE Divas champion Brie Bella defeated Kelly Kelly (4:01): In the biggest surprise of the night, Kharma did not make an appearance during this match. After Brie and Nikki Bella switched places behind the referee’s back, Nikki hit a sit-out facebuster on Kelly Kelly for the win. Kharma not getting involved was disappointing.

Sin Cara defeated Chavo Guerrero (7:21): This match – which was clearly designed to be a showcase for Cara, as I can’t believe anyone thought Guerrero would win – wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t nearly as good as I thought it would be. Cara pulled off some impressive moves, but there seemed to be some miscommunication at one point, and the finish was botched. Cara appeared to be going for either a tilt-a-whirl huracanrana or his La Mistica finisher, but whatever it was supposed to be, it wasn’t executed properly and looked bad. They should have called an audible and come up with a Plan B, but Cara stuck to the script and pinned Guerrero despite the obvious botch. During the post-match video highlights, several of Cara’s high spots were replayed, but the finish was not.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (36)
        

Predictions for tonight’s pay-per-view:

WWE champion John Cena vs. The Miz in an I Quit Match: WWE tried hard on Raw Monday to make it seem as if Miz had a trick up his sleeve and could actually win this match, but I’m not buying it. Cena will foil whatever plan Miz has devised and the match will end with Miz saying “I quit.” I do expect the match to be booked in such a way that makes Miz look tough in defeat.

World heavyweight champion Randy Orton vs. Christian: This is perhaps the most compelling contest of the night. Look for a very competitive match, with Orton pulling out the victory in the end. That will further frustrate Christian and push him closer to a heel turn.

Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler in a Kiss My Foot Match: This has to be the night that Cole finally gets his comeuppance, right? I’m curious to see if Jack Swagger plays any part in the finish.

Rey Mysterio vs. R-Truth: As a rising heel, R-Truth needs to win this one. Alberto Del Rio is not booked in a match on this show, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he interferes and costs Mysterio the match to continue their rivalry.

WWE tag team champions The Big Show and Kane vs. CM Punk and Mason Ryan: This is an odd matchup, as Big Show and Kane lost a non-title match on TV to The Nexus’ Michael McGillicutty and David Otunga, but it’s Nexus’ Punk and Ryan – who aren’t even a regular tag team – getting the title shot. I have a hunch that Punk and Ryan are going to win the belts.

WWE Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett vs. Ezekiel Jackson: I wouldn’t be shocked if Jackson won the title tonight, but I have a feeling that the other Corre members are going to interfere, causing Jackson to win the match by disqualification but not the title.

WWE Divas champion Brie Bella vs. Kelly Kelly: It seems pretty obvious that Kharma is going to make her presence known in this match. My guess is that Kelly Kelly wins the title and then is confronted by Kharma.

Sin Cara vs. Chavo Guerrero: This is clearly a showcase match for Cara, and Guerrero is the perfect opponent for him. I expect this to open the show and get things off to a flying start.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Is “The Viper” being defanged right before our eyes?

It’s sure starting to look as if Randy Orton is becoming more of a traditional babyface and less of a hard-edged anti-hero.

Not only is Orton more respectful than ruthless these days, but he’s actually smiling and playing to the crowd.

At the end of Friday night’s Smackdown, I dare say that Orton came off as such a corny babyface that it made John Cena look like Attitude Era “Stone Cold” Steve Austin by comparison.

After hitting an RKO on Mark Henry in a post-match brawl that also involved Christian and Sheamus, Orton celebrated by doing a big leaping split, followed by an awkward series of fist pumps and a grin.

It was so out of character for Orton that I had to rewind it to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.

I get it that Orton is now the lead babyface on Smackdown and perhaps his character needs to be softened a bit, but if he keeps acting like this, I won’t be surprised if Orton ends up on the receiving end of a backlash from older male fans the way Cena has.

Other thoughts on Friday’s show:

The highlight of the episode was the show-opening match between Christian and Sheamus. Sheamus dominated the match, but the resilient Christian pulled it out in the end, so the match benefitted both of them. …

After that match, Henry did a run-in, and he and Sheamus double-teamed Christian. Orton then came out on the stage, and he hesitated a bit before ultimately making the save. Christian returned the favor later in the show when he took his time in saving Orton from a two-on-one attack by Sheamus and Henry. That was well done, as it showed that despite the mutual respect between Orton and Christian – who will face each other for Orton’s world heavyweight title at this Sunday’s Over the Limit pay-per-view – they are only human after all. …

It was weird seeing a guy as talented and with as much upside as Daniel Bryan being used as a pawn in a program involving Chavo Guerrero. To prove a point to Sin Cara, Guerrero vowed to beat Bryan in less than five minutes. Thankfully, Bryan did not get beat. …

Ezekiel Jackson cut a babyface promo that wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t very smooth either. The fake crowd noise was out of control, as there was constant cheering despite the fact that the crowd appeared to be totally disinterested in what he was saying. …

Jackson’s split from The Corre reminds me of the type of story line you’d see in TNA. The group just hasn’t been together long enough for it to seem like a big deal that one of the members has left and is feuding with his former partners. …

The six-man tag match in which Jackson, The Big Show and Kane defeated Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater was OK. Jackson scored the win for his team with a Torture Rack on Gabriel that looked a lot more impressive than when Lex Luger used to do the move back in the day. …

WWE Divas champion Brie Bella has a title defense against Kelly Kelly at Over the Limit, so I’m not surprised she pinned Natalya on the go-home show, but there’s something about Natalya jobbing to a Bella that just seems wrong. …

I have no idea what WWE is doing with Ted DiBiase Jr. Last week, he worked like a babyface and lost to former tag team partner Cody Rhodes. This week, he was a heel again and seemed to be subservient to Rhodes. The good news is that DiBiase won for a change, as he made quick work of Trent Barreta. …

Something seemed a little off with Rhodes’ delivery during his promo. …

I could do without seeing The Great Khali on TV every week, but I am intrigued by the Jinder Mahal character. …

Booker T. was really bad on commentary this week.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
        

Thursday night’s episode of the newly named Impact Wrestling (the show formerly known as TNA Impact) was TNA’s first broadcast since introducing its rebranding campaign , which includes using the slogan “wrestling matters” in addition to changing the name of the Spike TV program.

It was obvious right from the very first segment, however, that the only significant changes to the product were cosmetic. Other than a snazzy new set, logo and graphics, it was pretty much a typical episode of TNA Impact.

You would think that if TNA really wanted to drive home the fact that wrestling mattered, it would have opened the show with something other than another Eric Bischoff promo talking about the never-ending power struggle between Immortal and The Network.

You also might think that since wrestling matters, there might be an actual wrestling match in the main event slot. Instead, TNA went with a confrontation between Sting and Mr. Anderson, who for some unknown reason was dressed up like the late ’80s/early ’90s version of Sting.

Oh, well. At least the new blue color scheme looks cool.

Other thoughts on Thursday’s show:

Why was Anderson (in his Sting garb) walking around backstage all night? Was he lost? And how is it possible that he didn’t run into any of the other talent? What’s even sillier is that Mike Tenay actually had to sell that he believed it was the real Sting even though Sting hasn’t dressed like that in 15 years. ...

As part of the X Division versus the establishment story line, Bischoff booked the following matches on this show: TNA X Division champion Kazarian versus Abyss; Samoa Joe versus Amazing Red; and Bischoff and Matt Hardy versus Generation Me. Not only did the X Division guys lose all three matches, but the defeats suffered by Amazing Red and Generation Me were embarrassing. Red was squashed in less than a minute, while Generation Me couldn’t win what was basically a handicap match against Hardy. To make matters worse for the Bucks, Bischoff scored the winning pinfall. Even if the X Division competitors come back strong next week, it still won’t make up for the fact that they were needlessly buried here. ...

I liked the Abyss-Kazarian match. Abyss winning the X Division title was a surprise. I’ve always been confused as to exactly what the X Division is supposed to represent. TNA says “it’s not about weight limits, it’s about no limits,” so it’s never been defined as a cruiserweight-only division, even though it’s mostly cruiserweights who compete in the division. ...

It wasn’t a good night for Fortune. In addition to Kazarian losing the X Division title, Bobby Roode and A.J. Styles were on the receiving ends of beatdowns at the hands of Immortal, and James Storm suffered a concussion (in the story line) during a brawl pitting Fortune and the X Division guys against Immortal. ...

After Joe made quick work of Red, he continued to rough him up after the match until Red’s “brother,” Crimson made the save. Crimson hit a suplex on Joe, and Joe took off. So is Joe a heel again? ...

Speaking of heel turns, Tommy Dreamer has gone from being a reluctant bad guy in a no-win situation to a full-fledged heel. As I have said many times, I’m not a fan of the Dreamer character and really don’t care to see a talent such as Styles reduced to working a mid-card program with him, but I did think this angle with Dreamer turning on Styles was well done (although I wish Styles wouldn’t have been made to look like such a sap). Dreamer did a nice job on the mic and with his facial expressions, although the neatly trimmed heel beard, sunglasses and sports jacket looked really out of place on him. ...

Jeff Jarrett also was good on the mic during his exchange with Kurt Angle. What’s great about the Jarrett-Angle confrontations is that you get the sense that – because of their real-life issues – Angle could snap at any moment and really take some liberties with Jarrett. ...

In what is being billed as the final Angle-Jarrett match at next month’s Slammiversary pay-per-view, Angle’s Olympic gold medal will be at stake. It was played up as being a big deal, which it probably would be if it hadn’t already been done several times before in WWE. I seem to remember Steve Austin throwing the medal into a river and Chris Benoit carrying the medal around in his trunks. ...

Angle thanked Chyna for being his partner against Jeff and Karen Jarrett at last Sunday’s Sacrifice pay-per-view, but she wasn’t at the Impact Zone and it didn’t seem like she was going to be part of the company going forward. ...

The Ric Flair- Roode confrontation wasn’t bad, but it was a bit of an off night for Roode on the mic. He seemed intimidated by the fact that he was standing across from Flair, and at one point he actually said, “Don’t ever underestimate that I’m not a man.” ...

The six-woman tag match in which Mickie James, Tara and Miss Tessmacher defeated Madison Rayne, Sarita and Rosita was OK. It was a good tease for the imminent Tara-Rayne singles match, as Tara was never able to get her hands on her nemesis. ...

Who thought it was a good idea to have Anarquia sit it on commentary during the six-woman tag? ...

Velvet Sky has really been on a roll as of late. She managed to steal a victory in a handicap match against Winter and Angelina Love, and also shoved a wheelchair-bound Karen Jarrett down the ramp when Karen – who supposedly suffered a broken ankle at Sacrifice – came out to taunt Angle. ...

As if Sky isn’t involved in enough programs, ODB showed up and attacked her after the handicap match. It’s great to see ODB back. I’ve always been a big fan of her act. ...

If TNA wants fans to take Gunner seriously, it needs to keep him far away from Eric Young. I’m sure Vince Russo and possibly Jeff Jarrett find Young’s act to be hilarious, but I just find it groan-inducing. ...

I’m glad Max and Jeremy Buck acknowledged their feud before their tag match instead of them acting as if it never happened. ...

It was pretty funny seeing referee Jackson James interact with his father (Bischoff) in the Generation Me versus Bischoff and Hardy match. I’m surprised either of them could keep a straight face. ...

How funny is it that when Bischoff said that he was going to “kick some vanilla midget ass” that Spike TV bleeped “midget” but not “ass?” So, “ass,” “b*tch,” “whore” and a**hole” – all of which were said on this show – are not offensive, but “midget” is. Ah, political correctness at its best.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
        

Ring of Honor issued the following news release today:

Ring of Honor Wrestling owner, Cary Silkin, announced today the sale of the promotion to Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest television broadcasters in the country and which owns and operates, programs, or provides sales services to 58 television stations in 35 markets across the United States.

ROH, currently the third largest wrestling promotion in the country, just celebrated its ninth anniversary, and Mr. Silkin is excited about taking the next step towards increasing the company's visibility and expanding its operations.

"We have been waiting for and working for this opportunity for quite some time", he said, "and of our 9 years in business, there has been no better roster of wrestlers than this one to expose the ROH product to the masses. With Sinclair's resources and many avenues of distribution, we believe many new fans around the world will be as captivated as those who have followed Ring of Honor over the years."

The month of September will see the debut of the new Ring of Honor television program which will be syndicated across the Sinclair network of stations, and with it, ROH will become the only wrestling promotion in the United States with a major, multi-market presence on broadcast TV. But if you don't live in a market with a Sinclair station, fear not, says Mr. Silkin. "Through our revamped website we will be able to make the TV show available to anyone in the world with internet access."

Sinclair officials are enthused about the project as well.

"We are very excited about this acquisition," commented Steve Marks, COO of Sinclair's Television Group. "Television and professional wrestling have a long history of successful partnerships and driving viewership. Unfortunately, the broadcast networks have not protected that relationship, allowing professional wrestling to migrate to cable network distribution. We believe that the powerful promotional platform that our TV stations provide, coupled with our 22% share of the U.S. TV households, will allow ROH to achieve name brand recognition and grow its share of the wrestling market. When you consider the makeup of our station mix and the number of CW, MYTV and FOX affiliates we operate, this is a perfect fit for our viewer demographics." Mr. Marks also noted, "Longer-term, we can envision syndicating ROH wrestling to broadcasters in markets where Sinclair does not have a presence, and even internationally."

Mr. Silkin assures the ROH fans worldwide that they will be seeing the same exciting, hard-hitting style of pro wrestling that they have become accustomed to. "We have established the name Ring of Honor as synonymous with the best in-ring action in the sport. The only thing that will change is that it will now be easier for fans around the world to follow. Our visibility will increase greatly--our production will be upgraded--but the work ethic of our incredible talent roster and our athletic style of wrestling will remain the same. This is what our fans have told us they want, and we will continue to give it to them."

The current front office staff, including Cary Silkin, Syd Eick, and Ross Abrams, will remain with ROH going forward. Hunter Johnston, a favorite of ROH fans for years as the masked grappler Delirious, will still handle matchmaking, Jim Cornette will remain as executive producer, and other familiar faces like ring announcer Bobby Cruise and senior referee Todd Sinclair will be in place."

Additionally, longtime wrestling broadcaster Kevin Kelly, already the voice of ROH internet pay-per-views, will assume the TV play-by-play chair this fall. Veteran NWA and WCW promoter Gary Juster will come aboard to be in charge of live event operations, which are planned to continue in current ROH markets as well as expanding into new locations concurrent with the increased TV exposure.

Mr. Cornette, who along with Mr. Johnston, will be in charge of talent and matchmaking, sees this as a new beginning for pro wrestling. "This is not old-school wrestling, and it's not sports entertainment," said Mr. Cornette. "This is wrestling for the 21st century, a new style developed by fresh, young stars that incorporates wrestling, mixed martial arts and high-flying, high-risk action with unique personalities, and it's showcased by a sports-based presentation completely different from any other product out there. In my 30 years in the sport, it's the most exciting live-event wrestling experience I've seen, and I'm thrilled to help bring it to broadcast TV."

A major press conference, open to wrestling press and mainstream media alike, is being planned for Baltimore on Friday, June 24th. This event will feature a number of the ROH staff and wrestlers both announcing news about ROH's future and answering questions. The media event will be presided over by new ROH COO, Joe Koff. Mr. Koff, a longtime Sinclair executive with an extensive background in TV sales and management, also has experience in pro wrestling television production and syndication. Most visible of his projects may have been the first-ever live, prime time syndicated pro wrestling events, the Battle of the Belts, which aired from 1985 to 1987. These Championship Wrestling from Florida-based cards were broadcast live to a syndicated network of stations and may be best-remembered for the classic Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham NWA World Title contest from St. Petersburg.

The press event will kick off a weekend which includes ROH's next internet pay-per-view event, "Best In The World 2011," live from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Sunday, June 26th at 4PM EST. In addition to all the top stars on the ROH roster, this event will feature the return of some favorite stars from Ring of Honor's past, and can be ordered by anyone in the world with internet access through Gofightlive.tv for only $14.95. More information about Ring of Honor can be obtained through their website, rohwrestling.com.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Here is a sampling of what people in the wrestling industry are saying on Twitter about Randy “Macho Man” Savage, who died in a car accident earlier today:

Hulk Hogan: I'm completely devastated, after over 10 years of not talking with Randy, we've finally started to talk and communicate. He had so much life in his eyes & in his spirit, I just pray that he's happy and in a better place and we miss him. ... I feel horrible about the ten years of having no communication. This was a tough one.

The Rock: RIP Randy "Macho Man" Savage - you were one of my childhood inspirations and heros. Strength, love and prayers to the Savage/Poffo family.

Steve Austin: Just heard about Macho Man Randy Savage...unmatched intensity in the ring. A hellacious performer and terrific promo. A real bad ass. RIP

John Cena: CeNation. The untimely passing of randy savage is indeed tragic. All true fans of wrestling will mourn this loss. One of the all time greats

Mick Foley: I just heard the sad news about the Macho Man. Randy Savage was one of my favorites performers, and my heart goes out to his loved ones.

Bret Hart: I have no words to say. This one hits me hard. We lost one of the best.”

Shawn Michaels: We've lost one of the greats!! Our prayers go out to the family & friends of Randy Savage.

Chris Jericho: Randy Savage was a true influence and inspiration to me and taught me some very important lessons,in and out of the ring. Rest in peace Mach

Jeff Jarrett: Just got a call w the news. RIP Randy. I met him when I was 11yrs old. He would always teach, correct, encourage, and compliment as my career progressed. I have NEVER forgotten the intricacies and attention to detail he taught me over the years. Randy always had a method to his madness. Randy is gone, but will never be forgotten. Thoughts and prayers are w the entire Poffo family.

Diamond Dallas Page: Randy Savage gone WoW! Randy made DDP and I will always be indebted to him and I want to honor him
more to come

Eric Bischoff: Very sad to hear the news about Randy Savage. Randy was as passionate about the wrestling business, as intense of a performer and as honest of a person as anyone I have had the privilage of working with. He will be missed. Randy loved his family deeply and my thoughts and prayers are with them.

Kevin Nash: I lost a close friend today. If anybody in heaven is wondering who the cat in the ugly cowboy hat is it's Randy. Love you Bro. Never another

The Miz: Can't believe Macho Man is gone. As a kid my friends and would have contests to see who does a better Macho Man promo. 1 of the best. RIP

Christian: Sad 2 hear about "Macho Man"Randy Savage..Only met him once briefly.No doubt 1 of the best & influenced so many performers you see today RIP

Howard Finkel: I am profoundly saddened by the passing of one of the all-time greats, Macho Man Randy Savage. My condolences go out to the Poffo family.

William Regal: Just heard of the passing of Randy Savage.A one of a kind great performer.RIP.

Bill DeMott: When I got my start in WCW it was Randy that gave me the rub....my prayers and thoughts to the Poffo Family

Ricardo Rodriguez: Thoughts go to Randy Savage's family. Definitely an amazing talent and a great inspiration to many. Can never forget Savage Vs Steamboat

Ezekiel Jackson: Whoa....just heard about macho man Randy savage...God bless the family, the wrestling world just lost one of the greatest ever...R.I.P

Daniels: RIP Randy Savage, an inspiration who set the standard! As a fan, watching Randy in Wrestlemania 3,4 and 5 was incredible!

Stacy Keibler: Wow, so sad about Randy Savage. I’ll definitely put a few $$ on @MuchoMachoMan tomorrow in his honor when I am @PreaknessStakes. RIP Randy!

D’Angelo Dinero: Today the WORLD mourns the loss of a True Icon, a Real Legend, & a Hero. Savage was already "missed," but now he'll be missed forever

The Honky Tonk Man: Macho Man was one of the all time greats and will be greatly missed... A very sad day for wrestling

Wade Barrett: Bow to the kingdom of the madness. RIP Macho Man, amazing performer.

Kharma: In utter shock about Macho Man. So much charisma in one soul.

SoCal Val: Saying a prayer 4 Randy Savage & his loved ones. I had the honor of working for his promotion, he was inspirational 2 us all! What a loss.

Zack Ryder: RIP MACHO MAN. One of my favorites and one of the best of all time. DIG IT!

The Bella Twins: Very sad to hear about Macho Man... His family is in our thoughts & prayers... Truly an amazin' & captivatin' man!

Shad Gaspard: Today we lost a legend in Randy "Macho Man" Savage, thank you for your help, I know you are in a better place brother.

JTG: To one of my favorite Hall of Famers, inducted or not. Macho Man Randy Savage. R.I.P OOOOOOOOOH YEEEEEEEAH !

Shane Helms: Totally heartbreaking news about Randy Savage. One of my all-time favs!! So sad!! RIP Macho

ODB: Macho Man was the reason I got into the wrestling world, glad I was able to tell him that when I got to meet him,U will be missed oh yeah

Beth Phoenix: No words for this very sad day. Condolences to Randy Savage's family, friends and millions of fans

Jay Lethal: You inspired me more than this world will ever know. Enjoy.
You were a tower of power that was too sweet to be sour,
You were funky like a monkey every minute of every hour.
For you, space was the place and time distortion had to be,
And your fans here on earth wanted the madness for eternity.
You met every challenge with fists clinched and face to face,
You even fought and defeats dragons and snakes.
Flying off the ropes with an elbow drop,
There was no way you could ever be stopped.
Identifiable by your voice alone,
Even being Dubbed the macho king while you sat on your throne.
We hung on your words with interviews memorable and classic,
And we knew it was serious when you took off your glasses.
I promise not to lose you in the sands of time,
For you will always be that all time hero of mine.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

It was obvious from the first time that I saw Randy “Macho Man’ Savage on WWF television in 1985 that he was a special talent.

With his lean and muscular physique, exceptional wrestling skills, colorful robes, intense demeanor and gravelly voice, he looked, walked and talked like a professional wrestling superstar.

Savage, who died today at 58 as the result of a car accident, did indeed go on to become one of the elite stars in the industry in the ’80s and ’90s, as well as one of the most recognizable wrestlers of all time. A six-time world champion, he became a household name, thanks in large part to his popular Slim Jim commercials.

Perhaps no wrestler of his era possessed a better combination of speed, power, flying moves and charisma.

Savage (real name Randy Poffo), who was listed at 6 feet 2 and 237 pounds, was muscular enough that he looked like a legitimate threat to sculpted physical specimens such as Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior, but he also was a tremendously conditioned and skilled in-ring performer who could go hold for hold with the likes of Ricky Steamboat (whom Savage faced at WrestleMania III in 1987 in what is regarded as one of the best matches of all time), Ric Flair and Ted DiBiase.

When it came to talking on the microphone, Savage was truly one of a kind. His promos were often stream of consciousness and nonsensical, but the brilliance was in his delivery. He had the ability to be both funny and intense – sometimes simultaneously.

On a personal note, Savage was the first wrestler I ever interviewed for a story in The Baltimore Sun. The article, which I wrote in 1994, focused on Savage’s minor-league baseball career. It was quite a thrill – and a bit surreal – to chat with “The Macho Man” face to face in the back room at a supermarket (he was doing an autograph signing at the store that day).

Savage – who had made a name for himself in the Memphis and Kentucky territories before coming to the WWF – was presented as a big deal from the very beginning in Vince McMahon’s promotion. Unlike just about every other heel to come through the WWF, Savage did not have a manager.

A story line developed in which there was a bidding war for his services, as all the top managers of the day such as Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart and Freddie Blassie made their pitch top land wrestling’s hottest free agent. In the end, Savage rejected them all and introduced a beautiful, young woman known as Miss Elizabeth – Savage’s real-life wife – as his manager.

Savage and Elizabeth became one of the most compelling acts in WWF/WWE history. The maniacal, ultra-possessive Savage generated incredible heat for his verbal abuse of the classy, demure Elizabeth, but he eventually turned babyface and joined forces with former rival Hogan as The Mega-Powers. Thanks to an assist from “The Hulkster,” Savage defeated DiBiase in the finals of a tournament to crown a new WWF champion at WrestleMania IV in 1988.

That led to one of my favorite wrestling angles of all time, which played out over the course of a year.

While all seemed well with the Savage-Hogan-Elizabeth alliance on the surface, Savage – through subtle facial expressions – began to show concern over the friendship that had developed between Hogan and Elizabeth.

The situation boiled over after a tag team match involving Savage and Hogan that was broadcast live on NBC, as “The Macho Man” flew into a jealous rage backstage. After accusing Hogan of having lust in his eyes for Elizabeth, Savage attacked Hogan and threw Elizabeth – who had been injured earlier during the match – down to the ground (see video below).

That scene is one of the greatest pieces of television I have ever seen on a wrestling broadcast.

The year-long story line culminated in Savage dropping the WWF title to Hogan at WrestleMania V.

Two years later, Savage and Elizabeth reunited in one of the most memorable moments in WrestleMania history. After Savage lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior, Sensational Sherri – who was “The Macho Man’s” manager at the time – began kicking him and screaming at him while he was down. At that point, Elizabeth charged into the ring and attacked Sherri.

When Savage got back on his feet, he saw Elizabeth, who had tears in her eyes. After a few tense moments of indecision, Savage and Elizabeth embraced and the crowd went wild as “Pomp and Circumstance,” Savage’s entrance music, played. The camera panned the crowd and showed a few women – and even one young man – crying.

Savage and Elizabeth were “married” in an elaborate ceremony at the SummerSlam pay-per-view five months later (the couple, which had actually been married for years, divorced in real life the following year). At the post-SummerSlam wedding reception, Jake “The Snake” Roberts placed a cobra in one of the gift boxes, which traumatized Elizabeth and led to Savage coming out of retirement to feud with Roberts.

In an infamous scene on the WWF’s syndicated TV show, Roberts tied Savage up in the ropes and brought out a cobra, which bit Savage on the arm and actually drew blood.

Savage went on to feud with Flair, who had falsely proclaimed that he had been having an affair with Elizabeth. In Savage’s final big WrestleMania match, he defeated Flair for the WWF title in 1992.

Savage subsequently transitioned into a role as a color commentator and part-time wrestler before leaving for WCW in 1994. There, he returned to being a full-time in-ring performer and was one of the company’s top stars during his five-year run.

Except for a few appearances with TNA several years later, Savage – who had a cameo role as a pro wrestler in the 2002 blockbuster, “Spider-Man” – largely disappeared from the pro wrestling scene.

His exclusion from the WWE Hall of Fame has been a controversial topic among wrestling fans for years, although it appeared that the contentious relationship between Savage and McMahon had begun to thaw in recent years. In 2009, WWE released a Savage DVD, and earlier this year, Savage did a promotional video for the WWE All-Stars video game.

My guess is that Savage will take his rightful place into the WWE Hall of Fame next year. It’s just a shame that it couldn’t have happened while he was alive.

But just like Savage once said in a classic WWF promo (see video below), “the cream always rises to the top, and I am the cream.

“Oooh, yeah! Dig it!”

Baltimore Sun photo: Randy Savage poses with his father, former wrestler Angelo Poffo, at the WWF Hall of Fame banquet in Baltimore in 1994.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Legendary former WWF and WCW world champion Randy "Macho Man" Savage died from injuries he suffered in a car accident this morning, according to Reuters.

He was 58.

Citing the Florida Highway Patrol, the report said that Savage (real name Randy Poffo) -- one of pro wrestling's biggest stars in the '80s and '90's -- collided head-on with a tree when he veered across a concrete median. He was transported to Largo Medical Center, where he died.

Savage's wife, Lynn, was a passenger in the car and suffered "minor injuries." Police told TMZ that alcohol was not a factor.

I will post my thoughts on Savage later.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (42)
        

Maryland Championship Wrestling is presenting "Insomnia," a free show tonight at The Wild Duck Cafe in Middle River.

The show is headlined by an MCW heavyweight title match between champion Tyler Hilton and Cobian.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

• In a shocking twist on Monday night’s episode of WWE Tough Enough, Martin – who had emerged as one of the favorites to win the competition – was forced to bow out after suffering a fractured ankle in a freak accident during a training session in the ring. With Martin gone, they may as well just hand it to Luke right now.

• Christina – who entered this episode as the lone woman remaining in the competition – may also be done because of an injury. While coming off the top rope, she landed awkwardly on her ankle and began crying out in pain. She was taken to the hospital and it was teased that she was going to be unable to continue. It’s too bad because she was really starting to make progress in the ring.

• Bill DeMott blamed Christina’s injury on A.J., and I was thinking the same thing when it happened. During a simulated match, Christina went to the top rope and appeared to be setting up for a crossbody or a splash, but A.J. got up off the mat and started walking toward her. It looked as if she had to improvise almost in mid-air, which resulted in the awkward landing. If Christina does have to leave the show, I’m sure some will see it as poetic justice that someone else’s negligence in the ring led to her being unable to continue. Earlier in the series, Ivelisse had suffered a hamstring injury thanks to Christina’s botched leapfrog and she was eliminated because the injury hindered her from competing.

• It was a cool gesture by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to let Martin hang his championship belt on the wall instead of Austin taking it from him and doing so the way he had done with all the others who were sent home. Austin explained that everyone else had been eliminated because they weren’t tough enough, but that wasn’t the case with Martin.

• I’m not sure how useful the advice was that the contestants received from Kelly Kelly, the Bella twins and Eve Torres, but I’m certainly not going to complain anytime those ladies are on my TV screen.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

When it was announced on last week’s Raw that John Cena’s WWE title defense against The Miz at the Over the Limit pay-per-view on Sunday would be an I Quit match, my first thought was that it was going to be a tough sell to convince people that Miz has any chance of winning.

On Raw Monday night, WWE tried hard to make the impossible seem possible, although I suppose the buy rate will be the ultimate judge of whether or not the effort was successful.

The Miz cut a promo at the end of the show in which he guaranteed victory, claiming that he had come up with a way of winning the match that no one had ever thought of.

His delivery was great and Cena sold concern with his facial expression. The Miz went on to grab a pipe from under the ring, and he and Alex Riley attacked Cena.

Up to that point, WWE had done everything right to make Miz seem like a legitimate threat to beat Cena for the title on Sunday, including airing a video package earlier in the program that showed Miz destroying Cena.

But instead of the show going off the air with Miz and Riley standing over the fallen WWE champion, Cena overcame the two (plus a pipe)-on-one attack and got the better of the physical exchange. Can’t say I understand the thinking on that one.

Other thoughts on Monday’s show:

There are some who believe that WWE will recreate the famous finish for the I Quit match between The Rock and Mankind from the 1999 Royal Rumble (Rock got the win when a recording of Mankind saying “I quit” was played over the sound system) on Sunday, but if that happens, it would not fit Miz’s description of being something that had never been done before. ...

It was an interesting night for Jack Swagger. During the contract signing for Sunday’s Jerry Lawler-Michael Cole match, Cole made a remark that offended Swagger, and Swagger walked out on him and told him that he was on his own at Over the Limit. It seemed like another tease for a Swagger babyface turn, but then at the end of the show, Swagger was hand-picked by The Miz to face Cena in a No Holds Barred Match. Swagger attacked Cena from behind on the entrance ramp prior to the match and dominated the contest before ultimately tapping out to the STF. I’m not sure where WWE is going with Swagger, but it seems like a good sign for him that he not only worked a main event with Cena, but he was given a lot of offense against the champ. ...

It was a good night for CM Punk and The Nexus. Punk defeated U.S. champion Kofi Kingston in a non-title match, and Michael McGillicutty and David Otunga upset WWE tag team champions The Big Show and Kane (thanks to interference by Punk) in another non-title bout. In an odd twist, instead of Punk and the team of McGillicutty and Otunga getting championship matches for the U.S. and tag titles, respectively, it was announced that Punk and Mason Ryan will challenge Kane and The Big Show for the tag belts at Over the Limit. ...

The contract signing segment with Cole and Lawler was well done. It was great how Cole -- who made Sunday's bout with Lawler a Kiss My Foot match -- went from cocky and obnoxious to apologetic as soon as Swagger left him. ...

Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio work well together so it’s no surprise that they had a good match (Mysterio won by disqualification when Ricardo Rodriguez got involved). R-Truth got significant heat for his post-match beat-down of Mysterio. ...

The Kharma-Kelly Kelly stuff is compelling. Once again, Kelly Kelly was spared when Kharma came out to attack someone (Nikki Bella was the victim this week). Kharma cornered Kelly Kelly and glared menacingly at her, but all Kharma did was flick her in the forehead. ...

The way Kelly Kelly used her legs to roll up WWE Divas champion Brie Bella for the winning pinfall in the non-title match was pretty awkward and it looked like she was going in slow motion. It wasn’t believable that Bella could be pinned that easily. ...

Riley was very good on them mic in the opening segment with Cena, but Cena’s comeback – which included references to Hello Kitty and The Jonas Brothers – was lame. ...

Zack Ryder had a cameo with Cena for the second week in a row. This time, Ryder handed Cena one of his T-shirts as Cena was making his way to the ring for the main event. It looks as if the grassroots campaign to get Ryder some TV time is paying off.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (41)
        

Just a couple weeks ago, who would have believed that the person who got the biggest reaction on a pay-per-view by a major wrestling company in 2011 would be … Chyna?

I’m not sure what that says about the state of TNA and the fans at the Impact Zone, but Chyna was indeed treated like a superstar at Sunday night’s Sacrifice pay-per-view.

The crowd also was more into the Chyna and Kurt Angle versus Jeff and Karen Jarrett mixed tag match than any other bout on the show, and from purely an entertainment standpoint, it was the best match on the card.

Chyna was rusty and she didn’t do a whole lot in the match, but she didn’t need to. It will be interesting to see if she continues to have a role in TNA or if she was just brought in for one shot.

There were four title matches on the card, and in each one the champion retained, including TNA world champion Sting beating Rob Van Dam clean to set up a showdown with Mr. Anderson at Slammiversary next month.

Overall, Sacrifice was solid, but it wasn’t a can’t-miss show. All the results made sense – with Tommy Dreamer defeating A.J. Styles the one glaring exception – although there were still some logic gaps as far as the psychology in a couple of matches.

Personally, I was disappointed that Matt Morgan – who is one of the most over stars in the company – was nowhere to be found on the pay-per-view. That shouldn’t happen. I certainly would rather have seen a match between Morgan and Scott Steiner than Brian Kendrick versus Robbie E.

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

TNA world champion Sting defeated Rob Van Dam (12:39): Mr. Anderson sat in on commentary and surprisingly was not very good. A significant portion of the match took place outside the ring, which was an effective way of hiding Sting’s physical limitations. RVD carried the match but Sting also worked hard. The finish was anti-climactic and there was no real build to it. Sting went for a Scorpion Death Drop, but RVD appeared to drop too soon and it looked bad. Sting realized it and hit the move again to score the winning pinfall. I thought for sure RVD was going to kick out, but he didn’t. Losing clean like that in the center of the ring made RVD look kind of weak. After the match, RVD raised Sting’s hand and the two embraced. Anderson then got in the ring and he and Sting had a stare-down as the show went off the air.

Kurt Angle and Chyna defeated Jeff and Karen Jarrett (10:15): Early in the show, Karen came out with a walking boot and on crutches trying to get out of the match, but Mick Foley saw through the ruse and said that the match would take place as advertised. There was a “Chyna’s gonna kill you” chant early in the contest, as the fans were dying to see Chyna gets her hands on Karen. Just two minutes into the match, Chyna – who did not look nearly as physically imposing as she did during her WWE days – was tagged in, but Karen refused to get in the ring with her. While Karen stalled, Jeff got in the ring and attacked Angle, and it was somehow explained that Jeff and Angle were still legal because Jeff never tagged in Karen. The rules of a mixed tag match have always been that once a tag is made, a tag on the other side of the ring is unnecessary. With Karen being so terrified of facing Chyna, it also didn’t make sense that the Jarretts didn’t simply just walk to the back and take a countout loss, or that Jeff didn’t just intentionally fail to kick out of one of Angle’s pin attempts (Karen was screaming for him to kick out at one point in the match as if it would be the worst thing in the world if they lost). There was nothing at stake if the Jarretts were defeated, so why wouldn’t the heels take the easy way out? Oh well.

Angle and Jeff carried the match and worked well together as they always do. At the 4-minute mark, Angle carried his ex-wife over to the corner to tag in Chyna, but before he could get there, Jeff chop-blocked him and Karen landed hard on the mat. However, she immediately got right up and ran across the ring to her corner. So despite being married to two high-level pro wrestlers for more than a decade, she has no idea how to sell. Chyna finally tagged in around the 8-minute mark. She lost her balance executing a sloppy-looking bodyslam on Jeff, but she followed it with a decent suplex. Chyna then splashed Karen in the corner, hit the Pedigree on her and applied the ankle lock. Jeff grabbed Karen’s hand to prevent her from tapping – again, why? – but Angle then caught him in an ankle lock as well. Karen tapped out and the crowd popped. That was a fun match.

TNA world tag team champions Beer Money defeated Matt Hardy and Chris Harris (13:46): It was funny hearing Taz talk about how Hardy had “hoodwinked everyone” by making them think his brother Jeff was going to be his partner when it was really Harris. Yeah, Matt sure pulled a real coup with that one. Harris, who was wearing his America’s Most Wanted ring gear, looked really out of shape. Perhaps Hardy chose Harris to be his partner because he thought standing next to Harris would make him look like Randy Orton by comparison. The story of the match was that Harris wanted no part of his former AMW tag partner James Storm. The finish saw Storm and Robert Roode set up for their DWI finisher on Harris, but Storm changed his mind, and he and Roode performed the Death Sentence (AMW’s old finisher) for the win. Hardy walked out on Harris while that was going on. Harris was not impressive at all and I doubt that we’ll see him in TNA going forward.

Tommy Dreamer defeated A.J. Styles in a no-disqualification match (13:01): Dreamer pinning Styles on a TNA pay-per-view at this stage of their careers is an absolute joke. As for the match itself, it was a good brawl. They worked hard, battling through the crowd and using various weapons. At one point, Dreamer hit Styles with a sign that split Styles open hardway on the side of his head. At approximately the 12-minute mark, Bully Ray came out and hit Styles in the head with a chain. Before he could do any further damage, however, Daniels ran him off. I thought for sure that Styles was going to win in spite of the interference – thus adding to the tension between Ray and Dreamer and getting Styles ready for his inevitable grudge match against Ray – but Dreamer hit a weak-looking piledriver on a table and covered Styles for the three count. Unbelievable.

Crimson defeated Abyss (10:34): This was a decent big-man match that saw Crimson make a good accounting of himself as he continued his undefeated streak. Near the 7-minute mark, Abyss got the board with nails from under the ring, but Crimson speared him for a near fall before he could use it. A couple minutes later, Crimson got another near fall on a double-underhook DDT. Abyss responded with a Vader bomb for a two-count. With Crimson in the corner, Abyss charged at him from the other side of the ring, but Crimson moved at the last second. He then hit Red Sky (sky-high powerbomb) for the victory.

TNA Knockouts champion Mickie James defeated Madison Rayne (6:50): The stipulation was that if James won, Tara would no longer have to be subservient to Rayne and could continue her career in TNA. That made no sense to begin with, as why would James care about helping her bitter rival, who, oh by the way, ran her over with a motorcycle last month? It made even less sense that Tara was conflicted before and during the match about who she was rooting for. Shouldn’t it have been a no-brainer that she would want James to win? I seem to recall her mouthing “thank you” a couple weeks ago when James announced the stipulation. Whatever. After being ordered to stay away from ringside by Rayne before then match, Tara came out at the start of the match anyway. At about the 4-minute mark, Rayne got her loaded black glove from underneath the ring, but Tara took it from her before she could use it. James attempted a DDT, but Rayne countered with a roll-up and held the tights for a near fall. James then went for a Thesz Press off the top rope, but Rayne ducked and James took out the referee. Tara entered the ring wearing the loaded glove and acted like she didn’t know who to use it on. She eventually KO’d Rayne, and James covered her for the victory. Even though Tara’s indecision was illogical, at least TNA didn’t go for a nonsensical swerve and have Tara hit James and remain with Rayne.

TNA X Division champion Kazarian defeated Max Buck (11:18): From an in-ring standpoint, this was the best match of the night. The crowd wasn’t into it early on, and there were even a few people chanting “boring.” However, Kazarian and Buck won them over, as the chant during the latter stages of the match was “This is wrestling.” The turning point as far as getting the fans fired up occurred around the 8-minute mark, when Buck hit a Blockbuster-type move for a good near fall. Less than a minute later, Buck scored another near fall after landing a 450 Splash. At about the 10-minute mark, Kazarian hit a sick-looking sunset flip into a powerbomb over the top rope that slammed Buck’s head off the floor. After Buck blocked Kazarian’s Fade to Black finisher for a third time, Kazarian nailed him with the Shining Wizard for the win.

Mexican America defeated Ink Inc. (9:34): Shannon Moore of Ink Inc. was the star of this match, which opened the show. He performed several impressive high-flying moves, including an Asai Moonsault off the middle rope onto Mexican America’s Hernandez on the floor. Moore and partner Jesse Neal were setting up for the Mooregasm, but Rosita’s interference prevented them from executing it. Moore grabbed her by the hair and threatened her, but Neal stepped in and prevented Moore from hitting her. That distraction allowed Anarquia to pull Moore out of the ring, and Hernandez then hit what appeared to be a variation of The Gordbuster on Neal for the win. The finisher was impressive, as Neal appeared to land face-first hard on the mat. Although there seemed to be some dissension between Moore and Neal over Rosita near the end of the match, the two partners left the ring together.

Brian Kendrick defeated Robbie E. (6:42): Kendrick cut a good promo before the match talking – in his own unique way – about the plight of the X Division competitors in TNA. Kendrick wrestled almost the entire match wearing his white satin robe, which looked silly. The action here was fine but Robbie E. just isn’t over, and that made it hard to get into the match. Kendrick – who had a bloody mouth as the result of taking a stiff kick – got the win after countering a neckbreaker attempt and landing a flying kick.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)
        

One week after Randy Orton defeated Christian for the world heavyweight title, the two fan favorites teamed up to win a tag match in the Smackdown main event Friday night.

Although it had been announced that Orton and Christian would meet in a rematch for the championship at the Over the Limit pay-per-view on May 22, there was no real dissension between them.

In fact, Christian made it a point to say that he was cool with the fact that Orton challenged him for the title on last week’s show even though Christian had participated in a grueling ladder match just days prior. He said that he would have done the same thing as Orton.

Christian also said that he wasn’t angry with Smackdown general manager Teddy Long for making the match last week.

However, I’m not buying that Christian is really that rational about having the title slip out of his grasp so quickly after it took him 17 years to finally gets his hands on it. It seemed as if WWE laying the groundwork for Christian to eventually snap and turn on Orton.

I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out and how the fans react to Christian if/when he does turn heel. Right now, he sure does come off as a sympathetic figure.

Other thoughts on Friday’s show:

The opening video package recapping Christian’s title win and subsequent loss was very well done. It really played up how much the title means to the competitors. …

The Orton and Christian versus Sheamus and Mark Henry match was an entertaining TV main event, although the heels sort of came off as bit players in the Orton-Christian program. …

The Sin Cara-Daniel Bryan match was good. Sin Cara won because of interference from Chavo Guerrero that Cara wasn’t aware of until after the fact. So far, Bryan’s move to Smackdown isn’t benefitting him like I thought it would. Oh well, at least it gets him on TV every week. …

I liked the segment with Layla, Michael Cole and Kharma. After Cole interrupted Layla’s promo, Kharma came out and brutalized Layla as Cole cheered her on. For a second, I thought Kharma and Cole – who had tripped Layla as she was trying to run away from Kharma – were aligned, but then she went after him as well. He made a hasty retreat to the safety of the Cole Mine. I’m curious to see where things go with Kharma. As for Cole, it sure appears as if WWE is planning on some type of program involving him and the Divas. …

The Wade Barrett- Kane match wasn’t very good, but the post-match angle was fine. After Kane picked up the win by disqualification due to outside interference by Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater, the three Core members beat him down. Ezekiel Jackson made the save but eventually was overcome by the numbers disadvantage. Jackson showed a lot of fire when he first came out, and The Corre looked strong at the end. …

Cole had a great line when Booker T. was talking about Slater and Gabriel not having a right to stand outside the ring during the Barrett-Kane match. “They don’t even have a manager’s license,” Booker said, to which Cole replied: “A manager’s license? What is this, 1985?” …

Having Cody Rhodes defeat former Legacy partner Ted DiBiase Jr. in a relatively short (a little over three minutes) TV match seems like a missed opportunity. By the way, all moving from Raw to Smackdown seems to have meant for DiBiase’s career is that he has gone from being a heel jobber to a babyface jobber. …

The Khali Kiss Cam returned, which led to Jinder Mahal slapping Khali for participating in the silliness. Well, Khali did look pretty ridiculous out there wearing a cowboy hat and planting a liplock on a homely woman, so he probably deserved to be slapped around a bit.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Here's a link to an article I wrote for today's Sports section of The Baltimore Sun on TNA star Jesse Neal.

The story details Neal's decision to dedicate his wrestling career to his late best friend, who died in the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole in 2000.

To read the story, click here.

Photo courtesy of TNA

Posted by Kevin Eck at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Three mysteries were solved on Thursday night’s episode of TNA Impact.

Mick Foley was revealed as the person pulling the strings with The Network, which was predictable; Chris Harris returned as Matt Hardy’s tag team partner, which was a letdown; and Chyna was introduced as Kurt Angle’s “mistress.” That by far was the most interesting of the three and it was one I didn’t see coming.

Chyna, who has been out of wrestling since leaving WWE in 2001 except for a few appearances in Japan several years ago, will team with Angle against Jeff and Karen Jarrett in a mixed tag team match on Sunday’s Sacrifice pay-per-view.

Chyna’s presence in TNA shows why people in wrestling always say “never say never.” Over the past several years, she’s largely been a train wreck whose public meltdowns were sad to watch.

I would say I’m shocked that TNA would do business with her considering her reputation, but then again, this is the company that has employed the likes of Scott Hall and Jeff Hardy.

It has been reported by The Wrestling Observer that the gigantic Lindsay Hayward (aka Aloisia, aka Isis The Amazon) was the original choice to be Angle’s “mistress” (she was the first person I thought of when Angle announced on TV that he was bringing in a mystery woman). Hayward had a tryout match in TNA, but, according to the Observer, she rubbed people the wrong way backstage.

From a story line standpoint, Chyna makes more sense anyway. She and Jeff Jarrett had a program together in WWE in 1999 that culminated in the memorable Good Housekeeping Match that saw Chyna win the Intercontinental title. Of course, newer fans probably don’t know about that feud, and some may not know anything at all about Chyna. She did get a huge pop when she came out in the Impact Zone, though.

She didn’t say a word, which was reminiscent of her early days in WWE when she played Triple H’s silent, heavily muscled bodyguard. These days, however, the only thing truly freakish about Chyna’s physique is her massive boob job.

Chyna was introduced by Foley after he revealed himself to be The Network’s representative. Like I said earlier, Foley was a predictable choice for the role (I called it five weeks ago), but that doesn’t mean that he’s not the right choice. I’m glad to see him back in the mix on TV.

The head-scratcher on Thursday’s show was Harris – James Storm’s former tag partner in America’s Most Wanted – coming back to be Hardy’s mystery partner to go against Storm and Bobby Roode.

Sure, I get that there’s history there, but TNA teased that there was going to be a tag team dream match between the Hardy Boyz and Beer Money, and then instead of delivering that, out comes a bloated-looking Braden Walker. Weak.

Other thoughts on Thursday’s show:

The other big news was the much-talked about changing of the show’s name from TNA Impact to Impact Wrestling. Foley announced it, saying that “wrestling matters,” and the focus is now going to be on what happens in the ring rather than backstage politics. With Vince Russo writing the shows, I’m skeptical about that one. I do think it’s a good idea for TNA to push the word “wrestling” seeing as how it’s banned in WWE. In true TNA fashion – where nothing is ever simple – there was confusion as to whether the name of the company was changing from TNA to Impact or just the TV show. It seems that it’s only the show, which is disappointing. The TNA name has always made it hard to take the company seriously, and I’m surprised it wasn’t dropped years ago. I’d go all the way with the re-branding effort, but that’s just me. …

I enjoyed the 25-man battle royal main event that determined who would meet the winner of Sunday’s match between TNA world champion Sting and Rob Van Dam at next month’s Slammiversary pay-per-view. Mr. Anderson winning (he eliminated Bully Ray for the victory) made sense based on how the story line has played out the past few months. …

I liked that Matt Morgan was put over as a monster before he was eliminated from the battle royal. I’m cautiously optimistic that the payoff to Morgan’s long chase of the world title is going occur in the not-too-distant future. …

The show-opening promo with Jeff and Karen Jarrett trying to call a truce with Angle was fine, but I thought it went on a little long before Angle finally came out. Karen did a great job of selling how upset she was when Chyna was revealed as Angle’s tag team partner. …

Who did A.J. Styles tick off to end up in another program with Tommy Dreamer? Or perhaps the question is, who does Dreamer have incriminating photos of to get himself in another program with Styles? Look, I have no doubts that Tom Laughlin is a heck of a nice guy, but the Tommy Dreamer character at this point does nothing for me. I’m not saying he doesn’t have some value to the company, but I think he has more to offer behind the camera with the likes of Al Snow and D’Lo Brown than in front of it with the likes of Styles. …

I’m disappointed that Mickie James didn’t cut a promo this week to explain why she decided on a stipulation for her TNA Knockouts title defense against Madison Rayne at Sacrifice that would grant Tara her freedom from Rayne. Mike Tenay said something about there being mutual respect, but since James and Tara have hated each other in the story line, it would have been nice to have James put it in her own words. …

I was surprised at first that Miss Tessmacher pinned Rayne in the tag match in which Tessmacher and James defeated Rayne and Tara, but it made sense after I thought about it. Rayne getting beat added to the tension between her and Tara, and it wouldn’t have been wise to have James pin Rayne before their title match. …

I haven’t seen enough of Tessmacher yet to tell how good she is or isn’t in the ring, but I can say with absolute certainty that she’s a lot of fun to watch. …

Speaking of fun to watch – although in an entirely different way – the Sangrieto-Suicide match (won by Sangrieto) was entertaining. …

The three-way match that saw Crimson defeat Samoa Joe and Abyss was hard-hitting but way too short (less than three minutes). …

Abyss looks even more frightening now that he is missing his bottom two front teeth (the result of a stiff kick to the face by RVD).

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

He's got long sideburns and his hair slicked back. He's coming to our town in his pink Cadillac.

He's The Honky Tonk Man, and he will be appearing at Legendary Ink in the Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie, Md., on Sunday.

The longest-reigning Intercontinental champion in history will be signing autographs and taking photos with fans beginning at 2 p.m.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Baltimore native Stacy Keibler is coming home to host the infield festivities at the Preakness Stakes May 21 at Pimlico Race Course.

The actress and former WWE Diva will introduce the music acts on the main stage and interact with the crowd in the beer garden. Keibler performed the same role at the 2009 Preakness.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

• There were two eliminations on Monday night’s episode of WWE Tough Enough, and neither was a surprise. Eric has impressive size and a good look, but he drew the trainers’ ire because of his questionable conditioning, and he never seemed to truly “get it” inside the ring. Ivelisse was sent home because her hamstring injury had become a hindrance. If Eric dedicates himself to improving, I could see him getting another look from WWE in the future. It also wouldn’t surprise me to see Ivelisse in WWE one day.

• A.J. was the other person in Steve Austin’s bottom three. Austin hit the nail on the head when he said that A.J. just hasn’t stood out. He’s never been the best or the worst in anything they’ve done on the show thus far, but now that the competition is down to six, he is going to be scrutinized much more closely.

• The best exchange on the show went like this:

Austin: Why are you in this competition?

A.J.: To learn from the best in the world so that I can become one of the best in the world.

Austin: Goddamn, I was one of best in the world, but, goddamn, I ain’t no miracle worker.

• It was obvious by the strong performances of Luke and Christina that the “come to Jesus meeting” they had with Austin last week when they were in the bottom three lit a fire under them.

• Here’s how I would rank the remaining six as far as their chances of winning the competition: 1. Luke; 2. Martin; 3. Jeremiah; 4. Christina; 5. Andy; 6. A.J.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

The Divamania tour, featuring appearances by former WWE Divas Maria Kanellis and Taryn Terrell (aka Tiffany), will be making a stop at Mist in Baltimore this Saturday.

The women will be signing autographs at the club from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

For more information, click here.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

When it was revealed Monday that John Morrison was undergoing neck surgery, the assumption was that he was going to be sidelined for quite a while.

It turns out that Morrison had a minimally invasive procedure performed on him and will be back much sooner than later.

“Unlike other procedures, such as those undergone by John Cena and Edge, the typical recovery time is four to six weeks,” Dr. Christopher Amann, WWE’s senior ringside physician, told wwe.com.

According to the wwe.com report, renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Joseph Maroon created a small incision in the back of Morrison’s neck and removed a bone spur and a small fragment of the C5-C6 disc from around the nerve root. Morrison said that he noticed immediate improvement in strength and decreased numbness in his arm.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

I know there are a number of fans who have grown tired of Michael Cole in general and his feud with Jerry Lawler in particular, but I thought their segments were the best part of Raw Monday night.

Cole once again was outstanding on the mic, as he was at his smarmy-best when he brought up Mother’s Day and the fact that Lawler’s mother had recently died. One can question whether that part of the exchange was in poor taste but I thought it was very effective in getting heat on Cole and sympathy on Lawler. And I seriously doubt that Lawler would have agreed to the angle if he had a problem with it.

The highlight of the interaction between the two was when Lawler reached through the hole in the Cole Mine, grabbed Cole by his tie and pulled on it, repeatedly banging Cole’s face on the glass.

The money shot was a close-up of Cole’s distorted face pressed up against the glass (right). Now that was laugh-out-loud funny.

The end result of it all was that Cole and Lawler will face each other again in a match at the Over the Limit pay-per-view on May 22, with the stipulation that if Cole wins, Lawler will personally induct Cole into the WWE Hall of Fame and give Cole his Hall of Fame ring.

Other thoughts on Monday’s show:

The first thing I thought of when Lawler was pulling on Cole’s tie was how Daniel Bryan got fired for an act that involved attacking an announcer (Justin Roberts) with a tie. Roberts even made a silly face just like Cole. ...

The WWE title match at Over the Limit is set, as John Cena will defend against The Miz in an I Quit Match. I have no problem with WWE doing another Cena-Miz match, but I think the “I quit” stipulation is going to be a tough sell. I can’t imagine there’s anyone who actually believes there is any chance that Cena will quit. ...

To earn the title shot, Miz won an entertaining triple threat match over Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio. I knew there was no way Mysterio was winning, but I think a babyface matchup between Cena and Mysterio would be fun. ...

R-Truth was pretty entertaining in the opening segment, which saw him, Miz, Del Rio and Mysterio all make their case to be the No. 1 contender for the WWE title. When the anonymous Raw general manager announced that there would be a triple threat match to determine Cena’s challenger – and that R-Truth was the odd man out – R-Truth had this tremendous over-the-top look of anger and frustration on his face. “Again?” he asked rhetorically. ...

Alex Riley was a big part of this show. He helped Miz win the triple threat match, and he also wrestled (and lost to) Cena. I’m glad that WWE kept Miz and Riley together, but what exactly was the point of drafting Riley to Smackdown if he’s just going to continue appearing on Raw anyway? ...

It was pretty cool to see Ricardo Rodriguez deliver a dropkick to Riley during the opening segment. As some may know, Rodriguez is a trained wrestler. ...

The U.S. title match that saw Kofi Kingston defeat Jack Swagger to retain the championship wasn’t bad, but they’ve had better matches with each other. ...

Kharma attacked a babyface (Eve Torres) this time, so she’s not just going after heels. It took place after Eve and Kelly Kelly had defeated The Bellas in a tag team match. Eve stood her ground and actually initiated the fight with Kharma, while Kelly Kelly and the Bellas fled. It’s weird to see babyfaces such as Kelly Kelly and Layla running away. ...

The Kane-Mason Ryan match – which ended in a no-decision – certainly wasn’t smooth, but it wasn’t terrible. During the match, CM Punk – who had accompanied Ryan to the ring – was knocked out cold by The Big Show. It’s a shame to see Punk out of the title picture and stuck in a mid-card feud in which the focus isn’t even on him. I guess that’s what happens when you make noise about leaving and refuse to sign a contract extension. ...

Dolph Ziggler scored a convincing win over Santino Marella, but I’m still not convinced that changing Ziggler’s look was a good idea, and I don’t think I ever will be. ...

Zack Ryder – who has become a cult favorite among the Internet Wrestling Community – made a cameo, as he was fist-pumping with Cena in the back prior to Cena’s match. There were a few Ryder signs in the crowd that made it on camera, as well. It will be interesting to see if WWE does anything with Ryder going forward that plays off his underground popularity.

Photo courtesy of WWE

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (43)
        

As most wrestling fans are probably aware, former WWE star Shane “Hurricane” Helms and his girlfriend both suffered multiple broken bones and other injuries in a motorcycle accident in North Carolina on Thursday.

Now, TMZ.com is reporting that police are investigating whether Helms was driving under the influence.

Quoting from a police report, TMZ said that a witness told police that he was hanging out with Helms at a restaurant minutes before the crash and “was sure” Helms had been drinking there.

Citing law enforcement sources, TMZ reported that officers took a blood sample from Helms at the hospital to check his blood alcohol level at the time of the crash and are awaiting the results.

No charges have been filed at this time.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

John Morrison said on Twitter that he is going to have neck surgery. He did not offer any specifics.
Wrestlingobserver.com reported that Morrison was pulled from this past weekend’s house shows and examined as to the severity of his injuries.

It’s a tough break for Morrison, who was being pushed as one of the top babyfaces on Raw and had just headlined the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

It also delays his program with R-Truth, but that isn’t necessarily a negative as far as the bigger picture is concerned. R-Truth will no doubt claim responsibility for putting Morrison on the shelf, which should get him more heel heat. And when Morrison does return, he’ll have a ready-made revenge angle with R-Truth waiting for him.

I wish Morrison the best of luck in his surgery and recovery.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

When I was making my predictions for last Sunday’s Extreme Rules WWE pay-per-view, I wrote that I expected Christian to win the vacant world heavyweight title and “go on to have a brief title reign.”

Turns out I was right on both fronts. Although by “brief,” I was thinking a couple months. I never dreamed it would only be two days (that’s in real time; WWE officially recognizes Christian’s reign as five days because that when the title change aired on television).

In the spoiler that rocked the Internet Wrestling Community, Randy Orton defeated Christian to become an eight-time world champion on Friday night’s episode of Smackdown.

My first reaction when I heard the news wasn’t a positive one. I couldn’t understand (and still don’t to some extent) why WWE would take such a feel-good moment – which Christian’s victory over Alberto Del Rio at Extreme Rules certainly was – and immediately turn it into something that truly angered a large portion of its fan base.

Much like Jeff Hardy, Christian becoming a world champion wasn’t supposed to happen. It was apparent that Christian was considered by WWE decision-makers to be a talented, dependable performer – “a hell of a hand” as they say – but not world champion material.

During the course of his 13-year career in WWE and TNA, however, Christian gained the admiration of the fans, who recognized his talent in spite of the fact that he had never been one of the office’s chosen ones.

When Edge – Christian’s best friend since childhood – was forced to retire due to injury and vacate the world heavyweight title last month – WWE had a terrific story line fall into its lap that basically wrote itself.

How fitting that Christian – one of the most underrated performers in the business, who had been figuratively climbing the ladder for years but was never able to break through the glass ceiling – finally wins the big one by literally climbing a ladder and grasping the world heavyweight title belt as his best friend Edge cheers him on.

It would have been nice if the fans could have savored that victory for more than a few days.
And in looking at the larger picture, consider this: After Christian won the title Sunday, for about 30 minutes the two world champions in WWE were an underrated veteran getting his first title reign, and a rising 30-year-old (The Miz) who was in the midst of his first title reign.

About 48 hours later, the belts were back around the all-too-familiar waists of John Cena and Orton, who have a combined 18 world title reigns between them. At this point in their careers, neither of them needs to be a champion to get over.

It’s no wonder the IWC – which has grown tired of the same guys always ending up with the big belts – was so ticked off, especially about Orton beating sentimental favorite Christian. But let’s try to take some of the emotion out of it and look at the situation more objectively.

The fact is that there is more than one way to elevate a performer, and I believe that Christian’s newfound status as a top guy did not end the night he dropped the title. It looks to me as if he is going to be working a title program with Orton, and that’s certainly not a bad position to be in.

It really comes down to a creative choice: Which direction does WWE want to take the Christian character? Judging by Christian’s reaction after losing the title, a heel turn seems likely. And if WWE does go that route, it means that Christian would be the top heel on Smackdown, and another run with the title could very well be in his future.

That would be a better scenario for Christian’s career than if he had held the belt for a couple months, dropped it and then gone back to mid-card status.

On the other hand, while Christian has demonstrated that he can be an outstanding heel, I’m just not convinced that turning him is the right way to go (not saying he shouldn’t turn at some point down the line). There was real emotion among the fans when he won the title – as further evidenced by the backlash against WWE when the company took the belt off him so quickly – and I don’t think the majority of the fan base wants to boo him right now.

But I will say this: When Christian came out at the beginning of Smackdown to cut his first promo as world champion, he got a really good pop; however, when Orton came out, the place went nuts. The crowd also popped big when Orton defeated Christian.

The bottom line is that we’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out before we can truly say whether Christian losing the title so quickly was a good thing or a bad thing.

Other thoughts on Friday’s show:

The controversial decision aside, the Orton-Christian match was very good. …

Christian cut a good promo. It was almost surreal to see him standing in the middle of the ring with the big gold belt draped over his shoulder. …

Sheamus and Daniel Bryan also had a good match. I liked the finish, which saw Bryan charge across the ring and attempt to dive onto Sheamus on the floor, but Sheamus caught him with the Brogue Kick. He then hit a second Brogue Kick inside the ring for the victory. …

It appears that Ezekiel Jackson is about to get a big push, perhaps as a babyface. After being put over strong by scoring a pinfall victory over The Big Show, Jackson was attacked in his dressing room by Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater and booted out of The Corre. …

Jackson’s story line on Smackdown seems very similar to Mason Ryan’s deal with The Nexus on Raw. I wonder if WWE is planning on putting Jackson and Ryan together as a powerhouse tag team and having them win the WWE tag team belts from Big Show and Kane. …

Coming off her big Loser leaves WWE victory over former LayCool partner Michelle McCool at Extreme Rules, Layla made quick work of Alicia Fox. After the match, Kharma came down to the ring and laid out Fox (Layla scampered to the back). So for those keeping score, Kharma’s three victims thus far have all been heels: McCool, Maryse and Fox. …

Fox reportedly suffered a shoulder injury during Kharma’s attack. It appeared that she landed awkwardly on the shoulder after taking a clothesline. …

The Sin Cara-Tyson Kidd match was entertaining. Chavo Guerrero was doing commentary and played subtle heel, so it looks as if there will be a program between him and Cara. I’m sure the matches will be good since Guerrero knows how to work Cara’s style, but it’s hard to take Guerrero seriously as a threat to beat anyone after all those losses to Hornswoggle. …

Cody Rhodes cut a decent promo after coming out on the losing end of his feud with Rey Mysterio at Extreme Rules. I’m curious to see who his next program is with. ...

It appears that Jinder Mahal is trying to create dissension between Ranjin Singh and The Great Khali, which could end up with Khali turning on Singh and aligning with Mahal for another run as a monster heel. I'm guessing there aren't a lot of fans too excited by the prospect of Khali getting a more high-profile role.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (58)
        

If you’re a fan of Velvet Sky – and, really, who isn’t? – you most likely enjoyed TNA Impact Thursday night.

Sky was given an opportunity to rub elbows with some of TNA’s major players and she made the most of it.

First, she more than held her own in a verbal confrontation with Karen Jarrett, and then she teamed with Kurt Angle to defeat Jeff Jarrett, Winter and Angelina Love in the main event. Sky even won the match for her side, pinning Winter.

Sky has never been one of TNA’s better female workers, but she’s an entertaining character and it was nice to see her get an opportunity to play a significant role on the show.

One thing you can definitely say about TNA is that its female performers are not treated as afterthoughts the way the WWE Divas are.

Other thoughts on Thursday’s show:

Next week’s episode should be quite interesting, as the mysterious person who has been working with The Network will be revealed, as will the identity of Angle’s “mistress.” ...

There was a tease that Goldberg is the person with The Network, but we immediately found out that wasn’t the case. When Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff left the Impact Zone to get into their car, the words “You’re next” were spray-painted on it, but it turned out that a group of ticked-off X Division guys – Brian Kendrick, Max and Jeremy Buck and Amazing Red – were behind it. ...

Hogan and Bischoff also wondered if it might be Vince Russo who was associated with The Network. Nah, it couldn’t be, because Hogan already said that whoever is advising The Network obviously knows a lot about the wrestling business. ...

Speaking of those angry X Division guys (they were upset about Jay Lethal being fired and the fact that they are under-appreciated), that angle left me dumbfounded. First off, weren’t the Buck brothers feuding with each other? And isn’t Kendrick supposed to be a laid-back hippie? Now he’s suddenly an angry young man? Beyond those inconsistencies, do we really need to have yet another story line in TNA about backstage politics? By the way, when Bischoff threw his cup of coffee at Kendrick, it was a takeoff on a real-life incident between Bischoff and Eddie Guerrero that took place in WCW years ago. ...

The show got off to a hot start with a talking segment that was highlighted by Robert Roode cutting a really good promo on Hogan. However, some of what Roode said seemed to come out of nowhere, specifically him referring to himself as a blue collar guy who wrestles to put food on his family’s table. Huh? I thought he was rich. Isn’t he the “money” in Beer Money? Roode also said that he now wants to be known as “Bobby.” Hey, I’m all for Roode getting a push – in fact, I’ve been advocating it for years – and perhaps his rich gimmick doesn’t work if he’s a babyface, but if his character is going change so dramatically, TNA needs to come up with some plausible explanation for it. ...

In another example of a character doing a puzzling 180, Shannon Moore – who has been acting very heelish as of late and hasn’t been getting along with tag team partner Jesse Neal – played a patriotic babyface as he and Neal saved Spanish announcers Hector Guerrero and Willie Urbina from an attack by Mexican America. ...

During the tag team match that pitted A.J. Styles and Daniels against Bully Ray and Gunner, Tommy Dreamer came out, teased that he was going after Ray, and then attacked Styles instead. Dreamer had a look of regret on his face and then was shown smashing up lockers backstage. Ray, meanwhile, said that he was going to enjoy playing mind games with Dreamer. So Dreamer is a reluctant heel. Styles demanded answers. I’m sorry, but I just don’t care about any angle that involves Dreamer, and I really don’t want to see Styles in another program with him. ...

Matt Hardy strongly hinted that his brother, Jeff, is returning to be his tag team partner. Since this TNA, that of course means that it has to be a swerve. ...

There was a fun spot in the main event. Angle had Jeff Jarrett in the ankle lock, and when Karen tried to pull Jeff out of the ring, Angle pulled him back in and Karen went along for the ride. ...

Lethal was also referenced in Roode’s promo in addition to being mentioned in the X Division-Bischoff angle. Geez, Lethal has more of a presence on the show since being released than he did when he was on the roster the past few months. ...

Sky almost made it through the entire opening segment without saying “b*tch.” ...

The TNA Knockouts title match that saw champion Mickie James defeat Miss Tessmacher wasn’t bad, although I have no idea what Tessmacher did to deserve a title shot. ...

I also don’t know why James would care about what happens to Tara, who has been her bitter rival. James said that if she beats Madison Rayne in their upcoming match, then Tara is free to resume her career in TNA and no longer has to be at Rayne’s mercy. ...

Judging by the backstage verbal confrontation between Samoa Joe and Crimson, it seems as if Joe may not be doing another ill-advised heel turn after all. I got the impression that Joe is doing a tough love-type mentor role. ...

Rob Terry beat Murphy in a match in which the loser had to leave Immortal. Let’s be frank: Neither of these guys would be missed if they left, but at least Terry has the freakish physique thing going for him, which is more than Murphy has. ...

Putting a mask on Amazing Red to create a new character isn’t the worst idea I’ve ever heard. Red – under a hood as Sangrieto – beat Suicide in an OK match. ...

Just wondering: Is “annoying” in Spanish pronounced Anarquia?

Posted by Kevin Eck at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
        

In honor of Maxim magazine releasing its annual Hot 100 List – which included former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler and current WWE Diva Kelly Kelly – I’ve put together a list of the 10 hottest women in wrestling.

“Hot” of course is in the eye of the beholder, and this is merely one man’s opinion. Your lists, of course, are welcome and encouraged.

And because we here at Ring Posts are equal opportunity offenders, anyone who wants to send in their list of the 10 hottest male wrestlers should feel free to do so.

While some may find these types of lists to be offensive, keep in mind that wrestling is a business in which both sexes take pride in their physical appearance. If they didn’t, would they run around half-naked in spandex in front of millions of people?

So this list isn’t about objectifying these women; it’s about celebrating their beauty. … Oh, who am I kidding? It’s really just about the page views. So click early and often.

Enjoy!

To view the list and photo gallery, click here.

Maryse photo courtesy of WWE

Posted by Kevin Eck at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (46)
        

Yes, I know about it.

I’m not going to comment on it until after the show airs.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (63)
        

Here is an interview I conducted with WWE star and executive Triple H last Friday at WWE's anti-bullying campaign on the red carpet in Washington, D.C.

He discusses WWE's decision to no longer be known as World Wrestling Entertainment, transitioning from an in-ring to a behind-the-scenes role, and whether he has gone back and watched his WrestleMania XXVII match against The Undertaker.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Video interviews
        

Here is a brief interview I conducted with WWE executive Stephanie McMahon last Friday at WWE's anti-bullying campaign on the red carpet in Washington, D.C.

Check back later today for my video interview with Triple H.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Video interviews
        

• The highlight of WWE Tough Enough for me is always the final segment when “Stone Cold” Steve Austin cuts promos on the bottom three contestants before choosing which one of them to eliminate. His performance on Monday night’s episode was his best yet. The unlucky three were Christina, Ryan (aka Skid Marks) and – surprisingly – Luke. What made the segment so compelling was the interaction between Austin and Luke. It was obvious that the ultra-confident Luke was seething about being one of the “bottom feeders.” Austin baited him a few times – including calling him a “dips--t” – but Luke managed to keep his cool. In the end it was Ryan – making his third appearance in the bottom three – who finally was sent home.

• I think Austin and the trainers wanted to send a message to Luke that even though he had established himself as one of the favorites to win the contest, he wasn’t going to be able to rest on his laurels. Honestly, I might have lost interest in the show if Luke had been eliminated.

• In the funniest part of the final segment, Austin first had a conversation with Christina and then with Luke, but when he went over to Ryan, he just threw his hands up in the air and walked back to Christina.

• Ryan even managed to rub Booker T. the wrong way. When Booker was talking to the group, Ryan was shown rolling his eyes and not paying attention. That prompted Booker to violently snatch him up off the floor, ripping his shirt. Booker cut a promo on him and said, “Do not mistake my kindness for weakness.” Ryan looked as if he was about to defecate on himself. I got to know Booker a little when I worked for WCW, and he was one of the nicest guys in the company. However, I had heard that as good a guy as he was, Booker was not someone you would ever want to mess with (as Batista found out several years ago when they were both in WWE).

• It looked as if Ivelisse could have suffered a serious neck injury when Christina botched a leapfrog and came down hard on Ivelisse’s head. It was obvious that she was hurt, and Booker yelled for a medic. As it turned out, it looked worse than it was. Ivelisse had actually injured her hamstring and not her neck.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler and current WWE Diva Kelly Kelly have both been named to Maxim magazine’s annual Hot 100 list.

Keibler (below, left) – who has been on the list for six straight years – is No. 72, while first-timer Kelly Kelly (below, right) checks in at No. 82.

Locally speaking, Keibler is not the only Baltimore native on the list, as actress Anna Faris (“Scary Movie”) is No. 44.

Photos by Getty Images

Posted by Kevin Eck at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

As a longtime fan of both The Rock character and Dwayne Johnson as a performer, I think it was a great idea to build Monday night’s episode of Raw around a birthday celebration for him.

With that being said, however, I wasn’t blown away by the show.

I don’t really believe it’s possible to have too much Rock, but I did think his show-opening promo started to drag. Things picked up after Michael Cole interrupted him, but I just wish Cole would have gotten involved a little sooner. The segment in its entirety went about 30 minutes.

The pre-taped birthday wishes from various celebrities were fine because they made the show – and The Rock – seem like a big deal, but the backstage birthday party segments fell a bit flat.

As for the final segment, I liked that Vince McMahon made an appearance and spoke out of character about his admiration for The Rock, and I thought the video package on Rock’s life was very well done.

However, the ending felt a little anti-climactic. After Rock delivered one last promo, streamers and balloons fell from the ceiling and pyrotechnics shot off, and that was it. The show went off 18 minutes past the hour.

I kept thinking someone was going to do a run-in. After all, how many parties/celebrations on televised wrestling shows don’t have a physical confrontation or at the very least someone getting a birthday cake in the face?

Other thoughts on Monday’s show:

Some cynics may have rolled their eyes but I liked the patriotic opening and Lillian Garcia singing the national anthem. I also thought it was cool that WWE showed the video of John Cena announcing that Osama bin Laden had been killed to the live crowd at Extreme Rules after the pay-per-view went off the air Sunday night. ...

The WWE title match between newly crowned champion Cena and former champion The Miz was entertaining and the crowd was super-hot for it. It was definitely better than their match at WrestleMania XXVII last month. There was a great false finish when Miz hit Cena with the briefcase after a ref bump and Cena kicked out at the very last second. I thought the actual finish was pretty good as well, as Miz nailed Cena with the title belt behind the referee’s back and covered him for the three count, only to have the decision reversed when the referee saw that Miz had the belt. While I would loved to have seen Miz regain the title he lost Sunday night, at least he was booked strongly in defeat. He even kicked out of the Attitude Adjustment. ...

The brief backstage face to face moment between Cena and The Rock was a nice tease for their WrestleMania XXVIII match next April. It appears Cena’s story line going forward will focus on him trying to remain WWE champion so that his showdown with The Rock will be for the championship. The flaw with it is that Rock has never said that he wants to be champion or wrestle fulltime again. ...

Other than CM Punk, I didn’t notice anyone else selling the effects of having competed in a gimmick match at Extreme Rules the night before. ...

R-Truth’s crazed facial expressions since turning heel have been great. I liked that after he attacked John Morrison on the entrance ramp before their match – which never did take place – he came back and attacked him a second time. ...

After The Rock took out Cole with a Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow in the opening segment, Jim Ross sat in on commentary for the rest of the show, which was nice. ...

It was interesting that Kharma attacked Maryse but she spared Kelly Kelly, who was “frozen in fear.” So the two Divas to feel Kharma’s wrath since her debut have both been heels (she laid out Michelle McCool at Sunday’s pay-per-view). WWE has done a nice job of introducing Kharma, and the crowd reacted when she made her way to the ring during the Maryse-Kelly Kelly match. ...

The tag team match in which Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston defeated Jack Swagger and Drew McIntyre was decent. I thought it was funny that Alberto Del Rio was sitting in on commentary because the former Smackdown star wanted to scout the talent on his new show. What made it funny is that all four guys in the ring also just came over from Smackdown, so he should already be familiar with them. ...

It seemed like a feud between Del Rio and Mysterio was being set up. Um, been there, done that. I thought the idea for the draft was to create fresh matchups. ...

Ron Simmons made a cameo to deliver his “Damn!” line after seeing Santino Marella dressed up as Rock’s character in “Fast Five,” Hornswoggle as “The Scorpion King” and The Great Khali as “The Tooth Fairy.” I guess Simmons has forgiven The Rock for stealing The Nation of Domination from him all those years ago. ...

Mason Ryan was put over as a powerhouse in his brief match with Kane, which ended with Kane winning by disqualification. Ryan overpowered both Kane and The Big Show after the match, and then he walked back up the entrance ramp without Punk and the other Nexus members. Punk didn’t look too happy about that. I wonder if WWE is planning to give Ryan a push by having him turn babyface and feud with Punk. ...

There have been times when I’ve thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to be The Rock?” When he was making out with Mae Young on Monday was not one of those times. ...

I had never heard of Pitbull and I wasn’t impressed with his performance (although the Miami Heat dance team was nice to look at). I don’t really know much about Mya either, but at least she had a decent signing voice.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 8:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

A special edition on location at WWE's anti-bullying campaign red carpet event in Washington, D.C., features interviews with Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, David Arquette, Alyssa Milano, Marlon Wayans and others.

Among the highlights, Triple H discusses WWE's decision to no longer be known as World Wrestling Entertainment.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Ring Posts Xtra episodes
        

There were two new world champions crowned at WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view Sunday night.

One is literally a new world champion, and it felt as if we were watching something special when the veteran finally captured the championship belt. The other new champ, however, is anything but, and his victory felt like it was just the same old, same old.

Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio in a Ladder Match to shatter the glass ceiling and claim the world heavyweight title that had been vacated by his best friend Edge, while John Cena toppled defending WWE champion The Miz and John Morrison in a Steel Cage Match to become a 10-time world champ.

Both matches were very good, as was the show overall. The Randy Orton-CM Punk Last Man Standing Match and Rey Mysterio-Cody Rhodes Falls Count Anywhere Match also delivered.

It was a good night to be a babyface, as the good guys (and girl) went over in seven of the eight matches. The lone heel victory went to Michael Cole – of all people – and Jack Swagger, who defeated Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross in a Country Whipping Match.

In other noteworthy developments, Kharma – formerly known as Awesome Kong – made her WWE debut by attacking Michelle McCool moments after McCool had lost a Loser Leaves WWE Match to Layla, and Kofi Kingston defeated Sheamus to bring the U.S. title to Raw.

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

John Cena defeated WWE champion The Miz and John Morrison in a Steel Cage Match to win the title (19:53): The Miz immediately tried to climb out of the cage but Cena and Morrison pulled him down. Miz hit the Skull-Crushing Finale on Cena just four minutes into the match, but he couldn’t make the cover because he had to stop Morrison from climbing out. There was a scary moment just past the 5-minute mark, as Cena and Morrison double-suplexed Miz off the top of the cage and back into the ring. Miz appeared to land awkwardly on his neck, but he made it through the rest of the match. There was a lot of action on top of the cage throughout the contest, including several spots in which two of the participants traded blows up there. At the 9:15 mark, Miz tried to escape through the door while Cena and Morrison exchanged punches above him. Morrison managed to kick the door into Miz’s face, but then he ended up crotching himself on the door, and Miz dragged him back in the cage. In a cool spot at 13:25, Morrison hit Starship Pain off the top of the cage onto a standing Cena and Miz. About a minute later, Morrison was nearly through the door when R-Truth suddenly appeared and hit a running knee to Morrison’s head against the ring steps.

R-Truth then stepped inside the cage and attacked both Morrison and Cena. He never touched Miz, who was selling on the mat the entire time. R-Truth then climbed out of the cage in a symbolic move to show that he could have won the match had he been in it. Miz stirred, saw that his two opponents were down and began climbing the cage. Cena went to get him, and the two battled on top of the cage and then on the top rope, where Miz attempted to deliver the Skull-Crushing Finale. Cena countered it and hit the Attitude Adjustment off the top rope. He then covered Miz to win the match and regain a championship that he had not held since last June. I think taking the belt off The Miz at this point and putting it back on Cena is the wrong call, but let’s see where things go from here. I suppose we could be getting a title program between Cena and Alberto Del Rio, which would be fresh. Hopefully, The Miz will remain in the hunt and not slip to the upper mid-card. Morrison – who gained more credibility as a potential main-eventer in this match – is obviously going to be feuding with R-Truth.

Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio in a Ladder Match to win the vacant world heavyweight title (21:07): Cena’s title win may have been a bit anti-climactic (some critics might say it was actually groan-inducing), but Christian’s milestone victory was dramatic and emotional. The crowd was hotter for this than any other match on the card and really wanted to see Christian win, as a “Let’s go Christian” chant began right after the opening bell. After some good back-and-forth action, things really started to pick up around the 13-minute mark. As Christian – who had some nasty bruises on his back and side from absorbing blows from the ladder – was attempting to do a move with the ladder from the top rope, Del Rio connected with an Enziguri, which sent the ladder crashing down to the mat and Christian on top of it. A few minutes later, Christian speared Del Rio, which got a big pop. There was a great false finish at the 16:35 mark when Del Rio pulled Christian off the ladder and Christian became trapped between the rungs. Christian watched helplessly as Del Rio climbed the ladder and was about to take down the championship belt suspended above the ring. Christian, however, slipped free at the last second and tipped the ladder over. A minute later, Del Rio had Christian draped across a ladder that was bridged between the ring and the announce table. He came off the top rope, but Christian moved and Del Rio landed hard on the ladder. Christian then set up a ladder in the ring, and with Del Rio motionless on the floor, the crowd sensed that victory was imminent.

However, Brodus Clay then entered the ring and pulled the ladder away, which left Christian dangling. Clay pulled Christian down and put him on his shoulders, but Christian wiggled free and managed to throw Clay into a ladder. Christian then nailed him in the face with a small ladder. That legitimately busted open Clay, who was lying in a pool of blood outside the ring. After Del Rio got back in the ring, he put Christian’s arm through the ladder and applied the Cross Armbreaker. Believing Christian – who also was bleeding from the forehead – was sufficiently weakened, Del Rio began to climb the ladder. Just as Del Rio was about to grab the belt, the recently-retired Edge drove into the arena in a jeep and began honking the horn, which distracted Del Rio. That allowed Christian time to recover, and he tipped over the ladder, sending Del Rio over the top rope and onto Clay and Ricardo Rodriguez. With Edge cheering him on, Christian then scaled the ladder and pulled down the belt. Edge had a big smile on his face and appeared teary-eyed as Christian sat atop the ladder staring at the big gold belt and saying, “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it.” That was an awesome feel-good moment. Even though Christian had been a world champion in TNA, attaining that status in WWE was something that many figured would never happen. Much like when Jeff Hardy rose to prominence several years ago in WWE, the fans basically willed Christian into a top spot. His moment in the sun – even if it turns out to be short-lived – is well-deserved.

Randy Orton defeated CM Punk in a Last Man Standing Match (20:06): This went on first and got the show off to a strong start. Punk’s fellow Nexus members were banned from ringside before the match began. Punk used a kendo stick to gain the early advantage early. The first false finish occurred at the 10:40 mark, when Orton made it back to his feet at the count of nine after Punk had landed the GTS. A couple minutes later, Punk had a chair set up in the ring and was attempting to Russian Legsweep Orton onto it, but Orton countered with an RKO. Punk got up just before the 10 count. Outside the ring, Punk wrapped a chair around Orton’s neck and slammed him into the ring post, but Orton again beat the 10 count. At the 16-minute mark, Punk tried to hit the GTS on top of the announce table, but Orton turned it into an RKO on the table. Punk, on wobbly knees, was up at the count of eight. Orton then went for the punt to the head outside the ring, but Punk caught him with a GTS onto the ring steps for another nine count. Back in the ring, Orton nailed Punk repeatedly with stiff kendo stick shots to the back. Orton then hit an RKO from the middle rope and both men were down. Orton got to his feet at nine, but Punk could not beat the count this time. This was a solid win for Orton as he transitions into the top spot on Smackdown. I’m curious to see what’s next for Punk.

Rey Mysterio defeated Cody Rhodes in a Falls Count Anywhere Match (11:41): They wasted no time in taking the fight outside the ring, as they battled through the crowd and onto the concourse level. Out there, Mysterio and Rhodes took advantage of their surroundings, incorporating whatever was at their disposal into the match. Rhodes delivered the Beautiful Disaster off a short ledge that – ironically – had a mirror on it, and a few moments later, Mysterio hit a cross-body off the top of a bar. They got back in the ring at the 8:30 mark. A few minutes later, Rhodes charged at Mysterio – who was perched on the top rope – and Mysterio suddenly spewed green mist – ala The Great Kabuki and The Great Muta – into Rhodes’ face. That allowed Mysterio to hit the 619 and springboard splash for the victory. I liked Mysterio doing the old green mist gimmick, but I’m very surprised Rhodes lost the blow-off match to this feud. I figured he needed the win to gain some momentum as a top heel on Smackdown. Mysterio, at this point in his career, wouldn’t have been hurt by the loss.

Michael Cole and Jack Swagger defeated Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross in a Country Whipping Match (7:02): Cole came out wearing bubble wrap all over his body, which was pretty funny. When Lawler hit him with the strap, Cole just laughed because the blows had no effect. As Cole taunted Lawler, however, “The King” punched him in the face and then un-wrapped him, prompting Cole to quickly tag out. Later, the heels worked over Lawler, who eventually tagged in Ross. J.R. whipped Swagger and applied the ankle lock to him. Swagger managed to tag Cole, who wanted no part of Ross. The larger Ross manhandled Cole for a bit, and then after Swagger entered the ring to interfere, Ross gave the “All-American American” a low blow. The momentary distraction by Swagger allowed Cole to get behind Ross and roll up him for a three count. So after all the humiliation that Ross has suffered as of late at the hands of Cole – being doused with barbecue sauce, beaten up and whipped with a belt – he still ended up on the short end. The loss doesn’t make Lawler look too good, either, since he picked the stipulation for the match and still couldn’t win. Cole has to get his comeuppance at some point, right?

Kofi Kingston defeated U.S. champion Sheamus in a Tables Match to win the title (9:08): The story of this match was that Sheamus was in control for much of it but couldn’t put Kingston away. Then, when Kingston saw an opening, he seized it and won the match. Kingston’s athleticism was on display throughout the bout. One spot saw Kingston charge across the ring at Sheamus, who was propped up against a table in the corner, but Sheamus moved and Kingston jumped up on the ropes and did a split to avoid running into the table. Later, Sheamus delivered a Brogue Kick that sent Kingston over the top rope, but instead of crashing onto the table that was outside the ring, Kingston leaped over it. The finish was impressive, as Kingston hit a soaring Boom Drop off the top rope onto Sheamus, who was lying on a table outside the ring. The impact sent Sheamus through the table and gave Kingston the win. It will be interesting to see where Kingston goes from here, as he hasn’t exactly been on a roll as of late. As for Sheamus, dropping the U.S. title frees him up to get back in the main event mix on Smackdown.

Layla defeated Michelle McCool in a No-Disqualification, No-Countout, Loser Leaves WWE Match (5:23): The showdown between the former LayCool BFF’s wasn’t bad, but I expected more. The effort was there on the part of both women, but they really could have used another four or five minutes. At the 4:15 mark, Layla maneuvered out of McCool’s attempted Faith Breaker and hit her Face Lift finisher, but McCool got her foot on the rope after a two count. McCool then hit the Faith Breaker, but she hesitated before going for the pin. She leaned back nonchalantly on Layla, who suddenly countered with a crucifix pin for the victory. I wish Layla – since she is the one who is sticking around – would have won more convincingly, as this came off as a bit of a fluke, almost like McCool beat herself rather than Layla truly getting the better of her. Both women were in tears after the match. After Layla left, Kharma came out and made her way to the ring. McCool looked terrified, as Kharma stalked her and then delivered the Implant Buster. By having Kharma attack the top female heel, it established that she is going after all the Divas, not just the babyfaces. WWE cut to a shot backstage of several of the Divas watching on the monitor and looking concerned about Kharma’s arrival on the scene.

WWE tag team champions The Big Show and Kane defeated Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson in a Lumberjack Match (4:16): This unannounced match was inserted as a buffer between the two world title matches (the spot typically reserved for Divas matches). The lumberjacks were the NXT guys and regulars from the WWE Superstars show. It’s interesting that Jackson was booked to look strong, while Barrett came off as a chump. After Big Zeke body-slammed The Big Show, Barrett tagged himself in, quickly fell victim to a choke slam and was pinned. Jackson did not look pleased. The lumberjacks began brawling with each other after the match, and Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater ended up in the ring, where they were choke-slammed by Big Show and Kane. Color commentator Booker T. summed it up best when he said, “Not a good night for The Corre.”

Photo of Edge and Christian courtesy of WWE

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (41)
        

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

WWE champion The Miz vs. John Cena vs. John Morrison in a Steel Cage Match: The key person in this match isn’t even competing in the match: R-Truth. His likely involvement will allow The Miz to escape with his title yet again.

Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio in a Ladder Match for the vacant world heavyweight title: This is the most compelling match on the card and it very well could be the show-stealer. Regardless of who wins, someone will become a world champion for the first time. The word for months has been that Del Rio was getting a run with the title, and my first thought was that he would win this match even though it would mean that Raw has both world titles. In thinking about it some more, however, I’ve changed my mind. My guess is that Christian – the sentimental favorite and perhaps the most underrated performer in the business – finally wins the big one in WWE and goes on to have a brief title reign.

Randy Orton vs. CM Punk in a Last Man Standing Match: This has been a pretty lopsided feud in favor of Orton. I don’t think tonight’s match will be any different, especially with Orton becoming the top guy on Smackdown and Punk reportedly considering leaving WWE when his contract expires in a few months. The only way I could see Punk winning is if someone from Smackdown interferes and costs Orton the match to set up a new program. A frustrated Ted DiBiase Jr. looking to make a statement against his former Legacy associate perhaps? Nah, probably not.

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes in a Falls Count Anywhere Match: With Mysterio having been drafted to Raw, this will be the blow-off to the feud. Rhodes is on the rise and needs the win a lot more than Mysterio, so I expect the former “dashing one” to prevail.

Michael Cole and Jack Swagger vs. Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross in a Country Whipping Match: All signs point to Swagger turning on Cole, resulting in Lawler and Ross going over and Cole finally getting his comeuppance. My guess is that J.R. scores the winning pinfall.

Layla vs. Michelle McCool in a No-Disqualification, No-Countout Loser Leaves WWE Match: This figures to be a lot different than your typical four-minute Divas pay-per-view Divas because of the no-DQ, no-countout stips as well as the fact that both women are better-than-average workers. The speculation is that McCool is stepping away from the business for a while, so it seems like a pretty safe bet that Layla will be victorious.

Note: There is talk that a match pitting U.S. champion Sheamus against Kofi Kingston will be added to the show. It also wouldn’t surprise me if it was Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett against Kingston. With both Sheamus and Barrett currently on Smackdown, it would make sense for Kingston to beat one of them for the title and bring the belt to Raw.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)