The Bell To Bell News Report 08.30.09

Posted by Randy Harrison on 08.30.2009

The WWE's biggest party of the summer saw one of the biggest stars return while another left the company after a great cage match on Smackdown. Click on in for my thoughts on those stories as well as my thoughts on the WWE's own network and their signing of ROH star Bryan Danielson. The Bell To Bell is in full effect, yo.....




Welcome back wrestling fans to the best Sunday news report here at 411mania.com, the Bell to Bell News Re....hold the phone, I'm being told I'm the ONLY Sunday news report here at 411mania.com. I guess I'm still the best, even if it's only by the two sweetest words in the English language, De and Fault. We've got a ton of things to cover this week with Jeff Hardy's farewell to the WWE, all of the fallout from SummerSlam, Rey Mysterio's positive Wellness test and subsequent suspension and the signing of ROH star Bryan Danielson by the WWE. It's been a very busy week for news with big stories dropping all over the place, something that doesn't usually happen most weeks, so it's been fun to check out the site throughout the week and see just what was going to happen next. With all of the big news to cover, that probably means that it would be better for me if I spent less time yammering on in this opening paragraph that no one probably cares about and just got straight to the action, so let's do this damn thing!


You know what's coming next....





Ding Ding....







WWE SummerSlam 2009 Results:

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio (C) - Winner: Rey Mysterio (pinfall, top rope hurrancanrana)
MVP vs. Jack Swagger - Winner: MVP (pinfall, Playmaker)
WWE Unified Tag Team Championships: Cryme Tyme vs. The Big Show and Chris Jericho (C) - Winners: The Big Show and Chris Jericho (pinfall, Jericho pins JTG after Show knockout punch)
Kane vs. The Great Khali - Winner: Kane (pinfall, DDT)
Legacy vs. D-Generation X - Winners: D-Generation X (pinfall, Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music on Rhodes)
ECW Championship: William Regal vs. Christian - Winner: Christian (pinfall, Killswitch)
WWE Championship: John Cena vs. Randy Orton (C) - Winner: Randy Orton (pinfall, RKO)
World Heavyweight Championship TLC Match: CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (C) - Winner: CM Punk (belt retrieval)


The latest edition of the WWE's summer spectacular, their summer version of WrestleMania, the biggest party of the summer and every other summer-related superlative they can muster, SummerSlam, is in the books for another year and overall I have to say that I really enjoyed the show. There were a few questionable decisions in terms of booking, not so much in who went over but why matches were even booked in the first place (Khali/Kane and ECW Title match, I'm looking in YOUR direction), but despite those hiccups things were humming along for most of the night. The show got started in the right direction from the opening bout as Dolph Ziggler solidified his status as a top mid-card heel by putting on a great match with IC Champ (at least for another few days at least), Rey Mysterio. It's a shame that Ziggler is going to have a stigma of only getting the belt because of a suspension when he finally does get it because he deserved to get that win at SummerSlam. If this is really the summer WrestleMania, this was a chance to have a huge coming-out party for the guy and I have to say that the WWE kind of dropped the ball a little on that one, but it was such a great match that I'm willing to let it slide.

Legacy and D-Generation X finally got it on in the ring after weeks of skits and beatdowns and while I'm sure there will be plenty of folks who are of the mind that Legacy got the shaft in this one because they lost, but ultimately the point of nearly every feud in wrestling is for the babyfaces to come out on top. Sure, it would have been nice to see Rhodes and DiBiase pick up a big win to solidify themselves, but with DiBiase looking at a face turn soon to push his movie and a break-up probably in the offing, it wouldn't have made a ton of sense to have them go over anyhow. Besides, Legacy probably did more for themselves by going move for move with DX on pay-per-view than they could have by getting the win. One win over a team like DX isn't going to be instant credibility for these guys when they've been considered laughing stocks for so long. Something like that is going to take time and by showing what they can do in the ring with two professionals like Triple H and Michaels, Rhodes and DiBiase probably did more for their future credibility in the business than a million cheap heel wins could have.

Moving on to the two big title matches of the evening, I'd be lying if I said that I enjoyed the WWE Championship match between Randy Orton and John Cena. I know that everyone has been saying that these two have faced each other far too many times and I don't want to seem like a follower, but those people are saying that for a reason. This one had its moments, but ultimately it just felt dull and repetitive as they've done pretty much everything they can do in the ring against each other. The finish with all of the false finishes and restarts and nonsense almost felt like that was their way of trying to say "This one is different guys, we promise, don't be bored by this one!!" but all it did was muddy the waters and prevent Orton from gaining anything from the win. I will say that the whole angle with someone from the crowd interfering and helping Orton win was a neat twist, but with the current climate of the world and heels like Chris Jericho nearly inciting fan attacks in parking lots, maybe giving drunken fans a how-to course on jumping the barricade isn't the smartest idea.

Finally, it came time for the main event, a TLC match for the World Heavyweight Championship with the hottest heel in the company taking on one of the most sympathetic babyfaces. This one was everything that was promised and then some as Punk and Hardy did some crazy spots and the finish for this one too was actually kind of fun with the EMT's helping Hardy away only for Hardy to realize the match was still on and Punk was trying to fuck him, sans lube. In the end, Punk became OUR champion one more time, but in doing so he drew the ire of the Deadman as the Undertaker made his latest return after the match to chokeslam Punk into Bolivian, meaning that a Punk/Taker feud could be next for the new champ. This is tremendous news for Punk as the thing that seems to have been lacking from his title reigns is the ability to get himself over as a draw with the belt first. If you look at it from Punk's standpoint, he can feud with Taker over the belt while gaining a ton of cred and leaning on Taker for the drawing power. Once he's done with that feud, he can take his belt and his whole new ability to draw huge and take on someone like Matt Hardy or someone where he can carry the whole weight of the feud himself. Asking Punk to take on Matt in his first feud would have been a horrible idea as it would have ended up with Punk seemingly spinning his wheels before defeating Hardy and moving into his next feud with no momentum. By taking down Jeff Hardy and Undertaker in back-to-back feuds would be huge for Punk and he could essentially write his own ticket for life once all of that was said and done.

By the way, the look on Punk's face as he looked down and saw Taker where Hardy was left laying previously was priceless. You could see just from his facial expression that he knew that all of the things he'd been saying and all of his heelishness was going to come back and bite him on the ass now that the conscience of the WWE was back in full effect. Fantastic stuff from Punk.





Monday Night Raw Results:

Santino Marella vs. The Miz - Winner: The Miz (pinfall, Skull Crushing Finale)
Beth Phoenix, Alicia Fox, and Rosa Mendes vs. Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, and Gail Kim - Winners: Beth Phoenix, Alicia Fox and Rosa Mendes (pinfall, Fox's scissor kick on James)
Chris Jericho and The Big Show vs. MVP and Mark Henry - Winners: MVP and Mark Henry (pinfall, MVP's brass knuckles shot on Jericho)
D-Generation X and Mr. McMahon vs. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase - Winners: D-Generation X and Mr. McMahon (pinfall, McMahon pins Orton after Sweet Chin Music and an Attitude Adjustment)


Floyd Mayweather came back to the WWE to host Monday Night Raw this week, shooting be damned, and while he was effective in the parts that he was around for, he was the most absentee of the guest hosts since this whole little experiment began, which made his stint ultimately pretty pointless if you ask me. There are mixed opinions over the show-opening segment with Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon as some people are calling it hilarious while others are calling it one of the longest and most boring segments in the history of Raw. I'm coming down more on the side of boring as it was just WAY too long for my tastes. Everything that they accomplished in nearly half an hour (and it wasn't a lot), could have easily been done in ten or twelve minutes and not felt like it was dragged out to death. None of the three needed that much mic time to set up a WrestleMania main event, let alone a six-man tag that no one really cared to see to begin with. I will say this about Triple H though. For as much as you guys tend to hate him, at least he had his verbal blowjob birthday party deal off of TV instead of turning an entire episode of Raw into one long, self-serving birthday extravaganza.

After the albatross opening segment, the show had a lot of ground to make up and during the middle of the show it did that at least a little bit. The match featuring the Unified Tag Champs taking on MVP and Mark Henry was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be and was my pleasant surprise for the night. Jericho is so hot right now he can make anyone look good and despite MVP's lack of heat in recent months, the people were buying into him lock, stock and barrel on this night, something that can be attributed directly to their hatred of Jericho. The finish with Floyd Mayweather handing MVP some brass knucks to help get one over on the Big Show was actually a pretty solid one and a good idea in that it helps set up the PPV match between all four men while playing off of some of the history that Mayweather and Show have stemming from their WrestleMania encounter.

The main event saw Vince and DX taking on Orton and Legacy in a bout that ended up being more about DX getting over on Legacy again than it was about any kind of hatred between the six men. I mean, did Vince and Hunter forget about what Orton did to their family over the past few months leading up to WrestleMania? I know that that all happened a few months ago, which is like a decade ago in the WWE Universe, but would it have been so terrible to have at least a little bit of a callback to those kinds of things. I mean when Flair and Steamboat feuded in '89, the announcers were referencing some of their matches from the 70's. It doesn't take that much to show a little bit of continuity in what's going on currently and what's happened in the past, but it didn't seem to be happening here. I can't say I cared much for the ending either as John Cena got involved and cost the heels the match, leading to Orton being pinned by 64-year old Vince McMahon in the center of the ring. I'll repeat. The WWE Champion got pinned by A SENIOR FUCKING CITIZEN. How in the hell is Orton supposed to have any kind of sway or power or ability to draw on top when he's jobbed out to Gramps McMahon on the big TV show for the company? This one was a headscratcher to be sure and while I can understand people saying that Orton only lost because of Cena's interference and it helps build their match, what does it say about Cena if he can't get the pin on Orton but a SIXTY-FOUR YEAR OLD MAN CAN. Sour stuff all the way around on that one and I just didn't care for it at all.

If you're wondering why there's so little to say about Raw this week, it's that everything else was so short on time (Miz/Marella, the Diva tag match) or horrible (Chavo/Swoggle foxy boxing) that it's not really worth getting into. With the momentum that the company had coming out of a better-than-expected SummerSlam, they sure found a way to spike that momentum right back into the ground on Monday night.





ECW on SyFy Results:

Sheamus vs. Goldust - Winner: None (double countout)
Shelton Benjamin and Zack Ryder vs. Yoshi Tatsu and Tyler Reks - Winners: Yoshi Tatsu and Tyler Reks (pinfall, heel miscommunication)
William Regal vs. Christian - Winner: William Regal (pinfall, Knee Trembler)


ECW had nothing going for it heading into the show this week as the Raw from the night before was pretty terrible and the ECW Title match at SummerSlam was an absolute joke, so things really had nowhere to go but up. That's a good thing actually as the show was one of the better ECW shows in a while and probably the best ECW show since they lost most of their rising stars in the draft at the beginning of the summer. The Sheamus/Goldust feud continued nicely with a good little five minute match that had a non-finish to keep the heat simmering on those two while allowing Sheamus more time on TV for fans to invest in him, making the blow-off all the more important and meaningful when it happens.

Four of the ECW young guns were up next as Shelton Benjamin and Zack Ryder teamed up to take on Yoshi Tatsu and Tyler Reks and this one was really enjoyable for me as well as again, they did exactly what they needed to do with the time given and put on a match that I really liked while also setting the table for a Ryder/Benjamin feud in the near-future with Ryder likely going full-on face for it against heel Shelton, who unfortunately seems to be getting lost in the shuffle again. I know it's been said a million times, but this guy could do wonders with a manager and it's a shame that he'll never seem to be able to reach his full potential because he can't get it done on the stick. If this was another day and age, he'd probably be like a Ricky Steamboat-style of wrestler that lets his in-ring work do the talking and he'd probably be over like gangbusters in a territory like the NWA. Shame for Shelton, but I think he came along about twenty years too late.

The main event saw William Regal attempting to win back another shot at the ECW Championship after pulling a choke job of epic proportions at SummerSlam in the six-second Instant Classic with Christian. For all of the damage that they did to their title and brand with that horrible showing at the PPV, they actually came close to redeeming it all with this match as they had a lot of time and both guys know how to build a quality wrestling match. The finish was well-booked as it established that Regal is the most dastardly of heels, that he's the definite leader of his group despite being the smallest of all three and that he's the most dangerous ECW Championship challenger around despite the bump in the road on Sunday. Regal and his cohorts standing over Christian to end the show was the perfect fade-out moment and I'm hoping that Regal can lock on the stretch to take home the gold at Breaking Point as he's someone that could do a great job as the cowardly heel hiding behind his cronies, but can get the job done in the ring one-on-one if he needs to. A long chase for Christian though Jackson and Kozlov in the fall and winter, culminating in ECW gold in a WrestleMania showdown with Regal and his henchmen would be a welcome sight for ECW fans who have to feel as though their belt gets the shaft every time the WWE puts on a supershow PPV.





WWE Superstars Results:

Jack Swagger vs. Primo Colon - Winner: Jack Swagger (pinfall, gutwrench powerbomb)
The Hurricane vs. Paul Burchill - Winner: Paul Burchill (pinfall, roll-up)
Dolph Ziggler vs. Mike Knox vs. Finlay - Winner: Dolph Ziggler (pinfall, Ziggler pins Knox after Finlay hit the Celtic Cross)


After a couple of off weeks, Superstars tried their best to right the ship this past week with a show that was heavy on wrestling with most of it being good quality stuff. Much like people had predicted, the show is quickly becoming a place for lesser stars of all three brands to get somewhere to ply their trades and while that may result in a little lower rating due to the lack of star power, it's nice to see some of these guys get extra time they may not get on their regular programs. An example of that is Primo Colon, who got twelve minutes in his match with Jack Swagger. While a large majority of that match was controlled by Swagger, it was still a lot more time than Primo would be getting regularly on a weekly basis and the match itself wasn't that bad. It was a little uninteresting because of the extended squash feel that the match had throughout, but it was good wrestling that made Colon look good and Swagger look great. That's exactly the kind of thing that could make Superstars a breeding ground for the future of the business.

The Hurricane's feud with Paul Burchill continued this past week as well and while this match was a step behind their ECW match from the week before, it was still a nice way to breathe life into the feud in a week where it would have otherwise been forgotten. Burchill got a win to keep the feud going, relying on a little help from his sister Katie Lea, who distracted Hurricane on the outside long enough for him to get rolled up for the three-count. While the match may have been a little lacking, it's nice to see Burchill get his first extended feud that I can remember while on his current run through the WWE as he's basically been involved in one or two week programs with people and then swept back under the rug. This can only be a good thing for him being in there with someone as high profile as the returning Hurricane and here's hoping that it leads to bigger and better things in the future for Burchill as he's got the in-ring chops to do some good things in the company. I would also be remiss if I didn't note that the Hurricane gimmick is still hugely over, even after such a long time on the shelf, and that Hurricane could be ready to reach heights that he hasn't seen since the days when he was Rocky's Hamburglar.

The main event saw Dolph Ziggler, Mike Knox and Finlay battling for the right to challenge Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship. With recent developments, which I'll get to in the top story of course, this match was essentially a triple threat to determine which man will get the championship from Mysterio. Ziggler came out on top, using smarts to let Finlay do his dirty work before eliminating him and getting the pin on Knox. Ziggler's character has really grown a lot and this Intercontinental Title run he should be going on couldn't be happening at a better time for him. As I said earlier, I only hope that his reign doesn't end up having the stigma of being a Wellness reign attached to it as that would be a disservice to all of the hard work that Ziggler's put into redeeming the stinker of a gimmick he was saddled with upon his return to the WWE. Ziggler deserves a reign based on his own merits, not someone else's fuck up and I hope that the fans remember that if/when Ziggler gets the belt. He was the glue that held the match together and I'll be interested to see what the booking will have in store for him once he cashes in his match with Mysterio. I can't say that I'd hate seeing Ziggler and Finlay in a program over the IC belt as Finlay is always capable of a good match and anything he does with Ziggler will only give Ziggler that much more of a chance to grow and improve.





TNA Impact Results:

Samoa Joe vs. Homicide - Winner: None (big schmozz leads to No Contest)
Knockouts Tag Team Tournament Bout: Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed vs. Traci Brooks and Sharmell - Winners: Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed (pinfall, Saeed pins Brooks after a Kong-splash)
Jesse Neal vs. Rhino - Winner: Rhino (pinfall, GOARRRRRRRR)
Abyss vs. The Motor City Machine Guns - Winner: Abyss (pinfall, Black Hole Slam on Sabin)
No Disqualification: Hamada vs. Daffney - Winner: Hamada (pinfall, Michinoku Driver)
D'Angelo Dinero and Samoa Joe vs Daniels and Suicide - Winners: Daniels and Suicide (pinfall, Suicide inside cradle on Dinero)
Sting, Hernandez and AJ Styles vs. Matt Morgan, Scott Steiner and Booker T - Winners: Sting, Hernandez and AJ Styles (pinfall, springboard cross-bodyblock by Styles)


Unfortunately my busy schedule with my day job and everything else going on made it impossible to catch Impact live and live coverage of an MMA event both nights this weekend made it even more impossible to catch the show on DVR, so my thoughts TNA will have to wait until next week's show. I do have to say that from reading the reports of the show online, it looks as though TNA may actually be serious about pushing some of their younger talent and that they may just be getting behind guys like Matt Morgan, AJ Styles and Hernandez as the future of the company, something I would have said was impossible to believe a few months ago. I hope they keep going in that way because if they do, they could be starting something pretty special down there in Orlando with their new TV deal in tow.





Friday Night Smackdown Results:

John Morrison and Matt Hardy vs. The Hart Dynasty - Winners: John Morrison and Matt Hardy (pinfall, Morrison's Starship Pain on Smith)
R-Truth vs. Drew Mcintyre - Winner: None (Mcintyre attacks Truth before the match)
Layla vs. Melina - Winner: Melina (pinfall, )
Rey Mysterio vs. Kane - Winner: Rey Mysterio (disqualification, Kane ramming Mysterio into the post)
Chris Jericho and The Big Show vs. Cryme Tyme - Winners: Chris Jericho and The Big Show (pinfall, Show's KO punch on Shad)
World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Loser Leaves Town Match: Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk (C) - Winner: CM Punk (escaping the cage)


The wrestling fan's weekly escape from the doldrums easily proved why they're the best wrestling show on television again this week as Smackdown did a wonderful job of furthering a bunch of their programs, bringing in a new star or two while featuring great wrestling including a main event that a lot of people will remember for a long time to come. The show began with a masterful promo from CM Punk, running down what happened at SummerSlam while also building towards the cage match main event later in the evening. Punk goaded Jeff Hardy into adding a loser leaves town stipulation onto the match and basically did everything that made his heel run in Ring of Honor so outstanding, right down to the catchphrases and the delivery of his promo. While Raw's opening segment seemed to drag and go nowhere, this one was tightly packaged and extremely entertaining, while adding even more intrigue to the night's main bout. Great stuff from Punk and surprisingly from Hardy as well, who could have easily been forgiven for phoning it in but instead showed he had one more great segment in him.

The wrestling portion of the show started out with a great tag bout between the Hart kids and John Morrison and Matt Hardy. All four of these guys know tag team wrestling and it showed with a match that was entertaining despite the fact that it seemed a little rushed and had a couple of moments where things got a little bit sloppy in the ring. I would love to see these four get more time to have another match in a week or two where I think a lot of the messiness could be tightened up and the chemistry that we saw them scratch the surface of could be fully realized. Solid in-ring opener that I had no problems with at all. In other mid-card action, the Dolph Ziggler/Rey Mysterio and Kane/Khali programs were both pushed forward as Mysterio and Kane met in a spirited bout that had Kane disqualified for twice ramming Mysterio into the ring post. The post-match melee with Khali attacking Kane and Ziggler dropping Rey with his finish was good stuff and should build nicely for next week's likely title bout between Ziggler and Mysterio.

The feud between Chris Jericho and The Big Show and Cryme Tyme continued this week as well, though one would have to wonder why when they had already seemingly had their blow-off at SummerSlam. I'm not complaining as the match itself was pretty good for what it was, but much like the opening tag bout, it was way too short and the fact that it was so short kind of rendered it pointless. As I said, Cryme Tyme already had their shot and if there was no way that the feud was going to continue on past SummerSlam, there was no reason to have them lose again to Show and Jericho in such quick fashion. There aren't many tag teams in the WWE that are credible enough for title shots and to have Cryme Tyme go down the way that they did means that it'll take just a little bit more for the next time they're at the championship level, which is a real shame. Their work with Show and Jericho prior to SummerSlam was some of their best in either stint in the WWE and they deserved a little better than what they got in this one.

After their classic TLC match at SummerSlam, CM Punk and Jeff Hardy had a lot to live up to with not only the title but both men's careers on the line in a steel cage as the Smackdown main event. While they didn't live up to the TLC match (really who can blame them for that just a few days removed from such a hellacious bout), they did put on a tremendous steel cage match that had fans on the edge of their seats. The finish was predictable if you're smart to the business, but to see the faces of the fans in the arena, there was genuine shock and sadness as Hardy was forced to leave the WWE after being unable to defeat Punk. I loved the bit at the end where Hardy got on the microphone for his goodbye speech only to be leveled by a belt shot from Punk that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Punk has gone from lovable good guy to smarky tweener to hated bad guy so seamlessly and this was just the icing on top of the cake. Not only that, but his waving to Jeff as he made his way up the ramp before coming back out for the belt shot was classic stuff. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Punk does in a program with The Undertaker and we could be seeing the beginnings of a new WWE megastar in Punk.






MAIN EVENT



-- Obviously, the biggest story of the week came when the WWE announced this week that Rey Mysterio would be suspended for thirty days beginning on September 2nd due to a violation of the company's Wellness Policy. The reason for the Wednesday suspension is likely due to the fact that Rey is the Intercontinental Champion and the Tuesday Smackdown taping will be used to take the belt off of him before he begins his suspension. At least I hope that's what happens. I'd rather have that be the scenario than for someone like Dolph Ziggler to "injure" Mysterio to have him sit out the thirty days while still champion.

It's unknown what the specifics of the violation were, but the rumblings of the IWC have Mysterio getting popped for steroids or some other performance enhancer, which would make sense considering how doughy Mysterio was during his Raw stint before coming back to Smackdown in better shape. Another thing to consider is that with all of Rey's injuries through his career, there's also a pretty good likelihood that he tested positive for painkillers as his body has taken a major beating due to his high-risk, high-impact style. Whatever it was, it earned Rey a thirty-day unpaid vacation and it's not a good situation for Rey's health either way you slice it.

EDIT: According to Rey, he had a prescription for the drug in question, a painkiller for his arm and knee, but that he was unable to provide the company with the prescription in time, leading to the suspension. Whether that's actually the case or not hasn't been verified, but Rey has been pretty stand-up in the past when it's come to questions of character so I would tend to believe him.

That being said, allowing him to cop out of losing the belt due to an injury angle would be a mistake as there has to be some sort of punishment to go with a violation of this sort when you're a champion. As someone holding a belt, even a secondary belt, you're setting an example for the rest of the roster and by getting pinched by the Wellness Policy, Mysterio let down himself and everyone else on the Smackdown brand. He's also robbed us of another quality pay-per-view match with Ziggler at Breaking Point as it now appears that Ziggler will win the Intercontinental Championship on the next episode of Smackdown, which will probably have less importance and less people watching giving it a bit of an anticlimactic feel.

As I've said earlier, I hope that the suspension isn't an asterisk that hangs over Ziggler's reign if he indeed manages to unseat Mysterio before Rey takes his thirty days on the bench. Ziggler deserves better than that. As for Mysterio, let's hope that he's learned a lesson from this suspension and that he'll be in a better position to avoid being suspended again when he returns. As someone who lost his best friend in the world as a result of the hard toll that drugs take on a person's body, prescription or otherwise, this is the kind of wake-up call that you would think that Mysterio wouldn't need. Apparently he's not learned the lesson. For Rey's sake and for his fans' sakes, please let this be what helps Rey turn things around and get treated for any potential problem or consider retiring before he is another in a long, sad line of wrestling statistics that end up gone too soon or too crippled to enjoy life after wrestling because of what their body went through in the ring.



Featured Bouts



Imagine waiting behind the guy looking like this in the grocery store....

-- Jeff Hardy has indeed left the WWE after much speculation, working his final bout with CM Punk at the Smackdown tapings on Tuesday, a match that aired on Friday and will serve as the last on-screen appearance of Hardy for quite some time if we're to believe Hardy's comments. For as much shit as everyone gave Hardy during his first WWE stint and his flaky tenure as part of the TNA roster, you have to give Jeff plenty of props for the way that he has handled his first full-fledged run as a main event star during this current run. Despite everyone assuming that Hardy was going to end up dead or fired, he managed to get through some rough patches including his second violation of the WWE's Wellness Policy that earned him a sixty-day suspension and a fire that claimed his house and in the end left the company better by making CM Punk into a brand-carrying superstar in his final feud. He also managed to elevate his brother Matt as well with their feud adding to Matt's title reign in ECW to make him someone who is on the cusp of the main event. I'd much rather have Jeff leave now on his own terms to possibly return someday with the blessings of the WWE rather than having him fired for another Wellness violation stemming from burn-out or frustration at the travel schedule or any of the other reasons Hardy cited for leaving. As much as I've been hard on him for his seemingly constant brushes with drugs or management, he pulled it together in the last year of his run and became a consistent main event performer that the WWE could rely on. Congratulations to Jeff and good luck to him in whatever he chooses to do with his well-deserved time off.


Coming soon to the WWE...The REAL American (Dragon)...

-- When one door closes, another opens and that's definitely the case for the WWE as the company lost the immensely popular Jeff Hardy and then days later signed the immensely talented Bryan Danielson to a contract. Since ROH's move to Monday nights on HDNet, the WWE has been looking closer at their product and more signings of ROH talent could be coming soon. Danielson has been one of the top stars in Ring of Honor since the company's inception and is someone that could easily fit into a brand like Smackdown that relies more on physical ability and in-ring storytelling rather than promos, skits and acting ability. A lot of the ROH fans are hemming and hawing over how Danielson will probably be misused, pointing to Colt Cabana's horrible run in the WWE after signing with them as an example. While that could be the case, Cabana's gimmick was more of a hinderence than a help for him when he hit the big time, at least inside of the ring. Danielson has no gimmick and is just a hard-nosed, well-trained, physically believable wrestler that can easily get over based on the strength of his ring work alone if given the chance.

With the success that CM Punk has had in the company, along with Danielson's strong ties to future WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, I'd expect him to be given every chance to succeed. While some fans will consider nothing less than Punk/Danielson headlining WrestleMania XXVI a failure, I'd much rather see them give him a run in ECW before moving him up to Smackdown, possibly in next year's WWE Draft. Throwing him into a slot on Smackdown or especially Raw could be a death blow for Danielson before his career even begins. Give Danielson some time to grow into the WWE style while working longer television matches on the ECW program with veterans like Christian and William Regal and he'll be ready for primetime in no time. The other thing about Danielson is that while he may not be someone with charisma oozing out of every pore like Chris Jericho or Michaels, he can cut a decent promo when called upon and will be able to hone those skills while working out some of the kinks in ECW. This may seem like a cookie-cutter path of Punk's path to success, but why mess with what worked. All I ask is that the IWC and fans of the American Dragon give Danielson a chance to succeed or fail in his own right once he begins with the company rather than complaining about what a disaster it's going to be before he even sets foot inside a WWE ring.



The Midcard



Following in the footsteps of major sports like the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA, the WWE is apparently looking into the prospect of starting up their own cable network within the next two years according to a Los Angeles Times article earlier this week. Vince McMahon was quoted as saying that there would be no plans to move Raw off of USA Network and that it would be an integration between USA and the proposed WWE Network rather than direct competition. The article also cited the WWE's recent PG initiative as something that was launched with a network in mind and that while economically it may be a bad time to begin to start a network, the WWE has strong relations in the cable and satellite industry that will give them a leg up. Looking at the success that Vince has had with the WWE 24/7 service as well as the fact that their DVD releases are always near the top of the list, the product is still viable despite the drop in pay-per-view buys and with their own channel we could see the company begin another success period

I've always felt that WWE 24/7 was the first step in the company beginning their own channel and with the huge amount of programming they put on in a year and their vast tape library, as well as the amount of movies featuring WWE talent that are widely available or soon to be made, it would not be difficult for the company to fill their own cable channel's lineup. I would be all for this as it would mean more classic wrestling on TV as well as more of a chance for secondary programming or developmental programming where new stars can be built. McMahon's got the cable and satellite industries nearly in his back pocket after helping to build both mediums with his programs in the early-to-mid 80's, so if he decides to actually go through on this, I would expect to see him with a a pretty decent amount of clearance early on before slowly becoming a nationally cleared channel long-term. As someone who does business with Dish Network, I would be a big fan of this as for whatever reason they are lagging severely behind in the On Demand field and do not offer WWE 24/7 as of yet.



Jerking The Curtain



-- Jeremy Borash used his Twitter account to make some news and take a shot at Raw this past Monday by posting the following;

"The Death of WCW commercial followed by a Hornswoggle vs Chavo boxing match? Pot? Kettle? Comment floodgates are NOW OPEN!"

While Borash has little room to talk because of how ridiculous some of TNA's gimmicks and matches are, he does raise a point that the WWE is guilty of not listening to the fans the same way that WCW refused to listen to their audience before the wheels fell off. Additionally, the WCW product became stale with the same faces on top always, the same way that it appears that the WWE has been running as of late. Like I said, Borash isn't exactly the best guy to talk about something like this as he's part of a company that has had Goldust running around with a pet rat and angles that make the Black Scorpion seem like the Rock/Austin, but he's someone that's been in the business and saw how things went down in the final days of WCW. He raised a valid point and while I can understand why some people would crucify him for making the statement, he has as much a right to his opinion as everyone else.


-- In an update on the story that dominated most of the headlines for the past couple of weeks, a Pittsburgh judge has allowed Kurt Angle to return to his home and his ex-girlfriend, former TNA Knockout Rhaka Kahn has been given the boot. Angle spent ten days out of his home after Kahn, real name Trenesha Biggers, filed a protection from abuse order the night before the Hard Justice pay-per-view, claiming that Angle was stalking her among other charges. Angle spent the night in jail but was released in time to perform at the pay-per-view. Here's what Angle told WTAE in Pittsburgh about the ruling;

"It's been about 10 days. I can't wait to get home. Thank God. She's out of my life. I will be exonerated. This girl obviously had some kind of motive. We'll see in court, whether it's financial or she wanted to be in a relationship that I didn't want to be in. I can't really say anything further."

While this isn't the end of Angle's legal troubles (he still has a September 15th court date and outstanding charges for possession of HGH that still need to be fully dealt with), he's certainly a step closer to being in the clear and able to continue to live his life. Hopefully this will be something that can smarten Angle up and make him see that he needs to start getting his life outside of the wrestling business in order, even if it means taking time away from the business. Angle's given nearly everything he could possibly give to the wrestling business and perhaps it's time for him to start putting Kurt Angle the man before Kurt Angle the performer.



The Final Bell


That does it for me this week, folks. I know that I promised Gary Cubeta's comments on his series of shoot interviews and classic wrestling, but I am still having the same problems with my tooth and hearing as last week that are making transcription of anything next to impossible. That being said, I will guarantee you all that I will have the talk that Gary and I had next week along with my thoughts on the Rise and Fall of WCW DVD, which I am currently in the process of checking out. Randle's in tomorrow with his News Threatdown Gold Carrying Experience, so treat him well folks. In the mean time and in between time, I'll be right back here next time for another all new edition of the Bell to Bell News Report!


If you're a fan of MMA, be sure to check out Nokaut.com for more of my work.