The Bell To Bell News Report 10.11.09

Posted by Randy Harrison on 10.11.2009

Just because there's been a lack of news this week, doesn't mean there's going to be a shortage of good reading as this week's edition looks at the week that was in the WWE and TNA, along with a bit of an essay on the constant state of flux the WWE's two biggest titles find themselves in. Click on in for all that and then some...




For everyone that complained thatt my talking about hockey, fantasy hockey, computer problems and all of the rest in last week's column ruined it, you're in luck with this week's Bell to Bell as I'm absolutely crushed for time heading into live coverage of an MMA event and a busy week of planning for birthday parties, conference meetings and other things, so there will be no talk of anything but wrestling this week.

Don't think that you've won though because next week will see a look at the exploits of the Bombers, my fantasy hockey teams and whatever else I end up choosing to throw into the column. When you consider that out of a roughly 5,000 word column, about 500 of it or so ends up being the opening with talk of football, hockey and other random things, I think that it's safe to say that there's no disservice being done by me to the fans of wrestling that choose to click on in here for a read.

I'll always take criticism under advisement, but there's nothing wrong with me getting to talk a little about the things I enjoy personally from week to week. There's always the scroll function for those of you who aren't fans of any of those things. Alright, rant over, let's get to wrestling!


You know the drill...





Ding Ding....







WWE Hell in the Cell Results:


World Heavyweight Championship Hell in the Cell: The Undertaker vs. CM Punk (C) - Winner: The Undertaker (pinfall, Tombstone)
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison (C) - Winner: John Morrison (pinfall, Starship Pain)
WWE Divas Championship: Alicia Fox vs. Mickie James (C) - Winner: Mickie James (pinfall, DDT)
WWE Unified Tag Team Championships: Rey Mysterio and Batista vs. The Big Show and Chris Jericho (C) - Winners: The Big Show and Chris Jericho (pinfall, Show's KO punch on Rey)
WWE Championship Hell in the Cell: Randy Orton vs. John Cena (C) - Winner: Randy Orton (pinfall, punt)
R-Truth vs. Drew McIntyre - Winner: Drew McIntyre (pinfall, double-arm DDT)
WWE United States Championship: The Miz vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston (C) - Winner: Kofi Kingston (pinfall, Trouble in Paradise on The Miz)
Hell in the Cell: D-Generation X vs. Legacy - Winners: D-Generation X (pinfall, Sweet Chin Music/sledgehammer shot on Cody)


I was actually unable to see the pay-per-view and have only seen bits and pieces of it since last Sunday, so I will only talk quickly about the World Heavyweight Championship match and the main event with DX and Legacy.

The show opening World Heavyweight Championship match was a bit of a head-scratcher as The Undertaker beat new champ CM Punk in ten minutes even to win the belt. Part of the head-scratching comes from taking the belt away from your hot heel champion and putting it on an aging, broken down babyface that doesn't need the belt at all to be over like gangbusters. This was a bad move from the booking team and while I don't think it's going to cause any big problems for Punk's career moving forward like some people think it might, it's still a momentum killer for the first big breakout star for the WWE in quite some time. If this doesn't somehow lead to him getting the belt back pretty quickly through some sneaky and nefarious means, this could be the last time we see Punk with the big gold around his waist for a while.

The main event match between DX and Legacy was tremendous. I was a little worried about closing the show with this one, especially if it was going to be in the same vein as the last time that DX were involved in a Hell in the Cell match, but this was a very pleasant surprise. The booking was good stuff, especially the beginning portion of the match where Rhodes and DiBiase isolated Shawn Michaels and beat the everloving shit out him. Sure, it made them look a little weak when they ended up not being able to close out the deal and win the match after that kind of a beating, but they still come out of this whole thing a whole lot better than they came into it. Their performance in the Cell match was good enough to have them hold their own with DX for the entirety and could be one of those things you point back to as a watershed moment if Rhodes, DiBiase or both emerge as superstars of the future.





Monday Night Raw Results:

Mickie James, The Bellas, Melina, Maria, Kelly Kelly, and Eve Torres vs. Rosa Mendes, Beth Phoeni, Layla, Jillian, Michelle McCool, Alicia Fox and Natalya - Winners: Mickie James, The Bellas, Melina, Maria and Kelly Kelly (pinfall, Mickie's victory roll on Alicia)
Jack Swagger vs. Primo - Winner: Jack Swagger (pinfall, gutwrench powerbomb)
Chavo Guerrero and Chris Masters vs. Mark Henry and MVP - Winners: Mark Henry vs. MVP (pinfall, MVP's Ballin' elbow on Chavo)
WWE United States Championship: The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston (C) - Winner: The Miz (pinfall, Skull Crushing Finale)
The Big Show and Chris Jericho vs. D-Generation X - Winners: D-Generation X (pinfall, HHH pins Jericho after Sweet Chin Music)


Raw faced some stiff competition on Monday night with Brett Favre's Vikings taking on his old team in the Packers and they countered by having two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger hosting the show with some of his teammates. Ben actually did a pretty good job with his hosting duties, keeping some of the silly stuff to a minimum while keeping the show moving along. Unlike last week's show-killer Al Sharpton, there was nothing that Roethlisberger was involved in that seemed to move too slow or have no real point. I actually enjoyed the segment with Jericho, Big Show, DX and the Steeler players and if there's anyone that's better at getting the most out of celebrities and non-wrestlers than Jericho, I'd like to see you tell me who it is. He can make anyone entertaining on the microphone and is damn near close to doing the same in the ring (even I have to admit that a Jericho/Hornswoggle match would be a lost cause). About as good a segment as it could have been without allowing any of the Steelers to get physical for obvious reasons.

One of the two big developments saw The Miz emerge from the pile of challengers on Raw to defeat Kofi Kingston for the United States Championship in a very solid ten-minute match that was a great showcase for both guys. Kingston has done a lot in the past few months to restore some lustre to the US belt while sending his own stock rising, while Miz has come into his own on Raw since the break-up of his team with John Morrison. After spending a few months on the upper level of the mid-card, it looks as though Miz is finally going to get his chance to shine. Whether he will be a secondary titleholder in the vein of someone like RVD or Eddie Guerrero who can translate this win into more later in his career or in the ilk of Val Venis or Billy Gunn as a guy who reaches that level once or twice and implodes still remains to be seen. The one thing that can't be argued is that it's nice to see someone new getting a chance and it'll be up to Miz how far it goes.

The other big development of the show saw Randy Orton's celebration of his WWE Championship victory at Hell in the Cell interrupted by former champ John Cena. They bantered back and forth and postured in the same way that they have for quite some time now and when all was said and done, a no holds barred ironman match was made for the upcoming Bragging Rights pay-per-view. The stakes are raised in this one with Cena leaving Raw if he loses, and Orton not getting a rematch ever if he loses which could end up playing a big factor in the build to the match and to who is going to come out on top.

Reaction to the match has been mixed with a lot of people feeling like the Orton/Cena match has been overdone for quite some time. I'd have to agree with being in that boat as it's becoming a little tedious to see them as seemingly the only two getting any play in the main event slots. I'm of the mind that an ironman match could play well to both men's strengths as Cena has proven capable in longer matches (Shawn Michaels for example), while Orton's style is methodical enough to allow him to be able to pace himself for the full hour. The no-DQ, no-countout stips can actually help the match a little bit as it will give them a way out for a decision or two while also allowing them to avoid having to spend an hour in the ring as tacticians where both guys lack a little bit. The fact that this is the last Orton/Cena match for a while also makes it a little easier to sit through the sixty minutes and the fact that an ironman match is about the only gimmick they haven't done to death or made into a pay-per-view yet means that all in all this has a chance to be a pretty good match.

The main event for the show featured DX taking on Chris Jericho and The Big Show to pay off the earlier segment from the show and this one was actually a lot of fun. Jericho's seemingly unending hot streak continues with an entertaining match here that gave all four guys some good moments and good spots. The finish was fun too with Jericho trying to bail after DX laid out Show before the Steelers sent him back to the ring leading to DX picking up the win. The feeling is that this is the beginning of a DX-Jerishow feud over the Unified Tag Titles and honestly, that's probably one of the best things that could happen right now as it would give Raw a strong story under their main event storyline with multiple future Hall of Famers.





ECW on SyFy Results:

Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson vs. Tommy Dreamer and Goldust - Winners: Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson (pinfall, Jackson's uranage on Dreamer)
William Regal vs. Yoshi Tatsu - Winner: Yoshi Tatsu (pinfall, roundhouse kick)
Zack Ryder vs. Christian - Winner: Christian (disqualification, Regal's Roundtable-ference)


ECW's show this week featured heavily on Regal's Roundtable as all three members took part in matches and they played a key role in determining the outcome of the non-title main event with Christian and Zack Ryder as well. The show started with William Regal trying to re-assert himself as the interim GM of the brand, but before he could throw any weight around he was cut off by Christian and the return of Tiffany, who put the Roundtable in a tag match against Tommy Dreamer and Goldust and Regal in a bout against Yoshi Tatsu. Not the best opening segment as Christian's face promo work is still languishing far behind his heel stuff, but at least it made the matches for the show.

The Kozlov/Jackson vs. Dreamer/Goldust match was off a step the entire way. All four guys seemed to have a case of the sloppies and it really made for a tough match to watch in terms of the in-ring action. Story-wise, it wasn't much better, but at least Jackson and Kozlov still remain strong with a win via a little underhandedness. The Regal/Tatsu match was a much better piece of work and did a lot more to elevate Tatsu during the match. It still felt a little less than crisp, but that could have just been the bad taste in my mouth from the opener though. Tatsu got a big win over Regal, but the finish with Regal's foot being under the bottom rope leads me to believe that this is a long way from being over. I'm slowly starting to get into Tatsu, though I'm not sure that he's got enough chops to carry a feud like this with Regal and his henchmen just yet.

The Ryder/Christian match was solid if unspectacular and would probably have been a little better had there been an actual finish. In this instance though, I'm fine with Regal and his goons getting involved as he's really starting to make a statement that he is the top heel on the brand by doing the types of things that get him absolutely hated. I don't know if he'd ever have the heat that he had back in the day when he cut off Raw, but he seems to be trying damn hard to get there. The fact that they laid Ryder out as well means that they could either be going with Ryder going after Regal in a heel/heel format or they could have Ryder turn to take on the Roundtable with Tatsu and Christian as it seems that there could be a grander way to tie it all together.

However you slice it, it looks like there's definitely some potential for decent storylines that can build some newer stars in ECW, it's just the matter of whether the new stars can take advantage and secure their spots with great performances. Tatsu and Ryder have both shown flashes, they just need to dial it in a little more consistently.





WWE Superstars Results:

Ted DiBiase vs. Evan Bourne - Winner: Ted DiBiase (pinfall, Dream Street)
Sheamus vs. Shelton Benjamin - Winner: Shelton Benjamin (disqualification, Sheamus not breaking on five count)
Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty - Winners: Cryme Tyme (pinfall, Shad's Thugnificent on Smith)


Superstars was back to its usual entertaining, if not somewhat pointless, self this week and the cool thing is that rather than just being random matches or matches that are somewhat loosely based around storylines, these shows actually had some progression this week. Not so much that if you missed Superstars you'd be lost watching on Smackdown or ECW, but enough that it actually gave a bit more of a meaningful feel to Superstars, something that was greatly appreciated.

The opener with Ted DiBiase and Evan Bourne was pretty much a display match for DiBiase as he cut a nice little promo bit at the beginning of the match about praying for Cody after the Hell in the Cell defeat, and then followed it up by having a match with Bourne that made DiBiase look like a million bucks. Granted, a lot of that can be attributed to Bourne who can make pretty much anyone look good in a match with his style of bumping, but DiBiase pulled his share of the weight as well. If they decide to do the whole "face turn because he has a movie coming out" thing, he could have what it takes to make it as a singles star based on matches like this.

Sheamus and Shelton Benjamin had a match after their issue last week and while I thought it was alright, I will say again that I'm kind of starting to want to see Sheamus in matches longer than three or four minutes to see what he can really do. I know last week people thought I was discounting his matches with Goldust, but I was merely saying that while Tatsu and Ryder are getting to have matches with guys like Regal and Christian, Sheamus is still in a limbo of squash matches, screwy finishes and matches with guys that will help him learn but do little to help get him over.

The main event saw Cryme Tyme and the Hart kids continue their feud with Cryme Tyme coming out on top again after Shad hit his Thugnificent finisher on Smith. The growth of the Hart kids in the past few months has been great and I would love to get to see them have a run with the Unified Tag Titles as that would give them a real boost in credibility. My dream scenario would have DX unseating Jericho and Show before having to face the Harts in a feud that ends with the Harts going over and getting their first title run. Both teams could look good and the Harts could end up over the moon by beating a team like DX for the belts. When you add in the potential for adding some history to the feud to help enrich it that much more, it makes me hope that that's the way they're heading, despite the losses and back-and-forth nature of the feud with Cryme Tyme.





TNA Impact Results:

TNA Legends Championship: Hernandez vs. Kevin Nash (C) - Winner: None (non contest, Eric Young piledrives Hernandez)
TNA X-Division Championship: The Amazing Red vs. Samoa Joe (C) - Winner: The Amazing Red (pinfall, standing shooting star press)
Homicide and D'Angelo Dinero vs. Suicide and Daniels - Winners: Homicide and D'Angelo Dinero (pinfall, Dinero's DDE on Daniels)
Knockouts Elimination Tag Match: The Beautiful People, Traci Brooks and Alissa Flash vs. Sarita, Taylor Wilde, Christy Hemme and Hamada - Winners: The Beautiful People, Traci Brooks and Alissa Flash (pinfall, Madison Rayne (final survivor) pins Sarita after Lacey Von Erich chokeslam)
TNA Knockouts Championship: Tara vs. ODB (C) - Winner: ODB (pinfall, TKO)
Mick Foley and Kurt Angle vs. Abyss and Matt Morgan - Winners: Abyss and Matt Morgan (pinfall, Morgan's Carbon Footprint on Foley)


TNA continued on their road to Bound For Glory with this week's edition of Impact and while the show itself was a good one and one that I was entertained by, there were still some nagging problems that they need to address before they can really gear up to make the next jump when it comes to the ratings and success.

-- Less is More: I've said it over and over again with TNA, but there are some times where there is just too much going on with TNA as they have seven matches in a two-hour show. That normally wouldn't be a problem, but with the amount of backstage segments, interview segments and things of that nature that they also try to cram in, they end up painting themselves in a bit of a corner. There were glimpses of better stuff this week including the Knockouts Elimination Tag match and the tag match with Suicide, Daniels, Homicide and Dinero, but everything always feels way too rushed when it comes to TNA Impact and that usually impacts my enjoyment of the show.

-- Continuity Is Your Friend: I get that Abyss/Foley and Angle/Morgan are two of the big programs that they're pushing as they get towards BFG, but the teaming of Morgan and Abyss was insane as they spent months beating the hell out of each other in match after match of ultraviolence. That they would be able to just put all of that aside to work together to take on Foley and Angle is a HUGE leap in terms of ignoring their past history and the previous booking in the company. I'm not saying that they have to hate each other forever, but you'd think that they would wait at least a little bit longer than a few months before they end up tagging together. When they even brought up the history in a backstage segment and still went ahead and tagged together, it just felt a little hokey for me.

It wasn't all bad for TNA though as the Lashley/Joe stuff heading into their match was actually really entertaining for me. They did a great job of giving them a reason to fight with Lashley costing Joe the X-Division title and Joe dropping that elbow off the scaffold onto Lashley, driving him through the announce table. This one has a chance to be the rare instance of a big-man match actually being really good, provided that Joe and Lashley are both on their game and don't try to do more than what they're capable of. It will also be fun to see what Red does with the X-Division belt as he's going to be able to cut loose with some matches on PPV against talented wrestlers instead of having three or four minutes on Impact and that should be a lot of fun.

The rest of the show saw the whole World Elite/Main Event Mafia/TNA triangle feud continuing and it's beginning to look as though the World Elite could end up becoming the next big heel faction in TNA once the Mafia finally runs their course, which could be as soon as the weeks after Bound For Glory. I'm all for it as the Mafia angle feels as though it's been running forever, but my hope is that they kind find a way to make the World Elite feel a little different because if they don't, it'll just feel like a continuation of the MEM stuff and that's not a good thing.





Friday Night Smackdown Results:

Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho - Winner: Rey Mysterio (pinfall, 619 into springboard splash)
Eve Torres vs. Michelle McCool - Winner: Michelle McCool (pinfall, big boot)
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison (C) - Winner: John Morrison (pinfall, springboard dropkick off of a Maria distraction)
R-Truth and Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre and Kane - Winners: Drew McIntyre and Kane (pinfall, McIntyre's double-arm DDT on Hardy)
Batista vs. CM Punk - Winner: CM Punk (countout)


After crowning a new World Heavyweight Champion in The Undertaker, the landscape has changed on Smackdown and the first week with the new champ was certainly an interesting one. The show started out with former champ CM Punk lobbying for a rematch with The Undertaker but getting shot down and shoved into a match with Batista instead. I'll admit that I cringed when I saw that and was worried that this was going to be a bad idea, but the match itself wasn't half-bad and the way that Punk managed to squeak out the victory plays totally into his current character. I'm not saying that this makes me any happier about Batista's return, but it was at least something decent, which he hasn't been able to pull off for a long time.

The Dolph Ziggler/John Morrison feud continued for another week with the two men meeting in a bout with Morrison's Intercontinental Championship on the line. This was just another in a long line of quality matches between these two, though I'm beginning to worry with how much Ziggler seems to be coming up short on his many, many, MANY chances to win the belt. he could end up labeled as a choker if this keeps up and that could be bad news for him if it ends up stunting his momentum at all. The finish with Maria inadvertantly providing the distraction that cost Ziggler the title was a nice touch too as it had Ziggler being "outsmarted" by Maria, meaning that while this is a loss, there's at least a bit of an excuse for Ziggler when he wants yet another shot.

After a few months of separation from their feud over Mysterio's Intercontinental Championship, Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho had a fantastic match to open up the in-ring portion of Friday's show, picking up right where they had left off. As always seems to be the case, Jericho was the main reason this one was as great as it was, with there even being some glimmers of a Y2J chant at a couple of points during the match that seemed pretty crazy considering how much and how long the fans have hated Jericho for. Mysterio did a good amount to bring this match above average as well, don't get me wrong, but this one owed a lot to Jericho. I think that the experience level of both men really showed here and I think that it's a shame that they couldn't do a program when Mysterio was World Heavyweight Champion as that could have gone a long way to making his reign far less of a joke than it ended up being.

I'll close by talking a little bit about Drew McIntyre, who actually showed me a little something in the tag match with Kane against Matt Hardy and R-Truth. Gotta love Matt Hardy's lot in life when he's being used as a job guy to help advance a McIntyre/R-Truth feud huh? Keep on working us all, Matt! You'll be beating Taker for the World Title in no time! Anyhow, McIntyre is starting to grow on me a little bit. He's got a bit of a mean streak and is fairly decent in the ring, which is going to help him out and he came up with a win here off of his double-underhook DDT finish. I don't think I can ever really see him rising up above a US or Intercontinental Title winner, but I think that he's got a definite chance to be a solid hand for the company for a long time to come.






MAIN EVENT


Special Essay: Championship Chaos?


After last weekend's Hell in the Cell pay-per-view which saw Randy Orton beat John Cena for the WWE Championship and The Undertaker beat CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship, we've had seven WWE Championship changes and eight World Heavyweight Championship changes. Am I the only one that feels like that is FAR too many changes for what are supposed to be the two biggest championships in the world of professional wrestling?

Now sure, an argument could be made that something of this nature adds some realism to the WWE as it means that there is some parity in the talent levels of the wrestlers and that the days of one man dominating the rest of the roster are gone. That's all well and good and I'd agree that having someone dominate an entire brand for a period of a couple or three years could be death based on the way the business runs today, but these Twitter-sized title reigns are not doing anyone any favors.

When you think of the title pictures in the WWE this past year, it's almost a blur because it's seemingly been a case of as soon as someone wins a title, they've already lost it to the next guy. To me, this reeks of desperation in a booking staff that has long since run out of original and decent ideas to help get main event talent the final nudge to super-stardom. When you just hand the title around like a bong at a Snoop Dogg concert, you not only cheapen the belt itself, but you cheapen the accomplishments of the titleholders.

These days, the belts seem to be used more as props to help continue feuds rather than a motivator for feuds to begin. It can be said that all belts are mainly props for feuds, but when you get to the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship, they've usually been treated with a little more deference and respect instead of being hot potatoed around to half the roster to make it seem like anything can happen in the WWE. Of course, title reigns are relative and its not someone having a title that's going to get them over, but there's no way for title changes to mean anything if they happen every two months.

Not only will we as fans lose the chance to cheer on iconic champions like the days where Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan had reigns that lasted year after year, but we'll miss out on iconic moments that those reigns can produce. Everyone remembers how huge it was at the time when Hogan dropped the belt to Andre The Giant at The Main Event and even if the reign didn't last and the title change was voided, it was a huge moment in wrestling as Hogan finally fell. Any of Flair's great reigns being ended by guys like Ricky Steamboat or Sting were great moments that we seem to be getting robbed of by a trigger-happy booking team.

Now this isn't a new scenario when it comes to the World Heavyweight Championship as it's been viewed of as an inferior title since its inception in the WWE in 2002. In fact, the longest reign in WHC history (the WWE-version) is only just over 280 days from Batista. Since its inception, the title has been changed over thirty times, which I think is just part of the reason why it's always viewed as the inferior title. Without a legitimate champion and a legitimate reign to give the belt a real sense of importance, it ends up just becoming another thing to pack in the luggage for whoever happens to be the champion at the time.

There are obviously a lot more problems with the WWE these days than just the rotating musical chairs game that the two biggest championships in the company have turned into as the product as a whole has become stale in the past year or two. However, there's something to be said for fans turning away a little as title changes become less important. If fans begin to get the impression that if they miss the title change on a certain pay-per-view, they can just catch the next one at the PPV the next month or the month after, the buyrates that are already slumping could get even worse.

I'm not suggesting that wrestlers have to hold titles forever or that there needs to be an eight-year title reign like Bruno Sammartino's or a five-year reign like Bob Backlund had or even a two or three-year reign from guys like Flair and Hogan. I'm merely saying that by putting a freeze on title changes for a while instead of using them to falsely garner enthusiasm for the main event feuds, they'll ultimately mean more. Title changes meaning more means that fans are emotionally invested and willing to plunk down dollars to see if their favorite can retain the title or unseat the champion.



Featured Bout


-- Booker T's days in TNA are appearing to be numbered as he has become more and more of a backstage distraction as his contract nears the end. Firstly, Booker refused to work at a TNA house show in Switzerland recently after fans nearly rioted and pelted the ring with trash and bottles when Scott Steiner defaced the country's flag. I'm not going to fault him for that as I'm sure that I would probably be in the same boat as he was if I saw all of that kind of crap flying around all over the place. However, he is paid, rather well I might add, to go out there and work a match regardless of the situation. To me, this just seems like a situation where Booker maybe wanted a way out of working for the night and the fans gave it to him.

The second issue came about at the beginning of the week when Booker refused to put over Matt Morgan at the last batch of Impact tapings, which is something that I think is just inexcusable. Morgan is one of the guys that TNA is looking to build their company on in the future and the right thing to do for the business as a whole is to put guys over on your way out. While I'm sure that Booker is going to retire once he's done with his possible return to the WWE, that still doesn't mean that he should be undercutting TNA before he leaves because they gave him a chance to continue with his career when it appeared that he was all but done after the WWE released him.

Booker may come back to the WWE, but I firmly believe that his days as a top star are over and he would likely end up in the same type of role as someone like William Regal or Goldust on ECW. If he's willing to accept that and work within the WWE's plans for him, that's all well and good and I'm sure he'll make enough to add a couple of extra zeros to his retirement account. If he continues to have a bit of a big head about himself and feels as though he's still the same star he was in the dying days of WCW, then this may not be the last time that writers across the internet are discussing Booker T's backstage attitude.



The Midcard



-- The Ric Flair/NWA World Title sale situation appears to be nearing an end game as Highspots are now entertaining offers over $75,000 for the belt which was worn by such legends as Flair, Harley Race and Dusty Rhodes. No matter how you slice it, this is not a good situation as not only does this whole thing make Flair look even worse when it comes to his finances, but it means that there's a good chance that a piece of history could end up being owned privately, which isn't always a good thing. At this point, the only hope that I have is that Highspots considers who they're selling the belt to as well as the amount of money involved in the bid.

If they're serious about their commitment to wrestling history as they seem to be with their shoot interviews documenting wrestling's past, they should be willing to take less money from an owner willing to share the belt or display it somehow for fans, rather than taking extra cash from some rich guy that might just keep it in a safe for the rest of his days. I know that there's no physical building for the WWE's Hall of Fame, but I would love to see them buy the belt and take it around on the WWE Axxess tours while we wait for the WWE's institution of a permament building for the Hall. This is probably a while away from being over yet as Highspots will continue to entertain offers for the belt, but let's all hope that this piece of wrestling history ends up in the right hands.



-- Umaga may apparently be close to a return to the WWE as he has cancelled a shoot interview that he had scheduled and there have been rumblings of the big man's return to the roster sometime in the lead-up to WrestleMania. While Umaga will still be working the Hulk Hogan tour of Australia (for now), the fact that he didn't want to go on camera and dish the dirt about his former employers is actually a pretty good hint that he either is working on getting back into the company or is wanting to stay in the company's good graces because they've given him assurances that he can be brought back at some point. While I'll never understand why he was booked as unevenly as he was during his run in the WWE, he had his moments and could be someone that the ECW or Smackdown brands could look to as a part-time main eventer if/when he ever makes a return.



Jerking The Curtain


A slow week means you leave with a laugh....





The Final Bell


That's it for me guys, sorry for the shortness, but it's a slow news week with a lot of other stuff going on for me elsewhere. Randle's in tomorrow where I'm sure he'll also talk about how slow things were this week. In the mean time and in between time, I'll be back here next time for another edition of the Bell to Bell.


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