The Bell To Bell News Report 11.29.09

Posted by Randy Harrison on 11.29.2009

The Hulkamania tour rocks Australia, Rey Mysterio readies to go under the knife again, and an independent promotion gets a big time TV deal...or maybe not. It's been a slow week for news, but that doesn't mean the content suffers as we cover everything that needs to be covered including Survivor Series, the weeklies and a whole lot more in this week's Thanksgiving hangover edition of the Bell to Bell!




Welcome back to the week-ending wrap-up of all things wrestling, The Bell To Bell News Report! I trust that you all had a fine Thanksgiving and that you're currently enjoying the fruits of your Black Friday labors. I'm all for cheap electronics and things, but I just can't justify getting up at 2 in the morning to get trampled by eight hundred other people just to try to get one of the two 57" TV's that Best Buy is selling for eight bucks. More power to you all that managed to make it out there for it, but it's just not for me. Besides, I don't love anyone in my family enough to buy them a TV...I'd probably just end up keeping it for myself.

As for this week's column, I'll apologize in advance if this doesn't seem up to the usual standards as I'm currently in the throes of a massive cold that may or may not be swine flu (I always knew that something as delicious as bacon would end up having a catch in the end), so I'm at less than 100% coming into this one. There's still going to be a ton of content today though as I'll take a look back at Survivor Series and the fall-out from the WWE's Thanksgiving tradition, the rest of the weekly TV shows and as much news as I can scrape from the bottom of the news barrel considering that it seems like most of the wrestling world took Thanksgiving weekend off too.

I'd usually fill in this space with some banter about my various thoughts on hockey this past week, but with how sick I've been, I actually haven't really managed to keep up with the goings-on with either of my teams or much of the NHL at all lately. I spent nearly all of Monday and Tuesday bed-ridden, got up Wednesday just long enough to get my turkey into the brine (seriously people, brine your turkey every year..it's hardly any effort and you will be incredibly pleased with the results) before having a big cooking day on Thursday. So the hockey talk, much like my will to live, will return next week when I've finally banished this cold of mine to the sidelines.

Enough stuff...let's do this....



You know the drill...





Ding Ding....







WWE Survivor Series 2009 Results:

Traditional Survivor Series Match: TEAM MORRISON: John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin and Finlay vs. TEAM MIZ: The Miz, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger - Winners: Team Miz (Sheamus, Miz and McIntyre survive)
Rey Mysterio vs. Batista - Winner: Batista (referee's stoppage, multiple Batista Bombs)
Traditional Survivor Series Match: TEAM KOFI: Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, MVP, R-Truth and Christian vs. TEAM ORTON: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, William Regal and CM Punk - Winners: Team Kofi (Kofi Kingston, sole survivor)
World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat: The Big Show vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Undertaker (C) - Winner: The Undertaker (submission, Hell's Gate on The Big Show)
Traditional Survivor Series Match: TEAM MICKIE: Mickie James, Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Melina, and Gail Kim vs. TEAM MCCOOL: Michelle McCool, Jillian Hall, Beth Phoenix, Layla and Alicia Fox - Winners: Team Mickie (Mickie and Melina survive)
WWE Championship Triple Threat: HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena (C) - Winner: John Cena (pinfall, Attitude Adjustment on HBK on top of HHH)


I hate to do this as this is one of the Big Four PPV shows of the year, but I was pretty much deathly ill all of Sunday and Monday and have had a lot of trouble trying to fit this entire show into my schedule, so I'm just going to talk about the two matches that I was able to catch online, the Team Kofi vs. Team Orton bout and the main event triple threat bout for the WWE Championship. I apologize for missing out on the other stuff, but as I've always maintained, it would be a little dishonest of me to talk about a show as if I've watched it when I haven't and I'm not going to insult the intelligence of my readers by doing so.

Talking about the traditional Survivor Series match between Kofi's team and Orton's team, this one was a really awesome old-school Survivor Series match that really felt like something that could have easily been on a pay-per-view in the late-80's when we saw the entire show based on team matches. Yeah, it was probably a little short to stand out on that kind of show where the eliminations would tend to be spaced out a little more, but it was still a very good match. I liked that they built off of Kofi's momentum from the Raw brawl with Orton by having him overcome the odds to beat both CM Punk and Randy Orton with the pinfalls coming about fifteen seconds apart to win the match as the sole survivor. Kofi seems to be really primed for big things, but the problem for him is that he's either going to need a heel turn or to have Cena drop the title and spend some time out of the title hunt in order to have any sort of shot at getting over enough initally to be able to maintain that status long-term. Hopefully he gets the chance to do it because he could be a real shot in the arm for the main event picture, especially with the charisma and fire he's shown in recent weeks.

As for the main event bout featuring DX taking on John Cena in a triple threat match for the WWE Title, I have to say that while I enjoyed the match, I was a little disappointed in how it all played out in the end. The shock opening with Michaels just blasting Triple H with a superkick to put him to the floor for the first five minutes of the bout was a great way to kick things off, but once Triple H made his way back into the match, things felt a little formulaic and kind of bland. HBK and HHH have shown in the past that they can pull off the triple threat format really well, best illustrated in their matches with Chris Benoit, but they just weren't able to get it done here. I'm not going to lay the blame all at Cena's feet though because it just didn't come together at all. To me, the biggest problem that this one had is that we've been so conditioned to think that Super Cena will overcome, no matter what the odds, that when he's seemingly against the odds in a bout with two tag team partners, you're not left wondering how he's going to win, but more about when he's going to make his big comeback. That to me was the determining factor that held this match back from being as good as it potentially could have been, especially considering that Cena has had very good matches with both men individually.





Monday Night Raw Results:

Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler - Winner: Kofi Kingston (pinfall, Trouble in Paradise)
Sheamus vs. Finlay - Winner: Sheamus (pinfall, Razor's Edge)
CM Punk vs. John Cena - Winner: John Cena (pinfall, Super Attitude Adjustment)
Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters and Jack Swagger vs. R-Truth, MVP and Mark Henry - Winners: R-Truth, MVP and Mark Henry (pinfall, Truth's Lie Detector on Chavito)
Evan Bourne vs. Randy Orton - Winner: Randy Orton (pinfall, RKO)
Thanksgiving Melee Match: Jillian Hall, Michelle McCool and Layla vs. Mickie James, Kelly Kelly and Melina - Winners: Mickie James, Kelly Kelly and Melina (pinfall, Melina's roll-up on Jillian)
D-Generation X vs. The Hart Dynasty - Winners: D-Generation X (pinfall, HHH's Pedigree on Kidd)
Cryme Tyme vs. Legacy - Winners: Legacy (pinfall, DiBiase's Dream Street on Shad)
Breakthrough Battle Royal: Kofi Kingston vs. Sheamus vs. R-Truth vs. MVP vs. Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Cody Rhodes - Winner: Sheamus (last eliminated Kingston)


This was a big week on Raw with a three-hour edition of the program hosting an innovative concept from guest host Jesse Ventura called the Breakthrough Battle Royal. All in all, I'd say that the show was a pretty successful one as Ventura served a great job in his role as guest host while not once messing up anyone's name or making himself look anything other than completely comfortable in front of the camera. Ventura may not have been much to write home about when it came to being in the ring (hence much of his career being made in tag teams with guys like Adrian Adonis that could carry the workrate load), but the guy has more charisma than you can shake a stick at and it was in full display for most of the night here. I haven't said this about any of the other guest hosts, but I could easily see Ventura working well in the role of GM on Raw if they could ever agree to terms on it.

As for Ventura's Breakthrough Battle Royal deal, it was actually a very good concept for a three-hour show as it allowed for there to be matches that meant something in the context of the show, but didn't end up needing to have a ton of time to feed into current storylines. It also satisfies the need for fresh blood at the top of the card although there is some question as to whether or not the winner will benefit fully from the push to the top without making the traditional climb up the ladder. I'll get to that part later, but as I said initially, it's a good idea in that it opens up the top of the card to people outside of the same four or five players that have seemingly main evented every show in every combination for the past few years.

The star and winner of the Breakthrough Battle Royal was Sheamus, who also managed to put himself over as a threat to Cena's WWE Title by putting Cena through a table during the contract signing at the end of the night presided over by Ventura. Yet another cool thing about Ventura's night in charge was that he wasn't just a bystander in things, but actually took charge of the show and was involved in every part of it instead of just making a couple of token appearances and throwing around some wrstling buzzwords. As for Sheamus, he's certainly made an impact in his time on Raw and he showed that with his win over Finlay and subsequent post-match beating. There's already been some backlash about Sheamus' lack of credentials in getting a title shot and I agree to a lesser extent, but it all depends on how they book that match and that's another argument for another day.

Another big development from Ventura's hosting gig was the match between John Cena and CM Punk, which Ventura billed as the first time the two men have ever met. The match itself was actually quite good, kicked off by a tremendous Thanksgiving-themed promo from Punk deriding those in attendance and those at home for their impending gluttony during the holiday weekend. Usually, there's a complaint about having two bigger stars like this waste their first meeting in a non-pay-per-view setting, but this one worked. They got a good amount of time (for a match on Raw that is) and used it well. Punk looked strong and viable as a contender for Cena somewhere down the road, Cena continued a strong run as of late in the ring and the fans loved it. All I can say is that I would love to see a full program between these two someday soon as I think it would be a great opportunity for both men to put together some career-defining work.

Outside of Punk/Cena and the Breakthrough Battle Royal qualifiers and battle royal itself, the biggest match and probably the one that disappointed me the most was a tag bout between D-Generation X and The Hart Dynasty. Now unlike some people, I'm not going to say that these guys should have tried to play off of the whole Montreal thing. There's always going to be that undertone and we all know it's there, so much so that it probably doesn't even need to be discussed. When you consider how sick of hearing about Montreal everyone is a decade later, they don't need to do it. What I was disappointed in was the match itself, which ended up looking more like a glorified squash for DX and did nothing for the Hart kids, who could have used at least a little bit of a rub. They've done a great job of getting over and gaining experience on Smackdown, but it felt like that was kind of thrown under the bus for the sake of keeping DX strong as a team heading into their coming Unified Tag Title match with Jericho and Big Show that got set up after the match. I'm not saying the Harts had to win, but they could have at least had a better showing. It wouldn't have hurt anyone and would have done them a lot of good.

The final thing I want to touch on from a full three hours on Raw was the commentary team for the final match as Ventura thought it would be a good idea to rekindle the memories of weekends long ago as he brought Vince McMahon back to the microphone to call play-by-play on the Breakthrough Battle Royal with Ventura himself coming back to his familiar color commentator's role. The only way that this could have been any better would have been if there could have been some way to get Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon together one last time. Having McMahon calling wrestling again sounded right because he did it for so long, even though it's still so wrong considering that McMahon barely knew anything then in terms of holds and probably knows even less now. That being said, they did a good job and it was fun to hear people other than Cole and Lawler on the mic.





ECW on SyFy Results:

Zack Ryder vs. Shelton Benjamin - Winner: Shelton Benjamin (pinfall, Paydirt)
Vance Archer vs. Alex Reynolds - Winner: Vance Archer (pinfall, reverse DDT)
Yoshi Tatsu vs. William Regal - Winner: Yoshi Tatsu (pinfall, roundhouse kick)


Yeah, there's three matches on this show, but I really think there's only a need to talk about two of them. The opening bout, the one that got the most time, and the one that was actually a good match was the bout between Shelton Benjamin and Zack Ryder with a shot at Christian's ECW Championship on the line. I haven't been the biggest fan of this program and that still holds true, but these two put on a hell of a match that really sold just how important a title shot is to both of them. With Christian still holding the belt, it was pretty much a given that Benjamin would be the guy that would come out on top. These guys have some good chemistry from working together as of late and they put on one of the better twelve-minute matches I've seen in ECW in some time.

The Benjamin/Christian match that comes out of this one at the TLC pay-per-view will probably be even better and that's something to look forward to out of a brand that has had a little trouble with planning for the future. It not only sets up a match involving two of the guys who have had the most exciting ladder matches and TLC matches in history, but it also gives us a chance to actually see the ECW Championship defended on pay-per-view, something that never seems to happen anymore. I for one think that this one has the potential to steal the show and it will be interesting to see where they go with it, both in terms of booking the winner and in how the match is structured. Hopefully, it's not a thirty-second dog like most ECW Championship matches on PPV have been for such a long time now.

The main event match featuring Yoshi Tatsu and William Regal was also worth noting, though there was little in-ring action to speak of. After a couple of minutes of wrestling, Tatsu picked up the win with a roundhouse kick out of nowhere, leading me to believe that this was here more for the post-match angle than for the match itself. After Tatsu's win, Regal got in the face of his two big men and with some prodding from Kozlov tried to blame big Ezekiel Jackson for the loss. Jackson dropped Kozlov like a bad habit with his modified uranage and then taking out Regal as well. I'm not sure if this is building towards a face turn for Jackson, but it's kind of out of nowhere and seems to be a good example of the recent scattershot booking in ECW that I was talking about earlier. I'll give it a chance, but I just don't see this being a very good way to get Jackson over as a face if that's what they're trying to do, especially after building him as a remorseless monster that killed jobber after jobber.





WWE Superstars Results:

The Miz vs. Santino Marella - Winner: The Miz (pinfall, Skull Crushing Finale)
Vladimir Kozlov vs. Goldust - Winner: Vladimir Kozlov (pinfall, Iron Curtain)
R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler - Winner: R-Truth (pinfall, Lie Detector)


Superstars was a bit of a mixed bag for me this week with the first two matches being a little on the boring side before a main event that was a pleasant surprise, something that seems to be happening more often than not with the WWE's D show. We started out with The Miz taking on Santino Marella in a dog of a match that didn't do any favors for either of them. Marella takes another loss as he seems to just be around as comic relief for the more important wrestlers and Miz looks kind of bad for taking nearly six minutes to get rid of a guy like Marella. I honestly think that this one was just a bad idea from the get-go. I don't think that Miz is top of the card talent at this point, but he's at least a little better than this.

The next match saw Vladimir Kozlov try to recover from the Ezekiel Jackson beating on Tuesday night by laying a beating on Goldust. Sure enough, he laid the beating and picked up the win, but it was just kind of slow and plodding for me as much of Kzolov's big man offense doesn't exactly translate when he's beating up 270 pounds of Goldust rather than 210 pounds of jobber. Goldust is another guy that really doesn't have much to offer other than being cannon fodder for matches like this, so it really doesn't do much for Kozlov other than give his win-loss record a little more padding. I have nothing against big men and think that in the right circumstances they can put on entertaining matches, but this one was not one of those occasions.

As I said at the top of this section, the only real redeeming bout of the night was the main event between R-Truth and Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler's stock seems to have hit a plateau as of late as he hasn't really put together anything too impressive in terms of wins and didn't get the IC Title push that everyone assumed he would a couple of months back. He hasn't let that affect his in-ring work though and he was tremendous in this one, actually making me interested in R-Truth, something that even CM Punk has had trouble getting me to do. Truth picked up the win with his finisher and I honestly don't know that he's done anything to update his act at all from when he was K-Kwik back in the waning days of Attitude. I don't get how he's still somewhat over with a character that stale, yet there it is.






TNA Impact Results:

Bobby Lashley vs. Abyss - Winner: Bobby Lashley (submission, Dragon Sleeper)
Suicide vs. Desmond Wolfe - Winner: Desmond Wolfe (pinfall, Tower of London)
D'Angelo Dinero vs. Kurt Angle - Winner: Kurt Angle (pinfall, Angle Slam)
Homicide vs. Robert Roode - Winner: Robert Roode (pinfall, spinebuster)
Knockouts Battle Royal: Hamada vs Daffney vs Alissa Flash vs Traci vs Lacey vs Velvet Sky vs Madison Rayne vs Taylor Wilde vs Sarita vs Tara - Winner: Tara (last eliminated Velvet Sky)
Desmond Wolfe vs. Bobby Lashley - Winner: Bobby Lashley (disqualification, Wolfe refuses to rope break on 5)
Robert Roode vs. Kurt Angle - Winner: Robert Roode (countout, Wolfe spittle)
Bobby Lashley vs. Robert Roode - Winner: Bobby Lashley (pinfall, spear)


TNA Impact surprised me this week with one of their more entertaining shows that they've put on in quite some time. Unlike most other times where it feels like a week or two after a good pay-per-view they've squandered all of their momentum, they seem to be keeping it moving forward, which is a nice change of pace. This week's show heavily focused on the search for a new number one contender for AJ Styles' title as there was an eight-man Championship Series tournament to go ahead and crown the new challenger.

Featuring the likes of Bobby Lashley, Desmond Wolfe, Kurt Angle, and Robert Roode, we saw seven quality (albeit short) matches with some of TNA's best in-ring talent being featured. My only complaint about the tournament format was that with it being eight men and all of the first-round matches seeming fairly one-sided, those four matches took time away from matches between Lashley and Wolfe and Angle and Roode that could have been great had they been given a little more time to grow. I understand why they didn't have it set up as just four guys because that's not much of a tournament, but it just came off as something that took time away from what could have been really good just for the sake of appearances.

I liked that they are looking to continue the Angle/Wolfe affair as Wolfe cost Angle his chance at the finals and Bobby Lashley by distracting Angle and causing him to be counted out. While this ended up making the finals a bit of a foregone conclusion as it left Lashley taking on Robert Roode, someone who I have a hard time believing could end up winning a title shot, I think it was necessary as Angle/Lashley could be a big PPV matchup for them down the road and this Wolfe/Angle feud still has some legs and shouldn't be killed off before we get to a final conclusion in another month or two. Wolfe needs to gain some legitimacy if he's going to be considered a real top challenger in TNA and he's going to have to beat Angle to get that kind of credibility, so this looks as if he'll get another chance to get that job done at the pay-per-view next month.

In the end, Bobby Lashley was crowned as the next challenger for AJ Styles (not named Christopher Daniels, who has the next crack at Final Resolution), as he pinned Roode after a mighty spear in the middle of the ring. To me, this was the best that Lashley has looked since he began wrestling in TNA. He seems to have finally shaken off the ring rust that accumulated during his time off training for his MMA career and he is someone that could be bought as a legit challenger come Genesis when he is apparently going to get his shot. I'm not sure about what they're going to do with this whole tournament as if they have to wait around six weeks for Lashley to get his shot, he loses all the momentum of the tournament win and it underscores how they could have spaced the tournament out into two weeks. If they have Lashley take his title shot on Impact in the next few weeks, it kind of lessens the accomplishment of his tournament win and makes the winner of the bout a little predictable with the build to Daniels/Styles already underway. It will be interesting to see how TNA proceeds with this as this could end up being a bit of a problem for them if they don't play it right.

Speaking of Daniels/Styles, they continued to build towards their title bout with an in-ring talky segment that saw Daniels call out Styles for not reaching out to him when he was fired and for stabbing Daniels in the back by taking the pinfall away from him when he had Samoa Joe pinned in the three-way for the belt. While this seems a bit like revisionist history on Daniels part, this is exactly what he needs to help him get over as a heel. He's got his justification, no matter how warped it may seem to the fans, and that's all he needs. This segement really helped to set up the title match and I really think that this was key in helping to legitimize the one-on-one match between the two of them, something that could be tremendous in-ring, but could easily fall flat in the build as neither guy has shown a ton of charisma for me in their stints outside of the X-Division. This interview changed that perception for me a bit and it's got me excited for where this is going in the future.






Friday Night Smackdown Results:

Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty - Winners: The Hart Dynasty (pinfall, DH's Saito Suplex on Shad)
Matt Hardy vs. CM Punk - Winner: Matt Hardy (disqualification, Festus-ference)
Kane vs. Batista - Winner: Batista (countout, chairshot on the floor)
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Eric Escobar vs. John Morrison - Winner: John Morrison (pinfall, Starship Pain)
The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho - Winner: The Undertaker (disqualification, Batista-ference)


Smackdown saw more work being done in building towards a possible Jericho/Taker singles match for the World Title as well as more developments in CM Punk's crusade against the fans and substance abusers of the world and a solidification of Batista's new super-heelish attitude, all of which actually made for a pretty entertaining show overall. Add in a break-up of the somewhat-nauseating couple of Eric Escobar and Vickie Guerrero and this was a pretty full episode coming off of a somewhat less-than-impressive effort from last week.

The most entertaining part of this week's show for me beyond the in-ring action was the CM Punk promo that introduced us to the newly-christened Luke Gallos, the former Festus. Punk let us know that apparently Festus was hooked on pills and that was what made him such a retard in the past. This is a bit of a tweak on what some fans had been suggesting in that Punk should be pushing pills on Festus to make him "normal", showing the hypocrisy of his whole persona to make him a flawed heel, but this is still a fairly interesting development for me. Punk now has his bodyguard, much like another smart-mouthed smaller wrestler named Shawn Michaels had Diesel. I'm not suggesting that Gallos is somehow going to turn into a legitimate title contender or that he's going to be what turns Punk's fortunes around, but it opens up a whole new realm of storyline possibilities for Punk, which is a pretty good thing.

The bout between Chris Jericho and The Undertaker was another solid effort between two veterans who know how to tell their story in the ring. This one wasn't quite up to par with last week's match, but it was still a superlative effort and they put on a very nice main event match. The main problem that I had with this one was that a match between two men of this caliber was merely the vessel to allow them to transition to what is going to be yet another round of Batista vs. The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship, something that we've seen a lot of from Smackdown in the past couple of years. The Batista post-match beatdown was actually pretty convincing (or at least as convincing as a PG beatdown can be), but it did its job and at least gives them a reason to battle in what will presumably be one of the big matches at the pay-per-view.

Prior to Batista getting involved with the main event, he faced off against Kane in a match that we've seen a few times before with mostly negative results. This one was a little bit better as there was a different dynamic with Kane being the face and Batista the heel and the finish prior to the chairshots on the outside was pretty hot with the near-fall from Kane's chokeslam being one that kind of stood out. As for the chairshot to the knee, that was a pretty good way to have Batista pick up the win with heelish tactics, though I don't see why he couldn't have gotten the pin. Yeah, it's a good chickenshit move to beat your opponent on the count after a cheap shot, but if he's going to be the next challenger for the belt, he should probably come into that program off of a pin. That's not even mentioning that Kane is so far away from the main event picture that there's no real reason for him to not eat the pinfall.

The show as a whole was much better than it was in singular portions as some parts of the show dragged including the whole Eric Escobar/Vickie Guerrero break-up which actually seems a little rushed considering that Escobar has yet to really establish himself as anything, but I guess that's neither here nor there as we'll have to see where he ends up going moving forward. There were definite bright spots here and this was a better show than last week's, but things still feel like they've lost a little momentum from the hot shows that came through the summer months after the draft lottery.







So yeah, remember how last week I was kind of complaining a little bit about how slow things were and how there wasn't really a ton of things to talk about? Well let's go ahead and multiply that by about a hundred this week as there's next to nothing major going on and only a few minor notes here and there happening to be worthy of being mentioned. That being said, here's the news folks!



-- The Hulkamania tour is in the midst of rocking across Australia and by all accounts, the people that are going to check out the show seem to be having a pretty good time. Sure, a lot of the guys on the card are well past their primes and probably shouldn't be in the ring, but as long as they're wrestling each other and not clogging up the top of the card in some major promotion *cough couTNAgh*, I really don't have a problem with it.

Along with the people talking about how most of these guys shouldn't be in the ring, there's also the talk of how most of the matches are between adequate and bad, which is understandable when you consider the talent involved. There's also been some fans who have voiced complaints about having angles booked throughout the tour to where fans in the cities before the tour's big blow-off in Sydney aren't going to get the chance to see the conclusion of the angle that played out in part at their house show.

While I can understand their frustration to be sure, this tour has seemingly been built on the old-school way of doing things from the get-go. From Flair's press conference attack (which went over HUGE down there), to booking angles to further house shows, this seems to be these veterans' attempt to make old-school cool and they seem to be succeeding. The whole point of this tour (outside of lining Hulk's divorce-emptied pockets of course) is to give fans in Australia, who are usually rabid for any type of wrestling that comes through the area, a chance to experience an event that feels like a big event with all of the bells and whistles building up to a match between arguably the two biggest stars in the history of the business.

The Flair/Hogan matches don't need to be technical classics or matches that are worthy of being in the main event of next year's WrestleMania because that's most likely not why the people in the crowd are there. The people are there for the chance to see guys like Hogan and Flair in the flesh, a chance that many of them may not have had before now, before it's too late. Sure, it would be great to see them in their prime, but I know that if there was somehow a chance for people to see the full line-up of The Beatles touring well into their sixties and seventies, fans new and old would still flock.

It's the same reason why people still go to see bands like KISS, Journey, The Rolling Stones, and a million other bands that were popular decades ago. For the people who have already seen them, there's a nostalgia factor involved that means seeing them again takes them back to a younger time in their lives where they can enjoy their former memories while making new ones. For newer fans, it's a chance to experience their heroes live and in person, something that can never be duplicated or replaced. Yes, there's something to be said for seeing a band or performer when they're at their best, but there's also something to be said for the disappointment of never being able to see them at all.

The fans that are paying their hard-earned money in Australia aren't looking to see the greatest wrestling show since Starrcade or the best in-ring product since Ring of Honor. They're there for the feeling that being in the arena gives them, the feeling of being a fan. I'd be willing to wager that many in that arena don't know a lot about the backstage goings-on and personal lives of guys like Flair and Hogan and those that do forget all of those things as soon as the bell rings. Many have maligned this tour as a cash grab (myself included), but when you put all of that aside, it appears that there's still some good things going on and some new lifetime memories being made for fans half a world away. Something that powerful can't be all bad, can it?



-- Pro Wrestling Unscripted, an independent promotion based in Philadelphia (Is there something in the water there that makes independent wrestling promotions sprout up like weeds?), made some news this week as they announced that they had signed a deal with the Versus cable network to air monthly two-hour specials featuring the best and brightest on the PWU roster. Granted, I have no idea who is actually ON that roster, but this would seem to be big news for a promotion that is going to try to break into the ranks of the big time.

At least, that's how it seemed when PWU sent out their press release on Monday. The very next day however, the Versus people sent out word through one of their reps that there was no truth to the press release that PWU sent out and that there was not going to be any two-hour specials airing on the channel anytime soon. On top of that, the venue that PWU claimed would house their first TV tapings for the Versus series stated that they had nothing wrestling-related scheduled for the day that PWU cited in their release. Hmmmm...it would appear that things aren't always sunny in Philadelphia wouldn't it?

Later in the week, some further clarification came out as it seems that PWU is going to be paying Versus for the timeslot and using the shows as an informercial for their product. While this is a good idea in theory as it will get their product onto TV's across the country for what would likely be very little money and will get the company some huge exposure on a national level. In practice, you have to wonder whether a company that is regional at best can afford to pay the bills long enough to see any sort of payback from putting out the money to get said national exposure. I honestly see this as something that will likely cripple the promotion unless they have some money mark backing them that will keep paying for the timeslot, if that's even what is going to happen.

At this point, no one even knows if PWU will be on the air or not come the new year and there's surely going to be more attention on PWU's upcoming December 9th press conference than there likely ever would have been in any other setting. Rest assured, the Bell To Bell will be monitoring the situation and there will be more updates on the Little Promotion That Could...or Might...or Might Not...in the near future.



-- Rey Mysterio is set to go under the knife again for a knee injury and news came out this week as to what kind of procedure Rey-Rey is looking at and how long he is expected to be on the shelf. Mysterio is planning on having a less-invasive surgery than is normally performed on his damaged ACL to allow him to get back into the ring quicker, perhaps as early as the Royal Rumble PPV in January. Of course, this is just a quick fix as Rey will have to have the full surgery down the road to actually repair all of the damage and solve the problem fully, which begs the question of whether the quick fix is even worth it. Rey has had a shit-ton of problems with his knees in the past few years and they don't appear to be getting better any time soon. Whether this is due to Rey's knees just beginning to wear down and wear out from the years he's put in in the ring or whether he's actually doing damage to himself by giving in to his craving for the feeling he gets performing for the fans is up for debate.

The one thing that isn't up for debate however is that despite missing two of the past three WrestleManias, a number that would likely jump to three out of four if Rey has the full surgery, he NEEDS to have the full surgery and take the full recovery time. These stop-gap solutions may be doing the trick for now, but Rey needs to be thinking about the future as much as he is about the present. It seems especially silly when you consider that he's going to have to have an extra surgery and that it won't even fully fix the problems. I may be looking at it as a realist, but it seems like a silly idea to undergo more surgery than is actually necessary, no matter what the circumstances. If he's not careful he'll wake up as a fifty-year old man that can't walk properly because of all of the damage to his knees. There's more to think about than just your career Rey, especially when it comes to your health in the future.



-- It appears that Hulk Hogan is at it again as during his tour of Australia which I talked about earlier, he did an interview with a sports radio station in the country/continent to help hype the tour. Some of the choicest bits you ask? Well here they are....

On his relationship with Vince McMahon: "Brother, it's a love-hate relationship, you know. I talk to him once in a while when he needs a main event for WrestleMania but right now, once I get done with this Australian tour, I'm going back to the United States where I signed a deal to run a company called TNA - Total Nonstop Action Wrestling."

Now I'm not sure whether he means that Vince needs an idea for a main event or whether he actually wants Hulk to be in the main event, but either one seems to be fairly ludicrous. Considering that Hulk's last high-profile WrestleMania match was against Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XIX and his last appearance at WrestleMania was at WrestleMania 21, I would say that Vince hasn't exactly been calling Hogan non-stop in regards to WrestleMania. That being said, let's move on for now because there's even better stuff coming...

On a possible dream match with Stone Cold Steve Austin: " I ran into Stone Cold one week before I came to Australia. I went to a Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, California and there he was. He was working out during the day. He was doing a movie with my buddy Sylvester Stallone. And I told him, I said, "Brother, I'm going back to work. I'm getting back in the ring. If you want some come get some. Money's not a problem. Your schedule's not a problem. If you really want to get in the ring and you really want to make history then come get into the ring with Hulk Hogan". I did not get an answer."

Oh Hulk, Hulk, Hulk, Hulk, Hulk. While I'm sure that there was at least some sort of interaction between the two of them in some way, I'd guess that rather than them being there at the same time and Hulk punking out Austin, it went more like Hogan went there to train one day and some guy told him that Austin had been in there the day before. From there, Hulk's mind, which usually has its hyperbole meter set at about 800 or so, came up with this elaborate story to help try to build himself up so that people will pay to come out and see his show. Much like with most things Hulk-related, there is probably a shred of truth in there somewhere, but I'll be damned if I'm going on a spelunking mission to try to find it.



-- Lauren Mayhew, the WWE's choice to replace departed Raw ring announcer Lillian Garcia, has apparently left the company after being unable to come to terms on a new deal. She began working with the company on a short-term deal and when that expired, the two sides weren't able to agree on an extension to keep her with the company. Whether she tried it out and decided it wasn't for her, or whether the company was less than pleased with her work don't really seem to be a factor as reports have her leaving the WWE on good terms and that the door is open for her to return in the future. This could just simply be a situation of her schedule not working for the time being and that when she's able to devote herself fully to the job, it's hers. Until then, it appears that longtime WWE announcer Tony Chimel will be covering ECW and Smackdown while Justin Roberts takes care of the ring announcing on Raw.



-- In sad news, Alexis Pillman, the stepdaughter of former WWF and WCW great "Flyin" Brian Pillman, passed away at the age of twenty-six following a car accident. Details are still sparse on what actually occured, but no matter what the case, twenty-six is far too young for someone to pass away. Pillman had worked on the independent circuit though 2008 as a manager and made an appearance at a TNA house show in Cincinnati in June of 2008 where she worked as a ring girl. Everyone here at 411 sends our condolences out to the Pillman family during this difficult time. Losing a loved one at any time is hard, but losing a loved one during the holidays carries with it an extra level of heartache and our thoughts are with the family as they try to carry on past this latest tragedy.



-- It's the holiday season and that usually means that it's time to think about giving and getting gifts, decorations, Christmas parties and everything else that this time of year has to offer. Unfortunately, not everyone gets the chance to have a Merry Christmas, most times through circumstances that are beyond their control. More often than not, the ones who end up suffering the brunt of this are the children who don't have presents under their tree come Christmas morning. That's why I'm happy to end this news report with a story out of Stamford that saw WWE stars like Tommy Dreamer, Hornswoggle, Beth Phoenix, Maria and others team up with the US Marine Corps' Toys for Tots campaign. A similar drive last year brought 1,500 toys while this year's was even more of a success with over 4,000 toys collected from sponsors even before the donations from the public were accepted. While this past weekend saw Thanksgiving, Christmas is just as important a time to be thankful for all that you have and to think of those that may not have as much. I'd encourage everyone to give what they can to Toys for Tots, the Salvation Army, your local food bank, Coats for Kids or any other worthy charity during this holiday season.


That does it for me this week as I've pretty much covered everything that needed covering from the past seven days, Randle's in tomorrow and will probably have a Raw preview, some talk of the Hulkamania tour and a couple of other tidbits thrown in between pictures of his cat. Hey, it works for him and even though I have three cute enough pets (two cats and a dog), they don't know enough about wrestling to be included in my column. As for me, I'll be back in seven with my thoughts on everything that's gone on in the world of wrestling, so in the meantime and in between time, I'll see you back here next time for a brand spanking new Bell to Bell!


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