The Wrestling News Experience: 02.08.10

Posted by Stephen Randle on 02.08.2010

In this Experience, we have a preview for tonight's Raw, plus we look back at the history of WWE's planned obsolescence of ECW, new wrestling books on the horizon, and the end of a legendary career.

Monday, February 8th, 2010

From 411Mania's Canadian offices in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, this is The Wrestling News Experience, with Stephen Randle!


Buh-Zing-A

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Experience, I'm Stephen Randle. I hope everybody enjoyed the big event over the weekend. That's right, I'm talking about Hockey Day in Canada, a full day of Canadian NHL teams in action, capped by the Toronto Maple Leafs Mark 2.0 absolutely destroying the Ottawa Senators.

Oh yeah, and some foosball game. Giant Saucer? Supreme Plate? Massive Q? If it's not a giant Cup, I really don't pay that much attention.

Hey, Larry, I saw you trying to siphon off my NPH awesomeness last week. Listen, I know you're afraid that since you stopped writing regularly, people no longer think you're interesting or worth paying attention to, and you're absolutely correct. But that's no excuse for stealing my bit. Now, in the old days, I would seek swift and brutal revenge. But I recently come into the light, and my life revolves around one simple question:





The answer? Be awesome. And so I shall.

Moving on.



Tonight's Host:


Yes, I Already Did This Joke. No, I Don't Care. Come Get Me, NASCAR.

Last week, Bret Hart finally managed to get his hands on Vince McMahon, and because he's Canadian, he jerseyed Vince and started feeding him hockey punches. But the world was shocked when Smackdown's Batista ran in to save the WWE owner, restraining Bret so that Vince could spit in his face. We learned on Smackdown that after Raw went off the air, John Cena tried to help Hart, but was likewise attacked by the Animal. With two of WWE's largest personalities getting involved in this private war, it seems inevitable that the stakes will be raised as we enter this week.

Plus, D-Generation X will defend their Unified Tag Team Championships against both The Straight Edge Society from Smackdown, and the team of The Miz and The Big Show (despite that team having a lifetime record of 0-1). But the larger story may be Shawn Michaels, who has seemingly fallen into a deep depression at losing his last chance at facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania with his inability to win the Royal Rumble or qualify for the Elimination Chamber. Will Shawn's mind be fully on his match tonight, or will he be the weak link that costs D-X their tag titles? And there's even more intrigue to be found, as wherever The Miz is found, MVP cannot be far behind, while his tag partner The Big Show may still be stressed over his inadvertent DQ loss last week, which kept him out of the Chamber match.

Meanwhile, assuming they don't get bumped again, Maryse will face Gail Kim for the Diva's Championship. Last week, the French Canadian femme claimed that she and Gail Kim would prove that Raw Divas are all about no-nonsense wrestling instead of the classless feuds of their Smackdown counterparts, but can she be taken at her word?

And with his protégé Ted DiBiase qualifying for the Chamber as well, will Randy Orton forgive Legacy's Rumble errors in exchange for a potential 2-on-1 advantage at the PPV? The answers to this and plenty more questions, maybe, tonight on Raw!



Readers, in the world of pro wrestling, it's almost inevitable that at some point, your favourite organization could be looking down the barrel of extinction. However, maybe if you're really lucky, Vince McMahon will buy all the trademarks and video history of your promotion, then bring it back in a really half-assed fashion, forget about it quickly, and then randomly appear one day and kill it dead a second time. And that, my readers, is how we come to this.





Yes, last week Vince McMahon made a special appearance on ECW on SyFy to announce that as of the end of the month, the very last vestiges of the former Philadelphia-based indy promotion will be wiped from the face of the Earth, with only historical DVDs and Classics on Demand allowing it periodic appearances. Since its debut several years back, the "C" show of WWE saw its ratings fall to nearly a third of its original (although still on par with TNA's "A" show until the last month). And really, the writing has been on the wall since…well, roughly three seconds into the initial broadcast. Join us, won't you, on a trip down memory lane, as we re-visit some of the moments when it became apparent that Vince, or at least his evil subconscious mind, was intent on killing ECW.

In no particular order, because I have only a vague understanding of linear time:

- ECW One Night Stand II, unlike the original, features little talent from the old ECW and focuses instead on WWE-contracted wrestlers

- Kelly Kelly, the exhibitionist who doesn't exhibit

- The Big Show defeats RVD for the ECW Title (I'm not saying RVD shouldn't have lost the belt, but to Show?)

- Big Show vs Batista in the Hammerstein Ballroom, to the approximate joy of nobody present, which led to ECW switching from "small venue" to "arena" shows

- December 2 Dismember, featuring only 2 promoted matches, one of which did not involve ECW talent

- ECW Strip Poker

- Paul Heyman, the face of ECW for nearly its entire existence, leaves WWE forever due to conflicts with the rest of Creative, who can't figure out why ECW sucks, but are pretty sure it must be Heyman's fault

- Bobby Lashley, ECW Champion

- Test, #1 Contender

- Vince promotes The New Breed with the purpose of destroying the ECW Originals

- Big Daddy V

- Vince McMahon, ECW Champion

- The Sandman no longer drinks, smokes, uses Singapore canes, or comes out through the crowd to anything resembling "Enter Sandman"

- Mike Adamle replaces Joey Styles as "the voice of ECW"

- Chavo Guerrero, ECW Champion

- The ECW Champion enters the Royal Rumble, burying any possibility that the ECW Title is still considered a "World" title

- One Night Stand no longer an ECW-only PPV

- ECW talent roster becomes so thin that WWE just starts using Smackdown talent to supplement the show

- The Abraham Washington Show

- By 2009, the ECW title is no longer defended regularly on PPV

- Anyone who gets even a little over in ECW is quickly traded/drafted/moved to Raw or Smackdown in exchange for…well, nothing (see, Sheamus, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, CM Punk, The Miz, John Morrison, a dozen more I'm forgetting)

- Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft, a tag team on a brand with no other tag teams

Geez, it's no wonder nobody has chanted the words "E-C-Dub" in months. Anybody feel like piling on with things I've missed? That's why we have a Comments section! Well, that and for people to reflexively disagree with everything we write, but that's okay, because everyone who writes here is secretly a masochist. It's actually part of the job description.

ECW will shortly be replaced by WWE NXT, because forgetting vowels is SUPER COOL! The premise for the show is apparently promoting young talent that aren't quite ready for Raw or Smackdown. Which is kind of what ECW was already doing, except presumably Christian might actually get to be moved to a real show now.



Chris Jericho's second book will be released in Canada in September, and in the United Kingdom in early 2011. The United States has no release date listed, because they're not worthy of reading about his greatness. Instead, you can read the upcoming book about the Road Warriors, written by Animal, where he discusses how to become a legendary and revered tag team by no-selling, stiffing opponents, and going against script when you feel like it, and then piss it all away until you end up trying to pretend Darren Drozdov or Jon Heidenreich are really your first choice to be part of the "new" Road Warriors. I'd actually be more interested in a book written by his brother John Laurinaitus, if only so we can find out if he really believes that wrestlers wearing t-shirts are part of the reason why the business is down. Plus, maybe he'll reveal that Jim Cornette hitting him with a loaded tennis racket during the height of the Dynamic Dudes-Midnight Express feud is the reason why he's slowly descended into gibbering insanity ever since, unable to express any opinions of his own that didn't go through Vince first.




And Ron Simmons wrestled his final match this past weekend, as he has slipped into non-wrestling retirement. There is only one thing that could possibly said about the end of such an interesting and lengthy career.

Nah, too easy.

But I can't resist.

DAMN!



Inactive List as of 02.01.10

WWE Raw

- Melina, out indefinitely as of January 4th (torn ACL)

WWE SmackDown

- Jim Ross, out until March 2010 as of October 20th (Bell's Palsy)

ECW

- No reported injuries

TNA

- Roxxi, TNA, out indefinitely as of December 21st (broken ankle)

Transactions

- Santino Marella, RAW, day-to-day as of January 31st

- Scott D'Amore, TNA, released from his contract



WWE

WWE Champion: Sheamus
- 57 day reign, defeated John Cena in a Tables Match on December 13th (TLC PPV)
- Next title defense: vs Randy Orton, John Cena, Triple H, Kofi Kingston, and Ted DiBiase, Elimination Chamber Match, Elimination Chamber PPV

Top 5 Contenders

1. Edge
2. Randy Orton
3. John Cena
4. Triple H
5. Kofi Kingston

World Heavyweight Champion: The Undertaker
- 120 day reign, defeated CM Punk in a Hell in a Cell Match on October 4th (Hell in a Cell PPV)
- Next title defense: vs CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, R-Truth, and John Morrison, Elimination Chamber Match, Elimination Chamber PPV

Top 5 Contenders

1. Edge
2. CM Punk
3. Chris Jericho
4. Rey Mysterio
5. Batista - drops off due to apparently no longer being interested in the title

ECW Champion: Christian
- 197 day reign, defeated Tommy Dreamer on July 26th (Night of Champions PPV)

Top 5 Contenders

1. Edge
2. Ezekiel Jackson
3. Shelton Benjamin
4. Yoshi Tatsu
5. William Regal

WWE Intercontinental Champion: Drew McIntyre
- 57 day reign, defeated John Morrison on December 13th (TLC PPV)

Top 5 Contenders

1. R-Truth
2. John Morrison
3. Kane
4. Chris Jericho
5. Dolph Ziggler

WWE United States Champion: The Miz
- 126 day reign, defeated Kofi Kingston on October 5th (Raw)

Top 5 Contenders

1. Kofi Kingston
2. MVP
3. Mark Henry
4. Jack Swagger
5. Ted DiBiase

WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions: D-Generation X
- 64 day reign, defeated Chris Jericho and The Big Show on December 13th (TLC PPV)
- Next title defense: vs The Straight Edge Society & The Miz and The Big Show, February 8th Raw

Top 3 Contenders

1. CM Punk and Luke Gallows/The Miz and The Big Show (tie)
2. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase

WWE Women's Champion: Mickie James
- 8 day reign, defeated Michelle McCool on January 31st (Royal Rumble PPV)

Top 3 Contenders

1. Beth Phoenix
2. Serena
3. Michelle McCool

WWE Diva's Champion: VACANT
- title vacated by former champion Melina on January 4th due to injury

Top 3 Contenders

Eight Diva tournament underway to determine new champion and contenders

TNA

TNA Heavyweight Champion: AJ Styles
- 141 day reign, defeated former champion Kurt Angle, Matt Morgan, Hernandez, and Sting in a Five-Way Match on September 20th (No Surrender PPV)
- Next title defense: vs Samoa Joe, Against All Odds PPV

Top 5 Contenders

8-Card Stud (um….okay) Tournament underway to determine new rankings

TNA Tag Team Champions: Hernandez and Matt Morgan
- 22 day reign, defeated The British Invasion on January 17th (Genesis PPV)

Top 3 Contenders

1. Beer Money, Inc.
2. The Nasty Boys
3. Team 3D

TNA X-Division Champion: Doug Williams
- 11 day reign, defeated Amazing Red on January 28th (Impact)

Top 3 Contenders

1. Amazing Red
2. Brian Kendrick
3. The Pope

TNA Knockouts Champion: Tara
- 29 day reign, defeated ODB in a 2/3 Falls Match on January 17th (Genesis PPV)

Top 3 Contenders
1. Angelina Love
2. ODB
3. Hamada

TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions: Awesome Kong and Hamada
- 35 day reign, defeated Taylor Wilde and Sarita on January 4th (Impact)

Top 2 Contenders

1. The Beautiful People
2. Taylor Wilde and Sarita

TNA Global Champion: Rob Terry
- 12 day reign, defeated Eric Young on January 27th (UK house show)

Top 3 Contenders

1. Eric Young
2. Desmond Wolfe
3. Hernandez



Harrison has the weekend news report.

Martell has The Triple Threat.

Hubbard has The Contentious Ten.

Ford has The CHIKARA Special.

Ari has Column of Honor.



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Buddy Just Body-Slammed The Big Show. Now We Nap.


Have a good one, and always be a fan.