The Wrestling News Experience: 03.01.10

Posted by Stephen Randle on 03.01.2010

In this overly patriotic Experience, we have a preview for tonight's Raw, plus TNA personal lives are more interesting than the on-air product, WWE continues to screw around with their PPVs while simultaneously cutting excess talent, and I praise the build for WrestleMania!

Monday, March 1st, 2010

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


Saw It Coming.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Experience. I'm Stephen Randle, and I'd say if I had a Stanley Cup, Hart Trophy, and scored the Olympic gold medal-winning goal in OT on Canadian soil with the entire country watching, before I turned 25, I wouldn't give a damn if people called me "Cindy". Just don't call me Shirley.

Yes, surprise, Stephen is pumped up and ready to be abusive to his American readers over the results of a hockey game. After six and a half years, are you really that shocked? Come on, he spent twelve hours at work on Sunday, he needs something in order to maintain his sanity. Of course, he's also talking in the third person, which is never a good sign.



It's So Legendary, NPH Is An Honorary Canadian Today


Moving on.



Tonight's Host:

Dave's Not Here, Man…Oh Wait, Yes He Is, He's The Champion

Last week, shocking developments abounded, as in the wake of the Elimination Chamber, John Cena was looking for revenge against new WWE Champion Batista, who obliged by facing Cena in a match to determine his opponent for WrestleMania. Batista immediately and intentionally forced a DQ by kicking Cena in the groin, resulting in his WrestleMania opponent being…John Cena. I'm not entirely sure he really thought that one through. And what of former champion Sheamus, who was not even afforded the opportunity to earn his own rematch for the title? One would imagine that the Celtic Warrior is not in the best of moods, and he may go looking for answers tonight.

Meanwhile, Vince McMahon graciously invited Bret Hart back to Raw tonight, despite his injury, in order for Bret to have one more chance to say goodbye to the fans. With the Hitman apparently hobbled, will Vince be able to resist one more parting shot?

Plus, despite Legacy apparently having plans of their own, Randy Orton took matters into his own hands ahead of time, leaving both his former protégés laying during a six-man match and heading off, seemingly on his own once more. Will there be repercussions from Orton's direct actions tonight? I would bet on it.

In addition, more matches continue to be set for WrestleMania, including the annual Money in the Bank match, with more qualifiers sure to be happening tonight! Plus, there's always a chance that where there are WWE pros, there will be the presence of their many NXT rookies, including the one belonging to United States and Unified Tag champion, The Miz. What was his name again?

All this and hopefully more, as we hurtle down the Road to WrestleMania, tonight on Raw!



Readers, it's becoming more and more clear that the inmates, as it were, are running the asylum down in Florida. And also the person who funds the asylum through her father's company. And the guy who writes the storylines for the asylum residents. And the Hall of Famer and his silver-haired sidekick who were brought in to bring better ratings for the asylum. And an aging radio shock jock who…you know, this joke would work so much better if they still were in Nashville at the actual Asylum. You know where this is going, don't you? That's correct, right straight into a




As always, it's not the on-screen product that is driving the news bites this week. No, instead it's the backstage goings-on and the personal lives of the wrestlers that are the focus of everyone's interest.

Let's start it off with the ongoing saga of Awesome Kong and Bubba the Love Sponge, as this past week, Kong filed suit against phone company AT&T, claiming that she was receiving threatening phone calls from a blocked number that she was pretty sure was emanating from Hulk Hogan's bestest buddy in the whole world who isn't Ed Leslie, Brian Knobbs, Randy Savage on alternate Thursdays, Vince McMahon (but don't tell Dixie!), Kevin Nash…you know what, let's just cut to the chase. Kong filed the suit against the phone company who refused to tell her the blocked number, and also against Bubba for making the phone calls. Bubba almost immediately went on his show and shot down Kong's accusations, and apparently has proof and witnesses to back up his side of the story. Nothing further has been revealed about the situation, but Bubba still has not been used on television since the initial incident involving he and Kong, and Kong herself has only appeared in a match taped for Xplosion, while still being one-half of the Knockouts tag team champions. With all this drama surrounding one of TNA's stars who used to be the centerpiece of one of their highly-regarded specialty divisions, one has to assume this much: Vince is either lowballing her, or just not interested.

Meanwhile, in news that's either funny or just really, really sad, so sad that it starts being a little funny again, Ric Flair's current wife was arrested for allegedly beating and hospitalizing the Nature Boy. I guess now that he doesn't have any money and works for a secondary wrestling organization, his women have skipped just taking half of everything he owns and moved on to taking the next logical step: getting their fair share Merchant of Venice-style.

So, which happens first: Ric Flair retires, Ric Flair stops getting married, or Ric Flair dies in the middle of the ring? Keep in mind, he is going to wrestle in two weeks, so the third choice is going to need a handicap.



And in WWE, they continue to screw with the PPV schedule. Having at least settled on reducing down to one PPV per month, WWE has removed the schedule that they released online last week. Fortunately, we have other means at our disposal, apparently, as the latest list of 2010 PPVs has changed the PPV formerly known as Wild Card and formerly known as Judgment Day to, apparently, Over The Limit. The results of a WWE Creative member failing a RIDE program check, or a conspiracy involving a PPV remarkably similarly named to (and appearing in the same month as) Over the Edge, exactly 11 years after the name was retired forever? I'm just kidding, it's probably something far less interesting than that.

Also interesting is the fact that no replacement has been named for Survivor Series, although it is assumedly still off the schedule. Not sure why you'd remove it from the schedule without having anything to replace it, but then, this is the company that decided to try and run five PPVs inside of two months in 2005-06 (that would be Survivor Series, the short-lived December 2 Dismember, Armageddon, New Years Revolution, and Royal Rumble), so who knows where their minds are some time.

From all indications, some of those minds are definitely focussed on making WrestleMania XXVI everything that the 24th Anniversary of WrestleMania was not, which is to say well-booked, full of incredible matches, and completely epic. With three matches fully booked, the Money in the Bank match half set-up, and a half-dozen others taking shape, this is looking, on paper, like it could be one of the best WrestleManias in history.

Oh wait, did I mention that ACDC's "Thunderstruck" is one of the theme songs? Best. Mania. Ever. Even if they did steal my original sponsor.



And as the week ran down, WWE surprised some people by starting their near-regular spring cleaning of talent with the release of four talents and one referee. With the demise of ECW, it's no shock to see Hurricane (who was also involved in a drunken incident a few weeks ago) and Paul Burchill (who never really got back on track once people found out Vince McMahon was the only person who never saw Pirates of the Caribbean) on the way out, and Charlie Haas has had one foot out of the door practically since he returned, but the real shock is the release of Maria, who about to debut on the latest edition of Celebrity Apprentice, and was also involved in an on-screen storyline as Matt Hardy's latest fling. So, is this the curse of being successful outside of wrestling (aka the "Kiebler Kurse"), or the curse of getting involved in something that includes Matt Hardy (aka the "Matt Hardy Kurse"…which is a much less clever name, but frankly, a more deadly curse)?



Inactive List as of 02.22.10

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)

TNA

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

Transactions

- Daniel Bryan, Skip Sheffield, Michael Tarver, Wade Barrett, Darren Young, Heath Slater, Darren Otunga, Justin Gabriel, debuted on WWE NXT

- Charlie Haas, SD!, released from his contract

- Christian, ECW, moved to Raw

- Hurricane, ECW, released from his contract

- Maria, SD!, released from her contract

- Paul Burchill, ECW, released from his contract

- Scott Armstrong (referee), WWE, released from his contract

- Shelton Benjamin, ECW, moved to Smackdown

- William Regal, ECW, moved to Raw

- Yoshi Tatsu, ECW, moved to Raw



WWE

WWE Champion: Batista
- 8 day reign, defeated John Cena on February 21st (Elimination Chamber PPV)
- Next title defense: vs John Cena, WrestleMania XXVI

Top 5 Contenders

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

World Heavyweight Champion: Chris Jericho
- 8 day reign, defeated former champion The Undertaker, CM Punk, R-Truth, John Morrison, and Rey Mysterio in an Elimination Chamber Match on February 21st (Elimination Chamber PPV)
- Next title defense: vs Edge, WrestleMania XXVI

Top 5 Contenders

1. Edge
2. The Undertaker
3. Rey Mysterio
4. John Morrison
5. CM Punk

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

Top 5 Contenders

1. Kane
2. R-Truth
3. John Morrison
4. Dolph Ziggler
5. Shelton Benjamin

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

Top 5 Contenders

1. Kofi Kingston
2. Ted DiBiase
3. Mark Henry
4. Daniel Bryan
5. Cody Rhodes

WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions: ShowMiz
- 21 day reign, defeated former champions D-Generation X and The Straight Edge Society in a Triple Threat Elimination Tag Match on February 8th (Raw)

Top 3 Contenders

1. The Straight Edge Society
2. The Hart Dynasty
3. Cryme Tyme


NOTE: The following portion has been edited. Just in case you're confused by all the comments. Remember that comment about the lack of sanity? Yeah, that.

**NEW** WWE Women's Champion: Michelle McCool
- 3 day reign, defeated Mickie James on February 26th (Smackdown)

Top 3 Contenders

1. Beth Phoenix
2. Mickie James
3. Natalya

**NEW** Divas Champion: Maryse
- 7 day reign, defeated Gail Kim on February 22nd (Raw) to claim the vacant title

Top 3 Contenders

1. Gail Kim
2. Eve Torres
3. Alicia Fox

TNA

TNA Heavyweight Champion: AJ Styles
- 162 day reign, defeated former champion Kurt Angle, Matt Morgan, Hernandez, and Sting in a Five-Way Match on September 20th (No Surrender PPV)

Top 5 Contenders

1. The Pope
2. Abyss
3. Kurt Angle
4. Mr. Anderson
5. Samoa Joe

TNA Tag Team Champions: Hernandez and Matt Morgan
- 50 day reign, defeated The British Invasion on January 17th (Genesis PPV)
- Next title defense: vs Beer Money, Inc., Destination X PPV

Top 3 Contenders

1. Beer Money, Inc.
2. Team 3D
3. Generation Me

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

Top 3 Contenders

1. Kazarian
2. Amazing Red
3. Homicide

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

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

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

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



Harrison has the weekend news report.

Hubbard has The Contentious Ten.

Martell has The Triple Threat.

Chambers has Wacky Wrestling Theory.

Ari has Column of Honor.



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Have a good one, and always be a fan.