Your News, My Views 5.22.07
Posted by Larry Csonka on 05.22.2007
You’re lucky; I almost took the day off.
Introduction…and Things I want to talk about~!
Welcome to the weekly dose of news and views that you crave. I, as always am you host Larry Csonka. How are we all doing today children? I hope all is well. I almost too the week off due to various reasons, but then I decided to pump out the column, just for you. I was told not to come to the computer and pen any writings since I suffered a super-severe concussion; but I toughed it out, super kicked the doctor and here I am beer in hand, pain killers loaded up and a good time ready top be had! Let's hit some talking points and get to work.
WWE JUDGMENT DAY Podcast~!
That's right, for the second straight week we're back with more podcasting fun! Tonight we discuss WWE Judgment Day, Garlic Chicken Pizza, Deadliest Catch, The Tudors, Christy Answers Steve Cook, wacky college days and much, much more! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD~!
411 on MySpace? Yeah baby, the rumors are true! Go and check it out @ www.myspace.com/411mania
Check out my appearance on ROCKET BUSTA RADIO from Saturday night! A colossal 2-hour and 30-minute EPIC INTRAWEB RADIO EVENT~! Go check it out and download it HERE~! They're good people and I thank them for having me on the show. Shoot them an email, show them some love and then demand that I am on more often!
A quick point, in the last weeks when I have been discussing The Dervish vs. the Hardy's I had this to say: The Dervish is getting to show personality, being involved with the Hardy's promises some kind of reaction, and if they play it right and have them pull a save one week, and THEN finally turn, people will hate them, hence caring, hence making the feud actually worth something. And that is a good thing my friends. Man I am good.
Finally, this is from JT: Many of you may frequent OWW for profiles, title history, show results, promotion info etc etc. Well, long story short because of some douch-baggery, Brad and the company he works for were forced to change the name. It is now Online World of Wrestling (www.onlineworldofwrestling.com), or still OWW for short. It is the exact same site and will continue to run exactly the same; it is simply a name change. So please change your links and tell anyone you may know that visits that site so that they are privy to the change. Brad worked very hard to get the site where it's at today and it would suck to let some asshole capitalize on the popularity of the name. Thanks!
ON NOTICE~!
With my three-year anniversary almost here, I decided to give YOU all a gift.
DANCING…
FUCKING…
BROCK…
RETURNS~!
And now back to Gene Krupa's syncopated style…
Today in Wrestling History:
1972 - Chief Jay Strongbow & Sonny King defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna for the WWWF Tag Team title
1985 - The Nightmare defeated Terry Taylor for the Mid-South North American Heavyweight title
1989 - Lex Luger defeated Michael Hayes for the NWA U.S. Heavyweight title
1992 - Brian Lee defeated Paul Orndorff in a tournament final for the Smokey Mountain Heavyweight title
1994 - Event - Slamboree, Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA
1994 - Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan defeated the Nasty boys for the WCW World Tag Team title
2000 - Vince Russo stripped Ric Flair of the WCW Heavyweight title
2000 - Jeff Jarrett is awarded the WCW Heavyweight title
2000 - Daffney defeated Crowbar for the WCW Cruiserweight title
2000 - Shane Douglas defeated Terry Funk for the WCW Hardcore title
Births and Deaths:
1962 - Born - Brian Pillman
1981 - Born - American Dragon
1984 - Died - George Zaharias at 76
GREAT MOMENTS Wrestling History:
In an effort to pay tribute to their roots, five brave Canadians decided to relive the 80's and dress the part. In late April Christian Cage, Robert Roode, Eric Young, Johnny Devine and Scott D'Amore all dressed the part and for one day the Impact tapings went back to the 80's.
With his Ribera jacket Cage paid tribute to the LIVING LEGEND Larry Zbyzko.
Roode and Young paid homage to muscle bound tag teams of the time with the shirts and of course, ZUBA STYLE PANTS that the Road Warriors loved and actually invested in.
Scott D'Amore paid the ultimate tribute by wearing his ACTUAL 80's wrestling gear, consisting of Nasty Boyz style shirt and Boogie Woogie Man style pants.
Truly these men sacrificed for their craft, and provided us with a GREAT MOMENT in Wrestling History.
TNA stories, scuttlebutt and rumors:
Your News: As reported earlier, Antonio Inoki was backstage at the Impact taping last night. He was trying to work out a talent exchange between TNA and his new promotion, Inoki Genome Federation. It is likely that Kurt Angle will work the 6/29 IGF show at Tokyo Sumo Hall.
My Views: First of all, I will believe that there is an Inoki Genome Federation show on the 29th when it actually happens. Secondly, I don't blame him for trying to get a name for the show, and if TNA can work a talent exchange, if he has any talent, and get there guys more work then it's fine I suppose.
Your News: UFC's Dana White was interviewed today by the Daily Star in Great Britain. In the interview, White said that he has a conference call with Kurt Angle today to discuss Angle fighting for UFC. He also commented that Brock Lesnar is interested in coming to UFC. It's interesting to see that Angle is actually in talks to work a fight since most have started to believe that he would never really fight and just kept talking about it as a way of keeping his name in the media. White added that he thinks it would be difficult for a pro-wrestler to make the transition to MMA.
My Views: I will believe Kurt Angle will do a soot fight when I see him in the ring. Which will be never (as long as he is wrestling) because he will either fail the drug test or the fact that no doctor will pass him to fight. But the constant stories are good pub for Angle and whoever else talks about it, and any publicity is good publicity, right?
WWE/ECW news, notes and happenings to the EXTREME:
Your News: WWE released Sabu, Henry Godwin, Vito, Ariel, Scotty 2 Hotty, Angel Williams & Nick Mitchell.
My Views: Sabu has been trying to get axed for a while. He "forgot" his gear a while back and had to use Davari's gear in a match for TV. This time, he showed up at the Smackdown/ECW taping tonight several hours late, which he has done before and without his ring gear, again. Right away he was told to go home and then immediately released. The plan was for him to face Kevin Thorn on ECW On Sci-Fi tonight, and put him over. The plans had to be changed after he was sent home obviously, and Nunzio was put out there to do the JIZZOB. To add to the CARNY in Sabu, he claimed he had a neck injury and couldn't work the JIZZOB. Some believe that Sabu showed up to the taping late on purpose, knowing he would be sent home, because he has not been happy with how he is being used. Well, basically goodbye then. I like Sabu and all, but he just has this dated attitude, and with the Originals vs. NB over, they had no use for him. They had him there for the induction for the Sheik, and after that everyone knew his time was limited.
-Godwin is no surprise. Is was very out of shape, and with the former Freakin Deacon replacing him in the team with ray Gordy, the writing was on the wall.
-Vito, well, no loss really. An ok worker who thinks too much of himself, but what does suck is that he was a company man and did the shitty dress gimmick and went full out.
-Nick Mitchell was Mitch in the Spirit Squad, who almost never wrestled. Honestly, no loss.
-Ariel is an odd one. I never heard of her having heat backstage, and with her having such a different look from the other divas, I thought that was a good thing but Stephanie didn't. No idea why she got the ax other than that, but it sucks for Thorn as she added to the act. Hopefully he still gets a chance as he has been fun as Thorn.
-Scotty really amazed me because I thought he would have a job for life. He was the company guy that always got a reaction from the crowd and had fine matches with everyone. I figured in the next year he would transition to an office job as a reward for years of service. I always liked Scotty, especially the run with Malenko he had and proved that he was a damn fine worker. Hopefully he still gets an agent job, as a wrestler I think it is a bit of a loss as he could have been useful to keep around to work with inexperienced guys and help train.
-And finally Angel Williams was cut. Anyone that read the short lived Deep South recaps, short lived due to them not airing new ones, knows that I was a big fan of the Queen Diva. She was a fine women's worker, and could actually talk! She run with the Gymini in Deep South was fun and she was someone you loved to hate. She was also thin, blond, nice tits and overall had a sculpted body. Apparently Stephanie felt threatened. A waste really as she never even got a shot.
Your News: Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms recently suffered what is being described as a major neck injury. He saw Dr. Lloyd Youngblood today and will undergo fusion surgery on Monday. Right now he is slated to be out of action for one year.
-Helms had this to say: "It turns out that I have two cracked vertebrae, and one of them is pressing into my spinal cord. One is just demolished, and they told me that the pain I had outside my neck was pretty common; they call it pain referral. One is pressing so far into the spinal cord that I could risk paralysis if I kept going. We get bumps and bruises all the time, and I've been to the hospital before thinking something was wrong when I was just banged up, so I thought that this time too. I have a high tolerance for pain, but this pain is 24/7."
My Views: This sucks for Helms. I hate to hear about anyone having any kind of severe injury, but especially neck of back. The good news is that people who have had the fusion have come back relatively stronger and have had good runs, so I hope that is the same for him. For those that feel he'll be safe from firing during this, Test says hello. No one is safe.
Your News: Eddie Colon was told to report to the WWE after the WWC Anniversary Show this year. Eddie left a good impression on the WWE staff after a dark match against Shannon Moore on Smackdown and a match behind closed doors against Val Venis on last week's Raw.
My Views: Maybe then can bring him up and team him with Carlito, because I think Carlito is better suited for a big tag push than a singles push. Reportedly Eddie is the one that is really in the business because he loves it, and while I have not seen much of him, hear he is quite god. We'll see how that transitions to WWE TV though.
Your News: It continues to look unlikely that Rob Van Dam will sign a new deal with WWE. Most in WWE expect RVD to jump to TNA when he becomes able to do so.
My Views: Reports are going around that he has been given an early release, but from what I have heard that is not the case. They may have his it out the rest of his contract, but as of now he is not released. If they let him sit at home, that is the best for everyone. Rob gets to rest, which he wants, and WWE gets to focus on others. I see no need on wasting TV on a one hour TV show to bury someone when you could be building up others, ala Punk, Burke, Monty and others. If he is done then they should move on and do what is best for the business, and build the stars they have. The latest is that he will be on ECW tomorrow night.
Your News: Shawn Michaels has what is considered to be a serious knee injury. Right now the plan is for him to gut it out and work the PPV tomorrow night.
My Views: And the injuries continue now. HBK's knee has been bad since LAST YEAR and he ended up staying around, and still had great matches and really helped carry the company since January. The worst news of this all is that they have no idea how bad the knee is until they do surgery and actually open him up. They did a PPV angle with the concussion, which I hated, and now he'll go for surgery. Get well soon dude.
Your News:There is now speculation in WWE that HHH could be back as soon as July from his latest quadriceps tear. If this is the case, he could be a major part of the Summerslam PPV.
My Views: If this is the case it is good news for WWE with all of the recent injuries. The first program should be with Orton, but things can change, we'll just have to see.
Your News: It looks as if Bob Holly is slated for an August return from his latest arm injury. He suffered nerve damage in his right arm and had to undergo surgery to repair the damage. Get well soon dude.
My Views: Hopefully old Hardcore will be back and ready for action. He had a nice run in ECW and really, I would love to see him on Smackdown feuding with Benoit, MVP, Regal and or Finlay. Get well soon dude.
Your News: The Condemned had another bad weekend at the box office, finishing in 23rd place. The film drew $100,000 over the weekend, down 66.8% from last week. It had $483 per theatre average. The film has drawn a total of $7,317,000.
My Views: Well, we knew it would get worse with Spiderman III, Shrek III and Pirates III all coming out.
Your News: Victoria has reportedly signed a new 3-year deal.
My Views: Good for her, as this is apparently what she wanted. Maybe she can wrestle and maybe win a match in those three years.
Your News: The debut of the new Hillbillies tag team on Smackdown was pushed back to next week due to timing issues.
My Views: Obviously there "pick em up truck" couldn't make the commute from West Virginia to Maryland.
Your News: The Juice out of Des Moines has an interview up with Bobby Lashley. Interestingly enough, Lashley says in the interview that he isn't a "big eater."
My Views: People are making jokes about a big guy like Lashley being in a magazine with that title. Lashley contends that he doesn't do steroids…
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Your News: WWE, in a tribute to Roddy Piper's photo shopped abs, has taken to photo shopping HBK's hair.
My Views: Check it.
Independent News
Your News: Now that NWA has split from TNA, they have reached a deal with Big Vision Entertainment to work on future projects together. Big Vision was behind Wrestling Society X. The first Big Vision/NWA project will likely be a 2-disc DVD release based on the upcoming tournament to crown a new NWA Champion.
My Views: The DVD deal is good for them. They have a deal with Mav TV and if they run better matches I will go back to recap. Just way too generic Indy for me at the time I last tried. But yes, depending on who is booked and how for this, this maybe a great DVD to pick up.
Your News: Perro Aguayo Jr's knee injury is not as severe as first thought. He already underwent surgery and he now looks to be out of action around six weeks.
-Mistico has a serious shoulder injury and will be out 6-8 months.
My Views: At first the injury to Aguayo was thought to be much more major, but thankfully for him and CMLL it isn't. Hopefully his recovery goes as smooth as possible.
-Mistico is another story. The most over, popular, moneymaking man in all of Lucha is out and out for a long time. This is VERY disastrous for CMLL, and if Aguayo cannot do everything is his power to keep people interested during this time, CMLL could suffer greatly.
Reader Feedback and Rants!
From Ralph on Vince -
Why is it when something goes wrong Vince always blames someone else? I wonder if the XFL would have worked if somehow they could have kept Vince's name out of it, too many people wouldn't touch it as soon as they found out he was involved.
It is always easier to blame someone else then to accept blame on yourself.
From "Cornucopia" on Too Cold Scorpio and the NWA Title -
The Too Cold Scorpio video was brilliant. Thank you so much for posting it. He could really fly in those WCW days. What. A. Promo. I'm going to miss seeing the NWA title on television. So long sweet nostalgia. Despite all the ways it can be argued that the NWA title doesn't mean anything and hasn't for a long time, I suppose I have too much respect for the business to say that the NWA titles are insignificant. I would have liked to see TNA keep them, but I'm not going to stop watching TNA. The "prestigious" NWA titles aren't what made me start watching TNA. It was curiosity. It felt bittersweet to see the NWA "compete" against the WWF(E) seemingly one last time, but who knows what the future holds for the "the oldest and most prestigious sanctioning body in the professional wrestling industry."
HAHA, glad you liked the video. I will miss the NWA Title on TV as well, always had a fond spot for it, but this is best for TNA.
From Jeremy on the NWA Title Tournament -
Bryan Danielson
Brent Albright
Claudio Castagnoli
Chris Hero
Mike Quackenbush
Human Tornado
Necro Butcher
Roderick Strong (Current FIP Champion)
Sean Waltman (Current NWA Heritage Champion)
El Generico (Current PWG Champion)
I have a good idea what my personal highlight would be of this tournament. Danielson making Waltman TAP LIKE A BITCH to the Cattle Mutilation. I think any of the 1st four guys you named would be excellent choices. But would the NWA Title be acknowledged in ROH? Roderick Strong would be an excellent choice as well. TNA really dropped the ball with that guy. Personally I'd much rather see Aries/Strong teaming or feuding with each other instead of the Macho/Dutt/Nash crap.
Keep up the great work. 411Mania Wrestling is my favorite thing to do at work. After work of course!
After work, of course. And yeah, Waltman being brutalized by Danielson would be great. We'll see how they lay it out and who actually makes it in. The DVD could be pretty good depending on who all is in it.
From Drew on Kennedy's booking -
I want to comment on Mr. Kennedy and how I feel he should be booked. I think Kennedy is the future and should come back with a vengeance, but I don't think they should put the title on him just yet. Here's how I'd book it.
Have Edge keep the title and keep Kennedy away awaiting his return. Mean while, find an opponent waiting for him in the coming months. There's always Rey Mysterio who's a big face, King Booker who's a great Heal, along with Batista and Finlay. However, the best suitor I see is Kane. Now I am a Kane fan, but I'm not just saying this cause I'm one of the people who think he deserves his time. I think it would work with what this year is.
This year is the 10-year Anniversary the Kane Character was introduced. They could pull a story of Kane Chasing the title between Summerslam and a PPV in October, wanting to win it to mark his 10 years in the WWE. What could work is Kennedy could make his big return in the match and cost Edge the title. From there, Kennedy and Edge could feud for several months and get more and more personal, while Kane defends the title from the many challengers possible, Rey, Batista, Finlay, Booker.
Eventually, have Kane lose the title between Survivor Series and Royal Rumble to any one of them and have Kennedy finish his feud with Edge, then return to the title hunt. He could win the Royal Rumble or come dead close to winning it and earn a shot later. From there, he could have any number of challengers, a friendly feud with Rey, an up hill battle against that massive Batista, trying to outwit the hellishly evil King Booker or get his final vengeance on Edge by beating him at the big one, and having Kennedy live the moment Bret, Shawn, Austin and Cena have all had.
