News to Start Your Weekend 6.22.07
Posted by Nick Marsico on 06.22.2007
Jerry Lawler hit somebody! In a wrestling match! FOR SHAME!
So it appears that over the weekend, I was ‘gotten' pretty good by a few members of our lovely forums. I guess I've rubbed a few people the wrong way for a while, and a couple people wanted to "put me in my place" or somesuch. Maybe in an attempt to change whatever attitude or demeanor that I display – I don't know. I was fooled for a good while, thinking I was actually being let go from this site by Ashish, as the AIM screen name they used was only a letter away from the real one. And without actually looking and already being annoyed, I didn't notice this. The long and short, I guess, is that a few of the forumers got one over on me, and I will certainly give them credit, because every time I started to expect that it was a joke, they somehow dragged me back in. If they expect this to humble me or make me change in any way, however, well, I guess they'll have to find that one out as time goes by. It was a good little gag, though.
==================== suspects and revelations!
In the case of the missing McMahon, or, as it really is, the deceased, the dearly departed, there have been some developments. This past week on RAW somebody FINALLY called out Paul London, as Jerry Lawler pointed out how happy and smiley he looked just moments before the tragic loss of our chairman. There had been some speculation since it happened, but I really think we've found the first really solid suspect in this case. In fact, I believe that him being moved over to RAW strengthens the case. The FIC has determined that it would be much easier to investigate most thoroughly on RAW, and with London as a top suspect and the supplemental draft at the end of the week, this was the perfect excuse to bring London over to the show.
With that in mind, recent rumors have come about that claim that London may be on the way to an early contract termination. They're saying, and actually citing Vince McMahon in the story, that London's facial expression during RAW on the 11th was contradictory to what the wrestlers were told to do; they were supposed to look very serious and concerned. The stories are going so far to say that Vince himself (THE DEARLY FUCKING DEPARTED) has been angry at London for not selling the seriousness of the whole situation. I find the whole thing ludicrous. The story also included London apparently revealing that Ashley was suspended in order to take time away from WWE to do the next season of Survivor. This is also just insane. Ashley spilled coffee on the already mentally conflicted owner and it drove him, for a short time, over the edge. Since she wasn't sympathetic to his woes, he decided to let her take some time off and serve a suspension. She isn't just taking a vacation.
This whole thing is a fabrication by the liberal media who want you to think that this whole sad saga is nothing but a storyline. People are claiming that WWE gave up the fact that this whole thing was real and said to the media that it was just a storyline, but that is simply faulty information. Vince never met with Jesse Ventura, either. He's dead and gone, and the family won't even get a proper funeral. There will just be a picture of the chairman inside a casket. A damn shame. Don't be surprised that once this whole thing is over and you don't see Paul London on TV when you don't see him in TNA or Ring of Honor. Why won't you see him there? Because he'll be in jail serving out a damn long sentence for the atrocities he perpetrated.
I also must bring up that in these sad times, Vince McMahon is being honored by being given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I just wish he was still alive to imprint his hands on the famous sidewalk. It's a true shame.
==================== other news
- Johnny Nitro was moved to ECW in order to test out a big main event type push before they actually commit to it on RAW or SmackDown. The article I read said that internally they were thinking Nitro could become an "Orton-level star". So basically he'll languish in his own mediocrity and never really make the leap to becoming a true top star? Could be.
- Stupid King and JR had no idea this week on RAW that Lashley and Booker feuded on and off for months in mid to late 2006. It's not like Booker became "King Booker" by defeating Lashley or anything.
- Apparently the upcoming Batista book will feature a "mirror image" of him in a suit and his wrestling trunks on the cover. How is that a mirror image? When I look in the mirror, I don't see a guy in a bathing suit when I'm wearing a t-shirt and jeans.
- The news is reporting that during a wrestling match with Jerry Lawler and Sal Corrente, who wrestles as Big Cheese, Lawler was stiff with Corrente after Lawler thought Corrente hit a fan. Reports are coming out that Corrente went to the police about the incident and is trying to get him in court for it. Lawler responded to these claims by saying it was completely ridiculous, since, ya know, it was a WRESTLING MATCH. Sounds like this Big Cheese is just some faggot who can't handle himself.
- So I'm reading NoDQ.com, and it actually says in a news title "Huge spoiler on who blew Vince's limo up". Inside the link, it says that on SmackDown, a third strand of DNA not belonging to Vince or the limo driver was found inside the limo and that it belongs to a big name, but no name was clarified during the show. ON WHAT PLANET IS THAT A HUGE FUCKING SPOILER?
- Yeah, I know I'm a douche for looking at that site, but sometimes I run kinda dry on stuff to write here. Eat me.
- It looks like Snitsky is going to be getting the NYR/Royal Rumble push for the WWE Championship next year. I can't wait.
- Konnan and Ron Killings both quit TNA at the beginning of this week. Neither were happy with the company – Konnan was not happy with TNA offering a loan for some of his surgery and then later going back on it, and Killings hadn't liked his direction or lack thereof in recent months. Both are going to work with AAA in Mexico – Konnan as head booker and Killings as a wrestler. It's a shame that Konnan is gone, especially with how good he's been on the mic, but maybe it opens up LAX for the face push that the fans have been dying for over the past couple months.
- In UFC news, Ken Shamrock has confirmed the fact that he will be making a return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It is said that he won't be scheduled for a fight before the September UFC 75 show.
==================== ring of honor goodness
- The card for the second show in Japan next month has been released. I saw it on the message boards, claimed as "leaked", and then no more than a couple hours later, it was confirmed on the ROH website. The show, which will be held in conjunction with Dragon Gate wrestling on July 17, 2007, has these six matches scheduled to occur at this time:
Nigel McGuinness v. BJ Whitmer
Bryan Danielson v. Jimmy Rave
Jack Evans v. Roderick Strong
Delirious, Ryo Saito & Dragon Kid v. Matt Sydal, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino
CIMA & KENTA v. Rocky Romero & Davey Richards
SHINGO & YAMATO v. Jay & Mark Briscoe (ROH Tag Titles)
Thank god the two tag matches aren't switched, because otherwise the world might explode with all of that CAPITALIZATION~!
- ROH's two newest shows have been released. ‘The Battle of St. Paul' from Minneapolis on 4/27 and ‘Good Times, Great Memories' from Chicago on 4/28. The former features Austin Aries' title shot against ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima and Roderick Strong defending the FIP Heavyweight Title against Christopher Daniels. The latter features Jay and Mark Briscoe defending their tag titles against the Murder City Machine Guns of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin as well as Colt Cabana's final ROH match against Adam Pearce.
- The lineups for Dayton and Chicago are set for this weekend.
Dayton, Ohio – Friday, June 22, 2007
- Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness v. Takeshi Morishima & Naomichi Marufuji
- Jay & Mark Briscoe v. Claudio Castagnoli & Matt Sydal (2/3 Falls, ROH Tag Titles)
- KENTA v. Rocky Romero
- Roderick Strong & Davey Richards v. Erick Stevens & Matt Cross
- BJ Whitmer v. Brent Albright
- Delirious v. Chris Hero v. Adam Pearce v. Jimmy Rave v. Pelle Primeau (Gauntlet Series)
- Kevin Steen & El Generico v. Irish Airborne
- Lacey v. Serena Deeb
Chicago, Illinois – Saturday, June 23, 2007
- Bryan Danielson v. KENTA
- Jay & Mark Briscoe v. Kevin Steen & El Generico (ROH Tag Titles)
- Nigel McGuinness v. Chris Hero
- Naomichi Marufuji v. BJ Whitmer
- Lacey & Rain v. Daizee Haze & MsChif
The newswire says that the first half of the show will be taped for PPV. I assume that during that segment, the matches that will make PPV are the Tag Title match, Marufuji v. Whitmer and Nigel v. Hero. The NRC, Claudio, Sydal, Rave, Albright, The Resilience, Delirious and Pearce are also scheduled to be on the show, and I expect a few of them may also make the taping.
You can read the roundtable discussion about this weekend's shows here. The article features thoughts from Michael Bauer, Matt Adamson, Stu Carapola, Jacob Zeigler, Brad Garoon, Ari Berenstein and the guy who puts the column together, Samuel Berman.
==================== tv and ppv thoughts
- I thought Slammiversary was an awesome show. I hated the build to it and have been very verbal about it, but as far as the show, I think it hit on all points. It had a very ‘big show' feeling about it – I kinda got a vibe of a mix between WrestleMania 17 and 18, and I'd put it in between those shows on a quality standpoint. Nowhere near as good as 17, but a good deal higher than 18. I know that's kind of an odd comparison, but while watching the show I actually got that feeling. I actually thought about the feeling and atmosphere around those shows, and that's what I was feeling while watching Slammiversary.
- SmackDown last week once again had 4 very good TV matches, and continues to be the best WRESTLING show on television. RAW this Monday was pretty lackluster, and I'm annoyed that they've not done very much at all to build for the PPV. I guess they figure that it has a good gimmick, so why bother spending time building matches?
- Speaking of building matches, ECW had Punk v. Cor Von and Benoit v. Burke to determine who would challenge each other for the vacant title on Sunday. Cor Von almost killed Punk with a powerslam off a Punk springboard and the match was pretty meh, and really heatless other than some ‘CM Punk' chants at the very beginning and the pop for the GTS and the pin. Benoit/Burke was a better match, and I liked it a lot. I hope those two get more time in the future. Of course we now all get the match a lot of people had been hoping to see in Benoit v. Punk.
- I'm conflicted about Impact. I haven't seen it yet, but as far as the results, I like the main event for Victory Road and am actually looking forward to the Angle/Joe v. Dudleys match. I'm especially looking forward to again seeing Bubba and Joe in the ring together, as it was awesome last time they met in a tag match. I also like the notion of the tag belts and the tag champs being held in as high a regard as the world title and the world champ. I like the notion, of course, because that's not really the intention here, nor the case in any current wrestling company on television. It is the case in ROH. The reason I'm conflicted is that I'm bothered that Lethal's title reign had to end before he could even successfully defend the belt once. To me, this is just a way to further the proper Joe/Angle feud that will hopefully lead up to a title match in October, and Lethal will end up getting the title back for a real run before the end of the year.
- The card for Vengeance looks pretty decent. The 5 way WWE Title match will likely be fun. As long as Batista doesn't win the title in his match, all is well there. The match will probably be about as mediocre as the other two. MVP/Flair won't be anything spectacular, but it won't be bad. Are they taking the title off Marella and declaring the experiment a failure (even though it hasn't been given a chance and he's actually quite good) or will somebody who has a problem with Umaga interfere? Cade and Murdoch v. The Hardys will be another very good outing between the teams. I already spoke on Benoit/Punk. It should be quite good. Melina/Candice will be short and should be fine enough. Yang finally gets his chance at the CW Title, but it will probably be just as underwhelming as every other CW Title match on PPV. I guess Deuce and Domino will take on The Majors Brothers. Wow, they really anally raped that division in the draft, didn't they?
==================== email
Gillan Borum pointed out to me that it's the FIC, not the FBI, that is handling the case. I did notice that, but not until after I wrote last week's column. According to Sam from the Opie and Anthony show and the WILDLY POPULAR Than & Sam Show, the FIC is a very secretive organization, but they are much higher on the totem pole than the FBI. It looks like this investigation is in very good hands.
==================== the go home
Rob Halden calls Vince and WWE idiots. I find that deplorable.
Michael Weyer shines a spotlight on the same subject.
Bayani Domingo thinks SmackDown is in bad shape. As long as they continue putting on great matches every week, who cares what stars are on the show?
