The Thursday Small-For-All News Report: 12.06.07
Posted by Jeff Small on 12.06.2007
At Least You All Can Admit that “Slimmer & Small Do Puro” Was Humorous!
I know I had a damn good time.
Wait for it…
Wait for it…
Keep waiting….
Yes, yes….
WHAMMY!!!!!!!
Welcome back to another #1 stunna edition of the Small-For-All News Report. While on the surface this seems like quite a slow week in the WWE, I have found some tidbits that should quench your thirst. In addition for the first time (I think ever), we have Reader Feedback! It's not nearly as long as you think (ha)!
But before we get started, a few pieces of housekeeping I would like to address. As mentioned in the teaser, on Tuesday afternoon, my nemesis Slimmer and I filled in for one of Wilcox's many columns. Together we etched out a masterpiece quite similar to this:
Ahem, with that off my chest, in today's edition, the latest news on the Wrestlemania 24 card, we learn that Triple H is quite religious, why the Carlito Burial Tour will continue for a few more months, and perhaps, I'll rant about how fucking stupid TNA has become (like that's anything new). Plus feedback!!!
NEWS FROM TITAN TOWERS
How Many Shall Be the Below Be Changed? My Guess is 37
According to the Wrestling Observer (from Gerweck.net), "There is major talk within WWE that the Raw main event may be changed from Triple H vs. Randy Orton to Triple H vs. Batista, since John Cena is out of the picture. One plan laid out has Triple H taking the WWE championship from Orton at the Royal Rumble, and defending the title at Wrestlemania 24."
I pray that this rumor never comes to surface (which it probably won't) seeing as I have little interest in seeing Wrestlemania 21's main event three years later. That said, there are a couple of noteworthy items here:
First and most importantly, this would be the fourth time (WM 19, 20, 21) that a potential Randy Orton/Triple H match would be scrapped. I seriously hopes this becomes a yearly storyline.
Second, in order for this to work, Triple H will have to defeat Jeff Hardy at Armaggedon. That result would totally contradict the last four weeks of booking. Of course, knowing the WWE, this wouldn't surprise me at all.
Third, I would assume that Batista would have to win the Royal Rumble again which would be unfortunate. Edge would be the better candidate here.
Lastly, good thing to hype Chris Jericho's return for three months only for him to become fodder for a soon-to-be transitional champion. Go, Jericho, Go (right back to the midcard).
Speaking of Triple H and Jericho…
Seems Like DX Has Found a New Religious Member
According to the Wrestling Observer, "HHH has been going around to younger wrestlers telling them they should be very excited about the next round of house shows. When they ask why, HHH says because our savior is here.
He made the same comment to Michaels, telling him that he should reconsider his decision not to work house shows because they're all going to make so much money with Jericho coming back to save the business.
HHH has also been saying that Flair's return will draw far more money and is far more important.
It's pointed out that HHH usually only makes comments like these on chartered flights or during the week when the rest of the wrestlers aren't around.
Stephanie still seems to be pretty strongly in Jericho's corner, though."
Raise your hand if you didn't see this one coming! I must say that I'm a tad surprised considering Jericho cut his hair before he returned. Outside of Edge, only Triple H is left with his flowing goldilocks hair, which is the way it should be. You would think that HHH would be way more accepting of Jericho now… nope! Truth it, Triple H looks to be very insecure of his top spot and Jericho has repeatedly made attempts at getting there. Jericho should have been a top notch main eventer but for reasons that we do not need to go into, he still has the stigma of an upper mid-carder.
But please don't fear for Jericho's safety. With Stephanie in Jericho's corner, he will be safe for a while. Triple H is way too smart to undermine his wife considering she's next in line for taking over the company.
As for HHH's line that Flair's return is more important than Chris Jericho: WWE Savior, I would agree. However….
Smackdown to Get a Top Angle!
From the Torch, "After starting off strong as the centerpiece of the 11/26 RAW, the Ric Flair retirement storyline has taken a new direction. Despite the fact that this week's RAW took place from South Carolina (Flair country), he did not appear on this week's show and the angle was not acknowledged. He had been promoted to appear in the WWE.com RAW preview. Something happened over the past week that has resulted in the angle being put on hiatus. WWE was expecting Flair's return on 11/26 to pop a rating but the show drew a typical 3.5. WWE has been hyping some of "biggest names of all time" to appear on next week's 15th Anniversary special, but no mention of the Nature Boy. It's likely that Flair and his retirement angle will be moved over to SmackDown in the next few weeks."
It's a pity because I truly believe this could be a special storyline heading into Wrestlemania. Moving to Smackdown will significantly help the brand as it gives them a third major storyline (Undertaker vs. Edge, MVP vs. Hardy being the other two). That said, we will be talking much more about Ric Flair in the below Feedback section.
Now This is Not Cool
According to the Wrestling Observer, "WWE would like Carlito to stay with the company after he gave his notice a few weeks ago. However, he is leaning towards leaving in a few weeks.
On the heels of Booker T leaving WWE a few weeks ago, apparently they don't want another huge WWE name to make the jump to TNA and that's why they want to keep him around.
Carlito wants to leave the company because he's upset with how the company has treated him in recent months not to mention that he feels WWE has tried to humiliate him."
You have got to be fucking kidding me? Carlito is a major WWE name? No he's fucking not! Name how many main events have Carlito been in? One and that was an elimination chamber match almost two years ago. As we've mentioned many times, Carlito leaving the WWE would not be a huge blow to the company. This guy is no Stone Cold in the fact that signing with TNA will not bring a new Renaissance to the sport. Why? Because you can definitely tell that his heart is not with pro-wrestling. I don't remember where I read it but he has made comments before that the only reason he is involved in the sport is due to his dad. And you can tell that's the truth as outside of a couple flashly moves, Carlito has not progressed in his years with the company. The WWE has made much worse firing moves in the last few years.
That said, I'm all for Carlito jobbing to Hornswoggle on a weekly basis!
Tribute to the Troops Roster
This week, the WWE will be taping its Tribute to the Troops show that will be broadcasted on December 24th. While details are not known as to where the show will take place (which is a good thing), WWE.com has been following this week's trip. In addition to blogs from Michael Cole and Mickie James, the WWE has listed the roster for the trip:
Triple H, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Carlito, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy, Mark Henry, Hardcore Holly, Ron Simmons, Rey Mysterio, JBL, Michael Cole, Lilian Garcia, Mickie James, Layla and Maria.
It's nice to see the usual suspects (HHH, HBK, JBL) along with some who have never made the trip (Y2J, Jeff Hardy etc.). While this show is meaningless in WWE storylines, it's definitely the most important show of the year. Say what you will about Vince McMahon but this is the best thing he's done in recent years.
NEWS FROM O-TOWN
Fallout From Turning Point
Plenty of news this week with TNA. How shocking.
From the Torch, "As reported, Scott Hall missed last night's show due to food poisoning. TNA had contact with him early in the day, but they could not reach him later on. Eventually he sent a text message saying he had food poisoning and he never came, although they held out hope that he would make it."
It's sad when we hear something like this and immediately think of where Scott Hall's dogs are.
Samoa Joe was asked to cut the promo last night in order to put the heat on Hall and then put over contracted talent, eventually to reveal Eric Young as the partner. Joe went much longer than scripted, and laid into Kevin Nash more than was expected, upsetting Nash, especially since Nash was a supporter of TNA signing Joe. During the interview, when Joe leaned over the ropes and said, "Go ahead and fire me, I don't care," he was looking at TNA President Dixie Carter. She and many others were upset at Joe for "going into business for himself." After the match, Nash waited for Joe backstage and they had a heated exchange, but eventually cooled down.
According to the Wrestling Observer, fisticuffs were thrown. Personally, I hate Vince Russo's worked shoot promos as it does nothing but bring forth negatives of wrestlers and the promotion that aren't really necessary to state. Why state that TNA pushes ex-WWE superstars ahead of fresh grown talent on live television? Sure people on the internet know this but there are plenty of TNA fans that aren't smarks and this just confuses them.
Samoa Joe gave an emotional apology to the locker room for going overboard the previous night, and hopes everyone would take his apology. This was followed by Kurt Angle and Booker T giving pep talks to the roster, telling them that they had a lot to be positive about and asking them to keep working hard.
Ok, why the fuck is Booker T making a pep talk to the roster? He's been there for a month at most! How about someone like AJ Styles or hell even Christian Cage step up and lead the locker room. I have no problem with Booker telling the crew to be positive but the majority of the workers were unhappy way before he arrived.
And TNA Fucks Up Another Easy Storyline
From the Torch, "At the TNA tapings today, Terry Taylor brought everyone's contract with him to a talent meeting. Dixie Carter told anyone that wanted their release that they could have it on the spot. Senshi took her up on her offer and is now gone from the company. Senshi won one of the "Feast or Fired" briefcases at Sunday's TNA PPV but he was not booked to be fired. He was actually supposed to win a tag title shot for his team, Triple X."
So TNA books this convoluted battle royal (how shocking) where one of the four "winners' will be fired. Behind the scenes one of the four winners asked for his release. You would think that TNA would easily have a kayfabe solution to their potential problem by having Senshi pick the "pink slip" briefcase. That way, fans believe that the stipulations are legitimately enforced.
However, this is TNA, so they instead booked Senshi to lose a singles match to Chris Daniels and forfeit his briefcase. Now if they wanted Daniels to take part in this storyline, why didn't he just win at Turning Point? And to top it all off (SPOILERS) Daniels gets fucking offed in a few weeks. So yes, he wins the briefcase of a guy who was released in real life only to in turn be released in kayfabe. God, this company is fucking stupid.
Even MASA Wouldn't Have Sponsored the Show
From TNA's website, "TNA Wrestling regrets to inform our loyal fans in Mexico that the live events that were scheduled for December 14 and 15 in Monterrey and Mexico City have been cancelled. TNA Wrestling regrets this inconvenience and certainly plans to return to Mexico in 2008."
This is the second time TNA has canceled an international tour. Unlike the first batch, it purely looks like poor tickets sales have cancelled these shows. Why else would TNA cancel two shows that would have taken place next week? You would think a company that still has to paper its shows in the United States would wait a while before trying international shows. And for those who email me to let me know that Mexico is not much of an international country (it's not overseas), it's still a whole different ballgame in itself.
READER FEEDBACK
This is one of the rare times when you will see feedback in the Small-For-All. I'm not a fan of placing feedback in news reports since they are nothing more than space-fillers. I never read feedback in anyone else's news reports and used to hate it when the old 411 Guard (Hyatte and Eric S) would litter their news reports with so much bullshit filler that I just stopped reading them.
So why am I including it today? Well, last week, I asked all of my Smallophiles to email me who they thought Ric Flair should face at Wrestlemania? Because I purposely asked for answers, it's only right of me to let everyone know what these select fans are thinking.
Who Ric Flair Should Face at Wrestlemania?
The majority of feedback stated that Shawn Michaels should face Flair at Wrestlemania. From Steven,
I think its dead on to be Flair v Hbk at Mania. Did u see the strange look HBK gave him after the hug on Raw? Think Vince will put something on the line for Micheals so that he will have to beat Flair?
I do admit that HBK's look at Flair was strange but that had more to do with HBK doubting Flair's ability to defeat Orton. If HBK is set to face Flair, Vince would have to give him a title shot as a reward for wrestling Flair. Outside of pride, a Championship reign is the only big enough bounty for HBK to collect.
Vytautas also believes it's HBK:
I think it's HBK, who's facing Flair. It would be a hell of a match, if HBK would put on his WM working boots on, and Flair would put on the ones, that he wrestled Kurt Angle back in a day (when he cheated every possible way - it was a great, and I think, first time used, psychology type (sort of) in a match).
Uhh… I agree!
Some readers had other suggestions. Both readers Tim and Rick suggested either Triple H or the Undertaker. Tim stated:
i would like 2 c flair face either triple h or undertaker for his final match at 'mania. with hhh, they could do a student/mentor thing for them 2 face each other. 4 'taker, they could do the rest in peace deal i know he will most likely not face either one of them but it would be awsome if he did
While Flair/HHH would work, they already ran the student/mentor deal a few times earlier (most notably in 2005). As for the Undertaker, I believe it would be in bad taste to call Flair's final match a "Rest in Piece" match. But that's just me.
Rick wrote (in much better English):
The obvious choice for Ric Flair's final match would be HHH or Shawn Micheals because of thier extensive history with Flair. My choice is the Undertaker. How fitting would it be for Flair's last match to be against Taker at Mania with Taker's streak on the line? As far as I can remember Taker and Flair have never squared off before. The crowd would go insane for this match!! I dont even care that it would be a face vs. face match. I actually like face vs. face matches at Wrestlemania because it splits up the crowd and always makes for a good match.
Hate to burst your bubble Rick, but Flair fought the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 18. While I don't disagree with you for removing WM 18 from your memory (it really wasn't a good Wrestlemania), the Flair/Taker match was my favorite on the card as it was an excellent old-school brawl which featured a spinebuster from Arn Anderson! You should definitely try to check it out. For that reason, I can't see Flair and Taker fighting again at Wrestlemania.
Brian thinks it should be a certain "Legend Killer."
I believe that Ric Flair will face Randy Orton at Wrestlemania, win the title, and retire as champion. This would make it appear as he went out on his own terms, and not because of Vince's stipulation. Plus, it would make him one legend that Orton couldn't kill. This whole "farewell tour" is about paying homage to Ric Flair, and ending it in this manner would seem to be the proper way to do just that.
I do believe that the WWE screwed the pooch by having a Orton/Flair match way too early in this "Ric Flair must retire" storyline. For that reason, I can't see a rematch happening at Wrestlemania even though it makes sense in kayfabe terms.
Lastly, Chris thought of non-active wrestlers for Flair to face:
Since Flair has agreed to this storyline, I assume that he will go out in a blaze of glory so I actually see two people who Flair would be willing to battle in his final match. The first is Ricky Steamboat. Perfectly feasible since the Steamer is a road agent with WWE. The other is now a possibility since it looks like he won't be resigning with TNA. And that would be the man called Sting. Both were arguably his greatest opponents and I believe Sting would be willing to sign a legends contract if it meant his last match could be with Flair.
Lance Storm has an excellent commentary on his website regarding a possible Flair/Sting match at Wrestlemania. If this match does indeed happen, I would hope Flair turns on Sting one last time after the match. As for Ricky Steamboat, last year the WWE was looking to run Flair/Steamboat at Wrestlemania but I don't think Steamboat was interested in returning to the ring. Pity because it would be a fitting way for Flair to end his career.
So, we have a nice range of possibilities for Flair. I'll come back to this column a week before Wrestlemania to see just how well we did!
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Tune in next week when we take a look at the fallout from Raw XV! With so many legends returning, something interesting must happen backstage. In addition, we shall preview what looks on paper to be one of the best WWE PPVs in a long time. Until then…
