The Custom Made News Report 12.23.07

Posted by Ryan Byers on 12.23.2007

News on Ken Kennedy's future, a former TNA wrestler heads to WWE, the final installment of our Best of Raw DVD preview, Kurt Angle and AJ Styles head to Japan early, and much more!

Welcome, one and all, to the Custom Made News Report. Before we begin, I'd like to wish all of you who will be celebrating Christmas this week a safe and happy holiday. Despite the fact that fewer wrestling cards are being run this time of year due to indy promotions going on hiatus, Japanese promotions not being on tour, and TNA/WWE taping shows in advance, there is still a ton of news from behind the scenes in the world of our favorite pseudo-sport.

All the Stuff from Stamford

Kennedy's Problems Indicative of Larger WWE Issues

We seem to do a lot of talking about Ken Kennedy in this column. Most of it has been in relation to his history of drug use, which he has repeatedly lied about to mainstream media outlets. This week, though, news broke about Kennedy's status within WWE, and it confirmed that at least some people backstage in the company share the opinion of the man that I have voiced here several times: He does not have what it takes to be a main event level performer in a national wrestling promotion. Sadly, he's not the only one of WWE's performers to which this statement applies.


Ken Kennedy

According to Figure Four Weekly, the feeling backstage at WWE is that if Kennedy does not make a positive impression during his current feud with Shawn Michaels, he will not get another run in the main event picture for quite some time. If he does perform poorly in this angle, it would almost be the "third strike" for Mr. Kennedy, as he first missed out on a World Title reign thanks to an injury and then blew his opportunity to be Vince McMahon's illegitimate child by lying about his past steroid use. In addition to those two prior strikes, there is reportedly also a belief backstage in WWE that Kennedy's in-ring performances are too inconsistent for his own good, as he goes through periods in which he does well and periods in which he is dreadful. Even Steve Austin, who was formerly a big Kennedy fan, mentioned in a recent interview that the man from Green Bay, Wisconsin is not living up to the potential that he once showed.

Though I know that I haven't been very complimentary of the man in the past, this is not entirely Ken Kennedy's fault. This is in part the fault of WWE. If you looked at the company's roster from six years ago, you'd be hard pressed to find a main event level talent who didn't have at least ten years of experience in the wrestling business, and most of them had worked in many different major promotions across the country and across the world. However, if you look at the individuals who the E has attempted to move up the card since roughly 2004, you'll notice a marked difference. Though some of them (Kennedy included) have a couple of years of working weekend indy shows under their belt, the bulk of their experience has been racked up in WWE and its developmental territories. Individuals who come through developmental generally receive no more than two years in the program, and some have gotten as little as three months before ultimately being put on Monday Night Raw or Smackdown. If WWE is going to continue to put performs through the developmental program so quickly, they should not expect wrestlers who are on the level of past main eventers.

Of course, some would say that WWE has no choice but to bring wrestlers through developmental quickly. After all, ECW and WCW no longer exist, and those were the primary promotions from which WWE could pluck experienced main eventers. (TNA is not a suitable replacement for either of those promotions, as they do not currently run enough shows to sustain a young wrestler's improvement.) However, there are other options. WWE needs to do two things in order to infuse its roster with new talent that is ready to perform on national television without Kennedy-like inconsistency. The first is the expansion of the existing developmental program and the adoption of trainers schooled in a variety of different styles. Though Florida Championship Wrestling appears to be coming along nicely, it is not enough on its own. Up and coming wrestlers used to have opportunities to work with experienced opponents and trainers in several different locations, and it is this sort of experience that made the WWE roster of several years ago so talented.

Obviously developing such a program will take several years if not a decade, so the second step I suggest is looking beyond the United States for new members of the Raw and Smackdown rosters. It is time that WWE began poaching wrestlers with many years of experience from the rosters of foreign promotions. These wrestlers would immediately be able to perform on a high level on WWE television, bridging the gap until the first generation of graduates from the revamped developmental system would be called up. Wrestlers who could fill this role are definitely out there. NOAH regular Bison Smith has the talent to immediately occupy an upper card slot in WWE. The same could be said for British veteran and ROH alumni Doug Williams. Even Ireland could contribute, with a smaller wrestler like NJPW's Prince Fergal Devitt being used to round out the bottom half of WWE cards.

Of course, I have no delusions that anybody from WWE actually reads this column, nor would they implement the above plan if they somehow stumbled across it. However, I think that it would be the best way to cure what is currently ailing WWE and turning off many long-time fans to their in-ring product.

Former TNA Star Heads to WWE

Speaking of picking up experienced international stars, WWE has managed to snag at least one, as Puerto Rican wrestling website Lucha Libre Online is reporting that the promotion has signed El Gran Aplo to a developmental deal that will see him training in Florida Championship Wrestling in January. For many years, Apolo has been a major star in the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico, holding its Universal Heavyweight Title on two different occassions. Fans from mainland America are probably most familiar with Apolo from his work in TNA. He was a part of the promotion's very first weekly pay per view event, competing in the Royal Rumble style match that saw Ken Shamrock crowned NWA World Heavyweight Champion. After a handful of appearances on TNA's earliest shows, Apolo vanished from the promotion, only to resurface a couple of years later when he captured the NWA Tag Team Titles with D-Lo Brown. After that reign, Apolo floated around in the company with very little direction, occasionally teaming with Sonny Siaki before later becoming a member of LAX. It would not be long until Apolo left the promotion, though, and he has continued to wrestle in Puerto Rico until present day.

So where will Apolo fit in on the WWE roster? Quite frankly, I can't see him getting much further than the midcard. Though he was a big star in Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican wrestling is in large part stuck in the 1980's, with several wrestlers who are poor by twenty-first century standards becoming popular with crowds by engaging in slow, plodding brawls. Though Apolo certainly does have the look that WWE favors, when it comes to wrestling in straight matches, he's comparable to somebody like Chris Masters. Masters didn't exactly light the world on fire in WWE, and I can't imagine Apolo doing it either.

WWE Performers Hit the Indies

With the WWE travel schedule slowing down for the holidays, a few members of the roster have taken it upon themselves to make guest appearances at independent events. A group called Coastal Championship Wrestling ran a card in Coral Springs, Florida on December 14, and the big draw on the show was not any of the group's regular performers. Instead, it was reigning WWE United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter, who did an angle in which he threw a local heel manager in to a garbage can. Deuce of the Smackdown tag team Deuce & Domino was also present, primarily because his father Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka was wrestling a match on the show. Also appearing for CCW that evening were former ECW star Hack Myers, Ricky Vega (LAX member "Machete" in TNA), Phi Delta Slam (a former TNA tag team who had a guest appearance on this past Thursday's Impact), Gangrel, and Dustin Rhodes.

Not to be outdone, ECW personality Layla El dropped by a show in Covina, California for the Empire Wrestling Federation on December 21. El was joined by many wrestlers who have competed for ROH, PWG, and WSX, including the Hook Bomberry, TJ "Puma" Perkins, Markus Riot, Scorpio Sky, and the Human Tornado.

Raw Fifteenth Anniversary DVD Preview Continued

For those of you who missed the December 9 edition of this column, I started to preview the new Best of Raw three disc DVD set that WWE is putting out in conjunction with the show's fifteenth anniversary. I was going through the list of contents for the DVD and giving my thoughts on each segment. This wound up being far too long to include in just one week's edition of the news report, so I broke it up in to three installments. The last two weeks of the Custom Made News have seen me discuss discs one and two, and here's disc three.

Disc Three

"The Rock" Concert – March 24, 2003

Though the Rock's feud with Bill Goldberg was absolutely pathetic from an in-ring perspective and the buildup to it did not make it feel like the epic encounter that it should've been, at least it gave us this. Many individuals fell in love with the Rock's babyface character during the late 1990's, but it's my opinion that his heel work from the twenty-first century is far superior, and this was one of that character's shining moments. It will be an absolute joy to see this again.

Kane Unmasks – June 23, 2003

I've never been the biggest fan of Kane, but I recall that WWE promising his unmasking resulted in me being more intrigued by one of their angles than I had been in quite some time. After all, they'd claimed for years that he had been terribly scarred, and it didn't seem likely that they'd bother to apply heavy amounts of special effects makeup to the guy's face every week for the rest of his career. Because of that, I was interested in seeing how they were going to get out of the corner they'd apparently booked themselves in to. I don't know if the segment will be as fun to watch knowing what became of Kane afterwards (a great opportunity to make him a perpetual main eventer thrown away for a ridiculous feud with Shane McMahon), but I'm willing to give it a try.

Musical Chairs with Eugene – July 5, 2004

This segment should've been terrible. It should've been one of the worst moments in Raw history. However, it was saved . . . SAVED BY RIC FLAIR. Slick Ric's over the top performance in this segment made it comedy gold, and I'd probably buy a DVD that contained nothing but his two months worth of interaction with Eugene.

Evolution Turns on Randy Orton – August 16, 2004

Talk about your letdowns. I believe that when this happened I read Dave Meltzer referring to it as "a year's worth of booking condensed in to ten minutes," and I can't agree more. Had the company stretched out Orton's departure from the group, he could've become a legitimate main event talent in WWE much more quickly than he actually did. If you want proof, look no further than Batista, who DID become a major player as the result of an extended departure angle.

Are you ready for some wrestling? – November 22, 2004

I don't follow the NFL, so this skit which parodied a controversial opening to a Monday Night Football game means little to me. However, it does provide video documentation of the period during which heel Trish Stratus wore a faceguard, which was hilarious.

Batista Turns on Triple H – February 21, 2005

Now if you want a good turn angle, ignore Orton/HHH and look no further than this segment. It's the culmination of one of the best booked WWE angles of the twenty-first century, as the slow burn was just slow enough, and there was no better time to finally end the Batista/Evolution relationship than on this particular night. As a matter of fact, I'm a bit surprised that this didn't get more attention on the Raw Fifteenth Anniversary show, though you could argue that doing so would be counterproductive given the fact that Batista and HHH were portrayed as friends for the evening.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Shawn Michaels – Gold Rush Tournament Match May 2, 2005

Ahh, Shelton Benjamin's finest hour. Though he's currently stuck on ECW (the show where midcarders are sent to die), at one point in time he looked like the hottest up and comer on Monday Night Raw. Though he had bigger accomplishments under his belt – beating Triple H, for example – this was his most memorable match of the period. It's one that deserves to be chronicled on DVD, if for no reason other than the awesome "springboard in to a superkick" finish that was part of the Raw open for quite some time.

John Cena Drafted # 1 to RAW – June 6, 2005

Eh. I like Cena and all, but footage of him walking down a ramp and cutting a fairly unremarkable promo doesn't do it for me.

Edge / Lita Wedding – June 20, 2005

I believe we've got ourselves a typo in the listing. I don't recall Edge and Lita ever having a wedding, on camera or otherwise. I'd guess that we're actually talking about the KANE/Lita wedding, which was hilarious stuff. Though the majority of people I talk to remember it solely for Trish Stratus' outfit, those folks are ignoring the real highlights of the ceremony. The first was Gene Snitsky (in a sleeveless tux, IIRC) reading an awesome poem about killing babies, and the second was Kane coming down the aisle while a string quartet played an arrangement of his regular entrance music. Good times were had by all. Well, except for Matt Hardy . . . though there would be worse times ahead for him.

Shawn Michaels turns on Hulk Hogan – July 4, 2005

Raw wasn't firing on all cylinders this particular evening. I'd imagine that they were taking it easy because of the holiday. Fortunately, the entire show was saved by Shawn Michaels superkicking the taste out of Hulk Hogan's mouth, in part because it was one of the better superkicks in history and in part because it provided the setup for what I knew was going to be an interesting match (both in the ring and politically) at Summerslam '05.

Jericho is Fired – August 22, 2005

There are several moments throughout the DVD set that WWE seems to consider a bigger moment from a historical standpoint than I do. This is one of them.

Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle - WWE Iron Man Match – October 3, 2005

What can I say about this feud that hasn't already been said elsewhere? All of the matches were high quality, and, though this one isn't quite as good as their Wrestlemania encounter, I'm happy to see it put out on DVD. (Particularly since it didn't make the cut on the recent Shawn Michaels set.)

A Stone Cold Homecoming – October 3, 2005

I want to see this segment on DVD solely to observe how WWE edits Austin's stunner on Linda McMahon, which may have been the worst execution of the move in recorded history.

Eric Bischoff Trial – December 5, 2005

I'd imagine that we're definitely getting the final segment of this show-long angle, which featured Bischoff being thrown in to a garbage truck. I hope that the vignettes leading up to that moment are also included, because that's where the real entertainment value lies. There were some fine moments in those skits, including Vince McMahon listening to an iPod, Chris Masters being busted for not using his SHOOT NAME~! on the stand, and Maria using some words that would've helped her achieve an excellent SAT score.

Edge / Lita – Live Sex Celebration – January 9, 2006

Though the majority of internet fans have been fawning over Edge since mid-2005, I still wasn't sold on him at this point. In fact, I really wasn't sold on him until he jumped to Smackdown this year. It'll be interesting to see whether rewatching this segment allows me to observe flashes of the Edge that I like now.

DX Impersonates Shane and Mr. McMahon – June 26, 2006

This was one of the biggest comedic failures in Raw history. Think of the ground that covers.

Edge vs. Rob Van Dam vs. John Cena – Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship - July 3, 2006

I'm not a Rob Van Dam fan. Period. As such, I couldn't get that in to his title reign. That may create a bit of a bias which causes me to say that there are so many better matches from the last five years of Raw that could've been included instead of this three way.

Edge vs. Shawn Michaels – Street Fight – January 22, 2007

Speaking of better matches, here's one. Though I may not always have been sold on Edge's heel character, his in-ring work has been solid for the majority of his WWF/WWE run. Put him in there against one of the greatest wrestlers in history, and you've got guaranteed magic.

Shawn Michaels Returns! – October 8, 2007

So am I the only one who's picked up on the insane amount of Shawn Michaels content that we're getting on this third disc? If that doesn't cement his status as the Raw MVP of the last five years, I don't know what does. As far as this particular segment is concerned, I remember it coming at the end of what had been one of the most boring Raws in recorded history, so it was hard for me to get as excited as I otherwise may have been. We'll see if it comes off better in isolation.

And that does it for the Best of Raw DVD. Overall, though there are some segments which I wouldn't have included and some segments that I think will be sadly missed, the set overall is a fine look at the show's history. The decision to purchase it should be easy for anybody who has watched the show over the past decade and a half, and I'd even recommend it to newer fans who want the opportunity to get a good idea of what has made the show so popular throughout its run.

Random Video Interlude

This week's video comes to us from Osaka Pro Wrestling, a Japanese promotion with a heavy lucha libre influence and more emphasis on comedy than the majority of the promotions in the country. It's a highlight reel of the company's May 27, 2007 show. My favorite move comes around the 2:35 mark, as a wrestler has an innovative solution to the problem of his opponent ducking a shining wizard.



To view videos that have appeared in previous editions of the Custom Made News Report, be sure to check out my new YouTube page.

2007 Holiday Shopping Guide

Two years ago, I was writing a column on 411 called Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People. As a part of that column, I put together a holiday shopping guide for wrestling fans, putting together gift packages related to different styles of wrestling that contained three gifts which, in total, would cost under $30 (U.S.) Since it's been a couple of years, I've decided to revive the idea here in the Custom Made News Report. Thus, from November 25 through December 23, you'll be able to find five new cheap gift packages for five different genres of wrestling.

This Week: Gifts for Women's Wrestling Fans

Item #1: Amazing Kong Baseball Cards
Cost: $5.00
Available At: Kong's MySpace

One of the biggest breakout wrestlers of 2007 has been the Amazing Kong (a.k.a Awesome Kong). Though she's been a star in Japan for several years, it was this year that she first managed to expose herself to a large scale American audience thanks to TNA wrestling. Now the thousands of new Kong fans in the states can take home a piece of memorabilia related to the future TNA Women's Champion. In Japan, where Kong is an even bigger star in some circles, a set of limited edition baseball cards was printed bearing her image. She is now making these cards available to her U.S. fans, selling packs of three through her MySpace page.

Item #2: Blakwidow: My First Year as a Professional Wrestler by Amanda Storm
Cost: $12.49
Available At: Highspots

When I wrote the first installment of the holiday shopping guide a few weeks back, I noted that there aren't too many books about the modern independent scene. Well, there are even fewer books about women on the modern independent scene, but Blakwidow is one of them. Though she may not be the biggest name in the wrestling world, author Amanda Storm has had some very unique experiences in the business, from training with Killer Kowalski to working regularly with Tony Atlas (who taught her many important lessons, including proper arm taping techniques). It's not the best wrestling book in the world, but the unique subject matter makes it worth the read.

Item #3: WSU Missing Matches DVD
Cost: $12.95
Available At: DOIVideos.com.

Though I shill a lot for SHIMMER, there are other independent women's groups out there, one of which is Women Superstars Unleashed. This DVD is a compilation of some of the best matches of women who have competed for WSU, and it's available for a cool $13 from Declaration of Independents. The DVD features several recent matches from women who have found more fame in TNA's ladies' division, including Traci Brooks, Alexa Thatcher (a.k.a. Alexa Jade), and Talia Madison (a.k.a. Velvet Sky). Top independent talents Mercedes Martinez and Cindy Rogers are also included.

Foreign Fanatics

American Wrestlers Galore at Inoki Genome Federation

Plenty of American wrestling fans have recently been discussing TNA's upcoming trip to Japan, which will be taking place on January 4. However, what a lot of those same fans don't know is that there was a bit of an unofficial preview of this card on December 20. On that date, Japanese legend Antonio Inoki ran another card for his "Inoki Genome Federation" group. Some readers may remember this promotion as the one in which Kurt Angle beat Brock Lesnar for the fake IWGP Title that Angle has recently been seen carting around on TNA television.

Angle was back for another go-round on this week's IGF show, defeating former junior heavyweight championship wrestler and occasional shoot fighter Kendo Kashin in under ten minutes. (Kashin also has some exposure in the United States as "Dragon Soldier B" from ROH's almost universally panned Best of the American Super Juniors show.) Kurt's opponent was originally scheduled to be Booker T., but Booker reportedly missed his flight and was thus unable to attend the show. Fans were apparently not happy with this turn of events. Elsewhere on the card, TNA representative AJ Styles defeated Low Ki in the opener. Ki has definitely been logging some international miles since leaving TNA, as he was not only on this show but also appeared on a card in Germany last week. The final American wrestler of note on the show was none other than the former "Masterpiece" Chris Masters, who was wrestling under the name Chris Moore. Though I'm not 100% certain, I believe that this was his first match for a Japanese wrestling organization. He defeated Ryuji Yanagisawa in just under six minutes with his trusty Masterlock . . . which I guess he'll now have to rename. I suggest "Mooregasm."

While they were in Japan, Styles and Angle also took the time to appear at a press conference New Japan was hosting to promote its January 4 Tokyo Dome show. Angle stared down his opponent Nagata. Styles, who will be participating in a six man tag match, listened to comments from one member of the opposing team. That man, Minoru, stated that he would be interested in getting revenge on Styles' partner Petey Williams, who apparently "double crossed" Minoru in a battle royale during TNA's last World X Cup. Minoru is officially the only person on the planet who remembers that match taking place.

Legendary Wrestler Set for Japanese Retirement?

One of the greatest NWA World Champions in history, Dory Funk, Jr., may be wrestling his last match in Japan in the new year. Osamu Nishimura, a Japanese wrestler who became a close friend of Funk while polishing his skills in Dory's Florida dojo, recently told the press in his home country that he is trying to put together the retirement bout. Nishimura's efforts apparently began several years ago in the MUGA promotion, though officials in that group were largely unresponsive. When Nish bailed on MUGA earlier this year and joined All Japan Pro Wrestling, he began reaching out to AJPW head Keiji Muto about giving Funk a proper retirement. Now the match will potentially be happening this spring, and Osamu hopes that he will be able to team with Funk in the match against Muto and reigning IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki. I will have more on this match as it comes together.

Mini-Me No More?

Periodically I like to discuss some of the wackier angles that take place in Japanese wrestling, and one of these angles will be coming to a head on December 29 in El Dorado, a wrestling company tied to Ultimo Dragon's Dragon Gym school and the Dragon Gate promotion. One of Dragon Gym's most prolific alumni is Milano Collection A.T. He competed for several years in Japan before heading to the United States for seasoning in groups like ROH, CHIKARA, and FIP. Upon returning to his homeland, he became a breakout star in the junior heavyweight division of New Japan Pro Wrestling. While Milano was making name for himself across the globe, a mini wrestler was coming up through the Dragon Gym system and getting decent reactions on the Japanese independent circuit.

Who was this man? He was given the ring name Milanito Collection a.t., and he was the miniature version of the full sized Milano. They used some of the same moves, they wore similar outfits, and they even came to the ring with the same invisible dog. a.t. has become a fixture in El Dorado in recent months, though on the promotion's next major card he'll be facing one of his career's biggest challenges. a.t. will come face to face with A.T. in a rare match pitting a full-sized competitor against his mini counterpart. That's not the only unique twist on the match, though. Milanito has actually had to put his gimmick on the line, meaning that if he loses this match he will no longer be little a.t. Yes, if he loses, he will have to find a new identity. I'm actually hoping that he does do the job here, simply because the guy isn't a bad wrestler and is just tall enough that he could possibly work as a (very short) full-sized grappler.

Following Up

Here are a couple of small updates to stories that I have discussed in previous editions of the report:

~ It appears that Kenta Kobashi considered his recent return match to be a success. (How could he not have, though?) As a result, he will be wrestling two matches on the upcoming January NOAH tour, both of which feature him in six man tag action with partners Tamon Honda and Go Shiazaki. Their opponents on 1/11 will be Akira Taue, Takuma Sano, and Masao Inoue, while on 1/13 they face Jun Akiyama, Kentaro Shiga, and Yoshinobu Kanemura.

~ All Japan had its bizarre "Fan Appreciation" show on 12/16, which I previewed here a few weeks back. The most notable occurrence was female competitive eating champion Gal Sone defeating two of AJPW's wrestler in a curry eating contest. Seriously.

~ The Hart family reality show that we talked about in this column a few months back made the news again this week, with many people again reporting that it was in "pre-production." I don't know why that has been considered news given that it had the exact same status three months ago.

Wrapping Up

And that's the news for this week. Before we go, let's take a look at some other interesting content here on 411:

~ We'll start with a reminder that I never really cover ROH in this column because Ring of Honor coverage over the weekend is sufficiently handled by Ari Berenstein. This week's Column of Honor by Ari is located here

~ Oh, and Ari doesn't just spread his ROH love in text format anymore, oh no. He's also gone auditory, thanks to his new Attack of the ROHbots podcast.

~ Ari isn't the only 411 staffer doing a podcast these days though. Be sure to have lunch at The Cool Kids' Table, the new project from indy coverage all-stars Brad Garoon, Jake Ziegler, and Samuel Berman.

~ Oh, and check out the writings of Berman here or the joint reviews of Garoon and Ziegler here.

~ Larry Csonka would beat me up (or more accurately have his wife beat me up) if I plugged eveybody else's podcast without plugging his. Here it is.

With the plugs out of the way, I am out. I'll see everybody in seven days.