The Wrestling News Experience: 04.21.08

Posted by Stephen Randle on 04.21.2008

Tonight, a King shall rise, but until then, relax with some discourse on WWE's own version of Facebook, ROH in Canada, and Paul Heyman on a rampage. Read it before they replace me with Mike Adamle!

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the Experience. I am Stephen Randle, and I've been awake for most of this weekend. For the love of God, somebody knock me out with a blunt object or something. Wait, no, don't. There are too many people waiting for that chance.

Well, it's official, there will be two different teams in the Stanley Cup final this year, which means that even if I didn't get the Leafs in the playoffs, I got my consolation prize of watching Ottawa self-destruct in glorious chaos. Now I can fully concentrate on baseball.

Moving on.

What's On Tap - WWE Raw for April 21st

Tonight, it's a very special Raw, as eight Superstars from across all three brands will compete in a one-night tournament for the chance to be named the newest King of the Ring. Given what the title has done for past winners (well, some of them), this could be the night when we see a fresh face elevated in the eyes of fans everywhere. That or Triple H will just win and use it to revive his "King of Kings" theme. Both are possible.

Also, Chris Jericho has been thrown into the mix as Batista and Shawn Michaels continue to war over their departed friend, Ric Flair. How will this new variable affect the upcoming match at Backlash?

And Beth Phoenix is no longer Women's Champion, and you can bet she's probably not too pleased about that turn of events.

Plus, WWE has invited Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to settle their difference inside of wrestling ring. But you don't have to watch that.

Around The Horn

Finally admitting that the whole MySpace/Facebook thing might be here to stay, WWE has jumped on the bandwagon and opened their very own social networking website. You can join it at fans.wwe.com. Considering it took some fairly heavy threats to even get me to create a Facebook account (you can look for me if you want, but I only bother to check it about once a month), I suspect I'll just remain satisfied with my own personal public forum, right here, on 411Mania.com! Yeahhhhh *thumbs up*!

TNA's upcoming video game has been delayed from its initial projected release date of June until September, according to the developer, Midway. While many fans were heard to complain about the delay (likely people who have never played anything developed by Blizzard, who have their own trademarked term for "soon", I prefer to take a more philosophical approach. Namely, this means more time for me to play Smash Brothers and Mario Kart Wii! See, it's all in how you look at it.

Ring of Honor has unofficially announced that they will be running their first Canadian show ever in Toronto in July. Everyone already stole my jokes about all 36 people who ordered the ROH PPV in Canada being in attendance, but to be fair, not all of those people live in Toronto. But don't tell Toronto, they don't like being exposed as not the center of the Canadian multiverse.

That's right, Canada exists in multiple universes. Also, we're all descendants of Battlestar Galactica.

Shockingly, Paul Heyman has fired off from his column on The Sun UK website about how much he hates Mike Adamle, the new ECW announcer. Some people may say that Heyman is once again over-reacting to WWE events out of bitterness, and to those people I say…did you actually watch ECW last week? There were more uncomfortable silences than that time I…okay, never mind, but you could definitely tell that Tazz was working triple time to try and save the broadcast from being sixty minutes of half sentences and dead air while Adamle tried to analyse a product he has virtually no knowledge of. Add my name to the list of people wondering why the hell the supremely more talented and more importantly, knowledgeable Josh Matthews hasn't gotten the call to work one of the brands? Seriously, first Coach on Smackdown, and now this. It's like they're trying to figure out just how bland they can make their commentary, so that JR and King actually sound fresh and exciting again.

And before I leave this segment, WWE has decided that all the photographers at ringside were cluttering up their HD broadcasts, so they've removed them as of now. So, that just leaves the announce table, the ring announcer, the timekeeper, the cameramen actually filming the broadcast, several other techs, and those guys who carry the cables for the cameramen. Yep, removing two or three cameramen in WWE-related merchanise will really clear things up. At least it's a couple less things for Edge to dress up as when he hides at ringside before ambushing someone.

In Case You Missed It

WWE Raw - April 14th

Match Results

- Carlito and Santino Marella defeated Brian Kendrick and Paul London to become #1 contenders to the World Tag Team titles (Carlito pinned London, Backstabber)
- Mickie James defeated Beth Phoenix to win the WWE Women's title (pinfall, victory roll)
- JTG defeated Trevor Murdoch (pinfall, crossbody reversal)
- Randy Orton defeated William Regal (pinfall, RKO)
- Chris Jericho defeated Umaga (pinfall, feet on the ropes)
- Paul Burchill defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan (pinfall, Curb Stomp)
- Triple H defeated JBL (DQ, Orton-ference)

Notes

- The King of the Ring tournament will return as the centrepiece of this week's 3-hour Raw

- Chris Jericho confronted Shawn Michaels about retiring Ric Flair (lots of people doing that these days). The end result was that William Regal installed Jericho as the special referee in the Batista-HBK match at Backlash.

- Mickie James kissed Todd Grisham. Ew.

ECW on Sci Fi - April 15th

Match Results

- CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Jimmy Wang Yang, and Shannon Moore defeated Deuce, Domino, Shelton Benjamin, and Elijah Burke (Kingston pinned Deuce, Trouble in Paradise)
- Mike Knox defeated Colin Delaney (pinfall, corkscrew neckbreaker)
- The Undertaker and Kane defeated John Morrison and The Miz (Taker pinned Morrison, Tombstone)

Notes

- Mike Adamle replaced Joey Styles as the ECW play-by-play announcer

- Chavo's enforcer's name was revealed to be Bam Neely. Kick his ass, Seabass!

- Kelly Kelly won an ECW Diva Dance-off, the less said about which the better

TNA Impact! - April 17th

Match Results

- Jay Lethal defeated Johnny Devine to retain the X Division title (pinfall, Macho Elbow)
- Petey Williams defeated Jay Lethal to win the X Division title (pinfall, Canadian Destroyer)
- Kaz and Super Eric defeated AJ Styles & Tomko and LAX in a Triple Threat match to win the TNA Tag Team titles (Super Eric pinned Styles, Northern Lights suplex)
- Christian Cage and Rhino defeated Team 3D (Rhino pinned Ray, rollup)
- Awesome Kong defeated Roxxi Laveaux to retain the TNA Knockouts titles (pinfall, Awesome Bomb)
- BG James, Booker T, and Sting defeated Robert Roode, James Storm, and Kip James (Booker pinned Storm, Axe Kick following Morgan-ference)

Notes

- Scott Steiner awarded Petey Williams his X Division title shot from the Feast or Fired match.

- Every Team 3D, Styles and Tomko, and Booker T and Sting argued with their respective partners after their match. Dissension~!

- Kaz and Eric Young were subsequently stripped of the TNA Tag Team titles on the basis that Eric Young and Super Eric are two different people, according to Eric Young's own admission. I can't make this stuff up.

WWE Smackdown - April 18th

Match Results

- MVP defeated Tommy Dreamer (pinfall, Rockette Kick)
- Hornswoggle defeated Matt Striker (pinfall, Tadpole Splash following shilllelegans)
- Chavo Guerrero defeated Jamie Noble (pinfall, Frog Splash)
- Big Show defeated Mark Henry (DQ, Khali-ference)
- Cherry defeated Victoria (pinfall, rollup)
- Vladimir Kozlov defeated some guy (pinfall, reverse DDT)
- Batista vs The Undertaker went to a Double Count-out

Notes

- Chris Jericho confronted Batista about his involvement in the HBK-Batista match at Backlash. Batista gave him a Batista Bomb.

- Batista vs The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight title was announced for this week's Smackdown

The Injury Bug Bites

Inactive List as of 04.14.08

WWE Raw

- Candice Michelle, out indefinitely as of March 24th (shoulder surgery)
- Jeff Hardy, out 60 days as of March 4th (Wellness suspension)
- Robbie McAllister, out indefinitely as of March 29th (sent home)
- Rory McAllister, out indefinitely as of February 12th (torn pectoral)

WWE Smackdown

- Gregory Helms, out one year as of May 17th, 2007 (neck surgery)
- Kenny Dykstra, out indefinitely as of January 18th (knee)
- Rey Mysterio, out 6-9 months (or maybe weeks) as of February 21 (torn bicep)
- Torrie Wilson, out indefinitely as of December 1st (back)

ECW

- Big Daddy V, out indefinitely (weight problem)
- The Boogeyman, out indefinitely (calf)

TNA

- Abyss, out indefinitely (kayfabe)

Transactions

- Mike Adamle, promoted to ECW play-by-play (and I use that term loosely) announcer

- Joey Styles, promoted to "overseer" of WWE.com

Who's Holding Gold

Holy crap, were they just saving up all these title changes for after the big PPVs or something? Three title changes, plus we have #1 contenders to the World Tag Team titles, and Matt Hardy and MVP are finally set to face off for the United States title at Backlash.

WWE

WWE Champion: Randy Orton
- 190 day reign, defeated Triple H in a Last Man Standing match on October 7th (No Mercy PPV)
- Next title defense: vs Triple H, John Cena, and JBL, Backlash PPV

World Heavyweight Champion: The Undertaker
- 15 day reign, defeated Edge on March 30th (WrestleMania 24)
- Next title defense: vs Edge, Backlash PPV

ECW Champion: Kane
- 15 day reign, defeated Chavo Guerrero on March 30th (WrestleMania 24)
- Next title defense: vs Chavo Guerrero, Backlash PPV

WWE Intercontinental Champion: Chris Jericho
- 35 day reign, defeated Jeff Hardy on March 10th (Raw)

WWE United States Champion: MVP
- 330 day reign, defeated Chris Benoit in a 2/3 Falls match on May 20th (Judgment Day PPV)
- Next title defense: vs Matt Hardy, Backlash PPV

World Tag Team Champions: Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly
- 127 day title reign, defeated Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch on December 10th (Raw XV special)

WWE Tag Team Champions: John Morrison and The Miz
- 149 day reign, defeated MVP and Matt Hardy on November 16th (Smackdown)

**NEW** WWE Women's Champion: Mickie James
- 7 day reign, defeated Beth Phoenix on April 14th (Raw)

TNA

TNA Heavyweight Champion: Samoa Joe
- 8 day reign, defeated Kurt Angle on April 13th (Lockdown PPV)
- Next title defense: vs Scott Steiner, April 24th Impact

**NEW** TNA Tag Team Champions: VACANT
- Title vacated on April 17th Impact after Eric Young and Kaz defeated AJ Styles and Tomko in a triple threat match involving LAX via…sigh…interference from Super Eric

**NEW** TNA X-Division Champion: Petey Williams
- 4 day reigns, defeated "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal on April 17th (Impact), "Feast or Fired" briefcase stipulation

TNA Knockouts Champion: Awesome Kong
- 102 day reign, defeated Gail Kim on January 10th (Impact)

Links For Fun And Nonprofit

Byers and Prag have the weekend news reports.

From the glowing box, Slimmer has Heat, Borchardt and Michael O have Smackdown, and Landsell has Impact.

Bond has Please Don't Hate.

Chin has The Importance Of.

The Triple Threat talks King of the Ring.

Minotti has Can They Be Champ?

Short has The Navigation Log.

Traverson has Are We Having Fun Yet?

Ari has Column of Honor.

Sforcina has Evolution Schematic.

Hubbard has The Wrestling Bard.

And Corke has The Seventh Dimension.

The Gab Bag

Well, according to the Comments section, apparently I'm a worse TNA hater than Ryan Byers, and that, my friends, is saying something. Of course, I did give the Lockdown PPV a good rating, and recommended it, but I suppose that suggesting that pushing Super Eric, yet another mid-card comedy act on a roster that's getting increasingly full of them, over half the roster in a single match, was quite possibly a bad idea, means that I hate TNA and everything about it. Okay, let's break this down again for everyone who wasn't paying attention the first time.

1. I do not watch TNA PPV's. This is not because I hate TNA, but because I only have a small amount of extra money with which to allocate to entertainment expenses, and sometimes, just sometimes, I use that money for things that aren't wrestling-related. Long and short of it, I can't afford to drop thirty bucks every month. This also relates to WWE PPV's, in case you didn't know, with the exception of Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, and possibly one or two others over the year, depending on the card. Anyone out there want to pay for me to watch TNA PPV's? Seriously, because then I'll do it.

2. I do not rate or review TNA PPV's. I do provide a list of results, and comment on my perspective of the booking/results of the match, as they affect the ongoing storylines of TNA. At the end, I do give my impression of whether or not the PPV would be worth buying, based, again, on the booking and results. Once again, though, I would point out that I gave Lockdown a positive recommendation, which is what really baffled me about the comments stating that I was hating and nit-picking on TNA.

3. I'm not going to stop. Mostly because this is a news report, posted on Monday morning, and not posting the results of a Sunday PPV in a news report would be…is asinine the word I'm looking for here? Possibly.

4. Pushing Super Eric is a bad idea, and I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one who thinks so. I'd feel this way if WWE were doing the same thing, and come to think of it, they have. The difference is, The Hurricane and Eugene were opening match jobbers and never, ever, seriously considered threats to anyone with half a brain. If Super Eric were going out there to have comedy matches to pop the crowd (a noble pursuit if there was one), I'd be fine with it. But no, he's being treated as a serious upper card threat.

5. All this doesn't really matter, since the people making those comments allegedly have stopped reading my column. Excellent, more room for my real fans. Besides, people allegedly swear off reading Byers every week, and he still gets fifty "you suck Byers you anti-TNA WWE fanboy" comments every column.

And One To Go On

411 will have live coverage of a 3-hour King of the Ring-based Raw tonight starting at 8 pm EDT (once again, the show will not air until 9 pm in Canada). That's our show, Larry's in tomorrow, I'll be back next week.

Here it is, your moment of Zen.



Have a good one, and always be a fan.