The Wilcox-For-All News Report 06.26.08
Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 06.26.2008
All of the reaction to WWE's Supplemental Draft, plus ratings news, injury news, comeback news and more in the return of the Wilcox-For-All News Report!
Good morning all and welcome to your Thursday does of wrestling news. If there is anyone out there that pays attention to Small, you'll know that he decided it was that time of the month where he decides he has more important things to do than treat you, his loyal readers, with the news that you deserve to hear.
Maybe I'm being harsh. In fact, I probably am. I'm sure Small is doing something really important that requires him to neglect you guys again.
But on the brightside, he has left you in the almost capable hands of yours truly, Dan Wilcox. Fear not, I've done this gig before.. once.
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Wait for it...
Wait for it...
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GIMMICK INFRINGEMENT!
Top Stories
WWE Holds Supplemental Draft; The Shake Up Continues
Yesterday on wwe.com, WWE ran a supplemental draft that saw further draft selections in addition to the ones made on Monday Night Raw. Amongst the names drafted were Finlay, Hornswoggle, Mark Henry, Shelton Benjamin and Maria, and tags teams such as Deuce and Domino and London and Kendrick were split as a result of the supplemental draft. Let's run through all of the changes.
Mark Henry to ECW: This was inevitable, but Henry has nothing to offer ECW, because he sucks.
Jamie Noble to Raw: This is a nice move, and a fairly surprising one. Hopefully we can see some comedy skits involving Noble and Santino Marella.
Trevor Murdoch to SmackDown: Murdoch was always going to be drafted, I feel, and SmackDown is a good place for him. He's a hard worker and should be able to provide some good matches and make a nice little niche for himself in their mid card.
Big Daddy V to SmackDown: I like V and it will be nice to see him back. He's a much better monster-type than Henry. But I have to question if it's smart putting him on the show that already has Umaga, Big Show and Khali. Raw needs a monster, and a heel, so I think he sould have gone to Monday nights.
Deuce to Raw: There's an outside chance that he'll join this second generation stable, but other than that - once a jobber, always a jobber.
DH Smith to SmackDown: This was a surprise because everyone considered him a lock to be Ted DiBiase's partner at Night of Champions. DH has no charisma and few in-ring skills, so I don't how well this one is going to turn out.
Chuck Palumbo to Raw: This one was not a surprise and Chuck will make a nice addition to Raw's mid-card, and a run with the Intercontinental Championship is in his near future, I think.
Hornswoggle and Finlay to ECW: Damn. Finlay is terrible as a face and I was hoping they'd split these two. Shit, the whole Hornswoggle thing has been done to death and is horrendously boring now. Finlay on ECW will be nice though, as long as they don't win those tag titles come Sunday.
Matt Striker to Raw: Striker is a good hand in the ring and on the mic and was being wasted on ECW. I greatly approve of this move.
Brian Kendrick to SmackDown: It's shit like this that I'll never understand. A year ago, London and Kendrick are tearing shit up week in, week out on SmackDown. Then they get drafted to Raw where they are treated like jobbers and barely get any TV time, and now they're split. It's like Vince LIKES giving away money or something. Oh, wait a minute...
Super Crazy to ECW: This is Super, this is... actually not Crazy. I love this move and can't wait to see the guy get some in-ring action on a more regular basis.
Maria to SmackDown: I guess she wasn't doing much on Raw, so this might freshen up her character a bit. It's certainly two more reasons to watch SmackDown.
Shelton Benjamin to SmackDown: I guess this works, even if a few more months on ECW would've been preferable. SmackDown has a mid-card now and I'd like to see Shelton dominate it. Matches with Jeff Hardy are welcome, if only for the number of botches that occur.
Layla to Raw: OK. She won't add nothing to the show and she's number 4 heel behind Beth, Katie Lea and Jillian, so this seems redundant. I'd have preffered Kelly Kelly come to Raw but c'est la vie.
Carlito to SmackDown: I bet Carlito was loving the fact that Triple H got drafted to SmackDown. I bet he was real mouthy about it in the back too, and then one day he logs on to wwe.com and BAM! Game Over!
Kofi Kingston: This one makes no sense to me. Kofi is still fairly green and not totally over. He could have used another year at least on ECW. Now he will get lost in the shuffle and be jobbed out on Raw and ultimately be wasted.
Overall, I think the changes that have been are sound. ECW won't suffer that much because they're all about developing new talent and that's just what they'll do. Raw will be fine and SmackDown will thrive - has it really become the new A show?
In the Ratings news, Monday's Raw drew a 3.4 rating off of hours of 2.78, 3.46 and 3.95. If we only count the two hours that is usual for Raw's timeslot, we can call it a 3.7, a significant improvement on recent weeks. As bad as some of the segments have been, it is worth noting that since the Million Dollar Mania began, ratings have gone up, although the large jump this week can be attributed to the Draft. Next week's rating will be interesting as it will be an indicator of how much people do or don't want to see awful "Who took out Vince?" angles. Meanwhile, SmackDown had a 2.1 rating, very much down compared to recent weeks. Maybe we'll soon find out just how much of a draw Triple H really is. Elsewhere, TNA Impact did a 1.03 rating last week, beating the 6/17 edition of ECW by a massive .04; the IWC imploded because of it. This week's ECW drew a 1.2.
Jeff Jarret will be returning to the ring for TNA's second tour of the UK next January. Other stars already announced include Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Awesome Kong, Jay Lethal, Booker T, Motor City Machineguns, Curry Man and Shark Boy.
Thoughts: As a resident of the UK, this is great news for me. The line up will grow, but at the moment I'm worried that Christian Cage is yet to be announced. He didn't make the trip last time so I'd be pissed if he missed this one too. I need my dose of Vitamin C like Small kneeds Khali.
TNAwrestling.com is reporting that Scott Steiner underwent surgery in Birmingham, Alabama on Tuesday afternoon to repair a fully-torn ACL in his knee. The surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews. Steiner was injured in the main event match at Sacrifice against Samoa Joe and Kaz. After the event Steiner had an MRI done, but the test was incomplete due to the amount of swelling. Steiner worked through the pain, and was to have a scope done on his knee Tuesday, when the ACL tear was discovered. According to Dr. Andrews, Steiner could be out anywhere from four to six months.
Thoughts: This definetly sucks for the Big Bad Booty Daddy, and I wish him a speedy recovery but I also have to wonder how much longer he can keep on going at the rate he has been for the last couple of years.
Big Daddy V is ready to return to the ring. He was out with a case of pneumonia.
During an appearance on the World Wrestling Insanity radio show, Scotty Too Hotty said that he has not had any talks with TNA about he and Brian Christopher working as Too Sexy there.
Mickie Knuckles (who has worked for TNA as "Moose") has now signed with the company. This does indeed mean that they had another unsigned talent work a pay-per-view. Last time they tried that, Scott Hall no-showed and Eric Young got to main event.
The WWE tour of New Zealand and Australia was very successful as they drew over 68,000 fans over 7-days. WWE officials considered this one of the most successful tours of that part of the world in the company's history.
TNA will be making their California debut with a house show in Bakersfield, CA at the Bakersfield Dome on November 1st.
Tickets for the TNA Hard Justice PPV as well as their 2009 UK Tour go on sale this Friday.
Footage has been made available of the upcoming TNA Impact video game, featuring a match between Samoa Joe and AJ Styles. The video features Joe and AJ themselves doing commentary and can be viewed here.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT… WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS PREVIEW
This Sunday, WWE presents its second annual Night of Champions where every match on the card is contested for a championship. Let's take a look at the card;
WWE Women's Championship: Mickie James vs. Katie Lea
Look for Pirate Paul to have a hand in helping Katie Lea earn her first Women's Championship.
WWE United States Championship: Matt Hardy vs. Chavo Guerrero
Chavo Guerrero will beat Matt to bring another piece of gold into La Familia.
World Tag Team Championship: Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase and ???
With DH Smith now drafted to SmackDown, DiBiase partner will either be a debuting 2nd gen. star or my pick, Cody Rhodes. Rhodes will turn on Holly before the bell and the young duo will put a beating on him. The match will start and DiBiase will get an easy pin to crown new tag champs.
WWE Tag Team Championship: Miz and Morrison vs. Finlay and Hornswoggle
The challengers being drafted over to ECW has me thinking that they're winning the straps, but let's say logic prevails and the champs retain.
ECW Championship: Kane vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show
Oh, the horror! This will be such an ugly, ugly match that I have no desire to see. And what's worse is the fact that Mark Henry is walking out as champion.
World Heavyweight Championship: Edge vs. Batista
On of the two world titles is changing hands, and it's not this one. Edge wins with help from La Familia.
WWE Championship: Triple H vs. John Cena
Cena regains the gold and sends Triple H to SmackDown with his tail between his legs.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Well, Small's back next week if that counts as an "attraction" but I'll let you be the judge of that.
More importantly, Meehan's in tomorrow, as is Larry with R's, featuring a very, very special guest, so be sure to check that out.
Until then, Slimmer > Small, and Wilcox > both of them.
Posted By: Matt P (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 12:13 AM
i think wilcox got it backwards. If Cena wins you realy cant do Cena/HHH 3 in the future because Cena will than be 2-0 against HHH. I tink it would make sense for HHH to retain and get striped by Vicky and edge gets the WWE belt and Batista wins and goes to Raw as the WHT champion and feuding with Cena and maybe a third party to build towards summerslam for Batista/Cena
Posted By: Jersey (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 12:18 AM
Something tells me that Kofi Kingston is gone to RAW because..well.. They don't have any black people on RAW
Posted By: Richie (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 12:20 AM
No, no, no. I'll lose respect for wwe if ur theory for the cody rhodes turn is true. i mean it's an unwritten rule, you can't lose the title to yourself.
Posted By: que? (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 12:23 AM
I've heard that they are going to trade The Game over to Raw for another superstar, possibly Kane in one the most ridicoulously booked set ups in WWECW history. Also the Undertaker is set to return at 23 August on RAW, he'll be traded back for the Game if they give him time.
Posted By: The Informer (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 12:25 AM
Cryme Tyme is still on RAW, and last I checked, they're black, so no, that's probably not why they drafted Kofi. Also, remember, RAW and ECW are combining in August.
Posted By: The Mike (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 01:02 AM
What are the odds that Small died from the awesomeness that was Khali in Get Smart last weekend?
Posted By: His Reptilian Majesty (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 01:13 AM
To people saying Cena can't win at NoC because then he'd be 2-0 against Trip and they could never run Cena-Trip III,
Please check history under the feud category of Austin/Rock.
Posted By: Guest#2090 (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 02:19 AM
If your picks are correct that would be an ALL heel victory card with the exception of Cena.I am a booker for an indy fed myself.That is a HUGE no-no!
Posted By: Ronald McFondle (Registered) on June 26, 2008 at 04:34 AM
Hornswoggle has really been done to death, I think they've gotten as much as they could and then some....
Posted By: Jaked (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 06:16 AM
"DH Smith to SmackDown: This was a surprise because everyone considered him a lock to be Ted DiBiase's partner at Night of Champions. DH has no charisma and few in-ring skills, so I don't how well this one is going to turn out."
Obviously you havent seen this guy wrestle then have you, if you think he has few in ring skills, what are you basing that on, his 2 minute squash matches.
I suggest you go watch some stuff of his outside of WWE.
Once again another bad article on 411, i'm still waiting for a good one from any of the "writers" on this website
Posted By: Tool (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 06:31 AM
Edge retains, and cost HHH the belt. As he leaves he turns and says "Welcome to Smackdown" with his lower jaw 6 inches out farther than his top.
Posted By: T-Mac (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 08:20 AM
So HHH wins and Vickie strips him and gives the belt to Edge?
I'd pay good money to see tha, if it leads to a HHH promo telling Edge 'you only got the belt because you married the boss'.
If that happens and Edge makes a smart comment he will be my favourite of all time :D
Posted By: Pure Dynamite (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 08:36 AM
"Chuck Palumbo to Raw: This one was not a surprise and Chuck will make a nice addition to Raw's mid-card, and a run with the Intercontinental Championship is in his near future, I think."
Oh god no.
Chuck Palumbo is terrible, the only thing positive I can say about him is that when he rides to the ring on his bike with that stupid hat on I get a good laugh. Other then that he is useless.
Posted By: Kevin (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 08:49 AM
You people who keep talking about how there will be a "trade" for HHH are just exposing your cynicism and ignorance. Do you think it makes you COOL to H-Bash?
It's pretty obvious that they are doing this to put serious effort into Smackdown.
Posted By: GAWD KIDS SUCK! (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 09:38 AM
For a one sided 3 match angle, please also see Triple H vs. Batista.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 09:58 AM
is it possible that Ted's partner could be his brother?
Posted By: Jake Fury (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 10:08 AM
Smackdown the "new A Show"? They've ALWAYS been the "A show" as far as I'm concerned.
Posted By: Darren (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 10:19 AM
London is still on Raw how about him as Dibiase's mystery partner.
Posted By: Brimstone34 (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Wilcox - You're an idiot.
I hereby boycott this column.
Posted By: Spit (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 11:11 AM
Also, Batista was 2-0 against HHH and they went for a 3rd time.
Posted By: Guest 132 (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 11:59 AM
I see Cena defeating Triple H, and Trips being left on Smackdown for the remainder of the year, winning the Royal Rumble, returning to Raw for Wrestlemania next year. It's a good way for the company to let us think Triple H doesn't get everything he wants by keeping him on Smackdown. It's also good for the company in that they have a true Superstar on Smackdown to establish them with the new channel. Then when it's all said and done, Triple H gets what he wants and returns to Raw in a legitimate way, by earning it.
Posted By: willww1 (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 12:07 PM
Wow, Wil-sucks-cox is proving that nothing good ever comes out of the UK. Noway has spoken, you can put it to bed
Posted By: noway (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 12:42 PM
"If your picks are correct that would be an ALL heel victory card with
the exception of Cena.I am a booker for an indy fed myself.That is a
HUGE no-no!"
That worked for Bischoff... the fans will be literally hanging from the rafters by the time the main event rolls around. BOOK IT!
Posted By: LatinoMeat (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 02:21 PM
We'll all stop bashing you if you continue to make the ppv simulations for Small.
Posted By: Ted (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 02:23 PM
I agree with the majority of the predictions but I think Mickie and Matt will retain.
Posted By: Doakes (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 02:52 PM
too cool or too much would've been the tag team name you were looking for
Posted By: hove (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 03:40 PM
"DH has no charisma and few in-ring skills, so I don't how well this one is going to turn out."
No in-ring skills, eh?I suppose you might get that impression from the two matches that have actually played on WWE TV.
Harry can go with the best of them, when they let him. Or anyone else, for that matter.
Posted By: Guest#5840 (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 04:08 PM
A big problem with the Raw brand getting all the really good talent is that there's not room for everyone to win, a lot of guys will become jobbers because someone else has to win and eventually they get stuck in that. It's risky.
Posted By: Really (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 04:41 PM
I think Jamie Nobel and Kofi Kingston were moved because Rey needs some Crusierweights to fight.
Posted By: Now-I-GET-IT! (Guest) on June 26, 2008 at 05:07 PM
I have a theory for Night of Champions that so far I haven't anyone really mention yet.
Once Night of Champions is over all the big angles other than HBK/Jericho basically will end, due to brand switches.
So I could easily see both Triple H and Edge retain. Keeping both titles on smacksown. It would instantly throw them into a feud for who is the undisputed champ of Smackdown.
Where as on Raw simply do who's who's tournament to crown the new Raw champion. Seeing they basically have the guys to do it, and it would be basis to get some feuds going. It might even push Jericho more. Seeing right now he is basically the only heel active in upper tier of RAW brand. Seeing Orton is out on injuring, and JBL not really doing anything.
As for the Mickie losing, I really can't see that happening she is only active face on the brand, due to Candice and Melina injured currently. Putting the title on heel would be kind of pointless. IMO
Posted By: Sean (Guest) on June 27, 2008 at 11:51 AM
