The Wrestling News Experience 8.18.08

Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 08.18.2008

Releases, injuries and contract expirations in WWE, Summerslam review, Raw preview and more inside the latest Wrestling News Experience!

Monday August 18th, 2008

From 411Mania's British offices in Gloucester, England, this is the Wrestling News Experience, with Daniel Wilcox!

NO BANNER~!

That's right, no Randle this week, so you'll have to settle for me. The good news is, I'm sticking to Randle's style to save me putting in any extra effort.

PPV In Review – WWE Summerslam 2008

MVP defeated Jeff Hardy (Shelton Benjamin interference, Drive By kick)

A good opener with a finish that I didn't like, but the right man went over I think.

Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix defeated Kofi Kingston and Mickie James (Wheelbarrow facebuster on Mickie)

Another fun little match, with a double title change. I think it may be too soon to take the title off of Kofi, but this Santino/Beth partnership does have a lot of potential.

Shawn Michaels announced his retirement, Chris Jericho interrupted and inadvertently punched Shawn's wife

This was an amazing segment, but I'll reserve judgment on getting Rebecca involved for now, because it could be good or bad for the rivalry in general. Major kudos to Rebecca for taking that shot like a champion; her lip was massively swollen.

Matt Hardy defeats Mark Henry by DQ

This was a disgrace. A 30 second pay-per-view match? Fuck that. The after match antics were nice, but really, they couldn't have done this on an episode of ECW? Fuck this.

CM Punk defeated JBL (Go2Sleep)

And we finally get a clean win for CM Punk to kick-start this title reign. The match was actually really good considering they didn't get too much. They worked in a bunch of really good spots and despite Punk getting busted open hard way, had a damn good match.

Triple H defeated The Great Khali (Pedigree)

Really, this was much better than it had any right to be. A fun match.

Batista defeated John Cerna (Batista Bomb)

An incredible match. As I said in the Instant Analysis, if you didn't enjoy this, you may as well stop watching.

Undertaker defeated Edge in Hell in a Cell (Tombstone)

Match of the Year? Match of the Decade sounds more accurate, and what a great visual to close the show.

What's On Tap: WWE Raw for August 18th

Obviously, Raw will focus around the fall out from last night's Summerslam extravaganza. Probably the most intriguing angle going into the night's show is the repercussions of last night's confrontation between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho. After Jericho KO'ed Michaels' wife, will Shawn be able to stay away from Raw or will he come looking for revenge. Will Jericho apologize or blame Michaels for ducking? There should be a big development in this feud tonight.

Last night, CM Punk disposed of JBL in convincing fashion. Will a new challenger emerge or will JBL come back for another shot. After his big win last night, surely Batista is in line for another shot as well, but will he have a disgruntled John Cena to deal with first?

We also have two new champions as Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix captured the Intercontinental and Women's Championships respectively. Will Mickie and Kofi come looking for immediate revenge or will new challengers be thrown into the mix. Are Paul Burchill and Katie Lea done in their pursuit of the gold?

Around The Horn

The big news this week is that WWE have let go of another half dozen names, pushing the total of performers released from their contracts in the last few weeks well into double figures. Perhaps the most surprising of the recent releases is that of ECW's Colin Delaney. I think it's fair to say that Colin's recent heel turn came out of nowhere and that was evident by the fact that he wasn't pushed in a different direction and instead of being a face who gets his ass kicked week in week out, he was a heel who got his ass kicked week in week out. Stevie Richards also got released despite the fact that he was a very good worker and relatively over with the crowd. The loss of the Highlanders is no surprise even though they returned to TV this week, and Cherry never really fitted the face-Diva mould so her release comes as no surprise. Oh, and another referee got released, possibly the one who may or may not have made a cock up on ECW last week.

WWE talent is not only being lost through the release of talent this week, but also by a recent spout of injuries to key names. On top of Mr. Kennedy's injury a couple of weeks ago, Umaga will also be out for at least a month with a torn PCL suffered at a house show on August 2nd. That's two big names on SmackDown gone for a fair amount of time, and rumours were circulating that a third had been added to that list as according to certain forums, Jeff Hardy broke his neck at the SmackDown/ECW tapings last week. Obviously this turned out to be complete bullshit, but Hardy did have an elbow problem last week that caused him to miss a couple of house shows this weekend, albeit only as a precaution to ensure he could wrestle at Summerslam.

WWE.com also reported last week that Randy Orton had re-injured his collarbone following a motorcycle accident that saw him fly 300ft and had it not been for his helmet, he would have been dead. Many speculated that this news was bogus and a way to keep secret a Orton return at Summerslam last night and to be fair, there were a fair few obvious clues to support such claims. On top of the fact that one would have to be extremely lucky to only injure one's collarbone after coming 300ft off of a motorcycle, Orton had also revealed just days before his accident that he had be cleared to return and that he might even make an appearance at Summerslam. In the same interviews, Orton also discussed he'd recently taken up riding motorcycles, so the theory was that WWE didn't want people expecting an Orton return and used what he'd said about taking up riding to their advantage. Of course, as we all saw last night, these rumours proved to unfounded.

And while WWE may be losing talent, TNA may be introducing a few new faces soon, one we all know very well and one, not so much. Rumour has it that once Mick Foley's WWE contract expires on September 1, he will look to join TNA. While spokespeople of TNA have denied any contact with Foley, Mick has expressed interest in working with TNA a couple of years ago, although many believe that was simply a case of looking for leverage in negotiating a new contract with WWE. Foley in TNA has lots of potential. He'd make a much better authority figure than Jim Cornette and could also have some damn fine matches with the right workers. One that seems to be popping up is Abyss vs. Foley, but I don't Foley can't take it to Abyss' level these days. But if you want Foley in a hardcore environment in TNA, put him against Christian Cage and I can guarantee an instant classic, pun thoroughly intended. Of course, this is pure speculation but don't be surprised if Mick is on TNA by the time Bound For Glory rolls around.

The other new character is a guy called Suicide. This is a spin-off from the main character in the upcoming TNA Impact video game and is said to be played by Kaz, who recently "quit" TNA after losing in the World X Cup and failing to capture the X Division Championship. Why they would take Kaz, a guy with so much potential and land him with a seemingly ridiculous gimmick I don't know, but this is TNA, the company that brought Curry Man Daniels to a national stage.

Sports have been a bit of a thorn in the side of pro wrestling this week. The Olympics has obviously taken viewers away from Raw, ECW, Impact and to a lesser extent SmackDown, and it was also announced last night that USA is kicking Raw out in favour of tennis, the US Open to be specific. That means that next week's Raw will air, at the usual time, on Sci-Fi. Raw aired on Sci-Fi once before, and I can't remember what effect, if any, it had on the ratings and I can't be bothered to look that up, but I don't imagine it was a very good one. And seeing as I've mentioned the Olympics, did you know that Great Britain currently sits third in the Medals table whereas Canada, Randle's home nation, is currently in 19th. And before any American runs to the comment section and points out that they're in 2nd, just remember you're still trailing to China and thus have nothing to shout about.

The Injury Bug Bites

Inactive List as of 08.11.08

WWE Raw

- Candice Michelle, out indefinitely as of March 24th (shoulder surgery)
- Melina, out indefinitely as of June 23rd (heel)
- Randy Orton, out 4-5 months as of June 1st (broken collarbone)
- 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)
- Mr. Kennedy, out up to 6 months as of August 4th (dislocated shoulder)
- The Undertaker, out indefinitely as of June 1st (kayfabe, "banished")

ECW

- The Boogeyman, out indefinitely (calf)

TNA

- Moose, TNA, out 6 months as of July 7th (broken femur)
- Scott Steiner, TNA, out 4-6 months as of June 24th (torn ACL)

Transactions

- Cherry, SD!, released from her contract

- Colin Delaney, ECW, released from his contract

- Kenny Dykstra, SD!, returned to action on August 15th Smackdown

- Randy Orton, Raw, out a further 3 months as of August 11th (re-broken collarbone)

- Robbie McAllister, Raw, released from his contract

- Rory McAllister, Raw, returned to action on August 11th Raw

- Rory McAllister, Raw, released from his contract

- Scotty Goldman (Colt Cabana), SD!, debuted on August 15th Smackdown

- Steve Richards, ECW, released from his contract

- Umaga, SD!, out 4-6 weeks as of August 16th (torn PCL)

- Undertaker, SD!, returned to action August 17th Summerslam

- Wes Adams (referee), ECW, released from his contract

Who's Holding Gold

WWE

WWE Champion: Triple H
- 113 day reign, defeated Randy Orton in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination Match involving JBL and John Cena on April 27th (Backlash PPV)

World Heavyweight Champion: CM Punk
- 49 day reign, defeated Edge by using his Money in the Bank title shot on June 30th (Raw)

ECW Champion: Mark Henry
- 50 day reign, defeated Kane and The Big Show in a Triple Threat match on June 29th (Night of Champions PPV)

**NEW** WWE Intercontinental Champion: Santino Marella
- 1 day reign, with Beth Phoenix, defeated Kofi Kingston and Mickie James on August 17th (Summerslam PPV)

WWE United States Champion: Shelton Benjamin
- 29 day reign, defeated Matt Hardy on July 20th (Great American Bash PPV)

**NEW** World Tag Team Champions: Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase
- 6 day title reign, defeated Batista and John Cena on August 11(Raw)

WWE Tag Team Champions: Curt Hawkins & Zach Ryder
- 29 day reign, won a Fatal Four-Way match featuring former champions The Miz & John Morrison, Jesse & Festus, and Finlay & Hornswoggle on July 20th (Great American Bash PPV)

**NEW** WWE Women's Champion: Beth Phoenix
- 1 day reign, with Santino Marella, defeated Mickie James and Kofi Kingston on August 17th (Summerslam PPV)

WWE Diva's Champion: Michelle McCool
- 29 day reign, defeated Natalya Neidhart on July 20th to win the newly-created title (Great American Bash PPV)

TNA

TNA Heavyweight Champion: Samoa Joe
- 127 day reign, defeated Kurt Angle on April 13th (Lockdown PPV)
- Next title defense: vs. ??? vs. ??? vs. ???, Four Ways To Glory No Surrender PPV

**NEW** TNA Tag Team Champions: Beer Money Inc
- 15 day reign, defeated LAX on August 10th ( Hard Justice PPV)

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

TNA Knockouts Champion: Taylor Wilde
- 39 day reign, defeated Awesome Kong on July 10th (Impact)

Links For Fun And Nonprofit

Prag and Lansdell have the weekend news reports.

Bond… Julian Bond has Please Don't Hate…

Sforcina has the Evolution Schematic

Ari has Column of Honor

Short has The Navigation Log


The Gab Bag

Reading the comments from last week's news report, I came across a debate regarding Edge's status as a main eventer. I say debate, but it was more of a burial after someone suggested Edge wasn't living up to his praise.

And I have to side with the buriers on this occasion, as Edge has been one of, if not the most consistant performers in WWE over the last 2 years, having many great matches and changing things up all the time. His recent run of promos on SmackDown have been some of the best of the year.

Edge is one of the few guys who came up the sort of old school way, starting in a tag team, moving onto singles and winning the Intercontinental Championship and eventually the world championships came. Edge is the total package and one of many great heels in WWE today. For more on Edge and some of the other great heels in the business today, check out my Thoughts From The Top Rope on Wednesday.

Yes, that's right, I used this entire section just as a way to plug my column.

And One To Go

411, and more specifically I, will have coverage of Raw starting tonight at 9.

Larry's in tomorrow, and Randle will be back next week, which is good news for all fans of Larry and Randle. All three of them. Oh, snap!