The Happy-Go-Sucky Wrestling Report 08.20.08

Posted by Steve Sullivan on 08.20.2008

The WWE releases even more talent, Unforgiven's main event, Beth Phoenix's webmaster goes psycho, Who Is Suicide?, and more!

You know I usually don't put too much stock into some of the things that show up in my comments section. For those of you who are intelligent enough to collect your thoughts and put something in that box that actually makes sense and shows maturity, yeah I'll read it, and I usually appreciate it!

I don't even mind being corrected from time to time! Which probably happens more than I'd like but that's my own fault.

But last week, someone told me my column was getting "lame" and that he read the same stuff in Larry Csonka's column the day before.

Let me just say, I cannot help if Larry Csonka is ripping off my column a day in advance! Larry Csonka is the end all and know all of professional wrestling. He knows so much, he knows exactly what I'm going to write the day before! That's how good Larry Csonka is.

To be honest, Larry is a fantastic writer and a very tough act to follow. When you watch the news, sometimes you get a recap of a news story you heard the day before. Or maybe, just maybe a different reporter wants to put his own little personal light on a subject. That's what I do. This column is MY TURN to talk about things that happened in the last week. So I apologize if you heard the same stuff before. If Larry's opinion is the same as mine, I'll take that as a compliment.

Now about that check in the mail Larry….


News: The WWE released Stevie Richards, Cherry, The Highlanders, Colin Delaney, and Referee Wes Adams.

Happy: At this point, the WWE is cutting deadweight. I'm surprised that guys like Stevie Richards, Cherry, and The Highlanders made it this far. Stevie Richards has been around forever and was a great veteran to help the newer guys but was he really helping anyone or anything? He had some fun beating up on Kevin Thorn for awhile, but that was his best moment since leading the Right To Censor.

Cherry became worthless when Deuce and Domino became worthless. She wasn't attractive. She wasn't fit. She wasn't a good wrestler. What good was she to the WWE? For whatever reason, the WWE gave her a little mini push, letting her pin women like Victoria. I never did get what the WWE was going for there. Cherry is way better off as someone's valet.

As for The Highlanders, they were on high notice ever since ROBBIEGATE!~ They were an entertaining tag team in OVW and were pretty decent during their initial run as WWE Superstars. But suddenly, they became just like The Bushwackers, and just like The Bushwackers, they were reduced to jobbing and goofy antics. Even as heels they couldn't be taken serious. And Robbie showing up at TNA during Wrestlemania weekend basically signed the release papers right then and there.

I'm quite pleased that the WWE is trimming its roster down and calling up some of its developmental talent. There are guys on that roster that still need to be cut, and apparently the WWE is ready to cut them out too. This time next week, I fully expect to be talking about the releases of Hardcore Holly, Funaki, Kevin Thorn, Jimmy Wang Yang, and Val Venis.

Go Sucky: I always hate seeing some wrestlers get cut. Stevie Richards, while it was time for him to go, I'm still going to remember some of the great matches he had from ECW and his WWE run in the 90's. And I watched Cherry and The Highlanders develop down in Ohio Valley Wrestling.

As for Colin Delaney, I'm kind of shocked by his release. The WWE did a lot of work getting this guy over as a freakin jobber. And right as they got him over as a jobber, they turn him heel against Tommy Dreamer, then job him out to Mark Henry. It was a bad move on the WWE's part for a guy that I was really enjoying watching getting his butt kicked. Not that Colin Delaney would have ever been a huge star for the WWE, it was still fun to watch the guy. For awhile, he was the only reason I was WATCHING ECW. But it happens.

News: Carlito is unhappy with the WWE…again.

Happy: Speaking of people who may soon be getting the boot, Carlito is one of those guys who are holding a roster spot that really hasn't done anything with it. Although I don't know if I can truly blame this on Carlito this time. Think about this for a minute.

Carlito seemed to be poised to have a tag team title run with Santino Marella. SANTINO, gets arrested for a DUI and the tag team basically dissolves and Carlito goes out on his own as Santino starts to get jobbed. Since they, they have moved Carlito to Smackdown, never putting him on the show and Santino is now the Intercontinental Champion. Something about that just doesn't seem right and I can see why Carlito would be upset!

Carlito wants to wrestle and perform. A lot of his critics say he hasn't done anything to prove himself. But how can he when he's never on the show???? If Carlito is unhappy and wants to leave for TNA or to wrestle in Puerto Rico…let him! I feel the WWE is holding him to his contract despite him wanting his release just because they are afraid of him going to TNA. Carlito is forced to watch all these other guys get their releases, the ones who DON'T want to be released while he stands by and jobs out during house shows.

Go Sucky: From other reports I've read, Carlito is constantly showing he has no charisma and rather than giving the WWE a reason for putting him on Smackdown, just expects to be put on the card. If that's the case, then Carltio, as I've said a hundred times needs to either put up or shut up. Make your money. Stay in shape. Then when your contract ends, you're healthy, you're in great shape, and you become a major asset to another company.

News: A 5 man scramble featuring CM Punk, John Cena, Batista, JBL, and Kane has been announced as the main event for Unforgiven.

Happy: This should be a fun match. Despite the odd booking of it. And a good way of either helping C.M. Punk get over as Champion, or a good way of getting the title off of him by putting him up against crazy odds.

This kind of reminds me of those fun Hardcore matches the WWE used to put on at Pay-Per-Views. You might get 10 different championship reigns in one single night. Just imagine, we may be talking about C.M. Punk…5 time World Heavyweight Champion by the end of the night. Now I know that Adamle said that the winner will be acknowledged as the OFFICIAL World Heavyweight Champion, but if they are currently the champion in the middle of the match, doesn't that count as a title reign?

Anyway, I love the concept and it should be a fun and entertaining match for a pay-per-view that is usually overlooked.

By the way, after I wrote this little rant, this popped up on the 411mania newswire….

According to WWE.com, the title can change hands many times during the Championship Scramble but only the final winner of the match will be recognized as the new champion, not all the people who may "win" the title during the scramble itself.

Pop my bubble will ya!

Go Sucky: Is Vince Russo booking the WWE now? Or is Vince taking a page out of TNA's book?

On top of that, what the heck will come of the World Heavyweight Title if John Cena wins it??? Can you imagine a spinner on that thing?? Yuck!

News: Beth Phoenix's webmaster has apparently gone disgruntled on the Glamazaon, placing a TNA logo on her site and issuing a long statement in regards to his apparent treatment by the WWE Women's Champion.

This is actually a pretty funny story showing just how crazy us wrestling fans can be. I'm not going to post the long message this guy wrote about how Beth Phoenix constantly ignores him and doesn't call him. The guy was spending money and time making the website and Beth agreed to let him call it the "Official Site" of Beth Phoenix. The WWE even started using a logo he created as part of the Glamazon's TitanTron entrance.

So in a nutshell, the webmaster through a hissy and wants an apology from Beth Phoenix for not contacting him with news or keeping in touch with him.

First off, the guy lives in Ireland. Beth of course, lives in Buffalo and is traveling litereally everyday with the WWE. She was and is again the WWE Women's Champion and is regularly featured on the biggest cable show in the world. When is she honestly going to have time to call and thank some fan boy who VOLUNTARILY ran a fansite for her when she's trying to represent her company and do her job WHILE maintaining ties with her real life family and friends. This guy sounds like he's some sort of loon who had a secret crush on Beth and is mad that she spoke to someone else rather than him.

Here's the greatest part of this entire story. The letter went on to state that apparently he put the TNA logo on Beth's site sometime back in June 2008 as a way of getting Beth's and the WWE's attention. And only on Tuesday did anyone bother to take note of the change. If it took people 2 months to figure out that something was wrong with Beth's site….well sir, Beth must have been truly embarrassed of your efforts and you'll do just as fine by NOT working on her website anymore.

News: A debate has opened up as to "Who Is Suicide"? Interestingly enough, the website for whoissucide.com has been using the likeness of Randy Orton and Ric Flair.

For those who may not know about all this, as I just found out this week, a subliminal message, probably for less than a second appeared on TNA Impact during the Taylor Wilde vs. Christy Hemme that said "Whoissuicide.com". If you go to that link, it sends you to a Myspace page, where you see a picture of The Nature Boy Ric Flair with the theme song of Randy Orton playing as the page song.

What I'm about to say could be a possible ~~SPOILER!!!!!~~!!!! But it's not guaranteed to be truth. But just in case, I'm going to give you a few lines of blank so you can scroll on past. So if you don't want to find out. Stop reading now. I'm serious. Stop reading. Ok, you're about to get it. Annnnd…here we go.







I reported on this a couple weeks ago, but apparently this character was leaked onto the TNA Video Game by accident. This would seem to be the new persona of Kaz. Awhile back, a character, wearing some sort of black and white skeleton outfit with a mask was shown on the TNA Impact trailer, but was immediately taken out. Midway responded by saying it was not a new character, nor La Parka, but someone that was already on the TNA Roster. If you do the research, you'll notice Kaz is not on the roster for the game. So it would only seem right that TNA is using a viral video, similar to the way WWE re-debuted Jericho last year.

So why are they using the likeness of Randy Orton and Ric Flair? For one, they're probably just trying to mess with people's heads. Especially guys on the Internet. TNA has always been critical of Internet fans and often times, TNA management will BLAME the internet for low morale of its wrestlers. Randy Orton has been missing for months now. Ric Flair is of course a free agent now. So why not get dim-witted fans to believe that Flair or Orton or BOTH are coming to TNA?

I do find it curious though that a character named "Suicide" has the likeness of Randy Orton and his theme song on his page. If you'll recall, Randy Orton was apparently "suicidal" at a point in his life. So I don't know if this was a really cheap shot at the Legend Killer or just a coincidence.







~~END SPOILER~~







News: TNA is considering a Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting match for Bound for Glory with the loser being forced to "retire".

Happy: I am really glad that Jeff Jarrett is apparently coming back to TNA. These two have such a great rivalry but I don't think I've EVER seen the two of them face off with Sting as the heel and Jarrett as the face. This could defiantly be an interesting matchup and should make some great buys for Bound For Glory. Not to mention all the emotion involved in it.

Go Sucky: I really would hate to see either one of them go out like this. I'd hate to see Sting retire as a heel. It does not do the guy justice for the decades of service he's given to the industry. On the other hand, I'd hate to see Jeff Jarrett retire shortly after retiring. I can see cases for both men. They're both up there in age. Jeff lost his wife a year ago. Sting just wants to be with his family. Stories can be made for both sides, but I'd love to see them both go out on better terms.

News: Team 3-D may be done with TNA after Bound For Glory.

Happy: Team 3-D has not been much of a factor in TNA for awhile now. Sure they are involved in main event matches. But they are a tag team. And when was the last time Team 3-D was in a tag team match that involved any kind of championship?

Awhile back ago, Team 3-D stated they wouldn't mind returning to the WWE for another run after their contract in TNA was up. They're not really accomplishing anything in TNA and if anything, every time I see them on my TV screen, I feel the most confused. As if to say…what the hell are they doing? TNA is just not the place for Team 3-D now. Not to say the WWE is, but I think they'd be appreciated a bit more by helping some young tag teams get over on a much larger stage.

Go Sucky: The thing is, Team 3-D didn't do themselves any favors on Wrestlemania weekend. They showed up at a TNA fan fest outside the venue where the WWE was hosting Wrestlemania. If I didn't forget that, I can assure you that Vince McMahon didn't either. So if not TNA or the WWE, what could be next for the Dudleys? They've held tag team gold in every company known to man.

Except maybe for Ring of Honor? Maybe?


Rapid Fire!

News: It is possible that the WWE will keep Edge off of Smackdown for a couple of weeks to sell his "injuries".

I didn't get to see it but from what I've read and been told, this was possibly the match of the year. Kudos to both men and to Edge for taking yet another nasty spot even though he really doesn't have to anymore.

News: Gail Kim's "sister" from Impact is Earl Hebner's real-life daughter.

Wrestling is fake. Now wrestling families are fake. What's the world coming too! I call shenanigans!

News: Midway has already started working on a second TNA video game.

Featuring Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Carlito, and Ken Kennedy! Ok not really but it was a joke that had to be made!

News: Brian "Christopher" Lawler has been kicked out of rehab.

Who needs rehab when your claim to fame is dancing with a 300 pound Samoan and a guy who does the worm twice a day, and you hear the word "PUPPIES! PUPPIES!" coming from your dad's bedroom every night? Not Grand Master Sexay!

News: WWE RAW did a 3.3 rating.

Santino > Field Hockey

And with that, enjoy your week! Until then my friends, may your lives be Happy…or Go Sucky!