WWE News: An Update On Chuck Palumbo, The Brian Kendrick, Cena & McCarthy Promoting SNME

– Since being drafted to Raw, Chuck Palumbo still has yet to make a television appearance on his new brand. Reader Ronzilla sent in the following regarding his encounter with Palumbo at last week’s Raw at the Mohegan Sun… First off I am a HUGE fan of Lordsofpain and I have been for years. I check it religiously everyday. My girlfriend makes fun of me lol.. Anyway I was at Mohegan Sun on Monday and I met Chuck Palumbo. He was shopping with his son ( i belive it was his son ) in a music shop and I got a chance to talk to him. He said he hasn’t been on raw because he has been having nagging shoulder injuries and his knee has been bothering him.. I told him that I enjoyed the stuff he did with Jamie Noble and he didn’t seem like he was too pleased with how it came about.. He said “It’s all politics.. That’s all it is..” Referring to his angle with Jamie Noble. I told him that I heard about Noble and HHH/HBK being friends backstage ( I read it off of your site of course ) so it looks to be true.. Anyway Chuck was a really nice guy and HUGE in person. Just some info thought you guys might like to know!! peace out, RONZILLA.

– SmackDown star Brian Kendrick is now going under the name “The Brian Kendrick”. WWE.com changed his profile to reflect his new ring name. You can see the updated profile at this link.

– John Cena & actress Jenny McCarthy did media this past week to promote tonight’s Saturday Night’s Main Event telecast, as well as Generation Rescue, to inform and raise money to combat Autism. The two appeared on Extra, Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood last night. They also appeared on Fox & Friends on the Fox News Channel this morning.

Click here to go back to Shop WWE for WWE Merchandise, WWE Action Figures, WWE Memorabilia, WWE Tickets, WWE T Shirts & More!

Lesnar On Possibly Returning To Wrestling, Hogan On TV, 61-Year-Old Former WWE Star Returning To The Ring

– Maria Menounos recently conducted an interview with Hulk Hogan for Access Hollywood to talk about his recent problems. Part one of the interview aired on last night’s show and Hogan said he does miss ex-wife Linda. He said it was completely Linda’s decision to divorce from him. He questioned people who questioned the divorce because they were getting sued from the Grazianos, saying they must be really good actors when Linda’s 19-year-old boyfriend is living in his Clearwater mansion, and using his stuff. Part two of the interview will air on Monday, and Hogan will talk about daughter Brooke possibly posing for Playboy.

– The Ottawa Sun has a story on former WWE star Bushwhacker Luke. The article says the 61-year-old is back wrestling after six years as a talent coordinator for the IWA promotion in Puerto Rico. “I still pass through airports and people ask if I’m the guy who pumps his arms and licks heads,” Luke says. “I was on a legends tour when a guy came over to the table where I was signing autographs and called me a dinosaur. I decided to put my boots back on.” {Legend back bushwhacking}

– TwinCities.com has an article on Brock Lesnar, and he said he wouldn’t rule out a possible return to the ring one day. However, he said it would take a lot of money to entice him to return. “They would have to pay me big to come back,” Lesnar told TwinCities.com. “This (mixed martial arts) pays good, and I’m home every night… Pro wrestling was just brutally grinding on my body. No nights off, a different city every night, a different airplane. And if I got injured, I had to be on TV the next day.” You can read the article at this link.

Click here to go back to Shop WWE for WWE Merchandise, WWE Action Figures, WWE Memorabilia, WWE Tickets, WWE T Shirts & More!

WWE News: WWE Lies In “Did You Know?”, Flair DVD Knocked From Top Billboard Spot, Tuesday’s ECW Rating

– This past Monday night on Raw in their weekly “Did You Know?” bumper, WWE proclaimed that last week’s edition of Raw was the most watched show on cable television on Monday night (July 21, 2008). The bumper read: “RAW was the most watched show last Monday on cable television.” You can see a graphic of the bumper at this link. However, according to this article the Associated Press put out this week regarding the cable ratings for July 21-27, TNT’s The Closer was the most watched show on cable for the week. The Closerwas watched in 5.32 million homes and by a total of 7.06 million viewers. The Closer aired on Monday, July 21, the same night that “RAW was the most watched show” on cable television according to WWE. According to the Associated Press, the 10 p.m. airing of the 7/21 Raw finished in seventh place for the week, drawing 3.34 million homes & 4.96 million viewers, far below The Closer‘s 5.32 million homes & 7.06 million viewers figure. The 9 p.m. airing of Raw was watched by 3.06 million homes & 4.49 million viewers, finishing in thirteenth place for the week. Additionally, the 10 p.m. airing of the 7/21 Raw got beat out by a second cable show that Monday night. TNT’s Saving Grace finished in third place for the week. The second hour of Raw drew more viewers (4.96 million viewers to 4.57 million viewers), but Saving Grace was watched in more homes (3.50 million homes to 3.34 million homes). As a result, Saving Grace finished ahead of the second hour of Raw for the week.

– WWE’s Nature Boy Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection DVD set was knocked from the top spot on the Video Sales – Recreational Sports DVD chart on Billboard.com by the NBA Champions 2007-2008: Boston Celtics DVD in its first week out. The Flair DVD finished in second place for the week. You can see the complete chart at this link. This is the first WWE DVD to get beat out in the top spot of Billboard’s Recreational Sports DVD chart in quite a while. Just last week on the 7/22 edition of ECW, WWE ran a bumper saying that WWE outsells MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, college sports, and NASCAR in the sports DVD category.

– Tuesday’s edition of ECW drew a 1.4 cable rating, reports www.f4wonline.com. This number is down from a year-high rating of 1.5 last week.

Jim Ross Blog: Freddie Prinze Jr., SummerSlam, Mike Adamle As GM

Source: JRsBarBQ.com

Jim Ross is back with another blog entry at his official website, which you can read here in its entirety. Some highlights:

Mike Adamle as Raw GM: The uproar regarding Mike Adamle being named as the new G.M. of Monday Night Raw seems a little like overkill to me. Firstly, I am not sure how prominate a role the Raw G.M. will have going forward. Does any one as of today? The object of any creative endeavor should be to establish wrestling stars and all those that are involved in the process should focus on that particular matter. Secondly, Adamle has yet to have one complete Raw episode under his belt but he has apparently already been deemed a disaster by many fans and some pundits. It would seem reasonable, unless some one has a crystal ball, that one would allow Mike a few weeks to settle into his role and to see what individuality and entertainment content Adamle can bring to the game. Personally, I think it wold be easier for a newcomer like Adamle to successfully pull off the General Manager role easier than doing play by play.

We fans focus on the damnedest things at times. The Raw G.M. role has been at times a major character on the weekly, cable TV show while at other times the role was down scaled. One could assume that the position of Raw G.M. will evolve based on Adamle’s skills in a new role. It seems like the least we can do is give the guy a fair shake at creating is own persona before websites start polls and more editorials are written damning Adamle’s selection.

SummerSlam: As a fan, I am much more surprised to see John Cena face Batista at Summerslam this year than I was seeing Mike Adamle moved to the “front office” of Raw. Point being, I wasn’t expecting to see Cena battle The Animal until maybe even WM25. It certainly adds a marketable match to Summerslam but, no matter what is scheduled, Summerslam will be headlined and dominated by the Hell in a Cell match pitting the returning Undertaker to face Edge. If any thing else closes Summerslam, I would be shocked.

On this week’s SmackDown: Friday Night Smackdown has one of the most compelling endings that I can recall in years. The show, as a whole, has a fair amount of wrestling, some many of you will enjoy and, naturally, some that some of you won’t….same as always. I do know that Kennedy vs. Benjamin was a solid, two segment wrestling match while “The” Brian Kendrick continues to impress. Jeff Hardy vs. The Great Khali certainly had its moments between two wrestlers with completely opposite styles. But back to my original point, the build to the last segment of Friday Night Smackdown is intriguing and the payoff is one of the most memorable moments on WWE TV in a long time.

Freddie Prinze, Jr. signing with WWE: Freddie Prinze, Jr. is going to be involved creatively in the Smackdown brand from what I gather. Freddie is a big time wrestling fan and seems like a respectful and intelligent individual in the brief moment that we had to say hello a day or two ago . It will be interesting to see Freddie’s future contributions within the unique, WWE community. Freddie has achieved some great success in Hollywood but the WWE is a much different animal that most perceive until they enter the “WWE Universe”. I just hope that Friday Night Smackdown continues to feature more wrestling than not which is what I feel is still the WWE’s most uniquely, marketable asset, in ring wrestling.

Click here to go back to Shop WWE for WWE Merchandise, WWE Action Figures, WWE Memorabilia, WWE Tickets, WWE T Shirts & More!

WWE Magazine names Batista the Superstar of the Year

WWE Magazine names Batista the Superstar of the Year.

Batista talks about months past, the months ahead and why a Punjabi Prison Match may be one of the best contests of 2007.

Looking back at 2007, how do you think it rates in terms of your career?
You know, it’s been such a whirlwind. It’s just really starting to hit me what a great year I’ve had. It’s been incredibly amazing, especially since, with my comeback, I had to start all over. The beginning of the year was rough, as far as being in the ring and in the locker room. I had to earn the guys’ respect back.

We know you have your differences with The Undertaker, but he must be your most satisfying challenge?
For me, wrestling ’Taker was a dream come true. I didn’t think it was going to happen. We were both fan favorites. I don’t mean to sound boastful, but at WrestleMania 23, I still believe we stole the show. I think I really wanted to earn The Deadman’s respect, the fans’ respect and the company’s respect as well.

What was it like taking on that other WWE giant, The Great Khali?
The Great Khali is unlike anybody I’ve ever had to wrestle, so it was very challenging for me. I was proud of the matches we had together. I believe I brought out the best in him. For example, take the Punjabi Prison Match at No Mercy – I think everyone expected it to be a horrible, horrible match. I believe we made it one of the best contests of that pay-per-view.

You also wrote a book, Batista Unleashed, in which you were pretty open about your career and personal life.
That was one of the conditions under which I wrote the book; I really wanted to be honest. Unfortunately, there were some things that were taken out that I really wish hadn’t been.

Like what?
Let’s just say it’s one of those instances where … well, it’s so easy to sue somebody nowadays, so I didn’t want to cause any trouble for the company or the publishers. But overall, I’m very proud of the book. A lot of it was heartbreaking for me to talk about, and I expect to be criticized a little bit, but what can I say?

Do you worry about the repercussions of being so brutally honest?
A little bit, you know, but at the same time I don’t ever want to lie. I don’t want people to have a false perception of me. So, I said, if I’m going to write a book, I want them to know who I am, where I come from, what I stand for and what my life is all about. I’m not just a guy you see on TV once a week. I have a life-story and it’s not a simple rags-to-riches tale; I sacrificed a lot.

So what’s ahead for The Animal in 2008?
Right now my goal is to go into WrestleMania strong and healthy. I haven’t been able to achieve two WrestleManias in a row, so that’s a big goal for me.

Click here to go back to Shop WWE for Batista WWE Merchandise, WWE Action Figures, WWE Memorabilia, WWE Tickets, WWE T Shirts & More!

Breaking News: Top TNA Star Parting Ways With The Company

Tomko is through with TNA.

He was saying goodbye to everyone backstage after last night’s Impact taping. He’ll be working full time in Japan.

Tomko joined TNA in November 2006.

Click here to go back to Shop WWE for WWE Merchandise, WWE Action Figures, WWE Memorabilia, WWE Tickets, WWE T Shirts & More!

WWE News: WWE Giving Away Free Money/Stuff To Subscribers, Raw/ECW Merger Still On?, Adamle Pulls An Adamle

– I forgot to point out, but when Shane McMahon’s music hit on Raw last night, he pretty much gave away who the new General Manager of Raw was going to be to the live audience. When the music hit, he strangely left the commentary position and grabbed a ring mic, only to be told to go back to the booth.

– WWE is apparently giving away a Limited Edition WrestleMania XXIV Chopper Die-Cast as a gift to subscribers of WWE 24/7. They sent out a letter saying, “Dear Valued Customer & WWE Fan, In connection with your purchase of WWE 24/7 On Demand, you have qualified to receive a Limited Edition WrestleMania XXIV Chopper Die-Cast (the “Chopper Die-Cast”) as a gift.” However, there is a problem. They then wrote, “As a result of several factors, including the earthquake in China that led to an initial manufacturing delay, followed by unforeseen tooling problems, we are unable to ship the Chopper Die-Cast gift by the original stated delivery date. Unfortunately, we cannot yet predict when we will be able to ship your Chopper Die-Cast. Please accept the enclosed limited edition t-shirt created by WWE and Orange County Choppers, which is available only to those affected by this delay, as our way way of apologizing to you for the delay and thanking you for you patience.” The shirt features a WrestleMania 24 logo as well as an image of a Chopper. Anyway, the letter then gives you two options. You can either maintain your order for the little Chopper Die-Cast and wait for it become available, or cancel your order for the Chopper Die-Cast and a receive a check in the amount of $24.99, the value of the toy.

– WWE will be returning to the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. four months from now on Monday, December 1, 2008 for another Raw taping. Flyers were handed out after the show saying so. It’s interesting to note that show is being advertised as a Raw/ECW show, so perhaps it’s still on after all. WWE makes their annual trip to the Middle East during the first week of December, and last year, everyone that went on the trip went to an army base in South Carolina directly after Raw for the flight. Last year, WWE held their SmackDown/ECW tapings that week on a Sunday due to an international tour later in the week.

Click here to go back to Shop WWE for WWE Merchandise, WWE Action Figures, WWE Memorabilia, WWE Tickets, WWE T Shirts & More!

Vince McMahon Hanging Out After Raw, Adamle Replacement, More

Source: PWInsider.com

Vince McMahon was seen hanging out in the hotel lobby after Raw last night which is actually very unlike him, even when he’s not selling an “injury” angle. It was reported that a fan congratulated him on the birth of his new granddaughter, but Vince didn’t respond.

Joey Styles was also at the hotel and fans asked him about whether or not he was going to replace Mike Adamle on ECW. He responded with, “You know I can’t answer that”. However, the word going around behind the scenes is that Todd Grisham may replace Adamle instead. Here’s hoping that’s it’s Styles rather than…anyone.

MVP was apparently backstage at Raw. No reason on why outside of simply hanging out.

Mae Young was also at the show involved with the “Kiss Cam” segment they do for the live crowd.

Click here to go back to Shop WWE for WWE Merchandise, WWE Action Figures, WWE Memorabilia, WWE Tickets, WWE T Shirts & More!

Taste My Rainbow [25] – At RAW Up Close And Personal

 

Taste My Rainbow [25] – At RAW Up Close and Personal

Do I know you? Ha! Of course I do! That was obviously a trick question. Welcome back my Fruity Followers to the latest and greatest edition of Taste My Rainbow. The only column around this joint fruity enough to fulfill your daily sugar intake. I’m the guy they call SkittleZ and I will be your tour guide for the day. Got a lot going on lately. Work as always, baseball is beginning to get interesting, the USA basketball team whooped the ever loving shit out of Canada Friday night (120-65) and we are now on the road to SummerSlam. Today’s column will be a little departure from what you’re probably use to. But what can I say… I like to take the easy way out in life. So sit back, get comfortable and fucking pay attention. As they say, It’s on with the show.

I don’t ever get a break, folks. If anyone’s been following me and DaveyBoy’s Prediction Contest, you are probably aware of the standings and know enough basic math to figure out that the Great American Bash didn’t exactly work in my favor. I was two matches back of Davey going in and now currently sit FOUR matches behind that foreigner. And Prediction Contest aside, I really didn’t do well overall. However, the two matches I dropped to DaveyGirl were the Divas Championship Match (I picked Neidhart) and the NYC Street Fight (I went with Cena) and those are the only two that really matter at this point. Don’t get me wrong… I’m still right on his ass (no homo). But losing ground this late in the game never helps. I suppose I’ll have to wait for SummerSlam to get my revenge. Anyhow, here are the updated standings:
DaveyBoy (42-21-1) / SkittleZ (38-25-1)

Are stables on the rise? More like mini-stables but I’ll take what I can get. When they aren’t overused, stables can be a thing of beauty as is the case right now in the WWE. On RAW, Cena and Cryme Tyme have been hanging out more and more regularly and all signs point to some kind of three man stable. The same goes for Rhodes and Dibiase. The World Tag Team Champions are a bright young team who have JBL as the leader and mouthpiece of the group. While the two teams may just be joining forces for a short duration to benefit all involved, stables are still a dying breed in pro wrestling today and its great to see them pop up on the radar every now and then. I would throw La Familia in there as well but they appear to be having some internal issues as of late.

While the majority my feel differently, I am really looking forward to the Matt Hardy/Mark Henry ECW Title Match at SummerSlam. Perhaps not as much from a match quality standpoint but due to the risk for reward ratio that works in this bout’s favor. WWE has an opportunity to do something big here and I believe they’ve realized that. If you ask around, a good portion of the IWC would explain that the ECW Championship was only put around Mark Henry’s waist at Night of Champions because Kane was heading to RAW and Henry was set to put over an up and comer down the road somewhere. Matt dropped the United States Championship to Benjamin at the Great American Bash and now doesn’t that seem like an opportune time to do so. Hardy isn’t what you’d call new to the game but this would be another monumental step in building on his credibility and taking him to that next level. That’s why I’m pulling for Matt to overcome all the obstacles at SummerSlam (Atlas, Delaney, etc.) and upset Henry to capture the ECW Title.

Call me silly but doesn’t it appear like the WWE is putting more emphasis on the SmackDown product since the Draft Lottery? Before you even start, I disagree. I don’t think it’s because Jim Ross and Triple H were moved over to the blue brand. For those who’ve forgotten, SmackDown is changing networks in a few months and therefore WWE is working to turn on more viewers to the program before it jumps ship. Shit… I don’t blame them. I can’t even remember the name of the new network. MyNetwork or something to that effect? Might as well air the shit on paid programming. That is the best the WWE could do? The number one wrestling organization in the world is reduced to putting one of their main shows on a network no one cares about? With all due respect, fuck you CW Network.

Although I’ve been a wrestling fan for over a decade, I have never once been to a live event. House show, RAW, SmackDown, ECW, Pay Per View… absolutely nothing. Plenty of opportunities however with the best coming nearly two and a half years when WrestleMania 22 was held at the Allstate Arena in Chicago (a mere 30 miles from my house). I often wondered if I’d ever end up going to a WWE show. As of now, I plan on heading to Houston for WrestleMania 25 with a number of friends from LOP next April but that’s ages away. Well as I mentioned numerous times in my last few columns, I’ve been on vacation in Connecticut since late April. I was hanging out one night watching TV in the living room when my step-mom was checking her emails and realized that RAW was coming to the Mohegan Sun Arena on July 21st (only a 45 minute drive from my Dad’s house) and asked if we should go. I marked like a little kid and my Pops bought tickets for him, myself, my step-mom and my sister. He told me they were great seats and I believed him when he told me the total cost came to $630!

Usually when you’re anxiously awaiting a certain day, time seems to slow down significantly. Well fortunately, that wasn’t the case here as the days just flew by and it was Monday night in a heartbeat. I wasn’t really all that excited until we actually stepped foot into the arena. Mohegan Sun is a casino in Connecticut with an arena inside. Once we arrived, there were lines wrapped all around the casino. The most popular t-shirts were Cena, Batista and Mysterio without question. Oh and on that note, make sure you check out JetSetPoker’s RAW Report from last Monday’s show. But like I was saying, it wasn’t until we headed in for our seats that I played witness to what I see on television each and every week. The atmosphere was amazing and the crowd was pumped up before the dark matches even got underway. We were located right up against the barricade in the corner of the main isle and the TitanTron. The dark matches were nothing to write home about. Charlie Haas and Jamie Noble beat two local nobodies. Lilian Garcia came out and same the National Anthem before Michael Cole and ‘The King’ (who got a huge pop) walked out. Lilian then informed us all to get rowdy as we were going on the air in 20 seconds. The show’s opening firework display is quite a sight when you’re standing barely 15 feet away.

Batista’s Challenge

I waited for Batista’s pyro to blow my eardrums but I was saved as the Animal was pissed at Kane for costing him the World Heavyweight Title the previous night at Great American Bash and appeared to be in no mood to take part in such nonsense. Batista blabbed about wanting to kick Kane’s ass and demanded a rematch until CM Punk came out to a big pop. The World Heavyweight Champ told the Animal he was on but JBL suddenly popped up on the TitanTron to remind us all that he was running the show and deserved a title shot more than Batista. He and Punk then took turns making fun of JBL and watching Bradshaw’s facial expressions on the big screen was priceless. Punk then invited Batista again to meet him up later on (in the ring you sick bastards) and they cut to commercial.

The segment was far from special but kept the title picture progressing. Punk hasn’t been given a clean win over Batista yet but it’s totally understandable. JBL put him over and I don’t expect Punk to play the role of transitional champion. JBL has done a great job of stepping in as RAW’s main heel during Orton’s absence. And Batista has just been his bad ass self and remained in the title picture like he always tends to do. Batista was pretty fucking sizable in person and JBL was taller than I’d imagined. I actually got to high five Punk as he walked back up the ramp!

Lance Cade vs. Paul London

The split up of Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch still to this day does not sit well with me. I know all tag teams have to go their separate ways at some point or another but these two were better off sticking together for the long haul. Too many of WWE’s tag teams these days are broken up early before they’re able to really accomplish much or reach their full potential. So out of all the possible options available, WWE decided to fire Murdoch and push Cade. Excellent booking you fucking morons! I honestly believe a goofy singing babyface Trevor Murdoch had a better chance of succeeding than a big serious heel Lance Cade. What happens to Cade after Y2J doesn’t need him anymore? I personally would be insulted as a fan if Cade was headlining the latter matches of pay per view down the road. Instead of breaking up Cade and Murdoch prematurely, WWE should’ve just sucked it up and switched them over to SmackDown or ECW in the Draft.

This bout was obviously a squash to continue Cade’s push and sell him to the audience as a legitimate threat. Look at poor Paul London…. another career butchering thanks to the Draft Lottery forcing him and Brian Kendrick to go their separate ways. Now the entertaining aerial act of Londrick is no more and both of them now stand little chance of achieving much on their own. London’s glass ceiling is the Intercontinental Championship and even that doesn’t look very hopeful from where I’m sitting. So like I said, the match was over before I even knew what had happened. The only aspect I like about Lance Cade is his high impact finisher. There were tons of “Cade Sucks!” chants which I gladly took part in.

Y2J Speaks on HBK

After Cade’s victory, he got on the microphone and hyped Chris Jericho and the ass beating he gave to Shawn Michaels at the Great American Bash. Y2J then walked out in street clothes and at first, the crowd seemed confused whether to cheer or boo him. Well that all changed when Jericho took over the mic and informed us that he’d ended HBK’s career for good and that he didn’t regret it whatsoever. After that, it didn’t take very long until the fans were bombarding him with “HBK! HBK!” chants. He was even kind enough to show us a nice video package of him beating the shit out of HBK’s eye until the referee stopped the match. Got to love the WWE’s never ending attempts to amplify the drama with loud sounds, slow motion and black and white photography.

I was actually lost at the beginning when Jericho initially came out. Cade told the crowd to show them the proper respect and when the fans didn’t show said appreciation, he and Jericho left the ring and walked behind the curtain. Then it was silent in the arena for a minute or two and Y2J and Cade came right back out! I was unsure and even contemplated whether the segment had been botched somehow. That wasn’t the case as Jericho laid into Michaels with another awesome promo. The feud has been tremendous even though HBK has been injured through the last several weeks of it. The audience would have erupted if Shawn made an appearance but he was nowhere to be found. Not that I expected him to be there live or anything. When it comes to HBK, it’s all about the hard sell!

Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix

They showed a quick video of Phoenix getting the upset win over Santino the previous week and it got a few laughs from the crowd. You don’t have to watch wrestling very long to realize this match wouldn’t last long. I honestly never thought Kelly Kelly was anything special but in person, she was absolutely gorgeous. I would’ve jumped over the barricade and made love to her right there if I knew Security wouldn’t rip my head off. And Phoenix was a beast from ten feet away. Kelly got a few impressive moves in but it was Phoenix who dominated as expected. Nice finish however when Kelly countered Beth into a roll up and nearly stole a victory. Beth showed off her strength by not only kicking out but rolling through the pin, lifting Kelly into the air and dropping her face first on the mat for the three count.

I guess they have to keep Beth strong for whenever she’s placed back in the Women’s Title picture down the road. Since Phoenix and Mickie have basically exhausted their rivalry for the time being, the writing team will probably wait until Candice Michelle comes back before Beth shows significant interest in another championship reign. No matter what she does, Phoenix will be just fine. Kelly Kelly is low on the radar but you never know… she could be a vital part of the Women’s Division two or three years down the road. She reminds me a lot of Maria as far as where her in-ring skills are and Kelly will most likely take over the role that Maria once held on RAW. Hey, I’ve got no complaints with that.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan Speaks

Hacksaw’s music hit and we all marked out with some “Hooooooooo!” chants. I figured Duggan was just coming out during commercial to tell us about some type of charity or to take part in an activity that involved the audience. His street attire assured me that he definitely wouldn’t be wrestling or getting squashed on tonight’s show. Hacksaw got on the mic and let us all know that he was contemplating retirement after a lengthy career. The fans protested until Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler jumped in the ring to talk some sense into Duggan. ‘King’ surprisingly got some of the biggest pops of the night. Lawler basically told him that as long as Hacksaw was still passionate about wrestling, that he can wrestler for as long as he wants (see Ric Flair).

Duggan appeared to be convinced on sticking around and all was fine and dandy until the World Tag Team Champs made their presence felt and walked out to greet the two veterans. Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase took turns making fun of both Lawler and Hacksaw until ‘The King’ had heard enough and slapped the taste out of Cody’s mouth much to the adulation of the crowd. Rhode’s wanted to lay into Lawler but Dibiase held him back and JBL came out to back up the young heel duo as well as hype them. Cryme Tyme’s music suddenly hit the loudspeakers. Huge pop for JTG and Shad by the way as they’ve got to be one of WWE’s most over tag teams at the moment. Solid segment with Hacksaw and it led up greatly to Rhodes and Dibiase coming out to disrespect the old timers. Building on the Champs’ heat and moving in the right direction. Rhodes and Dibiase look a lot like Orton to me. Almost as if you combined them together, you’d get a Randy Orton. Just wanted to throw that out there. Make your own assumptions, dickwads.

Six Man Tag Team Match

I was none too happy when JBL came out through the curtain instead of in his trademark limousine. The problem I think was that the arena was a little small for a limo to be driven out into the arena and JBL’s fat ass would’ve been quite cramped trying to squeeze his way to the ring between the limo and the barricade. As Cryme Tyme waited at ringside for their partner in the upcoming contest, you can just feel the intensity in the arena turn up a few notches Everybody knew who was about to come out and it was no secret that the place was going to erupt. Cena’s music hit and the ovation was deafening. I don’t know how it came off on television but that place was going bonkers as Cena walked out and played up the crowd. I didn’t hear a single boo during Cena’s entrance. He and Cryme Tyme jumped in the ring and took out JBL, Rhodes and Holly. The referee tried to restore order and I’m assuming that’s when they cut to commercial.

Good early action and it unsurprisingly ended up being JTG playing the face in peril who just simply could not get a tag to save his life. But alas, JTG broke free and made the hot tag to Cena. The crowd came unglued yet again though there were noticeable boo’s as Cena handed Dibiase his usual flurry of offense. He went for the Five Knuckle Shuffle but JBL ran in to break it up. Cena held his ground and fought JBL off who escaped through the crowd (a mere twenty feet from where I was sitting). Back in the ring, Cena hit a double FU on Rhodes and Dibiase and made the pin. Great co-main event and the audience was in pandemonium for the last thirty seconds of the bout. Cena and Cryme Tyme celebrated before exiting to the backstage area.

Mixed Tag Team Match

Honestly, I haven’t seen much of Kofi Kingston thus far. I never really watch ECW and he was on the C brand from his debut in January up until the Draft Lottery. So he’s been on RAW for three or four weeks and I’m still not completely up to date on Kingston. Well I totally forgot about his pyro and the couple of green fireworks that I WEREN’T expecting nearly sent me backwards toppling over a folding chair. Very good pop for Kofi but an even bigger one for the Women’s Champion Mickie James. What a hot bitch. Burchill and Katie followed to a chorus of boo’s and I was almost stunned by how beautiful and sexy Lea was in real life. If you recorded RAW, you can actually see me at this point stick my head over the barricade and turn it sideways to get a good look at Katie’s ass. I’m a dude… I can’t help it.

The match had good energy and there was a good mix of everything during the short amount of time the contest was given. There is no way Burchill isn’t on the juice because he easily has twice the amount of muscle mass he did during his Pirate days. Anyways, Paul worked over Kofi’s legs and nailed his neckbreaker finisher to pick up the win for him and Katie. Although most people don’t realize it (general wrestling fans at least), this feud is benefiting RAW in many ways. It keeps two feuds going at once for two respective championships. It allows different parties to work together for several weeks and the Kofi/Burchill program helps out the midcard and more importantly the Intercontinental Title. I’m a firm believer that allowing main eventers to carry the IC Title does little to aid the division. The division was built to elevate guys lower on the card to a status where they can really make a name for themselves. At this point, I wouldn’t even mind a Burchill/Kofi rematch at SummerSlam. On her way by, Mickie kissed a little girl on the cheek who was standing like five feet to my right. Too bad that wasn’t me…

D’Lo Brown vs. Santino Marella

This drunk fat guy from across the aisle way had been screaming for Santino to come out for minutes on end. To the point where it was starting to get downright annoying. The guy even took it as far as to yell out “Come on Vince! Give us what we want! Santino!” While I admit I rather enjoy Santino’s company as well (no homo), I doubt I’d ever take it to that extreme. So when Marella’s music finally hit, me and I’m sure hundreds of others were relieved to hear the chunky white dude shut his trap. Santino assured all of us in attendance that his inaugural challenge was intended for strictly males and offered any other superstar to meet him in the ring again tonight. And out of every possible superstar, it was D-Lo Brown who answered the call and let us know he’s still alive after all these years!

I was surprised how few people seemed to know who D-Lo was as I wasted no time in marking out like a schoolgirl. Then I took a glance around and remembered how many little kids were present and how the majority of them weren’t even alive when the Nation was at its peak. Brown’s upbeat personality always garners attention and the crowd quickly rallied behind him. D-Lo made quick work of Santino and finished him off with his old Sky-Hi frog splash. Perhaps this is mainly a feel good story as I don’t see much the WWE can do with him. Throw him in the Intercontinental Title picture? Meh… works for me. Beth Phoenix came back out and appeared as if she wanted to beat the shit out of Santino. However, Marella gave her a few looks before pulling her in and planting a kiss on the Glamazon! And she didn’t exactly stop him. The two then traded awkward moments until an intrigued Santino headed up the ramp. I have no idea where this is heading but when you have a clash of styles such as Beth and Santino working together, it can only turn into brilliant segments.

CM Punk vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship

I knew for a fact we were getting a taste of Batista’s pyro this time around. Isn’t it funny how when you don’t know something is coming, it can make you uneasy? But when you know it’s coming, you’re ripe with anticipation? Nonetheless, the Animal did his usual entrance and I loved it. Punk was surely out next so I relaxed when two huge burst of flames erupted behind me and I almost jumped into my sister’s lap! Kane marched to the ring and traded blows with Batista before giving The Animal a chokeslam (which they nearly botched). Punk sprinted to the ring to fend off Kane and clotheslined the Big Red Machine out of the ring. Batista was given time to recover before the match officially began. I was really taken aback by how much of the contest Punk dominated though I’m assuming it was mostly Batista selling Kane’s earlier attack. Punk went for his springboard clothesline but Batista caught him in midair and nailed the spine buster. The Animal appeared to be closing in on his fourth World Title after hitting Punk with a spear but JBL ran down to the ring.

Bradshaw and Batista slugged it out at ringside and the referee called for the bell. JBL got the upper hand on both The Animal and Punk before Cena ran out to make the save. Cena was whooping the holy hell out of JBL until Bradshaw ducked a punch and Cena accidentally hit Batista in the face. The Animal tried to give Cena the Batista Bomb but he slid out and went for the FU on Batista. The Animal wiggled free however and he and Cena brawled until a slew of referees hit the ring to break up the melee. RAW went off the air and Batista walked back up the aisle with his eyes on Cena the entire time. Cena then got on the mic and talked about the possibility of a one on one encounter between himself and Batista which the crowd responded in approval. He then told us that his Dad and friends were there and pointed them out in the front row. Cena thanked us all for coming and then slid out of the ring to hug his Dad and exchange words with his buddies. Cena high fived a bunch of fans and then walked back through the curtain. Nowhere near a great show but being there in person was amazing. Even a decent show seems amplified. I can’t wait to feel the electricity at WrestleMania 25 in Houston come next April. Yep… that’s going to cost a pretty penny.

The answer to my riddle from TMR [24] was indeed “John Morrison”. There was a slight jump in the correct guess percentage (57%) but nothing drastic enough to concern me. After a ton of soul searching, I think I’ve stumbled upon a riddle that will rack your brains and force each and every one of you to the brink of insanity. Try to crack this one, losers.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Somehow, I can relate to John Cena.

My matches towards the end of my WWE run were short and swift.

I’ve won tag team gold with both individuals from my former stable.

One of my past allies is mostly remembered as a comedic character but showed a dark side at the start of the new millennium.

As long as I’ve been around the business, you’d swear I was considerably older.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Think you know the answer? Give it some thought and guess away. If you answer incorrectly, I’ll laugh and poke fun at your severe lack of intelligence. Get it right however and earn the right to… oh who am I kidding? You’ll win nothing and like it! NO ONE will solve my masterful riddle. I will reveal the answer in my next column.

I’m not sure where the urge originated from but I’ve been on an Nintendo 64 binge as of late. Like most kids, I got the N64 back when it came out in 1996 for Christmas. Around 2001, I inexplicably bought the Nintendo GameCube (dumb move on my part) and went on to buy other various video game systems. Thus, leaving the N64 behind and never looking back. I never sold or threw out my Nintendo 64 but I lost track of it quite a while back. Over the last few weeks, I’ve suddenly got the itch to play it again. I had no idea where my old system was so I did what anyone would do… I bought one off eBay. The game console and three controllers for just fifteen bucks! Everything worked just fine too. Obviously, I had to purchase some games. I’m an adventure guy all day so I got my hands on Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. Two classic platforms. Every day since I received them in the mail, I get home from work, shower and then play until three or four in the morning. While it isn’t a healthy addiction, it beats drugs and alcohol. Now I just need to snag a copy of Donkey Kong 64 and my life will be complete.

Who doesn’t love Fact or Fiction? I have risen it from the dead and have some good news regarding one of LOP’s most traditional columns. Along with three other individuals, Tito and DaveyBoy will both guess starring in the August installment of Fact or Fiction! * thunderous ovation ensues * Alright now. Settle down, people. I understand it’s hard not to get excited but you still have around three weeks so please try to contain yourselves. And don’t flood Davey and Tito’s email boxes with nude and/or inappropriate photos. We want them to come back in the future and I don’t want to be labeled a pioneer of filth. Oh and special thanks to Noc who made a spiffy column banner for Fact or Fiction. He’ll also be participating in next month’s column.

When in doubt, plug it out…

>>> Young Andy is stinking up the joint once again in a depressive manner Savana’s Chamber of Pain #32: Quitting

>>> The Anonymous Comedy Hour is back in full swing Inside the Mind 6.5: Teh Legacy of ECW is being destroyed

>>> MadChuck isn’t exactly what I’d call shy and polite. Click here to see what I mean The MadRanter: Brooke Hogan should be brutally raped

That’s all you get for now. Hopefully, this didn’t come off as overly generic for the majority of you. I figured an event of this magnitude to myself personally was worth sharing with you ungrateful homosexuals. Hell… tell me whether you enjoyed or outright despised it. If you have anything to add or point out, just shoot me a quick email at (Skittlez601028@aim.com) and either praise me or bash my literary skills to no end. You know how the story goes. I’ll be back at it in two weeks time with some new bullshit. Take care until we meet again and watch your ass in dark alleyways (or in prison for that matter). Later homies.

Click here to go back to Shop WWE for WWE Merchandise, WWE Action Figures, WWE Memorabilia, WWE Tickets, WWE T Shirts & More!

WWE House Show Results from Wheeling, West Virginia 7/26/08

Report sent in by Mr. Tito

WWE made an appearance back to one of the original suburbs of Pittsburgh and near the heart of Mr. Tito country, in Wheeling, West Virginia, just in time to take in the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Festival which was going on the same streets surrounding WesBanco Arena.

In its prime, WWE would produce standing room only crowds for Raw, with full capacity being around 13,000. Estimated attendence would be roughly 6,000. Ticket prices were 20.00 upper deck, 30.00 mid level, and 45.00 for around the ring.

Notes from the show.

Pre-Match- Our supposed WWE Event host, Layla, roamed the crowd and gave a family of 4 from the upperdeck the chance to sit in 4 ring side seats. Also announced was that the fans had the chance to text and decide the stipulation for the triple threat championship match for later that night between JBL, Bautista, and CM Punk. Choices included Falls count anywhere or No DQ.

First match-
Lance Cade vs. D-Lo Brown.
D-Lo got a surprisingly nice crowd pop being his first appearance since the Nation of Domination days.
D-Lo Brown wins with the Frog Splash.

Post match, host Layla came down and looked for a volunteer to be a special guest manager for an upcoming match. She picked a little boy from ringside and away they went to the back.

Second Match-
Matt Stryker vs. Johnny Curtis
Stryker got nice heel heat after a stellar mic performance about facing a rookie who will be learning the ropes.
Curtis with the crossbody for the win. Stryker ran away down the aisle. Wish he could see some face time with the big boys down. Could be devastating if paired with Jericho and his “you all are fools to believe in HBK gimmick.”

Third Match-
Divas tag team bout.
Kelly Kelly and her shiny silver chaps with Mickie James vs. Katie Lea Burchill and Beth Phoenix
Mickie James did her usual hop skip and jump routine, but this time dragging the special guest manager along with her. Looked like a rag doll being thrown around. The kid was very excited and again, a nice gesture from WWE to get the crowd involved.
Action packed bout which saw Kelly Kelly attempt a cross body only to be caught in mid air by the Glamazon which set up a Mickie James drop kick help send both out of the ring, and Mickie’s DDT of doom on Katie Lea for the win.

Post match-
Santino Marella came to the ring to comfort Beth after the loss. As he always does, he grabbed the mic and declared that if Wheeling was going to have a Santino Marella Festival (referring to the Italian Festival on the streets outside the arena) that they should ask for his permission. He then turned his attention to Beth and said that what happened Monday made him not sleep for the past week. And it was out of pure excitement. Look for this lovefest to carry on. So he wanted to challenge a soon to be retiring wrestler, and reveal his new move the Mazzarati Crush, to prove he won’t let the kiss be a distraction to his wrestling.

Out comes Hacksaw Jim Duggan to welcome arms from the crowd. Plenty of Hoooooooo’s and U.S.A chants going around. Duggan grabbed the mic and did his bit and the crowd ate it up with a spoon. And he told Marella he can’t tell Duggan when to retire, and Marella looked at Phoenix who was at ringside and laughed a lil but as soon as the bell rung, he turned around and got hit by Duggan’s 3 point stance clothesline in the shortest match I’ve seen this side of the Bushwackers in the rumble.

Post match-
Phoenix picks Marella off the ground, plants two hands on him, and bends him over her knee and plants a kiss. Then carried him to the back on her shoulder.

Intermission.

Layla came out to remind the crowd that the voting was almost over. Which doesn’t really make sense to vote, because it was pretty much announced as a No DQ match on the radio. Out came Jamie Noble and he said since he was in his home state that there was nobody better to show her around and asked her for a date. She said okay, but don’t get any ideas or get into any fights. Kane’s music hits. As well as an impromtu match.

Fifth Match-
Noble vs. Kane
Almost as quick as the previous. Kane with a choke slam early.

Sixth Match-
I.C. Title
Paul Burchill vs. Kofi Kingston
Kingston is still a fresh babyface, so the crowd was a little leary to get behind him. Finally did towards the end of the match. Kingston with his Trouble in Paradise kick for the win. And I still can’t help but laugh when I think of Michael Cole saying “You know, when he says BOOM BOOM BOOM.” So in Kingstons defense, BOOK BOOK BOOK!

Seventh Match-
6 Man Tag
Jericho w/ Lance Cade. Jericho is masterful on the mic. Always a joy to see it.
DiBiase and Rhodes. There were a couple Cody has a Wisp signs. Loved it.
vs.
John Cena and Cryme Tyme.
They now all do a pose similar to the jerk, cling weightroom and then give the word life before the match.
Good action, which saw Cena pulling a Y2Jerk sign from the crowd into the ring. Finish was set up by Rhodes hitting his DDT on Cena. JTG hitting his spinning neckbreaker on Rhodes, DiBiase hitting his MillionDollar Dream Russian Leg sweep on JTG, Shad hitting DiBiase out of the ring, Jericho hitting the codebreaker on Shad, and then Cena hitting the FU on Jericho, then drop toe hold a charging DiBiase into the STFU for the tap out.

Final Match
Championship
Announced it was a No DQ bout.
JBL vs. Bautista vs CM Punk
JBL came out first, and issued some very serious remarks about not wanting to be in a toilet hole, third country state like West Virginia, and challenged every Redneck to get in the ring. Then singled out a decent looking blonde at ringside and said that she may be the best WV has to offer, but she couldn’t be a garbage woman at Score’s in NY. Finish was set up by a Bautista spine buster on JBL, then Punk grabbing a chair that JBL brought into the ring, Punk with a chair shot to Bautista’s back, which sent him out of the ring. Punk covers JBL and gets the win.

Post match-
Bautista stares at Punk kicks him and Bautista Bombs him.

Top Heel Heat-
1. JBL
2. Jericho
3. Santino Marella

Top Pops
1. John Cena
2. Bautista/Punk
3. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

Click here to go back to Shop WWE for WWE Merchandise, WWE Action Figures, WWE Memorabilia, WWE Tickets, WWE T Shirts & More!

« Previous Page — Next Page »