WWE News
WWE updated the Upcoming Pay-Per-Views section of their website this week and a number of PPVs have seen name changes, including the dropping of Survivor Series I talked about last week.
From: WWE.com
3-28 – WrestleMania 26
4-25 – Extreme Rules
5-23 – Wild Card
6-20 – Fatal Four Way
7-18 – Money In The Bank
8-15 – SummerSlam
9-19 – Night of Champions
10-3 – Hell In A Cell
Backlash it seems has been replaced with Extreme Rules, which has been around for a few years now and is an “all hardcore matches” gimmicked show. The May show, formerly Judgment Day, is now being called Wild Card, which your guess is as good as mine as to what that could be, hah hah. Maybe a “Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal” type of show? The two June shows, which last year were Extreme Rules and Great American Bash, are now Fatal Four Way which sounds about as exciting as a box of kittens. Night of Champions has been moved from July to September this year, replacing the major failure Breaking Point.
The most interesting note I see here is that July will now hold a PPV called Money in the Bank so it looks like this might be the last year for a Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania. We’ve been talking on the forum about this and the general consensus is that MitB is much better as a bolster to Mania than as a stand alone PPV. We also floated the idea of using MitB at the December TLC show, since it fits with the gimmick and would actually be a bolster to the show instead of trying to be stand alone.
WWE Elimination Chamber Notes
Sunday night was the death of No Way Out and the very first Elimination Chamber PPV which, in my opinion, got off to a bad start. The show was bookended with two entirely differently booked Elimination Chambers, both of which were pretty good, and a middle that was really bad in my opinion. Let’s start with the bad actually.
The Drew/Kane Intercontinental Championship match was OK I guess but it drug a little longer than it should and I’ve honestly seen better matches from these guys on SmackDown recently. The Diva’s Title Tournament Finals that has been advertised didn’t take place because Vickie Guerrero, who is an authority figure on SmackDown!, decided to change the a RAW title match into a tag team match with RAW Divas -vs- SmackDown Divas. Bad to worse, basically. And finally, I didn’t really have a problem with the Miz/MVP match but this is twice the match has been thrown out on PPV – advertise this for crying out loud!!! The Chambers are the selling point but, still, why get in the habit of not properly promoting?
Now, the RAW Chamber opened the show and it told a good story. First you had the Legacy stuff. Rhodes slips a weapon into the cage, supposedly for Orton, but DiBiase intercepts it and eliminates Orton. That’s a good set-up for the breakup that’s, honestly, long overdue. The twist seems to be a face Orton instead of a face DiBiase, though. Interesting. Next you have Triple H eliminating Sheamus. Sheamus is Triple H’s project and I think his getting the pin here is Trip’s setting himself up to put Sheamus over at Mania. I really think one of these two should’ve walked out with the title, though because I think Triple H/Sheamus is the one rumored Mania match that actually NEEDS a World title involved to really be relevant. They’ve not dug a hole or anything, though because they still have a month’s worth of TV to either get this feud hot or get the title back in the picture. And the finish with Cena winning only to lose to Batista is a perfect way to continue the angle that’s being set-up. As I said, I thought Hunter or Sheamus should’ve won but the way they booked the finish was interesting enough that it didn’t spoil things.
The SmackDown Chamber was the highlight of the show, though. The SmackDown side of Mania is shining clear after this show. You had another dominant performance from Punk, who eliminated Killings in less than 5 minutes and had time to cut promos on everyone and the crowd. Then you had Mysterio pinning Punk to continue the set-up of their angle, which began a few weeks ago on SmackDown. John Morrison had a decent showing, getting to eliminate Mysterio and then the finish – I think everyone and their brother knew Shawn Michaels was getting into the Chamber, the only question was would WWE just try to spoil it? They didn’t! And it worked beautifully! Shawn came up through the Chamber floor and delivered the super kick that delivered two main event matches – HBK/Taker and Jericho/Edge. Perfect.
One thing of note is that during The Undertaker’s entrance, the pyrotechnician cued the flames at the wrong time, resulting in a fire ball exploding right as Taker was standing on or very near the burner. Taker’s coat and hat caught on fire and he had to quickly through them off. Taker got in his pod and there was people giving him bottles of water somehow at ringside, which he kept dumping on his chest. To his credit, Taker was in alot of pain and refused to shorten the match. After the show he was diagnosed with first and second degree burns on his neck and chest. He appeared on RAW all bundled up in his leathers and I’d imagine he’ll be granted a week or two off house shows.
Overall, I wouldn’t call this a great show – average – but it was the perfect bump along the Road to WrestleMania in terms of setting up the big show. I think this WrestleMania is falling in line to be one of the best in recent memory. As I said on the forum this week, I was really disappointed with last year’s WrestleMania and had already made up my mind that it was going to take a really big line-up to hook me this year. Well congradulations Vince, the hook is set.
You can find the results for Elimination Chamber here http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/wweppv/eliminationchamber10/
OWW Open Call
Online World of Wrestling is currently looking for talented writers who’re interested in penning columns for the site. We’re also looking for contributors interested in helping update the massive bios section of the site. If you’d like more info contact OWW Editor Brad Dykens at [email protected]
This week on RAW WWE announced that former Women’s Champion Wendi Richter would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Richter, alongside Hulk Hogan and Cyndi Lauper, was a major part of the WWF’s Rock N Wrestling era and made her mark in history when she pinned the Fabulous Moolah on July 23, 1984 to win the WWF Women’s Championship and end a supposed 28-year title reign.
Richter was also the victim of the original WWF double cross when Vince McMahon devised a plan in Nov. 1985 to get the Women’s title off her. McMahon cited contractual problems (even back then) as his reason for bringing Moolah back into the company under a mask as The Spider Lady for a suprise defense. As soon as the bell rang Moolah quickly rolled Richter up and the referee, in on the scam, counted a quick three. Richter never worked for the WWF again but it was reported that she was asked to be part of the 25-Diva “Miss WrestleMania” Battle Royal at last year’s show.
In her preview video on RAW, WWE referred to her as a 5 time Women’s Champion. She held the title twice in the WWF, twice for Carlos Colon’s World Wrestling Council, and once in Verne Gagne’s AWA. It was interesting to see WWE refer to outside titles for once. Wendi will be inducted by another important component of the Rock N Wrestling Era, Roddy Piper. Kinda curious why they didn’t ask Cyndi Lauper to come back.
It was also confirmed this week that Ted Jr and Brett DiBiase would induct their father the Million Dollar Man in the Hall of Fame this year.
Antonio Inoki is the only other confirmed entrant.
Upcoming RAW Guest Hosts
3/1 – ’70s comedians Cheech & Chong
3/8 – television illusionist Criss Angel
3/15 – “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
Undisputed Debate League
The OWW Genesis Undisputed Debate League is currently holding sign ups for it’s next debate card. For those unfamiliar with the concept, Undisputed is a place where two people meet in a 2-post debate (an opening and a rebuttle) concerning a predetermined pro wrestling related topic, chosen by the 3-man Undisputed Panel. Once the debate is complete, the Panel will judge it and issue a decision.
As an Undisputed Debator, I can atest to both the fun of the game and the challenge of the League, which has a number of really good debators and excellent depth. I was actually just defeated in an Undisputed Championship match last round in what some are calling the best debate in League history.
If you’d like to compete or would like more information, just register for the OWW Genesis forum and contact one of the Undisputed Panelists – GoldenBoy79, ThomC1010, or Turley
Brad Dykens’ Reviews
Brad has a few more DVD reviews online.
Guest Booker with Mike Graham http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/information/dvds/kc/guest-booker-graham/
YOUSHOOT with Bob Holly
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/information/dvds/kc/youshoot-holly/
TNA News
TNA Officially announced their move to Monday nights last week. The next LIVE Monday Night iMPACT will air on March 8 with that being the start of TNA of Monday nights every week. The show will air from 9 – 11, head to head with RAW every week. The show will be live twice a month and taped twice a month.
Last month it was announced that Destination X would be an X-Division exclusive PPV with the company building up Lockdown as a big deal PPV. Word is coming out now that the show will now not be X-Division exlcusive but, instead, will be an X-Division showcase with 3 or 4 X-Divsion matches, including an Ultimate X match with the rest of the card being filled likely be the rest of the Champions.
Anyone who watched iMPACT last week saw the “return” of Frankie Kazarian to the company. Kazarian has been under the Suicide mask for months now, having taken the mantle over from Christopher Daniels in May 2008. The latest news is that Kazarian will be wrestling as himself from now on with someone else taking on the Suicide gimmick. The leading candidate right now is Kiyoshi, who hasn’t been seen on TNA television for months.
The final note coming out of TNA is the company’s decision to reduce the amount of coverage the Knockouts get on iMPACT. The plan right now is to stop using the Knockouts in as many matches on iMPACT and start using them more in skits and angles. What a joke – why mess with the ladies when they draw the best ratings on the show?
Plugs
– You can find last week’s edition of this column here http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/2010/02/15/oww-weekly-news-notes-for-february-15/
– Bill Behrens has classic episodes of NWA Wildside on DVD for sale for bargain prices through his website, www.sbibookings.com. Check it out for more info on those as well as booking information for any of the talent Bill represents, including Kevin Nash, the Steiner Brothers, Booker T, and more. [Thanks to Bill Behrens]
– I’d also like to suggest you check out the podcast site Who’s Slamming Who, which features weekly podcasts from a number of pro wrestling personalities, including former NWA President Bill Behrens, Ring of Honor Executive Producer Jim Cornette, “The Star Maker” Kenny Bolin, “The Genius” Lanny Poffo, the Head of Former WWE Developmental Territory Deep South Wrestling Jody Hamilton, former OWW Radio guest Evan Ginzburg, History of WWE.com’s Graham Cawthon, and more including a weekly main show and various interviews hosted by former OWW Radio guest Tommy Fierro. Definately worth book marking and visiting this site a few times a week because there is always something new. http://whosslammingwho.podomatic.com/
– The crew over at Monday Night Mayhem have the first post-WWE audio interview with Eric Escobar on this week’s show. By the time you read this it’ll already be over but you can check out the podcast on their site www.MondayNightMayhem.com
– The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show did a tribute episode to Jack Brisco last week, which you can find on iTunes or Podcast Alley.
– EVOLVE recently announced that Jimmy Jacobs -vs- Johnny Gargano has been added to their second show, EVOLVE 2: Hero -vs- Hidaka on March 13 in Rahway, New Jersey. They also announced a ticket sale and the first offering of ticket packs. You can find all that info and more including a full line-up for the show at their website www.EVOLVEWrestling.com [Thanks to Gabe Sapolsky]
– Kayfabe Commentaries and HybridENT.tv recently announced a partnership which would allow Kayfabe Commentaries shoot programs, previously available only on DVD, to be watched online via streaming video. There are currently 5 titles available for choosing for only $9.99. You can check out either www.KayfabeCommentaries.com or www.HybridENT.tv for more info.
– OWW’s Jay Shannon has a review up here talking the final episode of ECW http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/2010/02/19/the-ecw-extreme-examination-2/
– You can pick up a copy of Vince Russo’s latest book Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo at the OWW Store by following this link http://astore.amazon.com/onliworlofw0a-20/detail/1550228684
– A reader sent in this link of Jimmy Hart on a Canadian music show talking his history in the music business. http://www.aux.tv/video/ExploreMusic-212-Extra-WWE-Jimmy-Hart/ [Thanks to Craig]
OWW Genesis
Anyone looking for up-to-the-minute breaking news should considering signing up for OWW Genesis, the Online World of Wrestling forums. We have a news forum that is continuously updated, as well as a very active community where a “Family Environment” is strictly enforced. We keep trolls, drama, foul language, and harassment to a minimum and good, clean, pro wrestling debates and discussions to a maximum.
Some features of the forum include TakeDown, an RP based efed that runs shows once a month; Undisputed, a wrestling debate league which averages one card a month; a Video Vault where matches and segments of wrestling’s past are all compiled in one easy to find place; an Open Forum for OWW Radio discussions; an active MMA community; and what I would consider a group of wrestling’s most knowledgable fans eager to talk and share their knowledge.
– D.L. Wade