ECW, 2007

Sort of watched December to Dismember.

Rubbish.

Apparently Paul Heyman was sent home after a bust-up with Vince.

Seems to me, if they let Heyman have creative control (like the superb One Night Stand PPV in 2005) that the whole ECW brand would be far superior to what it is now.

The logic that it should be more like a WWE show is frightening, especially when you consider that Smackdown is one of the two flagship shows!

I am still a fan of Raw and I watch that every week. But I am at the end of my tether with Smackdown and ECW.

TNA iMPACT is the second best wrestling show on TV right now, as far as I can see.

General round-up, 2nd July

The Big Story

Well, the major news coming out of WWE at the moment is the expected upcoming feud between Hulk Hogan and Randy Orton.

Tentative plans call for this to happen at the Summerslam PPV in August - a year since Hogan had his last match, with Shawn Michaels - which is more than seven months prior to the WrestleMania event Orton initially believed would feature the match. This is believed to be partly due to the fact that WWE still hope to have Austin v Hogan at WM.

Vince McMahon and Hogan met last weekend about the angle, and unless some unexpected problem arises, it is going to happen and will start to build on TV in the coming weeks.

The two ideas thrown around, both of which would give Brooke Hogan exposure as a musician and sex symbol, were that Orton would either pursue Brooke, leading to Hulk coming to her aid, or that Orton and Brooke would actually begin dating on television, infuriating Hulk and forcing a matchup.

It is believed that Hogan will have full creative control, so his vision of the outcome will not be contested. Therefore, I would say there is not much of a chance that Orton will 'kill the legend of Hulkamania'.

The fact that Brooke's video was recently shown on Raw is also an indication that the story has in fact already kicked off, albeit in the most minor of ways.

As for the people connected with her music career, they (her record label and publicists) feel that involvement in a WWE storyline would only paint a negative picture about her talent as a performer. As with her relationship to Hulk itself, although the WWE storyline would give her more publicity, the feeling is that it would come off as nothing more than a stunt to cover-up a lack of ability.

Essentially, these individuals believe Brooke would come off as a “joke” to non-wrestling fans.

ECW - The New Era

At the end of my last post, I said that I hoped ECW would not just become another WWE show, but I fear the worst at the moment.

While Paul Heyman is still at the forefront of the new ECW, his influence has reportedly been lessened in recent weeks. Much of the WWE creative team has gotten involved with planning the brand’s launch, which has resulted in a minor loss of power for Heyman and a major loss of power for Tommy Dreamer. There were also some disputes over how to book the ECW launch, specifically with regards to whether ECW should be allowed to dominate on the weekly RAW telecast.

Plus, as we all know, the first show was not great. Well, the people involved know this as well:

A furious Vince McMahon attributed part of the show’s failure to the crowd. McMahon concluded that ECW was a “tainted brand” and that the hot Hammerstein Ballroom audiences were not indicative of the brand’s national popularity. Thus, the WWE Chairman now believes ECW’s success depends on drawing fans from the RAW audience, which could influence how the show is booked down the road. It’s important to note that despite Vince’s reaction to the first show, he did give Heyman more control week two, so it’s possible that McMahon will still be looking to Heyman in his effort to appeal to the WWE audience.

As for Heyman, he was also said to be furious with how the show turned out. While he did script the show, there was a great deal of Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn influence on the project; they argued with Heyman on a number of proposed segments for the show.

Recent reports suggest that Heyman and Stephanie McMahon have not yet had any blow-ups backstage, which can partially be attributed to Heyman’s desire to remain head of ECW. Apparently, Heyman has told friends he does not want to play into his enemies’ hands by causing problems; doing so would only support the negative images they have of Heyman and give WWE higher-ups a reason to push for his demotion.

The original script for the first show featured The Sandman squashing an alien, but Sci-Fi network argued that it did not want an alien squashed on its network. WWE instead used “The Zombie” in the segment.

Although Paul Heyman noted in an interview that the ECW team is very interested in pursuing the upcoming 'vampire' faction, there are reports that the idea did initiate in a meeting with the Sci-Fi network. Sci-Fi executives also reportedly pushed for alien characters and a storyline in which ECW wrestlers would be transformed into another dimension during a match. Those are not expected to be part of the new ECW. The original plan was to feature Sabu as the leader of the vampire group, but the concept was revised and David “Gangrel” Heath, Luna Vachon and Dennis “Mideon” Knight were contacted. Whether that is the final line-up remains to be seen.

Reports suggest that Kurt Angle is preparing to take a hiatus. Angle, who is experiencing pain from multiple injuries, will be out for a while to heal. Plans for Angle’s hiatus explain his two recent losses.

On the subject of Angle, a highly-ranked UFC official is believed to have said that the company no longer plans to ignore WWE’s public “challenges.” While UFC let Angle’s storyline “open challenge” to anyone from a 4-, 6- or 8-sided ring go unaddressed, it will not be doing that in the future. If WWE attempts to put one of its wrestlers over as superior to MMA fighters, it will respond to put public pressure on WWE to make the match happen. “Now that we have exposure, we’re not going to be ignoring stuff like this. We’ll go public and have Chuck Liddell accept any public challenges or claims they’ll make,” the source said.

During booking for their match at One Night Stand, things reportedly got very heated between Tazz and Jerry Lawler. Tazz apparently refused to wrestle and would not participate in an actual match. Lawler was said to be furious, not only due to Tazz’s refusal to wrestle, but also because he felt that if Tazz was never going to wrestle again, he should not get to win the match. Lawler wanted to win the match via screwjob. Since Tazz would not budge, Lawler decided that he would lose via choke (which he had been pushing as illegal in wrestling) and via referee stoppage (so that he would not have to tap).

Finally, ECW will start on a live format shortly, although whether or not the show goes live will likely depend on the venue (and fanbase). The ECW Arena show on the 4th July, for instance, will probably be taped due to the potential for vulgar fan chants!

Other News

Randy Orton’s permanent move to WWE RAW can be partly attributed to Triple H’s decision to pass on a proposed angle with Edge. The now-babyface Triple H obviously needs top heels with whom to feud when his current storyline ends, and Triple H opted to first feud with Randy Orton instead of the Rated R Superstar. Triple H’s stated rationale for rejecting the feud was that “the time is not right,” although no deeper motivation has been revealed. While many are criticizing HHH for his decision, he theoretically could argue that he needs to quickly defeat a heel in his first singles feud as a babyface, and Edge would lose too much face in that situation. Edge is reportedly not too upset, as he is expected to spend the summer working with John Cena in the main-event over the WWE Championship.

Saturday Night’s Main Event - to be held on the 15th July - will feature Edge vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Cena for the WWE Championship.

New Smackdown commentator JBL is said to be contemplating retirement from in-ring action. Layfield made a remark about retiring on his weekly radio show and also reportedly told wrestlers at the 5/23 SmackDown! taping that he was likely to wrestle his final match that night. The retirement consideration is due to his back and (to a lesser extent) knee injuries. Although the creative team has been told JBL will be back in the ring in three months, those close to JBL are of the impression that such a return is not a certainty. He will, however, make a decision by the end of the summer regarding whether he truly can step in the ring again. JBL is believed to be very happy with what he’s accomplished in the wrestling ring, so he would not at all be dissatisfied if he did have to retire.

Although Trish Stratus is hardly viewed as another Stacy Keibler in terms of inevitably leaving WWE, the company is unaware of her long-term plans—the lack of knowledge about where she stands resulted in her quick, clean job on RAW. Stratus’ contract expires in August and although she’s negotiating with Johnny Ace, a new deal has not yet been signed.Plus, regardless of her contractual status, she will be taking time off in September for her wedding and honeymoon. Again, while Stratus has shown interest in remaining with WWE, there’s enough question about her long-term future that the company feels it needs to elevate other Divas.

HBK is due to take a hiatus after Summerslam, so expect the DX reunion to continue until then.

On the subject of DX, I actually thought the angle on last weeks Raw was genuinely funny!

Thanks in large part to the terrible reaction from the crowd at Vengeance, the Imposter Kane character has been dropped from the plans. Last Monday’s angle turned out to be the blow-off for the Imposter Kane, who was initially scheduled to be involved in storylines for several more weeks. The critical and fan response to the storyline will assure it receives mention as one of WWE’s all-time worst gimmicks! However, the man behind the mask - Drew Hankinson - is not being blamed, and he is scheduled to start on the Smackdown brand shortly.

The Ric Flair and Mick Foley feud is believed to continue through Summerslam.

While there are no definite details on the return of Chris Masters, (who was taken off television to handle personal substance abuse issues) he is, however, getting treatment for his problem, so much like Randy Orton, he is committed to returning to television. However, there are also reports that WWE officials are also looking for Masters to mature socially before making his return. It is believed that WWE has no timetable set for his return, as he is not considered a Randy Orton-level priority.

Goldust has been released.

Disney recently issued a press release announcing that production on upcoming film “Game Plan” was put on hiatus following an injury to star The Rock. The Rock ruptured his achilles tendon during football practice for his role as an all-pro quarterback in the film.

As for his WWE status, although WWE maintains contact with The Rock, there are no plans for the wrestler-turned-actor to do anything major with the company in the short-term.

Vengeance

Randy Orton beat Kurt Angle in a decent match, to gain revenge for his defeat to Angle at One Night Stand.

Umaga squashed Eugene in a nothing bout, then destroyed Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Doink The Clown, before walking away from Kamala (to set up a match on the following nights Raw).

Ric Flair beat Mick Foley by two straight falls in a thankfully short match, the first via pinfall and the second via disqualification, after Mick decided to 'get hardcore' and attacked Flair with weapons, which continued after the bout.

Johnny Nitro defeated Carlito and defending champion Shelton Benjamin in a good triple threat to win the Intercontinental Championship. One particular spot worth mentioning was when Nitro hit some right hands and then perched Carlito on the top rope. Benjamin shook the ropes crotching Nitro and then Carlito nailed him with right hands. Benjamin leapt up to the top and we saw an insane triple suplex type move with Nitro upside down in the corner!

RVD beat Edge to keep the WWE title in a fairly enjoyable match, after Lita interefered but it all went wrong for Edge.

Kane lost to his imposter in an awful match.

John Cena made Sabu tap out in a passable 'Extreme Lumberjack' bout.

DX returned with a victory over the Spirit Squad thanks to a double pin, as HHH pinned Kenny and HBK pinned Johnny at the same time! Afterwards, Michaels forced Mitch's face into HHH's backside, to mimic the 'Vince McMahon's Kiss My Ass' club.

Afterwards, off-air, DX continued its celebration and even got women to flash them. Triple H failed, however, to convince Lilian Garcia to remove her top. The wrestler replied to Garcia’s rejection with a mooning!

Review of ECW's One Night Stand

First up was a promo from Paul Heyman, which was of a high quality as usual. Then the action began:

Match 1: Tazz v Jerry Lawler
Outcome: Tazz win

As I had predicted, this was nothing more than a squash match. However, the influence of Joey Styles - he ran in and jumped on Lawlers back, before Tazz got the Tazzmission on Lawler - meant that Lawler saved face. Still, I am glad this was over quickly as I highly doubt these two are in the condition to wrestle a long match.

Match 2: Kurt Angle v Randy Orton
Outcome: Kurt Angle win

This was one of the better matches on the card - as you would expect, with Kurt Angle being involved. Angle is starting to use a bit more of his amatuer background in the ring, but still keeping it entertaining to the pro-wrestling audience.

In the match, Orton got some pretty funny stick from the ECW fans, and Angle got a great reception. Now while Kurt Angle is certainly not an advocate of hardcore wrestling, the ECW fans know good wrestling when they see it, and - in my opinion - Angle is the best ever.

After outwrestling Orton for long spells of the match - although Orton did have his own spells of offence - Angle eventually won with the ankle lock.

Match 3: The Full Blooded Italians v Super Crazy and Yoshihiro Tajiri
Outcome: The Full Blooded Italians win

This was a decent crusierweight tag match (Big Guido was in the corner of the FBI) which once again summed up how useless WWE are at booking their own cruiserweights. One particularly enjoyable spot was the stereo tarantula that Crazy & Tajiri put on the FBI!

The win came from the FBI hitting Tajiri with a double fisherman's buster while Big Guido attacked Super Crazy on the outside. After the match, the Big Show (complete with new music) came down & cleaned house.

JBL then cuts an anti-ECW promo, and gets a lot of heat from the ECW crowd. He also announces that he is taking over from Tazz as Smackdowns colour commentator.

Match 4: Sabu v Rey Mysterio (WWE World Championship)
Outcome: No contest

This was generally thought to be a dream match and, while it might not go down as an all-time classic, it certainly did not disappoint.

There was plenty of high spots in the match, chairs were involved a lot, and the action was fast paced. Thoroughly enjoyable.

The match finished when Sabu tossed a chair right at the head of Mysterio sending him to the outside. Sabu followed out and put Rey on the table between the apron and guardrail and then set up the chair in the ring and dived off the top onto the table with a DDT on Rey to the floor. Seriously, that was insane! Trainers ran down to ringside to check on both men, a doctor says they can’t fight anymore, and it was over.

Match 5: Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer v Edge and Mick Foley
Outcome: Edge and Mick Foley win

The match of the night, no question.

It started with a decent promo from Mick Foley, with one particular laugh out loud moment, about how here was a time when he loved ECW, when he respected ECW, back in the days when it was run by a visionary, when it was owned by a true creative genius, followed by - 'Let’s hear it for Stephanie McMahon'. He then chanted 'Long live the Alliance'!

There was then promo's from Edge and Lita, before Funk and Dreamer came down, accompanied by Beulah. She made the challenge to make it a 6 person tag match, which was accepted.

This match was insane. There were so many vile spots even I was looking away at times. Tables, ladders, chairs, barbed wire, baseball bats, two by fours, fire - you name it, it was involved. There was a lot of spots around a large piece of ply wood with barbed wire on it, which Foley & Funk were caught in at the end, and Funk actually had to be cut out of!

There are two images that will stick in mind from this. The first one was the fact that at one point, Mick Foley was on fire! This came from being hit by Terry Funk with a 2X4, with barbed wire on it, which had been set on fire! Foley was extinguished on the outside as he fell out of the ring.

The second was Terry Funks eye. Seriously, I think they were concerned he was gonna lose it or be blinded or something, as halfway through the match he had to go off to have it bandaged up, and when he came back it looked horrible. I am pretty squeamish about eyes, and that sight really genuinely bothered me!

The match ended when Edge hit the edgeomatic (with the barbwire around the neck of!) on Dreamer. Edge then nailed Beulah with a spear! Edge covered her for the win and pinned her as if he was nailing her!

Match 6: Balls Mahoney vs. Masato Tanaka
Outcome: Balls Mahoney win

Well not only was it always going to be hard to follow that, but for Masato Tanaka, it was also going to be hard to follow his performance from the first One Night Stand, as last year it was HE who had the match of the year, that time with Mike Awesome.

He did not on this occasion, but it was certainly a passable bout. Also enjoyable watching Balls Mahoney, if nothing else for the chants of 'Balls' by the ECW faithful!

The match ended when Balls hit Tanaka with a huge chair shot. He actually showed off the chair after and trust me, it was pretty darn dented!

This was followed by a pretty pointless angle involving Eugene, who was battered by the Sandman.

Match 7: Rob Van Dam v John Cena (WWE Championship)
Outcome: Rob Van Dam win

Well, as predicted, John Cena got one of the most hostile receptions ever in modern pro wrestling! There was even a sign in the audience saying, "If Cena wins, we riot"! Also, as predicted, RVD won - and KIMBO won a pint of Guiness off McEyebrow, and a tenner off Crank!

This was certainly not a poor bout, but the atmosphere definitely helped. The start was quite funny, when Cena threw his shirt into the crowd but they kept throwing it back! At one point, even the security guard threw it back & gave him the finger!

Personally I think Cena handled it well, however the fact is that the ECW audience know their wrestling, and Cena is basically a very average wrestler at best, who not only has a rubbish street fighter gimmick that is simply not believable (as he looks pretty un-menacing!) but also he is given promos to say about how he built his way up - but lets face it, he has had everything handed to him on a plate, though to be fair he does have a strong work ethic, and from what I gather does anything asked of him. Still though, I do not think the fans in the Hammerstein Ballroom were bothered about his work ethic!

Anyway the match ended when Edge run down & hot Cena with a spear, and RVD followed itup with a five-star frog splash. Prior to this, two ref's had taken bumps and were out, but Paul Heyman ran down & made the 3-count. Afterwards, the ECW locker room came down & celebrated with RVD.

Overall - The Sheriff's view: Well, this was not as controversial as the previous years (the RVD & Paul Heyman promos were riveting, and then there was the JBL/Blue Meanie incident in the WWE/ECW end of show brawl) but it was certainly as entertaining - if not more so - than the first One Night Stand in terms of in-ring action.

In particular, the Edge/Foley v Funk/Dreamer tag match was superb entertainment, and the Angle v Orton & Mysterio v Sabu matches were very good. The main event was also very good, but as I said, I think the crowd may have had a part to play in that.

I just hope that Paul Heyman gets to have proper creative control of the new ECW show, as I would hate for this to just turn into another WWE programme.

General round-up, 1st May

Well the big news is the return of ECW

There was always the potential for this to happen, I just hope they get it right. The points of note so far are:

• There will still be the One Night Stand PPV in June, and will be WWE v ECW, though how that will work yet I am not sure
• Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer will be responsible for the booking
• Joey Styles is likely to be the play-by-play commentator, with JR returning to Raw
• It is scheduled to start around September
• Rather than adding a 3rd day of television tapings, it is likely to replace Velocity and be recorded before the Smackdown! tapings. It will, however, run independant house shows
• The roster is likely to be made up of old ECW stars and developing WWE stars
• Vince is rumoured to be very open to the idea of signing new stars to the brand
• Sabu has reportedly agreed to be a part of the roster
• There are also reports that Rhyno (Rhino) may be interested in moving from TNA, however Raven and the Dudleys (Team 3-D) are on long-term TNA contracts
• Lance Storm has been contacted about joining and, although he appears open to making a few appearances, has stated that he has no intention of returning to work full-time

In other news:

Kurt Angle recently suffered a cracked rib and will be out for an undetermined amount of time. The incident happened in a match against Mark Henry (aint it about time he was fired?) on the recent tour of Europe. As a result, Booker T automatically goes to the final round of the King of the Ring.

Speaking of Booker & the KOTR, I really hope he wins it & starts to gain some momentum to put him back toward the top of the card, cause right now he is pretty pointless.

Although I do not have the details, it appears that WWE & Brock Lesnar have reached a settlement, and that Lesnar will soon be free to pursure other ventures. There are no plans for Lesnar to return to WWE at this point.

The DX reunion idea is nothing more than that at the minute, though it could happen. One of the issues though is how far they could take certain things - bearing in mind HBK's religious beliefs these days - and also whether or not there will be room for both the ego's HBK and HHH on the same team! However, it would certainly create an element of interest, in the short-term at least.

Depite the boo's continuing, there are no plans to turn John Cena heel.

Rumour has it that Shawn Michaels is a bit disillusioned with life as a WWE employee, and will be cutting back on his schedule soon.

In addition to the above news re Joey Styles, he will also apparently be commentating on Heat, though how much of a permanent arangement that is remains to be seen.

Apparently HHH & Steph do not know - nor do they wish to know - the sex of their child. Whatever happens, the little dude is bound to end up in wrestling!

The Tim White suicide videos continue to run on wwe.com.

Trish dislocated her shoulder last night at Backlash, and we await an update to see how long she will be out for.

Sadly (for me) Stacy Kiebler will officially cut ties with WWE once her contract runs out.

Speaking of Backlash, here is a round-up of last nights event:

Carlito beat Chris Masters in a reasonable match. It ended with Carlito winning by putting his feet on the ropes while getting the 3 count. I think Carlito will follow in some similar "Lie, Cheat & Steal" footsteps of the late Eddie Guerrero.

Umaga beat Ric Flair in a non-event.

Trish Stratus beat Mickie James by a DQ. The match was ok but the ending was pretty rubbish, with Mickie getting DQ'd for a 5-count on a choke. However, it has crossed my mind, considering the injury which Trish had, that maybe it was a spur of the way moment of getting her out of there.

Rob Van Dam beat Shelton Benjamin in the 'Winner Takes All' match. Although this was not an unforgettable classic, it was arguably the joint best show on the card - as was expected. A good bout from two of the most enjoyable performers in the business today.

Kane and Big Show had a fairly dull bout, ending in a no-contest as Kane continued to hear more 'voices'. Enthralling, eh...

Then, Vince & Shane beat HBK (and God) in a passable bout. HBK, as you would expect, provided most the action. He was beaten by the McMahons getting some aid from the 'Spirit Squad'.

Just before the WWE title bout there was a fairly dull angle with Matt Striker and Eugene. It did end, however, with Eugene giving Striker a stunner, which always gets a pop, obviously.

Finally, in a decent main event, John Cena pinned HHH to win the triple threat match, which also included Edge. At the end, HHH attacked both of his opponents and the ref with a sledgehammer. Although I wanted HHH to get the belt back, and I would have rather Edge won than Cena, this still a good bout, which meant that, along with the RVD match, I will probably remember the card as average. Believe me, it was nearly much worse.