News Plain and Simple 05.04.09
A quick review of the wrestling shows at the end of the week Smackdown, Impact and Superstars.
WWE Smackdown
Among the reasons that Friday’s episode of Smackdown was so good were the performances of Edge, Chris Jericho and Jeff Hardy. But we’ve all come to expect that from them.
The real story is that CM Punk – and to a lesser degree, John Morrison – were given an opportunity to be impact players. The prospect of Punk and Morrison getting involved in the top-of-the-card mix is exciting – and overdue.
Punk proved Friday that he can hold his own with superstars such as Edge and Jericho on the microphone as well as in the ring. His victory over world heavyweight champion Edge in a non-title match was as clean as could be, unlike his string of fluke wins over top guys last year.
As for Morrison, it appears that he is going to be a babyface, a role that should be a good fit because of his acrobatic, risk-taking style. He defeated Shelton Benjamin (who has been holding his own against The Undertaker as of late) and then had a backstage altercation with Jericho.
The key to Morrison getting over as a babyface is for him to maintain his cocky persona and still be someone the fans want to cheer. It shouldn’t be that hard. Fans already like watching him because of what he can do in the ring, and if he just directs his smart-aleck remarks at the heels instead of the babyfaces, it will work.
Umaga’s involvement at the end of the Edge-Punk match was a surprise. Hopefully there will be some explanation given as to why Umaga attacked Punk. …
The four-way elimination match to determine the No. 1 contender for Edge’s title was fun to watch, especially when it came down to Hardy and Rey Mysterio. …
TNA IMPACT
There’s a lot of gray area in TNA right now, and I’m not talking about Kevin Nash’s hair. After trying to sort out who the babyfaces are and who the heels are during Thursday night’s episode of TNA Impact, my head is spinning worse than Abyss’ after he took that stiff chair shot from Cody Deaner.
That’s a lot to keep track of, especially nowadays when viewers have short attention spans. I can’t image a casual viewer of Impact having any idea who’s good and who’s bad.
I’m not saying that there should be cookie-cutter good guys and bad guys or no story lines that have layers or shades of gray among the characters.
That’s a lot to keep track of, especially nowadays when viewers have short attention spans. I can’t image a casual viewer of Impact having any idea who’s good and who’s bad.
I’m not saying that there should be cookie-cutter good guys and bad guys or no story lines that have layers or shades of gray among the characters (for example, the Shawn Michaels-Batista-Chris Jericho story line from last year), but if there’s too much ambiguity, it’s more of a challenge to get people emotionally invested.
WWE Superstars
–I enjoyed the Ted DiBiase Jr.-Carlito match. As I have said before, Carlito is very good when he wants to be, and DiBiase already looks smooth in the ring despite his inexperience. I’m looking forward to the Colons-Legacy WWE tag team title program. …
–The Evan Bourne-Paul Burchill match was fine, but I thought their match on ECW last week was better. I did like the psychology in Thursday’s match, as Bourne sold a knee injury but still managed to hit the Shooting Star Press on basically one leg.
In other news….
–Ring of Honor announced today that Bret Hart will make a special signing appearance for the company on Friday 7/24 in Toronto, Ontario. It will be Hart’s first-ever appearance at a Ring of Honor event.
Vince McMahon spoke at the annual shareholders meeting on Friday. He answered questions from the shareholders of the WWE for close to an hour during this Q&A session. During what many view as being the State of the Union Address for wrestling, he revealed many interesting things. Highlights of speech are below
–The WWE is not interested in going into the MMA business.
–Vince would like a Wednesday show to fill the void on that night. He doesn’t believe there is such a thing as overexposure due to all the channel choices people have to choose from. He also stressed that it is very important their programming isn’t pre-empted.
–The WWE is also curious about the changes MyNetwork is going to go through. The channel will transition from being a network to a programming service and the WWE isn’t quite sure what that is.
–They have been talking with Time Warner about providing WWE 24/7 to their customers. Vince is hopeful they are close to a deal.
–The WWE has big plans for SummerSlam including a party and lead-in event. They are also meeting with USA Today and CNN Worldwide to help with their media relations.
–Vince discussed the move to TV-PG. They are happy being there as it provides a safe-haven for sponsors. They were approached by Playboy to do the annual Diva spread but turned them down. The company has not used the Divas in their tradition way and we won’t be seeing anymore bra and panties matches as in the past.
–Related to the last topic, the company has secured a sponsorship from Pepsi.
–The company is slowly moving into China. Instead of going national all at once, they are currently seen in four provinces. They had scheduled some events there but had to back out due to dealing with red-tape. The International business continues to grow for the company.
–Vince discussed Internet piracy of their PPV shows. He said they can’t stop it alone and it will require a team effort including the PPV carriers and systems to fight it.
–Their research has shown that the decreasing PPV buyrates has more to do with more people watching the events together than a decrease in interest. He hopes that when the economy gets better that this trend will stop and people will go back to watching the shows at their own house instead of at a friend’s.
–He is looking forward to working with Mattel. Comparing them to Jakks/Pacific is nght and day. Mattel wants to be a partner with them and has roots in areas where the WWE doesn’t.
–He mentioned that wrestlers that get injured in the ring have their medical expenses and rehab paid for by the company.
–When discussing ECW, he noted that it is being used differently than in the past. While not a farm system, the show is a good place for youngsters to get introduced to the fans before moving onto RAW and SmackDown.
–He doesn’t see a WrestleMania taking place outside of North America. The one PPV the company did from England, SummerSlam ‘92, was shown via tape-delay in the States and did not work out well on PPV for the company.
News Plain and Simple 04.30.09
OregonLive.com is reporting that Playboy Buddy Rose passed away due to natural causes; he was 56. This is according to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s office.
Jim Ross provides hs thoughts on the life and times of Playboy Buddy Rose….
On the Passing of Playboy Buddy Rose: I was really sorry to hear of Buddy Rose’s passing this week at the age of 56. When you get to my stage of the game, I’m 57, deaths of one’s peers can bring on a variety of emotions. Buddy Rose was one of the most underrated wrestlers of his generation and could literally have a solid match with virtually any one. Buddy’s weight became an issue but also encouraged the infamous “Blow Away Diet” that was featured on WWE TV programming on a semi regular basis back in the day. Buddy wrestled as the “Masked Executioner” in the first bout of the first Wrestlemania. Buddy was a funny guy from my dealings with him and had a good head for the business. I always enjoyed the rare opportunities I had to visit with Buddy usually when we were in Portland. I told Tazz on our ride down to Portland from Seattle a few weeks ago that I hoped that Buddy Rose and Ed Wiskowski would show up at the Rose Garden to say hello to the “boys.” They never came to the Rose Garden on our last trip there, as best I know, and now Buddy is gone. Our condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Playboy Buddy Rose
According to NBC 4 and The Columbus Dispatch, LeMarcus Skipper, 22, was shot and killed in his Columbus apartment. He was living with his grandmother at the time, and is the son of former WCW and TNA Champion Elix Skipper. An investigation is ongoing.
Other thoughts from Jim Ross…
On the Brand Extension: From what I can ascertain, the brand separation is going to truly become three, separate entities which was the original concept. I like the concept as it allows many wrestlers to get a chance at the big time that one roster would not facilitate any where near as quickly.
On Jack Swagger: After staying step for step with John Cena on Raw a couple of weeks ago and having a really solid title bout at Backlash, more people are seeing that my fellow Okie Jack Swagger is the real deal and in time could evolve into a major, PPV headlining WWE star. Any one with a brain can see that Swagger is an amazing athlete which still means a great deal to me. Swagger may never become an accomplished “song and dance man” but then again he might but Swagger will always be able to wrestle and as time goes on Jack Swagger, from Perry, Oklahoma, may well become of of the best hands to come along in WWE in quite some time. I will also, in the spirit of full disclosure and honesty, admit that I am not totally unbiased when it comes to this young man from Oklahoma University and from my boyhood hero Danny Hodge’s home town.
On Tommy Dreamer’s Night at the Garden: Tommy Dreamer, who grew up attending wrestling events at MSG and who is from Yonkers, New York, had a memorable night Tuesday night in his “hometown” arena. Tommy is a warhorse who loves wrestling and is also a man that will always vividly remember his bout against Christian this week in the Garden especially if it is Tommy’s last one there. More young wrestlers need to tap in to Dreamer’s passion and not try to act so non plussed about being a wrestling fan and if they aren’t wrestling fans management should assist said talents in finding other endeavors. Tommy Dreamer is a credit to wrestling and I am proud to say I was at the Garden that night in April of 2009 when he gallantly tried to win the ECW Title.
News Plain and Simple 04.29.09
ECW on Sci-fi Results 04.29.09
Tyson Kidd Def. Finaly
Tommy Dreamer v. Christian (ECW Title) No Contest
I am saddened to report that Paul Perschmann, better known to wrestling fans as Playboy Buddy Rose, was found dead by his wife at their home Tuesday in Portland, Ore., wrestlingobserver.com reported early Wednesday morning. His age is listed as 56 on imdb.com.
The cause of death is still unknown, although he had told people that he had been having blood sugar issues with his diabetes, according to wrestlingobserver.com.
Trained by Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson, he made his wrestling debut in 1973. Buddy went on to become a legendary figure in NWA Pacific Northwest Wrestling, based in Portland. A consummate heel, Rose was well respected for his great ability to both work the microphone along with being a ring general. Unfortunately his legacy will probably end up being stuff like Blow Away and his later years as a comedy wrestler, After retiring from wrestling, he opened a wrestling school in Portland Oregon.
News Plain and Simple 04.28.09
Monday Night Raw Results 04.27.09
–The first episode of Raw in the (new) Age of Orton saw WWE champion Randy Orton’s venomous victory speech interrupted by an unlikely party crasher.
As Orton was cutting his promo Monday night, I kept waiting for Batista’s music to start playing. You knew someone was going to confront Orton, and Batista was the logical choice. To my surprise, however, instead of the opening strains of Saliva’s “I Walk Alone,” the sound of a ticking clock filled the arena and MVP appeared on the stage.
As usual, MVP was smooth on the microphone, and the crowd reacted to him. The verbal confrontation led to a non-title match between MVP and Orton later in the show. The match, which ended with Orton winning by disqualification due to outside interference, was pretty good
News Plain and Simple PPV Results and Thoughts
WWE Backlash
The first three matches were decent if this was a free TV show and then the show went downhill quickly.
All three major championships changed hands When all was said and done, former Rated RKO members Edge and Randy Orton were world champions, and two of WWE’s biggest stars – John Cena and Triple H – were carried out on stretchers. I believe the two world title belts now are exactly where they should be.
The Things I did like…
As expected, the show-stealer was the Last Man Standing Match between Edge and Cena. I find it utterly amazing that Cena consistently has strong matches on pay-per-view, yet there are still fans out there who don’t think he can work. Edge and John Cena put together yet another amazing match which seems to happen every time they square off against one another. This should have been the match at WrestleMania rather than the three-way which included the Big Show. After Cena and Edge tore it up for nearly 30 minutes in this last man standing match which featured some great spots, the Big Show did rear his head. He came out and chokeslammed Cena off the stage onto a spotlight which made a huge explosion and the champion was unable to recover from
Christian defeated Jack Swagger in what was a fun opening match to win the ECW Title. This was also the right move but I do like Swagger and think he has a ton of potential. I can easily see him becoming of the bigger stars in the company over the next few years if he continues to improve.
Chris Jericho def. Ricky Steamboat: I had my doubts going in about how good this match would be. Steamboat, 56, looked good during his brief time in the ring with Jericho at WrestleMania XXV and in a 10-man tag match the next night on Raw, but working a 12-minute singles match would be more of a challenge. Steamboat pulled it off, though, as the crowd was into the match and was chanting “You still got it.” Steamboat did all of his signature spots: a high crossbody off the top, crisp armdrags, skinning the cat and a plancha on the floor. “The Dragon” also did a belly-to-back suplex off the top rope.
What I didnt Like…
The Hardy match was horrible and a disgrace to all the I Quit matches that came before them. The Khali kiss-cam segment was mildly humorous
Without a doubt, this was the worst of the 4 PPV events the WWE has presented this year. As you can guess from my description of the show, I did not like it and if you decided not to pay for this show you saved yourself $40.
ECW Championship: Christian beat Jack Swagger to win the title
Chris Jericho beat Ricky Steamboat
Kane beat CM Punk
I Quit Match: Jeff Hardy beat Matt Hardy
Santina Marella beat Beth Phoenix
WWE Championship: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, & Ted DiBiase beat Triple H, Batista, and Shane McMahon. As a result, Randy Orton won the title.
Last Man Standing for the World Heavyweight Championship: Edge beat John Cena to win the title
Other News
Reid Flair arrested again
–Reid Flair is facing felony charges after Charlotte-Mecklenburg police found heroin inside his car on Sunday. The 21 year-old son of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair has been bonded out of jail.
Matt Hardy Injured
Matt Hardy seemed to be in line for a push as one of the top heels on Raw since getting moved over there during the WWE Draft. That will be on hold for a little while as he suffered a broken hand during his match against his brother Jeff last night at the Backlash pay-per-view according to the Wrestling Observer website.
According to the report, Hardy had an X-ray done today which showed the break. He is expected to be out of action for 4-6 weeks.
News Plain and Simple: PPV Preview Edition
World heavyweight champion John Cena vs. Edge in a Last Man Standing Match: This figures to be the best match on the show, These two have had some wars in the past and each time the story lines and match quality have been as good as you anyone can expect of Cena.
WWE champion Triple H, Batista and Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes: The stipulation is that if any member of Triple H’s team is pinned, disqualified or counted out, Orton wins the title. I have a feeling that a big angle is going to take place in this match, and that it’s going to be McMahon turning heel and costing Triple H the title.
Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy in an I Quit Match: With Matt having been drafted to Raw, this apparently is the blow-off match to this feud. When the program began I would have bet anything that it was going to culminate in a TLC match. Oh well.
Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat: It seemed as if Steamboat took his final bow when he was on the winning side in a 10-man tag match two weeks ago, so I’m surprised this match is even taking place. It wouldn’t make sense for Jericho, one of the top two heels on Smackdown, to lose to a 56-year-old man, and I don’t think he will
ECW champion Jack Swagger vs. Christian: It’s a good bet that Christian will win the title at some point, but the question is whether it will be at Backlash or sometime in the future.
Kane vs. CM Punk: It seems as if Punk is on the verge of receiving a significant push (hopefully that’s not just wishful thinking), so he’ll get the victory though this match will be awful. I can’t see anything happening with this match
I must admit I am looking forward to some of this card. The Jericho/Steamboat match has potential as does the Swagger/Christian bout.
