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WWE Swings at UFC and Misses in Statement Released AFter UFC 91
by Ivan Trembow

Here's an excerpt from WWE's official web site after Brock Lesnar won the UFC Heavyweight Title at UFC 91:

Critics have noted that many of the fights on the UFC pay-per-view ended in the first round, leaving UFC producers scrambling to fill the three-hour event with content. The dearth of hearty competition left many viewers to watch less prestigious under-card fights and only served to bolster claims that UFC pay-per-view events can often be a “crap shoot” in regards to filling the full three hours.

Oh boy, where to begin? Well, for starters, Vince McMahon is a petty, desperate, vengeful man who jumps up and down for joy when one of his monthly PPVs draws 200,000 buys in the United States, a number that would make UFC officials vomit.

This statement also demonstrates how clueless and out of touch WWE is. They could have pushed the obvious angle that one of WWE's former wrestlers (excuse me, I mean “WWE superstars”... excuse me, I mean “entertainers”... wait, which term has WWE not banned its announcers from using this week?) just went into the UFC and won the UFC Heavyweight Title in his 4th career MMA fight, and this must mean that lots of other WWE wrestlers could easily do the same thing if they wanted to.

That is an ignorant belief that a lot of fans are going to have as a result of Lesnar’s win (ask Sean O'Haire how accurate it is), and WWE could have played into that belief and added to it.

Instead, they are ringing a completely empty and hollow note about MMA fights ending quickly.

If anyone needed more proof of WWE's management being out of touch with reality, there it is.

McMahon should go back to contributing to and then exploiting his wrestlers’ deaths for profit, and leave MMA alone.

On a somewhat related note, in response to a question about Scott "Raven" Levy's lawsuit against WWE for classifying its wrestlers as "independent contractors" instead of "employees," the case is still pending in court.

From a legal standpoint, there is absolutely no basis on earth that could be used to justify the status of WWE wrestlers being “independent contractors” when they are told where to work, how to work, who to work against, what to wear when they’re not even working, etc. The only possible way that they could get the Scott Levy suit thrown out is if they can do so because of the statute of limitations running out.

It’s interesting to note that in WWE’s legal response to the Levy lawsuit, they did not even attempt to offer one rationalization for wrestlers being classified as independent contractors. They just said that they’ve never been called employees before and that the statute of limitations had expired.

After years of treating wrestlers like pieces of meat to be discarded when their bodies are about to finally give out on them (or if they die while under WWE contract, exploit their deaths in storylines in order to put more heat on their heel characters, as they did after Eddie Guerrero’s death), god forbid they should now have to provide those wrestlers with the health insurance or retirement plans.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 3:45 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- McMahon Thinks Asking Him About Steroids Scandal is "In Poor Taste"
by Ivan Trembow

In response to Vince McMahon's comment last week at a Florida press conference that it's "in poor taste" for mainstream media reporters to ask him about him about the ongoing WWE steroids scandal that Sports Illustrated broke, local reporter Todd Lewis said, "Vince, you have your employees dying prematurely due to health problems from steroid use, and you are going to lecture people about poor taste?" I've got a few more things to add.

Do you know what I think is "in poor taste," Vince?

I think that creating an environment where wrestlers feel the need to be massive, gassed-up freaks if they want to succeed in this business is "in poor taste."

I think that failing to try to fix the underlying problems that you have contributed to when so many people have died on your watch is "in poor taste."

I think that exploiting one of those wrestler's death for profit in a pro wrestling storyline for over a year is "in poor taste."

I think that having a joke of a "Wellness Policy" where wrestlers are actually allowed to take steroids and HGH just as long as they have a doctor's prescription that any famous athlete can easily obtain is "in poor taste."

I think that forcing wrestlers to work without pay for X number of days instead of having them actually get taken off the road when they fail a drug test is "in poor taste."

I think that publicly mocking Randy Orton on national television for his temporary loss of muscle mass when he temporarily got off steroids to rehab a neck injury is "in poor taste."

I think that promoting gassed-up freaks to little kids as their heroes is "in poor taste."

I think that promoting man-on-woman violence as something that is perfectly fine and even ideal if the male is in the right and the female is in the wrong is "in poor taste."

I think that continuing a pro wrestling show after a wrestler falls to his death from the rafters of the arena because the safety equipment that he was given was substandard is "in poor taste."

I think that exploiting terrorism for profit on the 4th of July, or any other day for that matter, is "in poor taste."

I think that making fun of a longtime employee's real-life cancer scare in a TV skit where you pull objects out of his ass is "in poor taste."

I think that booking yourself in segments to tongue-kiss countless female employees on national television, some of them with your wife watching from two feet away as part of the storyline, is "in poor taste."

I think that suggesting an incest storyline involving yourself and your daughter is "in poor taste."

I think that subsequently suggesting an incest storyline involving your son and your daughter after the previous idea was turned down is "in poor taste."

I could go on like this, as could anyone who knows anything about Vince McMahon.

The fact is, when most people hear the name "Vince McMahon," two of the first words that come to mind are "poor taste."

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:23 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC PPV Revenue Tops $200 Million in 2006, PLUS: Early Word on UFC 67's PPV Buyrate
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The UFC broke the pay-per-view industry's all-time records for a single year of business and generated over $200 million in revenue during 2006, according to two credible media outlets.

Both the Associated Press and the Wrestling Observer have reported that Zuffa's pay-per-view revenue in 2006 exceeded $200 million, with the Wrestling Observer reporting the specific figure of $222,766,000. As the Observer put it, "UFC grossed more money this past year on PPV than any promotion in history ever has."

Many fans of both boxing and MMA have wondered whether the UFC has already surpassed boxing. The numbers show that not only is the UFC bigger than boxing today, but it's also bigger than boxing ever was from a PPV revenue standpoint. The all-time record year for boxing was 1999, with just over $200 million in combined PPV revenue, and the UFC broke that record by over $20 million in 2006.

Specific UFC PPV Buyrates
In addition to the broader, annual statistics in the Associated Press report, the Wrestling Observer has also reported on the PPV buyrates of specific UFC events.

Leading the way was UFC 66 (Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz), which drew approximately 1,050,000 pay-per-view buys and grossed approximately $41.95 million in PPV revenue.

Prior to UFC 66, Zuffa publicly and repeatedly predicted that the event would draw 1.2 million PPV buys. While the event fell short of meeting that prediction, the total of 1,050,000 still topped boxing's biggest event of 2006 (Oscar de la Hoya vs. Ricardo Mayorga) by more than 100,000 buys, as De la Hoya vs. Mayorga drew approximately 925,000 PPV buys.

The UFC's second-biggest pay-per-view event of 2006 was UFC 61 (Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock and Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski), which drew approximately 775,000 PPV buys and grossed approximately $30.96 million in PPV revenue.

The UFC's third-biggest PPV event of 2006 was UFC 60 (Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie), which drew a final number of approximately 620,000 PPV buys and generated approximately $24.77 million in PPV revenue.

Several other UFC PPV events in 2006 surpassed the mark of 500,000 PPV buys (and thus $20 million in PPV revenue), as the UFC's average for its ten PPV events in 2006 was approximately 522,500 buys per event.

Even if one were to take the three biggest UFC events of 2006 out of the equation, the seven remaining UFC PPVs in 2006 still managed to average approximately 400,000 PPV buys per event.

Boxing Has Second-Biggest Year Ever, WWE's Domestic PPV Buyrates Collapse
The only records that the UFC has not broken are the all-time boxing records for individual events, which still stand at approximately 2.0 million buys for a heavyweight fight and approximately 1.4 million buys for a non-heavyweight fight. The upcoming fight between Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is expected to break the 1.4 million mark and perhaps even approach the 2.0 million mark.

While the perception is that boxing's PPV business has rapidly declined, the fact of the matter is that 2006 was the second-biggest year in boxing history at the PPV box office, with gross PPV revenue of $177 million. That would likely be seen as a far bigger news story than it currently is, if it weren't for the fact that the UFC blew away boxing's all-time records during the same year.

It's not boxing that the UFC's explosion in PPV business appears to have severely hurt; it's pro wrestling and specifically World Wrestling Entertainment that the UFC is hurting.

The UFC launched on national cable television with the highly-watched pro wrestling program WWE Raw as its lead-in, and two years later the UFC's domestic PPV business has skyrocketed during the same period that WWE's domestic PPV business has collapsed.

From a promotional standpoint, the UFC has out-done WWE at its own game with money-drawing, exaggerated personal feuds like Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock, only with real fights in place of the simulated fights that pro wrestling offers. Indeed, the same publication that broke the story of the UFC's PPV totals for 2006, the Wrestling Observer, has also written in the past year that they have been specifically told by UFC president Dana White that WWE's business model "is the business model that they're trying to emulate."

The data could not be any more clear in demonstrating that the UFC is drawing fans away from pro wrestling far more than it's drawing fans away from boxing.

The management of WWE, led by Vince McMahon, continues to publicly downplay the negative affect that the rise of the UFC has had on WWE's domestic PPV buyrates. Indeed, a WWE executive is quoted in the Associated Press story on this subject as saying, "We are not worried about UFC."

Nonetheless, WWE's domestic PPV buyrates for its monthly shows have fallen under the 200,000 mark regularly over the past year, and recently fell to as low as 55,000 for a PPV event in December. In addition to the alarming number of 55,000 domestic buys for the "December to Dismember" event, several of WWE's pay-per-view events in the second half of 2006 failed to draw 150,000 domestic buys, including Great American Bash (140,000); No Mercy (120,000); Cyber Sunday (140,000); and Armageddon (145,000).

With its total of 1,050,000 domestic PPV buys, UFC 66 actually drew more domestic buys than WWE's last six pay-per-events of 2006 combined. The last six WWE PPVs of 2006 combined to draw approximately 880,000 domestic PPV buys, which is still 170,000 buys short of UFC 66.

In addition, annual mega-events that used to be huge for WWE are now drawing domestic PPV buyrates that are far below the average UFC PPV buyrate. Two prominent examples are Royal Rumble and SummerSlam from January 2006 and August 2006, respectively. Royal Rumble and SummerSlam are traditionally WWE's second and third biggest events of the year, but the 2006 editions of these events only managed to draw 340,000 domestic buys and 330,000 domestic buys, respectively.

Even WWE's biggest event of the year, WrestleMania, was actually out-drawn at the domestic box office by the UFC's second-biggest PPV of the year, and not by a close margin (775,000 to 640,000).

The total revenue generated by domestic buys of WWE PPVs in 2006 was $131,793,000, according to the Wrestling Observer, and that's with WWE having held 16 pay-per-view events in 2006, as compared with ten events for the UFC in 2006 and eleven for boxing.

The average number of domestic PPV buys per event was a mere 208,000 for WWE; which is less than half of the UFC's average of 522,500.

UFC 67 Establishes Strong "Base-Line" for Non-Marquee UFC Events
The Wrestling Observer also reports that the UFC's first PPV event of 2007, UFC 67, drew a much stronger than expected PPV buyrate and has established a "rock bottom" for UFC PPV buyrates that would still be highly profitable.

With Georges St. Pierre having pulled out of UFC 67 due to injury, the PPV main event was Anderson Silva vs. Travis Lutter, which was expected to draw the lowest buyrate that the UFC could possibly draw at this time. The Observer added, "Anything more than 300,000 would have been considered a huge success."

As it turns out, the early estimates for UFC 67 are that it drew between 350,000 and 400,000 PPV buys, meaning that it grossed between $13.98 million and $15.98 million in PPV revenue. The early estimates are always lower than the final numbers, which have replays and "late buys" included in the figures.

It's a positive sign for the UFC if the absolute minimum number of buys that UFC PPVs are going to draw is still in the range of 350,000 to 400,000 buys.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:07 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Biggest Event of 2006: UFC vs. Boxing vs. WWE
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

With the UFC's business exploding in every category over the past twelve months, many people have asked how the UFC's current level of business compares with that of boxing and pro wrestling, which are two of the UFC's primary competitors.

To examine this issue, we're going to take a look at the two most relevant statistics for the largest shows of the year in each of the three aforementioned respective genres: Live gate revenue and pay-per-view revenue.

Television ratings information is not available for boxing on HBO or Showtime, and it has proven largely irrelevant in the case of WWE, which regularly produces TV shows with double or quadruple the UFC's TV ratings while also producing monthly pay-per-views with less than half of the UFC's domestic PPV buys.

The boxing event with the biggest live gate in 2006 was the May 6th fight between Oscar de la Hoya and Ricardo Mayorga, which generated $7,636,000 in gross ticket receipts.

Even with UFC 66 drawing the UFC's biggest live gate in history, its live gate total of $5,397,300 is still over two million dollars short of boxing's high mark in 2006.

However, if the UFC's own publicly stated predictions are accurate, UFC 66 will generate more PPV revenue than De la Hoya vs. Mayorga.

The fight between De la Hoya and Mayorga drew 925,000 pay-per-view buys in the United States at $49.95 per buy, which generated gross PPV revenue of $46.20 million.

The UFC has publicly and repeatedly predicted that UFC 66 will draw 1.2 million PPV buys, and with a price of $39.95, the gross PPV revenue would be $47.94 million.

The previous all-time record for UFC PPVs was set this past July by UFC 61, which drew approximately 775,000 buys and generated approximately $30.96 million in revenue.

In boxing, the all-time record for pay-per-view buys was set in 2002 by Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis, which drew 2.0 million pay-per-view buys. That event is followed closely in the record books by the 1997 fight between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, which drew 1.99 million PPV buys.

The all-time record for a non-heavyweight boxing PPV was set in 1999 when Oscar de la Hoya's fight against Felix Trinidad drew 1.4 million PPV buys. De la Hoya's upcoming fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr., which is scheduled to take place on May 5th, has a strong chance of breaking the 1.4 million record for a non-heavyweight boxing PPV.

With the decline in its domestic business in recent years, World Wrestling Entertainment is no longer in the same league as the UFC or big-name boxing match-ups when it comes to live gate sales or PPV revenue for the largest events.

The biggest WWE event of 2006 was WrestleMania, which took place on April 2nd and drew a live gate of just $2.5 million. In addition, WWE now claims that WrestleMania drew 636,000 PPV buys in the United States (an increase from WWE's previously claimed figure of 560,000).

If WWE's latest figure of 636,000 buys is accurate, that would equal PPV revenue of $31.77 million for the event, which would be $14.43 million short of the PPV revenue that was generated by De la Hoya vs. Mayorga, and $16.17 million short of Zuffa's projections for UFC 66.

Live Gate Sales (United States)
1. Boxing's Biggest Event of 2006: $7,636,000 (De la Hoya vs. Mayorga)

2. MMA's Biggest Event of 2006: $5,397,300 (UFC 66)

3. Pro Wrestling's Biggest Event of 2006: $2,500,000 (WWE WrestleMania)


Pay-Per-View Revenue (United States)
1. MMA's Biggest Event of 2006: $47.94 million (UFC 66, according to Zuffa's publicly stated projections)

2. Boxing's Biggest Event of 2006: $46.20 million (De la Hoya vs. Mayorga)

3. Pro Wrestling's Biggest Event of 2006: $31.77 million (WWE WrestleMania, according to WWE's latest claimed figures)

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:07 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 66 Breaks Records; UFC Business Year-in-Review
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Last weekend's UFC 66 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada generated $5,397,300 in gross ticket sales, which is more than any other event in UFC history.

Prior to UFC 66, there had been three events in UFC history that drew more than $3 million in gross ticket sales: UFC 57 (headlined by Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture), UFC 61 (Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock; and Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski), and UFC 62 (Liddell vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral).

The live gate figure of $5,397,300 that was announced by Zuffa after UFC 66 is indeed the legitimate live gate figure. However, Zuffa's claim that the building was sold out with 14,607 fans in attendance is not accurate.

The actual number of fans in attendance, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, was 13,761. Of the 13,761 fans in attendance, 12,191 of those fans paid for their tickets, while the remaining 1,570 people in attendance had free "comp" tickets.

The UFC's all-time record for highest paid attendance is still held by UFC 59, for which 13,060 tickets were sold. In addition, the UFC record for the highest total attendance still belongs to UFC 60, which had a total of 14,765 fans in attendance (although 4,418 of those fans had free "comp" tickets).

Nonetheless, the amount of the live gate is far more important from a business standpoint than the number of fans in attendance, and UFC 66 simply blows away every other UFC event in history when it comes to gross ticket sales. The event that previously held the all-time record was UFC 57 (with gross ticket sales of $3,382,400), and UFC 66 surpassed that mark by more than $2 million.

UFC 65 Live Gate Info
Just over a month prior to UFC 66, a fight between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre headlined UFC 65 in Sacramento, California. The event drew a live gate of $2,138,020, making it the ninth highest-grossing UFC event in history (including UFC 66).

Both events took place in California and both events featured a Matt Hughes fight in the main event, but UFC 65 (with Hughes vs. St. Pierre) drew approximately $550,000 more in gross ticket sales than UFC 63 (with Hughes vs. BJ Penn).

However, the public claims that 15,350 fans were in attendance at UFC 65 are false. The legitimate total attendance was 14,666, with 12,362 of those fans paying for their tickets and the other 2,304 fans receiving free "comp" tickets.

UFC Business Year-in-Review
Heading into 2006, the UFC had drawn live gates of $2 million or more on just two occasions in its history (UFC 52 with Liddell vs. Couture, and UFC 54 with Liddell vs. Jeremy Horn).

In the year 2006 alone, the UFC surpassed the $2 million mark in ticket sales with seven different events, three of which also surpassed the $3 million mark, and one of which also surpassed the $5 million mark.

Chuck Liddell has been in the main event in five of the nine events in UFC history that have drawn live gates of $2 million or more. The only two fighters who come close to Liddell's record are Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes, each of whom have been in the main event in three of the UFC's nine events that have had ticket sales of more than $2 million.

In addition, Chuck Liddell has been in the main event in three of the four events in UFC history that have drawn live gates of $3 million or more, and he fought three different fighters in those three events (Randy Couture, Renato Sobral, and Tito Ortiz). Ortiz has been in two of the top four events, with Liddell and Ken Shamrock as his opponents.

The UFC held a total of ten pay-per-view events in 2006, and without taking pay-per-view revenue into account, those ten events generated $27,532,225 in ticket sales. The revenue in ticket sales, while impressive, is dwarfed by the skyrocketing PPV revenue.

Using the most conservative possible estimates for the UFC PPV events that took place in late 2006, the gross PPV revenue that was generated by the UFC's ten PPV events in 2006 surpassed $200 million. The total may actually be well over $200 million, depending on how well UFC 64, UFC 65, and UFC 66 performed at the PPV box office.

Using Zuffa's own public predictions of 1.2 million buys for UFC 66, that would mean that UFC 66 alone generated approximately $47.94 million in pay-per-view revenue.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 9:10 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Will DSE Really Sell Pride to the UFC or WWE?
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Dream Stage Entertainment is taking part in ongoing negotiations with several different companies based in several different countries to sell Pride, according to a report in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Among the companies with which DSE has had talks are the Ultimate Fighting Championship, World Wrestling Entertainment, and multiple companies in both the United States and South Korea that were not named in the article, which further stated that the majority of the interest that has been shown in purchasing Pride has come from outside of Japan.

The crux of the Observer article is that it is necessary for DSE to eventually sell the company because while the company can continue to put on mega-shows like the December 31st show in the short term, Pride at its current level is simply not a sustainable business model over the long run without the all-important Japanese TV deal.

Fuji TV cancelled its contract and removed Pride from its network earlier this year due to company scandals, even though Pride's 2005 New Year's Eve show won the head-to-head ratings battle with the K-1 New Year's Eve show for the first time.

Fuji TV was much more than just a TV outlet for Pride, as Fuji also paid the company millions of dollars and provided it with valuable promotional exposure. Pride has been unable to secure a new TV deal with any other major network in Japan.

The DSE-owned Pride will continue to aggressively expand into the U.S. marketplace, add big-name fighters to its roster if given the opportunity, and continue to run shows in Japan. While it remains possible that a huge explosion in popularity or a Japanese TV deal could change the situation, neither of those two things are particularly likely to occur, and this would likely make it necessary for DSE to sell the company to new ownership if things don't turn around in the next year or so.

If Pride were to be purchased by World Wrestling Entertainment, it is not a stretch to say that it would be unlikely to succeed. Putting aside any fears that WWE would be tempted to fix fights, there's also the well-documented fact that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has never displayed competence in any business outside of his core business of pro wrestling, with unsuccessful business ventures in nutritional supplements (IcoPro), a bodybuilding league (WBF), the movie industry (WWE Films), reality television production (Manhunt, Tough Enough, WWE Diva Search), a professional football league (XFL), the book industry (WWE's self-published novels in which McMahon solves crimes), and yes, even promoting legitimate shoot-fights on national television (Brawl for All).

The Observer article noted that Zuffa is faced with a strategic choice. If the UFC bought Pride and inherited what the Observer referred to as Pride's "very high contracts," Zuffa would acquire lots of world-class MMA fighters, but the move would raise the UFC's salary structure and "up the ante greatly" in terms of the amount of money that the company spends on fighter contracts.

If, on the other hand, Zuffa were to sit back and take a different kind of risk by letting the situation play itself out, the ideal scenario for Zuffa would be that Pride would eventually go out of business (or whoever buys Pride would fail with it and go under), thus making all of Pride's fighters free agents.

This would enable Zuffa to pay a lot less for the fighters than they would otherwise have to, because at that point there would be a very large amount of free agent fighters and only two stable, big-money options available for those fighters (UFC and K-1), although upstarts like BodogFight have managed to lure Fedor Emelianenko away, at least for one fight.

As the Observer reported, in the latter scenario Zuffa would be able to "work at signing only the people they want with the ability to negotiate more favorable terms [for Zuffa] due to the only other option [for the fighters] being K-1, which generally doesn't pay at Pride's level." In this scenario, with Pride's entire roster as free agents, the top-level fighters would likely end up split primarily between the UFC and K-1.

In the face of all the speculation, Pride broadcaster Frank Trigg appeared on MMAWeekly Radio's SoundOff and denied outright that Pride was for sale. Trigg said, "Two major organizations offered to buy Pride and both answers were no. They were both very substantial offers." Trigg was adamant as he said, "[DSE President] Sakakibara does not want to sell Pride. Pride is not up for sale. I spoke with him earlier today. Are we trying to do cross-promotions with other people? Absolutely... [but] Pride is not up for sale."

The Observer reported in its initial article that DSE's senior management will continue to act like "everything is status quo" and will continue to tell company employees that the company is not going to be sold.

Regardless of how the situation with Pride plays out, the Observer reports that Zuffa is planning on getting "very aggressive" when it comes to signing top talent.

The only thing for certain is that in the ever-changing landscape of MMA, only time will tell.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News, UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:09 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 61 Surpasses $30 Million in Pay-Per-View Sales, Plus Final PPV Buyrate for UFC 60
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Last week, MMAWeekly took a look at the fighter salaries for UFC 62, which took place on August 26th in Las Vegas. While pay-per-view buyrate information is not yet available for UFC 62 due to the fact that it takes weeks or months for such numbers to be finalized, we do have the initial estimates on UFC 61's PPV buyrate and the final numbers on UFC 60's PPV buyrate.

The news is excellent for the UFC, as just seven weeks after one of its PPV events generated more than $20 million for the first time in the history of the UFC, the company's next PPV generated over $30 million in gross sales, blowing away all previous records.

The initial buyrate estimate for UFC 61 within the pay-per-view industry, as published by the Wrestling Observer, is that the show drew a whopping 775,000 PPV buys. The Observer been one of the most credible publications for many years when it comes to PPV buyrates, and 775,000 PPV buys at $39.95 per buy equals $30.96 million in gross PPV revenue. The UFC's share of the gross revenue for this and all other PPV events is approximately 50 percent, and all of the PPV figures in this article only take into account domestic PPV buys, which is where the majority of the UFC's PPV buys originate.

The initial buyrate estimates within the PPV industry are always lower than the final numbers, due to the fact that the final numbers take into account "late buys." Late buys is a term that refers to encore PPV buys of an event's replays throughout the month that it debuted, as well as PPV buys from smaller cable systems throughout the United States, and these late buys typically take several months to be fully reported in the inefficient cable industry.

The PPV industry's initial buyrate estimates, as first published by the Wrestling Observer, combined with MMAWeekly's own sources in the PPV industry, who are more familiar with the updated numbers that have "late buys" taken into account, are the basis of this article and MMAWeekly's previous article on the UFC's PPV buyrate explosion of 2006.

The main event of UFC 61 was technically Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski for the UFC Heavyweight Title, but the vast majority of the hype for the event was dedicated to the rematch between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, which was hyped on national television for several consecutive months during the airing The Ultimate Fighter 3 on Spike TV.

The mark of 775,000 PPV buys for UFC 61 shatters the previous all-time UFC record that had been set by UFC 60, which had broken the record set by UFC 59, which had broken the record set by UFC 57. In total, four of the UFC's first five PPVs of 2006 broke the company's all-time PPV records, as detailed in our previous article on this subject.

The initial buyrate estimate for UFC 60 within the pay-per-view industry, as published by the Wrestling Observer and MMAWeekly at the time, was 600,000 buys. MMAWeekly has subsequently learned that the final buyrate for UFC 60 will be in the range of 615,000 to 625,000 buys, which is actually not that much of an increase over the initial buyrate estimate. In total, the gross PPV revenue for UFC 60 was between $24.57 million and $24.97 million. The event, headlined by Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie, was the first UFC event to break the $20 million mark in gross PPV sales.

The first three UFC PPVs of 2006 were also extremely successful. As previously detailed, UFC 57 in February broke all of the UFC's records at the time by drawing 400,000 to 410,000 PPV buys. With the main event of Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture III, the event generated between $15.98 million and $16.38 million in gross PPV sales. Impressive as these numbers were and still are, they have now been dwarfed by the PPV sales for UFC 60 and UFC 61.

UFC 58 in March was headlined by Rich Franklin vs. David Loiseau, and though it did not break UFC 57's record, the event still drew 290,000 to 300,000 PPV buys, which far exceeded the PPV industry's pre-event expectations. UFC 58 carried a fee of $34.95 instead of $39.95, and the gross PPV revenue was between $10.14 million and $10.49 million. When the lowest-drawing PPV event of the year still generates over $10 million in gross PPV sales,

UFC 59 in April was technically headlined by Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski, but the vast majority of the hype was dedicated to the semi-main event of Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin. Though it was expected to draw a strong PPV buyrate, UFC 59 surpassed those lofty expectations by breaking the records that had been set by UFC 57. The total number of buys for UFC 59 was in the range of 415,000 to 435,000, which generated gross PPV revenue of $16.58 million to $17.38 million.

Adding up all of the aforementioned figures and not counting the "late buys" for UFC 61, the total number of PPV buys for the first five UFC PPVs of 2006 was between 2,495,000 and 2,545,000. Taking into account the fact that UFC 58 was priced at $34.95 instead of $39.95, this means that the gross PPV revenue generated by the first five UFC PPVs of 2006 was between $96,230,000 and $100,180,000.

As we've mentioned in the past, even though they promote two different products, the single company with which the UFC most directly competes is World Wrestling Entertainment, and the changing fortunes of both companies has led to a shift in the pay-per-view industry at large. In less than one year, the UFC has gone from not being able to even approach WWE's big-event PPV numbers to actually beating WrestleMania in domestic PPV sales on two separate occasions over the course of one summer.

WrestleMania has been the biggest American pro wrestling event of the year since 1985, and this year's WrestleMania drew approximately 560,000 domestic PPV buys, according to WWE's own financial records. That number is less than UFC 60's PPV buyrate and is not even close to UFC 61's.

The Royal Rumble, which is traditionally the second- or third-biggest American pro wrestling event of the year, drew approximately 340,000 domestic PPV buys, which is lower than all-but-one of the UFC's PPV events so far this year.

Outside of its four biggest events of the year (WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series), WWE's domestic PPV buyrates have collapsed in the past few years and even more so in 2006, just as the UFC's PPV buyrates have skyrocketed.

The non "Big Four" PPVs that WWE produces on a monthly basis have not been able to surpass the mark of 200,000 domestic buys for any individual event so far in 2006, while a UFC PPV that draws 200,000 domestic buys would now have to be considered a big disappointment given the standard that has been set in recent months.

According to WWE's financial statements, the No Way Out PPV drew approximately 140,000 domestic buys; Backlash drew approximately 130,000 domestic buys; Judgment Day drew approximately 140,000 domestic buys; One Night Stand drew approximately 170,000 domestic buys; Vengeance drew approximately 190,000 PPV buys; and the Great American Bash drew approximately 130,000 PPV buys. Pay-per-view sales information for this year's edition of SummerSlam is not yet available.

What's clear in these figures is that the UFC's many shows on Spike TV, not only The Ultimate Fighter but also the regular airings of older fights on UFC Unleashed and the well-produced PPV preview shows, do a much better job of convincing people to buy PPV events than WWE's five hours of weekly original programming (one hour on Sci Fi Channel, two hours on USA Network, and two hours on UPN, which will soon become The CW Network).

Though WWE still draws significantly higher television ratings than the UFC, more and more people in the United States are willing to plunk down 40 dollars to buy the UFC's pay-per-view events, while an ever-shrinking amount of people are willing to spend the same amount of money to buy WWE's PPV events.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:29 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Kurt Angle Fired by World Wrestling Entertainment
The Wrestling Observer and Pro Wrestling Torch are reporting that Kurt Angle has been fired by World Wrestling Entertainment. While this is a grave sign of what WWE thinks about Angle's current condition, this development may also bring forth the only chance that we're not going to wake up one day soon and see the headline, "Kurt Angle Found Dead," because that's what is going to happen if he doesn't get the help that he needs.

According to the Observer, Angle failed a drug test earlier this year due to large amounts of prescription pain medication being found in his system, and he served a 30-day suspension for the drug test failure.

According to the Torch and Observer, Angle recently suffered a torn groin muscle in addition to all of his other injuries, which include a broken neck and herniated discs in his back.

It got to the point that due to liability reasons, WWE management did not let him go out and wrestle at a recent TV taping even though he wanted to wrestle despite his condition. WWE management has had a reputation for decades of encouraging wrestlers to work through injuries, and it's unheard of for WWE to say to a wrestler who wants to wrestle, "No, you can't."

For WWE to have now flat-out fired Angle from his multi-year WWE contract, his condition must now be such that he's considered a very high risk for WWE to keep under contract. There have been many, many cases over the years of a former WWE wrestler dying and WWE's public statement to the media essentially being, "Well, he wasn't under contract with us when he died."

A few weeks ago, before Angle suffered his latest injuries, the Torch reported, "[Angle] is known to be reliant on pain pills to get through his matches, and it has been a concern for years that he may have built his tolerance up to dangerous levels. Angle has a well-established determination to work through pain and injuries, and a desire to please Vince McMahon and hide any pain he may be experiencing."

In late 2005 after the untimely death of Eddie Guerrero, just as Angle's physical problems reached a point that it was regarded as a life-or-death situation for him, the Pro Wrestling Torch reported than an unnamed wrestler was on an unofficial "death watch" among his colleagues. That wrestler was widely believed to be Angle, but the Torch insisted on pussyfooting around the issue instead of saying whatever they wanted to say (click here for my previous editorial on the Torch's coverage).

The Torch's Wade Keller would later write, "[Angle] may push himself so hard without a break that any chance of another entrance into the ring is extinguished. With a neck, back, and overall body as broken down as anyone in the industry today, any match could be his final."

The Torch's Jason Powell was a little bit more direct in saying, "As much as I admire Kurt's work ethic and desire to be the best in the business, I wouldn't put someone in his physical condition in the ring."

Angle himself has made no secret of the fact that he works through career- and life-threatening injuries on a daily basis. Angle said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times in early 2006, "I get a lot of self-satisfaction from going out there and performing in front of the fans. Throughout my career, I never told people about my neck problems until one day I couldn't even lift my arm anymore, and that's when the cat was out of the bag. I've had re-occurring neck injuries. I actually have one right now. I have a broken neck, levels C7 and T1, but I continue to wrestle, because I love it, because of the fans. Is it worth my health? No, but I'm addicted to wrestling. I've done it my whole life, 27 years combining amateur wrestling and pro wrestling. So I'll continue to wrestle as long as I can... I refuse to quit. Vince McMahon is literally going to have to fire me in order for me to stop wrestling."

The Pro Wrestling Chronicle wrote an excellent editorial on Angle's situation in late 2005. Key excerpts: "Angle's checklist reads like an almanac of worst case scenarios. Nerve damage to his face. Six knee surgeries. A broken neck. Torn muscles. Bone chips removed from his upper spine. Destroyed ligaments. Dislocated shoulders. Several years ago, Angle said to the press with pride, 'Look at my face. It looks like I have aged fifteen years in the last five.' Angle can no longer hear out of his left ear. It has been drained 80 times."

The Chronicle also recounted the story of how Angle won his Olympic Gold Medal in 1996, prior to his years as a pro wrestler. "Five months before the 1996 Olympics, Kurt Angle cracked two vertebrae and pulled four muscles in his back, causing two herniated discs to stab into his spinal cord. The pain was intense. Doctors told him that he risked paralysis competing, but Kurt was proud. Mepivacaine was the painkiller that Kurt Angle chose, and for the next half of a year he took it constantly to make training, and eventually winning a gold medal possible."

If you look at pictures of Kurt Angle from the mid-90s or even from 2000 and compare those pictures to what he looks like today, you can barely tell that it's same person. As the Chronicle put it, "Kurt's physical changes over the past half-decade are shocking. His head has increased in size dramatically, which may or may not point to use of Human Growth Hormone. Angle has suffered concussions, and has major nerve damage as a result of his neck problems. His triceps appear to be on the verge of atrophy, and one of Angle's biceps is noticeably larger than the other. Kurt Angle has a history of heart disease in his family. He has a glassy look in his eyes, and is a self-admitted user of painkillers. And he shows no signs of slowing down... Kurt Angle has proven in the past that pride is more important to him than anything. It has cost him his health, it has cost him his family, and at the rate he is going, sooner rather than later... his pride may cost him his life."

The WorldWrestlingInsanity web site reported just this week, "Kurt Angle is spiraling out of control.... His life is literally falling apart before our eyes. Angle is working himself into an early grave. It is public knowledge that Angle has a severely injured neck. He doesn’t try to conceal that fact nor does he downplay it. However, he has been downplaying other recent injuries that have plagued him. According to Angle’s own words in an interview with the British newspaper, The Sun, he cannot get out of bed in the morning without taking some sort of pain medication."

The Pro Wrestling Torch reported today after the news broke, "The fact that Angle has been wrestling a full time schedule has been of concern to colleagues for the past few years... several friends and colleagues of his say he has been using a lot of medication to get through his matches and mask his pain for years, to the point that people feared for his life."

In an interview with the Baltimore Sun in early 2005, Kurt Angle talked about his injuries and the fact that he was having trouble playing with his young daughter at that time.

Kurt's wife, Karen, spoke up and said to the interviewer, "If he gets to the point where he really can't play with her, that will be it. No matter what you have in your house, no matter how good your life is, you can't give that up. If that's what happens, that's when I'll put my foot down and make him stop." According to the Baltimore Sun, "At that moment, Kurt Angle smiled and said, 'I'll never stop.'"

Kurt Angle eventually reached a point where he had to choose between his family and his career, and he chose the latter. Angle's wife divorced him in the summer of 2005. They briefly reconciled in early 2006, only to separate again recently.

Karen Angle is now a few months' pregnant with their second child, a boy, who might never even get a chance to meet his father unless Kurt Angle takes his firing from WWE as an opportunity to get the help that he so desperately needs.

Labels: Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:42 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Brock Lesnar Signs with K-1 Hero's, Will Make MMA Debut in Early 2007
by Ivan Trembow

Brock Lesnar, a former NCAA National Champion in amateur wrestling and later a pro wrestling star in WWE, has officially signed with the Japan-based Hero's MMA promotion, which is owned and operated by K-1.

Lesnar's signing was officially announced by K-1 at the company's show in Las Vegas on Saturday night. He is expected to make his MMA debut in early 2007, and his first opponent has not yet been determined.

It was also announced on Saturday night that Lesnar would be doing some training with MMA legend Royce Gracie, but as reported by the Wrestling Observer, this is essentially a storyline announcement to build the Japanese public's interest in Lesnar. The storyline of, "This person is being trained by this legend" is frequently repeated in Japan, and its popularity in Japan stems from Antonio Inoki's years as a legendary figure in Japanese pro wrestling.

While Lesnar will be training with Gracie at some point, it will more than likely be for just a brief period of time, and Gracie's camp will be just one of many that Lesnar visits.

Lesnar is trying to get a diverse sampling of MMA training under his belt, having already trained with Sean Sherk's team in Minnesota and Pat Miletich's crew in Iowa.

Shortly after the 29-year-old Lesnar spent some time training with Miletich's team last month, Miletich said in an interview that "no human being" will be able to beat Lesnar one year from now.

Lesnar quit his job with World Wrestling Entertainment in 2004, at which point WWE tried to enforce a six-year no-compete clause that would have included all pro wrestling and MMA events worldwide.

At every court hearing in the case, things went Lesnar's way, prompting WWE to reach an out-of-court settlement just before a trial date was to be set earlier this year.

The settlement gave Lesnar the freedom to fight for any MMA promotion in the world, and he has now signed with K-1 Hero's instead of signing with the UFC or Pride.

Labels: K-1 / K-1 MMA News, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 7:29 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC's Pay-Per-View Buys Explode in 2006
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

While the television deal with Spike TV helped to dramatically increase the UFC's national exposure in 2005, it has been the huge increase in pay-per-view buys in 2006 that has had the biggest impact on the bottom line of Zuffa, the UFC's parent company.

The UFC's PPV sales growth has been far more drastic in 2006 than it was in 2005, which is all the more impressive given the fact that all-but-one of the UFC's PPV events in 2006 have carried the higher price tag of $39.95.

Before we get into the PPV buyrate explosion of 2006, taking a look at some of the UFC's previous PPV records will help to put the newer figures into perspective. The most successful PPV of the UFC's pre-Zuffa days was UFC 5, which took place in April 1995 and was headlined by Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock. That event drew approximately 260,000 PPV buys, which is very impressive given the much smaller number of American homes that had PPV-buying capabilities in 1995.

The most successful PPV of the UFC's pre-Spike TV era, before The Ultimate Fighter started airing on national television in early 2005, was UFC 40, which took place in November 2002 and was headlined by Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock. That event drew approximately 150,000 PPV buys, and while there were a few other UFC events that cracked the 100,000 barrier, Zuffa's high mark of 150,000 was not broken until after The Ultimate Fighter debuted on Spike TV.

After the huge national television exposure of being on Spike TV every week, and an entire season's worth of television to hype the fact that coaches Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell would be fighting on PPV after the season aired, there was a huge jump in PPV sales for UFC 52, which took place in April 2005 and was headlined by Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell. UFC 52 was also the first PPV event to which Zuffa attached a suggested retail price of $34.95; previous events had been sold for $29.95 each.

Zuffa kept the PPV buyrate information for UFC 52 under wraps for a while, but the Wrestling Observer, which has been one of the most credible publications for many years when it comes to PPV buys, later reported that UFC 52 drew approximately 280,000 PPV buys, which beat the all-time UFC record that was set ten years earlier by UFC 5. UFC 52's new record of 280,000 buys was not approached by any of the UFC's other PPV events in 2005.

Starting at the beginning of 2006, the UFC's PPV sales have increased to levels that would have been unthinkable if they had been suggested just eight months ago. The Wrestling Observer reported on the PPV industry's initial buyrate estimates for each of the UFC's PPV events in 2006, and these initial buyrate estimates from the PPV industry are always lower than the final numbers due to the fact that the final numbers take into account "late buys."

Late buys is a term that refers to encore PPV buys of an event's replays throughout the month that it debuted, as well as PPV buys from smaller cable systems throughout the United States, and these late buys typically take several months to be fully reported in the inefficient cable industry.

The PPV industry's initial buyrate estimates, as published by the Wrestling Observer, combined with MMAWeekly's own sources in the PPV industry, who are more familiar with the updated numbers that have "late buys" taken into account, paint a picture of a company that has seen its PPV buyrates skyrocket in just over one year.

The numbers published in this article are fairly conservative figures, and the final PPV buyrates for any given event could very well be slightly higher than the figures published in this article. Also, these figures only take into account domestic PPV buys, which is where the vast majority of the UFC's PPV buys originate.

The explosion in the UFC's PPV sales began to hit full stride with the highly-anticipated third fight between Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture at UFC 57 in February of this year. UFC 57 was also the first PPV event to which Zuffa attached a suggested retail price of $39.95; the events of the previous ten months had been sold for $34.95 each.

The PPV industry's initial buyrate estimate for UFC 57 was 350,000 buys, and MMAWeekly has learned that the final buyrate will be in the range of 400,000 to 410,000 buys. With a price of $39.95, this means that the gross PPV revenue was between $15.98 million and $16.38 million. Taken on its own, this shattered the previous record that was set by the second fight between Liddell and Couture, but this was just the beginning of the UFC's 2006 buyrate explosion.

The expectation within the PPV industry after UFC 57 was that the UFC's PPV buyrates would go back to their previous (2005) levels. After all, UFC 52 in 2005 (headlined by Liddell vs. Couture II) was also a record-breaking mega-fight with Spike TV's national exposure behind it, but the UFC record that was set by UFC 52 was not broken later in 2005, and UFC 52 did not lead to a trend of UFC PPVs consistently breaking the 200,000 barrier in 2005.

With UFC 58 scheduled to take place a mere four weeks after UFC 57, and with a non-marquee main event of Rich Franklin vs. David Loiseau, the belief was that UFC 58 might draw in the range of 200,000 buys at the absolute most, at a price of $34.95. This would have still been considered a success, as most WWE pay-per-views on a month-to-month basis draw less than 200,000 buys in the United States (a large percentage of WWE's PPV buys come from international sales).

However, that is not what happened. In a strong testament to the PPV drawing power of Rich Franklin as the UFC's "next big star," and to the fact that PPV viewers generally liked what they got with UFC 57, the initial buyrate estimate for UFC 58 came in at 275,000 buys, blowing away all expectations. MMAWeekly has subsequently learned that with the late buys included, the final buyrate will be in the range of 290,000 to 300,000 buys, which actually surpasses the mark that was set by Liddell vs. Couture II. With a price of $34.95, the gross PPV revenue was between $10.14 million and $10.49 million.

Of course, it didn't approach Liddell vs. Couture III's PPV buyrate, but it did hold up very well and it was, at that point, the #2 most-purchased PPV in UFC history.

At that point, all bets were off, and nobody in the PPV industry knew quite what was going to happen next (the same could probably be said for those within Zuffa). Starting with UFC 59 on April 15th, the suggested retail price of all UFC PPV events was $39.95. The de facto main event of UFC 59, the fight that was given the vast majority of the pre-event hype, and the fight that was likely responsible for much of the PPV buyrate was Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin.

The UFC Heavyweight Title match-up between Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia, though it ended up taking place as the last fight on the broadcast, was initially treated as such an afterthought that Arlovski's opponent wasn't even named in the very first ads for UFC 59 that Zuffa ran on Spike TV, even though Sylvia had already signed to fight Arlovski. Though Sylvia's name was added to the commercials shortly thereafter, and Sylvia ended up surprising just about everyone by knocking out Arlovski, it was clear going into the event that UFC 59 was going to sink or swim at the PPV box office based on the strength of Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin.

It was expected within the PPV industry that UFC 59 would surpass the mark set by UFC 58, but would be very unlikely to match the all-time UFC record that was set by Liddell vs. Couture III at UFC 57.

What ended up happening is that UFC 59 not only matched UFC 57's record-breaking numbers, but it actually surpassed those numbers. The PPV industry's initial buyrate estimate was 400,000 buys, and MMAWeekly has learned that the final buyrate will be in the range of 415,000 to 435,000 buys (the range is slightly wider for UFC 59 because it just took place less than three months ago). UFC 59 had become the most-purchased PPV in UFC history, and with a price of $39.95, its gross PPV revenue was between $16.58 million and $17.38 million.

In a way, UFC 59's phenomenal PPV buyrate did more to change how the PPV industry thought of the UFC than the buyrate of UFC 57 two months earlier. In addition to drawing a slightly higher buyrate than the incredibly successful UFC 57, UFC 59 also showed that the UFC could produce mega-hit PPVs on a regular basis. The UFC had proven itself as a huge PPV draw beyond a shadow of a doubt and was no longer a "one mega-hit event per year" proposition. The UFC had just drawn a huge PPV buyrate in February, a very good PPV buyrate in March, and another huge PPV buyrate in April.

Just over a month later, the headline match of Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie at UFC 60 was hailed by Zuffa as the event that would break all of the UFC's records in PPV buyrates, total attendance, and live gate revenue. While it fell short of breaking the latter two records, the PPV business that was generated by UFC 60 is truly astounding. The PPV industry's initial buyrate estimate for UFC 60 is a whopping 600,000 buys, and with a price of $39.95, that leads to gross PPV revenue of $23.97 million.

Given that the previous UFC record, set by UFC 59, was less than 450,000 buys (which is, again, an extraordinary buyrate in and of itself), the jump up to 600,000 buys is all the more astonishing. That figure is just the initial buyrate estimate, and the final buyrate figure is always higher than the initial estimate. It's far too early for final buyrate figures, given the fact that the event just took place six weeks ago. In addition, it's too early for any initial buyrate estimates for UFC 61, given the fact that the event just took place last weekend.

Adding up all of the aforementioned figures, the gross PPV revenue generated by the first four UFC PPVs of 2006 was between $66.67 million and $68.22 million, not counting the late buys for UFC 60.

Though they promote two different products, the single company with which the UFC most directly competes is WWE, and you can easily verify that by watching The Ultimate Fighter 3. In less than six months, the UFC has gone from not being able to touch any of WWE's big-event numbers to actually beating WrestleMania in domestic PPV sales for the first time in the UFC's history.

WrestleMania, which has been the biggest American pro wrestling event in every single year since 1985, drew approximately 560,000 domestic PPV buys this year. (WWE, as a publicly traded company, is forced to publicly release its PPV numbers.) If somebody told Vince McMahon six months ago that a UFC event was going to out-draw WrestleMania at the domestic PPV box office this year, it's likely that he would have laughed at such a ridiculous notion, and the same can be said for most people within the PPV industry.

The Royal Rumble, which is WWE's second- or third-biggest PPV event every year (behind only WrestleMania and occasionally SummerSlam), drew approximately 340,000 domestic PPV buys this past January. A year ago, even the UFC's biggest PPV events (including UFC 52 with Liddell vs. Couture II) couldn't come close to the domestic PPV sales of the Royal Rumble. Now, in 2006, three of the UFC's first four PPV events of the year easily surpassed the domestic PPV buys of the Royal Rumble, and the only event that didn't (UFC 58 on March 4th) came fairly close.

For the PPV events on a month-to-month basis, it's not even remotely close anymore. WWE's No Way Out PPV in February drew approximately 140,000 domestic PPV buys, while WWE's Backlash PPV in April drew approximately 130,000 PPV buys. Those PPV buyrates would have been considered excellent for the UFC just a year or two ago, but the UFC's PPV business would now have to completely collapse in order for WWE to come close to the UFC on a month-to-month basis.

While there are numerous reasons for the drastic increase in the UFC's PPV sales, one factor that should not be underestimated is the promotion from the pre-PPV countdown specials on Spike TV. It was only at the beginning of this year that these specials started to air in the week before every single UFC PPV event. The pre-UFC countdown specials aired on Spike TV for some, but not all, of the UFC's PPV events in the second half of 2005.

In the case of the UFC 60 Countdown Special in particular, it was a 60-minute special that aired multiple times and drew overall ratings of 0.9, 1.1, and 0.7. The total viewership for all of the airings was 3.23 million viewers, and you'll find very few things that do a better job of enticing viewers to buy pay-per-views than the pre-UFC countdown specials. The high number of viewers who are watching the countdown shows on Spike TV, coupled with the level of PPV hype that is put into those shows, has likely been one of the important factors in helping to boost the UFC's PPV buyrates.

Ultimately, when it comes to the business side of the UFC, 2005 will be remembered as the year in which the UFC got on national television and saw its PPV buyrates begin to climb. However, it is 2006 that has been the year in which the UFC's PPV sales have truly exploded.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:33 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- WWE and Rey Mysterio Team Up to Whore Out Eddie Guerrero's Memory for Profit
Is there anything that Rey Mysterio won't do to whore out Eddie Guerrero's memory whenever WWE management asks him to do so?

It was bad enough to blow up the trademark low-rider that was at ringside "in loving memory of Eddie Guerrero" two weeks after he died in order to put heel heat on Randy Orton, but now it has become a recurring theme and is apparently going to be the foundation on which Mysterio's push is going to be built for the forseeable future. Every bit of success that Mysterio has in pro wrestling matches is now being credited in storylines to Eddie Guerrero helping him from beyond the grave.

To anyone who says that Eddie Guerrero would have no problem with any of this, the only indication of whether Eddie would have wanted his memory to be exploited comes from his own actions during life. Those actions were refusing the idea whenever he was asked to exploit his late father's memory for an angle, and also refusing the idea whenever he was asked to exploit his late tag team partner Art Barr's memory for an angle.

Seriously, what would WWE management have to ask Mysterio to do before he would stand up and say "no" as many others before him have done when presented with ideas by WWE management?

The Torch's Bruce Mitchell wrote this regarding the ongoing exploitation of Eddie Guerrero's death for profit:
"This was yet another example of how low the McMahon family has sunk in the last year. Rey Mysterio has no character anymore. He just won the sweepstakes with Nephew Chavo to be the living symbol of this exploitation of a death that very well may never have happened if Eddie Guerrero hadn't felt pressure to live up to the standard that Vince McMahon set for this business."

The Torch's Wade Keller followed that up with this:
"By having played that card so often, it seemed exploitative (and it was). I can't imagine Rey is making Eddie proud these days, even if Rey thinks Eddie 'would understand the pressure to do what Vince says.' There are times to take a stand in life. What is Vince going to do, bury one of his most marketable, popular babyfaces and top Hispanic draw because he pulls Vince aside and tells him, in honor of the memory of one of his best friends ever, he'd prefer not to mention him on the air in any storylines again?"

Mysterio's Desecration is Surprising, WWE Management's Is Not
While Mysterio's desecration of his best friend's memory is surprising, one can't really say that it's surprising for WWE management to do this. The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer reported about the Eddie Guerrero tribute shows, which were taped on the same day as his death, that he had numerous sources telling them that the shows were designed with two purposes in mind: To draw ratings and to get the McMahon family over, and also other things that Meltzer said were too bad to even print.

Also, Bruce Mitchell wrote in his annual Year-in-Review feature for the Torch that Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H actually had their tribute show lines written for them by the creative team and just acted out the scenes like they would for any other pro wrestling promo, so that everyone could see them cry about Eddie's death on television (which supports what Meltzer previously wrote).

WWE Follows Up the Royal Rumble with a Tasteful Mention of Eddie Guerrero on Raw
The day after the Royal Rumble, Triple H said on Raw that he was pissed off about being eliminated from the Rumble match by Rey Mysterio (who is on the Smackdown brand, not Raw), and since he couldn't take out his frustrations on Mysterio or on Eddie Guerrero, he would take out his frustrations on the "next best thing," Eddie's nephew Chavo Guerrero. Triple H followed that up by saying that Chavo better hope that whoever was helping Mysterio win the Royal Rumble will bail him out as well. He then followed that up by mocking Eddie Guerrero's signature moves, celebrations, and mannerisms during his match against Chavo.

As James Guttman wrote on the WorldWrestlingInsanity web site, "Did that just happen? Just when you think it can't get much worse, huh? Nothing's sacred around here. It's a pity that Triple H can't take out his anger on Eddie Guerrero, isn't it? Unfortunately, Eddie died at a young age while under contract to Triple H's family."

With the exploitation of Eddie Guerrero's death now taking place on every single show that WWE runs, the Torch's Wade Keller took a closer look at the situation and wrote this:

"Let's break down the Eddie Guerrero exploitation, giving a WWE-apologist defense: Triple H is a heel, he does mean things... Fans should be upset at Triple H for demeaning Eddie, his family, and his friends... Rey is showing great honor by recognizing the loss of Eddie Guerrero, and using his memory as an inspiration, with the context of the wrestling storyline... Rey really has something to fight for and inspire him by referencing Eddie so much...

That's all crap, though. Eddie Guerrero died. Not the wrestler, not the superstar, not the roster member, not the character - but the actual, living, breathing human being died. He died of causes related to years of abusing his body in various ways that were neither discouraged nor prohibited by WWE during his stint with the company. WWE's moral right to earn money off of his name ended the day he died.

Realistically, Eddie's autobiography should be published, distributed, and marketed tastefully. That's understandable. Incorporating Eddie's memory into a storyline to sell more tickets is not okay. It just isn't. Anyone outside of the bubble would see that. Had Eddie died in a bank robbery incident while cashing his paycheck, his death shouldn't be exploited to boost ratings or buyrates. The fact that he died due to the WWE-encouraged-and-rewarded lifestyle makes it much worse."

WWE Hits a New Low with a Segment Scheduled to Air This Friday Night
All of that was written before this week's Smackdown tapings, at which point WWE management hit a new low and Rey Mysterio went along for the ride. WWE management booked a segment on this week's Smackdown--- and Mysterio agreed to go along with it--- in which Mysterio talked about how Eddie Guerrero helped him win the Royal Rumble from beyond the grave, and then Randy Orton came out and said that Eddie Guerrero went to hell when he died.

More heel heat for Orton, and more babyface heat for Mysterio. Seriously, there are prostitutes who sell their body on the street who are lesser "whores" than Rey Mysterio, who is willingly pissing on his best friend's grave and whoring out his legacy every single week even though he could say "no" at any time and not lose his job.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:24 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- I am a huge fan of the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter and have been a subscriber since Issue #300-something (they are now up to Issue #900-something), but I take great exception to one specific topic and the way in which the Torch has handled it.

In a Torch forum thread regarding the fact that Triple H took last summer off so that he could try to conceive a child with his wife, Stephanie McMahon, Torch editor Wade Keller wrote that readers should "go back and look at [the WWE Newswire in the Torch Newsletter last summer] and you'll see me dance around this without saying it." Wade previously said something similar on the forum, which is that if you go back and read between the lines, you could tell what he was saying over the summer.

Far beyond the Stephanie-Triple H issue, this is turning into a problem at the Torch these days: There is too much "dancing around," at least when it comes to this situation and one other situation. I do not think that it's okay for the Torch to "dance around" the issue of Kurt Angle's life-threatening health situation and then maybe several weeks or months from now if he dies, point back to the previous coverage and say, "See, we did report on the Kurt Angle situation, we just 'danced around it.'" That would be the opposite of good journalism.

(If you're wondering what in the hell I'm talking about when I say "the Kurt Angle situation," here is a brief recap to catch you up: Kurt Angle needs help and should not step foot into a wrestling ring again until he gets it. The Torch has reported through a series of blind news items that Kurt Angle's life is in danger due to an extreme addiction to high levels of prescription pain pills. Rather than taking time off to let injuries heal, or undergoing major surgery that could be career-ending, Angle wants to prove to WWE management that he can continue to work the full-time WWE schedule and be a reliable main event wrestler. He continues to work despite the fact that he still has a broken neck, and he also has an additional major injury to his lower back that he just suffered in the past few months. Angle has already lost his wife and children due to his extreme dedication to continuing to work the WWE schedule at all costs, and if someone doesn't do something, this story is not going to have a happy ending.)

When Wade Keller talked about the point at which he decided to go ahead and report on Triple H and Stephanie trying to conceive, he wrote, "By that point, it was well enough known to not create any kind of an uproar from anyone that I mentioned it."

Okay, so if the standard of whether it's acceptable to report something, or at least a significant part of that standard, is whether it's well enough known, would the Kurt Angle situation not meet and exceed that standard? From the initial Torch reporting, it sounds like it would have met that standard from the very beginning when the Torch published its first blind item about Kurt Angle's dire health situation... and if not, it would certainly meet that standard now with the subsequent weeks of the Torch continuing to "dance around" the issue by indirectly (but never directly) saying that Angle needs help and should be taken off the road or he's going to drop dead.

The two defenses to the way that the Kurt Angle situation has been journalistically handled by the Torch have been: A) They can't do anything for legal reasons, and B) They can't do anything because of protecting a source.

The legal reason is not a valid reason, and if anyone wants to get into the specifics of why it's not a valid reason, I'd be happy to do that. In short, the legal standard for libel is to not only prove that someone spread false statements about you, but also that the person knew the statements were false and spread them with malice.

(It's also laughable to try to say that the Torch can't report on someone's drug issues by name... with one example being that the Torch reported on Steve Austin's drug problems in his latter years of wrestling, and he wasn't even on a "death watch" or thought to be in a life-threatening situation.)

The "protecting a source" reason is also not valid, if for no other reason because enough people in WWE know about it that it's not compromising any individual person (or even a group of individuals) to publish any information that the Torch has. The Torch's indirect, blind-item reporting on the Angle situation has made it clear that they have more than one source, so that's also not an issue.

The Kurt Angle situation is a lot more serious than Triple H and Stephanie McMahon trying to conceive because it's about someone on a "death watch," which according to the definition of "death watch" in the Torch's Sean Waltman interview, means that he could drop dead at any moment and no one in the wrestling business would be surprised or wonder why it happened.

The way it has been handled by the Torch is such that when and if Kurt Angle dies prematurely, the Torch can say, "All these wrestlers knew about it and they did nothing to stop it, so we don't want to hear a damn word from them about being upset or wishing he was still alive."

The problem with that line of thinking is that the Torch falls into the same category, regardless of whether it would be convenient for people to pretend that it doesn't.

As I said when Wade (rightfully) patted Triple H on the back for having exposed Billy Gunn's drug problems when Billy Gunn was in WWE, "I think it's great when people who are in a position of having some degree of influence, who are aware of someone having a serious, life-threatening drug problem, choose to do something about it instead of sitting back and doing nothing and then talking about it after the person dies as if they're not among the people who could have done more than they did. That's just my opinion."

Unfortunately, there is little that I can do that would potentially affect change in the situation, as I could scream it from a mega-phone on the roof of WWE Headquarters and no one would listen. The Torch, on the other hand, does have a certain amount of influence, visibility, and clout, as evidenced by the fact that Kurt Angle felt the need to respond to the Torch blind items by issuing a ridiculous statement that he is in "perfect health" (which Angle himself has contradicted many times in mainstream interviews).

I don't want to wake up tomorrow morning and read a headline that Kurt Angle was found dead somewhere, not just for myself as a fan and admirer of Angle's, but much more importantly for all of his friends and family.

Since the publication of the Torch's first blind item about Kurt Angle, I have been troubled by the Torch's journalistic handling of the situation, and by the possibility that Kurt Angle, one of my favorite wrestlers and one of the people who I have admired more than anyone else over the years, could drop dead at any moment.

It has been troubling since the publication of the first blind item, and now it has only gotten more troubling with the Torch openly talking about "dancing around" issues and having inconsistent standards for when it's okay to come out and report something.

I have a great deal of respect for Wade Keller, and I'm a huge fan of the Torch Newsletter, but on this topic they've got it all wrong.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:22 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- World Wrestling Entertainment and the Ultimate Fighting Championship are going head-to-head for the second time ever this Monday night, but it's not a battle of the same magnitude as their first-ever head-to-head showdown. Spike TV scheduled the UFC's live two-hour show to run from 10:00 PM to 12:00 AM, instead of the previous timeslot of 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM from October 3, 2005. With the later timeslot, only half of the UFC show will be going head-to-head with WWE Raw.

So, if WWE just happens to run all of its hotshot angles and major matches in the 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM hour this week and appears to neglect the 9:00 PM hour in comparison, it will not be a coincidence.

Already, WWE has announced Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels in what is supposedly the final match of their classic series. (Speaking of Angle, WWE decided to move Angle to Smackdown and give him the world title/top position on that brand, despite the fact that absolutely no one in the wrestling business would be surprised if Angle died tomorrow due to his health issues, and he should not be allowed to step foot in a wrestling ring until he gets the help that he needs.)

WWE has also announced new champion Edge vs. Ric Flair in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. Even though pro wrestling is worked, TLC matches are very risky due to the dangerous bumps involved in such a match. That's true for normal, healthy pro wrestlers... add in the fact that Edge has a torn pectoral muscle, and it doesn't make sense to book that match. On top of that, add in the fact that Ric Flair is a 56-year-old man with a broken neck and herniated disks in his back, and it's downright irresponsible for WWE management to book that match.

Hopefully it's just another bait-and-switch tactic and WWE doesn't actually put these two wrestlers in harm's way. As Bruce Mitchell put it on the Pro Wrestling Torch's VIP Forum, "If you needed further evidence that Stephanie and Vince McMahon don't give a damn abut what happens to their WWE 'family,' now comes word they've booked one wrestler with a serious back injury against a fifty-six-year-old with a broken back and a broken neck in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match with two days notice."

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Vince McMahon would over-react to the fact that he's facing head-to-head competition this Monday. One of the most overlooked stories of 2005 is how truly insane it made Vince McMahon when Spike TV booked the UFC to go head-to-head with Raw on WWE's first night back on USA Network. WWE blew through at least six months' worth of big-name returns, angles, matches, and special guest appearances in one night.

Then there's the fact that WWE offered a UFC announcer who admittedly knows nothing about pro wrestling a $500,000-per-year contract to jump to WWE (plus a huge bonus if he double-crossed the UFC by showing up on Raw without giving the UFC any notice), and when they got turned down they still pulled the trigger on the planned firing of Jim Ross even though they had no replacement for Ross. The company's subsequent horrible treatment of Jim Ross, including making fun of his real-life cancer scare and Bell's Palsy, led to a major falling out with WWE's biggest star of all time, Steve Austin, who is now considered unlikely to make a WrestleMania appearance as a result. Vince McMahon's over-reaction to one night of head-to-head competition cost his company millions of dollars in potential revenue.

The January 16th UFC show is not viewed as an equally big deal by WWE because it's no longer "the first time" something like this is happening, and it's only a head-to-head battle for one hour of Raw, but there is definitely still some over-reaction going on within WWE.

On the larger issue of how WWE deals with competition, it's ironic that WWE once sued Time Warner and WCW for "predatory business tactics." WWE only knows of one way to react to anything that it perceives as competition, as evidenced by the Wrestling Observer news item about the order coming down from the top (ie, Vince McMahon) for WWE to sign absolutely anyone who TNA is interested in signing, then bury those wrestlers and saddle them with long no-compete clauses when they eventually get released, so that they will be seen as damaged goods by the time they become available to TNA or any other pro wrestling competition.

The Observer specifically mentioned Frankie Kazarian and James Gibson (aka Jamie Noble) as fitting into this category, and one can safely assume that Brian Kendrick and the recently re-signed Charlie Haas also fit that bill. The fact that WWE is suddenly showing interest in Jay Lethal and Roderick Strong is also likely just their attempt to squash any competition, although Strong is under contract to TNA.

When Mick Foley and Matt Hardy were free agents who were each on the verge of signing with TNA in mid-2005, WWE paid Foley and Hardy a lot more than they would have otherwise paid them, largely just to keep them away from TNA.

Hopefully, the fact that Foley and Hardy have subsequently been buried on WWE television, as well as the Observer's disclosure of WWE's new signing policies, will lead to more wrestlers joining the likes of AJ Styles and Christian in flat-out turning down WWE contract offers in order to sign with TNA.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:42 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Earlier this week, I posted my thoughts and analysis regarding the top ten finishers in the annual Pro Wrestling Torch Reader Draft, which is the most accurate barometer in the pro wrestling industry of which wrestlers are viewed as the most valuable by the hardcore fans of the business.

Samoa Joe was the run-away #1 finisher, with the rest of the top ten (in order from #2 to #10) being AJ Styles, Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin, Christopher Daniels, Triple H, Edge, and Christian.

The Torch Newsletter also published the combined reader rankings from #11 to #50, and some of the increases and decreases were very interesting.

Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy finished #29 this year, which is indicative of his standing in the business right now. When he was going to become a free agent and had a chance to jump to TNA, he chose to instead put his faith in WWE, the same company that had fired him three months earlier because his girlfriend cheated on him. Now look at him. He is intentionally being buried by WWE management (as reported by both the Torch and Observer) so that Vince McMahon can prove that he "was right all along," and it's getting harder and harder to find people who will try to deny that fact with a straight face.

To add to his behind-the-scenes troubles, Matt Hardy now also has The Undertaker humiliating him and calling him out in the locker room, reportedly calling him a mark before a recent show in front of a large group of wrestlers (according to the Observer). That is an ironic thing for The Undertaker to say given the fact that he has lived his "Dead Man" gimmick for fifteen years, and has even placed his gimmick higher on his priority list than honoring his dead co-workers.

Anyway, Hardy finished #9 in the 2004 Draft and would probably have finished even higher than that in 2005 if he had gone to TNA and gotten the huge push that was waiting for him. Instead, he's #29 in 2005, and his stock is only going to continue to fall if WWE continues to get its kicks by screwing with him.

Jeff Hardy
Matt Hardy's brother, Jeff, didn't even finish in the top fifty, and it's not difficult to understand why. If he ever gets clean and motivated, Jeff Hardy could be a valuable asset to any pro wrestling promotion. Instead, he just blew his last chance (at least for now) with TNA because he no-showed yet another pay-per-view event. This time, he didn't even call with a half-assed excuse. He actually sent TNA management a text message just two hours before his match was scheduled to start which basically said, "I overslept by several hours and missed my flight... my bad."

It's hard to imagine Jeff Hardy going back to WWE if they're legitimately going to start drug-testing (although that remains a big "if" at this point), which means that Hardy's only choice now is to prove himself on the independent scene if he wants to have any future in the wrestling business.

Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus continued her long streak of being the highest-ranking female on the list, as she finished #38 in the overall rankings. Barring injury or political BS, it's likely that she will finish even higher next year due to the excellent acting that Trish is currently displaying in her evolving storyline with Mickie James.

Trish was just another pretty face when she debuted in WWE in about 1999, but since then she has become one of the best female in-ring workers ever due to pure hard work and determination. She has also turned into one of the most reliable promo-cutters in the business, and is now showing off her acting ability as well.

The only problem is that WWE management wants to send the message that they can replace any female at any time with someone who will work for dirt-cheap just to be on TV, so unfortunately Trish's days in WWE might be numbered. Also, earlier in 2005 when Trish had to miss a few months of in-ring action with a herniated disk in her back, WWE management expressed displeasure with the fact that she took a few months off, which now means that she could be just one injury away from being unceremoniously dumped by WWE. It's this kind of culture and mentality that often leads to wrestlers doing "whatever it takes" to make the next house show and stay on the road, regardless of what it does to their physical well-being.

Brock Lesnar
Now that he is once again an active pro wrestler (albeit only in Japan for now), Brock Lesnar jumped all the way back to #11. Apparently, people haven't forgotten just how amazingly good Lesnar was before his meltdown/nervous breakdown/stress overload in early 2004 caused him to quit WWE.

WWE is currently trying to hold Lesnar to a six-year no-compete clause, even while refusing to pay him the amount on his original contract if he were to return to WWE. If it were a sure thing that Lesnar would be able to legally work in the United States before 2010, instead of just a possibility, he would have definitely finished even higher than #11. That's looking likely for 2006, because WWE withdrew its latest ridiculous request for a temporary restraining order in its lawsuit against Lesnar, and all indications thus far point to Lesnar's side winning in court.

Kane
Kane experienced the most drastic fall in the results, dropping from #18 in 2004 to not even being in the top fifty this year. Maybe it's because people finally figured out that he can't work and has had maybe two or three good matches since he joined the company in 1997.

The only difference between Glen Jacobs (who plays Kane) and Mark Calloway (who plays The Undertaker) in terms of their overall careers is that Undertaker is worse as an in-ring worker and worse on promos... but Undertaker was blessed with a unique gimmick that got over with fans, and was also extremely fortunate to have gotten to work with Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels in their primes. Switch their roles around, and Mark Calloway would be considered even more of a failure than Glen Jacobs is today.

John Cena and Batista
The two world champions in WWE, Batista and John Cena, finished #15 and #18, respectively. It's hard to argue that either of them deserved a higher ranking, although picking Batista over Cena is border-line ridiculous in my opinion. It's even more ridiculous than it otherwise would be when you factor in Batista's current severe injury, and the fact that he is injury-prone in general due to his freakish muscle mass.

Ken Kennedy (pause ... Kennedy)
The highest-ranked newcomer on the list was Ken Kennedy, who finished #20 overall. It's a shame that Kennedy suffered a severely torn lat muscle in his back last month, just as he was starting to gain a huge amount of momentum. Kennedy suffered the same injury that Batista is currently "pain-pilling" his way through, but Kennedy's tear was much more severe (requiring surgery), and he is expected to be out of action for at least six months. Hopefully, Kennedy will pick up right where he left off in mid-2006.

Labels: Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:25 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Samoa Joe Dominates Annual Draft Feature in Pro Wrestling Torch
The Pro Wrestling Torch has released its annual list of the Top 50 Reader Draft Picks, and Samoa Joe ran away with the #1 position in a vote that was not even close. The draft feature has been an annual staple in the Torch Newsletter since 1997, and it is generally an excellent barometer of which performers are perceived by the hardcore fans to be the most valuable in the pro wrestling industry.

Each individual reader who participated in the balloting process submitted a list of their top ten hypothetical picks (I published my ballot recently on this page), and wrestlers were given ten points for each #1 ranking, nine points for each #2 ranking, and so forth.

In lieu of publishing the entire Top 50 rankings, I will just list the top ten finishers and write extensively about this. Later this week, I will be back with some additional comments on many of the wrestlers who didn't make the top ten.

Top 10 Reader Picks in the Pro Wrestling Torch 2005 Draft
(based on combined fan voting)
1. Samoa Joe
2. AJ Styles
3. Chris Benoit
4. Shawn Michaels
5. Kurt Angle
6. Shelton Benjamin
7. Christopher Daniels
8. Triple H
9. Edge
10.Christian


Breakdown of Top Ten Wrestlers

1. Samoa Joe
Joe was also my #1 choice, and he won the overall ballot in a run-away. Torch editor Wade Keller wrote, "Samoa Joe's margin of victory over second-place finisher AJ Styles was larger than any other margin among the top five finishers. In other words, he ran away with first place. It was no contest."

This is not surprising given that there were literally more Match of the Year candidates in 2005 that had Samoa Joe in them than there were Match of the Year candidates that did not have Samoa Joe in them. Also, the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer has given a perfect five-star rating to a grand total of four matches since the mid-1990's... and Samoa Joe has been in three of those four matches.

Here's a brief excerpt of what Wade Keller wrote about Samoa Joe in the Torch Newsletter this week: "Joe represents a no-nonsense style that is as remarkable, compelling, and original as Hulkamania, Austin 3:16, and the rise and incredible falls of Mick Foley during their breakthrough years... [Joe] is like nothing wrestling fans have seen over the past two generations... There is something about him, and even more so his strong, realistic, no-nonsense in-ring style, that could be the next trend that leads to a boom period."

2. AJ Styles
Styles was also #2 on my list. Wade Keller wrote, "Styles gets shared credit for Joe's rise because he has been such a perfect opponent--- a Magic Johnson to his Larry Bird... I'm with the readers on this. I have expressed my belief in a smaller, athletic style being a gold mine for the first promoter to properly invest in it and portray it as the top-of-the-card style. Styles would be the ideal choice to head up such a division." I think that sums it up well. Styles' amazing talent is surpassed only by that of Samoa Joe, and his in-ring style is a perfect foil for Joe's extremely stiff style.

3. Chris Benoit
Amazingly, Chris Benoit has finished in the top five of the annual draft feature in eight of the nine years since its inception in 1997. No one else has ever placed in the top five on five different occasions, much less eight. I excluded Benoit from my top ten only because he's in his late 30's and has been working at a world-class, high-impact level for over 15 years now (minus one year that he had to sit out after breaking his neck). Benoit's in-ring style and work ethic combine to put a tremendous amount of stress on his body, and unfortunately one has to think that it could be just a matter of time before injuries start to catch up to him. If none of that were a factor, he would have definitely been in my top five.

One also has to consider the recent Torch news item about Benoit being depressed and much more isolated in the locker room ever since his long-time best friend, Eddie Guerrero, died last month. (The Torch also reported that Benoit may be "questioning his loyalty to WWE," which would make sense given the way that WWE shamelessly exploited Eddie's death to further a pro wrestling storyline two weeks after he died...)

Benoit is probably doing a lot of soul-searching right now because he shares two of the issues that his best friend struggled with for so many years... A) Putting an incredible physical strain on his body with an in-ring work ethic that would be almost impossible to sustain with only the doctor-prescribed amount of pain pills, and B) Maintaining a body type that is carrying far more muscle mass than his frame was ever meant to hold. While Benoit is an absolute freak in terms of working out (doing 1,000 Hindu squats per day, going up and down dozens of flights of stairs per day, etc.), just being physically fit does not mean that he is in good health.

Benoit is in his late 30's and has a WWE contract that expires in early 2006. Given that he is one of the most respected wrestlers in all of WWE, someone who the entire locker room looks up to (from the veterans to the younger wrestlers), the choices that Chris Benoit makes in the next few months could have an enormous impact on the pro wrestling industry.

4. Shawn Michaels
After having finished as the top vote-getter in the first two years that the annual Torch draft existed (1997 and 1998), Michaels retired from wrestling due to a severe back injury. Ever since he returned to the ring in 2002, everyone has been holding their collective breath waiting to see how his back would hold up to the rigors of a full-time WWE schedule. Not only has Michaels' back held up, but he is arguably just as good as ever at the finer aspects of working a pro wrestling match in the ring. Michaels has been climbing in the rankings every year since 2002 and is now back in the top five for the first time since 1998. As Wade Keller wrote, Michaels is "making a case as the best in-ring worker ever with every additional year he stacks on top of his already stellar resume." I excluded Michaels from my top ten only because of the fact that at 40 years old, he's only going to be able to maintain his current in-ring athleticism for so many more years.

5. Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle needs help and should not step foot into a wrestling ring again until he gets it. The Pro Wrestling Torch has reported in a series of news items that are getting less and less subtle every week that Kurt Angle's life is in danger due to an extreme addiction to high levels of prescription pain pills. Rather than taking time off to let injuries heal (or undergoing major surgery that could be career-ending), Angle wants to prove to WWE management that he can continue to work the full-time WWE schedule and be a reliable main event wrestler. He continues to work despite the fact that he still has what is essentially a broken neck, and he also has an additional major injury (to his back) that he suffered this year. Angle has already lost his wife and children due to his extreme dedication to continuing to work the WWE schedule at all costs, and if someone doesn't do something, this story is not going to have a happy ending.

The Torch was more direct than ever about Kurt Angle's situation in this week's issue. Wade Keller wrote, "[Angle] may push himself so hard without a break that any chance of another entrance into the ring is extinguished. With a neck, back, and overall body as broken down as anyone in the industry today, any match could be his final."

The Torch's Jason Powell was also very direct: "As much as I admire Kurt's work ethic and desire to be the best in the business, I wouldn't put someone in his physical condition in the ring."

We can only hope that someone in WWE steps up and forces Kurt Angle to get the help that he needs before it is too late.

6. Shelton Benjamin
Benjamin has never gotten the push that he deserves in WWE and probably never will no matter how talented he is, for reasons that are obvious to anyone who has followed WWE for any number of years. Benjamin was my #7 pick due to his unlimited potential and his streak of amazing athletic performances earlier this year at WrestleMania 21, and in singles matches against Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho.

7. Christopher Daniels
Ironically, when I made Christopher Daniels my #4 pick last week, I wrote that "even with Daniels being as acclaimed as he is, I still think he's under-rated." Now that has come to pass once again, as he finished with a great ranking in the overall Torch reader voting but is still under-rated. Daniels does not have the health concerns associated with him that Benoit, Michaels, and Angle have. I would choose Daniels over Benjamin because while Benjamin has the potential to one day have four-star-plus matches on a regular basis, Daniels already has an established track record of doing so.

8. Triple H
The only reason Triple H is on anyone's top ten list is because he's the final main-eventer from the Monday Night War boom period who is still an active, full-time wrestler, and he's going to draw from that well into it's completely dry. Triple H took several months off this past summer in order to attempt to start a family with his wife, Stephanie McMahon. Perhaps coincidentally (or perhaps not), he has gotten noticeably smaller and lethargic ever since he started trying to have a family. I would strongly doubt that Triple H is going to be told to "have a family on your own time," which is what the late Rick Rude was once told when he wanted to start a family.

As Wade Keller wrote in this week's Torch Newsletter, "[Triple H] has seemed lethargic and uninspired... worn out or bored. His character hasn't advanced in years. His matches, while still good, seem all too familiar." Though it's usually left unsaid by the insider pro wrestling media outlets like the Torch and Observer, the fact is that Triple H wouldn't be where he is today if he hadn't started a relationship with Vince McMahon's daughter and subsequently married her. Talent did have some role in Triple H's almost non-stop run of PPV main events over the past six years, but nepotism had a much bigger role.

9. Edge
Edge is in a constant cycle of being punished by WWE management in part for being a younger, fresher, and more talented version of Vince McMahon's son-in-law. Ignoring the fact that he hasn't gotten the full-fledged main event push that he deserves, and ignoring the fact that in real life he slept with Matt Hardy's long-time girlfriend and showed no remorse for doing so (and the fact that his now-former wife publicly outed him as a steroid user when she found out about the affair), the fact remains that Edge is one of the most talented wrestlers in the business today, which is why I made him the #5 choice on my ballot. Like all-too-many WWE wrestlers, Edge is likely to "pain-pill" his way through a major injury (in his case, a torn pectoral muscle) by returning earlier than he should, although at least he's actually taking some time off from in-ring action to let his pectoral muscle heal to some degree (unlike Batista, who is working a full-time schedule with a torn lat muscle in his back).

When Edge recovers from his injury, I imagine that most wrestling fans will remember that Edge has delivered world-class, four-star matches when he has been put in a situation where he is called upon to do so. In the last year in particular, he has also evolved with his smarmy heel promos to the point that he is now one of the best promo guys in the entire business. In addition to playing the arrogant jackass heel, Edge is also capable of turning it up a notch and delivering extremely intense, impassioned promos, as seen on several occasions this past summer. I expect to see Edge ranked even higher next year.

10. Christian
Christian was the #9 pick on my ballot and the #10 pick in the overall Torch standings. It's ironic that Christian and his old tag team partner, Edge, both broke into the top ten in the same year, and it's also ironic that Christian continues to be perceived as one small notch below Edge.

While Edge and Christian are both among the best in the industry on the microphone (in two completely different ways), I don't think you'll find too many people who would argue that Christian is better than Edge in the ring. There is something about the speed and intensity of Edge's in-ring work in main event-type situations that Christian just doesn't seem to fully have a handle on yet.

On the other hand, while Edge remained mired in WWE politics this year, Christian became the first WWE wrestler to turn down a WWE contract renewal offer in order to sign with TNA instead (and he won't be the last). Christian, who is only moderately muscled and certainly not a musclehead, didn't have the right "body type" to get a main event push in WWE. Wade Keller wrote the following about Christian's break-out year: "Although Christian doesn't fit the mold in terms of body type that Vince McMahon saw as a potential main eventer, fans didn't care--- they were entertained by him."

I'll be back later this week with my thoughts on many of the wrestlers who didn't make the Torch's top ten.

Labels: Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:13 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- This site is back from its unofficial Christmas vacation, just in time to participate in the Pro Wrestling Torch's annual Top 50 Draft feature. The concept of the draft is for readers of the Torch to choose the ten wrestlers that they would theoretically draft if they were "launching a brand new promotion and could hand-pick any ten wrestlers from the world, regardless of their contract status, to use as the promotion's core wrestlers" (according to the Torch's official description). Each year, the Torch prints the top fifty vote-getters and also includes the ballots of the various Torch writers.

As for the criteria of the draft, the Torch's official position is, "There are no stipulations put on whether you should pick young wrestlers, old wrestlers, big wrestlers, small wrestlers, wrestlers who are great in the ring but can't talk, or wrestlers who are great talkers but are poor in the ring. The point of the poll is to get a pulse on who well-read, informed fans believe are the most valuable wrestlers out there today."

In December 2004, the top ten draft picks among Pro Wrestling Torch readers were (in order from one to ten): Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Triple H, AJ Styles, Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Matt Hardy, and CM Punk.

Below are the ten wrestlers that would be on my list in such a hypothetical situation, along with my brief comments on each selection.

Also, to answer the obvious question before it starts getting e-mailed to me, the reason that I didn't include Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, or Shawn Michaels on my list even though they are the top three in-ring workers in WWE is because they are all in their late 30's or early 40's. Additionally, Kurt Angle was excluded from my list not only because of age, but also because of the serious personal issues that he needs to address for his own sake.

My Top Ten Draft Picks
1. Samoa Joe--- As I wrote in my review of TNA's Turning Point pay-per-view, it's hard to fathom how anyone's top two draft picks this year could be anyone other than Samoa Joe and AJ Styles, unless you have absolutely no regard for in-ring work-rate. The reason I have made Samoa Joe my #1 pick is because he is "different" than anyone who has ever come before him. Plenty of other wrestlers have worked the "strong style," but Joe exudes charisma and toughness in his own unique way. With Samoa Joe, you can't say, "He's kind of like so-and-so, but much better." He is a unique entity unto himself. He's not "kind of like" anyone.

2. AJ Styles--- The only reason he is #2 on this list instead of #1 is because you can point to a handful of X Division wrestlers in TNA and say, "AJ Styles is kind of like those guys in terms of his in-ring style, but he's far better than all of them and is also capable of having back-and-forth, brutal wars like the one he had with Samoa Joe," whereas Samoa Joe is completely unique. This is not meant as a knock on Styles at all, because he is right up there with Samoa Joe, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, and Shawn Michaels on the list of "best in-ring workers in North America."

3. Chris Jericho--- Chronically under-rated and disrespected for years, it is only now that he is gone from WWE TV that Chris Jericho is starting to get the respect that he deserves (albeit still not from WWE management). He is the total package of in-ring wrestling ability, interview ability, and personality.

4. Christopher Daniels--- Even with Daniels being as acclaimed as he is, I still think he's under-rated. Daniels is in the same class as the top wrestlers in WWE, but you rarely hear that comparison made.

5. Edge--- I think of Edge in the same sentence as Chris Jericho in that he has the complete package of promos and in-ring wrestling. He is younger than Jericho and is better on promos, but isn't quite as good as Jericho in the ring and doesn't have as much main event polish. (Also, the other wrestlers would have to keep an eye on their girlfriends around Edge, as Matt Hardy could tell you.)

6. Rob Van Dam--- It has been so long since RVD has been allowed to be RVD that I think most people have forgotten what he was like in ECW. Judging Rob Van Dam simply on his work in WWE would be an injustice to him. He should be allowed to work his own custom-made style, which would contrast nicely with the style of a lot of my other draft picks.

7. Shelton Benjamin--- He has a world of potential, but it has never been realized in WWE and sadly, it probably never will be. Benjamin had an excellent match with Shawn Michaels on Raw earlier this year, but most people forget that he also had an excellent match with Chris Jericho the night before on PPV. His star-making performance at WrestleMania tells you what you need to know about Benjamin, and his treatment in WWE since WrestleMania shows what WWE management thinks of him.

8. Paul London--- London is great at highspots, great at making regular moves look special, and also great at psychology when given more three minutes to work a match. Huge upside.

9. Christian--- The only reason Christian is not higher on my list is because so far there appears to be a limit on how good he can be in the ring during singles matches. I think if he reaches his fullest potential as an in-ring worker, he could consistently have three-star matches and three-and-a-half star matches, with a couple of four-star matches per year as well, but he's not going to consistently have matches in the four-stars-or-higher range. His amazing interviews and charisma more than make up for his lack of world-class working ability.

10. Austin Aries--- This pick is based primarily on potential. We all know that Austin Aries can work a great match, but I also see in him an intangible charisma and intensity in everything he does, from the way he walks to the ring to the way he executes simple moves and makes them look good in doing so. He's one of the people who is always in the sentence about the guys who are the "future of the wrestling business," and rightfully so.

Labels: Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:58 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- I recently had some great back-and-forth exchanges on the Torch VIP Forum (which is probably the best message board for pro wrestling discussion) about Michael Cole, Stephanie McMahon, and the general culture that exists within WWE. It is not unusual for some of the most in-depth things that I write during the course of any given week to be on one message board or another, and it's often well worth sharing these things on the blog.

The source of this discussion was the appearance of WWE announcers Michael Cole and Tazz on WWE's Internet-based talk show, Byte This. On Byte This, WWE personalities are often told by management to "shoot" (ie, make unscripted comments, or speak openly and out of their pro wrestling character), but there are still certain lines that it would be unwise to ever cross. Here's what happened on the show, as recapped by Michael KopStick on the Torch web site:

"If we are wondering why their voices are so hoarse tonight, Cole lets us in that he and Tazz were just doing voice-overs for a new WWE video game that will be released in 2008. Cole says, 'You know, the storylines will be the same then as they are now. We repeat them every six months.' This comment even makes Tazz blush and he looks down. (Explanation: They were probably told to shoot. But even in the process of shooting, you still have to not cross a certain line. Tazz, being from the old school, understands that. Cole has no comprehension of it and doesn't know where to draw the line. What results from that is a classic comment from a guy who will be severely reprimanded the next day and won't understand why. 'You told us we should shoot,' he'll say, just not getting it.)"

Right after Michael Cole said that, Tazz asked Cole where he's going to work after he gets fired, and Tazz also made an imaginary shotgun with his arms and pretended to fire it at Cole.

Here's what I wrote about the situation: "I think Michael KopStick was right on the money in his Byte This recap when he wrote that Michael Cole is so ignorant about wrestling that he has no idea where 'the line' is that he's not supposed to cross. So when they tell him to go out there and say shoot-like things, he has no idea that such a directive does not include any negative comments about Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, the writing team [led by Stephanie], or Triple H. As Michael KopStick said, Cole is going to get a tongue-lashing at some point for saying what he said, and he's going to have no idea why he's getting it."

Someone then said something like, "Come on, Ivan, he's not an idiot," to which I replied, "In terms of knowledge of the pro wrestling business, I think Michael Cole would be the first to admit that he's an idiot, and would be proud of saying it (after all, he's no pro wrestling mark!). Wade Keller has said as much in a few Keller Audio Updates... that while Cole is a hard worker, he doesn't want to be seen as a 'pro wrestling mark' and doesn't try to learn as much as he can about the wrestling business, in order to avoid that much-feared-within-WWE perception."

Someone asked if Torch editor Wade Keller was just picking on Michael Cole with some of the things he has said and written about Cole, which prompted me to reply with this:

"I don't really get that impression at all, because it's not just Michael Cole who has that attitude within WWE, and Wade Keller has made that very clear in the past. The vast majority of the company's employees (as in the non-wrestlers, as in the ones who actually get medical insurance and pension) have the aforementioned views about the wresstling business.

Wade has talked in the past about how Jonathan Coachman has those same kinds of views, and so do all of the WWE writers, etc. And I know that the Torch and Observer have both covered the fact that this attitude exists because it trickles down from Stephanie.

I believe Wade even used the word "obsessed" at one point to describe how Stephanie feels about Hollywood-izing the writing staff and not wanting them to know much about wrestling.

I also remember when the whole Jim Ross-Mike Goldberg situation in WWE went down, Dave Meltzer wrote a lot about how when the WWE looks for announcers, it's actually considered a plus if you know nothing about the pro wrestling business because they want people who are 'not pro wrestling marks.' The wrestling announcers in WWE who are actual 'wrestling people' is now down to just Tazz, Joey Styles, and Jerry Lawler.

So to say it's just Michael Cole, or that Wade or anyone else is only picking on Michael Cole, is not true. It's the culture of the entire company, and it all trickles down from Stephanie and to a certain extent Vince and Linda as well."

This is where things really got interesting, as the discussion entered into the larger issue of Stephanie McMahon and the culture within WWE. The following are excerpts from a good back-and-forth discussion that I had with a forum member named Graffix.


Forum member "Graffix" wrote:
"Ivan, I'm just curious here, that's why I'm asking this. It's not meant as an insult or anything like that. What is your beef with Stephanie? You seem to take a lot of digs at her. You seem to really hate her, almost on a personal level."


Ivan Trembow responds:
"I don't hate Stephanie, but I do dislike her job performance for the exact reasons stated in my previous post. It's not just that she has taken the company down the creative crapper since she officially joined the writing team in 2000, but she is also obsessed with 'Hollywood-izing' the company and eliminating the pro wrestling element of how WWE is run."


Forum member "Graffix" wrote:
"But WWE had writers from Hollywood before Stephanie. I believe even Ed Ferrera was brought in from USA Network, and had worked on several TV shows including things like Duckman. It was not all her idea and it had worked before. The only problem is that unlike in the late 90s, there are less wrestling fans in the general public, so finding die-hard fans who also know how to do the job is probably not the easiest task. I'm not saying Stephanie has not made a lot of mistakes and I'm not saying she picked the best part of the her dad's company to work that fits her. But making everything out to be her fault is unfair."


Ivan Trembow responds:
"It's true that there were some writers from Hollywood before Stephanie joined the writing team, but I also don't think it can really be disputed based on what the Observer and Torch have reported since 2000 that Stephanie has changed the culture of the writing staff as a whole, with Wade Keller recently calling it an 'obsession' that Stephanie has. Now it's all about wanting to get in as many 'Hollywood people' as possible and wanting to get the 'pro wrestling marks' out, because of this elitist attitude that the McMahons are 'more than just pro wrestling promoters.'

There's no doubt that a lot of that comes from Vince, and also that the buck ultimately stops with Vince on everything, but Stephanie has made it her own little project to Hollywood-ize the writing team, so to speak.

Also, I wouldn't say that everything is Stephanie's fault. I don't think that the decline in WWE creative since 2000 is entirely her fault. But I do think that she is a big part of it. I also believe that if one wanted to think of a list of people who are most responsible for it, she would have to be somewhere near the top of the list of names.

I also think it's not a stretch to say that she is a failure as the head of the writing team. If she wasn't Vince McMahon's daughter, anyone else with her job performance would have been fired a long time ago. The Torch and Observer usually tip-toe around this particular issue, so I was surprised when Bruce Mitchell came right out and called her 'incompetent" in his recent column. I don't think that wrestling fans should be any less dissatisfied with a poor creative team just because it is going to continue to have the same leader; I think people should voice their opinions either way if they feel strongly about it."


Forum member "Graffix" wrote:
"Wanting to make the WWE more Hollywood than Sports isn't a bad idea in theory. Obviously Hollywood TV shows do better with a mainstream audience than pro wrestling, which would mean more money. The problem is people don't want WWE for this reason and it alienates the fans. This is Stephanie's (and whomever thought up the Diva Search) biggest mistake. Her, or whomever takes over the creative department in the future, will have a big challenge. And that will be getting the wrestling a mainstream audience withough losing what made it so much fun in the first place.

I would not put Stephanie anywhere near the top of the list of people who are most responsible for the decline since 2001. The decline has happened for a number of reasons. The main one being that people have found something better to watch than wrestling and it's just not in style anymore. But it's not like a mainstream audience is watching another federation. If there was another show that was drawing 8's and 9's in the ratings while WWE got 4's, I'd say she was a huge failure. But people aren't interested in wrestling anymore. They are watching Hollywood-written shows, hence the idea to make the WWE more Hollywood."


Ivan Trembow responds:
"You make some valid points and I respect your opinions, but I've still got to strongly disagree with you. This is a 'chicken or the egg' kind of thing. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the people who know the timeline of events behind the scenes would say that Stephanie started to "Hollywood-ize" the writing staff and then their business in the United States started to fall apart... as opposed to 'their business started to fall apart in the US, so in an attempt to breathe new life into the company, Stephanie decided to Hollywood-ize the writing staff.' The way in which Stephanie handled the head booking job has been one of the biggest reasons that business declined so much in the first place.

All of the millions of people who were watching pro wrestling in 2000 didn't stop watching pro wrestling simply because they decided that they didn't like pro wrestling anymore, it's because they fall into one of two groups for the most part: A) People who were WCW fans who did not make the transition to being WWE fans when WCW went out of business, and B) People who completely lost interest in the WWE product, which Stephanie is in charge of creatively.

Also, it would be nice if the root motivation for Stephanie's Hollywood-ization of the writing team in the first place was to help WWE reach a more mainstream audience than ever before, but that's just not the case based on everything that the Torch and Observer have ever reported. And on this front, it's not just Stephanie and her writing team, it's also the people in charge of hiring announcers.

When hiring new writers or announcers, they don't want people who know anything about pro wrestling because those people are viewed as 'pro wrestling marks,' and WWE feels those people are beneath them. The McMahon family members absolutely hate to view themselves as 'just pro wrestling promoters,' so they don't want to be hiring people who they perceive as 'pro wrestling marks.'

The only people who would be semi-qualified to be writers in WWE who also know nothing about pro wrestling would be writers who have Hollywood writing experience and are willing to give it a try.

If a potential new writer or potential new announcer knows anything about wrestling or is a fan of wrestling, it's actually looked down upon and they are less likely to get the job, specifically because WWE management looks down on those people. That's just a grossly counter-productive way of doing things."

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:01 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- WWE's exploitation of Eddie Guerrero's death (which I originally wrote about in this post) is no less sickening now than it was when it took place two weeks ago, which was just two weeks after Eddie's death. The difference is that now the mainstream media has started to pick up on it.

In a piece about the general decline of WWE's storylines, TV Guide (the most widely-read publication in the United States) included the following line:

"A recent plot focused on the 'killing' of the Undertaker - in poor taste in light of the November 13 death of Eddie Guerrero. Sure it may be sports entertainment, but we still wonder what past greats like Gorgeous George and Bruno Sammartino would think of the current state of their livelihood."

The popular satire web site, The Onion, wrote a parody story about The Undertaker as it relates to Eddie Guerrero's death (a story that you can read here). On the surface, one might think The Onion is making fun of Eddie Guerrero's death, but that's not the case at all. If you've read The Onion for any length of time, you know that the vast majority of their stories have the dual tracks of what is being said on the surface and what is being said between the lines.

In this article, the "reading between the lines" aspect is not particularly subtle. Clearly, someone at The Onion saw the episode of WWE Smackdown where the Undertaker's gimmick collided head-on with the memory of Eddie Guerrero, and where getting over characters was more important to WWE than not spitting in the face of Eddie Guerrero's legacy.

That episode of Smackdown was also booked in a way where Wrestling Booking 101 would dictate that Eddie Guerrero could run out at any moment to save Rey Mysterio from the heinous Big Show, or to save Undertaker from the heinous Randy Orton, if it weren't for the fact that as inconvenient as it might be for WWE, Eddie Guerrero is really dead in real life and not as part of one of their stupid storylines. Hence the Onion article's focus on the possibility of Eddie Guerrero making a surprise return, and an equal focus on Undertaker's dead man gimmick.

It didn't take long after I started reading the Onion article for me to start to realize that The Onion was actually ripping into WWE's exploitation of Eddie Guerrero on that episode of WWE Smackdown. Any doubt that The Onion's writers were going for that effect was eliminated with the following paragraph:

"'The Undertaker is starting to run his mouth just because Eddie's dead,' said Guerrero's nephew Chavo Guerrero Jr., staring at a Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story 2004 promotional movie poster hanging in his dressing room."

You don't put that in there unless you're trying to make the point that WWE exploited Eddie Guerrero's death and made it part of a storyline.

Most notably of all, the UK Sun (which is the most-read newspaper in the United Kingdom) published an article about WWE's crass exploitation of Eddie Guerrero's death, as well as the fact that one week later WWE was making fun of Terry Gordy's premature death. The following are extended excerpts from the UK Sun article:

"When Eddie Guerrero died, the first thing we feared is that Vince McMahon would turn it into some sort of wrestling angle. But then our common sense got the better of us and we thought, 'Surely even the man responsible for Katie Vick and Muhammad Hassan wouldn't exploit such a real and amazing outpouring of grief.'

Sadly, once again, we underestimated what Vince and his head writer/daughter Stephanie will do for a ratings boost...

... [On the November 29th episode of Smackdown], Rey Mysterio came out in one Eddie's lowriders, prayed, and dedicated the bout to his friend... Then during the match the shock tactics started. Big Show, who was in tears on the episode of Raw after Guerrero's death, suddenly started using the lowrider to get heel heat. He powerbombed Rey on the hood of the car and clearly spat on it, too...

If a wrestler had 'died' as part of storyline, this may have been a justified way to continue that angle. But Eddie is really dead, and Rey Mysterio has really lost someone he saw as a brother, and Big Show had been crying real tears.

... Randy Orton has tried to 'kill' Undertaker a few times now [in WWE storylines], but we thought in the wake of a real tragedy the WWE may have decided on a more tasteful, not to mention original, idea for them. What we weren't expecting was Orton to put Taker into Eddie's lowrider and crash it into the stage, setting it on fire to 'murder' Undertaker once again.

Despite Chavo Guerrero going on Byte This to tell the world this was what his Uncle Eddie would have wanted, many family members, friends and fans were mad. Message boards and columns like ours have been bombarded with e-mails of complaint, and the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer reporting that one of WWE's biggest stars of the last ten years wrote to him in fury...

... At the end of the day, there is no justification for using Guerrero's memory or lowrider to further a fictional storyline. It's not going to make people boo Big Show or Randy Orton, but it will make the millions of fans touched by Eddie's passing hate the company that Big Show and Orton work for.

It seems to be the vogue to use dead wrestlers for cheap heat, as [the next week on Raw] Edge overstepped the mark for the second week running in a segment with WWE road agent and former superstar Michael Hayes...

... The line was truly crossed when Edge asked Hayes why his Fabulous Freebirds tag team partner wasn't out there backing him up, then added: "You know why? Because Terry Gordy is dead!"

Like Eddie Guerrero, Terry Gordy gave his life for the wrestling business - dying in 2001 at just 40 years old. He left a son, two daughters, parents, a sister, and lots of other friends and family.

Gordy and Hayes were very close, with Michael helping organize tribute shows to help raise cash for his grief-stricken family.

Does the WWE really think this kind of thing makes people want to watch wrestling matches? Is this the sort of coverage they want for their product? Do they honestly believe it's a tribute to Eddie and Terry?

Or are Vince and Stephanie so wrapped up in their own world that they can longer differentiate between fact and fiction?"

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:24 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- There has been a lot of reaction in the past week to Vince McMahon and WWE's blatant exploitation of Eddie Guerrero's death on last week's Tuesday night Smackdown Special. The signature low-rider that was supposedly at ringisde "in loving memory of Eddie Guerrero" (who had died just two weeks earlier) was used in a pro wrestling storyline to help get Randy Orton more over in his role as a top heel.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer confirmed that was indeed the motivation for the closing segment, as he wrote that the purpose of the angle was to make viewers outraged, though not at WWE management for having its lack of basic human decency in scripting such a segment. It was meant to make fans outraged with Randy Orton, and the purpose of any pro wrestling heel is generally to make fans hate him as much as possible.

A reader named David Gur wrote into the Observer web site, "It's time to stop making excuses for the wrestlers themselves. It's time they grew a spine and stood up for their profession and their passion. It's too late for Big Show, Rey Mysterio, and the others who cold have stopped the degradation of a beloved man's memory."

The response to that from Dave Meltzer was, "You don't know the situation Show or Mysterio are in. Triple H could say no. So could Undertaker. Anyone else would have to deal with booking repraisals."

To that, I say this: What's more important? Booking repraisals, or not pissing on the memory of your dead friend? I understand the general point and I know it's the pro wrestling business, but come on! Also, as Meltzer acknowledged, The Undertaker doesn't even have that excuse. Due to his position in the company, he could have said no without any consequences. So does he just got off scotch-free from all of this even though he's the only one of the bunch who could have said no without any consequences? I was particularly offended that it was Undertaker participating in the show-closing segment because this is a man who has always put his stupid gimmick higher on the priority list than honoring his dead co-workers, so for him to be the one in this angle was just another kick in the stomach.

There were apparently a lot of other people who agreed that the wrestlers should have refused to participate in such a trashy, exploitative storyline. The next day on the Observer web site, Meltzer wrote the following: "The Eddie Guerrero death exploitation angles remain very polarizing, both in and out of the company. Chavo Guerrero was put on Byte This yesterday to defend it, saying that Eddie would be glad they are keeping his name alive and saying he liked it. A couple of people were upset with the situation, but not necessarily with Chavo because they know the situation he's in, and it may even be his honest feelings (although even if it wasn't, he'd pretty much be pressured into doing it); and another noted how the company has gotten terribly defensive of the criticism."

Meltzer continued, "Several of Eddie's best friends have e-mailed me in the last day or called and all of them were mad, including being disappointed at Rey Mysterio for going through with it. One of Eddie's best friends (and one of the company's biggest stars of the past decade) wrote this: 'Everyone has the power to say no. Booking reprisals be damned. There comes a time when you have to stand up for what you believe in. Vincent Kennedy McMahon may have a hissy fit for a few weeks, but with the talent roster as thin as it is right now, nothing majorly bad would happen. Even if it did, it wouldn't last, because he has nobody else to carry the load. Shame on all of those guys.'"

For reasons that any logical person could not grasp (maybe WWE just thinks exploiting death is fun), the next week of Raw featured a storyline in which current wrestler Adam "Edge" Copeland and former wrestler Michael Hayes had a verbal confrontation. At one point, Edge said, "Your tag team partner, Terry Gordy, isn't here to back you up, and you know why? Because he's dead! Ha ha ha!" I'm sure Vince McMahon got a big laugh out of that scripted line, but is the fact that Terry Gordy died prematurely really funny, and is it really something that should be fodder for furthering a pro wrestling storyline?

A few months ago on an episode of Smackdown, the young heel tag team MNM were having a confrontation with Road Warrior Animal (Joe Laurenitis), who combined with Road Warrior Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) to create one of the most legendary tag teams in wrestling history. Hawk died of heart failure in 2003, in his early 40's, just as he was about to move into a new house with his wife and kids, and just as he had finally found peace in his life.

So, MNM were having a verbal confrontation with Road Warrior Animal and were about to beat up him in a two-on-one assault, at which point they said something to the effect of, "Maybe Hawk will come out to help you. Oh, wait. He can't... he's dead! Ha ha ha." Again, even though it may give Vince McMahon his jollies, is the fact that Michael Hegstrand died prematurely really funny, and is it really something that should be fodder for further a pro wrestling storyline?

The answer is obviously no. No is also the answer that all of the participating wrestlers should have given to WWE management (no matter how severe the consequences) when they were told that they would be furthering a pro wrestling storyline and making a punch-line out of the deaths of Road Warrior Hawk, Terry Gordy, and Eddie Guerrero. Sadly, exploiting death is nothing new for WWE, and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:50 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Please tell me that I did not just witness WWE blatantly exploit Eddie Guerrero's death just two weeks after he died, in an attempt to pop a rating for their first primetime network TV "special" in years. I am in a state of shock right now about what just aired. I don't even know what to say, so I'm just going to say whatever comes out.

I will first offer a summary of what happened for those of you who were fortunate enough to not see it play out, with an overview of how I felt it got more offensive as the show went on, and then I will try to put into words how sick and disgusted I feel right now.

Overview of What Happened
The advertised main event for the "WWE Smackdown Live Special" on UPN was a David vs. Goliath-style match with Rey Mysterio vs. The Big Show. Both of these men were friends with Eddie Guerrero in real life, and both of them were on TV just two weeks ago speaking out of character and shedding some tears about the loss of their real-life friend. Early in this show, Smackdown play-by-play announcer Michael Cole mentioned that Rey Mysterio was dedicating this match to his friend, Eddie Guerrero.

To me, this came off as hardly offensive at all, because it may have really been intended as a tribute to Eddie... if that's all that happened. Rey Mysterio subsequently driving Eddie Guerrero's trademark low-rider to the ring for his match, and the low-rider being out there "in memory of Eddie Guerrero" was border-line exploitative. It was also just borderline exploitative when they re-aired an Eddie Guerrero tribute video and immediately followed it up not with a fade to black and a commercial break, but with a plug to stay tuned for Rey Mysterio wrestling his match against The Big Show in memory of Eddie Guerrero.

When he was getting beat up in the match, Mysterio would go to ringside and hug the car as if he was looking up to heaven for Eddie to help him in the match. It was getting a bit creepy at this point and definitely approaching the line of flat-out exploiting Eddie's death, but it hadn't crossed that line yet. (The low-rider had been made the defining symbol of Eddie Guerrero on the tribute show, as during the tribute show WWE Champion Dave Batista took off his title belt, put it on the hood of the low-rider, and left it there as a tribute to Eddie.)

Then we have The Big Show slam Mysterio up against Eddie's car and then power-bomb him on the hood of the car. So now we have Eddie Guerrero's car, which is supposedly out there "in loving memory of Eddie Guerrero," being used as a prop in a pro wrestling match. We also have Paul Wight (aka, The Big Show) appearing to be all of a sudden playing a character who wants to dishonor the memory of Eddie Guerrero (including spitting on the windshield of the low-rider), when he was just on TV two weeks ago talking as a human being about what Eddie meant to him during his life.

I suppose this could have still been salvaged in some way (though it still would have been offensive) if it was all meant to build up to a clean win for Mysterio, and perhaps Mysterio looking up to the sky after the match in tribute to Eddie Guerrero. But it wasn't. The Mysterio vs. Big Show match ended in a no-contest and was dropped altogether when a run-in was made by The Undertaker, a man whose gimmick is that he's a "dead man." Rather than shying away from the fact that a match supposedly dedicated to someone who really did just pass away had just been abruptly halted by a man with the gimmick of being a "dead man," WWE embraced it and actually had Michael Cole say in a dramatic-sounding voice, "The dead have risen!" With Eddie Guerrero's car at ringside and with the announcers having mentioned Eddie Guerrero's name literally a dozen times in the previous half-hour, they just said, "The dead have risen!" That was flat-out tasteless.

After this Randy Orton, who WWE desperately wants to get over as a top-level heel around whom they can build the Smackdown side of the company, came out and attacked Undertaker. Okay, so at this point all of that stuff about the Mysterio vs. Big Show match being "dedicated to Eddie Guerrero" ultimately didn't lead anywhere, but the worst was yet to come.

Eddie Guerrero's car, the car that was out there "in loving memory of Eddie Guerrero," was used as a prop for a pro wrestling storyline yet again when Randy Orton retrieved a tire iron that he had supposedly hidden in the car, and used it to hit The Undertaker. He slammed Undertaker up against the car and left him laying on the back of the car, on top of the trunk, and hit him flush on the head with the fake tire iron several times. It appeared that the show was going to end with the image of the Undertaker left unconscious, laid out on top of Eddie Guerrero's car, which would have been tasteless enough.

Instead, with Undertaker's supposedly unconscious body still on top of Eddie Guerrero's car, Randy Orton got in the car, started the ignition, put the car in reverse, and floored the gas pedal, driving backwards about 30 feet until the car hit the Smackdown entrance set and Undertaker went crashing through it, which is something that could seriously injure or kill a person from the "storyline perspective" where everything that happens is real. Eddie Guerrero's car was used essentially as a weapon for attempted murder, which was depraved and sickening. The fact that it was Eddie Guerrero's car was not treated as incidental and "just another weapon" for Orton to use; the announcers specifically played up the fact that Orton was using Eddie Guerrero's beloved low-rider, all as part of WWE's attempt to get Randy Orton over as a money-drawing top heel act.

(For those of you unfamiliar with pro wrestling, the goal of any heel character is to make you hate that character as much as possible, and the more despicable things that character does in the storylines, the more you will theoretically hate them. Scripting a storyline in which Randy Orton would have the audacity to use Eddie Guerrero's car as a weapon was designed to help get Randy Orton over as a top-level heel.)

Then, just to top it all off, as Randy Orton stepped back and watched the scene unfold, the car had supposedly tripped up some electrical wires, and with the Undertaker still supposedly lying on the back of the car (though by now it was surely just a dummy that was made to look like the Undertaker), a bunch of sparks went flying, there were multiple explosions, and the car burst into flames. As the announcers continued to play up that it was Eddie's car, the show went off the air after about 30 seconds of giving the impression that the Undertaker was presumably dead from the collision and the subsequent fire, and the the car that was originally at ringside "in loving memory of Eddie Guerrero" burned in the flames.

My Commentary and Personal Opinions on This
I'm not going to sugar-coat this. Vince McMahon has some more burning to look forward to, and it's himself burning in hell. Normally, this miserable puke of a human being is able to contain himself to wait a few years before he blatantly exploits someone's death for profit... you know, like the whole "Legion of Doom reborn in the memory of Hawk" angle that exploited the death of Michael Hegstrand (aka, Road Warrior Hawk) for profit earlier this year.

We just had a week of TV after Eddie Guerrero died in which Vince McMahon actually appeared to show some class for once in his pathetic excuse for a life, with two tribute shows that featured no storylines and were all about honoring Eddie Guerrero.

For Vince McMahon to be using Eddie Guerrero's name and memory to pop a rating for a pro wrestling storyline two weeks later, and using Eddie's trademark low-rider as a prop, and actually blowing the damn thing up in a storyline where Randy Orton supposedly "killed" Undertaker, is a new low for a man who has once again demonstrated himself to be a of a human being.

Just in the past year, Vince McMahon has blatantly exploited terrorism for profit, first in a subtle way and then in a far-from-subtle way with a simulated terrorist attack and beheading that was taped on July 4th and still aired on the evening of July 7th even though a real terrorist attack had just killed dozens of people in London less than 24 hours earlier.

He has mocked the real-life cancer scare of a long-time employee, Jim Ross, in a televised segment that was designed solely for him to get his jollies from it. According to the Wrestling Observer, while preparing that segment behind the scenes he also mocked the real-life Bell's Palsy condition that causes Jim Ross to suffer from partial paralysis of his face.

Just two days ago, Vince McMahon was on national television using the N-word, which I suppose might be explainable for those who really want to defend Vince McMahon's every action if it were just a storyline of a 60-year-old man "trying to seem cool" with the context in which he used the word. But that's not the case, especially for someone with as much of a racist track record as Vince McMahon (please see pro wrestling history from 1980 to 2005 if you don't know what I'm talking about).

As bad as all of that was, it pales in comparison to what I have just witnessed. The pro wrestling world and all of its fans, and more importantly Eddie Guerrero's many close friends and the Guerrero family, lost a great human being two weeks ago. And now his death is being used to pop a quarter-hour rating for a main event storyline on a Tuesday night special, and the last defining trademark image of Eddie Guerrero is being used as a prop, literally blown up in an explosion, and used to supposedly "murder" someone whose pro wrestling gimmick is that he's a "dead man." Truly a disgrace.

Recent history and not-so-recent history both indicate that Vince McMahon loves to draw attention to himself even if it's in a controversial fashion, and I have no doubt that he's getting off on the fact that dishonoring and exploiting Eddie Guerrero's death is going to piss off lots and lots of people. Maybe this kind of outrage is just the reaction that he wants. Even if that's true, I don't think he wanted this particular reaction (and I don't think I'm the only fan who is thinking this right now): I'm done with Vince McMahon and his blood-money company.

I'm done with saying to myself, "Yeah, WWE is run by a vulture, but I've been watching pro wrestling since I was three years old and even today I really enjoy Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle and several other wrestlers and I really want to watch them." I have purchased every single WWE PPV for many years (and there have been 16+ pay-per-view events per year in recent years), and I am now going to either just buy the "Big Four" pay-per-view events every year, or buy none at all. I hope TNA continues to put on high-quality shows, because they now represent 95% of my pro wrestling consumption in the future.

I've said it before and I've never felt it more than I feel it right now: Vince McMahon is a piece of s--t as a human being. If he's not contributing to various people's deaths, he's exploiting their deaths for profit. Vince McMahon has no use for a dead person other than to exploit their death for profit.

I don't know for sure where we go when we die, and neither does anyone else, but I'm pretty sure that Eddie Guerrero is in a better place right now than the place where Vince McMahon will be going when he dies. You'd be naive if you didn't think that the same substances that allowed Vince McMahon to magically recover from two torn quadriceps in less than three months earlier this year (how does he do it?!?) are going to lead to his death sooner or later, and I truly believe that this Earth will be a better place without that scumbag on it.

I sincerely hope that Eddie Guerrero's wife and children were not watching this show tonight. May Eddie Guerrero rest in peace, and may his legacy and memory not be tarnished by WWE's sick attempts to exploit his death for profit.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:04 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- We've got one more Eddie Guerrero tribute to add to the list, this one from former WWE announcer and executive Jim Ross. Ross was the Head of Talent Relations in WWE for many years, including the time period when Eddie Guerrero was hired.

"Eddie Guerrero and I had a special relationship that came together over time. The catalyst was the challenges this wonderful human being faced in his daily life. I know our relationship was special because I can feel it so strongly in my heart at this very moment — and because Eddie told me so this morning in a dream.

I managed the talent roster for WWE when Eddie was hired at WWE [in 2000]. I had known him and his famous wrestling family for years prior to Eddie becoming a WWE Superstar. But it was after Eddie came to WWE that our relationship became diverse, involved, and, luckily for me, one of the most rewarding and valued relationships I have ever developed in this business.

I will never forget Eddie. I will never forget the face-to-face, spirited discussions we had over his demons. I will never forget the moment we finally reached common ground, with tears flowing and hugs abounding. We both knew we had turned the corner and now there was a fighting chance for this amazing wrestler to live out the balance of his life clean and sober. Eddie got the help he needed. He returned to us a better man, and he became an even bigger star. Eddie Guerrero is easily one of the 10 best in-ring talents I have seen in 33 years in this business. I was so proud of Eddie, and I told him so every single time I saw him from the day he returned to work until the last time I saw him at SummerSlam [this past August].

Eddie seemed a little tired at SummerSlam in August when I saw him at the MCI Arena in Washington, D.C. But when our eyes locked he immediately had an ear-to-ear grin on his face and we embraced like long lost brothers. I guess in a way we were brothers … of the wrestling business. I kidded him about stealing the show at SummerSlam and how that might not sit well with those that had to follow “Latino Heat.” He smiled that mischievous smile of his that we all grew to love because that was exactly what Eddie had on his mind. I wished him good luck and told him how excited I was to be able to sit and watch his match just like a regular fan. We hugged for a few moments but not nearly long enough — as I realized when the news of my friend’s death reached me early Sunday morning.

Eddie, I am sorry I could not be a part of your tribute on Monday Night Raw. But you know my heart was there and you know that I will never forget you or what you have meant to me. You once told my wife that I saved your life. I don’t know about that, but I do know this: You definitely made my life better by me simply knowing you. I hope the young wrestlers in this business continue to look to you for inspiration and guidance. You were a wonderful inspiration to me and to so many others — not only as a wrestler but as a husband, father, brother, and friend.

I want to smile as I remember you now because I am weary from crying. Goodbye 'Uncle Eddie,' until we see each other again."

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:04 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- A Wide-Ranging Look at the Life and Death of Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero died this past Sunday, November 13th, on the morning of a scheduled WWE TV taping in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Like millions of other people, I have been very distraught over Eddie's death, and I'm just a fan. I can't even imagine what his friends and family are going through.

The WWE tribute show that aired on Monday night provided a glimpse into what the entire WWE roster is going through, especially the people who were like brothers to Eddie such as Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, and Eddie's nephew Chavo Guerrero. As difficult as it was for many people to witness the overwhelming sense of despair that was conveyed in those people's faces on Monday night, there is nothing that properly can convey the fact that a wife is now without a husband and three young girls are now going to have to grow up without a father.

The cause of death has been initially determined to be heart failure from a grossly enlarged heart. Eddie had just celebrated his four-year anniversary of being sober, but he would be the first to admit that he had many demons and addictions before that timeframe. Just one week ago, Eddie along with his wife and children were moving into a new house in the Phoenix area where he planned to eventually retire.

For the past several days, I have wanted to write a tribute to Eddie Guerrero, but I haven't been able to find the words to do so. I still can't. It still doesn't feel real. It still hasn't sunk in.

I wish I could just wake up and find that this is all just a bad dream... not merely for myself selfishly as a fan, but for Eddie Guerrero's family and for the many, many other people that he was personally close with.

I also wish I didn't have this sick feeling of dread that causes me to wonder who might be the next to die out of the group of wrestlers who go the extra mile (or several extra miles) to put their bodies on the line for the entertainment of the fans. I don't want Ric Flair to be next. I don't want Chris Benoit to be next. I don't want Kurt Angle to be next. I don't want anyone to be next.

Many different people have said and written many touching and poignant things about Eddie Guerrero in the days since his tragic death, and I wanted to share some of these articles and statements with you.

(If you would like to support Eddie Guerrero's wife and children, there is a special Eddie Guerrero Tribute T-Shirt that you can buy on WWEShop.com, and 100% of the proceeds will go to the Guerrero family.)


This is Dave Meltzer's initial report on Eddie Guerrero's death, published on Sunday morning:
"Eddy Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room in Minneapolis this morning at the age of 38.

The only details available are that Guerrero came in yesterday for tonight's scheduled television tapings at the Target Center, where he was scheduled to be in the main event. He was staying at the Marriott City Center hotel in downtown Minneapolis.

He had an early wake-up call shortly after 7 a.m. that he didn't answer. Chavo Guerrero, who he was traveling with, called the room and again got no answer. When knocks on his hotel room door went unanswered, security got the door open and Eddie was found dead in the bathroom. The belief at this time is that he suffered a heart attack while brushing his teeth... Guerrero was one of the best wrestlers of this generation and immensely popular within the industry."


Eddie Guerrero's wife, Vickie, spoke about Eddie's autopsy report and gave the following public statement on WWE's web site:
"It was heart failure. It was from his past, the drinking and the drug abuse. They found signs of heart disease. She [the medical examiner] said that the blood vessels were very worn and narrow, and that just showed all the abuse from the scheduling of work and his past. And Eddie just worked out like crazy all the time. It made his heart grow bigger and work harder and the vessels were getting smaller, and that's what caused the heart failure...

As soon as they saw his heart, they saw the lining of his heart already had the heart disease. There was no trauma, and Eddie hadn't hurt himself in any way. It answered a lot of questions. I knew Eddie wasn’t feeling very good for the last week. He was home and kept saying he wasn’t feeling good and we thought it was just 'road tired.' So we thought he just had to rest. It answered a lot of my questions, too, because he was just so exhausted. She said it was normal because the heart was working so hard.

When he didn't call me last night and the night before I knew it was for real, because he would call me every night. I miss his phone calls... I loved his laugh. His laugh was the best.

We just celebrated his four-year sobriety last Thursday. We just thought we had life by the handful. We thought we had it all figured out. He worked so hard to make a better life for us.

I’m just overwhelmed by how people are coming out. It’s touched my heart a lot. Everybody was just in awe last night in how beautifully everything was put together [on the tribute show]. All my life was wrestling. All he did was take care of them and live for that. And I don’t know what to do now."


Eddie Guerrero's nephew, Chavo, said this to the crowd after his match at the Smackdown tribute show tapings:
"From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. Eddie thanks you. Eddie gave his life to this business, to the boys in the back, and for you the fans."


Chris Benoit, who spent most of the past 15+ years on the road with Eddie Guerrero and was one of his closest friends, said this on the Raw tribute show:
"We laughed, we cried, we fought... Eddie was the one person that I could go to and pour my heart out to, no matter what was happening in my life. I knew he would understand and talk me through it. We would talk about life, past, present, and future... I love his family. My heart and prayers go out to his wife Vickie and his daughters. I can't imagine the sorrow they're going through... Eddie, I know you are in a better place. You made such a great impression on my life and I want to thank you for everything you've given me. I want to thank you from my heart and tell you I love you and will never forget you and I will see you again someday."


Dave Batista, who had become very close friends with Eddie Guerrero in the past few months, said this on the Raw tribute show:
"Eddie helped me out of some tough spots. Being in the position that I'm in with the title, there was a lot of weight on my shoulders. He would quote scripture to inspire me. He helped me through personal problems, keeping my head on straight. He was so funny, so easy to work with... Eddie always seemed to be in pain. He seemed to be in so much pain, but then he'd walk through the curtain and you'd never know it, the adrenaline would just kick in and he would put on a show for all of the fans... Eddie Guerrero loved this business. He found peace in this ring. My one comfort is Eddie is at peace. Eddie is with God... Eddie, I miss you, and I will never forget you."


Chris Jericho, who worked with Eddie Guerrero all over the world and was one of his closest friends, wrote this on his web site (using the Spanish spelling of "Eddy"):
"I am devastated by the news of Eddy's passing and I am so sad... I've lost a lot of friends over the years, but this one hurts the most by far.

I had the pleasure of meeting Eddy in Mexico City almost 14 years ago and we've been close ever since... He is one of my favorite people that I've ever met in the wrestling business, as well one of the greatest performers I've ever seen and had the pleasure to work with... He was also so humble and a true family man and most importantly a warrior for God. He taught me so much about wrestling and about being a man and it is an honor to call him a true brother and friend.

I have so many classic Eddy stories that I would love to share, but instead I'm just going to go and cry myself to sleep remembering what an awesome human being Eddy was and will always be. May God bless your family and your soul and may he keep you safe forever... I love you, my brother..."


Rob Van Dam, who worked with Eddie Guerrero in both ECW and WWE, said this on WWE's web site:
"I'm glad I had the chance to tell Eddie what he meant to me. One time, when there was nobody there in the dressing room, I had a serious moment where I said, 'Eddie, you know what, when I see you, you know what comes to mind? What I think of? Strength.' Strength comes to mind. I told him, 'You're overcoming your struggles and are so strong to do that.'

I'm glad that I got to tell Eddie that he definitely symbolized strength for me. I would be in a joking, goofing around mode, whatever I can do to get me through that time and sometimes I would look over there at Eddie, and he would be so serious and intense and I would see that he was strong and he was overcoming something. I don't know, maybe he was upset about a promo he had to do that night or maybe something personal in his life, I don't know but there were a lot of times where he was fighting, he was always fighting, and I respected him for that because he was always able to get everything done and he really seemed like he was juggling a lot and had a lot on his plate and I always felt like that about him."


Current WWE play-by-play announcer Joey Styles, who also knew Eddie Guerrero when they were both in ECW, wrote this on his web site:
Eddie was the last person I saw when I went up to my room on Saturday night because he was checking in with Chavo as I was going to bed. I spent a good portion of the day on Sunday looking for a private place in the Target Center to hide and let out a good hard cry. I will never forget how awkward I felt when WWE agent David Finlay and the entire roster of WWE Divas found me sobbing in the corner of the agents' room.

As for Raw, each time an Eddie tribute testimonial or Eddie highlight package came up on my monitor I wanted to cry, and I felt so nauseous with grief that I wanted to vomit but I just kept doing what I needed to do, counting the minutes until the show was over...

I am so upset posting this that I cannot do anymore, so just let me say that I look forward seeing Eddie again so I can share the story about Mr. Finlay and the Divas with him and Jesus and we can all laugh. God bless you Eddie."


Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch wrote the following about the Monday night tribute show:
"The show felt 98 percent genuine and two percent border-line exploitative. That's about the best margin possible in this type of situation. Putting all angles and promos aside made it feel like it was about Guerrero, not anything else...

Chris Benoit's crying and outpouring of emotion was as memorable as anything you'll see on TV this year... After Chris Benoit's moving tribute to his friend, it almost seemed like we were all voyeurs looking in on something we weren't really part of. But if one thing came through in the big picture, it's that Guerrero would have wanted everyone to be part of the tribute show - including if not especially the fans.

The way the night went, it was cathartic for everyone to be together on such short notice. How often does a public figure die, and at least half of his best friends in the world, most of his co-workers, and 8,000 fans gather within 12 hours to pay respects, laugh and cry, and share memories? ... Guerrero had such a vibrant personality and was so open with his emotions and open about problems in his life that fans felt a greater bond with him than most public figures. That showed.

WWE put together a tasteful, classy, memorable night that the Guerrero family can be proud of and look back on years from now (especially his young kids) whenever they want to get a feeling for the public, professional side of their lost loved one."


WorldWrestlingInsanity's James Guttman wrote the following about Eddie Guerrero and about the Monday night tribute show:
"There are some days that just seem to last forever. Yesterday, November 13th, was one of those days. It was the day that we all lost Eddie Guerrero, one of this industry's most talented, respected, and loved performers.

Eddie touched all of our lives. Whether you knew him personally or not, you shared in his art. You watched him compete and entertain. At the end of the day, you took part in his craft by watching him practice it.

At the time of his death, Guerrero was a top wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment. Sitting atop the Smackdown totem pole, Eddie seemed to be a staple of WWE's programming. While no death is predicable, Guerrero's was especially shocking. I mean, we were still analyzing his performance on Smackdown last week and wondering if he would win the World Title at the next set of tapings. In an instant, that all changed and many of us were left asking why.

Death is a hard thing to understand for many people. How could someone so alive and vibrant one day be gone the next? ... The hardest part with handling a death like this is the immediacy of it all. Eddie was someone who many people had just seen. He wasn't sick. He wasn't incapacitated. He was up, smiling, and looked more alive than most. Now that he's gone, his voice is still vivid in our minds. It's a shock to the system when you realize that he's no longer with us. After all, if you close your eyes, you can still hear him. You can still picture him. It doesn't seem real.

It won't seem real for a while, if at all. There's some losses I've experienced in my life that still don't seem real. The most we can do is sit back and honor Eddie the best way we know how. We need to celebrate his life and achievements. Whatever emotions that brings out are okay. Some will be sad. Some will be angry. Some will be confused. Whichever emotion you experience is the right one because it's yours. Everyone mourns in their own way.

Tonight's Raw is not a normal episode. It's about the legacy of a good man who loved what he did. It's about someone we all knew in some small way and will miss very deeply. It's about Eddie Guerrero and the memories he helped create. Thank you, Eddie. Thank you for all you've given us. Tonight, we celebrate you...

... A video of Chris Benoit discussing Eddie Guerrero followed. This was the most heart-breaking thing I've seen in a long time. Benoit was overflowing with emotion and just broke down. I can't even begin to express how terrible I feel for Chris and how many fans who saw this must be hurting for him right now...

...I thought WWE did a great job with tonight's show. It was nice to remember some of the great moments that Eddie Guerrero gave us. The night was heart-wrenching at times, and you couldn't help but feel emotional watching some of Guerrero's friends and colleagues break down. There's nothing more to really say here. I'm just sitting here staring blankly. There's a lot of emotion to digest."


Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer wrote the following after Monday night's tribute show on USA Network (edited for punctuation and paragraph breaks):
"I think everyone needed to cry and on a personal standpoint, I would like to thank the people involved in the show last night, in particular the people who spoke from the heart about Eddy Guerrero last night, because I don't think any of them realize how much they did for all of us watching. It is a tragedy that a great wrestler passed away too young, when he had so much to give the profession. But that is a terribly minor tragedy compared to the fact that a wonderful human being passed away.

I recognize that almost everyone reading this is hurting right now, and if they aren't, I'm very sorry for you, but there many people who lost a very dear friend. Unfortunately, something like this had to happen for the whole world to realize it, and if there is a such thing as him watching from above, I guess he saw it... One thing about these tragedies and it really is the most important thing, is that his children and his wife loved that man. He and his wife were childhood sweethearts and no doubt with Eddy she had the highest of highs, and unfortunately, she had to endure the lowest of lows a few years ago... The plight of the families left behind is rarely thought about. That is the real heartbreak here, and elsewhere.

For every wrestler, and everyone in wrestling who makes decisions, you should try to at least learn something from this, whether it's being a better friend, or being humble, because Eddy Guerrero had the talent of 100 people and was never arrogant about it, and he didn't get so good at his profession without loving to give people the kind of show that he perceived his father did. He had gigantic shoes to fill in the ring, and he more than filled them.

He had battles every day of his life with his own problems, and being in a world that in many ways is the worst world to be in for someone with depression and addiction issues. He appeared to be winning the battle. He achieved things that few would have ever thought were possible for a man of his stature. But there is a real truth here about the families left behind, and that this was not a freak occurrence but the result of bad decisions. Most of all, the greatest thing that can happen to celebrate Eddy's memory is not watching clips of him performing against Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko or Rey Mysterio... but if somehow this is learned from, and becomes a true watershed moment in the profession, and some families are saved from this in the future."


Here are a few excerpts from Wade Keller's in-depth news story about Eddie Guerrero's life and death:
"Eddie hadn't been feeling well for several weeks. According to friends and his wife, he had felt weak, run-down, achy, just not right. History has taught wrestlers, though, that you never slow down unless you have to or else you might 'lose your spot' to someone healthier who is deemed more reliable. The second you step aside to take a breath, someone else may swoop in, get over with fans due to an increased push and TV exposure, and knock you permanently down the card. So Eddie churned on, with the carrot of another World Title reign being dangled in front of him due to Batista's recent injury...

... The scene backstage at the event [the show taped on Sunday night] was said to be somber. Wrestlers and staffers were walking around in disbelief and shock, sharing memories and consoling each other. Before the show, on his way from the hotel to the arena, Batista - a close friend of Guerrero behind the scenes - hid his eyes behind sunglasses and hung his head. He moved slowly, deliberately, appearing to be overcome by grief. Later that afternoon, he'd break down and cry when talking about what Eddie meant to him as a person and to his career. That aired on Raw. He also later talked about Guerrero from center-ring for the opening segment of Smackdown.

Chris Benoit appeared to be the most emotionally distraught. To open Raw, all of the WWE wrestlers in attendance that night stepped onto the stage. A lot of tears were being shed. Benoit, though, was sobbing. Uncontrollably. He was grieving the loss of his best friend. The message was clear from what Guerrero's colleagues said about him - he was respected, loved, appreciated, and already missed...

... It has been brought up numerous times this week that he was the first Mexican-American to hold a major World Heavyweight Title in a national promotion. Perhaps more remarkably, he was the smallest wrestler to hold a major national World Heavyweight Title. Several inches under six feet tall, his climb to the top of WWE - known traditionally as a 'big man's promotion' with an owner who has a size fetish - may be the best indication of just how good he really was."


Dave Scherer of PWInsider wrote:
"As I sit here and type this, I am numb, blindsided by news I didn't see coming, from miles away. It was just Friday night that Eddie Guerrero was in the ring with Ken Kennedy entertaining us on Smackdown, and now he's gone.

His dying, far too young, is a tragedy. There is no other way to look at it. A wife has lost her husband, children have lost their father, and it's just downright sad, my friends.

I remember the first time I saw Eddie work [in New Japan Pro Wrestling]. He was a guy who, the first time I saw him, I knew would be a star in the business for a long time due to the simple fact that he was an amazing wrestler. As we would later find out, there was more to him than just wrestling prowess in the ring.

In the ring, there was no one like him, but putting his body on the line, night after night, would take its toll in the long run, as would the pride that he took in his work and the pressure that he put on himself to succeed.

The bumps that wrestlers take throughout their career hurt more and more as the years go on, and there were a lot of bumps on Eddie's body. It's also no secret that his run as WWE Champion took its toll on him emotionally as he put a ridiculous amount of pressure on himself to succeed.

Now, he's gone, at just 38 years old. It's still so hard for me to comprehend. It hasn't sunk in, really. All I can I hope out of all this is that Eddie has found peace and that the pain is gone."


(Note by Ivan Trembow: As much as we'd all like to pretend that no such problem exists, the unfortunate fact of the matter is that Eddie Guerrero was a victim of the way that the pro wrestling industry is set up. So, these last three articles focus on the problems of the pro wrestling industry, and how they specifically helped contribute to the death of Eddie Guerrero.)


James Caldwell of the Pro Wrestling Torch wrote the following (this is a series of brief excerpts from a much larger column by Caldwell):
"[I had been] inspired by Kurt Angle's promo on the November 7th edition of Raw where Angle delivered one of the more entertaining five minutes of television seen on a wrestling program this year, before moving into a heartfelt discussion of separating from his wife and making many sacrifices for the wrestling business. I considered the lifestyle that a wrestler must live to be part of the business. It's a lifestyle that can make it a struggle for a wrestler to make it to the next town.

Eddie Guerrero fought that struggle for many years and through the struggle, he put forth his best effort in the ring every night to make sure fans who bought a ticket got their money's worth. His dynamic personality and in-ring ability made him one of the top reasons anyone would tune to UPN on a Friday night to watch wrestling...

... Eddie Guerrero was a victim of the vicious pro wrestling cycle that eats up even those who go through rehab and take a stab at sobriety. Some will argue it's up to the individual to make the decision and address his or her own problems. Yes, many of Eddie's struggles came from his own decisions. However, the system is broken. It demands an unsustainable lifestyle that produces too many victims...

... Hopefully, Vince McMahon and the wrestling business will take Guerrero's death as the final piece of evidence that it's time to address issues that compromise wrestlers' health, like not demanding meatheads [heavily-muscled wrestlers] for wrestlers, and allowing wrestlers an opportunity to heal from injuries without the consequences of being questioned for their dedication to the company. Vince McMahon has the power to initiate change for the sake of the health of his business. More importantly, he can ensure that today's headliners live long enough to tell their grandchildren about their days as a WWE headliner."


Andrew Martin, who wrestled as Test in WWE, made a post on his web site on Sunday night. In a shocking move last year, WWE released Martin just a couple of months into a 12+ month recovery process for surgery to repair a broken neck, which was an injury that he suffered while wrestling for WWE. Here are excerpts from what Andrew Martin wrote (edited for punctuation and grammar):
I've been up all night and haven't really slept as everyone knows by now that Eddie Guerrero has passed away. Everybody knows Eddie had his demons, but he had been clean for a long time. It was way too soon for him to go, and he leaves behind three young daughters and a wonderful wife. My heart goes out to them.

Eddie was a huge help to me. He helped me progress in the ring, and we even wrestled each other at WrestleMania in Houston in 2001. Eddie, I pray that you are in a better place and I thank you for everything you taught me...

... Now, I'm actually wondering who's next. Who's next to die? How come [so many pro wrestlers die prematurely] while football players and hockey players don't? The answer is simple: Wrestlers, especially WWE wrestlers, work five days per week all year long, taking bump after bump in the ring. A doctor explained it to me like this: Every bump that you take in the ring is like being in a car and getting rear-ended by a car that's going 20 miles per hour. So, how many bumps per night do you take in the ring? Multiply that by how many times per week you work all year long, and that's all of a lot of whiplash and pain...

... I can remember hearing a conversation from some unnamed WWE head guys talking about how a certain wrestler needed to go to rehab, but they couldn't send him because he was too important to the show. That's the reality, people. That's how we are treated.

When Johnny Ace called me and told me that they were releasing me, I said to him, 'What kind of message are you sending the boys in the locker room? That if they get hurt and miss time, they are going to get fired?' So for all the guys who don't want to lose their jobs, what do they do? God forbid they say they are hurt and lose their job... I'm not going to name names, but I know of at least a dozen or so wrestlers who are addicted to these things [prescription painkillers] and that's the reason--- 'Get hurt, lose your job.' I just turned 30, my back aches every day, and I have a metal plate in my neck. You guys don't see the ugly side of this business. Yes, wrestling is entertainment, but the bumps and bruises are real, and sometimes they don't go away.

... The sad part is that Eddie was clean and I guarantee you that he won't be the last one to die in the next 12 months, so that's why I say 'who's next?' Don't take your life for granted. It's a gift. Don't go to bed mad, and always tell the people you care about that you love them because you never know. Take care."


Bruce Mitchell of the Pro Wrestling Torch wrote the following (this is a series of brief excerpts from a much larger column by Mitchell):
Eddie Guerrero should have been a natural. But he wasn't. Eddie Guerrero was too small, too short, too thin to be a star in the U.S. Well, that's not true. Eddie Guerrero was just too small to get a job, at least with either of the two national wrestling companies, WCW or the WWF. No matter what else Eddie Guerrero brought to the craft, he wasn't even going to get the opportunity in that era's wrestling world.

You see, Vince McMahon had a vision of what a professional wrestler should be. Hulk Hogan and The Road Warriors personified that vision. The fans ratified it. Eddie Guerrero didn't come close...

... For Eddie Guerrero, [getting hired by WCW] was the break he'd been waiting for and the continuation of an unnatural progression, because no matter how good he was in the ring, no matter how fans reacted to his charismatic grinning and sneering, the talk in the WCW locker room (and it was Hulk Hogan's locker room) was that he was too small.

So Eddie Guerrero did what it took to get bigger. It's easy to forget after watching him and all his peers who made their calling card their work ability and not their size for all those years, but Eddie Guerrero carried much more muscle mass than his frame was naturally built to carry...

He felt compelled to look like that, even if it was never enough, and that alone was going to take its toll over the years. Compounding that was the talent and desire that made Guerrero push himself beyond his physical limits in the ring year after year, month after month, night after night... Guerrero wanted the main event position, he wanted his family to have the financial rewards that came with it, and he paid the enormous price to get them...

... [This year] Eddie was facing up to a harder reality. He was 38 years old, his body was breaking down, his window of opportunity to stay a top performer was closing, and he had a young family that he loved and wanted to provide for, the same way he always had. He didn't always see that his acting ability and psychology might have carried him forward as a top performer for many years to come.

That was a heavy burden to carry for a man who wore every emotion he felt - his joy at delighting fans, his passion for working great matches, his love for his mother, his brothers, his wife, his daughters and his friends, his religious faith, his insecurity, and his despair on that expressive face for everyone to see.

And then, like so many times before, that burden was lifted off his shoulders forever."

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:54 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Forum Post Leads to Interesting Discussion about Vince McMahon and Paul Heyman
When a member of the MMAWeekly Forum recently suggested that Vince McMahon could start his own MMA promotion at some point and put Paul Heyman in charge of it, I responded by saying, "Anything that Paul Heyman does outside of WWE will have no involvement from the McMahon family."

A different forum member then responded with a long and well-thought-out post about the possibilities of McMahon and Heyman working together in such a capacity, which I responded to with a long post of my own. The original post and my response to it each brought up a lot of interesting points, so here are the aforementioned posts for your reading pleasure...

Brian7199 wrote:
Shane McMahon is long-rumored to have wanted to get involved with MMA. Vince is pissed off at Spike and the UFC. Yes, Vince and Paul Heyman do not see eye to eye mostly because Paul speaks his mind and is not the most "political" WWE employee. Vince likes to be surrounded by "Yes Men." However...

In the interest of business, Vince has brought back quite a few people over the years whom he has either had altercations with, or simply just does not like. Eric Bishoff is probably the best example. People like Rena Mero in the past, and as recent as Matt Hardy. He has recently been trying to re-sign Brock Lesner, who walked out on the company with little notice and zero respect for those who sold for him and helped make him who he was. If Vince believes that it's good for business, that is all that matters. He's being stubborn w/the Jim Ross situation, but I believe we still may see Good Ol' JR back on TV since Joey Styles is playing hardball, wanting the same money offered to Mike Goldberg, and Vince has admitted that Coach is not panning out. Bret Hart has a new DVD coming out, and they want him back on their programming, regadless of all of the vile venom Brett has spewed towards them over the last several years. There are plenty more examples, but it is late and my head is a mess.

My point is that if it will make him money... and in the process crush somebody he doesn't like, he will do it. If this means working with Heyman to try and hurt the UFC, don't put it past the old man.

Vince has been erratic as of late, and his product has been suffering. He is long rumored to want to branch out and be remembered as something more than just a wrestling promoter. His recent dabble into films is an example. Failed attempts at football and bodybuilding are also painful reminders. He is also rumored to be getting to the point where he wants to turn his company over to Stephanie, Shane, and Paul Levasque (Triple H). According to the Pro Wrestling Torch, he has been spending a lot of time behind closed doors lately. All kinds of stuff are going around the rumor mill. I'm not saying that it has anything to do with this situation, I'm just stating what is reported in the VIP section of the Torch web site. Vince may be growing tired of "The Business," and ready to try something new. There is a lot of speculation amongst peers that this may be the case.

By the way, I'm not arguing with you, I'm just curious as to why you think they would not work together on this. Paul and Shane could run the day-to-day operations, and Vince could oversee things. It ould not be the smoothest ride, but it could be done. Vince has shown that he wants to do damage, and regardless of how he feels towards Paul, he does respect his mind and passion. If it means dealing a crushing blow to someone with whom he is at war, like I said before, I would never put anything past the old man.


My response:
Brian, that's a very good post, but one point that you might be overlooking is that Vince McMahon does business with people he doesn't like primarily to undermine them or humiliate them, not because he's some kind of magnanimous person who forgives and forgets if that's what is best for his company and his stockholders. It's quite the opposite.

Note: What follows is not a rant against you, so much as it is a rant against Vince McMahon. In your post, you seem to be aware of what kind of person Vince McMahon is, so I'm just adding to what you said and disagreeing on some points.

Just looking at all the names you mentioned, there are mitigating circumstances in almost all of those cases. Bischoff was brought in and continues to be used after three years because McMahon is now his boss and gets to tell him what to do, which is something that McMahon gets off on because Bischoff almost brought WWE to its knees for a time. Bischoff is also frequently booked into humilating situations.

The things that Rena Mero did to get her job back have been alluded to plenty of times in the Torch and Observer. I won't come right out and graphically say what those things are, for the same reasons that the Torch and Observer didn't either. But in general, it's one of the worst kept secrets in the business.

Matt Hardy has been buried from Day One of his return to WWE, was forced to shake Vince McMahon's hand right before his money return promo (effectively shooting his "anti-authority" character dead on the spot), did clean jobs on subsequent weeks to Rob Conway and Gene Snitsky, and will likely never, ever get the push that he deserves simply because he dared to negotiate seriously with TNA, he dared to question WWE's decision to fire him for being cheated on, and he dared to make an Internet sensation out of himself that Vince McMahon didn't control.

Brock Lesnar was given a lowball offer in early 2005 and it was openly said that he would have at least a full year of "humbling/humilation" just to prove a point. When Lesnar challenged WWE's legally invalid no-compete clause, he won. He is wrestling in Japan, and some of his matches from Japan will even air on American PPV. The only thing WWE won was that Lesnar can't call his finishing move the "F-5." So it's now called "The Verdict," which is Lesnar's way of giving a big middle finger to WWE after they tried and failed to bully him legally.

Bret Hart was basically threatened with a "Self-Destruction of Bret Hart" DVD that had actually been partially produced, in order to coerce him into working with WWE on the DVD project instead of refusing to participate in it. Or as Dave Meltzer put it in his newsletter, Bret Hart was essentially blackmailed. The "Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior" DVD stands as an example of what happens when you don't play ball with WWE.

And while I don't think the events of November 1997 were entirely one-sided and all Vince McMahon's fault like many people do, can you really blame Bret Hart for "spewing venom" in Vince McMahon's direction in recent years? He signed him to a 20-year talent contract in 1996, then told him one year later that he didn't want to honor that contract because McMahon felt that it was too much money. Then of course came the events of November 1997, which don't bear repeating here.

But on the list of reasons for Bret Hart to hate Vince McMahon, we should never forget that it was Vince McMahon who sent Bret Hart's brother Owen up to the rafters for the stunt that would ultimately take his life. It was Vince who was reportedly upset when Owen didn't immediately get released from the harness at the previous year's Survivor Series, which is one of the major things that led to Owen using a ridiculously unsafe "quick-release snap shackle" on that night. It was Vince who pressured Owen into doing the stunt in the first place when Owen didn't want to do it because he was so afraid of heights (as detailed in the book "Broken Harts"). It was Vince who ordered the show to go on after Owen died, despite the fact that stopping the show would have cost WWE maybe 1% of its annual revenue at most. It was Vince who has spent a significant amount of time in the past six years revisiting that night by having many "The show must go on!" kind of moments on TV after worked injuries to various wrestlers. So I don't really blame Bret Hart for spewing venom in Vince McMahon's direction.

As for Vince McMahon getting into something else other than pro wrestling, he has always wanted to be more than a pro wrestling promoter but he has always failed miserably at everything else he has ever done. What has been going on behind those closed doors is Vince coming to grips with the fact that he's 60 years old and is going to die someday (and probably not when he's 90, due to the lifestyle choices that he has made and continues to make). This has caused him to go "crazy" as the Torch put it, and to "lose his mind" as the Observer put it.

So with Vince apparently having completely lost his mind, I really can't see him staking out a claim in a whole new business and turning it over to Shane McMahon and Paul Heyman without running it himself. He is more controlling than ever and would want to get into MMA himself if he started an MMA promotion.

Also, he hates Paul Heyman more vehemently than he hates most people on his proverbial enemies list (or literal enemies list, if you read Bruce Mitchell's latest piece) because Heyman is the answer to the question that Vince doesn't want to have answered.

His own creativity is gone from all indications, as the most involved storyline that he has co-written himself in the past few months according to the Observer basically consisted of standing around backstage with Ed Koskey and making fun of Jim Ross' Bell's Palsy (before making fun of Jim Ross' cancer scare in an on-air segment), and as the creative team continues to self-implode with Stephanie's clueless Hollywood writers being shuffled in and out on a constant basis, he has to know deep down that the only thing that could save his company in the long run is a creative genius like Paul Heyman being given control of creative. And that's simply not going to happen as long as Stephanie McMahon is his daughter and Paul Levesque is his (second) son. Therefore, with the way those people operate, Heyman must be neutralized, and I wouldn't classify "giving him the reins of a huge new project" as "neutralizing him."

If Heyman is offered a renewal, it will be purely to keep him away from TNA or another company, and it won't be for anywhere near his current salary, and even that kind of offer is being strongly discouraged by Stephanie, Hunter, and Kevin Dunn, according to the Observer.

The fact that he has apparently lost his mind does mean that his behavior is more unpredictable than ever before, and he could do something totally out of character. But so far his mental meltdown has only led to his worst character traits coming out more than ever, as opposed to any kind of magnanimous side coming out. So I can't say there is a ZERO percent chance that he would give Paul Heyman the reins of an MMA company, but I can say that it's damn near a zero percent chance.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 9:58 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts and Pro Wrestling--- Full-Blown "Monday Night War" on the Verge of Breaking Out?
The face of Monday nights may be on the verge of changing once again, with a full-blown Monday Night War having the potential to break out sometime in the next six months. Information obtained by MMAWeekly indicates that some or all of the following things may be on the verge of happening: A) Spike TV continuing to air UFC Unleashed in the Monday at 10:00 PM timeslot for considerably longer than the network originally anticipated, B) Spike TV continuing to air UFC programming in the Monday at 11:00 PM timeslot even after the second season of The Ultimate Fighter concludes, and C) Spike TV giving the "TNA Impact" pro wrestling show a new timeslot of Monday nights at 9:00 PM, head-to-head with the first hour of WWE Raw.

If all of those things happened, it would be a full-blown revival of the famed Monday Night Wars. Instead of WCW Nitro on TNT providing the head-to-head competition for WWE, it would be a combination of TNA and UFC programming serving as Spike TV's weapons against WWE Raw on USA Network. As was the case with the October 3rd one-night showdown, nobody on the Spike/UFC/TNA side is delusional enough to have the goal of outright beating WWE Raw in the ratings. Instead, the goal would simply be to draw away a significant portion of the young male demographic that often watches WWE Raw on Monday nights.

Spike TV first dipped its toes in the proverbial "Going Head-to-Head with WWE Raw" water by scheduling a live UFC special to run head-to-head with WWE's return to USA Network on October 3rd, a move that caused Vince McMahon to go into full-fledged "War Mode," complete with all of the consequences that pro wrestling promoters have been all-too-familiar with since the 1980's.

Spike also decided to continue airing new episodes of The Ultimate Fighter every week in the Mondays at 11:00 PM timeslot, instead of moving the new airings of TUF to Saturdays at 9:00 PM as originally planned. Finally, in news that was broken exclusively on MMAWeekly in late September, Spike decided that UFC programming would be matched up against WWE programming on a weekly basis, with new episodes of UFC Unleashed airing every Monday night at 10:00 PM starting on October 10th.

Why Spike TV is Strongly Considering These Additional Moves
These moves are being strongly considered by Spike TV management due to a variety of factors. First of all, there's the fact that the Monday night airings of UFC Unleashed have done fairly well in the ratings when you consider their conspicuous lack of promotion, and more importantly these airings have significantly cut into the second-hour ratings growth that WWE Raw typically experiences.

Last week's episode of UFC Unleashed drew a 1.2 overall rating, the show's highest yet in the Monday at 10:00 PM timeslot, and it also drew a 2.2 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-34-year-old male demographic. It seems likely that the ratings for UFC Unleashed are going to continue to grow as more people figure out that it's on the air every Monday at 10:00 PM.

There is also the fact that WWE is very vulnerable right now, and Spike TV smells blood to a certain extent because of WWE's ratings collapse since its first show on USA Network. The first episode of WWE Raw back on USA Network drew an overall rating of 4.4. The next week, Raw's overall rating was down drastically to 4.0. The week after that, Raw's overall rating was down drastically again to 3.6. The rating was 3.9 last week, but the normally large second-hour ratings growth was non-existent (the first hour drew a 3.9 rating, and the second hour stayed at 3.9).

At the same time, WWE Raw has devolved creatively over the past few weeks into an outlet for the McMahon family to get its jollies on national television, and the numbers would seem to indicate that I'm not the only person who has that opinion. (The latest example would be Vince McMahon making fun of long-time employee Jim Ross' real-life cancer scare in a seven-minute-long skit on this week's Raw.)

The amount of people who have been turned off of the WWE product in the past few weeks, as reflected in the ratings and the huge backlash to various offensive things that have been done, is a blow to WWE while at the same time representing a huge opportunity for Spike TV.

The final factor that has Spike TV on the verge of making a major commitment to Monday nights is the fact that the first four episodes of the TNA Impact pro wrestling show on Spike TV have performed very well in the ratings.

Airing in the less-than-ideal Saturday at 11:00 PM timeslot, the first four episodes of TNA Impact have drawn overall ratings of 0.8, 0.8, 0.8, and 0.9. That is considered a big success for a product that had never previously been on national cable television other than a mid-2004 to mid-2005 run on Fox Sports Net, which is more of a collection of regional FSN affiliates than it is a legitimately "national" cable network.

As a result of all these factors, Spike TV has given TNA Impact a huge test by scheduling a two-hour primetime special that will air on Thursday, November 3rd from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM (followed by UFC Unleashed at 11:00 PM on that date).

If TNA's primetime special performs exceptionally well in the ratings, and if TNA Impact continues to experience ratings growth in its latenight timeslot on Saturday nights, sources have told MMAWeekly that it would become very likely that TNA Impact would be moved to Monday nights at 9:00 PM, possibly as soon as a few months from now.

Additionally, sources tell MMAWeekly that if TNA Impact does indeed get the coveted Monday night at 9:00 PM timeslot up against WWE Raw, it would also be likely that a two-hour block of UFC programming on Monday nights (from 10:00 PM to 12:00 AM) would become a long-term fixture on Spike TV, all of which would combine to mean that another "Monday Night War" would be on in full force.

Repeats of UFC Unleashed could air on Monday nights at 11:00 PM when The Ultimate Fighter is not in season, and in general UFC Unleashed is a show that is produced with a large number of repeat airings intended for every episode. However, as I have written before, Spike TV would need to actually start promoting UFC Unleashed at some point, and the UFC would need to incorporate a lot more behind-the-scenes training footage and interviews to go along with the old fight footage, if UFC Unleashed is to be successful over the long run.

Primetime Specials on Spike TV
If TNA does not impress Spike TV with its primetime ratings on November 3rd, it would still appear to be very likely that the coveted February 13th, 2006 slot on Spike TV will still be going to TNA instead of the UFC. Much to WWE's chagrin, WWE Raw will be preempted on February 13th due to USA Network's coverage of the Westminster Dog Show. This represents an excellent opportunity for Spike TV to put either a TNA special or a UFC special in that timeslot, and right now it appears that Spike TV is much more interested in giving that spot to TNA (which may already have that timeslot on a weekly basis by the time February rolls around).

On the other hand, when WWE Raw is preempted for two weeks in the late summer due to USA Network's coverage of the US Open tennis tournament, the UFC would be much more likely to get a primetime special on either one of those two dates (August 28th, 2006 or September 4th, 2006). Those two dates would be prime real estate for a UFC live fight special on Spike TV because WWE Raw will not be airing on those dates, and the people who normally watch Raw would probably be more interested in watching UFC programming on Spike TV than they would be in watching the US Open on USA Network.

Regardless of what happens with the long-term timeslots of UFC and TNA programming on Spike TV, the UFC has secured the timeslot for another head-to-head ratings battle with WWE and USA Network on January 16th, 2006 (as first reported by MMAWeekly last week). A live UFC fight special is scheduled to air on Spike TV head-to-head with WWE Raw on that date.

There should be absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that this will be seen by Vince McMahon as another "act of war," so don't be surprised if you see WWE magically decide to make the January 16th, 2006 episode of WWE Raw one of its biggest shows of the year, just as it did with the October 3rd show.

Additionally, there will be two occasions over the next couple of weeks on which repeat UFC programming will be airing head-to-head with WWE programming. First, the 11th and 12th episodes of The Ultimate Fighter 2 will be re-airing on Spike TV on Friday, September 4th from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The first hour of that block will be going head-to-head with WWE Smackdown on UPN, which has been drawing overall ratings in the 2.5 range in its new timeslot of Friday nights from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

Finally, one of the scheduled replays for "The Ultimate Finale" of TUF's second season will be airing head-to-head with WWE Raw. After its first airing at 9:00 PM on November 5th, the three-hour "Ultimate Finale" telecast will be re-aired at midnight that same night; then again at midnight on Sunday night, November 6th; and finally once more at 10:00 PM on Monday night, November 7th, head-to-head with WWE Raw. You can bet that all parties involved will be watching very closely to see what affect, if any, the Ultimate Finale airing will have on Raw's second-hour ratings growth.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:21 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- In the "Holy S--t!" Deparment, Christian (Jay Reso) has quit WWE and will likely be going to work for TNA. Despite being one of the most promising young talents in the pro wrestling industry, Christian was never given a full-fledged push by WWE management and probably never would have been, simply because he doesn't have the heavily roided-up body that WWE management craves. So when his WWE contract expired recently, Christian decided not to re-sign with WWE. If more WWE wrestlers decide to do this over time, the pro wrestling industry as a whole will be a lot better off.

Here's what Dave Meltzer reported about this situation on the Wrestling Observer web site:

"Jay Reso's final match in WWE was last night at the TV tapings in Los Angeles. While the WWE web site reported him quitting, which was accurate, what happened was a week ago in San Francisco, he was given a new contract and told to sign on the spot [his old contract had expired]. He didn't sign [and decided to leave WWE]. He did come back to work and do another job last night when he quit. --- Wrestling Observer"

In an update to the story, Meltzer also reports that even though he is under no contractual obligation to do so, Christian has made himself available for tonight's Raw show in Anaheim and tomorrow's Taboo Tuesday PPV in San Diego, just to be extra professional in how he's doing this. Meltzer also alludes to the fact that WWE released the information itself about Christian quitting on WWE.com because they were incredibly paranoid and worried about the possibility that word of Christian's departure would first appear on one of the insider pro wrestling web sites.

"From what we understand, Christian is in Anaheim for TV and was planning on going to San Diego for Taboo Tuesday, even though he probably won't be voted in. WWE may change those plans, but he was expected to be at both dates to be a professional. The big question has been why WWE released the information before late Tuesday night after the show. Paranoia is striking deep. --- Wrestling Observer"

Labels: Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:20 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts and Pro Wrestling--- A Detailed Look at the WWE vs. UFC Ratings Showdown
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Complete Ratings Breakdown for UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2 and WWE's Return to USA Network

A huge TV industry showdown took place on Monday night, October 3rd, with Spike TV and its five-hour block of UFC programming squaring off with USA Network and its four-hour block of WWE programming.

It was WWE's first night back on USA Network, and the return of WWE Raw with a special "Homecoming" episode was heavily hyped by USA Network with more than $7 million spent in a national advertising campaign. In stark contrast, Spike TV completely dropped the ball in promoting the UFC's October 3rd special, as no commercials whatsoever hyped the show until approximately one week before the event.

As I have previously documented, the expectations going in were for WWE Raw to draw an overall rating in the range of 4.0 to 4.5, while Spike TV would be thrilled if the live UFC special going head-to-head with WWE could draw the same kind of audience that the live UFC specials drew in April and August. (Those two specials drew overall ratings of 1.9 and 1.5, respectively.)

As it turned out, both networks were very happy with the results, as the special three-hour episode of WWE Raw drew a 4.4 overall rating, and the two-hour live UFC special drew a 1.6 overall rating.

For WWE, its "Homecoming" show on USA Network was the highest-rated episode of Raw since June 27, 2005, an episode which also drew a 4.4 overall rating but had slightly more overall viewers. WWE's claims of the Homecoming show being the highest-rated episode of Raw in over three years are false, unless one pretends that it was a two-hour show instead of a three-hour show, which it wasn't.

For the UFC, the overall rating of 1.6 for the live "Ultimate Fight Night 2" special is lower than the April show's 1.9 rating, but higher than the August show's 1.5 rating. Spike TV considers it a remarkable achievement that a live UFC special going head-to-head with WWE Raw was able to draw a better rating than the previous live special, which was on a Saturday night and did not have to go head-to-head with WWE. Unfortunately for the UFC, the rest of its five-hour programming block did not perform nearly as well in the ratings as the live two-hour special.

7:00 PM to 9:00 PM: The Night Begins
The night of UFC and WWE programming started at 7:00 PM with a new episode of UFC Unleashed airing on Spike TV (while the movie "2 Fast 2 Furious" aired on USA Network). With all of the advertising for the UFC programming block focusing on the 9:00 PM start time of Ultimate Fight Night and the 11:00 PM airing of The Ultimate Fighter, nowhere near as many television viewers were even aware that UFC Unleashed was going to air at 7:00 PM, and that fact is reflected in the rating. The show drew an overall rating of 0.8, which is considered disappointing by the standards that UFC programming has set for itself over the past year.

At 8:00 PM, WWE joined the fray with the first hour of "WWE Homecoming" on USA Network, which drew a 3.9 rating from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Meanwhile, over on Spike TV, a pre-taped "Ultimate Knockouts" special drew an overall rating of 1.2 rating. While underwhelming, that has to be considered a decent rating, given that it was a bunch of old fights going head-to-head with a new episode WWE Raw.

At various times between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM on Spike TV, advertisements aired for the WWE Homecoming special on USA Network. While Spike TV would obviously not sell commercials to an entity that it would be competing with at that exact time, WWE got around this by purchasing commercials on the local level in most major cities in the United States. To the viewer at home, it made no difference whether a commercial was purchased nationally or locally, because the effect was the same, which was that commercials were airing on UFC programming that urged people to watch WWE instead of the UFC.

From 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Spike TV, a clock was in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen that said, "Live Fight In..." and this clock counted down as 9:00 PM approached.

9:00 PM to 9:05 PM: Ultimate Fight Night Goes on the Air Five Minutes Late
Ultimate Fight Night started 9:00 PM Eastern Time... or at least it was supposed to. Inexplicably, Spike TV and the UFC had apparently not timed out the preceding "Ultimate Knockouts" special properly, because Ultimate Fight Night Live did not go on the air at 9:00 PM Eastern Time as it was supposed to.

In one of the biggest blunders in the recent history of head-to-head battles on cable television, the end of the "Ultimate Knockouts" special was still airing on Spike TV when the clock struck 9:00 PM on the East Coast, even though a week's worth of commercials had told everyone to tune in at 9:00 PM to see the Ultimate Fight Night special.

It wasn't just an over-run of 30 seconds or a minute, as an old Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo fight continued to air for several minutes past the 9:00 PM hour. While the end of the Barnett vs. Rizzo fight aired, the clock in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen that had been counting down to 9:00 PM for the past two hours had simply vanished, with no indication of what viewers were watching or what happened to the live fight special that had been advertised.

It wasn't until approximately three seconds before the clock struck 9:05 PM Eastern Time that Ultimate Fight Night actually went on the air, and there's no telling how many viewers the UFC had already lost by then.

By going on the air at 9:05 PM Eastern Time instead of 9:00 PM Eastern Time, this left the UFC with one hour and fifty-five minutes of time to use for the Ultimate Fight Night special instead of two hours, but they still had to air the approximately 32 minutes of commercials that had been sold. (This notion is confirmed by the fact that the Ultimate Fight Night replay that same night, which was scheduled to run from 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM, actually aired from 1:00 AM to 2:54 AM, because they didn't have two full hours of content to fill the time.)

9:05 PM to 11:00 PM: Live TV vs. Live TV
We will now get into a minute-by-minute breakdown of the time period in which the UFC and WWE were both airing live programming on their respective networks.

The biggest problem that the UFC had with its first two live specials on Spike TV was the issue of how to format the timeframe of the shows, as there were often huge gaps of time in between fights. So, for the purposes of this breakdown, we will look at what went head-to-head with the UFC during each particular fight, and what went head-to-head with the UFC in the large gaps of time between fights.

When Ultimate Fight Night finally did go on the air at 9:05 PM, Josh Koscheck and Drew Fickett were already in the cage and ready to go. The fight started promptly at 9:06 PM, and the fight ended at 9:23 PM.

Over on USA Network at the same time, WWE wanted to put its biggest ratings draw (Stone Cold Steve Austin) in a segment up against the start of UFC's live special, in order to discourage its viewers from even thinking about switching over to the UFC show. This strategy paid off, as a segment involving Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, and the rest of the McMahon family drew WWE's highest quarter-hour rating of the night. The segment featured the re-airing of old Austin-McMahon clips such as McMahon "urinating in his pants" out of fear, and ended with Austin attacking all four members of the McMahon family.

Between the end of the UFC's first fight at 9:23 PM and the start of the UFC's second fight, there was a gap of 17 minutes. During that 17-minute gap, viewers who tuned into USA Network would have seen a ladder match between Edge and Matt Hardy in the culmination of their feud, which is a match that WWE could have easily sold on pay-per-view instead of giving it away on free television.

The second fight on the UFC telecast (Brandon Vera vs. Fabiano Scherner) started at 9:40 PM and ended at 9:50 PM. Airing head-to-head with this fight on WWE Raw was the end of the aforementioned ladder match, a backstage interview with Ric Flair, and a disturbing scene in which 80-year-old Mae Young walked around half-naked and propositioned a few wrestlers, which ended when WWE legend Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka took her up on her offer.

Between the end of the UFC's second fight at 9:50 PM and the start of the UFC's third fight, there was a gap of 25 minutes. During this huge 25-minute gap, WWE was putting on a tag team match with Triple H and Ric Flair, after which Triple H attacked Flair. Flair either did a very bad blade-job, or he intended to do a severe blade-job, as he was bleeding very heavily and for an extended period of time. The amount of blood on-screen was greater during this segment than it was at any time during the UFC broadcast, and that includes Evan Tanner's facial lacerations in the final fight on the UFC broadcast.

The third fight on the UFC broadcast (Chris Leben vs. Edwin Dewees) finally started at 10:15 PM, and it ended quickly at 10:18 PM. Just as this fight was starting, WWE Raw went to a commercial. Approximately one minute before the Leben-Dewees ended, Raw came back from a commercial and replayed parts of the previous Ric Flair scene

Between the end of the UFC's third fight at 10:18 PM and the start of the UFC's fourth and final fight, there was another long gap, which lasted 21 minutes this time. Viewers who tuned into USA Network in between UFC fights would have seen continued footage of Triple H attacking Ric Flair (who was completely red in blood from the neck up at this point), followed by a segment involving many different WWE legends, followed by a five-woman Bra & Panties Match (which is exactly what it sounds like).

The fourth and final fight on the UFC broadcast (David Loiseau vs. Evan Tanner) started at 10:39 PM and ended at 10:50 PM. During this timeframe on USA Network, WWE put on the full ring entrances of six different wrestlers from WWE's Smackdown brand, who normally never appear on Raw.

With the main event in the books and without enough time remaining to air any of the prelim fights, the last ten minutes of Ultimate Fight Night (from 10:50 PM to 11:00 PM) were filled with interviews and recaps. At the same time on USA Network, Raw's storyline General Manager Eric Bischoff shut down the aforementioned Smackdown-brand match just as it was about to start, and then Hulk Hogan came to the ring for an interview in which he raised the possibility of wrestling Steve Austin at next year's WrestleMania. The UFC's live broadcast then went off the air at 11:00 PM Eastern Time, while WWE Raw continued with its over-run segment.

Overall, the first hour of Ultimate Fight Night drew an average rating of 1.5, with quarter-hour ratings of 1.4, 1.4, 1.6, and 1.7. WWE Raw drew a 4.9 average rating in that same hour, with quarter-hour ratings of 5.0, 5.0, 4.9, and 4.5.

The second hour of Ultimate Fight Night was up slightly, drawing an average rating of 1.6, with quarter-hour ratings of 1.5, 1.5, 1.6, and 1.6. At the same time, the ratings for WWE Raw fell slightly to 4.5, with quarter-hour ratings of 4.7, 4.4, 4.6, and 4.4.

The bottom line for each show is that the two-hour Ultimate Fight Night broadcast drew a 1.6 overall rating, and the three-hour WWE Raw broadcast drew a 4.4 overall rating, each of which made their respective networks very happy. WWE drew its highest overall rating since June, while the UFC proved that it could put a live fight special on TV head-to-head with WWE while still drawing higher ratings than regular season NBA games on cable television.

11:00 PM to 12:00 AM: TUF Goes Against "Best of Raw" Special
Ultimate Fight Night was not the only new UFC programming to go head-to-head with WWE Raw. Raw stayed on the air until 11:13 PM with a WWE Title Match main event, so the first 13 minutes of The Ultimate Fighter went head-to-head with the last 13 minutes of Raw.

Following Raw, WWE put on a pre-taped "Best of Raw" special, which drew an overall rating of 2.8. At the same time, a new episode of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV drew an overall rating of 1.3. (Far more information on The Ultimate Fighter's ratings is available in a separate article that is dedicated to TUF's ratings.)

Comparing the UFC's Third Live Fight Special to the First Two
The Ultimate Fight Night event that took place on October 3rd drew better ratings than the Ultimate Fight Night event that took place on August 6th. That is an impressive achievement for the October 3rd show, given the fact that it had to go head-to-head with WWE Raw while the August 6th event did not. At the same time, the highest ratings for a live UFC fight special still belong to the April 9th event, which featured the finals of The Ultimate Fighter, along with Rich Franklin vs. Ken Shamrock.

In terms of overall ratings, the April 9th special drew a 1.9 rating, the August 6th special was down to 1.5, and the October 3rd special with WWE Raw as competition was back up to 1.6.

In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, which is by far the demographic that Spike TV and its advertisers value the most, the April 9th special drew a 3.3 rating, the August 6th special was down to 2.0, and the October 3rd special was back up to 2.6.

In the slightly broader demographic of 18-to-49-year-old males, the April 9th special drew a 2.7 rating, the August 6th special was down to a 1.8 rating, and the October 3rd special was back up to 2.1.

Gaps Between Fights Could Still Be Shortened
In terms of the gap between fights, the UFC did a slightly better job with the formatting of this show than was the case in the past, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. On this show, the three gaps in between fights lasted 17 minutes, 25 minutes, and 21 minutes. While none of those gaps can match the sheer ridiculousness of the whopping 32-minute gap between Fight #2 and Fight #3 on the August 6th edition of Ultimate Fight Night, 17 to 25 minutes is still too long of a time period for casual MMA fans to sit around and wait in between fights (and casual MMA fans make up the majority of the UFC's audience on Spike TV).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying anything outlandish like, "Don't have commercials!" It's a given that there are going to be approximately 16 minutes of commercials on any given hour of television, and there's nothing wrong with that. The question is what the UFC should do with other 44 minutes of time in any given hour of television. With a little more time allotted to fighting and a little less time allotted to talking in between fights, the UFC's ratings for future live fight specials would be likely to increase.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:48 PM

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Pro Wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts--- WWE Wanted Mike Goldberg to Double-Cross the UFC; Goldberg Refused
You've more than likely heard the story by now. Vince McMahon offered a huge announcing contract to Mike Goldberg, who has been the UFC's play-by-play man for many years. The multi-year WWE contract that was offered to Goldberg had a total value of more than $1 million over the life of the contract, and it was offered to Goldberg partially as an attempt by WWE to hurt the UFC, and partially because WWE already planned to fire its own long-time play-by-play man, Jim Ross, due to the fact that Ross has Bell's Palsy and is not as physically "attractive" as WWE would like. Goldberg seriously considered WWE's offer, before ultimately re-signing with the UFC.

However, there is more to the story, and these additional details shine a bright light on just how dirty Vince McMahon's business tactics can be when he thinks of himself as being "at war" with another organization. Vince McMahon's original plan was to secretly sign Mike Goldberg before the WWE vs. UFC showdown on October 3rd, and then have Mike Goldberg no-show the UFC event without notice, according to a report by the Wrestling Observer.

If McMahon's plan had gone as he hoped, the UFC would not have heard from Mike Goldberg at all on October 3rd, and would not even have known where he was. Goldberg would have no-showed the UFC event, and Zuffa would have found out that Goldberg had signed with WWE by seeing him appear on live television as the lead announcer of WWE Raw on USA Network that same night.

By doing this, Vince McMahon would have not only signed Mike Goldberg away from the UFC, but he would have left the UFC with literally zero notice to find someone to do play-by-play on the UFC's live broadcast on Spike TV. And while this detail wasn't part of the Observer's report, sources tell MMAWeekly that WWE was ready and willing to pay Mike Goldberg a one-time bonus in the high five-figures (possibly even as much as $100,000) simply for the act of no-showing the UFC event without notice in order to sign with WWE.

So, why didn't the double-cross take place as Vince McMahon wanted it to? Quite simply, because not everyone thinks like Vince McMahon does, and Mike Goldberg is a decent human being who wouldn't do something like that. As the Observer reported, "The only reason it didn't go down as planned by McMahon is because Goldberg was professional enough to refuse to no-show the UFC event."

Not only did Goldberg refuse to double-cross the UFC by no-showing the October 3rd event without notice, but when he arrived in Las Vegas for the UFC event on October 3rd, he told Zuffa about the double-cross offer that had been made by WWE.

At that point, with Goldberg fulfilling his play-by-play duties on the UFC's October 3rd Spike TV show, while also missing the October 7th UFC pay-per-view because of a previous committment, Goldberg would spend much of the next week trying to decide whether he was going to sign with WWE or re-sign with the UFC, and he eventually decided to re-sign with the UFC. (More Info: Mike Goldberg Speaks to MMAWeekly)

Promotional tactics like this are nothing new from Vince McMahon, as numerous pro wrestling promoters from the 1980's and 1990's could tell you. When McMahon views himself as being in competition with an organization, he will do anything to hurt that organization. The Observer report on McMahon's offer to Mike Goldberg stated that WWE deemed it to be extremely important to "send a message to its competitors and get the paranoid mind games advantage."

The Observer also reported that despite Vince McMahon's long history of doing these kinds of things, Zuffa was completely naive about it and didn't think such a thing could happen to them. The Observer reports that the whole experience with the Goldberg double-cross offer from WWE was "a major eye-opening for the UFC, as those in the company had largely believed it was bullet-proof from McMahon's direct business attacks because of the difference in the product."

In reality, if Vince McMahon thinks he's at war with you, then he's at war with you, regardless of whether you're running a pro wrestling company or an MMA company. Further evidence of WWE aggressively going after the UFC was the fact that the "WWE Homecoming" special re-aired on USA Network last Friday night at 10:00 PM, not-so-coincidentally head-to-head with the UFC's pay-per-view.

In the process of finding someone to do play-by-play for the October 7th UFC show, Zuffa kept Craig Hummer's name very quiet because it was widely believed in both the pro wrestling and MMA industries that WWE would have offered Hummer a very large amount of money (likely well into five-figures) not even to work for WWE, but simply to no-show the UFC's pay-per-view without notice. Hummer did the UFC pay-per-view as scheduled on Friday night, so either WWE couldn't get in touch with him on Friday, or they did get in touch with him but he turned down their offer.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:15 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- I'm not an extremely religious person, but I truly believe that if there is a hell, Vince McMahon is going to go there when he dies. The reasons are too numerous to list (perpetuating racism and exploiting terrorism for profit this past July, anyone?), but the latest one is removing from his job a long-time loyal employee and the universally recognized best play-by-play man in the pro wrestling business, Jim Ross, simply because he has Bell's Palsy and is therefore not an "attractive announcer."

How many wrestlers have been passed by over the years because they didn't have the "look" that Vince McMahon has a fetish for? (You know, the big, muscular "roided-up freak" look.) How many young wrestlers have taken steroids because they know that they're never going to be successful in the #1 organization, WWE, if they are can't achieve a modicum of that look, which is impossible to achieve without freakishly muscle-bound genetics, or large amounts of steroids? How many wrestlers have died with grossly enlarged hearts due to steroid usage? Too many.

Vince McMahon, in his fetish for big men, has long valued appearance more than talent in his pro wrestlers. Now that policy is extending to announcers. Jim Ross has had Bell's Palsy, and many of his facial muscles are paralyzed. This causes his face to look awkward, but his appearance is far from freakish and is actually much less "abnormal" than a 60-year-old man like Vince McMahon walking around with his arm muscles still magically getting bigger every year.

More importantly, the Bell's Palsy that Jim Ross suffers from does not affect his performance as the best play-by-play man in the wrestling business. All it does is make him look different. Vince McMahon doesn't care. To hell with Ross' experience of over 30 years in the wrestling business. To hell with the fact that he's still the best play-by-play man in the business. To hell with the fact that he has stood by WWE through thick and thin over the years. Vince wants an attractive guy as WWE's lead announcer, and to hell with the man who has been the voice of WWE for years.

Not only that, but in removing Jim Ross from his position as Raw's play-by-play man in a real life decision made a few weeks ago, Vince McMahon booked a storyline in which Ross would be humiliated one last time. There was no tribute, there was no 30-second-long "thank you" for all of the great moments that Jim Ross made even better over the decades as an announcer, or all of the hard work that he put in for years as WWE's #2 man behind the scenes as VP of Talent Relations.

I could anticipate McMahon publicly humiliating Jim Ross in a fake storyline, firing him in a storyline, even having Linda McMahon kick Ross in the groin as part of the storyline, all of which happened on Raw. According to reports from the Pro Wrestling Torch, Jim Ross is taking his real-life firing extremely hard, and an on-air storyline in which he is publicly humiliated probably isn't going to help on that front, but Vince McMahon gets off on that kind of thing. I wouldn't expect anything less from a scumbag such as McMahon who derives pleasure from screwing with people, and I wouldn't expect him to start showing class or taste now for the first time in his life.

What I can't understand is why Stephanie McMahon, in the same segment, was booked to slap Ross directly on his face, despite the fact that Ross has had Bell's Palsy and isn't exactly supposed to be slapped in the face. The last time WWE booked Jim Ross in an in-ring segment, it was in a match with Vince McMahon's beloved son-in-law, Triple H. During that match, an errant punch actually connected with Ross' face instead of being pulled by Triple H, and it resulted in Ross suffering from numbness and blurred vision for a couple of weeks after the match.

He still did his job on Raw for the next several weeks when that happened... you know, just like he always has. Just like he did when he had just received word that his mother died, and he still did the play-by-play on a WWE pay-per-view because they had no one else on hand to do it. Just like he did when Vince McMahon insisted that "the show must go on" after Owen Hart fell to his death in a WWE ring. Ross was always there to do his job, and no one was better at it. And yet just a few months after getting hurt in a match with Triple H that he should have never been booked to do, here's Vince McMahon, gleefully booking his nipped-and-tucked daughter Stephanie to slap Jim Ross across the face. Does that make you feel like a man, Vince? Does that get you off?

In the big picture, Stephanie being booked to slap Jim Ross in the face, despite the risks to Ross' health, is just an example in the bigger picture. Vince McMahon doesn't give a damn about Jim Ross' health, or Jim Ross in general, despite his years of loyal service as the best play-by-play man in the business, despite the fact that fans around the world love him. Vince has no problem giving a big "F-U" to Jim Ross or to the fans, just as he has done before.

Jim Ross is still able to do his job, and he's able to do it just as well as he ever did, but Vince McMahon doesn't give a damn. Ross has Bell's Palsy, Vince wants attractive announcers, and so Jim Ross has to go. F--k you, Vince McMahon.

Update with Additional News on Jim Ross Situation at 4:05 AM:
In a Wade Keller Audio Update on the Pro Wrestling Torch web site, Wade Keller adds some more information and perspective to this situation. Full credit for this information goes to PWTorch.com. Keller reported, "Sources who are close to [Jim] Ross say that he is absolutely torn up inside, and that this has been taking an incredible emotional toll on him for the past month, ever since the rumors started behind the scenes that WWE was looking to put a 'pretty face' on the air [and remove Ross]... I've been told that there is more to this story that would make it seem even worse than how it looks on the surface... It was very emotional behind the scenes tonight. There were lots of people who were fuming mad."

Keller also commented about Ross personally, with some of the most moving words that I have seen or heard about this situation. Keller said, "Here's a guy who has given his life to WWE for a long time. He held that company together during the Monday Night Wars, in terms of talent relations, and producing house show line-ups, and being a close consultant with Vince McMahon on top matters... and it's not like I have this great personal affinity for Jim Ross. It's the fact that he was the best guy for the job, he was a great announcer, he did his job, he never took vacations, he always showed up, he worked his way through health problems... The way that he is being discarded after being the best announcer in the history of the business, and still at the top of his game as an announcer, is just a huge adjustment. He loves his job, and what he said on the air last night was true. All he wants to do is announce pro wrestling. That's what he lives for, that and his family."

Keller also spoke about how Ross' case of Bell's Palsy got so much worse a few years back, ironically while on the job for WWE, which is something that I alluded to in my previous rant. Keller said, "He was on a trip to Europe [for a WWE pay-per-view] when his mom died, and that's what caused a recurrence of his Bell's Palsy. So, he traveled to Europe, got the news that his mom died, [the stress from that] caused the Bell's Palsy reaction, and he still worked the WWE pay-per-view in Europe as scheduled. [The Bell's Palsy] happened because of the stress of the job, and now he's getting fired because of it."

Again, full credit for the quotes from the aforementioned audio update go to the Pro Wrestling Torch's Wade Keller, who runs the best pro wrestling web site on the planet at PWTorch.com.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:28 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Hulk Hogan Calls MMA "Barbaric" on CNBC Show
In an interview on Thursday night's episode of "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" on CNBC, Hulk Hogan was asked about the sport of mixed martial arts. The host of the show, Donny Deutsch, seemed to know very little about the sport and referred to it as "Ultimate Fighting" instead of "MMA" or "mixed martial arts." When Deutsch asked Hogan what he thought of the sport, Hogan responded by saying that it's "pretty barbaric" and will always have a narrow audience.

Normally in any interview with someone on the WWE roster, one of WWE's PR people listening in on the conversation, and their job is to immediately shut down any questions that are deemed off-limits, which normally includes anything related to MMA or the UFC.

There are specific instructions for WWE wrestlers which say that MMA is an off-limit topic for interviews. Obviously, it's different when the interview is on a live-to-tape television show (as opposed to an interview for a newspaper article), and it's also different when the person being interviewed is Hulk Hogan.

To give you an idea of how far removed Hulk Hogan is from reality in terms of the things he says in interviews, Hogan was asked about his political ambitions in the same interview on Donny Deutsch's show. Hogan said that a professionally-run political poll that was conducted at the height of Bill Clinton's popularity showed that Hogan could have easily beaten Clinton and become the President of the United States if he were to run for president.

After the interview with Hulk Hogan concluded, Donny Deutsch told viewers not to miss next week's episodes of his show, and plugged one episode in particular that MMA fans might find interesting.

Deutsch said that his show will have an entire one-hour episode that will be dedicated to "Ultimate Fighting," as he called it. To give you an idea of how much he knows about the sport, Deutsch said, "It was banned in all 50 states, but now it's on national television, and it is brutality taken to a whole new level."

Deutsch did not say when the MMA-themed episode of The Big Idea would premiere, but it will be sometime next week, and new episodes of The Big Idea air weeknights at 10:00 PM on CNBC.

Based on Deutsch's flat-out incorrect statements right off the bat, it's almost certain that the show will have an anti-MMA theme, but this really shouldn't concern MMA fans all that much.

While a series of negative articles in an outlet like the New York Times or a popular television show could hurt the image of the sport (which could hurt the advertising rates), The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch does not have a large amount of influence or viewers. Its ratings in primetime on a nightly basis range from 0.05 to 0.2, with the average coming in at approximately 0.1.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:58 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Scheduled to Run Head-to-Head with WWE on a Weekly Basis
Spike TV's decision to put UFC programming on the schedule head-to-head with WWE Raw has now been made into a weekly endeavor, with the tentative scheduling of UFC Unleashed to go head-to-head with WWE Raw on a weekly basis.

Previously, the impending showdown between Spike TV and USA Network on October 3rd was the only head-to-head battle that was scheduled between the UFC and WWE.

However, Spike TV has now scheduled UFC Unleashed to run head-to-head with the second hour of WWE Raw on a weekly basis, as it will air in the Monday night at 10:00 PM timeslot starting on Monday, October 10th. The episode of UFC Unleashed that will air on October 10th at 10:00 PM is tentatively scheduled to be a new episode, although it could still be swapped out for a repeat at some point between now and October 10th.

The weekly airing of UFC Unleashed head-to-head with WWE Raw could be shelved if the show tanks in the ratings, or if the UFC as a whole draws a hugely disappointing rating on October 3rd. However, as it stands right now, the show's weekly airings on Monday nights at 10:00 PM will provide a UFC-themed lead-in to each week's new episode of The Ultimate Fighter on Monday nights, which will be starting on Spike TV right around the same time that WWE Raw is ending on USA Network each week.

In related news, WWE and USA Network have scheduled an additional airing of the one-hour "Best of Raw" special on Friday, October 7th at 10:00 PM. Given the circumstances involved and Vince McMahon's history, don't think for one second that it's a coincidence that WWE just happened to schedule an airing of its special head-to-head with the UFC's October 7th pay-per-view.

Here is a summary of the UFC's upcoming schedule for Ultimate Fight Night, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Unleashed, and the October 3rd line-up, as well as an interesting note on a role reversal for the UFC.

Some of the information below is being reported in this article for the first time anywhere, while some of it has been previously reported on this site and is being included below so that you can access all of the scheduling information in one article.

Schedule for Ultimate Fight Night
In addition to the live airing of Ultimate Fight Night from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM on Monday, October 3rd, the broadcast is scheduled to replayed two times. The first time will be later that same night, in the early morning hours of October 4th, from 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM.

The last scheduled airing of the October 3rd broadcast will be in primetime on Thursday, October 6th from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM. This will create a UFC mini-marathon on Spike TV just one night before the UFC's October 7th pay-per-view, with a three-hour UFC programming block consisting of Ultimate Fight Night from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM, followed by an encore airing of The Ultimate Fighter from 11:00 PM to 12:00 AM.

The next time there will be a live UFC fight special on Spike TV will be on Saturday, November 5th with the live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 2. Depending on how the UFC performs in the ratings head-to-head with WWE on October 3rd, that date could conceivably be moved back two days to Monday, November 7th, but that is not planned at this time.

As for potential dates for live "Ultimate Fight Night" specials in the future, there are three dates that Spike TV officials have memorized that you should keep in mind Those dates are February 13th, August 28th, and September 4th of 2006. With WWE Raw pre-empted on those three dates due to USA Network's coverage of the Westminster Dog Show and the US Open tennis tournament, it is extremely likely that Spike TV will run UFC specials and/or TNA pro wrestling specials on those three dates.

Schedule for The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter has always had a loose start time somewhere between 11:05 PM and 11:10 PM, due to the over-run segment on WWE Raw each week. With WWE Raw no longer on Spike TV, The Ultimate Fighter will have a more conventional and consistent start time of 11:00 PM every Monday night, starting on October 3rd. While the live "Ultimate Fight Night" special could run over by a few minutes on October 3rd, there will be no such issue in subsequent weeks, so The Ultimate Fighter should finally have a 100% stable start time beginning on October 10th.

The new start time for The Ultimate Fighter means that on any given week, the first five minutes of TUF will actually be going head-to-head with the final five minutes of WWE Raw, which are almost always the most heavily-watched minutes of Raw. Among fans who normally watch both WWE Raw and The Ultimate Fighter, the first five minutes of TUF are likely to have low ratings every week, with a sharp increase in TUF ratings somewhere around 11:05 PM every week when Raw goes off the air.

As previously reported by MMAWeekly, Spike TV currently plans to continue airing new episodes of The Ultimate Fighter on Monday nights at 11:00 PM, even though the show will no longer have WWE Raw as a direct lead-in.

Any given episode of TUF will debut on Monday nights at 11:00 PM, then replay on Thursday nights at 11:00 PM, and then replay once again on Saturday nights at 10:00 PM. If the Monday night airings of The Ultimate Fighter tank in the ratings without WWE Raw as a lead-in, Spike TV could always decide to switch things around so that the Saturday airing would be the new episode premiere each week, in which case the Monday and Thursday airings would be the repeats.

Also, for anyone who missed an episode or wants to get them all on tape, a marathon of The Ultimate Fighter 2's first six episodes will air later tonight (October 1st) from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM on Spike TV.

Schedule for UFC Unleashed
A new episode of UFC Unleashed will air this Monday night, October 3rd, at a special time of 7:00 PM on Spike TV. The episode of UFC Unleashed that premieres this Monday night will be replayed on Spike TV on Saturday, October 8th at 9:00 PM.

From that point on, Spike TV plans to air UFC Unleashed two times per week: Saturdays at 9:00 PM and Mondays at 10:00 PM. The current plan is to have the new episodes of UFC Unleashed debut on Monday nights and then replay on Saturday nights, but as with The Ultimate Fighter, that could be flip-flopped if the show tanks in the ratings on Monday nights head-to-head with WWE Raw.

Also, one important distinction between The Ultimate Fighter and UFC Unleashed is that TUF has a new episode every week for 13 consecutive weeks, whereas UFC Unleashed has a completely different set-up. Spike TV has ordered a total of 26 different episodes of UFC Unleashed, which will have their premiere dates spread out over a long period of time (or in four-week spurts, as we saw when UFC Unleashed debuted in July).

As a result of this, on most weeks UFC Unleashed will be a repeat on both Monday night and Saturday night. The only distinction is that in the event that there is a new episode of UFC Unleashed, the current plan is for it to premiere on a Monday night and then replay on the following Saturday night.

Schedule for UFC Five-Hour Programming Block on October 3rd
The only change to the schedule for the WWE vs. UFC showdown on October 3rd is that WWE has backed down from its previously announced 7:55 PM start time, if only for five minutes. WWE Raw normally starts at 9:00 PM every week, but in response to Spike TV putting the UFC head-to-head with Raw on October 3rd, WWE changed its October 3rd episode of Raw into a three-hour episode that would start at 8:00 PM.

When Spike TV countered by changing the start time of its UFC programming block on October 3rd to 8:00 PM, WWE made its start time 7:55 PM on USA Network. Last week, Spike TV changed the UFC block's start time yet again, this time to 7:00 PM, and WWE is not about to produce the first-ever four-hour episode of Raw in history. So, with no advantage to gain from the awkward 7:55 PM start time, WWE has moved its scheduled start time back to 8:00 PM.

The UFC's schedule for October 3rd remains unchanged from what it was last week. With a repeat of CSI serving as a lead-in at 6:00 PM on Spike TV, a new episode of UFC Unleashed will air at 7:00 PM, followed by a "UFC Ultimate Knockouts" special at 8:00 PM. The proverbial main event of the evening will then start at 9:00 PM with the two-hour live airing of "UFC Ultimate Fight Night," followed by a new episode of The Ultimate Fighter at 11:00 PM.

Over on USA Network, WWE Raw will run for three-plus hours from 8:00 PM until 11:05 PM, with an airing of the movie "2 Fast 2 Furious" serving as a lead-in from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Following Raw, a pre-taped "Best of Raw" special will air from 11:05 PM to 12:05 AM, head-to-head with The Ultimate Fighter.

October 3rd is the only occasion on which this WWE special is scheduled to air on a Monday night, as it will not be a weekly series. One of the conditions of WWE's deal with USA Network is that other than the occasional special, USA will only air two WWE shows per week: WWE Raw on Monday nights, and "WWE AM Raw" on Saturday mornings.

The WWE weekend shows (WWE Velocity, WWE Experience, and WWE Sunday Night Heat) were all cancelled because their ratings had slipped to a 0.5 average, and USA Network was not interested in airing those shows. So, with only two weekly series covered under the WWE-USA deal, the UFC does not have to worry about WWE putting some kind of WWE-related show head-to-head with The Ultimate Fighter every week in an effort to suppress TUF's ratings.

As for the ratings expectations for the October 3rd head-to-head battle, WWE is expecting Raw's rating to be somewhere between 4.0 and 4.5, given the huge amount of advertising and star power that has been poured into the show (although 3.8 to 4.2 might be a more realistic goal).

Meanwhile, Spike TV is hoping that Ultimate Fight Night will be able to draw something close to the previous Ultimate Fight Night ratings (1.5 to 1.9), even though this time around it will be going head-to-head with WWE Raw. If Ultimate Fight Night's ratings are between 1.0 and 1.4, that would be considered respectable given the head-to-head competition with WWE, whereas anything under 1.0 would be considered embarrassing for Spike TV.

Role Reversal for the UFC
It wasn't so long ago that WWE Raw was the established, proven ratings draw that Spike TV hoped would provide a quality lead-in for the UFC, which was the unproven commodity that had yet to establish itself as a ratings draw on national cable television.

Less than a year later, the UFC finds itself in the exact opposite situation. Now, the UFC is the established ratings draw, and Spike TV is hoping to use the UFC as a quality lead-in for the NWA-TNA pro wrestling promotion, which is still an unproven commodity that has yet to establish itself as a ratings draw.

The weekly pro wrestling show TNA Impact debuts on Spike TV later tonight (October 1st), and there is not a single time that it will air in the forseeable future without the UFC to provide it with a strong lead-in. TNA Impact is scheduled to debut a new episode every Saturday night at 11:00 PM, with an Ultimate Fighter repeat providing a strong lead-in at 10:00 PM. Each weekly episode of TNA Impact is scheduled to be replayed every Monday night at midnight, with a new episode of The Ultimate Fighter providing a strong lead-in at 11:00 PM.

It's the exact same situation that existed in early 2005, only the UFC is now playing the role of WWE (the established ratings draw), while TNA is playing the role of the UFC (the unproven ratings commodity).

Spike TV is hoping that TNA Impact can average a 1.0 rating, but that might be a bit of a stretch given the fact that the highest rating TNA ever drew in its one year on Fox Sports Net was a 0.4 overall rating. TNA hopes to attract UFC fans by using Tito Ortiz, who will be a prominently pushed member of the TNA roster starting with the Spike TV debut show on October 1st.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:04 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts and Pro Wrestling--- WWE vs. UFC Showdown Heats Up
The war between the UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment continues to heat up, as the two entities will compete head-to-head with each other on different cable channels for the first time on Monday, October 3rd.

USA Network and WWE have put a huge, multi-million-dollar advertising campaign behind the October 3rd return of WWE Raw to USA Network, which is being billed as "WWE Homecoming."

By contrast, there has been a conspicuous lack of advertising or even acknowledgement that the UFC's October 3rd live fight special even exists. The special was just announced by Spike TV on Wednesday, September 21st, less than two weeks before it is scheduled to take place. There is no way to measure how severely the October 3rd live fight special has been damaged by this glaring lack of promotion.

Working in the UFC's favor is the fact that WWE is not allowed to display or say the words "USA Network" on the last remaining episodes of WWE Raw that air on Spike TV. So, for the many people who only see the "WWE Homecoming" commercials on WWE television, they are being bombarded with commercials that say, "WWE Homecoming- October 3rd," as opposed to seeing commercials that say, "WWE Homecoming- October 3rd on USA Network." It remains possible that WWE will violate its agreement with Spike TV by mentioning the words "USA Network" on the final episode of Raw that airs on Spike TV, but there are currently no plans within WWE to do so.

Tension with WWE Leads to Spike TV Having a Change in Attitude
Tension between WWE and Spike TV has been building for years. This tension has been stronger than ever in recent weeks, as Vince McMahon is said to have "flipped his lid" and "gone nuts" with multiple headset-throwing tempter tantrums (as first reported by the Wrestling Observer) upon seeing that Spike TV is advertising a competing pro wrestling organization (NWA-TNA) during WWE's own TV show, and is also continuing to air commercials during WWE Raw about the UFC being a "real sport" with "real athletes."

Spike TV has also been firm with WWE in stressing the 11:08 PM cut-off time for WWE Raw on Monday nights. While Raw went over that time limit to as late as 11:10 PM on four separate occasions during the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Spike TV has made it clear that it is no longer going to grant WWE any wiggle room in that timeframe. If WWE Raw is still taking place on any given week when the clock strikes 11:08 PM Eastern Time, Spike TV has made it clear that the show will be cut off regardless of what is happening at that moment, the screen will fade to black, and The Ultimate Fighter will begin airing as scheduled.

Several months ago when Spike TV cut off all negotiations with WWE for a contract renewal between the two parties (a move that cost WWE millions of dollars in lost negotiating leverage with USA Network), the attitude within Spike TV is that they would not try to compete directly with WWE for the same demographic in the 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM timeslot on Monday nights. Instead, the network would move TUF to Saturday nights and would air repeats of "CSI" and "CSI: New York" head-to-head with Raw on Monday nights, as the CSI shows draw from a completely different demographic and would not likely be damaged by going head-to-head with Raw.

That attitude changed at some point in the past month, prompting Spike TV to test the waters with a live UFC special on Monday night, October 3rd. In addition to the mounting tension with WWE, Spike TV may have been emboldened when The Ultimate Fighter, in its latenight timeslot, actually drew a higher rating than WWE Raw in the 25-to-34-year-old male demographic on Monday night, August 29th.

Indeed, the timeline of events would seem to support this assertion, as the Wrestling Observer reports that Spike TV initially contacted the UFC on Thursday, September 1st, and asked if the UFC could put together a live fight special that would take place on October 3rd.

The UFC was not about to turn down all of the programming rights fees and advertising revenue that it generates every time it has a show on Spike TV, so the UFC agreed to Spike TV's request and had tentatively put together a complete fight card by the end of the day on Saturday, September 3rd, just two days after Spike TV's request.

UFC and WWE Play a High-Stakes Game of "Chicken"
For the past several weeks, Spike TV and the UFC have played a constant game of one-upsmanship with USA Network and WWE, which has been documented extensively by MMAWeekly and also by the Pro Wrestling Torch.

Shortly after WWE management learned that Spike TV was planning to air a live UFC special on October 3rd, WWE made its October 3rd show into a huge event with numerous big-name returns scheduled for one show, despite the fact that they could make more money in the long run by spreading those returns out over the course of a few weeks or months instead of hot-shotting them all in one night. The pro wrestling audience has always followed pro wrestling when it changes nights or networks, so there would be no need for WWE to blow everything in one night if not for the sense of competition with WWE.

It was also announced that the October 3rd episode of Raw would be a special three-hour episode, starting at 8:00 PM instead of the usual 9:00 PM, thus giving WWE a one-hour head-start on the UFC and a chance to hook viewers on something that they feel they can't turn away from. In other words, expect to see Stone Cold Steve Austin and/or Hulk Hogan on the screen right around the time that the UFC's live special is starting at 9:00 PM, in order to discourage Raw's viewers from changing the channel to the UFC.

The response from Spike TV was to schedule a new episode of UFC Unleashed to air at 8:00 PM on October 3rd before the live fight special, thus negating WWE's lead-in advantage. This episode of UFC Unleashed will feature the Forrest Griffin vs. Bill Mahood fight that just took place at UFC 53 in June 2005, as well as the Andrei Arlovski vs. Vladimir Matyushenko fight that took place at UFC 44 in September 2003.

WWE quickly responded by announcing that Raw would actually start at 7:55 PM, thus giving WWE a five-minute head start on the UFC. WWE also added a one-hour "Best of Raw" special that is scheduled to air on October 3rd at 11:05 PM Eastern Time, head-to-head with a new episode of The Ultimate Fighter 2 on Spike TV.

Earlier this week, WWE announced a ridiculous amount of wrestling legends who will be making special appearances on the October 3rd episode of Raw, in addition to the previously announced appearances by Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Vince McMahon, and Vince McMahon's son-in-law Triple H. In an effort to squash the competition that it will be facing on Spike TV, it was announced that Raw on October 3rd will also feature appearances by wrestling legends such as Rowdy Roddy Piper, Superstar Billy Graham, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Harley Race, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Hillbilly Jim, Chief Jay Strongbow, Jimmy Hart, The Fabulous Moolah, Mae Young, Koko B. Ware, and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.

On the other hand, because mixed martial arts is a sport as opposed to "sports entertainment," the UFC can't just add an unlimited number of special guest stars to its shows. It's quite the opposite in this case, as the UFC special will undoubtedly be damaged by the loss of Stephan Bonnar to a broken hand suffered in training, as Bonnar would have been the UFC's #1 ratings draw on that night.

On Wednesday of this week, Spike TV countered yet again in this continuing game of, "Can you top this?" by announcing that the aforementioned new episode of UFC Unleashed will actually air at 7:00 PM on October 3rd, followed by a "UFC Ultimate Knockouts" special at 8:00 PM.

So, unless WWE fires back once again, the five-hour UFC programming block will begin approximately 55 minutes earlier than the WWE programming block on October 3rd.

As of right now, here is the schedule on October 3rd for the two competing line-ups:

UFC on Spike TV, October 3rd (All Times Eastern)
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM: New episode of UFC Unleashed
8:00 PM to 9:00 PM: UFC Ultimate Knockouts
9:00 PM to 11:05 PM: Live airing of UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2
11:05 PM to 12:05 AM: New episode of The Ultimate Fighter 2

WWE on USA Network, October 3rd (All Times Eastern)
7:55 PM to 11:05 PM: Special three-hour-and-ten-minute-long "Homecoming" episode of WWE Raw
11:05 PM to 12:05 PM: Best of Raw special

Ratings Expectations for October 3rd
In terms of the head-to-head ratings battle between the UFC and WWE, there is nobody on either side of this battle who is expecting the UFC to match WWE in overall ratings, or to even come close to doing so.

Instead, the hope within Spike TV and the UFC (and the fear within WWE) is that the UFC can take a significant chunk of WWE's young male demographic, while also maintaining the same overall rating that live UFC fight specials on Spike TV have drawn when they're not going head-to-head with WWE.

Spike TV has aired live UFC fight specials on two previous occasions, with events on Saturday, April 9th and Saturday, August 6th of this year. Those events drew overall ratings of 1.9 and 1.5, respectively. If the UFC's two-hour live special from 9:00 PM to 11:05 PM on Monday, October 3rd can still draw a rating somewhere in the range of 1.5 to 1.9, despite the fact that it will be going head-to-head with a mega-hyped edition of WWE Raw, that will be considered a huge success.

On the other hand, if the live UFC special draws a rating somewhere in the range of 1.0 to 1.4, it will be considered a mild disappointment by Spike TV. Finally, if the UFC special draws a rating that is under 1.0, it will be embarrassing for Spike TV as a whole, and particularly for Spike TV president Doug Herzog, who made the decision to put the UFC head-to-head with Raw on WWE's first night back on USA Network.

In the meantime, WWE's expectations for the October 3rd episode of Raw are reportedly for the show to draw a rating somewhere in the range of 4.0 to 4.5, due to the huge advertising campaign behind the show. I think a rating in the range 3.8 to 4.2 might be more realistic, given the fact that Raw's ratings have been slightly off in September compared to previous months.

The Ultimate Fighter's Long-Term Timeslot Remains Up in the Air
As mentioned in this article and as chronicled previously on MMAWeekly, Spike TV originally planned to move UFC programming to Saturday nights as soon as WWE left the network to go back to USA Network. The plan was to have a Saturday night schedule with UFC Unleashed at 8:00 PM, new episodes of The Ultimate Fighter 2 at 9:00 PM, and another episode of UFC Unleashed at 10:00 PM, all of which would serve as a strong lead-in to the "TNA Impact" pro wrestling show at 11:00 PM on which Tito Ortiz is expected to be a featured attraction.

Now, those plans have changed. Not only will a new episode of The Ultimate Fighter air in its normal timeslot (Monday at 11:05 PM) on October 3rd, but the Wrestling Observer is reporting that Spike TV currently plans to keep new episodes of TUF 2 in that same timeslot for the remainder of the season. Those plans are tentative, and could change based on the results of the ratings battle that is going to take place on October 3rd.

As of right now, Spike TV management has convinced itself that it's a good idea to continue airing new episodes of TUF 2 on Monday nights at 11:05 PM, with the reasoning being that viewers who are used to watching The Ultimate Fighter after WWE Raw will flip the channel from USA Network to Spike TV every week at 11:05 PM when Raw goes off the air.

As for Spike TV's line-up on Saturday nights, starting on October 8th that line-up will consist of an action movie from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM, an episode of UFC Unleashed from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM, a repeat airing of The Ultimate Fighter 2 from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM, and TNA Impact from 11:00 PM to 12:00 AM.

If the UFC absolutely tanks in the ratings on October 3rd, it's possible that Spike TV could decide to shift the new airing of The Ultimate Fighter every week to the Saturdays at 10:00 PM timeslot that the network currently has booked for TUF repeats every week.

The only thing that has been set it stone by Spike TV at this point is that The Ultimate Fighter 2 will continue to air on both Saturday nights at 10:00 PM, and on Monday nights at 11:05 PM, even after WWE Raw leaves the network. At this point, the only question is which one of those airings will be the new episode every week, and which one will be the repeat every week. Spike TV's advertising sales are flexible enough that the network can afford to make the final decision on this matter depending on how well the UFC performs in the ratings on October 3rd.

In the meantime, a marathon of the first six episodes of The Ultimate Fighter 2 will air on Saturday, October 1st from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM on Spike TV, in a move that Spike TV feels will provide a quality lead-in for the October 1st premiere of TNA Impact at 11:00 PM.

Possible Dates for UFC Live TV Specials in 2006
If Spike TV wanted to run live UFC events on Monday nights a few times per year, in order to capitalize on the pro wrestling audience that is normally watching TV on Monday nights, surely the best nights to do so would be the nights on which WWE Raw is pre-empted, right?

That would seem to make the most sense, and if Spike TV is thinking the same way, then three potential dates for live UFC specials on Spike TV would February 13th, August 28th, and September 4th of 2006.

One of the major reasons that WWE left USA Network for Spike TV several years ago was because of WWE's frustration over being pre-empted three times per year for other programming on USA Network. Now, having been essentially forced to return to USA Network after Spike TV and every other cable network was unwilling to meet its contractual demands, WWE is right back in the same situation it was in several years ago with three pre-emptions per year.

A press release that was put out by USA Network this week discloses that WWE Raw will be pre-empted on Monday, February 13th, 2006 for the network's annual airing of the Westminster Dog Show on USA Network. That just screams to Spike TV, "Put a live UFC special on this date in Raw's timeslot and maybe regular viewers of Raw will watch Spike TV that night instead!" It's not known if Spike TV executives are planning such a move at this point, but it's certainly something that they're going to consider at some point.

In addition, USA Network will pre-empt WWE Raw on Monday, August 28th, 2006 and again on Monday, September 4th, 2006 for its annual coverage of the US Open tennis tournament. Logic would dictate that either of these two dates would be ideal for a live UFC special from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM. Again, nothing has been decided by Spike TV on this matter, but don't be surprised if you see it happen.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:22 AM

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Pro Wrestling--- WWE Fires Back at UFC
World Wrestling Entertainment has fired back at the UFC and Spike TV. Following the news that Spike TV will air a live UFC fight special on Monday, October 3rd in WWE Raw's timeslot on Spike TV (which will go head-to-head with WWE's return to USA Network), WWE has officially announced that it is pulling out the big guns for its October 3rd show.

In an official statement, WWE said, "Many former WWE Champions will be making their return to Raw on October 3rd, including Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and Triple H. Even Mr. McMahon himself will make an appearance." The press release referred to the October 3rd episode of Raw as a "star-studded, historic night," and the show itself is being billed, "A Night of Champions."

While it's obvious that any first-run show put on by WWE is going to crush any UFC show head-to-head in the overall ratings, that alone is not enough for WWE. The UFC could take a very significant chunk of WWE's young male audience on that night, and WWE is pulling out all the stops to make sure that doesn't happen.

There's no doubt that even if Spike TV wasn't putting the UFC head-to-head with Raw on October 3rd, WWE would still have tried to make a big deal out of the October 3rd episode of Raw on USA Network. However, there can also be little doubt that the head-to-head battle with the UFC, along with the huge amount of hard feelings that exist between Spike TV executives and WWE executives, are also contributing factors in WWE's decision to hot-shot so many big returns on a single episode of a TV series that runs 52 weeks per year.

When WWE Raw moved from USA Network to Spike TV (then known as TNN) several years ago, the first week of Spike ratings were almost identical to the final week of USA ratings. Historically, when a pro wrestling show changes networks, pro wrestling fans have always been able to "find" the wrestling show that they want to watch (whereas many other kinds of TV shows experience big ratings drop-offs when they switch to a different network).

So, just the fact that WWE Raw is moving from Spike TV to USA Network is not reason enough for WWE to blow so many potential ratings-popping appearances in one night. The company's ill will towards Spike TV, and even more so its fear of losing a chunk of its young male demographic, are likely what is driving WWE to pull out all the stops on October 3rd.

Mixed Martial Arts--- Ultimate Fighter Ratings Down in Week Three
The third episode of The Ultimate Fighter 2 drew a disappointing overall rating of 1.5 on Monday night, September 5th. The series had drawn a 1.7 overall rating with its season premiere, followed by a 1.8 overall rating with last week's episode.

Week Three's rating of 1.5 is actually down from the 1.6 rating that was drawn by Week Three of the first season. It's also down from the 1.6 average rating that the series drew in its first season on Spike TV.

This was also the lowest-rated episode of TUF in quite some time. The last time that a new episode of The Ultimate Fighter drew an overall rating of 1.5 or less, it was Week 9 of the first season, which drew a 1.5 overall rating on March 14, 2005.

For what it's worth, the network TV competition that aired head-to-head with parts of The Ultimate Fighter also drew slightly lower-than-average ratings on Monday night. The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS drew a 3.6 rating, while NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno drew a 3.5 rating, and ABC's Nightline drew a 3.3 rating.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:50 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Vince McMahon Infuriated by UFC Commercial
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was furious when he saw the UFC commercial saying that pro wrestling is not "real" during his own TV shows, according to a report in the Wrestling Observer. The commercial, which is still running on Spike TV programs other than WWE Raw, features an announcer saying, "What's real? Pro wrestling? No! Boxing? Not anymore! The UFC is real!" I'd love for the UFC to explain specifically how boxing "is not real anymore," but as you might have guessed, that wasn't the part of the interview that sent Vince McMahon over the edge.

With WWE set to leave Spike TV at the end of September, and with Spike TV now relying on the UFC as its number one provider of original programming, the Observer reports that the relationship between WWE and Spike TV has "turned very cold."

The Observer adds, "Among the specifics was Vince McMahon apparently going nuts about the UFC commercial that implies pro wrestling is not real, that was being played so often on WWE programming. Spike TV made a new version of the commercial that only implies boxing isn't real anymore, and makes no mention of pro wrestling. This is hilarious because WWE has spent the last several years insisting that pro wrestling isn't real, and now they get all worked up when someone else says it. The UFC and Spike are still airing the commercial saying that pro wrestling isn't real on all shows other than WWE, but they cut a new version of the commercial just for WWE programming."

As the Observer report alluded to, the irony in Vince McMahon's rage about the UFC commercial is that when WWE was recently faced with perhaps its biggest media scandal ever due to its extremely tasteless terrorism storyline (which aired on the same day as the real-life London terrorist bombings), the company's defense consisted largely of, "Pro wrestling isn't real! It's just entertainment!" In general, whenever the media or a Wall Street analyst questions something that WWE does, the response is always that it's not real and it's just entertainment.

Mixed Martial Arts--- Ultimate Fighter Breaks Records in Key Ratings Demographics
The second episode of The Ultimate Fighter's second season, which debuted on Monday, August 29th, broke the series' all-time records in two of the most important ratings demographics. While the overall rating, which factors in all age and sex demographics, was only up slightly (from 1.7 last week to 1.8 this week), Spike TV was said to be thrilled with the far bigger increases in two key demographics.

In the advertiser-coveted demographic of 18-to-34-year-old males, this week's episode drew a 2.8 rating, which is a huge increase from the 1.8 rating that was drawn by Week 2 of the first season in the same demographic. The 2.8 rating in this demographic is also a big increase from TUF's first season average (2.2), and from last week's rating in this demographic (2.5).

In the age group that watches The Ultimate Fighter more than any other demographic, 25-to-34-year-old males, this week's episode drew an insanely high 3.7 rating. That is actually more than double the 1.8 rating that was drawn by Week 2 of the first season in the same demographic. The 3.7 rating in this demographic is also a huge increase from TUF's first season average (2.2), and even from last week's big rating in this demographic (2.9).

In the two aforementioned demographics, this week's episode of The Ultimate Fighter was the most-watched episode in the Monday night timeslot from either season. This week's 2.8 rating in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic tops the previous record, which was a 2.7 rating that was drawn by Week 10 of the first season. However, it still falls short of the 3.3 rating that was drawn in this demographic by the live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter in the Saturday night timeslot on April 9th, 2005.

Even more astonishing is the fact that this week's 3.7 rating in the 25-to-34-year-old male demographic is the highest rating that any UFC programming has ever drawn, in any demographic, in any timeslot. The previous record for this demographic in the Monday night timeslot was the 2.8 rating that was drawn by Week 10 of The Ultimate Fighter's first season. This was topped only by the 3.2 rating that was drawn in this demographic by the Saturday night season finale of TUF on April 9th. Now, even that record has been shattered by this week's 3.7 rating among 25-to-34-year-old males.

Very few shows on all of cable television are able to attract such a large amount of the young male audience that advertising executives spend much of their careers targeting. These ratings have started to pay off not just for Spike TV, but also for the UFC in a big way. On last night's show alone, there was premium-level, integrated-into-the-show advertising from three different advertisers: Right Guard Extreme, Transporter 2, and the United States Army.

The UFC's shows on Spike TV are able to demand a far higher CPM rate from advertisers than WWE's TV shows, which have among the lowest CPM rates on all of television due to WWE's history of tasteless, crass, and sometimes even racist storylines.

In addition, the advertising inventory for the second season of The Ultimate Fighter was sold by big-time advertising firms just like any other sports programming, whereas the first season's ads were sold on the much less lucrative "scatter market." As part of its deal with Spike TV, the UFC gets approximately half of the advertising space on its programs. For example, in an hour-long show with 16 minutes of commercials, Spike TV would get approximately eight minutes of that ad space, while the UFC would get the other half.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:18 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Vince McMahon's favorite son-in-law, Triple H, was on the season finale of MTV's Punk'd this week. Stephanie McMahon was with him and was in cahoots with the producers of the show. Stacy Keibler was also there, but was not a participant in the stunt itself. Stacy was only there as an observer to sit with Ashton Kutcher and the other producers of the show as they fed lines to actors and watched the events unfold from numerous hidden camera angles.

Stephanie and Triple H walked into a room with the impression that they were there for a photographer to take pictures of Triple H for Maxim Magazine. As soon as the door to the room closed behind them, the entire cast of the prank scrambled into action, with a fake bride waiting right up against the other side of the door.

So, Stephanie and Hunter walk into the room, and Stephanie says, "Hi, I'm Steph." I couldn't hear how Triple H introduced himself, but I would be willing to bet it wasn't as Paul (his real first name). They are told by a photographer that he is just there to do the photography for a wedding and he doesn't know anything about a Maxim photo shoot, and they must have the wrong date or the wrong place. Triple H looks mildly annoyed at the mix-up, but not angry about it or anything like that. Stephanie waits so that Hunter leaves the room first, so that when Hunter opens the door, it slams smack-dab into the face of the supposed "bride."

The fake bride is on the floor crying, and they must have had a fake blood capsule thing to make it look like the door really did hit her right in the nose. Triple H seems nice at first, asking if she's okay, but quickly gets defensive about it when the fake "best man" of the wedding says, "This guy just plowed right through the door!" Triple H kept saying he just opened a door and this woman happened to be on the other side of it. The best man says, "But this guy slammed the door open!" and Triple H tells the best man to shut up (in the immediate aftermath of the bride going down).

At some point, the groom comes running in after someone went to get him, and he tries to comfort his bride. They make it seem realistic as more people in the fake wedding party show up at the scene of the accident, and ask what happened and have to be told what happened. Everytime someone asks what happened, the best man says that this guy opened the door really quick and it hit the bride in the face, and Triple H looks pissed at him but doesn't tell him to shut up again.

It was pretty funny up to this point, but here's where the hilarity really goes off the charts. The guy who is playing the role of the wedding photographer says, "Am I going to get paid? I'm here for four more hours, I want to get paid and I need to be taking pictures." Triple H tells him to shut his mouth and go in the other room, and he'll be there to talk to him in a few minutes. At this point, when they realize the photographer really gets on Triple H's nerves, Ashton Kutcher is feeding lines to the fake photographer to antagonize Triple H more.

The photographer is persistent and says that he has other gigs he could be doing with his time. Triple H says, "You're going to be pulling that camera out of your f---ing ass if you don't go in the other room and leave us alone." The photographer goes to the other room, but not before saying on the way over there that maybe Triple H should do some push-ups to blow off some steam, which elicits a death glare from Triple H. Triple H actually tries to close the door on the photographer, but the door is jammed and the photographer, best man, and groom all say at the same time that Triple H shouldn't be touching any more doors and he has done enough damage already.

The groom says that his bride might have a broken nose, and Triple H says that it will be taken care of (presumably meaning that he will pay for the medical expenses). The groom is still upset and says, "What about my wedding?" and Triple H's response is, "What do you want me to do about it?" since there isn't really much that can be done.

Hilariously, the photographer then comes out of the room with his camera equipment and starts setting up as if he's going to take pictures as people are tending to the bride's face. The photographer says that they should get some pictures while they still can, before her face starts to swell. And Triple H actually says to him, "You go back to your f---ing hole!" which has the entire production crew laughing hysterially backstage, including Stacy Keibler who is sitting with them.

The photographer says, "Come on, man, I'm just trying to do my job here, I'm getting paid to take pictures." Triple H tells him to go do his job in the other room. The photographer says he can't do his job in the other room because no one is in there, at which point Triple H asks him how expensive his camera equipment is. Before the fake photographer can answer, Triple H says, "... because I'm about to smash it if you don't get out of here." The best man then chimes in that maybe the photographer should take pictures "for evidence," which elicits another death glare but no spoken words from Triple H. The groom then asks the photographer if he's crazy and tells him not to take any pictures.

It seems that the situation has played out about as much as it can play out, so the crew of producers in the back headed by Ashton Kutcher (with Stacy Keibler right behind him since she was there an an observer) leave their room, go down a few hallways, and rush towards Triple H, telling him that he is on Punk'd. He smiles and laughs, but also looks a bit embarrassed. He did not acknowledge Stacy Keibler at all in the footage that was shown, and I can't help but wonder if there was heat on her after this prank happened because she is not married to Triple H but was still there watching for some reason.

In the brief footage that was shown of Triple H after he was told that he had been Punk'd, Stephanie McMahon was not in those shots that I could see, although Triple H did tell someone, "I'm going to get you!" It wasn't clear who he was talking to, but it looked like it might have been Ashton Kutcher, and it was definitely not Stephanie.

Hilariously, Stephanie's name was mis-spelled in two different places, both during the show in her caption and during the credits when they listed all the people who appeared on the show. Her name was spelled, "Stephani McMahon." To compensate for this injustice, Stephanie is probably going to hire a dozen more Hollywood writers who know nothing about pro wrestling. Maybe she'll raid the staff of Punk'd just to teach them a lesson. You don't mis-spell the name of the Billion Dollar Princess and get away with it.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:33 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- WWE Continues to Mislead Mainstream Media about Terrorism Storyline
With the extremely offensive Mohammad Hassan character having been removed from WWE television at the not-so-optional "request" of UPN executives, WWE has continued to mislead the mainstream media about the terrorism storyline that caused this whole controversy in the first place.

The most recent example of this comes in an article by ABC News, which once again repeats the claim by WWE spokesperson Gary Davis that there was simply no time to edit that particular episode of WWE Smackdown before it aired on July 7th. In fact, both the Torch and Observer have reported that WWE and UPN could have edited the whole segment out of the show if they really wanted to, but they didn't think the segment would be as big of a deal as it turned out to be.

Proving once again that WWE truly doesn't get it, Gary Davis also inexplicably said in the article, "There's no question in our minds it was the unfortunate timing of that segment being on July 7 that was the ultimate issue with it." So, in other words, it wouldn't have been that offensive if it hadn't aired on July 7th. WWE still doesn't understand that even if the bad timing didn't exist, this would have still come across as a tasteless angle designed to exploit terrorism in order to draw money for the company and cheap heel heat for the Hassan character.

The ABC News story also inaccurately portrays the nature of Hassan's removal from WWE television. The article portrays the situation as though the controversial sketch "convinced WWE to finally have Hassan... taken out of the game permanently by the Undertaker."

In fact, it was not WWE's decision at all, as reported by the Observer. When UPN "asked" WWE to never use the Hassan character again, WWE had no choice because UPN has the right to cancel any show that brings the network excessive negative publicity, which WWE Smackdown certainly did in this case.

WWE spokesperson Gary Davis said in the article that Hassan's removal was just WWE "tying up a storyline" and that they have "done this with other characters as well," despite the fact that this is the first time that UPN has ever "asked" WWE to never use a character again while that character is in the middle of a big push on television.

Gary Davis also said that Hassan's last appearance at the Great American Bash was a "respectful way" for WWE wrap up the character's run in WWE, which is entirely true if by "respectful" you mean "producing a commercial for a pay-per-view in which you re-play the original terrorism storyline, only you add the Muslim Call to Prayer as background audio." If that's what you mean by "respectful," then yes, they certainly did end things with Hassan respectfully.

Gary Davis also repeated the oft-used line, "The whole point of the storyline and this character was to point out the injustices Arab-Americans have suffered since 9/11."

It has seemingly become second-nature for WWE spokespeople to deceive the mainstream media, with one glaring recent example coming when Gary Davis actually told a reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Matt Hardy really hasn't re-signed with WWE, and that Hardy had merely agreed to a pair of one-time appearances. (That's what made it so strange when Hardy appeared on the following week's episode of Raw, apparently meaning that Hardy agreed to make three one-time appearances, and I suppose that this Monday's show will be Hardy's fourth "one-time appearance.")

Hulk Hogan Makes Unintentionally Hilarious Appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live
The award for best unintentional comedy of the year has to go to Hulk Hogan's appearance on the Friday night episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. I say this not so much for Hogan's segment on the show, but for the following segment in which the person being interviewed was Jerry Ferrera from the HBO series, Entourage.

After Hogan's segment was over and Ferrera's segment began, it didn't take long to realize that Hogan was going through intense misery to have to sit there on the couch for eight minutes while someone other than Hulk Hogan was the center of attention. Whenever he was shown on camera during the Jerry Ferrera interview, Hogan was nervously glancing around, making pained facial expressions, and even playing with his finger-nails. Pure comedy gold.

During Hogan's interview with Kimmel, the highlight had to be Hogan saying that his WWE Hall of Fame induction segment was only slotted to last ten minutes, but that plan got thrown for a loop when the audience gave him a standing ovation for 20 minutes before he could even start talking.

He also said that he has shown Brooke Hogan some things in terms of how to defend herself, and Nick Hogan is a good boxer, so they're all good fighters in the Hogan family and they could kick the Osbournes' asses. (Linda, Brooke, and Nick Hogan were in the front row of the audience.)

Hogan said that Brooke's date on the first episode of Hogan Knows Best was a "supervised field trip" with not only the GPS system in the car, but also two of his friends lurking nearby, whom Hogan referred to as, "Jimmy Hart and Nasty Boy Brian Knobbs."

When asked how long he is going to continue wrestling, Hogan said that he will be 52 years old by the time SummerSlam takes place, and 52 years old is too old to be wrestling, which I suspect Hogan is saying as part of an attempt to get more money out of WWE for a potential match at the September PPV.

He also said that the match against Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam is a dream match for wrestling fans because Hogan is like the old generation while Michaels is, as Hogan put it, "the guy who tried to pick up the ball and carry it after me, and that didn't work out so well for him, but you know, he tried his best and there has always been that jealousy factor from him."

Jimmy Kimmel said at one point, "Wow, I would never guess that you're 52 years old. You're still so huge!" Kimmel jokingly added, "You must be on steroids!" Hogan said, "No, but I used to be," to which Jimmy replied, "But you're off of them now?" and Hogan said, "Oh, I'm WAY off of them!"

Kimmel then jokingly said, "You know what, I need to get on steroids," to which Hogan jokingly said "Go for it!" and gave a big thumbs-up to the camera. Hogan then laughed and said, "No, no, no, you're taking me down the wrong road with that one, brother." In my mind, painful flashbacks ensued of Hogan's infamous steroid denials on The Arsenio Hall Show years ago.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for Hogan to repeat his usual fairy-tale that Andre the Giant weighed over 700 pounds when he body-slammed him at WrestleMania 3, and that Andre died shortly after the match. This is a line that Hogan appears to feel obligated to squeeze into every mainstream interview he ever does, and the absence of any reference to it in this interview has surely caused a tear in the fabric of the space-time continuum...

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:55 AM

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Pro Wrestling--- WWE Great American Bash Review
Score (out of 10): 3.0
Best Match: Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio
Worst Match: Batista vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

Michael Cole and Tazz are correct that the Great American Bash has a great tradition... unfortunately, that tradition now appears to be having the worst PPV event of the year. Last year's Great American Bash with Paul Bearer being buried alive in cement was the worst PPV of 2004 in a year that had plenty of stinkers, and this year's Great American Bash was easily the worst PPV of 2005 so far.

All of the talk about Road Warrior Hawk in the tag team title match was sickening exploitation, proving that victims of terrorism aren't the only dead people that WWE will attempt to exploit for profit. Giving the tag titles to Animal and Heidenreich was incredibly stupid on so many levels, even if they do lose the belts back to M-N-M at SummerSlam. The tag team division had been showing signs of life for the first time in years thanks to M-N-M.

Seeing Road Warrior Animal back in the ring is nice nostalgia, but so is seeing Hulk Hogan back in the ring... and you don't see them booking Hulk Hogan to beat Batista clean for the World Title. Batista is to the singles division what M-N-M is to the tag team division, which is what makes the tag title change so ridiculous.

Booker T had the same basic match that he has been having for years, and even Chris Benoit couldn't get a good match out of the uninspired Orlando Jordan. It's not too hard to figure out why Jordan is uninspired to the poitn of phoning in his performances, given that he has been buried for the past five months even while being US champion.

Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero had the one and only good match on the PPV, but it wasn't a great match and it had a cop-out finish after it was hinted so strongly that Mysterio's secret would finally be revealed. It seemed excessive and wasteful to have Mysterio's son right outside the ring if this wasn't the night when the secret was going to be revealed.

Undertaker kept his streak alive of horrible PPV matches, and Vince McMahon sure did teach all of those critics a lesson by having the terrorists (excuse me, "sympathizers") back in Hassan's corner.

Does anyone else find it ironic that when WWE has angry stockholders, advertisers, viewers, and network executives to appease, they say in a ridiculously pretentious official statement that the men wearing black ski masks were not even Arabic, and that it's very stereotypical for people to falsely jump to that conclusion. Then when there's a PPV to sell and they put together a video recap of the Undertaker-Hassan feud, they not only replay the simulated terrorist attack, but they dub in the Muslim Call to Prayer as background music. It would be difficult for the management team at any company, even if they tried really hard, to have less class, taste, and human decency than WWE management.

Newsflash from the main event for anyone who didn't already realize it: Batista can't work unless he has someone to carry him, and neither can JBL. I am so sick and tired of hearing about John Cena's in-ring limitations, while no one seems to call out Batista and JBL for the same things. Even with all of his weaknesses, Cena is a better worker than Batista or JBL any day of the week. Whoever put the match together failed to do their job properly when they decided to give Batista and JBL twenty minutes to fill; and then Batista and JBL failed to do their job properly when they put on an absolute stinker of a match within those 20 minutes.

The combined age of Batista and JBL is just over 75, but they looked like a couple of fifty-year-olds in there plodding through a basic formula match with enough rest-holds to make the Ultimate Warrior proud.

The disqualification finish in the main event is the same kind of bulls--t cop-out finish that I believe helped contribue to the collapse of WWE PPV buy-rates in 2004. That is just not acceptable for a PPV main event finish anymore. What makes it worse is that it's not like WWE isn't aware of how unacceptable finishes like that are to their viewing audience for a PPV main event... they are fully aware of it, and they choose to piss on their audience anyway.

Anyone who bought the Great American Bash had to suspend their disbelief that they weren't just wasting 35 dollars to get three hours of filler, as WWE put on a PPV four weeks before SummerSlam. WWE put a giant spotlight on that fact, instead of masking it with good booking and good wrestling. A lot of people are going to feel like they wasted 35 dollars, and a lot of them (particularly those who aren't hardcore pro wrestling fans) are not going to be too keen on shelling out another 35 bucks for SummerSlam four weeks from now.

If any actual WWE investors were watching, this show would have given them plenty of fodder for Linda McMahon to hang up on during the next quarterly investors' conference call.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:08 AM

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Pro Wrestling--- World Wrestling Entertainment's response to the huge backlash over its recent terrorism storyline (which I wrote about here and here) has been predictably pathetic.

(Breaking News Update from the Pro Wrestling Torch web site on Thursday, July 21 at 3:14 PM: "UPN has told WWE it doesn't want the Muhammad Hassan character to be part of the program from this point forward. WWE creative is working on the situation, and the plan right now is to have Undertaker kill him off on Sunday at the pay-per-view. The backlash by sponsors or local UPN affiliates must have been quite strong after the terrorist-themed angle on the July 7 Smackdown.")

Never short on hypocritical hyperbole, WWE's official press release on the matter tried to make it seem as though the people who were offended by the storyline were somehow at fault for having stereotypical beliefs about Arabs, which led these viewers (and networks, and advertisers, and executives...) to mis-interpret a totally non-terrorism-related storyline as something that was terrorism-related. That's an ironic stance to take, given that in my opinion WWE has done more to play into and profit from stereotypical beliefs about Arabs than any other entertainment entity in North America.

A Closer Look at Some of WWE's Questionable Storylines
On the other hand, maybe WWE is right (note the sarcasm). Maybe we're just not fully understanding what the company presented on WWE Smackdown on July 7th, which certainly appeared to be a simulated terrorist attack that aired on the same day that a real terrorist attack killed dozens of people in London. How stupid are we, to think that WWE would actually attempt to exploit terrorism for profit? That's just silly because WWE would never do that.

Come to think of it, there are a lot of things that WWE has done that may just be grossly misunderstood. For example, top babyface (or "good guy") Stone Cold Steve Austin recently said on WWE Raw, "I see sand people!" while looking at Arab-American characters Hassan and Daivari, in a line that was scripted by WWE management and intended to draw cheers from the crowd as if it were a witty insult. While on the surface it might appear to be yet another callous racial slur on WWE television, maybe it was actually meant to be an intriguing glimpse into the effect that racial slurs have had on various societies over the centuries, and how today's racial slurs can still be hurtful and damaging.

Then there's Chavo Guerrero's current gimmick, in which he has denounced his Hispanic heritage and decided to become a white person named "Kerwin White." This new "Kerwin White" character said in an interview that his Hispanic fans probably didn't have enough money to buy a computer to visit his web page, and said he wanted to "thank Real America, which is White America!" before concluding with the line, "Remember, if it's not white, it's not right!" (I wish I were making that up, but that is actually the gimmick that a well-respected Mexican-American wrestler with lots of tenure has been saddled with.) That certainly seems like WWE trying to profit from racism, but perhaps it's really a deep philosophical evaluation of the history of relations between Mexico and the United States and of the many deep cultural differences between the two countries.

How about the Mexicools gimmick? You know, the one where three talented Mexican wrestlers come out to the ring on a big lawn-mower and are saddled with the gimmick that they're tired of mowing the white man's yard and are going to lead a Mexican revolt. Maybe that's actually meant to be a nuanced look at the changing state of labor relations in the United States, and the huge gap between the average salary in Mexico and the average salary in the United States.

Remember when Heidenreich anally raped WWE play-by-play announcer Michael Cole last year on an episode of WWE Smackdown? (Again, I wish I were making that up.) Looking back on it now, I think WWE really intended for that seemingly tasteless segment to serve as an in-depth psychological look at the reasons behind violent crime in the 21st century.

I also think that when Vince McMahon promoted his own daughter Stephanie as a "slut character" when she first turned heel on WWE television (and fans of all ages were encouraged to chant "slut" at her), it was actually meant to be a sophisticated examination of the modern role of feminism and a woman's right to be as outgoing as she wants to be without having it held against her.

And who could ever forget the time that Triple H climbed into a casket on WWE Raw and had simulated sex with a dead body? Turns out that wasn't just a disgusting attempt at Shock TV. On the contrary, it was meant to be a captivating look at the role of death in different civilizations, and how different people perceive death (and life after death) in different ways.

So I guess if you really think about it, WWE's motives for various offensive storylines have always been pure and have definitely not been sleazy in any way... and if you don't understand that, then I guess you're just not as smart as WWE thinks you should be.

More Mainstream Media Backlash
Okay, enough with the sarcasm. In all seriousness, the mainstream media backlash in response to WWE's terrorism storyline has continued, with articles on the scandal appearing in the New York Times, Advertising Age, and ESPN's web site, in addition to the pro wrestling media.

While previous mainstream media backlash to the terrorism storyline has been damaging to WWE, the article in Advertising Age is particularly damaging because it reaches so many of the advertisers that provide WWE with revenue. At the same time, the New York Times article is particularly damaging because it drastically increases the chances of the controversy being covered in local newspapers all across the country, and I'd imagine that people in England who hear about the WWE terrorism storyline probably aren't thrilled with it, either.

The hope within WWE was actually that all of the mainstream media backlash would create a buzz for the Smackdown product and that the following week's Smackdown would draw a higher rating as a result of the controversy. And no, I'm not just pulling that assertion out of my ass, it was actually reported by the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, who wrote, "There were those internally [in WWE] expecting that the controversy from the week would lead to a substantial ratings increase." Instead, much to WWE's dismay, the July 14th episode of Smackdown drew roughly the same rating as the controversial July 7th episode.

Also, to reiterate previous reports on Ivan's Blog and elsewhere that WWE and UPN could have changed the July 7th episode of Smackdown and completely removed the terrorist storyline if they really felt it was necessary to do so, the Pro Wrestling Torch reported in its latest newsletter, "Rather than edit the program - a logistical headache to be sure, but possible nonetheless - UPN and WWE decided to air it without changes."

WWE Produces Segment with Hassan Responding to Backlash in Character
Believe it or not, WWE actually had the Mohammad Hassan character (who led the simulated terrorist attack on Smackdown that started this whole controversy) respond to the mainstream media backlash in full character, as he mentioned specific, real-life terrorist attacks and eventually said that Arabs get blamed for everything, so we might as well blame Arabs for property damage caused by Hurricane Dennis. The powers-that-be in WWE, through the scripted words of Hassan, also tried to turn this into a "free speech" issue by having Hassan complain about his First Amendment rights being violated.

WWE put Hassan's response up as the lead item on its (advertising-revenue-generating) web site. As the Pro Wrestling Torch's James Guttman wrote in regards to this particular decision by WWE:

"Now WWE is capitalizing on the bad press they got, and that makes it exploitation... and a blatant attempt to ride the public outrage to the bank. No more coincidence. Now it's on purpose. Every time I think they can't make it worse, they do."

Mike Johnson of PWInsider also spoke out against the "Hassan responds to the media" segment. Excerpts from the article on PWInsider:

"It's completely surreal to watch a worked pro wrestling character responding to a legitimate media article. Beyond that, though, no matter what the reasoning is internally by WWE, it's absolutely completely disgusting to see the company, in any way, shape, or form use references to legitimate past terrorist acts as exposition for 'Hassan's response.' It's deplorable in any case, but especially horrible not even a week removed from the recent London bombing. What's next? Sending Hassan and Daivari to Ground Zero in New York to respond to the Variety article? Or Hassan using footage of WWE visiting New York City firehouses and 'editing it' to suit his storyline means?

WWE was looking to play off of all the media scorn, and since UPN didn't want it on their network, WWE used their own website as the medium. Vince McMahon has always had a history of going after those he feels have wronged WWE and this is no different. However, I sincerely doubt that Hassan would be cutting that promo if it was Stamford, Connecticut that had been bombed. The incident would have been completely raw and personal to WWE management.

I hope that WWE's brain-trust realizes that as a publicly-traded international company, which they love to tout themselves as to the media, there are a multitude of WWE fans out there that have been personally affected by the events of the past several years. None of them want to be reminded of those horrible events while they are watching professional wrestling to be 'entertained,' because those events remain raw and personal to them. I guess nothing should surprise me when it comes to professional wrestling, and this didn't, but it doesn't make the situation any less saddening."

Keller and Mitchell Weigh In on the WWE Terrorism Storyline
I previously went into great detail on this blog with my own thoughts on the WWE terrorism storyline, as well as the thoughts of several people who cover pro wrestling regularly in order to give you a sense of how the pro wrestling media is reacting to this scandal.

In the past week, two of the most respected people in the pro wrestling media, Wade Keller and Bruce Mitchell of the Pro Wrestling Torch, weighed in with their extended thoughts on the WWE terrorism storyline.

The week after the terrorism storyline aired, a condescending disclaimer aired at the beginning of the July 14th Smackdown broadcast on UPN that said, "In light of recent world events, sensitivities have arisen regarding an ongoing storyline."

In response to the disclaimer message, Wade Keller mockingly wrote in his review of that episode of Smackdown:

"The show opened with an advisory stating that due to world events, 'sensitivities have risen' so viewer discretion was advised. How about this instead: 'Due to world events which we're trying to exploit, but in a tongue-in-cheek way only, since you know, simulating beheadings, suicide bombing themes, martyrs, and such are obviously tongue-in-cheek, and it wasn't our fault the bombers chose the morning of last week's show which we couldn't change... well, we could have [changed it], but chose not to, because any publicity is good publicity, and you people really need to lighten up, it's just wrestling... viewers who are total PC freaks and p-----s may want to not watch.'"

Wade Keller's extended thoughts on the July 7th terrorism storyline are available at PWTorch.com, but here's an excerpt from what he wrote:

"I am against what they aired on Smackdown, even if the London bombings had not taken place. There is a difference between playing off of stereotypes and exploiting a war currently being fought. The simulation of Undertaker being 'beheaded' isn't entertaining, it's disturbing and tasteless, especially when the context was clearly inspired by terrorist tapes of beheadings.

A lot of people defend wrestling by pointing out that other forms of entertainment tackle controversial real-life issues. There is a difference, in part because WWE doesn't make even the slightest attempt to be nuanced and sophisticated in how it exploits current events, especially sensitive issues such as a war on terror. WWE plays to the lowest common denominator and presents gross over-simplifications of complicated issues. And as is the case with the Hassan/Daivari gimmick, they're entirely disingenuous about it.

WWE spokesman Gary Davis should be called out by the media for saying that 'we all feel bad about the timing of the segment.' If feeling bad means not editing the show even though they could have, featuring a clip of the most controversial aspects of the angle on WWE.com Thursday night through Friday morning, and airing extended clips of it on WWE Velocity two days later, then I'd hate to see what they would have done with it if they were proud of it. Vince seems more intent than ever on being defiant whenever he feels he's having to conform to a sense of restraint or decency."

Mitchell Explores Vince McMahon's Possible Motives for the Storyline
Offering fascinating insight into what might have gone into Vince McMahon's decision to green-light such a tasteless segment in the first place, Bruce Mitchell wrote an in-depth column called "Lions in the Winter," which is one of the best articles that I've read all year in any form of journalism. While you'll find a few excerpts from the article below, the full article is several thousand words long, and the excerpts below only scratch the surface.

In the column, Mitchell details how a series of political machinations behind the scenes in recent months by Hulk Hogan (with whom Vince McMahon has had a love-hate relationship for many years) may have gotten under Vince's skin:

"Vince McMahon may well be the most powerful man in the entire business, but Hulk Hogan had once again beaten him at his own game.... For Vince McMahon, while Hogan may be beating him like a gong, there's plenty of other wrestling people to mess with. And he's been in a mood to mess with them, particularly since WWE stockholders dared question why he wasn't buying back stock and why so much money was left in the bank drawing two-and-a-half percent interest. Like any good bully, McMahon knows if you can't get to the people who really piss you off, find some weaklings you can [get to]."

Mitchell then wrote extensively about McMahon releasing over 15 wrestlers in a single 24-hour period (including a female wrestler who was five months' pregnant and was reportedly told very specifically by both Vince and Stephanie McMahon that she would not be released due to getting pregnant)... and hiring and humiliating a former ECW wrestler... and planning a female nipple slip on live television without notifying Spike TV ahead of time. ("Here's a hint: If you see an agent or referee with a towel, those nipples are no accident," Mitchell wrote.)

As Mitchell continued to write about the timeline of Vince McMahon seemingly blowing off a lot of steam, here's an excerpt of what Mitchell wrote about McMahon's role in the terrorism storyline:

"Then at the Smackdown tapings, Vince McMahon finally booked Muhammad Hassan, the 'Arab Terrorist,' the way he wanted to all along... Who cares if this kind of storyline hadn't drawn money in over twenty years, or if low-brow entertainment stopped exploiting jingoism like this after the Vietnam War because, guess what, it doesn't work? The important thing was, Vince McMahon got his way.

Then tragic reality gave the angle a boost that even McMahon couldn't provide. Eighteen hours before Smackdown was to be aired on UPN, terrorists bombed the London subways and murdered dozens of people... McMahon and WWE could have stood with everyone who has fought against these murders, including the U.S. troops that WWE so publicly claims to support. McMahon and UPN could have done the decent thing and pulled the angle off the air, respecting the grief and not exploiting the anger. Instead, again, McMahon did what he wanted.

McMahon and WWE got a bitter lesson for their trouble, if they cared to listen. For a few days, they got away with it. That may have seemed like good news, but it wasn't. It really meant advertisers and media had such little respect for their product that it took four days for them to even take notice of what WWE had done. They expected WWE to act like crass, unfeeling assholes. They had seen it before. It wasn't even a story... until the day came this week that it was."

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:48 PM

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Pro Wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts--- Lesnar Reconciles with WWE, Likely Ending the Possibility of an MMA Career

Brock Lesnar is believed to have re-signed with WWE, causing both sides to drop their lawsuits against each other.

Brock Lesnar had sued WWE to get out of the six-year no-compete clause that he signed when he left WWE and unsuccessfully tried out for the NFL in 2004. Lesnar expressed in his lawsuit a desire to either wrestle for other pro wrestling promotions, or compete in mixed martial arts, which he would not be able to do until June 30, 2010 under the terms of his WWE no-compete clause. WWE had counter-sued Lesnar for supposedly breaching his contract by appearing in January 2005 as a member of the audience at a pro wrestling event in Tokyo, Japan.

This news comes approximately two weeks after Lesnar basically threw in the towel verbally in a newspaper interview, saying that he just wanted to go back to work in WWE and was willing to drop his lawsuit.

Lesnar has not been paid any of his WWE salary since March 2004, and in addition to that, WWE had cut Lesnar off from all back-pay merchandising revenue when they claimed he breached his contract in January 2005. Combine that with the fact that he had no other income, had very little money saved, owed a six-figure amount to the IRS in back taxes, and had to pay lawyers to fight WWE in court, and WWE knew it was just a matter of time until Lesnar ran out of money. To top it all off, when Lesnar finally did run out of money recently, his fiance Rena Mero (formerly known as Sable in WWE) left him.

WWE had a story up on its web site claiming that Lesnar was meeting with WWE management to "negotiate a potential return." That is false. In fact, Lesnar has negotiated with WWE throughout the past two weeks, and the meeting last week is believed to have simply been the place where the final paperwork was signed. This is simply another example of WWE taking a real-life situation (ie, negotiations with Lesnar) and trying to turn it into a storyline. Rather than just announcing on WWE.com that they have signed Brock Lesnar, WWE is going to get a few days or weeks' worth of huge web site traffic in order to make the announcement slowly over a period of time.

Partially as a result of Lesnar re-signing with WWE, and partially as a result of the fact that their new TV deal with USA Network is nowhere near as lucrative as their Spike TV deal, WWE is undergoing massive lay-offs to cut expenses, even as the company continues to make over $30 million per quarter in net profit. In addition to lay-offs among front office staff, WWE recently laid off 18 wrestlers. When Lesnar does return to WWE, he will likely face a large amount of resentment from the locker room, not only due to the circumstances under which he left WWE last year, but also because his salary will be viewed as a contributing factor to so many wrestlers being released.

As for how successful or unsuccessful Lesnar would have been in mixed martial arts, it's likely that we will never know. He could have been a force to be reckoned with, given his amateur wrestling credentials, but he still would have needed extensive training in stand-up striking and Jiu-Jitsu.

As it stands right now, unless the rigors of being on the road with WWE prove to be too much for him (as was the case in 2004), it looks like Brock Lesnar will be spending his forseeable future as a pro wrestler.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:53 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- WWE Terrorism Storyline Prompts Huge Backlash from Viewers and the Media

Following WWE's tasteless and shameful terrorism storyline on last week's episode of Smackdown (which I wrote about in great detail here), the backlash has been massive from WWE viewers and the mainstream media.

New York Post/Fox News Article
First came a news story that was published in the New York Post newspaper, in addition to being published the New York Post and Fox News Channel web sites (full story available here). The highlights of that article have got to be WWE's Kevin Dunn saying that WWE "tries to be sensitive in everything" they portray, which is a hilarious statement given the not-the-least-bit-subtle racial overtones of many different WWE storylines, as detailed in my previous post on this subject.

However, the gold medal for most ridiculous quote goes to Kevin Dunn in the same article for saying that the terrorism storyline was meant to be taken "tongue-in-cheek," which makes sense because, you know, terrorism is so side-splittingly hilarious.

Daily Variety Article
The TV trade publication Daily Variety covered the WWE terrorism storyline, both in the Variety print publication and on the Variety web site (full story available here). The Drudge Report web site also linked to the Variety article, causing it to get picked up by many other news outlets, including the Chicago Tribune newspaper and web site.

In the Variety article, WWE and UPN repeat their claim that they "were unable to alter the episode, due to the tight timeframe between the show's taping earlier in the week and its Thursday night timeslot." However, based on what the insider pro wrestling media reported at the time, that is false.

Here's what the Pro Wrestling Torch reported at the time about this very subject: "A number of people have written asking if it was WWE's or UPN's decision to air Smackdown as it was taped on Monday without any edits. The only indication we've received so far is that it was a mutual decision based on time crunch and a conclusion that it was air-able with the warning scroll. Of course, there are circumstances where the show could be edited on short notice, even if it meant the final product wasn't timed as well as usual, but this wasn't deemed a situation worthy of such an effort."

So, WWE and/or UPN could have edited or removed the segment if they felt it was necessary to do so after the terrorist attacks in London, which took place approximately 16 hours before Smackdown went on the air in the East Coast of the United States.

TV Guide and Media Life Articles
The WWE terrorism storyline is currently the lead story on TVGuide.com. The main headline at the moment on the site is a picture of Mohammad Hassan with the headline, "Breaking News: UPN comes under fire for terror-like Smackdown stunt." The highlight of the story is this (sarcastic) line: "Meanwhile, WWE spokesman Gary Davis is urging viewers to tune in this Thursday to see how the plot 'gets straightened out.' If you don't, then the terrorists will have won."

The WWE terrorism storyline also got a write-up in Media Life Magazine, which you can see at the bottom of this page. The highlight of that article has to be the apparent WWE response to Media Life's request for further comment, as the article concludes, "The WWE says it's an entertainment business and that its plot shouldn't be taken seriously."

Discussion about WWE Terrorism Storyline on MSNBC Primetime Television
The WWE terrorism storyline was also discussed on the Tuesday, July 12th episode of "The Situation with Tucker Carlson" on MSNBC, which airs in primetime from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The segment about WWE was hyped at the beginning of the show and took place during the "Outsider" segment of the show.

In the "Outsider" segment, host Tucker Carlson discusses different issues with someone from outside the world of cable news, namely ESPN radio show host and HBO boxing analyst Max Kellerman. The "Outsider" segments often end with Carlson and Kellerman continuing to disagree about an issue or mocking the other's position on an issue, which is what made it uncommon in this case when they both agreed at the end of the segment.

Here is a transcript of the segment that is not 100% word-for-word, but is fairly accurate and is based on watching the segment and notes that I took during the segment.

(beginning of transcript)

Tucker Carlson introduces the segment: "The UPN network is on the ropes for broadcasting a WWE Smackdown wrestling show in which a wrestler was the victim of a simulated terrorist attack. The program aired on Thursday, the same day as the London bombings. A group of masked men choked out the Undertaker character while another Arab wrestler knelt in prayer. The scene was edited out of the UK edition of Smackdown. UPN said it couldn't change the episode in time for the US version, and instead they ran a parental discretion advisory message across the screen. "

(discussion about the topic begins as video clips of the segment air on the screen)

Tucker Carlson: Now... professional wrestling has always had villains. In the 50's, Nazis were villains in wrestling, and during the Cold War you had the Russian villains. The villains in the modern world are radical Islamic extremists...

Max Kellerman: Yeah, this is very, very serious. I am very serious about this. Anything that trivializes terrorism... listen, in the 50's, World War II had already been decided. The Nazis were no longer a threat. You know, Nikolai Volkoff wrestling during the Gorbachev era of the Cold War, Gorbachev was a guy who could talk reasonably with Ronald Reagan. This is not the same thing. These terrorists are the equivalent of Nazis during World War II. They should be hunted down, and brought to justice, and in most cases killed. They should not be trivialized by the WWE, or anything that turns them into caricatures. I mean, these are not enemies from the last 20 or 30 years. This is much more serious [than previous wrestling villains].

Tucker Carlson: Actually, I think you make a good point. But I think what also happened is that UPN must have gotten a lot of complaints from Muslin civil rights groups saying it was insensitive...

Max Kellerman: ... Well, my objection is not from being a Muslim or along the lines of racial stereotyping, because they were clearly shown to be terrorists [on Smackdown]. But I mean, they simulated a beheading? Not only was this segment in very poor taste, but again, anything that makes a caricature out of this issue or trivializes it... this is a completely serious issue. There is no room for it to be trivialized like this in any way.

Tucker Carlson: Okay, you know what? I will concede. You've won me over. I give up. You're right about this.

(end of transcript)

WWE Tries to Take Advantage of Negative Mainstream Publicity
As I wrote in my original article on this subject, "I think WWE might actually be hoping to get some negative publicity on this from the mainstream media, with the theory being that any publicity is good publicity because it gets your brand name out there. What WWE still doesn't seem to realize is that exactly this kind of thing is what hurts them so severely in the advertising world."

Any doubt that WWE is hoping to use the terrorist storyline to garner mainstream media attention for itself was removed on Tuesday when WWE actually wrote a news story on its web site in which it re-published the New York Post and Daily Variety articles, and encouraged web site visitors to return soon to hear Mohammad Hassan's response to the backlash. I guess WWE figures, if they can get some mainstream media publicity (even if it's negative publicity) with a little terrorism storyline, what's the harm in it?

WWE Aiming for More "Worked Shoot" Nonsense with the Terrorism Storyline
The line on WWE.com that says, "Hassan has promised to respond to the negative press right here on WWE.com" serves as yet another example of WWE trying to take a real-life situation and "control" it by turning it into a worked storyline of sorts. Recent examples of this would be Brock Lesnar supposedly negotiating with WWE, the whole situation with John Bradshaw Layfield at the ECW pay-per-view, Matt Hardy's return to WWE, wrestlers who have just been laid off by WWE being interviewed on WWE.com, and the list could go on.

When WWE acknowledges the mainstream media backlash to a WWE storyline and then says, "Hassan has promised to respond to the negative press right here on WWE.com," there's a giant hole in that logic. Let me get this straight... a WWE-contracted performer who was only doing what the WWE creative team scripted him to do is going to respond? Shouldn't it be the WWE creative team responding given that they wrote the damn segment?

So now Mohammad Hassan (who is actually an Italian kid in his 20's from New York who isn't even Arab-American) is presumably going to do a "worked shoot" interview on WWE.com, and by that I mean he's presumably going to be responding to real-life media articles, but is only going to do so in his fake pro wrestling character.

The writing team at WWE seems to have become fixated on "worked shoots" in recent weeks. If WWE wants to do 50 worked shoot situations in a one-month period, more power to them. I just think they should leave the whole "exploiting terrorism" thing out of this massive WWE worked shoot bonanza.

Basically, what I'm saying is that if WWE wants to pretend that Matt Hardy doesn't really work for WWE and is just a crazed lunatic jumping over the guard-rail and attacking Edge, that's fine. But if WWE wants to pretend that Mohammad Hassan is a real person (as opposed to a completely scripted pro wrestling character) who is responding to real media stories about WWE's lack of taste, that's not fine, and it only shines a brighter spotlight on WWE's lack of taste.

UPN Lays the Hammer Down on the Terrorism Storyline, At Least for Now
The word came out on the Wrestling Observer web site on Tuesday that UPN had exercised its veto power and asked WWE not to use the Hassan character in any way at the Tuesday night Smackdown tapings in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Here is what the Observer reported on Tuesday afternoon: "UPN Nixes Angle Ahead of Time This Week... UPN sent word today [to WWE] that after all the negative media publicity stemming from last week's show, they didn't want the Mohammad Hassan character on this week's episode of Smackdown. WWE had planned a storyline change for Hassan tonight in Worcester after the storyline involving terrorists from last week backfired."

According to a report on the Observer web site from a correspondent who attended the Smackdown tapings in Worcester, the only role that Hassan had on the episode of Smackdown that will air this Thursday was for his "lawyer" to come out and announce that Hassan was taking a leave of absence from Smackdown until after his match with The Undertaker at the next pay-per-view event, which is on Sunday, July 24. If WWE sticks to that proclamation, that would mean that the earliest Hassan could appear on Smackdown again would be Thursday, July 28.

WWE Still Chooses to Film a New Hassan Segment for Possible Weekend Airing
Though Hassan won't be appearing this week on UPN's Smackdown broadcast, he may still be appearing on the weekend show "WWE Velocity," which airs on Saturday nights at 11:00 PM on Spike TV. At the tapings in Worcester, WWE filmed a segment in which the company attempted to take advantage of the negative mainstream media backlash to garner more heel heat for the Hassan character.

The Observer correspondent's report from the tapings in Worcester said, "Hassan and Daivari came out, inciting the crowd with another rant about the injustice he endures as an Arab-American... being unfairly labeled as a terrorist by people who don't know him, like Don Kaplan of the New York Post, whose article Hassan read excerpts from and threw the article on the ground... Hassan concluded by saying he was proud of his heritage and left." Again, WWE might choose to air this segment on WWE Velocity, or they might choose not to air the segment at all.

What All Wrestling Fans Should Now Be Fearing
If you have followed the pro wrestling closely, your immediate reaction to the news that UPN yanked Hassan from this week's broadcast was probably, "Oh no, I hope WWE doesn't make Hassan the champion of the Smackdown brand for ten months!"

If you think back to this time last year, there was a big controversy after WWE wrestler John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) decided on his own that a good way for him to get a strong heel reaction from fans at a WWE house show in Germany would be to goose-step around the ring and salute Adolf Hitler, which he did on the anniversary of D-Day no less.

Layfield was promptly fired by CNBC from his job as a financial analyst for the cable network, as well he should have been. How did WWE respond to JBL's actions, you ask? Did they fire him? Suspend him? Hit him with a big fine? Nope. They rewarded him by booking him to win the WWE Title.

The word in the insider pro wrestling media at the time was that Vince McMahon felt that Layfield didn't deserve to be fired from his job at CNBC, and WWE gave Layfield the WWE Title largely out of spite for all of the people who were outraged by Layfield's Hitler-saluting antics. WWE then chose to keep Layfield in his position as the WWE Champion for over ten months, during which he got ten months' worth of main-event-level PPV bonus checks and house show money.

So, if John Bradshaw Layfield can goose-step and salute in Adolf Hitler in Germany, and get fired from his CNBC job as a result, and then immediately get rewarded by WWE with a 10-month run as a main-eventer with main-eventer paychecks, it's not entirely out of the question that we're about to have a "Mohammad Hassan as World Champion Era" in WWE. It's unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:35 AM

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Pro Wrestling--- Matt Hardy could have changed the pro wrestling industry. Instead, he now stands as a shining example of one of the worst aspects of the pro wrestling industry, namely the fact that money always seems to be able to make real-life personal problems or moral values go away with the stroke of a pen.

Summary of the Matt Hardy Situation Up To This Point
For those unfamiliar with what I'm talking about, here's a brief recap. Matt Hardy has not appeared on WWE television since the summer of 2004. He had to have surgery last summer to repair a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus in his knee. In March of this year, word came out through the insider pro wrestling media like the Pro Wrestling Torch and Wrestling Observer that at some point while Hardy was off the road due to injury, his long-time girlfriend Amy Dumas (Lita in WWE) started an off-camera, real-life relationship with Adam Copeland (Edge in WWE). The fling between Dumas and Copeland ironically started just after Copeland got married for the second time, to a woman named Lisa with no ties to the pro wrestling business.

The timeline of real-life events was that Dumas started cheating on Hardy in late 2004, Hardy found out about it in January of 2005, and the insider pro wrestling media became aware of it in March of 2005. Once word got out on the Internet, Hardy did not deny it and confirmed that he had broken up with Dumas because she had cheated on him. He also made other comments at the time, like calling Adam Copeland a piece of crap.

This presented several problems for WWE, namely that A) There was a WWE wrestler talking about personal, non-wrestling situations in a public setting that was not a WWE publication and B) It severely screwed up the continuity of WWE's storylines, because at the time Copeland and Dumas had never been in the same storyline together in WWE, and Dumas was actually a babyface character who was supposed to be getting cheered by fans.

Once word spread among insider fans, Dumas was bombarded at WWE events with crowd chants of "You Screwed Matt" or "Slut, Slut, Slut," essentially ruining any plans that WWE had for Dumas in a babyface role. WWE also felt that Adam Copeland was a much bigger star than Hardy, which meant that Copeland would get preferential treatment over Hardy from management.

WWE's response to the situation was morally reprehensible, yet at the same time not all that surprising, as WWE chose to fire Matt Hardy. His knee had been 100% healed and ready to go since early March of this year, but WWE never brought Hardy back to television, and then fired him in early April. It was the ultimate double punch to the gut for Matt Hardy, as within a span of a couple months he found out that his long-time girlfriend was cheating on him and then he got fired from his job.

As with all WWE releases, Hardy had a three-month no-compete clause, meaning that he could do interviews and he could schedule future independent wrestling dates for himself, but he would not be able to wrestle for any other pro wrestling promotion until early July.

WWE was shocked at the huge fan reaction to Hardy's release, as they had always perceived "insider pro wrestling fans" to be a tiny segment of their audience, and yet here were entire arenas full of people chanting things at Dumas and Copeland on WWE television, not only in the United States but also at WWE shows in Europe.

The Tough Decision that Matt Hardy Faced
At some point, the persistent crowd chants convinced WWE that there was the potential for money to be made, and so WWE made Matt Hardy a big-money offer sometime in June to have his old job back. Of course one's natural reaction would be, "Of course he's not going to go back to the company that basically fired him for being cheated on," but it's never that simple in the wrestling business.

The importance of Hardy's decision was momentous. He had already agreed to a large number of appearances on smaller independent wrestling events for the months of July and August, and he would honor those commitments whether he decided to re-sign with WWE or not. He had been in the advanced stages of negotiations with WWE's only national competitor in the United States, NWA-TNA, and was very close to signing a deal with TNA.

As with anyone in the pro wrestling business, Hardy essentially had two choices: A) Work for WWE or B) Work for everyone except WWE. Choosing to return to WWE would require Hardy to swallow his pride and agree to participate in a storyline based on his real life personal problems.

Hardy only had a limited amount of time to make his choice, as his WWE no-compete clause was set to expire in early July, and at that point he would either have to sign a contract with TNA (which would contractually allow him to work for any other pro wrestling promotion in the world other than WWE), or not sign with TNA.

How Matt Hardy Could Have Changed the Pro Wrestling Business
If Matt Hardy had chosen Option #2 and chosen to work in TNA, Ring of Honor, smaller independent promotions throughout the United States, and various big-money promotions in Japan, he could have changed the pro wrestling industry for the better in the United States.

I don't mean that Hardy's decision could have turned NWA-TNA into a viable "Big Two" promotion in the United States, because TNA's problems run a lot deeper than any talent signing will ever be able to solve.

What I mean is that Matt Hardy could have made not just a decent living, but a damn good living, by being his own boss, being a top star in TNA and ROH, being the highest-paid wrestler on the American independent scene, and improving his craft by wrestling a totally different style of match in Japanese promotions.

In 2005, if you want to be a successful pro wrestler and not work for WWE, that's how you're going to do it. AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels would probably be the biggest examples of this model, but on a much smaller scale financially than it would have been for Matt Hardy.

The way it could change the pro wrestling industry is that the next time someone like Chris Jericho had his WWE contract come up for renewal, he really would have a legitimate choice, and that choice wouldn't simply be "Work in WWE" or "Work in TNA." That choice would be, "Work in WWE and make a very good living," or, "Work everywhere other than WWE and make almost as much money, while having tons of advantages you would never have in WWE."

If he had chosen Option #2, Matt Hardy could have been the person to establish that there really is a viable alternative to working in WWE if you want to be a "big-time pro wrestler." That would have been greatly beneficial to both non-WWE wrestlers and WWE's own wrestlers, who would be given higher pay and better treatment if WWE management knew that the wrestlers had a viable alternative that they could turn to when their contracts ran out. That's how Matt Hardy's decision could have brought much-needed change to the pro wrestling industry.

Matt Hardy Makes His Decision
Tonight on WWE Raw, the wrestling world found out what Matt Hardy's decision was, as he made his first live appearance on WWE television in almost a year. I can respect Hardy's decision to accept the WWE offer because it was a higher dollar figure and also because in general you don't want to get on Vince McMahon's bad side by turning down a contract offer.

What I can't respect is the fact that Hardy is now essentially whoring himself out to WWE by participating in a fake storyline based on his real life personal problems, and is now taking orders from the very same people who fired him earlier in 2004 under the most gutless of circumstances.

While Hardy publicly called Amy Dumas a whore for cheating on him, one has to wonder who the real whore is: Dumas for cheating on Hardy in the first place in late 2004, or Hardy for getting cheated on, getting fired, and then accepting money to turn his personal life into a worked storyline.

WWE's Approach to Hardy's TV Return
With Hardy back under WWE contract, the way in which WWE chose to re-introduce him on TV was in a "worked shoot" storyline the likes of which the wrestling world hasn't seen (at least not to this extent) since the WCW storyline with the late Brian Pillman. On tonight's Raw, WWE tried to present Hardy's appearance as if it were unplanned and as if he were a non-WWE employee who jumped over the guard-railing and got involved in a match.

Of course, you would need to have an age of under six or an IQ of under 70 to believe that the Matt Hardy run-in on Raw was a "real fight," but that's apparently what WWE thinks of its audience.

As part of the scripted WWE storyline, Hardy jumped over the guard-rail and attacked Adam Copeland, aka Edge, then grabbed a microphone from the ring announcer and said the following words (which were scripted by WWE): "Adam, you bastard, I'm going to make your life miserable! And Lita, you whore, I'm going to make your life miserable, too! And the WWE can kiss my ass!" Hardy was then tackled and dragged away by officials, security guards, and even fake cops to make the storyline seem as real as possible.

At this point, WWE seems to be serious about presenting the storyline as if Matt Hardy does not work for WWE, as if he's just a crazy renegade who will constantly appear at WWE events by jumping over the guard rail, attacking his enemy, and being dragged away by security.

It's a storyline that has been done many times in pro wrestling over the years. The two main differences are that A) This one was inspired by real life events, and B) It's not the 1980's anymore, it's 2005 and nobody is going to buy for a second that Matt Hardy is really traveling to WWE Raw each week, jumping the guard rail, attacking Edge, and being shown on WWE television while supposedly "being a renegade who doesn't work for WWE." It can be thrilling from a pro wrestling standpoint (as it was tonight), even knowing that it's worked, but it's just ridiculous if WWE and Matt Hardy actually want people to believe that every appearance he makes on WWE television is a shoot.

When Did Matt Hardy Make His Decision to Return to WWE?
As wrestling fans, we know from watching Raw tonight that Monday, July 11th was the date on which it was revealed to the world that Matt Hardy had decided to accept WWE's offer to return. However, what's not known for sure is when Matt Hardy actually made the decision to return to WWE.

After looking into this a bit and talking to some people with insider knowledge of the pro wrestling industry, it appears likely that Hardy agreed to re-sign with WWE sometime in the week before the June 20th Raw in Phoenix, which would mean that any interview or web site post that Hardy has made since that time has been in 100% work mode. And yes, what I mean by "100% work mode" is basically lying to people in order to make it all the more surprising when he showed up on Raw on July 11th.

Based on the people I've talked to, here are the reasons why it appears that the week of June 13th through June 20th is when Hardy made his decision to return to WWE. For one, it was during that week that Hardy's attitude about NWA-TNA behind the scenes changed from being extremely excited about signing with TNA, to stalling on making a commitment to sign with TNA. It also just so happens that he stopped taking new independent bookings on that same week.

It also just so happens that Hardy's name was briefly mentioned on the June 20th episode of Raw in Phoenix (the one with the wedding), which was the first time in nine months that Hardy had been acknowledged on WWE Raw by anyone other than the fans with their "We Want Matt" chants. It's unlikely that WWE would have acknowledged Hardy on WWE television if there wasn't some kind of an agreement in place for him to re-sign with WWE.

Initial Concerns about Hardy's WWE Return
The first thing that most people probably noticed when they saw Matt Hardy on TV for the first time in almost a year is the fact that all of that inactivity seems to have caught up with him. As the Torch's James Guttman wrote, Hardy looked a bit more like "Fat Elvis" (referring to Elvis in his later years) in the face than he looked like Matt Hardy when we last saw him. That will probably go away over time, but it can't be good for his in-ring cardio and work-rate in the short term.

Another thing I noticed is that while he seems to have gotten a bit plump elsewhere, Matt Hardy's arms have grown immensely in size, and they now bear more of a resemblance to the muscle mass of Batista's arms than the way Hardy's arms used to look. That's not going to be good for Hardy's in-ring cardio and work-rate in the long term, and could also make him more injury-prone in the future.

One also has to remember that there's always a chance that WWE's creative team will botch Hardy's current storyline and then blame him for it, and then justify any future lack of giving Hardy a decent push by saying, "He can't draw money, look at how bad X, Y, and Z turned out." That has happened to plenty of wrestlers over the years, and Hardy is not immune to that.

However, my main concern with Matt Hardy is that even if his current on-air feud is a rip-roaring success, I'm afraid that once it's over he will go back to being in the same WWE creative hell in which he has spent most of the past several years.

There's a chance that six months from now, Hardy will be back to being lost in the shuffle, with the most vindictive writing team in any form of entertainment burying him on the undercard as payback for daring to speak out against WWE in early 2005... and he'll be stuck in a multi-year, exclusive WWE contract from which he can't escape. That should be Matt Hardy's biggest fear, and unfortunately it's a very real possibility.

Sidebar: Hardy Eliminates Any Remaining Doubt about WWE-ROH Relationship
One other thing that Matt Hardy said on WWE Raw tonight was something he said to the fans just before he was dragged away by the fake security guards: "I'll see you at ROH, Ring of Honor!" Ring of Honor is a small, critically acclaimed independent promotion with an ever-growing cult following (a sentence that could have described ECW in the mid-90's), and Hardy will be working for ROH a few times in July in order to fulfill commitments that he made after he was fired by WWE and before he agreed to re-sign with WWE.

The mention of ROH on Raw was meant to make Hardy's appearance seem all the more "shocking" and "real," and was designed by WWE management to make casual fans think, "Oh my God, he just mentioned another pro wrestling promotion by name, so this must be real!" In fact, Hardy's mention of ROH only serves to confirm in my mind that WWE and ROH have a working relationship.

Though I can't say it for a fact, I am almost certain that WWE and Ring of Honor have a "working business relationship" with each other, in much the same way that WWE and ECW did in the 90's. WWE has the same motive to work with ROH that they had to work with ECW for all those years, which is to mine the place for talent (see WWE's recent signing of Ring of Honor main-eventer CM Punk). The recent announcement that a WWE-contracted wrestler, Steven Richards, would be appearing on a Ring of Honor show made me highly suspicious that WWE and ROH were in cahoots in some way.

Now all remaining doubt has been eliminated in my mind tonight by the fact that WWE employee Matt Hardy said on WWE television, "I'll see you at Ring of Honor!" Every word that Matt Hardy said on Raw tonight was scripted by the WWE creative team, which means that the WWE creative team actually scripted Matt Hardy to mention Ring of Honor by name. Now, ask yourself: Would WWE ever script that under any circumstances if there wasn't a "working business relationship" between WWE and ROH?

I'm not saying that there is necessarily anything wrong with WWE and Ring of Honor working with each other. I just think that both parties, WWE and ROH, should be a bit more open and honest about it.

Labels: Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:58 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- WWE Crosses All Remaining Lines of Decency by Exploiting Terrorism for Profit

(Note: The opinions expressed about Vince McMahon in this article are just that--- opinions--- and are not meant to be taken as anything other than opinions. Everyone has a right to their opinions, and mine happen to be extremely strong after being thoroughly offended by Thursday night's Smackdown broadcast.)

I have never been so ashamed to be a fan of anything in my life as I am ashamed to be a fan of pro wrestling right now. The instantly infamous "terrorist angle" on Thursday night's episode of WWE Smackdown is the lowest and most disgusting thing Vince McMahon has ever done.

To say that it was tasteless would be a huge understatement. And make no mistake about it, this would have been among the more tasteless things in the history of television under any circumstances, even if London hadn't been attacked by terrorists on July 7th, killing dozens of people and wounding hundreds more.

The fact that WWE chose to air the segment rather than editing it off the show on literally the same day as the biggest terrorist attack in England since World War II only makes it more reprehensible, and makes what I believe to be Vince McMahon's exploitation of terrorism for profit all the more apparent.

The Foundation of the Hassan & Daivari Characters
For those of you who haven't seen it, WWE has presented two Arab-American characters for many months, whose names are Hassan and Daivari, and they are presented as people who we should all hate, with no Arab-American "good guys" to counter-act them. Never mind the fact that neither of them are actually of Arab descent (Hassan is Italian and Daivari is Persian).

The portrayal of the Hassan and Daivari characters up to this point has been offensive in many ways, topped off by Stone Cold Steve Austin (in a babyface role designed to elicit cheers from the crowd) recently saying in a line that was scripted by the WWE creative team, "I see sand people!" while looking at Hassan and Daivari. Racial slurs are nothing new on WWE television, sad as it may be.

Up to this point in the Hassan and Daivari storyline, WWE has always had the plausible deniability of claiming that Hassan and Daivari are just "normal Arab-Americans" who are angry and disillusioned because they feel that they have been unfairly discriminated against since 9/11. If WWE's stated premise of the characters was ever remotely similar to what WWE presented on-screen, maybe some good could actually come out of the storyline, as opposed to the worst-case scenario of WWE simply making money off of 9/11 and exploiting people's fears.

The way that the Hassan and Daivari characters have developed in recent months, WWE has sent the following message loud and clear: "Not all Arab-Americans are terrorists... but even the 'good ones' will 'turn bad' and become violent threats to society because they will feel that they are being discriminated against!" The portrayal of the Hassan and Daivari characters in general has been shameful.

WWE Crosses a Different Line with the "Terrorist Storyline"
WWE crossed an entirely different line on Thursday night, above and beyond what they have presented up to this point. WWE essentially dropped all pretense about Hassan and Daivari simply being people who feel wronged by the system and who are just "regular wrestling heels who happen to be Arab-American."

What WWE did on Thursday night was present Hassan and Daivari as terrorists, complete with what I and many others felt were simulated aspects of suicide bombings, beheadings, and martyrdom for terrorists. WWE wrote and filmed what was essentially a simulated Islamic Jihadist terrorist attack, and then they chose to air it un-edited on the same day that real terrorists killed real people in London.

Here's a basic summary of what happened. Daivari, who is kind of like Hassan's sidekick, was put in a one-on-one match against The Undertaker, who is a long-time babyface in WWE and who hardly ever loses. Daivari was nervous about the match beforehand, but Hassan convinced him that he needed "to make a sacrifice for the greater good of our mission."

Daivari ultimately lost the match in a one-sided manner. Daivari was left laid out and supposedly "unconscious" by The Undertaker, in a way that I and many others felt simulated how a suicide bomber is dead after carrying out a suicide bombing attack (you'll understand why I feel that way in a minute). Instead of being upset with this, Hassan stood at ringside calmly and looked happy, with a smile on his face.

Hassan then knelt down and did a brief "Muslin prayer," at which point five men entered the ring who were wearing the same exact kind of black ski masks that you see terrorists wearing in beheading videos on the news. The five men attacked The Undertaker and choked him unconscious with a cable wire.

As Daivari still lay on the mat unconscious from the beating he had been given by The Undertaker, Hassan entered the ring. The five masked men, who were like "terrorists" or "jihadists," all dropped to their knees in a praying position, and then Hassan applied a pro wrestling move to The Undertaker and lifted his head and shoulders off the mat to show the camera his face. Of course, his head was still attached to his body, which is the difference between this and actual terrorism. Showing The Undertaker's lifeless face to the camera as he was unconscious came across to me as a chilling simulation of real terrorists showing a decapitated victim's face to a camera.

More offensive still was the glorification of the "sacrifice" by these two self-described "normal Arab-Americans" in Hassan and Daivari. After all this was over and The Undertaker was left in the ring supposedly unconscious, the five masked "terrorist" men lifted up Daivari, who was still supposedly unconscious from losing his match to the Undertaker, and they carried Daivari over their heads in what I and many others felt was a simulation of how you often see people carrying the caskets of suicide bombers over their heads in city streets.

They walked up the aisle and to the backstage area with Daivari lifted over their heads in a way that symbolized that Daivari had "been the sacrifice" that allowed the "bad guys" to get the "good guy" in a vulnerable situation, as if Daivari was a martyr for what he had done. Michael Cole and Tazz even said on commentary that Daivari had sacrificed himself for the greater good of what the "bad guys" were trying to accomplish, which was to gain the upper hand on The Undertaker. And before the match happened, Hassan told Daivari that his "sacrifice would be rewarded." The rhetoric used was remarkably similar to the rhetoric used in a suicide bombing.

What you had here was a simulated terrorist act, only instead of blowing himself up, Daivari just got severely beaten up by The Undertaker. And instead of beheading the Undertaker while praying to Allah, the men in the black ski masks simply assaulted him, choked him unconscious with a wire, and showed his face to the camera while praying to Allah. Carrying Daivari off over their heads as a martyr was just the icing on the (incredibly tasteless) cake.

WWE's Decision to Air the Segment Un-Edited
This episode of Smackdown was filmed this past Monday (July 4th) and aired on Thursday (July 7th). It would be extremely tasteless and crass to film a storyline like this at any time under any circumstances. But they had over 16 hours from the time that London was attacked by terrorists to the time that WWE Smackdown hit the airwaves on the East Coast of the United States.

WWE could have chosen to edit out the entire Undertaker-Hassan-Daivari segment and could have just aired some of their many pre-taped video packages for ten minutes of the show (as they did for the United Kingdom edition of the broadcast). WWE could have chosen to air the Undertaker-Daivari match itself, but edit out the post-match terrorist storyline. WWE could have even chosen to air the storyline as is, but edit out the part where the "terrorists" carry away Daivari like a jihadist martyr, and that would have been less offensive than what aired. But instead of doing any of that, WWE chose to air the entire segment, on the same day in which London was attacked by terrorists.

Sure, a segment like this might draw some "heel heat," as it's called, but even if it does draw heel heat, is it really worth it? I believe in freedom of speech, but I also believe that this was hate speech and that it has no place on any kind of television, especially network television at 9:05 PM. Vince McMahon should be ashamed to look at himself in the mirror tomorrow morning, but somehow I doubt it will even cross his mind.

WWE's Misguided Views on Race, and How This Kind of Thing Hurts Their Reputation
To demonstrate how Vince McMahon thinks of Arab-American people in general, former WWE writer Patrice O'Neal told a story about that very topic, just this week on the Opie & Anthony radio show. O'Neal recalled that a wrestler who was forced to wear a turban as part of his on-air role in the late 90's, Tiger Ali Singh, came up to McMahon and said, "My family asks if you can please stop making fun of my turban because my people..." at which point O'Neal recalled that McMahon interrupted Singh and allegedly barked at him, "Shut up and put on the turban. Get out there with the stupid turban."

So, if you have watched WWE in recent months and thought to yourself that Vince McMahon just doesn't seem to understand or care about race relations, you're not just imagining things. After the huge backlash stemming from the "terrorist storyline" on Thursday night, WWE removed all video of the segment from its web site, but WWE still chose to air the segment once again (and still completely un-edited) at the beginning of WWE Velocity on Saturday night.

I think WWE might actually be hoping to get some negative publicity on this from the mainstream media, with the theory being that any publicity is good publicity because it gets your brand name out there. What WWE still doesn't seem to realize is that exactly this kind of thing is what hurts them so severely in the advertising world. There's a reason that advertisers are willing to pay more for a commercial on a UFC TV show with a 1.7 average rating (or NBA, or NHL) than for a commercial on a WWE TV show with an average rating of 3.8.

It's because other sports organizations don't have a long and storied tradition of sleaze. Other sports organizations get more money because they have prestige and are not perceived as bottom-feeding trash. It used to upset me that the whole corporate world and advertising community thought of pro wrestling like that, but now I have a much greater understanding of why they feel that way.

Vince McMahon's Very Recent History of Exploiting 9/11
Vince McMahon is no stranger to directly exploiting 9/11, as just a few weeks ago following a tasteless intro to WWE Raw on Memorial Day, I wrote the following on this very blog:

"I'm surprised that none of the top pro wrestling writers (other than Bruce Mitchell) have expressed much in the way out of outrage about the Memorial Day intro from this past Monday's episode of Raw, which was narrated by Vince McMahon. I think it should just be common decency that you don't use images of 9/11 to get across a message about a war, whether your view is pro-war or anti-war. Regardless of your viewpoint, images of 9/11 should not be 'fair game' to further whatever your agenda might be.

For Vince McMahon to use images of 9/11 to get across his pro-war agenda was lacking in any taste or class, and that's coming from someone who considers himself to be a 'pro-war-in-Iraq' person. There is no direct tie to say, as McMahon essentially did in the presentation of images, 'Well, 9/11 happened, and so we had to go to war in Iraq.'

You could certainly say that 9/11 happened and so we had to approach the war on terrorism in a different way for the rest of time from that point forward, but that's a more complicated point to make and I guess it's easier for McMahon to simply say, '9/11 happened, so we had to go to war in Iraq.' Even the most zealous of pro-war people would not try to say that with a straight face, and the Republican party has never outright said that, which just shows that Vince McMahon doesn't really follow politics or the news.

One might have already suspected a lack of perspective by the fact that the fake office of Smackdown's storyline general manager, Teddy Long, has framed pictures of two men prominently displayed: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Vince McMahon... because, you know, they're both on the same level as far as people that we should all look up to.

This kind of thing harkens back to the memory of Stephanie McMahon, on the live episode of WWE Smackdown that aired on September 13, 2001, saying that 9/11 was just like that time the federal government tried to go after her father. Yes, thousands of innocent people dying, and the feds charging Vince McMahon with steroid distribution are on the same level or are comparable in any way. That's a really wide world-view, Stephanie.

As usual, any message that is 'in support of the troops' from WWE is, in fact, simply exploiting the troops to further WWE's own agenda, make WWE look better, give WWE good publicity, etc. Anything good that Vince McMahon has ever done 'for the troops' (like the two Christmas in Iraq shows) is out-weighed by his exploitation of the troops, and the fact that there is grossly excessive 'self-patting-on-the-back' for anything good that he does."

How Do I Really Feel About Vince McMahon, You Ask?
In addition to what I feel has been exploition of 9/11 and American troops, Vince McMahon is the same man who continued the show when a wrestler died in his ring doing a stunt that he was pressured into doing (according to "Broken Harts" by Martha Hart), and McMahon has spent a significant amount of time in the past six years revisiting that night by having many "The show must go on!" kind of moments on TV after worked injuries to various wrestlers.

This is the same man who recently sent a not-so-subtle message to the WWE locker room when he said on TV to Randy Orton, who is not as overly-muscular as he usually is due to the fact that he is recovering from shoulder surgery: "My God, what's wrong with you? You look anorexic! You need to gain some weight!"

How does he think Randy Orton and other wrestlers are going to "gain weight"? Maybe the same way that many wrestlers "gained weight" when Vince McMahon adopted a policy in the 1980's and early 1990's of primarily pushing huge, overly-muscular freaks... a policy that I personally believe contributed years later to the deaths of some of those same wrestlers, many of whom died due to the side effects of the aforementioned "weight gain techniques."

Vince McMahon has (self-admittedly) cheated on his wife many times... he dressed his daughter up like a prostitute on national television to make money by pushing her as a "slut character" when she first turned heel... he exploited the first Gulf War in the early 90's to make money with heel Iraqi characters... he just this week laid off a female wrestler who is five months' pregnant and who said she had been told just weeks earlier that she would be taken care of during and after her pregnancy because WWE was supposedly a "family organization" that supported its employees (ahem, "independent contractors") having families... the list of deplorable things that Vince McMahon has done could go on and on.

More than anything else, it is racism that first comes to my mind when I think of Vince McMahon. Through WWE television, he has consistently presented Asian characters as essentially being mentally retarded little children without much in the way of mental capacity... he has presented Mexican characters as being liars and cheaters... he has replicated every negative stereotype about African-Americans that ever existed, in addition to inventing a few new ones... and now he has topped it all off by presenting Arab-Americans in a way that seems to say, "Even the 'good ones' are still terrorists!" while simultaneously appearing to be trying to exploit terrorism, and those who have died in terrorist attacks.

I love the entertainment form of pro wrestling, but I also firmly believe that the man who controls 95% of it in the United States is a slimeball if there ever was one. Unfortunately, watching the only national competition, NWA-TNA, in order to protest WWE would be like someone protesting Exxon-Mobil by smearing one's self in horse manure.

WWE is the only real national choice for pro wrestling fans in the United States, and no matter how much any individual wrestlers may thrill or entertain me, my enjoyment of any pro wrestling match in the future will always be tempered by the fact that I will always have the belief in the back of my mind that the person pulling the strings behind the scenes is, to put it bluntly, an immoral scumbag.

Three Additional Reviews of Thursday Night's Disgraceful Display
In addition to sharing my own personal opinions on Vince McMahon and the new low that he reached this week with the "terrorism storyline," I also wanted to present excerpts from what I felt were the three best reviews of Thursday's Smackdown show that I have read.

The Pro Wrestling Torch's James Caldwell wrote:
"... WWE [previously] defended their use of the Hassan and Daivari characters based on a 'forward-thinking' concept of exploring both men's struggles as Arab-Americans trying to fit into America. But this is WWE we're talking about. There's no way WWE was going to uphold a commitment to sensitivity in staying away from the obvious terrorist angle. Now, they've taken the easy way out by resorting to terrorist overtones that further cement the fact that no matter what WWE tries to play off as a commitment to sensitivity, they will find a way to take the easy way out and settle for a convenient way to draw heat.

Even completely separating the variable of terrorist attacks in London on Thursday morning, the lines fed by Vince McMahon to Tazz prior to the Daivari vs. Undertaker match were absolutely insensitive... It was wrong on so many levels. By implying a suicidal sacrifice in taking out innocent people for the good of a higher goal, WWE moved away from responsibility to just plain carelessness...

I can't think of another form of mainstream entertainment more driven by a misguided quest for White America's manifest destiny than WWE. There's Michael Cole being fed the line, 'I just like white rice,' when [Asian character] Melina entered the ring. There's the constant barrage of storylines based upon racism and the irreverent portrayal of various ethnicities. Whether it's just plain fear of races other than Caucasians or something very insecure in their mindset, the McMahons continually feed the perception that WWE will resort to any cheap and insensitive storyline to build heat..."

The Pro Wrestling Torch's James Guttman wrote:
"... It's one thing to be upset about the Hassan/Daivari gimmick. It's a hot button. It's supposed to get under your skin. That's the idea. That's not what the issue with tonight's show was.

The issue is class. This was classless. With everything that happened this morning, World Wrestling Entertainment might have been able to truly sway people's feelings about them and possibly get people to accept the Arab-American gimmick if only the company had taken the high road for once. All it would have taken was a speech at the start of Smackdown from Vince McMahon saying, 'We here at World Wrestling Entertainment are in the business of entertaining our audience. In light of this morning's tragedy in London, we felt that one of our stories might be less entertaining than originally intended. Because of the timing and out of reverence for those hurt, we are editing this segment from our show. We hope you enjoy our program and thank you for tuning in.'

No. That wouldn't make Vince McMahon the angry nutcase that goes nuts on HBO interviewers... How about having some class for a change, Vince? Something tells me you would have edited the segment out if Stephanie or Shane had been in that subway station in London. What do you think, Mac? Would one of your children joining the faceless group of victims have affected your decision? I think so.

I'm not rating tonight's show. I can't give it a fair grade based on this. Forget everything else... tonight people will remember Hassan and Daivari adopting true terrorist gimmicks on the same day that there were attacks in London. Oooh, that'll draw some heat. Then again, it'll be channel-changing heat."

The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer wrote:
"It's nice to see that every now and then, when you forget how sleazy to the core the WWE is, last night they remove all doubt. Bluntly, the WWE as a business would be up s--t creek right now if it wasn't for business in Europe, and to thumb their nose at the company's single hottest market simply because they live in a bubble in Connecticut where there is nothing but wrestling and the real world doesn't exist, just amazes me. The fact that the company realized they couldn't air the Undertaker-Hassan angle in England shows they at least thought that much, but still, they put it on their web site anyway, needlessly, just to prove how insensitive they are.

It was bad enough airing it in the U.S., because it only seems to show wrestling fans around the world either how callous the company is, or that the company's judgment is that its fans would only care if something of the sort happened in the U.S. The fact that the angle got no heat in Sacramento on Monday when it was taped showed a misjudgment... But both WWE and UPN showed an incredible lack of class for airing the segment in wake of the events of earlier that day in London... Do you realize that when WCW was losing $60 million, they never came close to being this sleazy? Dumber, sure. But never this sleazy. And this company is still making a nice profit, so there is no financial desperation here, just a complete lack of class.

And what's the upside? Nobody is buying a PPV to see Hassan, no matter what the angle. If you can't draw money against Hulk Hogan in his first match in almost two years, you can't draw money... Trying to exploit deaths for a wrestling angle was a financial flop in 1991. Ratings were so bad on an NBC special trying to exploit the Gulf War that NBC dropped WWE programming, a gigantic blow. They had to move WrestleMania [to a smaller venue] that year because of a lack of ticket sales.

It wasn't because NBC had any qualms about taste, but simply the economic laws of the jungle. When you do a controversial angle, it is considered a success if you turn on more people to the product than you turn off. In this case, you had something that turned on almost nobody, made many feel like taking a shower, and brought needless pain to many on a day that they really didn't need that out of their entertainment.

And even if that isn't the case, it only goes to confirm the general public's negative perception of wrestling, and unfortunately, the unfair portrayal of its audience believing that they enjoy stuff like this, as the lowest common denominator. WWE should remember that next time a tennis match that does a 1.3 rating in primetime can charge more for advertising than WWE charges... or when the NHL comes back and sponsors who wouldn't touch WWE with a ten-foot pole will sign up for a sport that has horrible ratings and is coming off not even playing for a year due to labor problems... and WWE cries about how unfair life is and that the big decision makers just don't 'get it.' The problem is, they do 'get it.' The ones who don't get it really need to be looking in the mirror."

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:42 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- WWE is believed to have re-signed Brock Lesnar, causing both sides to drop their lawsuits against the other. WWE is now going to play up on its web site the storyline that the two sides are "meeting for secret negotiations," but the reality is that WWE would not be mentioning any negotiations with Lesnar unless a deal was signed. This comes a week after Lesnar basically threw in the towel verbally in a newspaper interview, saying that he just wanted to go back to work in WWE and was willing to drop his lawsuit.

Also, WWE has released a HUGE amount of wrestlers in the past 24 hours, and there are more cuts expected. New names will be added to the list as more cuts are announced.

WWE Has Released:
-Bubba Ray Dudley
-D-Von Dudley
-Charlie Haas
-Jackie Gayda (who just got married to Charlie Haas in real life)
-Dawn Marie (who is five months' pregnant and was told that her pregnancy would not affect her job in WWE)
-Matt Morgan
-Billy Kidman
-Maven (which means that every single one of the Tough Enough winners from the first two seasons has now been released)
-Spike Dudley
-Marty Jannetty
-Shannon Moore
-Akio
-Mark Jindrak
-Kevin Fertig (aka Mordecai)
-Dave Heath
-Kenzo Suzuki and Hiroko (added at 3:00 PM)
-Joy Giovanni (added at 5:20 PM)

Update at 3:00 PM:
-Kenzo Suzuki and his real-life wife, Hiroko, have been released.

Update at 4:43 PM:
-WWE now has a story on its web site claiming that Brock Lesnar will be meeting with WWE management tomorrow to negotiate a possible return. That is false. In fact, Lesnar has had meetings with WWE for the past week and as I said before, there is no way in hell WWE would be making him the featured image on its web site if they didn't already have an agreement.

This is another example of WWE taking a real-life situation (ie, negotiations with Lesnar) and trying to turn it into a storyline. Rather than just announcing on WWE.com that they have signed Brock Lesnar, WWE is going to get a few days' worth of huge web site traffic in order to make the announcement slowly over a period of time.

Update at 5:20 PM:
-WWE Smackdown diva Joy Giovanni has become the 18th person to be released in the past 24 hours.

Update at 5:42 PM:
Spike Dudley, who is among the 18 wrestlers who have been released in the past 24 hours, made the following impassioned post on his web site:

"I'm back, and in more ways than one. First, yes I'm gone from the WWE. Does it sting? Hell, yeah. Especially since I've always been one of their "model" employees. It makes sense that I was released, I don't bitch, moan, groan, or suck. I just didn't fit in with what the WWE puts on TV. No, I'm only kidding (but not really). It was my turn and that's the nature of the beast. The WWE is a sinking ship, cursed by owning 100% of the industry. I can see how they couldn't afford my outrageous salary in these times of number crunching. Hey, they gave me a great oppurtunity and maybe I didn't make the most of it. That's life.

At first I was pissed, but I woke up this morning feeling, I don't know, alive. Check this out, this morning I woke up and visioned having a wrestling match without a script. I visioned going to an arena and actually having fun again. I visioned not having to go to the hospital after being hurt by a "future" WWE superstar who may look good but has the wrestling ability of a dead walrus. I visioned pitching an angle without having to get approval from writers who six years ago were buying ECW tickets and making signs (it's true). Hell, I visioned blading!!! I really don't want to burn bridges (if I haven't already) and all that, but that company sucks the life out of you and then spits you out. Enough on them.

I want to love wreslting again. I want to be passionate about the business. It's been so good to me, I want to give back. I don't know how yet, but it will happen.

Right now, I'm going to chill. I've got some time to sit back and re-evaluate life, smell some roses, and get my head straight. I doubt you've seen the last of me. And if anything it's a blessing. Nothing sucks worse than working for a company that doesn't respect you. Paul E. (God bless him) proved that to me. Now I don't have to worry about it."

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 2:32 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- The Raw-brand event WWE Vengeance was broadcast this past Sunday on pay-per-view, and it may very well have been the best single-brand PPV in the history of WWE. Here is my full review of the event.

WWE Vengeance Review
Score (out of 10): 9.0
Best Match: Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels
Worst Match: Christy Hemme vs. Victoria

WWE Vengeance was the second-best pro wrestling PPV of the year so far, slightly ahead of the excellent WrestleMania 21 (which I wrote about here), but still significantly behind the phenomenal ECW: One Night Stand (which I wrote about here). WrestleMania is usually the best WWE-branded pay-per-view of the year by a wide margin, so it's quite an accomplishment for Vengeance to have one-upped WrestleMania.

The Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels match was an incredibly good match that was better than any other pro wrestling match so far in 2005, other than the first Angle-Michaels match at WrestleMania, which I felt was a slightly better match than this match. Still, when you're talking about the Match of the Year for 2005 so far, I think the two matches between Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels have to be in one category all their own, with every other match just competing for third place.

What Angle and Michaels have accomplished is particularly amazing when you consider the current condition of Angle's neck. In their second match, I especially liked the old-fashioned "brutal clothesline" move when Michaels attempted the superkick for the first time. That was totally unexpected, and looked vicious. The Triple H vs. Batista Hell in a Cell match was far better than I thought it would be and was also a four-star match, as both men put in a great effort to pull out the stops.

Even more surprising for me was the Triple Threat Match between John Cena, Chris Jericho, and Christian, which I felt was even better than Triple H vs. Batista, and I would go so far as to say that it was the best put-together and executed Triple Threat Match that has been seen in WWE since WrestleMania 20. I strongly disagree with Cena vs. Jericho vs. Christian only being given three-and-a-half-stars by the Pro Wrestling Torch's Wade Keller (which means he thought it was a very good match, but not a great match).

Jericho and Christian are both generally under-rated as in-ring workers, but in particular I am just plain sick and tired of hearing about how John Cena is not that good as an in-ring worker. Anyone who still believes that should watch this match, and should also consider the fact that Cena had another four-star-plus match just last month against John Bradshaw Layfield of all people (a guy who has a top-quality match once or twice per year if he's lucky). It's time for Cena to get the respect that he deserves as an in-ring worker.

As for the rest of the card, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't wildly entertained by the latest Viscera-Lilian Garcia segment (which is always a guilty pleasure), and it's nice to see The Godfather make his cameo appearances as long as they only happen once every year or so. Shelton Benjamin and Carlito continued their rise to the main event picture with a very good match, while Kane had the same "blah" match that he has been having for years, and Christy Hemme demonstrated once again why she doesn't belong in a wrestling match.

Other than the two disappointing matches, the only thing detracting from this event was the addition of Jonathan Coachman to the announcing team. He wasn't as bad as he usually is, but the interaction between Coachman and Jerry Lawler was annoying and only served to distract from the event. Despite the best efforts of Kevin Dunn & Co. to undermine him, Jim Ross did an even better than usual job in the last three matches, particularly in selling the brutality of the Hell in a Cell match.

Overall, a great event. After the rave reviews for the ECW PPV two weeks ago, it seemed like everyone on this card came out busting their ass to put on the best show they possibly could. I think the moral of the story is that competition is good for the pro wrestling industry, and that's just as true today as it has ever been.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:20 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- We've got tons of WWE book-related news today, including the first word on WWE's book about ECW.

-There is a book called "The Rise and Fall of ECW" that is listed as being published by WWE and due for release on May 1, 2006. The author is listed as Thom Loverro, who has a lot of biographical sports books to his credit, but none related to pro wrestling that I'm aware of. This book is undoubtedly being written in an attempt to capitalize on the success of WWE's "Rise and Fall of ECW" DVD set, which is the best-selling WWE DVD of all time.

-William Regal's autobiography, which is called "Walking a Golden Mile" and is already out in the UK, still doesn't have a listed release date for the US. Regal did say in the UK promotion of the book that it would be released in the US at some point, but there doesn't appear to be any timetable set right now.

-Eddie Guerrero's autobiography is called "Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story" and has a release date of September 20, 2005. The co-author is Michael Krugman, who previously co-wrote Lita's autobiography. The excellent documentary about Eddie Guerrero that is also called "Cheating Death, Stealing Life" is already out on DVD.

-Shawn Michaels' autobiography is called "Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story" and has a release date of November 15, 2005. The co-author is Aaron Feigenbaum, who previously co-wrote a pro wrestling trivia book. It will be extremely interesting to see how honest Michaels is willing to be about his past drug addictions and other sensitive issues.

-A book about Superstar Billy Graham is listed with the title "WWE Legends- Superstar Billy Graham: Tangled Ropes" and has a release date of January 3, 2006. The author of this book is listed as Keith Eliot Greenburg, who has written or co-written many books for WWE in the past, including the autobiographies of Ric Flair and Freddie Blassie. This book is listed as a paperback, whereas all the others are listed as hardcover books. Also, the branding of "WWE Legends" in the title would seem to imply that there will be more books in the future about various "WWE Legends," which would fit with WWE's expressed desire to release new merchandise for retired wrestlers.

-Though it's not published by WWE, one other interesting book is Vince Russo's autobiography, which is called "Forgiven: One Man's Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification" and has a release date of September 28, 2005. The sole author listed for the book is Vince Russo, and the "About the Author" section hilariously includes the following line: "After stepping out from behind the scenes, he became an on-air personality and WCW heavyweight champion." What it should say is, "Russo was the head writer who booked himself to become the WCW heavyweight champion, which was among the biggest disgraces the pro wrestling industry had seen since Russo booked actor David Arquette to win the WCW title."

-On the ECW DVD front, WWE is breaking records with "ECW: One Night Stand," which will be released in DVD form this coming Tuesday, June 28. That's just 16 days after the event took place on June 12 in New York City. There was lots of behind-the-scenes footage being shot during the event itself so that the DVD could have some special features, in addition to the event itself, which was one of the most amazing pro wrestling events you'll ever see.

-Meanwhile, the "Hardcore Homecoming" ECW reunion show that was put on by Shane Douglas on June 10 in Philadelphia is due out in DVD form on September 6.

-On the Pro Wrestling Torch DVD front, Ultimate Insiders Volume 1 on DVD (with Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera shoot interviews conducted by Wade Keller) is listed as having a mainstream, nationwide retail DVD release that is scheduled for September 6 of this year. The MSRP of the item is listed at $14.95, which is slightly less than the $19.95 price that has been charged on the Torch web site up to this point.

-There is not yet a mainstream, nationwide retail DVD release date for Ultimate Insiders Volume 2 on DVD, which will feature shoot interviews with Matt & Jeff Hardy conducted by Wade Keller and which is scheduled to be made available for purchase on the Torch web site sometime in the next month or so.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:21 PM

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Various Topics--- Today we're talking about spoiled draft picks, fictional "non-fiction" movies, jurors who have difficulty putting together complete sentences, and the mainstream media's continuing ignorance about video games.

Pro Wrestling: Draft Picks Have Been Spoiled by WWE
Thus far in the annual WWE draft lottery, WWE has been making it way too obvious when certain wrestlers are going to get drafted to the other brand. I mean, really, the minute they said on Raw, artificially and out of nowhere, that Triple H vs. Batista at Vengeance is "the final showdown" and the end of their feud, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Batista is going to get drafted to Smackdown in the week after Vengeance.

When Kurt Angle and Booker T's feud on Smackdown was suddenly having a match billed on Smackdown as "their final showdown" with statements like, "Whoever wins this match wins the feud!" it completely spoiled the fact that Kurt Angle was going to get drafted to Raw the following Monday, which is exactly what happened.

Now we've had a blow-off resolution to the feud between The Big Show and Matt Morgan, so would anyone be surprised if one of those two wrestlers is drafted to Raw this coming Monday? Also, in the commercial at the very end of Smackdown for next week's Guerrero vs. Mysterio match, the commercial conspicuously said while recapping the feud, "How will it all end? Find out next Thursday!"

That pretty much gives away the fact that either Guerrero or Mysterio is going to get drafted on Raw the following Monday. Why doesn't WWE just have giant, flashing, neon signs that give away each draft pick before it happens?

Movies: Cinderella Man Takes "Creative License" to a New Level
Cinderella Man may very well be a good movie. Its star, Russell Crowe, seems to be a very primitive man who is physically incapable of going more than a few months at a time without physically assaulting someone in public (as he was most recently arrested for throwing a telephone at the face of a hotel worker), but that shouldn't affect the story being told in the movie, right? Well, how about the fact that the story being told in the movie is fundamentally twisted and false?

In an effort to make the hero of the movie, James Braddock, all the more heroic, the creators of the movie took the creative license that any moviemaker does legitimately have when making a movie "based on a true story," and they violated that creative license by outright fabricating what kind of man Braddock was going against when he won the title in 1935. His opponent, Max Baer Sr, was not a reprehensible monster of a man who took great joy in the fact that two of his opponents died in boxing matches. In fact, boxing historians say Baer was haunted by their deaths.

Baer wasn't an angel, either, but he was no monster. The creators of Cinderella Man saw fit to completely change the facts to suit their movie, even if it meant they were no longer actually making a movie based on a true story. Bob Costas said much the same thing on a recent episode of HBO's "Costas Now," and so have many other people who know a little bit about boxing's history. Hopefully that fact, along with the fact that Russell Crowe may very well be arrested for assault a few more times between now and the next Academy Awards at the rate he's going, will prevent Cinderella Man from winning any major awards in the movie industry.

Michael Jackson Jury May Have Average IQ of Less Than 80
The jury in the Michael Jackson case had the right to come to any decision they saw fit, and you could certainly argue either way based on the evidence in the case whether it was absolutely proven beyond any reasonable doubt that Michael Jackson sexually molested this particular accuser. With that said, is there anyone who has watched the interviews with the Jackson jurors on legal shows like "The Abrams Report" on MSNBC who hasn't come to the conclusion that these are some of the most vapid, confused, dim-witted people to ever serve on a jury?

One of the jurors said that the first vote among the 12 jurors on one of the counts was "7 to 3 to 4" before realizing a few seconds later that those three numbers add up to 14, not 12. Another juror was unable to answer basic, simple questions about certain testimony in the case. Being nervous to be on TV could make you seem somewhat clueless, I'm sure, but it can't make you seem "Jessica Simpson clueless."

Video Games: Mainstream Media Ignorance about Video Games Continues
Does Tucker Carlson really know so little about video games that he thinks none of them involve any creativity, thinking, strategy, or thought development? Does he really think it uses more creativity for a child to be given a ball and told to "go outside and play with the ball," as he said recently on his new MSNBC show, "The Situation with Tucker Carlson"?

I'm wondering if Tucker Carlson ever heard of or played video games like Civilization. How about Populous? Black & White? Final Fantasy? Deus Ex? Theme Park? Theme Hospital? The Sims? Knights of the Old Republic? Sim City? Splinter Cell? Metal Gear Solid? ICO? Fable? Age of Empires? Rise of Nations? Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee? Any of the other Oddworld games? Any of the general manager or "Franchise Modes" in most sports games?

Somehow, I doubt it. Max Kellerman was absolutely right in his response when he said that it's a generational thing. If Tucker had grown up when sophisticated video games were prominent in society, he would understand them and would not make such broad, generalized, blatantly false statements about them. I respect Tucker Carlson and have enjoyed his new show a lot, but on this topic, he's way off the mark.

Labels: Politics / Current Events Commentary, Video Games, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 3:52 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Just when it looked like the ECW: One Night Stand pay-per-view on Sunday night was perfect (or as Pro Wrestling Torch columnist Bruce Mitchell put it, "dead solid perfect, flat out the best pay-per-view in the history of this business"), the news comes that the evening was partially stained by yet another immature and unprofessional act by WWE veteran and all-around ass in real life, John Bradshaw Layfield.

Layfield plays the heel "JBL" character on television, but he has a behind-the-scenes reputation within the wrestling business for being a miserable human being, a reputation that existed long before the "JBL" character was created in 2004.

Layfield has a history of picking on and hazing younger wrestlers, and just last year at a non-televised WWE house show in Germany (on the anniversary of D-Day, no less), he paraded around the ring saluting Adolf Hitler as a way to get cheap heel heat from the crowd. To this day, Layfield denies that he did anything wrong or that it was insensitive to goose-step around the ring saluting Hitler on a show in Germany.

So, I was disappointed and a bit sickened, but not at all surprised, to read that during the scripted brawl between the ECW wrestlers and the WWE wrestlers at the end of Sunday night's show, Layfield decided to take liberties with one of the ECW wrestlers, who went by the name of "The Blue Meanie" in ECW.

Apparently, Layfield was angry with Meanie for saying in a newspaper interview that Layfield was a bully behind the scenes. What happened between Layfield and Blue Meanie was not visible on camera, but has been reported on by the two major insider pro wrestling newsletters, the Observer and the Torch.

Here's what the Observer's Dave Meltzer reported on the situation, as well as Meltzer's follow-up on the situation:

"Unprofessional and unscripted act late in ECW show.... Several people live, as well as WWE sources, have confirmed that during the brawl at the end of the ECW pay-per-view, that John Bradshaw Layfield went after Blue Meanie and threw several real punches at his face, bloodying him up. A lot of the wrestlers who were in the ring and saw this were very upset. Reports were that Al Snow, who trained Meanie, visually looked the most upset. Layfield and Meanie have heat dating back to Meanie's days in WWE, and a few weeks back JBL cut a promo on Meanie at the Smackdown tapings, which was edited off the show before it aired.

Follow-Up: Does anyone expect any punishment for JBL for what happened last night? I didn't think so, either. After what happened in the ring, there was another incident backstage where JBL again tried to go after Blue Meanie, but he was kept back. Meanie ended up with a new forehead cut, as well as a previous cut that was re-opened, and a black eye before Maven pulled him free."

In addition, the Torch's Wade Keller reported:

"During the pre-show talent meeting held by Vince McMahon and John Laurenaitis in the afternoon before the show, wrestlers were told to put any grudges aside for the night. Everyone was asked to be professional and settle any disputes they may have at another time and another place. That made JBL's actions later all the more upsetting to other wrestlers, who felt that he defied the request by management to set aside issues from the past... The locker room sentiment was decidedly anti-JBL. 'JBL's a d--k and has a huge ego,' says one wrestler. Says another wrestler: "What the f--k do you prove by beating up Blue Meanie?"

(You can see a picture of what Blue Meanie's face looked like after it was cleaned up at http://www.ivansblog.com/bluemeanie.jpg)

So basically, all of the wrestlers were specifically told by management to be professional and not act on any past grudges, and how does Layfield respond? He decides to pick on the wrestler who is probably considered to be the physically weakest, Blue Meanie. Not only that, but Layfield doesn't try to fight him backstage or otherwise handle his business like a man... he decides to blindside someone during a pro wrestling segment when he's not expecting to have legitimate punches thrown at him.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: There are few things more cowardly than throwing real punches at someone who has put their guard down because they're in a worked pro wrestling situation and not expecting to get hit with real punches. Also, the reason Layfield was angry at Blue Meanie is because he had said that Layfield is a bully in real life. Didn't Layfield just prove him right with his cowardly and unprofessional actions?

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:17 AM

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Pro Wrestling--- It has always been said that today's pro wrestling fans would never really be able to understand what Extreme Championship Wrestling was and what it stood for, unless they were there at the time. With last night's ECW: One Night Stand reunion show on pay-per-view, newer fans can now finally understand what all the fuss is about, and old ECW fans like myself had a chance to reminisce about old times and make new memories. For one more night, ECW was alive and well, and it was a shot in the arm of a pro wrestling industry that has sorely missed the ECW-like atmosphere of last night's broadcast.

Whether or not you were an ECW fan when the company was in its heyday in the mid-to-late 90's, One Night Stand was the best pro wrestling pay-per-view of the year, even beating out WrestleMania. The fact that it was still ultimately produced by WWE, which bought the rights to all things ECW when it went out of business in 2001, did detract from the show in some ways, but nowhere near as much as I expected.

Recreating the Authentic ECW Atmosphere
Going into this event, I was honestly expecting just another WWE pay-per-view, and I didn't really expect it to have an authentic "ECW atmosphere" after how badly the WWE creative team blew the WCW Invasion storyline a few years back. On the contrary, the event did have an authentic ECW atmosphere and did feel a lot like an actual ECW show, thanks to the fact that the show was in New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom (which was ECW's #2 home-base arena, behind only ECW Arena in Philadelphia), and thanks to the production values, which maintained the look and feel of ECW's old pay-per-views. The only thing that wouldn't have been on the old ECW pay-per-views, from a production standpoint, is a commercial for the next WWE pay-per-view, which was very out of place and inappropriate for the situation.

Recreating ECW's atmosphere was helped greatly by the fact that they got the voice of ECW, Joey Styles, to come in and do play-by-play for this one night, even though he has never worked for WWE in the past and has been on bad terms with WWE management for years. The choice of Mick Foley as the color commentator to join Styles in the booth was the perfect choice to help the show retain an authentic ECW feel, without having Joey Styles as the one and only person on commentary (as he often was on ECW's TV shows).

It was also essential to include former ECW owner and booker Paul Heyman on this show and the build-up to this show, even though he has been on bad terms with WWE management and had essentially been doing nothing in any professional capacity since being removed from the WWE writing team last year. (Heyman is still under contract with WWE until late 2005, but it's considered a strong possibility that he will be leaving WWE after that.)

More than anything, the incredibly enthusiastic crowd gave the show a unique, edgy feel with an energy level that has not been felt in WWE since the peak of the Monday Night Wars in the late 90's, and has not been felt anywhere in the pro wrestling industry since ECW went out of business. The crowd was in a frantic state all night long, and there were chants about anything and everything that was on the crowd's mind, many of which can't be repeated on network television (or any form of television other than pay-per-view). The high energy level of the crowd forced the wrestlers to maintain a similarly high energy level, and that's a big part of what made ECW so much fun in the first place.

WWE Influence Evident in Short Match Times
If ECW was about two things, it was about the rabid enthusiasm of the audience, and high-quality wrestling. When I say "high-quality wrestling," I mean routinely having more than one Match of the Year candidate match on the same card, which is a rarity in WWE. Someone who has never seen an ECW event before and just saw this event would have gotten the full effect of the atmosphere created by the crowd, but they wouldn't have gotten the full effect of the "high-quality wrestling" side of things. The in-ring wrestling that was here was very good, but the matches were simply too short. The biggest reminder that this was still ultimately a WWE-produced pay-per-view was the fact that the first five matches were all less than ten minutes long.

One of the best things about ECW from an in-ring standpoint was the creative freedom that it offered its wrestlers. Instead of being given an exact number of minutes that they are allotted (which is how it works in WWE), in many cases the wrestlers in ECW would simply be told by Paul Heyman to "go out there and put on a hell of a match." The finishes of the matches and any storyline elements were dictated to the wrestlers as you'd expect, but the length and content of the matches were left up to the wrestlers, and many classic matches ensued.

I'm not suggesting that they should have sent wrestlers to the ring with no time range to work with, but for the love of God, they could have given them more than ten minutes! Tajiri vs. Little Guido vs. Super Crazy in a three-way match, Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm, Sabu vs. Rhyno, Psicosis vs. Rey Mysterio, and Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero all had the potential to be great matches. In particular, the three-way match and the Benoit-Guerrero match could have been Match of the Year candidates if given enough time to build.

Instead, all five of these matches were booked to last a paltry six to nine minutes each. They were all still good matches, especially Sabu vs. Rhyno and Benoit vs. Guerrero, but the fact that they were all booked to be less than ten minutes prevented any of them from being great matches. That's just lazy WWE booking at its finest, especially given the fact that they had PPV time until 11:00 PM and they ended up going off the air at 10:30 PM. So, this event didn't fully expose newer fans to how truly great the in-ring wrestling was in ECW on a regular basis, but the first five matches were all either good or very good, and that's all that was needed on this night with the overwhelming enthusiasm of the crowd.

Awesome and Tanaka Deliver a Classic Match
The final two matches were given slightly more than ten minutes each, and delivered a strong tag team brawl with The Dudleys vs. Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman, as well as an absolutely amazing match between Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka.

I fondly remember the classic series of insane, risky matches that Awesome and Tanaka had in the last few years of ECW, but I didn't think there was any chance in hell they would be able to duplicate that kind of dangerous, high-impact match style a half-decade later. Fortunately, I was wrong. This match tore the roof off an arena that was already going nuts for every match, with more "Holy S--t!" chants than any match that I can remember. This match also had enough hard chairshots and risky bumps that just make you glad as a viewer that both men were able to escape from the match without being seriously injured.

As Joey Styles and Mick Foley pointed out on commentary during the match , this is one of the things that ECW was all about: Wrestlers sacrificing their bodies in order to put on a show for the fans that was the best damn show they could possibly put on. Mick Foley spent his entire career doing that, including many memorable moments in ECW, and it was amazing to see that Awesome and Tanaka could still do it half a decade later.

Bradshaw and Bischoff's Legitimate Anti-ECW Feelings
The only thing that detracted from the incredible Awesome vs. Tanaka match was the constant cut-aways to the Raw and Smackdown wrestlers who were in the crowd to "protest ECW" as part of the storyline. The overbearing and constant nature of the cut-aways during the Awesome-Tanaka only served to remind you that you were still watching a WWE-produced pay-per-view and were not actually back in the glory days of ECW.

Not only that, but it was ridiculous and insulting to see John Bradshaw Layfield mocking the Awesome-Tanaka match as it was taking place. All of the wrestlers who were involved in the storyline of, "WWE wrestlers are going to show up at the ECW reunion to protest" had to state their distaste for ECW in interviews leading up to the show, but the difference is that JBL actually means it.

It was Bradshaw who decided to do a shoot promo about ECW and Paul Heyman at a recent Smackdown TV taping, where he was only supposed to run down ECW in general, but he took it a step further and took lots of personal shots at Paul Heyman (most of which were edited off the show that actually aired on UPN). It's Bradshaw who has made it no secret among his co-workers that he considers "hardcore pro wrestling fans" in general and "ECW fans" in particular to be losers who are beneath him.

So, when you see a classic match like Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka taking place, and the camera is constantly cutting to the Raw and Smackdown wrestlers in the crowd instead of focusing on the actual match, and you can see Bradshaw mocking the match, you don't have to be a hardcore ECW fan to be offended. It detracted from a great match, and Bradshaw's positions on ECW are very transparent. He can make his little gestures and facial expressions during the match, but the fact of the matter is that Bradshaw has never, ever been involved in a match that is anywhere near that level of quality, nor has he ever been involved in a match that elicits the kind of frantic, emotional response from the crowd that the Awesome-Tanaka match did.

The same can be said for Eric Bischoff, who was the president of WCW for years and now works as the storyline "General Manager" of WWE Raw. Bischoff has held the position for years, dating back to when he ran WCW and going all the way to the present day, that ECW was garbage and its fans were low-class "Kool-Aid drinkers" (meaning cult members) who don't deserve the time of day. Bischoff can say whatever he wants about ECW, and he did when he was briefly on color commentary near the end of the event and said that ECW's wrestlers are "out of shape losers who can't get a job anywhere else." But the fact remains that Eric Bischoff witnessed something on Sunday night that he never witnessed in all his years of running WCW. He witnessed a product that connected emotionally with the fans in a way that WCW never did.

WWE Invasion Storyline Should Not Have Been on This Show
In all honesty, John Bradshaw Layfield, Eric Bischoff, and any other current WWE employee who was never in ECW should not have been on this event. The only reason that WWE's creative team, led by Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, decided to create the storyline of a bunch of current Raw and Smackdown "invading the ECW reunion show" was because A) They still don't think that ECW is strong enough to stand up on its own two feet without an outside boost from WWE's wrestlers, and B) If the ECW pay-per-view did surprise everyone and draw a huge pay-per-view buy-rate, they sure as hell couldn't be in the position where Paul Heyman and a bunch of former ECW wrestlers would get all the credit for drawing a huge buy-rate.

The management team at WWE can spin it any way they want, but the fact of the matter is that if they had only the best interests of this show in mind and wanted to make it a truly authentic "ECW reunion show," there shouldn't have been any WWE wrestlers on this event who were never part of ECW. It was also not "true to ECW" to have Steve Austin be the head spokesman for all of the ECW wrestlers at the end of the show right before the big ECW-WWE brawl, when in reality it should have been Tommy Dreamer, or The Sandman, or Taz.

It was also hypocritical for WWE to book Eric Bischoff as the #1 heel whose beatdown at the hands of all the ECW wrestlers was the climax of the entire show. Sure, Eric Bischoff did a lot of "raping and pillaging of ECW" (to quote Vince McMahon) when Bischoff was running WCW, but Vince McMahon was just as guilty of that during the same time period. Funny how that part of the story gets swept under the rug of ECW's history...

Rob Van Dam's Amazing Shoot Promo Straddles the Line
One of the things that Paul Heyman pushed hard for in dealing with WWE management in the past couple of weeks leading up to this event was for Rob Van Dam to be given a solid five to ten minutes of in-ring promo time with a live microphone. It was Van Dam who suggested to Vince McMahon in late 2004 that a one-time ECW reunion show might be a good idea, and McMahon was eventually talked into it. Van Dam was a huge star in ECW, but has never been given a serious push in WWE, and he has always been given an extremely small amount of microphone time by WWE even though he can cut a good promo when he needs to.

Giving someone a live microphone with just a rough outline of what to say (and with no actual scripted dialogue) is not how WWE works these days, as promos are usually written out word-for-word. Everyone who knows anything about the wrestling business, from Mick Foley to Steve Austin to just about everyone else, has said that this approach to interviews effectively kills the creative opportunities of the wrestlers, who used to be able to make stars out of themselves if they had break-out performances on the mic. So, giving Van Dam that much mic time to just speak his mind was a lot to ask of WWE, but WWE management eventually caved into the pressure from Heyman and Van Dam.

Rob Van Dam didn't disappoint, delivering the best promo of his career and proving to WWE that he can show fire and emotion when called upon to do so. RVD did a semi-shoot promo, in the sense that he meant every word he was saying, but he was careful to not cross a certain line into offending certain members of WWE management. What that means is basically that he never mentioned Stephanie McMahon or Triple H by name, even though that's essentially who anyone is referring to when they complain about "the WWE writing team." He can hardly be blamed for that since, after all, his future livelihood as a pro wrestler is dependent on WWE as the one big pro wrestling promotion in the United States.

Still, in what he did say, Van Dam got in a lot of good, biting points. He looked up at the Raw and Smackdown wrestlers, who were in the crowd at that point, and told them that they didn't belong there and have nothing to do with ECW (which is something that Van Dam really believes and tried to fight for behind the scenes in the last couple weeks). Van Dam said, "This has nothing to do with you. This is going to be one of the biggest pay-per-view buy-rates of the year... and you deserve zero credit for tonight's success."

Van Dam then spoke for several riveting minutes about how woefully mis-used he has been in WWE. That's something that any pro wrestling fan could tell you for years, but seeing it actually said on a WWE-produced pay-per-view event was amazing. Van Dam said, "I don't have any creative geniuses writing scripted lines for me tonight, so I'm going to be shooting from the heart." He asked people to remember a time when he was in ECW and his vocabulary wasn't limited to the words "whatever" and "cool," which seem to every other word in his WWE-scripted promos. He talked about how he had a voice, and he put on the best damn show he could put on to make sure that the fans got their money's worth and went home happy. "That's how you showcase my skills," he said.

Paul Heyman's Amazing Shoot Promo Straddles the Line, Then Jumps Over It
While Van Dam still had to protect his career prospects and didn't want to cross a certain line in any shoot comments that he made, Paul Heyman has nothing to lose at this point and had no problem crossing that line. Heyman's WWE contract expires in late 2005, and he has many other opportunities that he could pursue in the pro wrestling business. So, during an in-ring promo near the end of the show during which he was only scheduled to make his obligatory on-camera appearance and then leave, Heyman pulled no punches and delivered some of the most memorable moments of the night.

When Heyman first came out, making his first and only on-camera appearance during the show, the crowd erupted into "ECW" chants and Heyman already had tears in his eyes as he walked down the aisle. When he got into the ring and the crowd broke out into a "Thank you Paul, Thank you Paul" chant, he started to cry. After a long period of sustained, ear-splitting cheering from the crowd (I had to turn down the TV volume), Heyman composed himself and thanked several of his ECW business partners, and thanked all the wrestlers for their hard work and sacrifice, and thanked the fans as he said, "You people are the craziest bastards in the world, and I love each and every one of you."

The mutual love-fest between Heyman and the crowd was wrapping up, and Heyman's segment appeared to be over. In fact, it was only just beginning, as Heyman proceeded to cut a vicious shoot promo that may very well get him fired from WWE. Heyman said, "I was going to take the high road and just say thank you and leave, but I have something to say to you" Heyman looked up at the Raw and Smackdown wrestlers in the crowd and said, "I've been waiting a long time to say this to you, Eric Bischoff. In case you didn't notice, it's not Paul Heyman with his tail between his legs forced to go to a WCW reunion show. It's Eric Bischoff with his tail between his legs forced to go to an ECW reunion show."

Those comments alone wouldn't have gotten Heyman in trouble with WWE management, but his next comments almost certainly will. Heyman said, "Wait a minute, it's Edge! Hide your wives! Edge, I know nobody with a promo written line-for-line has the balls to say this to you, but I have two words for you: Matt Hardy."

Heyman was referring to the real-life, behind-the-scenes situation in which Edge started having a relationship with Matt Hardy's longtime girlfriend, Amy Dumas. When he found out about it from Edge's wife, Hardy made a few posts about the situation on the Internet. Hardy was then fired from WWE for talking about personal business like that in a public setting. Ever since word of Hardy's release hit the Internet, fans at arenas across the world have bombarded Edge with chants of, "You Screwed Matt" and "We Want Matt," but WWE's announcers and wrestlers have been forbidden from acknowledging those chants or speaking Matt Hardy's name since he no longer works for WWE. (More on the Edge-Dumas-Hardy situation on Ivan's Blog here and here.)

For Heyman to say something like that to Edge not just in the form of an Internet post or something like that, but on a live pay-per-view with a huge worldwide audience, is a huge violation of any and all WWE policy, as is mentioning Matt Hardy's name on the air under any circumstances.

Paul Heyman Signs His WWE Career Death Certificate
However, it was Heyman's last shoot comment that will undoubtedly get him in the most trouble with WWE management. As I wrote about earlier in this post, John Bradshaw Layfield recently injected many shoot comments into an interview on Smackdown, during which he took many personal pot-shots at Heyman, most of which were edited off the show before it ever saw the light of day.

On live pay-per-view, Heyman said, "I almost forgot about you, Bradshaw. Mr. Shoot Promo himself... bounced checks, ECW, we're out of business, and all that. Hey John, on a personal note from all of us to you, since you want to shoot, cowboy: The only reason you were the WWE Champion for a year is because Triple H doesn't want to work Tuesdays."

Even the hardcore ECW crowd seemed stunned that Heyman would say that, as he more than likely just signed his own death certificate as far as his WWE writing career goes. For any WWE employee to publicly criticize the WWE writing team (as Rob Van Dam did earlier in the show) is generally frowned upon, but to specifically reference Stephanie McMahon and her husband Triple H as being the heads of the writing team is forbidden and is just plain unheard of.

Heyman basically said what everyone in WWE knows, but would never dare to say publicly (or privately, out of fear that it would get back to management): That Triple H is ultimately in control of who holds which title belts in WWE, and that he has a long-term monopoly on the world title picture on the Raw brand, and that the only reason ANYONE is able to be a long-term champion on Smackdown is because Triple H isn't on Smackdown (which is taped on Tuesdays, hence the line about working on Tuesdays).

The champion of the Smackdown brand is ultimately just the "B-level champion," and is only the champion because the proverbial 800-pound gorilla in the room, Triple H, isn't on Smackdown. Anyone who follows the pro wrestling industry knows that, but for a WWE employee to actually say that in any setting, much less on live pay-per-view, is absolutely unthinkable and was the single most shocking moment on the show.

Paul Heyman's Future and "The Next ECW"
Paul Heyman could very well lose his job in WWE as a result of his comments, and personally, I hope he does (and maybe he hopes so, too). Only when Heyman is contractually free from WWE, and free to start a new pro wrestling promotion of his own someday, will wrestling fans ever have a chance to truly see "the next ECW" be conceived and born all over again.

In the meantime, for one night at least, hardcore ECW fans and newer wrestling fans alike were able to take themselves to a different time and a different place. For two and a half hours on Sunday night, an old friend named ECW was back. Joey Styles may have put it best when he said on commentary during the closing moments of the show, "I wish I could make time stand still and enjoy this moment forever."

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:25 AM

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Pro Wrestling--- I'm surprised that none of the top pro wrestling writers (other than Bruce Mitchell) have expressed much in the way out of outrage about the Memorial Day intro from this past Monday's episode of Raw, which was narrated by Vince McMahon. I think it should just be common decency that you don't use images of 9/11 to get across a message about a war, whether your view is pro-war or anti-war. Regardless of your viewpoint, images of 9/11 should not be "fair game" to further whatever your agenda might be.

For Vince McMahon to use images of 9/11 to get across his pro-war agenda was lacking in any taste or class, and that's coming from someone who considers himself to be a "pro-war-in-Iraq" person. There is no direct tie to say, as McMahon essentially did in the presentation of images, "Well, 9/11 happened, and so we had to go to war in Iraq."

You could certainly say that 9/11 happened and so we had to approach the war on terrorism in a different way for the rest of time from that point forward, but that's a more complicated point to make and I guess it's easier for McMahon to simply say, "9/11 happened, so we had to go to war in Iraq." Even the most zealous of pro-war people would not try to say that with a straight face, and the Republican party has never outright said that, which just shows that Vince McMahon doesn't really follow politics or the news.

One might have already suspected a lack of perspective by the fact that the fake office of Smackdown's storyline general manager, Teddy Long, has framed pictures of two men prominently displayed: Martin Luther King, Jr and Vince McMahon... because, you know, they're both on the same level as far as people that we should all look up to.

This kind of thing harkens back to the memory of Stephanie McMahon, on the live episode of WWE Smackdown that aired on September 13, 2001, saying that 9/11 was just like that time the federal government tried to go after her father. Yes, thousands of innocent people dying, and the feds charging Vince McMahon with steroid distribution are on the same level or are comparable in any way. That's a really wide world-view, Stephanie.

As usual, any message that is "in support of the troops" from WWE is, in fact, simply exploiting the troops to further WWE's own agenda, make WWE look better, give WWE good publicity, etc. Anything good that Vince McMahon has ever done "for the troops" (like the two Christmas in Iraq shows) is out-weighed by his exploitation of the troops, and the fact that there is grossly excessive "self-patting-on-the-back" for anything good that he does.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:23 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Yesterday, I wrote a little bit about the real-life situation between Matt Hardy, Adam Copeland (Edge), and Amy Dumas (Lita). If you don't know what I'm talking about, you should read that post now before reading this one. I would be remiss in talking about this situation without including the viewpoint of the one person who was directly involved in this situation who has never been involved in the pro wrestling business, other than being married to a wrestler. That person is Lisa Copeland, who married Adam Copeland last year.

Lisa Copeland made the following post on an Internet message board, and it was later confirmed by the Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer, the Torch Newsletter's Wade Keller, and Matt Hardy that the author of the post was indeed Lisa Copeland, who has since filed for divorce from her husband.


"Warning! This is a lot longer than I intended it to be!

Forgive them Lord for they know not what they do. "They" meaning all of us. The human race. We all sin, we all error. We all do things that need to be forgiven. As a Christian, I have been struggling with this "situation" for months. As a human being, living in the flesh, I have wanted to retaliate and come forward and speak my mind a lot sooner.

I married a man, Adam Copeland, six months ago with the thoughts of "til death do us part." Obviously in our state of society that rarely exists anymore. The divorce rate is at 55% and no one bats an eyelash. When this story first broke, I read so many things saying, "People cheat, that's what they do... athletes cheat, that's what they do!" That, my friends, is a cop out. It is a way for all of us to look at ourselves and affirm our own actions in life. Whatever our own weaknesses are, we love to hear of others "failing." The old "I told you so."

These last few months have been some of the most painful months I have ever experienced as a human being. I know we are all capable of hurting each other. Capable of things we never "intended" to do. Intended... Amy and Matt were at our wedding. Amy was not welcomed there in my eyes because she was always a bitch to me and until now I did not know why. But my thought was, "How do we invite Matt and Jeff, but not Amy?" I will be the bigger person here and not stoop down to her level. I thought maybe as a woman she was "testing" me out after Alanah [Adam Copeland's previous wife]... wondering who this girl was in her friend's life so soon. Does she want him for the right reasons, etc. I gave her that... little did I know this was all lurking around the corner.

Adam and Amy... Amy and Adam... oh they fell in love... poor Matt, poor Lisa. I call bulls--t. Adam and I never disrespected Alanah. I didn't want to have anything to do with Adam until his divorce was underway and I felt we were being honest and not hurting anyone. I always thought Adam was the victim in that relationship, but now being on the other side of the fence... I'm not so sure anymore.

Did Adam and Amy make a mistake? Sure! Did Adam and I move too fast into another marriage? Maybe we did. Did Amy and Matt have problems? Not to my knowledge. There are so many theories, so many should-haves, could-haves, would-haves, but the real story is this--- As a human being, and I stress human, how does one continue to do this?

Were their actions unforgivable? NO, but it's how they have both handled it after the fact. Adam tried to blame it on Matt supposedly not being a stand-up boyfriend and in turn having his girlfriend confide in him.... justifying how he could not only betray his wife, but one of his best friends. Come on, people, you read his book. Adam and Matt were best friends. When Adam had his neck surgery, there were only five people from the WWE that called Adam every week to check on him, with Matt being on of them.

Matt was there so many times for Amy when she hurt herself. Whether it was the neck, the knee, or anything, he was there for her. How could Matt post his personal life on the net? How immature, right? Give me a break, people. If Matt wrote this all in a WWE-published book, it would be no big deal! But because the WWE didn't make one red cent from this, his personal life is off limits. What was that "WWE Unscripted" book all about? WWE star's personal lives. As long as Vince McMahon can make a buck, who cares what the fans know?

Amy and Adam have had many many opportunities to tell Matt and I both the truth. They've had chances to say, "Hey, sorry I hurt you, but I fell in love with someone else." But they have both repeatedly continued to lie, lie, lie, lie! Why do Adam and Amy have backstage heat if supposedly everyone else in the locker room is cheating on their spouses? Because when confronted with the situation, Adam is a coward and started naming names trying to bring others down with him.

Amy was never respected by any of the girls from what I heard because she treated them all as T-N-A, and now that she needs them she is trying to gain sympathy. Well, too bad, that is not how the world works. As women, we don't trust each other as it is. I had heard somewhere that she tried to call me to apologize, but that was a lie. I tried to call her numerous times with no luck unless I called her from Adam's cell, only then would she answer. They are both cowards, they are both liars, and they both need major psychological help. Maybe one day they will get it... maybe not.

I am trying to forgive Adam and Amy, but it will take a while. Edge and Lita may be one thing, but take away Adam's steroids and what would he be? Another 6-foot-4 skinny guy. Good riddance to Adam and Amy both. They deserve each other. Just remember: What goes around comes around. I may not have handled this in the best way possible, but I never expected this to be my life right now, so please forgive me. God bless Matt and all the future has to offer him. And God bless Adam and Amy because they will need it when karma comes knocking on their doors!"

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:46 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- With the off-camera relationship between Adam Copeland (Edge) and Amy Dumas (Lita) now being turned into an on-air storyline by WWE, it's worth taking a look at the corresponding real-life situation that caused an innocent person to be fired from his job at WWE for no good reason.

The storyline that WWE is now presenting on the air is that Lita was cheating on her storyline husband, Kane, and has now left Kane to be with Edge. Dumas and Copeland are being paired up together in on-air storylines, months after they decided to pair up together behind the scenes.

Fellow WWE wrestler Matt Hardy and Amy Dumas had been a real-life couple for years, while Adam Copeland had been a close friend of both Hardy and Dumas for years. Copeland was also just married, for the second time, last October to a woman named Lisa. By all accounts, Matt Hardy had previously remained faithful to Amy Dumas when she was off the road for 18 months with a neck injury.

With Matt Hardy out of action, off WWE TV, and off the road for several months due to surgery for a torn ACL in his knee, Amy Dumas and Adam Copeland apparently began having an affair at some point, meaning that Copeland was cheating on his new bride and Dumas was cheating on her long-time loyal boyfriend. When initially confronted by Lisa Copeland, who has never been involved in the pro wrestling business other than marrying a wrestler, Adam Copeland denied the affair, as did Amy Dumas when confronted by Matt Hardy. Nothing was admitted until Adam Copeland and Amy Dumas, aka Edge and Lita, were caught red-handed with voice-mails and messages that they had sent one another.

The previous paragraph is the basic story about the situation that leaked out on the Internet via friends of the people involved, and was later confirmed by Hardy himself in a post on his official web site. Given that Hardy is not on good terms with Copeland or Dumas for obvious reasons, the solution to this problem should have been very simple for WWE management: Move Hardy to the Smackdown roster so that he doesn't have to work with, interact with, or even see Copeland or Dumas, who are on the Raw roster.

Instead, WWE chose the option that made the least sense, not to mention being morally reprehensible. Feeling that Copeland is a bigger star than Hardy, and feeling that Hardy should not have talked about or confirmed any real life, behind-the-scenes activity on the Internet, WWE released Matt Hardy. That's right... Matt Hardy was fired for being cheated on. Hardy's release included a no-compete clause, and you can expect him to show up in TNA, Ring of Honor, and other pro wrestling promotions when his no-compete clause expires in July.

As you might imagine, the outrage within the pro wrestling community has been overwhelmingly negative towards Adam Copeland and Amy Dumas. If there's one code of honor among pro wrestlers, it's that you don't sleep with another wrestler's girlfriend, fiance, or wife. The fact that Copeland and Dumas had an affair while Hardy was off TV recovering from an injury caused the majority of the WWE locker room to be upset, and that sentiment turned to outrage when Hardy was inexplicably fired.

There have been a lot of people who have written a lot of things about the Hardy-Dumas-Copeland situation, but perhaps none were more poignant than the following letter to the editor that was published by the Wrestling Observer. The name of the letter's author was withheld by request, but it was confirmed by Observer editor Dave Meltzer to be an active wrestler, and it's believed that the wrestler works for NWA-TNA. Here's what the letter said (notes in brackets have been added by me for clarification purposes as needed)...


"I've been involved in the world of professional wrestling for almost twelve years now. I've seen things and heard stories that have made my eyes pop out of my head. Today, I was overwhelmed with disgust after reading the headline of the day - Matt Hardy released from WWE, most likely due to his personal situation with Amy Dumas and Adam Copeland, and I couldn't help but write a letter for the first time. This one topped Andrew Martin's release just after surgery [Andrew "Test" Martin was released by WWE shortly after he had major spinal surgery to correct an injury that was suffered on the job]. I have several friends that work for WWE, so I am choosing to remain anonymous.

What did Matt Hardy do for this release? Sacrifice his body for the fans' entertainment? Remain over with fans even though the "writers" buried his character most of the time? No. Matt Hardy, the human being, spoke about a personal situation going on in his life. Not unlike anything you read about in celebrity-type magazines or television shows. The love he remained faithful to when she hurt her neck didn't return the favor and she betrayed him with one of his best friends. His other true love, the wrestling business, was something he couldn't be a part of due to an injury.

One can imagine the hell he must have gone through being laid up and finding out about this betrayal. He's a HUMAN BEING. I guess when you sign a contract with WWE, you lose that right. You seem lose the right to have independent thought, even though you're an "independent contractor," wink wink. You lose the right to voice your opinion once you're on the payroll, being paid one of the smallest percentages off the gross of any form of entertainment in the country.

There are two sides to every story, or maybe three in this story. Wrestling does funny things to people. Maybe Matt wasn't nice to Lita. Maybe Edge took up an interest in stray dogs and they fell in love. Maybe she's just a slut, who knows? But if WWE is going to take action against Matt Hardy, maybe they should take a closer look at the "action" that led to his internet writings. Then again, after some of the tales of the McMahon's infamous romps, what do you expect? [Vince McMahon has admitted in the past to cheating on his wife dozens of times.]

That's just the personal side. From a business standpoint, WWE makes yet another foolish move. They released multiple quality talents over the course of a few days at a time when their weekly television shows remain boring, predictable, and repetitive. They need as many fresh faces as they can get or their problems will just get worse. No matter what WWE's "writers" chose to do with Matt Hardy, he remained popular. He just as easily could have been sent to Smackdown and work a program to get a good match out of John Cena.

It wouldn't make sense storyline-wise, but what would he have gone back to on Raw? Kane, the guy who on WWE TV has tombstoned Linda McMahon, buried his brother alive, sold for Shane-o Mac, raped Lita, and caused Matt's injury in the storyline is now a babyface hero again in the storyline. If they wanted to be creative, they could have injected Rhyno into the Lita-Kane storyline in Matt Hardy's absence. It would have given a storyline to a guy that had a chance to get over with a decent, consistent push, and the matches would have been a lot better than the Kane-Snitsky classics. I guess looking at the forty pounds of back acne and not knowing how to sell is supposed to be entertaining.

Rhyno was wasted in that company right off the bat. Stories say he's having a tough time right now, between a bitter divorce, thoughts of his young daughter moving to another country, and having a group of people that know nothing about professional wrestling ruin his career. That's enough to get to anyone, but it's multiplied in a wrestling environment. Would anyone be surprised to hear stories that someone in the same situation as Rhyno became a heavy drug addict as a result of this? He made a fool out of himself with the incident at the post-show WrestleMania party, but why not get the man some help instead of tossing him out of a job like trash?

More good talent has been released that will be replaced by cheaper, greener versions that aren't ready for the spot yet. More faceless, nameless divas will come in to pop the teenage demo. To hell with morals or employee morale. To hell with caring about human beings' real life situations.

Let the boys have no consequences for what they do on the road. Let one of our top superstars sexually harass every diva on the roster and run a few out of the company [this is a reference to Randy Orton's behavior behind the scenes]. This was a company that let ring boy molestation run wild long before Hulkamania [this is a reference to the "TitanGate" scandals of the early 90's]. Who cares about health when you can get up and get down and make the next shot? If you don't look Hollywood enough, take a "subtle" hint and get on the sauce. It's entertainment! Don't you "Get It?" Yeah, just don't talk about it on the Internet.

It's days like this when I question how I can even be involved with a business that has such little class. And to show just how odd of a business this is, I'd take a job with WWE in a second if I was offered one..."

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 9:50 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Anyone who has followed the pro wrestling industry for a long time can tell you that it is an industry filled with sadness and death. The majority of the pro wrestlers I grew up watching as a kid are now dead, many of them from drug overdoses (like Curt Hennig), many of them from enlarged hearts due to prolonged steroid use (like Davey Boy Smith), and some of them due to freak accidents (like Owen Hart).

The frequency of pro wrestlers dying doesn't make it any easier when someone else you grew up watching passes away, and this is especially true in a case like Chris Candido where it comes out of nowhere. When word came out late Thursday night that Candido had died at the age of 33, I was shocked, and I still am. Candido was a wrestler who had all the charisma and athletic ability needed to be a star on the big stage, as he was for a long time in ECW and a brief time in WWE. Like so many other pro wrestlers, Candido was plagued by drug addiction and was thought to be on the brink of death for several years.

In the last couple of years, something very common happened--- the drug-addled wrestler tried to refocus his life and get clean. However, in Candido's case, something very uncommon in pro wrestling happened along the way--- He actually succeeded for an extended period of time. For every story in pro wrestling about a wrestler who tried to get clean and actually succeeded and is still alive today (like William Regal), there are ten cases of a wrestler who tried to get clean before ultimately failing to do so and passing away at a young age (like Rick Rude).

By all accounts, Candido had been 100% clean since making his comeback to pro wrestling in August 2004, and drugs played no part in his death. Candido started over from the bottom of the pro wrestling industry, working small independent shows for very little money, before finally re-emerging on the national stage in NWA-TNA in just the past few weeks.

Then, last Sunday night on the "TNA: Lockdown" pay-per-view, a wrestler landed awkwardly on Candido during a routine dropkick. Though I didn't see the pay-per-view myself, the resulting snap of Candido's leg was said to be Joe Theismann-like in its brutality. Candido suffered a fractured fibula, fractured tibia, and dislocated ankle on Sunday night.

Candido was taken to the hospital and on Monday morning he underwent reconstructive surgery on his leg. Determined to fulfill all of the commitments that he made before the injury took place, albeit in a non-wrestling role, Candido showed up at the "TNA Impact" television tapings on Tuesday. Candido performed as a manger on the show while in a wheelchair, just 24 hours after his surgery. Candido would continue performing in a non-wrestling role for several months until he was medically cleared to wrestle, at which point he would return to being an active wrestler.

On Thursday evening, Chris Candido collapsed in his home and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Doctors determined that his death was caused by a blood clot that was brought on by complications from his surgery three days earlier.

The sudden and senseless death of Chris Candido has hit he wrestling industry very hard, as he had friends in many different wrestling promotions around the country, including WWE. Ring of Honor wrestler CM Punk may have best summarized what most of Candido's wrestling colleagues are reportedly feeling when he said, "Nothing f---ing matters. Not all the hard work, the miles, the sleepless nights... nothing. It's not right."

In closing, I will end this post with an excerpt of what the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer had to say in regards to the death of Chris Candido:

"There are times when pro wrestlers pass away and everyone starts talking about what wonderful people they were, and sometimes, you almost have to bite your tongue. This is not one of those times. Through thick and thin, through the bad times, and they were many, I don't think you'll find anyone arguing whether Chris Candido was a really nice guy. He made a comeback at a time when everyone in the industry had given up on him. He was recently brought into TNA just as a test to put people over, and wound up winning a roster spot and was liked by everyone.

Chris loved pro wrestling, even though it came close to killing him at one point in his life. It was more living out his childhood dream than making money. I think he enjoyed it every bit as much when he was barely making ends meet than when he was under a six-figure contract. He was on the road right out of high school. He had a bright future. He squandered that future. But he was determined to end the story of his wrestling career on a high note and with the respect of the people in the profession that he had at times let down. He was on the road to doing all that.

What happened is one of those things that happen in life. There is no rhyme or reason. Life isn't fair. You can question all you want about a guy who fought back from something that most never come back from, but then suffered a fluke broken leg, and suddenly, with no warning, this happened. Chris was very excited about his future in wrestling, particularly because he was starting to escape from the shadow of his past.

No death of someone at a young age isn't sad in some form, whether you know them personally, or followed their lives simply watching them work from a young age. Many people followed Chris from when he was a very young man, and some since he was just a teenager. But for many reasons, this one is harder than most. It's not just because it doesn't appear to have been self-inflicted, but because this was the phone call for years that many people feared we could get at any time. And just when we thought we knew that phone call would never come, it came."

Labels: Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:07 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- WrestleMania 21 has come and gone, and here is my full review of the event.

WWE WrestleMania 21 Review
Score (out of 10): 9.0
Best Match: Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels
Worst Match: The Big Show vs. Akebono

WrestleMania was a great event overall with a few big disappointments but also two matches that were absolute classics.

Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio had a very good match that could have been a great match if it had more time to develop, instead of only having 12 minutes to work with. The 12 minutes of the match that did take place were very good and had the crowd popping for everything, with the only minor distraction being Mysterio constantly having to re-adjust his mask as it constantly came loose. For these two guys to be given 12 minutes on a four-hour PPV, especially in the Los Angeles market where they are even more over with the audience than they are in the rest of the country, is nothing less than a proverbial middle finger to both guys from WWE management.

The six-man ladder match was a strong Match of the Year candidate with plenty of incredible bumps and "holy s--t" moments. Not much in the way of psychology, but it was a sensational stunt-fest that offered a different take on the ladder match with six different guys all fending for themselves. In particular, Shelton Benjamin's plancha over the top rope, Chris Benoit's headbutt from the top of the ladder, and Benjamin's running clothesline up the "ladder rampway" were all incredible moves that took a ton of guts and athleticism. Benoit's selling of his arm injury at the end of the match was so intense and believable that it left me wondering if he really did hurt his arm.

The segment with Hulk Hogan, Mohammad Hassan, and Khosrow Daivari accomplished its purpose, although it occurred to me when Hogan threw Hassan & Daivari out of the ring instead of giving them the leg-drop that he physically can't do the leg-drop right now. On the other hand, the Piper's Pit segment with Roddy Piper and Steve Austin was brilliantly executed. You knew it was going to be something special when Piper started the segment by saying, "Welcome to Piper's Pit!" and giving Austin a stiff slap to the face, and then Austin responded by saying, "Thanks for having me, you son of a bitch!" before delivering his own stiff slap. Piper may have stolen the show verbally with various things like interacting with the "What?"-chanting crowd and delivering the line, "I was pissing Vince McMahon off when the red on the back of your neck was diaper rash." The involvement of Carlito Cool was also very well done and served to elevate Carlito while giving Austin and Piper someone they could both beat up.

The Randy Orton-Undertaker match was better than most Undertaker matches, but that's like saying horse manure smells better than chicken droppings. Orton did a lot more than I thought he could do physically with his torn rotator cuff, but the near-falls weren't convincing because it was very clear who was going to win the match. It's not just that you're not going to see Undertaker jobbing to Orton at WrestleMania; you're not going to see him jobbing to Orton, period. Seriously, the last time Undertaker did a clean job was in October 2002 against Brock Lesnar.

It's amazing to see how much more over the characters were in the women's title match at WrestleMania compared to past years, and you can give most of that credit to the constantly improving Trish Stratus. Looking as good as she does, Trish could have easily rested on her laurels, still have gotten by just fine, and still have been a huge star, but instead she has dedicated the last several years of her life to improving her craft in a way that no other female in WWE has--- first in terms of being a good in-ring worker and then in terms of being a dynamic personality with great interviews. I laughed out loud when the announcers talked about Lita training Christy Hemme and someone who was watching the event with me (who doesn't follow wrestling closely but does know what Lita did to Matt Hardy in real life) said, "The only thing Christy is going to learn from Lita is how to be a whore and how to get injured constantly."

Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle delivered an absolute classic of a match that was a lot better than the excellent ladder match earlier on the show. The difference between the two matches is that this one had top-notch wrestling psychology. There was great psychology early in the match with Michaels getting the better of Angle at his own game with some strong mat-work, in a similar way to the first half of the WrestleMania 12 Iron Man Match where the story was that Michaels was getting the better of Bret Hart at Hart's own specialty of technical wrestling. The psychology of the match changed completely after Michaels' back-first bump into the ring post, and built up with exciting highspots and convincing near-falls later in the match. The atmosphere of the match was further enhanced by the dueling "Let's go Angle, Let's go Michaels" chants from the crowd. I really don't think Kurt Angle should be taking stomach-first moonsault bumps with the condition of his neck and spine, but I also know after all this time that nobody is going to stop him (whether it's his wife and kids or Vince McMahon). I went into the match thinking that Michaels was going to win, and I left the match feeling glad that Angle won because while Michaels really has been "Mr. WrestleMania" over the years, Kurt Angle has never really had a high-profile WrestleMania victory on this level and might not be around as an in-ring wrestler for future WrestleMania's.

The Big Show vs. Akebono match was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen on a pro wrestling PPV, and that's really saying something. I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall in the creative meeting where jobber-to-the-stars John Laurenitis pitched the idea that having a worked sumo match at WrestleMania would make for a nice addition to the card--- and then somehow the idea was accepted. You've got to feel bad for Big Show, who in six weeks went from being in the main event of a pay-per-view to wearing a sumo outfit and jobbing to an obese man that nobody in the building cared about.

With only the two world title matches left, it was clear that they were running a little bit behind on time. As Wade Keller wrote on the Torch web site, "Nobody is telling Triple H he has to shave even a minute off of his alloted match," so instead we had Triple H vs. Batista last 22 minutes and JBL vs. John Cena last a ridiuclously short eleven minutes. The Smackdown title match got no reaction specifically because of decisions like this. No one in the crowd thought for a minute that the Smackdown title was worth a damn, because they have been conditioned to believe that over the past couple of years, and so they were just waiting for the "real main event" to start. Having the biggest Smackdown match of the year only last eleven minutes just reinforced the image of Smackdown as the "B-brand" and also made JBL and Cena look like a joke. The match itself was nothing special, either, as they clearly tried to cram all of their previously planned spots into eleven minutes.

When the "real main event" did start with Triple H vs. Batista, the crowd was very hot for the opening, but then surprinsingly a large percentage of them seemed to go to sleep (and some could even be seen leaving early). You can't tell me it was just a cold crowd that wasn't into the action on this night, because the crowd was going absolutely nuts for the ladder match and Angle vs. Michaels. This match dragged on way too long, and the finishing sequence was damaged quite a bit by the fact that you could clearly hear Triple H call out, "Spinebuster" to Batista if you were listening. The match exposed two things that most people already knew: A) Triple H does not carry anyone to a great match, he only has great matches when he's in there with superior workers, and B) Batista is far from the worst worker in the world, but he's still limited in what he can do. Of course, if you've followed wrestling closely enough over the past five years, you know that's precisely the point. When Batista has a "surprisingly disappointing" title reign due to the sudden revelation that he's limited in the ring, the same thing is going to happen as when Randy Orton had a "surprisingly disappointing" title reign due to his sudden babyface turn--- the belt will go back to You Know Who before too long.

Looking at this card from a historical standpoint, the ladder match was an excellent match that will probably blur together with the other great ladder matches in recent years, Angle vs. Michaels was a classic that people will be talking about for years to come, and I think more notably than anything else, the crowd crapped all over the two big babyface title wins. When you think of WrestleMania history and main event babyfaces winning the world title for the first time, you think of memorable moments like Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 12 or Steve Austin at WrestleMania 14. Hell, just last year the crowd for WrestleMania 20 was almost riotous for much of the match and went absolutely ape s--t when Chris Benoit finally won the title. This year, John Cena and Batista both got their first world titles, and the crowd reaction during and after the title changes were more or less, "Ehh." No matter how successful or unsuccessful Cena and Batista are in the future, that's something they are never going to be able to get back. This was a great self-contained show, but we're not going to have "the beginning of a new era" as long as the same people remain in charge.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 1:01 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- It's WrestleMania Sunday, the biggest day of the year for the pro wrestling industry every year since 1985. Very briefly, here's what the line-up looks like:

-Vince McMahon's Son-in-Law vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Title

-JBL vs. John Cena for That Other Title That Clearly Isn't As Important

-Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels in a dream match

-Undertaker vs. Randy Orton in this month's episode of "Undertaker Squashes the Young Talent"

-Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio in what could be a show-stealing match with the heel turn we've been waiting for

-A six-person ladder match with Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Edge, Christian, and Kane

-Trish "Beautiful and Talented" Stratus vs. Christy "Mildly Attractive and No Talent" Hemme

-The Big Show vs. Akebono in a "sumo rules" match that is sure to be as much of a train wreck as Akebono's one and only K-1 win (which was worked)

-The return of Piper's Pit with a barely coherent Roddy Piper interviewing Stone Cold Steve Austin, who is not wrestling on the show because of his permanent neck condition

-Also, look for Hulk Hogan to show his wrinkled, manipulative, cancer-to-any-locker-room-he's-in face at some point, perhaps in a segment with Mohammad Hassan that would be sure to garner cheap heat

I'm not sure at this point if I'll be writing a review for WrestleMania after it happens, but it looks like a good line-up on paper, and it damn well better be for fifty bucks. In the meantime, I think this is a good time to look back at the reviews I wrote for three of the previous four WWE pay-per-views. I wrote these reviews after each PPV took place and submitted them as reader feedback on the Pro Wrestling Torch web site.

These reviews offer an explanation as to how a line-up can look on paper (and in some cases actually turn out to be a very good wrestling show), and the company can still be doing all the wrong things and moving in the wrong direction creatively. Raw and Smackdown have been good shows recently, but their long-term potential is anchored to the ground as long as Stephanie McMahon is the head of creative despite all her faults, and as long as her husband Triple H continues to be pushed as the top star of the promotion by far, despite the fact that there are literally a dozen guys on the roster more deserving of his spot than he is.

The three PPV events reviewed below took place in December 2004, January 2005, and February 2005.

WWE Armageddon 2004 Review
Score (out of 10): 2.0
Best Match: Rob Van Dam & Rey Mysterio vs. Kenzo Suzuki & Renee Dupree
Worst Match: John Cena vs. Jesus Aguilera

Only the back-and-forth bantering of Tazz and Michael Cole kept me from slipping into a mild coma during one of the worst PPVs I can remember. Can someone please explain to me why everyone (including the ref) has to act completely terrified of a 45-year-old man who wears women's mascara? I would also like an explanation for why Undertaker, in order to "justify" not winning the match, had to A) Dominate offense for the majority of the match, B) Kick out of and no-sell Eddie Guerrero's double finishing move, C) Only lose because mean ole' Heidenreich interfered, and D) Even then, still not be the one to do the job.

After the match when he sat up and realized JBL had retained the title, the look on Undertaker's face was priceless and resembled the look of a newborn baby who has just woken up and realized that he has a dirty diaper. The announcers completely spoiled the fact that JBL was going to retain the title by constantly saying throughout the show that he was definitely going to lose the title. Great job by the director in completely missing the clothesline that JBL used to finish off Booker T.

I hope Charlie Haas gets over with the crowd after the twist in his story line, but why do I have the sinking feeling that the creative team has absolutely nothing else planned for the story line? Hmm, maybe it's because that's what creative always does, in much the same way that Paul London can go from being one of the hottest acts on one Smackdown-brand PPV, to then appearing on ONE of the next eight Smackdown shows, to then not even appearing on the next PPV.

Even though they picked the right man, why would you let the crowd decide who wins a boxing match instead of having judges? Why would you put on a match like Cena vs. Jesus with exactly the kind of tired stand-up brawling that the wrestling industry has seemingly moved past? Why would you reward Hardcore Holly with a PPV appearance (and thus a bonus check) just weeks after he physically assaulted one of his co-workers like a coward? Why would you expect anyone to take Funaki seriously as a champion after treating him like a joke for a half-decade? How is anyone supposed to take Team Angle seriously after they lose a three-on-one handicap match? These are the kinds of obvious questions that need to be asked at WWE creative meetings, and this PPV just serves as proof that there is no one willing to ask these kinds of questions.


WWE Royal Rumble 2005 Review
Score (out of 10): 6.0
Best Match: Royal Rumble match
Worst Match: Undertaker vs. Heidenreich

First of all, how many times is Triple H going to be involved in borderline racist things before he is officially declared a borderline racist? How is Triple H calling Eddie Guerrero "a jumping bean" any different than if it was a black wrestler and he used the n word? That was just disgusting. The Royal Rumble match was good, but there were booking decisions all over this show that demonstrated why WWE is moving in the wrong direction.

The finish of the Royal Rumble match was either horribly botched by the wrestlers or just horribly booked. Assuming everything went as planned, how many times per year do we need to see the same stupid finish of, "Ref A thinks one guy was the winner, and Ref B thinks the other guy was the winner"? We have literally seen that in one form or another on WWE TV a half-dozen times over the past year. Why would you have John Cena get squashed and elminated 15 seconds after the match was re-started? Why would Batista and Cena be the final two in the first place if it's only going to build anticipation for the dream match you're NOT giving them at WrestleMania, and it's going to put fans into a position to cheer the elimination of one of the top two most over babyfaces in the company?

WWE sure showed how much faith they have in last year's WrestleMania main eventers, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Guerrero was eliminated midway through the match by Edge with no big deal made of it, and Benoit was stopped just short of making the final four. I don't think it was even mentioned that Benoit was in the ring from the time the match began to the time when the 30th entrant came out, and that achievement is no longer treated as a big deal in general because someone does it every year these days. Isn't there a way to build towards Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle without having yet another Rumble Rumble with an incredibly stupid "invalid elimination"? If Angle can re-enter the match and eliminate Michaels, does that mean if referee Jack Doan ran in and threw Jericho out that Jericho would be eliminated? Or if Edge ran back in after he was eliminated and threw out John Cena, does that mean Cena would eliminated?

Paul London continues to get crapped on by WWE, while Undertaker should get some kind of lifetime achievement award for being in more "Worst Matches of the PPV" than anyone in the modern era. I don't think it's possible to have a tag team match with less talent in it than Undertaker & Kane vs. Snitsky & Heidenreich, but at least they will get most of the "stink" compressed into one match at WrestleMania if that match happens. Seeing Orton get booed and Triple H get cheered was disheartening because that's exactly what has been set up to happen. Orton was turned babyface way too early had his legs intentionally cut out from him as a babyface almost immediately, while Triple H has been booked for months in what is traditionally the babyface role of being outnumbered and overcoming adversity. Then, not only does Triple H beat Orton clean, but Orton doesn't even get a visual pinfill while the ref is down.

If there's one positive thing coming out of this show, it's how it demonstrated the power of the brand split. When wrestlers from the two brands only have physical contact with each other twice per year (Rumble and Mania), it makes it seem like a big deal, as evidenced by the huge monster pop from the crowd when the four Raw wrestlers and the four Smackdown wrestlers stared each other down and then fought. Other than that one factor, the Royal Rumble was a three-hour capsule summary of WWE's problem: Talented wrestlers wasted and mis-used by an incompetent creative team.

Vince McMahon Injury Sidebar: I doubt I am the only one who is not feeling sorry for Vince McMahon in the least bit after his injury at the Royal Rumble. Putting aside the fact that certain lifestyle choices could very well make McMahon more likely to get injured than he otherwise would be, one has to remember that this is the same man who has released wrestlers right when they get their medical clearance after being out with an injury suffered on the job.

Not only that, but this is the same man who showed his appreciation for Andrew Martin (aka Test) putting his body on the line for the company and breaking his neck by releasing Martin just a couple months into his year-long recovery process from spinal surgery. This is the same man who continued the show when a wrestler died in his ring doing a stunt that he was pressured into doing, and has spent the last five years constantly revisiting that night by having many "The show must go on!" kind of moments on TV after worked injuries to various wrestlers. If ever someone was going to suffer a freak injury due to bad karma, wouldn't that person be Vince McMahon?


WWE No Way Out 2005 Review
Score (out of 10): 6.0
Best Match: Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio vs. Doug & Danny Basham
Worst Match: Undertaker vs. Luther Reigns

I'm not a former writer for a crappy, cancelled TV show. I am merely a longtime fan of pro wrestling, so I'm sure WWE is not interested in my ideas, but here's one anyway. It would be great to have a "barbed wire steel cage match" and market an entire PPV around the concept that this match is so special that it makes the card worth buying all on its own. Then, just put barbed wire around the top of the cage. Then, don't have anyone ever touch the barbed wire at all, even for a second, under any circumstances. Then, book one of the most stupid finishes in the history of the steel cage. Add all up that, and it's pure gold! (Or something else that is four letters.) Oh, wait, they already did that tonight.

Paul London showed throughout the ridiculously short cruiserweight match why he is a great talent that deserves to get a big push, and WWE showed once again that they would rather say, "Screw you!" to their audience than make money on an idea or a talent that they didn't come up with. The opening tag match was very good and had a surprising finish. To me, the John Cena vs. Kurt Angle match wasn't as good as it could have been because there would be no drama in any near-falls; it would just be a matter of waiting for the ref bump and Shawn Michaels run-in. The entire crowd immediately started chanting "HBK" the minute the referee went down, but he never came out, leaving me to wonder how they're going to properly promote Angle vs. Michaels leading up to WrestleMania.

I do have to give props to Angle for helping to elevate Cena by doing a clean job, which is something that maybe he can explain to Undertaker. As I've said before, The Undertaker deserves some kind of Lifetime Achievement Award for being in the worst match on more PPVs than anyone in history. Month after month, through his determination, laziness, selfishness, and restrictions placed on him by his AARP membership, Undertaker goes out there and proves that he can stink it up just a little bit more than you thought he could. As for elevating young talent in any way, you can forget about that. The most you're going to get out of this guy is a brief facial expression after the match indicating that it was slightly more difficult than he anticipated to beat his opponent. We are now beyond the point of being "a little bit past the time" for Undertaker to retire. You could say that five years ago; now it's just ridiculous.

The bickering between Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie was one of the few funny moments on the show, but in general the three different "Rookie Diva" segments were destined for failure from the moment they were written, and the people who wrote those segments were well aware of that fact. That is the problem with WWE right now: It's not about putting on a good product, it's about making Vince McMahon happy with the product. Whether it's women in their underwear or jacked-up steroid freaks in their underwear, if it tickles Vince McMahon's fancy then apparently it doesn't matter what the fans think.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 1:23 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- If you needed any more proof that Jim Hellwig, aka The Ultimate Warrior in the WWF in the 80's and 90's, is completely insane, consider the fact that he has changed his legal last name to "Warrior" and made the following post about it on his web site:

"I believe with everything that I am that every life is a destiny and I believe it was my destiny to become Warrior, as the man I am and to take the name and make it my family's. My wife took my name, and both my children have the surname of Warrior. Our family has a creed, a mission statement and a coat of arms. This is our ancestry. This is the beginning of our lineage, by severing the past and beginning a new family name."

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 3:09 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- Tonight, it's WWE Survivor Series on pay-per-view, otherwise known as, "The Son-In-Law Gets To Make It Through Another PPV Without Doing A Job or Dropping the Strap."

It is also a night of needless injury risks. Can anyone tell me why Carlito, one of the most promising young wrestlers on the WWE roster, is going to risk further injury by wrestling with his dislocated shoulder rather than getting the required surgery right away?

On an even more urgent note, can anyone tell me why Kurt Angle is going to risk permanent paralysis yet again by stepping into the ring with the current condition of his neck? As long as he continues to experience the numbness and other symptoms of spinal injury that he has had over the past few weeks, Angle should not be allowed to wrestle until an MRI is done to establish the full extent of the current damage to his neck.

The past few years of wrestling have shown us in general, and with Angle's case in particular, that it is not a valid medical approach to "just keep going" when you know something is wrong with your spine. This continued approach by wrestlers when they suffer neck injuries is going to end up with someone being paralyzed, and the most tragic part of it will be that it could have been prevented.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:49 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- On Thursday night's episode of "WWE Smackdown" on UPN, the latest segment aired on Tough Enough, which this year includes a contestant named Daniel Puder who claims to be "a former Ultimate Fighter." What they've been doing so far with this edition of Tough Enough is having current WWE wrestlers come out every week and brow-beat the wrestlers for having the opportunity to win a million dollars without having really earned it or paid their dues. Last week it was The Big Show, and this week it was Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle. Angle got in the face of each of the remaining seven contestants as part of the story line and said he could kick all of their asses.

After having an impromptu match with one of the Tough Enough contestants and easily winning in less than ten seconds, Angle asked the other contestants if anyone else wanted a piece of him. Daniel Puder, who had said he was a "former Ultimate Fighter" just a few minutes earlier before Angle had come down to the ring, raised his hand to volunteer, and the crowd in St. Louis, Missouri popped big-time at the thought of seeing Puder and Angle in a "fight." This was still a pro wrestling match in the sense that they were cooperating with each other and not really trying to hurt each other, but they had Puder hold his own with Angle in the clinch for several seconds, prompting the crowd to break out in a brief but loud chant of, "UFC! UFC!" When the match went to the ground, Puder was going for a key-lock from the bottom but both of his shoulders were down and the ref counted to three.

Unlike the live Raw shows, Smackdown is pre-recorded two days in advance and allows WWE to regularly manipulate the audio to add chants they like or remove chants they don't like. This is worth pointing out because WWE could have easily edited out the "UFC" chant if they had really wanted to, but they chose not to. Also, it was very clear that this was not a fake chant added in post-production by the so-called "audio sweetener," as you could actually see fans standing and enthusiastically chanting, "UFC! UFC!"

The only problem with all of this is that despite Daniel Puder's on-air claims, he has never been an "Ultimate Fighter" and has never been associated with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It is common for the mainstream media to refer to anyone who has ever been in an MMA fight as an "Ultimate Fighter," but normally the fighters themselves aren't as openly deceptive as Daniel Puder has been on Tough Enough, implying that he has anything to do with the "Ultimate Fighting Championship" when he has never been in the UFC. As for his experience on smaller MMA shows,both the Sherdog and FCF databases said that Puder's MMA record is 1-0, with that one fight being against a fighter who is 1-1 himself.

Nonetheless, any way you look at it, it's good exposure for the UFC to have the words "Ultimate Fighting Championship" spoken under any circumstances on a WWE telecast and even better exposure to have a crowd chant "UFC" on primetime network television. Smackdown is watched by three to four million people each week on UPN.

On a side note, many people wonder how "tough" Kurt Angle really is, and we'll never really know how tough he is outside of an amateur wrestling background since he never entered mixed martial arts. However, it's worth noting that when Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar were both in WWE one day about two years ago, they decided to have a little contest in the ring during one of the many long afternoons where wrestlers have to sit around waiting for the TV taping to start in the evening.

Both Angle and Lesnar had been championship-winning amateur wrestlers and had become good friends in WWE, and they wanted to see who was the better amateur wrestler. They had several of these unofficial exhibitions in the ring with no cameras present, and amazingly enough, Angle was said to have completely manhandled Lesnar despite the fact that Lesnar is 75-100 pounds heavier and ten years younger. It was just a friendly exhibition with a handful of other wrestlers watching, but both guys were trying their damndest to win, and the exchange was said to have humbled Lesnar a little bit and added to Angle's "tough guy rep" behind the scenes.

By the way, any rumor that you have heard in the past or may hear in the future about Kurt Angle one day entering MMA competition is false. Angle's severely injured neck, which has endured multiple risky surgeries, is one bad landing away from potentially ending his pro wrestling career, much less starting a new career in MMA.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:53 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- During last night's episode of WWE Smackdown in the Washington DC television market, an advertisement aired for the November 20th Smackdown house show in DC (at the DC Armory instead of the larger MCI Center). The focal point of the ad was the advertised main event, and I quote, "John Bradshaw Layfield vs. The Big Show for the WWE Title."

This is incredibly sloppy on WWE's part, whether it's giving away the result of the JBL-Booker match at Survivor Series or it's advertising a WWE Title match between JBL and Big Show that isn't going to happen. Also, something tells me that Booker T suddenly being thrust into the main event of a pay-per-view for no apparent reason might mean that he is not too long for this business. It might just be that WWE is giving him a proverbial "gold watch" on his way out for his years in the business, as happened with Jackie Moore and her Cruiserweight Title angle before she was released.

-There is an article about TNA's Sonjay Dutt featured prominently on the front page of today's Style section in the Washington Post, which has a national weekday circulation of over 700,000 issues per day (certainly good publicity for TNA). The article can also be found online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26894-2004Nov4.html. Hilariously, the headline of the article is "Star of the Staged," and the author still feels the need to point out just in case you weren't aware that the winners of pro wrestling matches are pre-determined. Mainstream media people still feel the need to point that out as if it's some kind of revelation despite the fact that it has been openly acknowledged since the 1980's.

-The "Fall Cleaning Spree" continues in World Wrestling Entertainment, as they have released a whopping ten wrestlers this week (and the week isn't even over yet). The Wrestling Observer reports that at least two more cuts are coming, and as you might expect, morale is horrible in both the Raw and Smackdown locker rooms. The following is a list of wrestlers who have been released so far, along with a brief note on why they may have been released:

Billy Gunn: One of WWE's longest-standing employees, he was recently sent to drug rehab after being found passed out in an airport. He has also been disgruntled with his recent lack of push on WWE TV, despite the fact that no one has been given more chances over the years to get over (and failed so horribly each time) than Billy Gunn. His WWE release opens up the door for him to reunite with former tag team partner The Road Dogg, now wrestling in TNA.

Chuck Palumbo: WWE has done absolutely nothing with Palumbo since the whole "gay wedding" publicity stunt they pulled on Smackdown a while back. He was relegated to B-show status on Velocity, and then after being moved to the Raw brand was relegated to B-show status on Heat. Palumbo was actually a decent wrestler in the ring and was never given a real push by WWE.

Nidia: Nothing less than shocking given the fact that the latest Tough Enough competition is currently taking place each week on Smackdown, prompting WWE to make the head-scratching decision to release the co-winner of the first Tough Enough. WWE's not-so-creative Creative Department (headed by Stephanie McMahon) had absolutely no idea what to do with Nidia after her angle with Jamie Noble played out on Smackdown last year, and had recently been pushing her as a "Puerto Rican fire-cracker" with absolutely no explanation or depth behind the character.

Test: This is a little bit surprising given that Test is engaged to Stacy Keibler, and releasing Test could make Stacy want to quit or otherwise make her a disgruntled employee. Test had just recently been given medical clearance to return to the ring after undergoing spinal surgery. Nothing says, "Thank you for putting your body on the line for this company and breaking your neck" like a pink slip. Test is still young and showed a lot of promise throughout his WWE career, despite some occasional attitude problems behind-the-scenes, and one has to chalk up Test as another case of WWE Creative never pushing someone properly before throwing their hands up in the air and releasing the wrestler.

A-Train: Fans were conditioned to ignore A-Train on a consistent basis due to the stop-and-go pushes WWE would give him on the air, in which he would go back and forth from being an unstoppable monster and being someone who was barely on TV for months at a time. No one would say that A-Train was a great in-ring worker, but he was pretty damn good for a big man, and is far better than the countless no-talent, muscle-bound wrestlers that have gotten big pushes in the last year or so (Heidenreich, anyone?).

Rico: This is a surprising release given that Rico was over with live crowds and was essentially playing the "Goldust" character better than Dustin Runnels ever did. It doesn't seem like Rico fit in with the current Charlie Haas-Miss Jackie-Dawn Marie story line, but that is hardly a reason to cut him on the spot. Unless there are other circumstances that I don't know about yet, Rico's release is indicative of WWE's tendency to give up on a wrestler the minute they can't think of any story lines for him.

Johnny Stamboli: He never really got over and was never particularly good in the ring, so I can understand this release. Apparently the WWE's new and ridiculously strict dress code that wrestlers have to follow 24/7 was prompted in part by Stamboli showing up to a TV taping wearing a shirt that had some kind of vulgar saying on it. Management's typical over-reaction led to the current situation where all wrestlers are required to wear a nice suit even if it's 3:00 AM and they're on the way to the hotel in a rental car in the middle of nowhere.

Rodney Mack: He never got a sustained push in WWE, but this release seems a bit heartless given that WWE released Jazz (Mack's real-life wife) on the same day. Husband and wife laid off on the same day... if only that would happen to Stephanie McMahon and Triple H.

Jazz: She was once pushed as a kind of monster heel in the women's division, but her push has been sporadic at best. Her release is surprising if for no other reason because WWE only has about seven women wrestling in Raw's women's division, and they just released three of them.

Gail Kim: She is the third woman released this week, accounting for almost half of the female roster on Raw. Gail Kim was given a big push out of the gate with a Women's Title win during her Raw debut, but since then has suffered a variety of injuries, ranging from a partially broken collarbone to one of her implants leaking and needing to be repaired. Gail Kim has a small frame and the concern was that it would not be able to hold up to injuries under the rigorous WWE schedule of being on the road taking bumps 250+ days a year.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:04 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- As much as I have enjoyed the long string of great wrestling matches between the "Smackdown Six" of talented young stars, it's going to eventually get stale if they don't start facing off with people outside of that core group. Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, and Chavo Guerrero are six of the best in-ring workers in World Wrestling Entertainment. At the same time, though, it would be nice if WWE would take advantage of the fact that there are endless combinations of top-notch matches that they can have with the rest of the Smackdown crew. Take the aforementioned six guys, and add other people to the mix who can work great matches if given the opportunity (like John Cena, Tajiri, and Matt Hardy), and you've got a much greater amount of variety than there currently is.

It would also help if Angle, Benoit, Edge, and Eddie Guerrero were treated as serious threats for the WWE Title. It would not only elevate those four guys, but it would also elevate all of the other wrestlers mentioned above just for getting in the ring and having competitive matches with Angle, Benoit, Edge, and Guerrero. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in particular can have good-to-great matches with just about anyone, so they can be used to elevate other wrestlers in fans' eyes simply by having hot matches with them on TV.

On an unrelated note, a belated kudos goes out to The Undertaker for doing the right thing and losing cleanly to Brock Lesnar in a surprisingly brilliant Hell in a Cell match. Sure, he had to be dragged kicking and screaming for several months behind the scenes before he finally agreed to do it, and it's going to be a very long time before we see The Undertaker do another clean, meaningful job like that. But the fact remains that he did the right thing, and at least now he has one clean job under his belt this year. The fact that it came in a gruesome, classic match only adds to the fact that I have a lot more respect for The Undertaker than I did two months ago.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:44 AM

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Pro Wrestling--- Rey Mysterio needs to have the knee surgery that he has put off for the past couple months. Not over the Christmas break as previously scheduled, not on December 5 as currently scheduled, but right now. With his history of knee problems, including multiple ACL tears in his career, the last thing Mysterio should be doing is working through and worsening a knee injury. As it stands right now, it could be "just" arthroscopic surgery and barring unforseen damage or complications, he could be out of action for as little as 2-4 weeks in the best-case scenario. Instead, he is tempting fate to strike him down with a more serious knee injury than he already has. Every day and every week that he wrestles on those injured knees not only increases the cumulative wear and tear that is causing him so much pain, but also increases the chances of tearing something that would keep him out for many months.

It's become almost painful to watch Mysterio's matches lately. One can't help but feel bad for him as the knee problems become more and more apparent with each TV match and interfere more and more with the moves he does. I understand the rationale of wanting to make money while you can and while you're hot with live crowds, but Rey Mysterio is the last person who should be thinking like that because he is no flash in the pan. He is such a spectacular wrestler that he could take off 2-4 weeks right now and come back just as hot with the audience as when he left, simply by re-establishing himself upon his return with one or two of his signature high-flying matches.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:34 AM

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Pro Wrestling--- The Big Show beating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title has to be the single worst booking decision of all time. It's the kind of thing that makes people turn off their televisions and never watch wrestling again. It makes Vince Russo's decision to give David Arquette the WCW title seem like a brilliant stroke of genius by comparison. It was bad enough to put the no-talent lug in the Smackdown main event for the WWE Title under any circumstances, but to have him actually beat Lesnar and win the title is downright disgraceful.

It's especially non-sensical given the fact that they have spent almost a year waiting for just the right time and circumstance for Brock Lesnar to lose his first match, and this is who they decide to give that instant boost of star power? And even from a story line standpoint, Lesnar beat The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and The Undertaker cleanly, but he can't beat a big fat loser like The Big Show? It's insulting to viewers that the WWE just expects all of us to forget that Big Show has spent the last two years losing to almost everyone in the company. Now he jumps to Smackdown with a new haircut and he's suddenly an unstoppable monster?

It would be the equivalent of the WWE having Rikishi lose to everyone in the company for two years, and then suddenly turn him into an unbeatable wrecking machine and justify it with the 1980's logic of "he's really big, you know." Being seven feet tall and 500 pounds shouldn't entitle you to anything in the wrestling business, unless of course you have a modicum of talent to back it up. The Big Show had that talent at the very beginning of his career, but when his early success when to his head, he became lazy and unmotivated and horribly out of shape. He's been that way for years now, and yet here he is, winning the WWE Title from one of the two biggest rookie sensations of the past ten years (the other, needless to say, is Kurt Angle).

I am fully aware of the fact that Lesnar has to take time off due to his broken rib, but it's not going to be months off, and the WWE Title is normally only defended once per month these days anyway. Some idiot on the WWE writing staff might say, "Well, we want to be able to advertise that the WWE Champion will be wrestling at house shows," but that argument goes out the window thanks to the common sense logic that no one is going to buy a live event ticket just to see The Big Show (he doesn't "put asses in the seats," as Tony Schiavone might say).

In any case, the fact that Brock Lesnar was able to repeatedly lift and suplex a 500-pound man is impressive, especially considering his broken rib. Having a broken rib and still being able to (seemingly easily) lift a 500-pound man over your head and spin him around like a damn airplane is downright amazing. Lesnar is a machine, and unlike the much less reliable, much less level-headed, and much more injury-prone Bill Goldberg, Lesnar is actually able to deliver good wrestling matches in the ring on a regular basis. He's like Goldberg, only with talent.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 1:09 AM

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Pro Wrestling--- Coming off a very good WWE Unforgiven pay-per-view, I can't help but still have a lot of negative thoughts and feelings about the direction of the company. As for the event itself, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit are two incredibly good in-ring workers-- arguably the best in the company-- who had an incredibly good match that was only slightly sullied by the non-clean finish. Edge and Eddie Guererro are two potential main eventers who had another great match to add to their collection, and the Triple H vs. Rob Van Dam match was laid-out very well even though it did have a screwjob finish. After doing a clean submission job to Ric Flair at SummerSlam last month, the writers couldn't even be bothered to give Chris Jericho a clean win this month. There goes the believability factor if anyone in the WWE expects fans to believe that the in-his-prime Jericho can't beat the 55-year-old Ric Flair.

Putting all of that aside, the thing that stood out most at Unforgiven is the fact that The Undertaker is more out of control than ever, as management continues to cater to him at the expense of the next generation of talent and the current on-air product. Some of those young guys can actually (gasp!) work a decent match in the damn ring. The Undertaker was never a good in-ring worker even in his prime, and make no mistake about it, the 40+ year old Taker is years and years past his prime. I wouldn't care if he was 20 years old or 60 years old if he could get it done in the ring, but he can't. His in-ring performances have slipped even more in the past few years, and he has no business being on television at all as anything other than maybe a mid-card novelty act elevating younger talent.

But that's just the thing. The Undertaker never has elevated other talent, he's certainly not elevating any other talent now, and he's probably never going to. His repeated, one-sided "squash" victories over Edge and Christian a few years back did damage to their careers that they have still not completely recovered from. The Undertaker constantly no-sells his way through matches, and when his opponets do gain an advantage on him, it's almost always due to a low blow or some other dirty heel tactic. Seeing The Undertaker do to a clean job to a top-tier established star, much less an up-and-coming wrestler with potential, is unheard of in recent history.

Say what you will about Hulk Hogan and his years of backstage political machinations, but when the time came, Hogan did the right thing. He did a clean job to The Rock at WrestleMania. He tapped out to Kurt Angle in a clean submission loss in a high-profile PPV match in the middle of the ring. He not only did a clean job to Brock Lesnar but allowed himself to be destroyed by Lesnar after the match and left lying. He worked side-by-side with young stars like Edge in a way that gave them star power rub and actually elevated them rather than conditioning viewers to think of the younger stars as inferior.

Meanwhile, who in the hell has The Undertaker ever elevated? Take away years of undeserved main event matches and burying of younger, better wrestlers, and just think about it starting from April of this year. At April's Backlash pay-per-view, he had an absolute stinker of a 30-minute match with Steve Austin that is going to be on the Pro Wrestling Torch Worst Match of the Year list at the end of the year, and he got the win over Austin. In May, he inexplicably main evented the Judgment Day pay-per-view and had another stinker of a match, this time against Hulk Hogan (who had just come off good matches against The Rock and Triple H). Even more disturbingly, The Undertaker won the match and won the WWE Title. It's the equivalent of George Foreman winning the heavyweight title in boxing today.

At the King of the Ring PPV in June, The Undertaker had a horrible match in the main event against Triple H (who has had good matches with just about everybody). Undertaker got the win and retained his title. At the July Vengeance PPV, Undertaker was in the main event yet again, having a decent Triple Threat Match with Kurt Angle and The Rock that was largely carried by the two non-old-bastard wrestlers. The Undertaker always stands up and lectures people in the locker room about doing what's best for business even if it's not best for you personally, and yet he didn't even get pinned to lose his own title, as The Rock pinned Angle to win the title in the Triple Threat Match.

At the August SummerSlam PPV, Undertaker got a well-deserved demotion to a mid-card match with Test, and things were finally looking up for people who enjoy quality wrestling in their $35 pay-per-view main events. It wasn't a good match and Undertaker got the clean pin over Test, but at least he wasn't stinking up the main events anymore. Now here he is, back in the main event at the September Unforgiven PPV against new champion Brock Lesnar. Not surprisingly, it's a pretty bad match, and Undertaker dominates most of the offense, and Brock only gets the upper hand after hitting Undertaker in the face with the title belt.

The Undertaker gets to beat up Lesnar after the match and leave the situation with the upper hand, and he didn't even have to do a job of any kind in the process (much less a clean job) thanks to the BS disqualifcation finish that sent the Los Angeles crowd into a near-riotous state. Why, you ask? How could that possibly be best for business? Well, it's not. But that's not what is important, what's important is that The Undertaker gets out of doing a job under any circumstances, and even more sickening, he gets to weasel his way into another PPV main event when he gets his rematch against Lesnar next month at the No Mercy PPV.

If World Wrestling Entertainment wants to blame someone for the fact that TV ratings, arena attendance, and PPV buyrates have gone down drastically over the past six months, who could possibly deserve more blame than The Undertaker? He has main evented four of the past five PPVs, he has stunk up the ring with sub-par matches in all four of those matches, and he has avoided doing any jobs in any of those four matches. He wouldn't elevate an elevator at elevator convention, and he is sure as hell not going to elevate any of the WWE's multitude of young, talented stars in the making.

Shawn Michaels left wrestling in a meaningful way back in '98, pushing his injured back to the limit en route to doing a clean job to rising star Steve Austin. Mick Foley left in a meaningful way, busting his ass in classic PPV matches, doing jobs to and making a star out of Triple H. Hulk Hogan left in a meaningful way, laying down for Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar and having the occasional good match along the way. It's time for The Undertaker to be doing a retirement angle and making it a real retirement, not main eventing PPVs and wasting fans' time and money. Actually, it was time for that a few years ago, but better late than never. Get him out of PPV main events, get him off my TV, and get him off the active roster altogether.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 2:19 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- This week's Smackdown was one of the better WWE shows in recent memory. I wasn't sure where they were going with the whole "Chuck and Billy's same-sex wedding" angle, but I certainly didn't expect the elderly Justice of the Peace to rip his face off and reveal Eric Bischoff underneath, nor did I expect the Island Boys to run out and attack Stephanie McMahon. It's that kind of writing that makes Smackdown a consistently better show than Raw.

Raw and Smackdown had the same basic feel to them until a few months ago when the writing teams were split in half, with Paul Heyman leading the Smackdown team and Brian Gewirtz leading the Raw team (and of course, Vince and Stephanie McMahon supervising both teams). Is it any surprise that Smackdown has since gotten significantly better while Raw has gotten significantly worse? Gewirtz has been intent on producing the Vince Russo style of "Crash TV" for months while only making slightly more sense than Russo did in his WCW days, and his weaknesses as a writer are being increasingly exposed for all to see now that he's in charge of writing Raw. Meanwhile, Heyman manages to forward story lines and have internal logic while also being unpredictable, and letting the wrestlers themselves carry the bulk of each show rather than "sports entertainment segments."

The show-ending angle with The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, and Paul Heyman on Smackdown is a perfect example of Wrestling Booking 101. Heyman's scummy manager character threatens Taker's pregnant wife Sara, Taker storms backstage and appears to get his hands on one of the heels (Heyman), then the other heel (Brock Lesnar) whacks him in the head with a steel chair. Lesnar then gets himself over as a stronger heel by threatening Sara, and the angle never goes too far for its own good. If Brock had attacked a pregnant woman, even if it's just a story line, that would have been going too far. Thankfully, Heyman the writer (as opposed to Heyman the on-air character) knows where to draw the line.

It also doesn't hurt that Smackdown has exclusive access to the cruiserweight wrestlers, even if they are relegated to the B-show that is Velocity more times than not. Smackdown routinely has in-ring action that rivals some of the WWE's pay-per-view matches, such as Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio, and The Guerreros vs. Edge & John Cena on this week's show. The only wrestlers on Raw who are really exciting to watch in the ring are Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, and maybe Triple H on a good night for him. Getting rid of the Hardcore division was a long-overdue first step, but serious changes need to be made both in the ring and in the writers' meetings if the McMahon family wants to stop the downward trend of Raw's ratings.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:54 PM

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Pro Wrestling--- A lot of people have been expressing their outrage on numerous wrestling web sites about the lesbian angle on this past Monday's episode of WWE Raw. While on some levels the angle was nothing more than Vince McMahon's way of saying, "The PTC can't touch me anymore, so look what I can do," I wasn't offended by anything that happened in the ring, with one exception. First of all, just the fact that the two characters were homosexual was not portrayed in a negative light. If anything, Jerry Lawler portrayed it as a wonderful, magical thing that should be appreciated and maybe even worshipped. Also, Eric Bischoff wasn't forcing the lesbians to do anything in the context of the story line. Actually, the two lesbian characters wanted things to go further than Bischoff was willing to allow, as evidenced by Bischoff having to stop them from taking things too far several times.

As for the Island Boys coming out and attacking them, it's pretty hard to be offended by an Island Boys segment anymore. After seeing them attack two 80-year-old women, a female ring announcer, and a midget dressed up like Goldust, I wasn't shocked to see them attack the lesbians. The one and only thing in this segment that bothered me was one of the Island Boys delivering a stiff kick to the midsection of one of the lesbians. Executing a variation of a suplex or powerbomb on a woman can be plainly seen as "just a wrestling move" and is in no way a simulation of real-life violence. Even doing the big splash off the top rope is a wrestling move and not a simulation of real-life violence. Striking someone to the midsection is not a wrestling move and is more of a simulation of real-life violence, and it's the only thing in the segment that went a bit too far.

Other than that, the only offensive thing about Raw's lesbian segment to me was simply that it has no place on a pro wrestling show. It didn't do anything to further any wrestling matches, or wrestling story lines. All it might have done was get Eric Bischoff and the Island Boys over as heels more than they already were, and even that is arguable given everything that they've already done in recent weeks. The fact that Monday's Raw drew a 3.4 rating-- the lowest in four years-- will hopefully be a wake-up call to a writing staff with no real sense of direction at this point.

Labels: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:07 AM

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Video Games--- I don't think there has ever been a worse time to be a fan of wrestling games. Everything seemed nice and peachy when THQ, World Wrestling Entertainment, and Japanese developer Aki teamed up to produce such wrestling classes as WrestleMania 2000 and No Mercy. Then THQ and Aki split up, and THQ planted its nose firmly into the buttocks of another Japanese developer named Yuke's, a company that has done nothing but develop one disappointing, over-hyped Smackdown game after another.

Things only got worse earlier this year when THQ and former UFC game developer Anchor released the god-awful WWE Raw for the Xbox, which sucks in so many different ways that it's rather puzzling. It's almost like it's all a joke and a THQ representative is going to jump out from behind a corner any minute now and say, "We got you! Here's the real game!" Alas, this has yet to happen, but what did happen is that THQ and Yuke's released the equally disappointing WWE WrestleMania X8 for the GameCube. This game was hyped up by numerous video game publications as the ultimate wrestling game despite the dubious reputation of its developer. Well, it turns out that common sense and logic were right, and the hype was wrong, because WrestleMania X8 is a crap wrestling game if there ever was one.

Worse yet, there's nothing on the horizon to indicate that things will be looking up anytime soon. What is there to look forward to? Yet another Smackdown game disappointment from the masters of clusterf--k gameplay at Yuke's? I don't think so. Legends of Wrestling 2 from Acclaim? Yeah, Acclaim will release a good wrestling game right around the same time that Sony releases a good football game. The upcoming "Backyard Wrestling" game from Eidos Interactive? That's just what we need, Eidos stinking up yet another game genre and legitimizing/glorifying idiotic backyard wrestling in the process. Ironically, the best-playing wrestling game of the near future might be EA's Def Jam Wrestling since it's being developed by Aki, but how much fun can it be to wrestle with a bunch of rappers and comedians?

Labels: Video Games, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 3:06 PM

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