The Wrestling News Experience: 08.22.11

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

From 411Mania’s Canadian offices in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, this is The Wrestling News Experience, with Stephen Randle!

Smurftastic

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Experience. I am Stephen Randle, and as I predicted, I have become uselessly hooked on The Dresden Files. And I was going to use that money for food and shelter, too. Oh well, nothing to be done about it.

I think I speak for everyone when I say, when am I going to get new episodes of Community? Lousy summer reruns. If it weren’t for the half-dozen shows featuring Gordon Ramsay berating lousy cooks, I don’t know what I’d be watching.

Moving on.

Last week, Alberto Del Rio’s WWE title reign got off to a quick start, as the Mexican aristocrat cemented his position by defending the title against Rey Mysterio. After emerging victorious, however, Del Rio found himself under assault by John Cena, who objected to Del Rio’s actions both at SummerSlam, and after his match on Raw. Cena has promised that one day, Del Rio will face Cena in the ring, and he will not enjoy it.

Meanwhile, it appears all is not as it seems in the Triple H regime, as longtime friend Kevin Nash claimed that it was the new COO himself who ordered Nash to jump the winner of the Cena-Punk match at SummerSlam. Triple H denied any wrongdoing, but was suspiciously absent when both Nash and Punk went to search for him later that night. With Punk searching for answers, and Nash standing it his way, can further confrontations be far behind? And what is with Johnny Ace walking around like he has all the power backstage, while Triple H’s wife Stephanie McMahon offers cryptic messages to CM Punk? The mystery deepens.

Plus, after Vicki Guerrero helped him defeat Alex Riley last week, Jack Swagger offered the opinion that she could stand to expand her client base a little. How will her interest in the All American American sit with her original client, United States champion Dolph Ziggler, especially in light of the tension that has already been brewing?

And the WWE Tag Team champions Otunga and McGillicutty found themselves on the losing end against Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne last week. Could the newly-paired duo of Bourne and Kingston be looking for a title shot this week?

Many questions abound, perhaps some will be answered, tonight on Raw!

Wellness?

Perhaps lost in the more interesting news of the weekend (we’ll get to it) was that last week, WWE announced another Wellness suspension. To the shock of at least a few people, it was Senior Referee Mike Chioda who will sit out for no less than thirty days for his first violation.

Wait, what?

Yes, it seems odd, but we often forget that referees are considered part of the on-air talent and must therefore be tested. And we also forget that Wellness isn’t just a steroid test, it also looks for (among other things) recreational drugs and unprescribed medication including painkillers. Referees may not be wrestlers, but they do take bumps, and they’re also human beings, so the idea that Chioda may have been pinched for painkillers seems pretty realistic, doesn’t it? Obviously I’m just speculating, since WWE hasn’t specifically said why they suspended him, and hell, maybe he was bulking up on the side. Stranger things have happened.

Oh yeah, and WWE may have also suspended Tough Enough winner Andy for a Wellness violation, but since he’s not officially part of the roster they haven’t actually announced anything officially. Although I guess that would explain why they didn’t show one of those “Moment With Andy” vignettes last week.

Generations Apart

Some interesting heat is building for a young tag team recently released from TNA, the Young Bucks (aka Generation ME). On their exit, they were publically criticized by Rob Van Dam for being disrespectful towards him and his years of experience while backstage in TNA. The Bucks responded in a bewildered manner on Twitter, suggesting that while they may not have sought RVD’s counsel, they had gone to other veterans for advice instead. People wrote it off to RVD being RVD, and the matter seemed settled.

However, this past week, the Bucks received a tryout in WWE, presumably as a part of a rumoured push by Triple H to make tag team wrestling meaningful again. No word on how the higher-ups in WWE felt about the team, but it appears that once again, the Bucks made a poor impression on some of the veterans in the locker room. Notably, Booker T and Goldust, some of the most respected elder statesmen in WWE, took to Twitter with harsh words for the Bucks and a perceived lack of respect. The Bucks, for their part, seem confused by where this is all coming from, although they should probably put a muzzle on their brother, who didn’t do them any favours with a long Twitter rant.

Now, I’ll be the first to say that locker room politics, be it in wrestling or any other sport, has often seemed juvenile and exaggerated when it makes it into public view. However, at the same time, those politics and unwritten rules are part of what you get into when you become part of a business that is largely built on self-policing and bonding with your fellows so that you can work together and (more importantly) protect each other when working. Respect for the other people in the locker room and for the business that you’re a part of is necessary in order for things to run smoothly, and when someone steps out of line, they’re showing a lack of respect for every other person in the industry.

I’m not saying that the Bucks did anything wrong. I don’t know, I’m not backstage in TNA or WWE. But there’s a saying that goes something like this: when one person says you’re a duck, you look at them strangely. When two people say it, you start checking for feathers. And when three people insist that you’re a duck, you might as well wear a tiny sailor suit and start quacking. By my count, three people, respected veterans of pro wrestling, have stated publically that the Young Bucks don’t show enough respect. Quack, quack?

Matt Hardy, Version Done

So on Monday, Matt Hardy took to Twitter to let everyone know that he had decided that it was time for him to get back into the ring. This was after he had publically stated earlier this month that he was putting his career on hold. Hardy had been at home since TNA suspended him for what they described as “chronic lateness”, but speculation had Matt and his brother Jeff getting ready for a fall return to TNA, likely as faces, with TNA also set to release a Jeff Hardy DVD around the same time.

However, it appears that Matt Hardy has managed to run out of chances in the only other major North American promotion willing to give them, as he was quite emphatically fired from TNA this Saturday. The final straw appears to have been a DWI arrest on the weekend which was reported by TMZ, among other sources. Impactwrestling.com had a banner headline announcing Matt’s release (as well as the fact that he had been suspended) as early as Saturday night.

I would imagine that the time has come for Matt Hardy to do some serious appraisal of how his last couple of years have gone. After for some reason deciding that he was unhappy with WWE, Matt proceeded to make YouTube videos and Twitter posts that would both subtly and openly deride his position in the organization, to the point that Matt openly claimed he was attempting to get fired. Upon receiving his wish, Matt quickly signed with TNA and joined Immortal, as TNA must have been loving the fact that they had both Matt and Jeff Hardy, two of the most marketable young stars of the Attitude Era, under contract. Matt even worked hard to lose the pudgy look he had gained in his last days in WWE, and looked to be in the best shape of his life. However, Jeff wrestled the main event of a PPV clearly under the influence of something, and was sent home immediately. After that, Matt was clearly shoved aside, and didn’t help his case by arriving late for tapings and house shows. In addition, Matt and Jeff reportedly caught heat for filming a YouTube video where they used a taser on Matt’s girlfriend. All this led up to this weekend, where Matt Hardy apparently found out just exactly how screwed up you have to be that TNA decides that there is no potential upside to you remaining there. Hell, Jeff’s still there, and if his court case ever gets resolved, he’d probably be welcome back in WWE. But the same can not be said of Matt Hardy, who has seemingly burnt every bridge in both WWE and TNA, and doesn’t have the “marketability” factor of his brother that would make either overlook the fact that he’s clearly a little nuts in the head and has bought way too far into his own hype.

It’s almost hard to believe. Matt was always considered smart, level-headed, maybe a bit too quick to speak his mind, but the levels to which his personality has gone in the past two years has been both disturbing and even frightening. And I know the IWC is fickle, but I have never seen someone go from the heights of Internet fandom to the depths of disdain as quickly or as completely as Matt Hardy has, especially since he was considered one of the first wrestlers who embraced the Internet and new technology and its ability to create a fanbase. Even as recently as his ECW Championship run, people were still behind Matt Hardy, and thought he had what it took to be a big star. Now, I’d be shocked if you could find someone who thinks he should even be on television. From the top of the mountain to the end of the road, very few have fallen as quickly or as completely as Matt Hardy has.

Where does he go from here? Well, by all indications WWE and TNA don’t want him, and if ROH fans didn’t like Jeff Hardy I can’t imagine they’d be too thrilled with his brother. Perhaps, if Matt wants to rebuild his wrestling career, he should try overseas. Or maybe this is all there is for Matt Hardy, pro wrestler. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

– WWE has trademarked the terms “future endeavours” and “Mr. Future Endeavours” for use with Johnny Ace’s on-screen character. I would never buy that t-shirt.

– Sin Cara’s suspension is over, and apparently he, not Hunico, wrestled under the mask on weekend house shows. So, they couldn’t have waited two more weeks for his return? Couldn’t someone else have been the last guy thrown out of the battle royal by Mark Henry?

– Goldberg has announced that he isn’t coming back to WWE. You can all stop holding those breaths that you weren’t actually holding.

– Mick Foley is continuing his work with RAINN, and will be performing his stand-up comedy act on August 24th in Bellmore, NY. You can find out how to attend here.

– Apparently someone did a study that showed that spoilers for movies, books, and TV shows are actually good for people’s enjoyment of the show. That’s right, you like wrestling more because of spoilers. I shudder to think what might become of TNA if they actually managed to prevent them from leaking out.

– As we suspected, Linda McMahon is gearing up for another Senate run in 2012. Quick, someone hide CM Punk!

1. Alberto Del Rio Del Rio caps off the biggest week of his professional career by successfully defending the WWE title against Rey Mysterio on Raw, then outlasting Daniel Bryan in a spectacular match on Smackdown. He may just be a generic foreign villain, but the man has the chops to back it up in the ring.

2. Mark Henry I’m not sure you should be allowed to take a ten minute breather during a battle royal, but I guess at least they had him attack eliminated wrestlers so he could pretend he was involved in the whole match. This was like Vince claiming he won the 1999 Royal Rumble. But I guess it still counts.

3. Cody Rhodes Cody is definitely being groomed for bigger things, getting promo time against the World Champion, and he’s left the former champion Ezekiel Jackson definitively in the dust. Hopefully he’s learned something from Big Zeke’s reign.

4. Mexican America Ended Beer Money’s over 200-day reign as champions, which made them the longest reigning champs in either TNA or WWE. With that out of the way, the designation falls to…sigh…Otunga and McGillicutty, at 91 days.

5. CM Punk Quickly shuffled out of the title picture, but I’ll keep faith in the bigger picture instead, even if the apparent plans are to have Punk wrestle Kevin Nash. If he can pull that off, I say next we make him walk on water.

6. John Cena Cena makes the most of the whole minute and a half he appeared on Raw with a more intense promo than we’re used to…he even managed to not make a poop joke or laugh off an insult. Of course, the fact that the only guy who seems mad about Del Rio’s MITB cash-in is the guy who wasn’t involved in any way is odd, but by God, we’re going to have Del Rio-Cena whether you want it or not.

7. Justin Gabriel Gabriel looks like he’s heading into some sort of push in the wake of the South African tour, but how long can they milk the fact that he was a big deal in his home country when they visited so many weeks ago as a reason why he’s a good guy?

8. Jack Swagger Swagger finally buys a win, even if it took a lot of help to do so, and it looks like he might be moving up in the world if he can actually align himself with Vicki.

9. Dolph Ziggler Speaking of Vicki’s clients, tension is rising with her first client Ziggler, but it’s leading to some entertaining commentary as Dolph subtly (well, subtle for wrestling) undercut her every chance he got last week.

10. Ric Flair Hey, look everyone, Ric Flair is back again! So at least he’s getting a paycheck! Well, part of a paycheck, after his alimony, anyway.

Inactive List as of 08.15.11

WWE Raw

– Big Show, out 3 months as of July 18th (broken leg)
– Chris Jericho, out indefinitely as of September 27th, 2010 (punt-related injury)
– Goldust, out indefinitely (torn rotator cuff)
– Husky Harris, out indefinitely as of January 31st (punt-related injury)
– Kharma, out 9 months as of May 23rd (pregnancy)
– Mason Ryan, day-to-day as of June 26th (unknown injury)
– Skip Sheffield, out indefinitely as of August 20th, 2010 (broken ankle)

WWE SmackDown

– Kane, out 3 months as of July 22nd (broken leg)
– Layla El, out indefinitely as of May 23rd (ACL/MCL surgery)
– Sin Cara 1.0, out 30 days as of July 18th (Wellness violation)

TNA

– Chris Sabin, out indefinitely
– Jeff Hardy, out indefinitely as of March 14th (suspension)
– Matt Hardy, out indefinitely as of June 21st (suspension)
– Matt Morgan, out 4-6 weeks as of July 26th (torn pectoral)

Transactions

– Brodus Clay, SD!, returned to television on August 18th Superstars

– Matt Hardy, TNA, released from his contract

– Maxine, NXT, returned to television on August 16th NXT

– Mike Chioda (referee), WWE, out 30 days as of August 15th (Wellness)

– Rey Mysterio, RAW, day-to-day as of August 16th (awaiting MRI results)

– Ric Flair, TNA, returned to television on August 18th Impact

– Sin Cara 1.0, SD!, returned to action on weekend house shows

WWE

WWE Champion: Alberto Del Rio
– 8 day reign, defeated CM Punk by cashing in Money in the Bank on August 14th (SummerSlam PPV)

World Heavyweight Champion: Randy Orton
– 8 day reign, defeated Christian on August 14th (SummerSlam PPV)
– Next title defense: vs Mark Henry, (likely) Night of Champions PPV

WWE Intercontinental Champion: Cody Rhodes
– 10 day reign, defeated Ezekiel Jackson on August 12th (Smackdown)

WWE United States Champion: Dolph Ziggler
– 64 day reign, defeated Kofi Kingston on June 19th (Capitol Punishment PPV)

WWE Tag Team Champions: David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty
– 91 day reign, defeated The Big Show and Kane on May 23rd (Raw)

WWE Divas’ Champion: Kelly Kelly
– 63 day reign, defeated former champion Brie Bella on June 20th (Raw)

TNA

TNA Heavyweight Champion: Kurt Angle
– 15 day reign, defeated Sting on August 7th (Hardcore Justice PPV)

**NEW** TNA Tag Team Champions: Mexican America
– 4 day reign, defeated Beer Money, Inc. on August 18th (Impact)

TNA X-Division Champion: Brian Kendrick
– 43 day reign, defeated Abyss on July 10th (Destination X PPV)

TNA Knockouts Champion: Winter
– 15 day reign, defeated Mickie James on August 7th (Hardcore Justice PPV)

TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions: Tara and Miss Tessmacher
– 32 day reign, defeated Rosita and Sarita on July 21st (Impact)

TNA Television Champion: Eric Young
– 88 day reign, defeated Gunner on May 26th (Impact)

De Marco has The Wrestling 5&1.

Reid has Hot or Not.

Baum has Chapters 33 and 34 of One Fall.

Martell has The Triple Threat.

Kirk has The Wrestling Sandwich.

Sarnecky has The Piledriver Report.

Ari has Column of Honor.

411 will have live coverage of Raw tonight starting at 9 pm EDT.

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Here it is, your Moment of Buddy.

Buddy Is Protecting The Snack Cupboard
From Matt Hardy

Buddy, the Matt Hardy fat jokes are last year. Now we do insanity jokes.

Have a good one, and always be a fan.