wrestling / Columns
The Wrestling News Experience: 02.13.12
Monday, February 13th, 2012
From 411Mania’s Canadian offices in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, this is The Wrestling News Experience, with Stephen Randle!
Brought To You By Less Sleep Than I’d Like
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Experience. I am Stephen Randle, and if I hear one more person complain about how cold it is, I will go right off the deep end. Seriously, people, February in Canada. There’s a reason we have a winter coat industry, you know?
Moving on.
Rinehart did the live coverage. I was watching The Walking Dead instead. Although I still wouldn’t have watched the PPV if it weren’t on.
Zema Ion defeated Jesse Sorenson to become #1 Contender to the X Division title (countout)
Early indicators are that Sorenson legitimately hurt himself and the match was immediately cut short, forcing TNA to fill time while he was checked and taken out.
Robbie E defeated Shannon Moore to retain the TNA TV title (pinfall, DDT)
Here’s a fun question for debate: which version of this belt has meant less, the Legends title, the Global title, or the TV title?
Gail Kim defeated Tara to retain the TNA Knockouts title (pinfall, Eat De-Feet)
Samoa Joe and Magnus defeated Matt Morgan and Crimson to win the TNA Tag Team title (Magnus pinned Morgan, Snapmare-Elbow Combo)
See? Joe’s still getting pushed, right?
The real question is, wasn’t Douglas Williams right there to reform the British Invasion instead of using Joe?
Austin Aries defeated Alex Shelley to retain the TNA X Division title (submission , Last Chancery)
Kazarian defeated AJ Styles (pinfall, Fade To Black)
Gunner defeated Garrett Bischoff
So the lesson here is…Hulk Hogan can’t teach you how to be a successful wrestler? Didn’t we already know that?
Robert Roode defeated James Storm, Jeff Hardy, and Bully Ray to retain the TNA World Title (Roode pinned Hardy, belt shot)
This week, Raw will feature the return of Shawn Michaels, as part of Johnny Ace’s last-ditch plan to save his job as Interim Raw GM, which apparently he did because, I don’t know, maybe they’re having trouble convincing Mick Foley to go back on the road or something. Anyway, I’d imagine Shawn will have something to say about Triple H refusing to face the Undertaker one more time, wouldn’t you?
And after CM Punk left Chris Jericho fuming in the ring about “Wannabes”, Jericho had the last laugh by stealing the coveted final entry position in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match. With the odds firmly on the side of the man who apparently innovated every single thing that exists in WWE today, are we just days away from a new WWE Champion?
Plus, after learning that he will face John Cena in an Ambulance Match at Elimination Chamber, Kane was quick to corner Eve and tell her the good news. And also that he’s afraid of himself. The show went off the air before Eve could be saved by anyone, but I’ll just assume that everything worked out. It was a strange show last week, wasn’t it?
Meanwhile, Beth Phoenix continues to (finally) dominate the Divas division, but it looks like Tamina may not be going down as easily as the rest of Beth’s challengers. Hey, isn’t Kharma supposed to be back?
And hopefully we’ll have more actual content than last week, because I’m really getting tired of the insipid John Cena video package. We get it, he’s a swell guy, there’s no chance in hell he’s getting cheered in Miami no matter what you do. Anyway, it’s all tonight on Raw!
Catch Him If You Can
So, you thought Miz was in trouble over the Survivor Series buyrate? Well, maybe it’s been making him nervous, because last Monday he completely failed to catch R-Truth during a dive out of the ring and left Little Jimmy’s favourite wrestler writhing in pain and eventually removed from the match by medical staff. Early Miz apologists suggested he may have slipped or Truth changed position too far, but on multiple re-watches, Miz was in the right spot and just completely whiffed. We’re talking a “Buckner at Shea in ‘86” whiff in terms of how completely he failed to do anything to halt Truth’s fall.
Word is that Miz got publically and loudly “dressed down” after Raw, and the future does not look bright for the man who just one year ago was WWE Champion and receiving rave reviews internally for the way he was representing the company in public appearances. Apparently the feeling now is that Miz may have gained a larg(er) ego as a result of his time on top, which is rubbing a lot of people the wrong way. In fact, in an interview last week, none other than Alberto Del Rio ripped into Miz for being a jerk backstage, and did so in a way that seemed less “in character” and more a legitimate personal gripe with the man. Anyway, combined with the alleged belief that Miz has spent most of 2011 “coasting”, in direct opposition to how hard he was working during 2010 to get to the top, and the future for Miz looks like it might involve very few victories.
We’re Really Not Very Good Journalists
All right, so here’s the timeline from Sunday, as far as I can make it out:
– News/rumours/whatever broke that Vince Russo may have been removed from his duties as TNA writer, and possibly replaced by Dave Lagana, who was originally brought in to TNA to help with Ring Ka King and some other duties. As “proof”, it was reported that Russo was not in attendance at Against All Odds, while Lagana was. The fact that being at the PPV might be part of Lagana’s normal duties apparently never occurred to anyone, but I digress.
– Meltzer first confirms the story, then reverses.
– At last check, Russo may or may not be done, but Lagana hasn’t been officially promoted in any way. Either way, Bruce Prichard is Head of TNA Creative, and Eric Bischoff also apparently has final approval on scripts for Impact. Oh, and of course there’s Dixie, and Jeff Jarrett, and Sting, and Angle, and let’s not forget Hogan, all who have some power over booking and writing.
– So, in the end, we have no idea what the hell is going on, but I’m fairly sure a large percentage of wrestling fans would not be sad to see the last of Vince Russo with any involvement in a major wrestling promotion.
Well, at least there was something to talk about leading up to Against All Odds. Seriously, it was that or discussion about TNA deciding to have Robbie E throw out an open challenge for his TV Title two hours before the PPV, and how bad an idea that is.
– WWE is developing a DVD set based around WCW’s Clash of the Champions shows, which means that once again WWE has found a way to make more money out of WCW than WCW ever did.
– JBL did an interview where he said that Vince McMahon actually never could see the parallels between his character and J.R. Ewing from Dallas. Well, to be fair to Vince, it was popular and a lot of people saw it, so he won’t know what it is until a few more years have passed.
– Spike TV aired The Marine 2, starring Ted DiBiase in the role that failed to make him a big star, after Impact on Thursday night, which I guess is ironic or something. At least now there’s a half-decent chance that somebody actually watched that movie.
You know what? No Power Rankings this week. WWE put on a Raw that was 75% recycled video packages and really long promos (and recaps of really long promos) because of the Abu Dhabi tour, and Smackdown was The Daniel Bryan Show, which I don’t mind, except then they stuck Michael Cole out there to remind everyone who the real top heel in pro wrestling is, apparently. Seriously, I get that it wouldn’t be in character for him to suddenly like Daniel Bryan, but it’s taking away from Bryan’s heel act to have Cole call him names and then disappear because apparently nobody gets to have the upper hand on Michael Freaking Cole. The worst part was, everything he said to AJ was true, Bryan is using her, but that’s not something you have a bad guy point out because he wants to be mean to her for some reason, that’s what her good friend is supposed to be saying because they’re worried that she’s too attached to this guy who’s totally just playing her. Then we hit the point where she either leaves him or turns evil (and I’m actually hoping for the latter). It’s not like this story hasn’t been written before, you know. Am I rambling? I feel like I’m rambling.
Anyway, wrestling was bad last week. Nobody gets rewarded with Power Rankings. Other than one guy.
Like I said, Smackdown was The Daniel Bryan Show, and good for him. His character’s so good, that you forget that he’s one of the smallest World Heavyweight Champions of all time. Hell, he’s so short, they had to pair him with the tiniest girl on the roster so that it’d actually look cowardly for him to hide behind her. Congratulations, D-Bry, you were the only wrestler of note at all last week. |
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Inactive List as of 02.06.12
WWE Raw
– Alberto Del Rio, out 6-8 weeks as of December 26th (ACL)
– Evan Bourne, out 60 days as of January 17th (Wellness)
– Kevin Nash, out 6 weeks as of December 18th (back)
– Rey Mysterio, out indefinitely as of August 23rd (knee surgeries)
– Zack Ryder, out indefinitely as of January 23rd (back)
WWE SmackDown
– Christian, out 6-8 weeks as of November 13th (ankle)
– Layla El, out indefinitely as of May 23rd (ACL/MCL surgery)
– Mark Henry, out indefinitely as of February 5th (various injuries)
– Sin Cara, out 6-9 months as of November 20th (ruptured patella)
TNA
– Chris Sabin, out indefinitely (shoulder)
– Ric Flair, out 4-6 months as of September 14th (tricep)
– Sting, day-to-day as of January 29th (heel)
Transactions
– Jesse Sorenson, TNA, day-to-day as of February 12th (possible concussion)
WWE
WWE Champion: CM Punk
– 85 day reign, defeated Alberto Del Rio on November 20th (Survivor Series PPV)
– Next title defense: vs R-Truth, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, and Chris Jericho, Elimination Chamber Match, Elimination Chamber PPV
World Heavyweight Champion: Daniel Bryan
– 57 day reign, defeated The Big Show by cashing in Money in the Bank on December 18th (TLC PPV)
– Next title defense: vs The Big Show, The Great Khali, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Wade Barrett, Elimination Chamber Match, Elimination Chamber PPV
WWE Intercontinental Champion: Cody Rhodes
– 178 day reign, defeated Ezekiel Jackson on August 12th (Smackdown)
WWE United States Champion: Jack Swagger
– 28 day reign, defeated Zack Ryder on January 16th (Raw)
WWE Tag Team Champions: Epico and Primo
– 29 day reign, defeated Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne on January 15th (house show)
WWE Divas’ Champion: Beth Phoenix
– 127 day reign, defeated Kelly Kelly on October 2nd (Hell in a Cell PPV)
TNA
TNA Heavyweight Champion: Bobby Roode
– 102 day reign, defeated James Storm on November 3rd (Impact)
**NEW** TNA Tag Team Champions: Samoa Joe and Magnus
– 1 day reign, defeated Crimson and Matt Morgan on February 12th (Against All Odds PPV)
TNA X-Division Champion: Austin Aries
– 148 day reign, defeated Brian Kendrick on September 11th (No Surrender PPV)
TNA Knockouts Champion: Gail Kim
– 92 day reign, defeated Velvet Sky on November 13th (Turning Point PPV)
TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions: Gail Kim and Madison Rayne
– 102 day reign, defeated Miss Tessmacher and Tara on November 3rd (Impact)
TNA Television Champion: Robbie E
– 92 day reign, defeated Eric Young on November 13th (Turning Point PPV)
De Marco has The Wrestling 5&1.
Frame has The Wrestling Framework.
Acero has The Triumverate of Truth.
Ari has Column of Honor.
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