The MeeThinks Saturday Spectacular 02.24.07

WWE News

Mike Awesome Passes Away
Former ECW Champion was 42

Saddest part about this whole affair is that Awesome’s death is rumored to be a suicide. It is good, however, to note that WWE.com has been very sensitive in its handling of this matter, and has been careful to avoid all mention of the word “suicide” when reporting on this information. Sure, many fans want to know the whole story — but it’s a classy, responsible move on WWE’s part to eschew all mention of such personal and disheartening details in favor of simply stating the facts and offering their condolences.

If there is any silver lining to be gleaned from this tragic end, however, its that in spite of the ups-and-notorious-downs of his career, Mike Awesome will probably be best remembered by wrestling fans for his final WWE appearance in what proved to be a hell of a showdown against Tanaka on the first ECW One Night Stand PPV. Even though fans and fellow performers alike both went into the match with their backs turned to the guy, I’ll never forget how powerful and moving it was to see that by match’s end, even the most ardant of Awesome’s critics had softened to the point where they actually left the night applauding him for his ****+ effort in a classic ECW brawl-of-a match.

R.I.P., Mike Awesome.

Vince McMahon Pays For Bam Bam’s Final Expenses
WWE Chairman Agrees to Cover Funeral Costs

Say what you will about Vinny Mac, but what we have here is a total class act on the part of a guy who catches flack from just about everyone in the industry. Rumors had it that Bam Bam wasn’t faring so well towards the end of his life (at one point, he was even homeless and crashing on a friend’s sofa) — so it’s really good to see that Vince McMahon was willing to lend a few bucks to the Bigelow family to help them cover the cost of giving the guy a proper burial.

Fact is? “Mr. McMahon” — the onscreen persona — is about as diabolical and amoral as they come. “Vince McMahon” — the man behind the mask — might well have his fair share of demons and shortcomings, alright, but when push comes to shove from time to time he continues to deliver big in the area of human decency, and that goes a long way with Mee. Offering paid rehab for guys like Eddie, Regal, and Jeff, taking the best of each roster overseas every year for the troops, and covering the cost of a fallen performer’s funeral are just a few examples of how generous (and surprisingly kind-hearted) the WWE Chairman can be when the cameras aren’t necessarily rolling.

Nicely done, Vinny Mac.

Saturday Night’s Main Event On Hold
NBC Bumps March Broadcast to June

Though WWE is reportedly steamed over this one because they viewed SNME as “a vital part of the WrestleMania 23 build,” I can’t really complain all that much here as I always felt that each of these one-off “hype-building” shows usually tends to do more to distract and frustrate than they do to encourage and lead to a payoff. WWE pumps huge amounts of time, effort and money into programs like SNME and the Homecoming — and time after time, the results are usually no better or worse off than your average episode of RAW.

In short: Why distract from the WrestleMania build when all you’re really offering is nothing more than a pitstop on the “Road To WrestleMania”? Save your efforts for where they’re better rewarded, MeeThinks. Wrestling fans can wait a few extra months to see stuff like Shane McMahon falling off a ladder or JBL challenging Steve Austin to a drinking contest.

WWE Looks To Bolster Light Heavyweight Ranks
Company “Very Interested” in CMLL’s Mistico & Perro Aguayo Jr, plus AAA’s La Parka and two Japanese Stars

LA PARKA?!?!?!

Awesome.

But that said — let’s not count our chickens before they hatch with this one yet, folks. Rumor has it that the ‘E is looking to “recreate the magic of Nitro in the mid-90’s” — but if conventional wisdom and a sharp attention to WWE history is any indicator of future behaviors? Odds are probably quite good that somebody on the ‘E’s creative team will sour on the idea of borrowing ANYTHING from WCW sooner than later, which means the cruiserweight revival might just be as short-lived as the XFL.

Still, let’s call it “cautiously optimistic” on this one, eh?

Hulk’s 20-Year Agreement Not Quite Exclusive to WWE
Though Deal Basically Gives WWE Rights to Use Hulk’s Name and Image at Will

Ya’ know, I actually read about this contract in (of all places) NEWSWEEK magazine last summer when they were short on fluff pieces to help round out the thing’s entertainment section and so they turned to Vh1’s latest reality endeavour.

Anyhow —

Point is, this is hardly “big news” as it’s been pretty widely reported (by mainstream outlets, no less!) that WWE was basically only looking to secure Hulkster’s name and likeness for their merchandise and marketing (a LOT of which is built around their “legends” program), and so they wanted to make sure Hulk didn’t change his mind and torpedo their efforts the next time he and Vince had a falling out.

In short? A great business move on WWE’s part having gotten Hulkster to sign a long-term contract that operates quite independent of his ability to draw and/or perform in the ring. That way, WWE doesn’t lose out on all their Hogan-based tie-ins and name-drops every time Hulk lands himself on Vince’s shitlist thanks to something like the recent Bubba the Love Sponge incident. Other than that –MeeThinks we can go ahead and file this one under “non-news,” nation.

Triple H Expected Back By SummerSlam
The Game On Track for August Return to the Ring

Good to see Hunter’s healing up nicely. Not so sure about the abridged timetable (quad injuries are supposed to take the better part of 8-10 months, ya’ know) — but again, Hunter’s a smart performer and an even smarter businessman; if a rushed-rehab and another mistimed injury mean he’ll be back on the shelf in six month’s time? You can almost bet that The Game will do whatever it takes to avoid that sort of thing so as to keep himself firmly cemented in WWE’s main event for YEARS to come.

Sure, shagging the boss’s daughter never hurt one’s chances — but pushing yourself to the moon when you can’t even stay healthy for a year at a clip is a real quick way to lose your employer a TON of money. And not that the McMahons are out for money or anything, but I GUARANTEE you that an injury-prone main-eventer will have a hard time remaining on top of a company (boss’s daughter or no) the second he winds up losing WWE more money than its worth to feed he and Steph’s collective ego. Sure, the glory-days of “The McMahon/Helmsley Era” were pretty dismal — but at least Triple H was healthy enough to show up to work and squash new opponents on a monthly basis back then.

Word to the wise though, Hunter — try and steer clear of the juice, eh?

Edge Secures First Spot in Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Rated ‘R’ Superstar Headed Back to WrestleMania Title Shot

Interesting move by WWE here, as I was almost certain we’d be seeing Edge square off against Randy Orton in the heel “yang” to the two face-v-face title match “yins.” No matter though, as Edge is a veteran of the ladder match stipulation and brings a great amount of “main event” cred back to the contest with him so that it’s not simply reserved for midcarders like Masters, Super Crazy and Shelton Benjamin.

What will be all the more interesting, however, is whether or not Edge will walk out of this one with his WrestleMania win streak intact. So far, The Rated R Superstar is an impressive 6-0 at the Big Dance… and putting him in a multiman matchup like this one leaves things WIDE open for the guy to take an all-important loss come this year’s show. Which, if ‘Taker manages to beat Batista, will probably put the Dead Man’s WrestleMania unbeaten streak over all the more (by proxy), as he’ll be the only active superstar left on the roster with a WrestleMania winning streak left worth bragging about.

Here’s your fantasy-book 101 for the ultimate unbeaten streak showdown, though:

1) Edge wins Money in The Bank again this year (making him 7-0 at Mania).
2) ‘Taker beats Batista for the World Title in the main event (moving ‘Taker’s WrestleMania scorecard to 15-0).
3) Immediately after Undertaker beats Batista, Edge announces he’s challenging The Dead Man for the World Title — RIGHT NOW!

This way, the night ends with one huge surprise after another — as one of ‘Mania’s previously-unbeaten superstars will be going home both without a title AND without his undefeated streak.

Kinda’ cool, if they decide to go this route. Regardless, much more interesting to see how this one plays out instead of simply going the auto-booking route and giving us a one-on-one between Orton and Edge.

CM Punk Scheduled for Stardom?
Straightedge Superstar Likely to Receive a Huge Push

Remember two weeks ago when Punker was supposedly “in the doghouse” and I said not to worry?

There ya’ go.

Positivity pays, folks.

On the flipside, it’s interesting to hear that Punk might also be swapped over to RAW one of these days as a part of what looks to be another of the E’s push-to-the-moon efforts. After all, RAW is the A-show ya’ know…

But in all seriousness — while this might be disasterous for ECW, it can be nothing but good news for fans of RAW and of CM Punk in particular, as the company really seems to put the bulk of its time, effort and money into billing the stars of the red brand as *the* faces of Sports Entertainment. So yeah, sucks for ECW if Punk makes the switch — but he’s not proven integral to any of their current angles or storylines anyhow, and so I’d much rather see him take a shot at glory on another show then simply be trotted out as an all-too-quickly-overlooked “new breed” midcard who can’t seem to land an angle, feud or ongoing program that doesn’t involve carrying Mike Knox.

TNA News

TNA Releases Elix Skipper and David Young
Company Trims Roster, Loses Diamonds in The Rough

Tough break, really, as both Young and Skipper were thoroughly entertaining and ridiculously underrated. Problem, of course, was that both men were plagued by a serious lack of charisma — and Simon Diamond can only get you so far when fans could ultimately care less about you one way or the other were he not to be standing in your corner.

So what’s next for Skipper and Young? MeeThinks David Young would do well in Japan, as they seem to take quite a liking to naturally bulky white dudes who are short on charisma and big on t-shirt size (see: Bart Gunn, A-Train, Scott Norton, etc.). Skipper, meanwhile, is a solid light-heavyweight and would make a fine addition to any promotion’s undercard if given the chance. If (and this is a BIGGG “if”) WWE is serious about importing international talent to help bolster their light heavyweight ranks, you certainly could do worse than a guy like Elix Skipper.

And With That, I’m Outta’ Here

Thanks again for reading, all. Looks like spring is just about in sight, so enjoy the break from the winter weather — and always stay positive!

– Meehan