News to Start Your Weekend 8.24.07

Oh it’s a big week this week. Lots of things going on. Later on in this column I’ll have a nice little preview of the hyoooge weekend in Ring of Honor, the second night of which I will be attending. I also am filling in for Ryan Byers this week in the Impact Crater, and I have a feeling that much like a bunch of people who wrote columns last week, I’ll be able to fill in for him quite well enough. It seems like last week was the week where everybody decided enough was enough in TNA and a lot of people used the company as their focus point in their columns. I just read that backstage, a lot of the guys who had been complaining about their spots and the politic shit have gotten over it, I assume to the point that they just don’t care any more. In the realm of now they’re not even taking it seriously any more. That’s a good way to have the wrestlers in your company thinking. Way to go TNA.

– It may sound like a broken record, but I’ll report it again until it actually happens. Every week it becomes more and more likely that TNA will finally get their two hour time slot. At least twice, probably more times, they have stated that they were very close to getting two hours and it never came to fruition. This time it looks like it’s a fact. It looks like the two hour Impacts will begin at some point this October, just in time for the build to Bound for Glory.

– TNA has been teasing running a PPV in 2008 in New York City. I wonder where they could have it? Would they be able to run the Hammerstein or does WWE have that location under their hold at the moment?

– Vito claims that he’s dating Marisa Tomei. Maybe she does like bald guys. Guess the reference, queers.

– Lacey Von Erich seems to actually be serious about wrestling rather than just being a woman in the wrestling business. She wrote on her Myspace page that she’s disappointed that the girls in developmental aren’t really being trained to wrestle and are more just told to pull hair and act trashy. I’m so surprised. I do hope that she gets to train for real, isn’t brought up too soon, and can be a positive part of the women’s WRESTLING division.

– WWE is trying to get a developmental territory going in the UK, and are already in talks of getting a TV deal with MTV, the BBC or the Wrestling Channel. Paul Burchill, Katie Lea, Seamus O’Shaunessy and Drew Galloway have all been told to be ready to possibly move to the UK for this.

– Dan Rodimer, I think he was a part of the most recent Tough Enough, has been released from WWE. Stephanie McMahon was apparently high on him earlier this year or last year, but when people started telling her that he was shitty, she lost interest. He basically looked like a bigger Randy Orton with his hair cut and tattoos. I kind of liked him when he was on Tough Enough and he had a pretty good look with his mid-long bleach blonde hair and seemed to have some charisma. But when I saw him on Heat when he did that for a while this year, he looked like Orton and didn’t have any presence about him. Oh well.

– Guys! Guys! Mae Young and Moolah are going to be appearing at SummerSlam! This is gunna ROOL~!

– WWE is trying to get Bret Hart to do some sort of introduction for the new Hart Foundation group that they want to bring up some time fairly soon, but it’s very possible he won’t do it, even if it’s just an on screen thing like he did on the night Vince’s limo exploded. If he won’t do it, the Anvil is more than willing to take his place.

– Cyber Sunday might get canceled next year and they may instead run a special 3 hour RAW that Bonnie “The Stupid Cunt” Hammer seems to love, with the same concept.

– D’Lo may be returning to WWE. He’s been getting dark matches and people are apparently pushing for him backstage.

– Mark Henry may be done with WWE after Unforgiven. His contract is about to expire and he apparently has not been in talks at all about re-signing. His match with Undertaker in September may be his last.

– Mick Foley has allegedly been pushing for a more regular spot on RAW, but WWE doesn’t seem to be too positively responsive about it.

– The huge toothed goon Kevin Dunn thinks King and JR are ‘too southern’ and wants them broken up. Tazz was on RAW with JR as a test to see how they do together. Michael Hayes wants Lawler over on ECW as a commentator where he would also occasionally wrestle. I keep seeing that part reported and I don’t see how that’s any different from what he does on RAW. He does commentary and once in a while wrestles. I don’t really care either way.

– That half reality/half scripted show Lauren Jones, one of the former Diva Search whores who didn’t win but got a contract anyway, did for FOX apparently bombed in its debut Wednesday night. I’m reading that they’re immediately canceling it and will be running ‘Til Death reruns in its place on Wednesday nights. They only signed the show up for four episodes anyway, so it’s not like they had high hopes for it anyway. What a surprise, another generic blonde with no talent with a failed show.

– I honestly don’t know how accurate that statement is. Anybody know of any failed generic blonde girl shows? All I know is that very few generic blondes have any talent.

– Matt Sydal has been sent a WWE developmental contract. He also may be completely done with Ring of Honor, as he has no more dates with them scheduled and the rest of his commitments are in Japan or elsewhere from ROH. Sydal hasn’t signed the contract yet, but he is expected to.

– Rosey has been wrestling dark matches for WWE under his real name Matt Anoai. He is said to have lost a lot of weight from being on the Fat March show.

– Ric Flair may actually be retiring next year around WrestleMania time. There are plans to start running an angle around the end of this year and finish it up between the Rumble and ‘Mania.

– Batista’s new book is coming out soon, and apparently it’s a much different type of book than those you may have already read from WWE. He apparently goes on about the people he doesn’t like backstage and creative decisions he was against and whatnot. I hope they market this heavily toward children and it just fucking ruins their image of this huge superhero that they love. I might actually track down a copy of this book and give it a read. Seems interesting.

Greg was at the ROH show in Philadelphia two weeks ago and he has his thoughts about it. It was his first ROH show:

Just wanted to give you a different perspective on Saturday. It was my first ROH show, and I mean ever, not just live. I had little to no knowledge of any of the wrestlers, or back-stories, aside from the Briscoes V. Steenericho stuff on the roh site, and what I read here on 411. To start, the “dream match” I thought was boring, neither guy really came off as all that great, or showed personality to win me over. (although the Danielson joke was pretty funny) The ‘dream match’ to me was actually one of the poorer matches, and I liked the women better, since at least Lacey showed she’s an obnoxious bitch, and I liked that. Both of the Briscoe’s matches were great, and the crowd loved it, the man-up chants during Jay’s ten counts were awesome. I thought both Evans and Deranged deserved the “Don’t some back” chants, as that match was terrible. They both blew a ton of moves, and the ones Evans did hit just looked cheesey and fake. I thought both tag matches were great for what they were, either comedy or brutality. Nigel came off as an ass-kicker despite being second fiddle to the KOW storyline. Erick Stevens came off as Tommy Dreamer 2k7, and if you think Matt Cross had a break-out performance, then he did. Because I didn’t know he was a second tier guy, and to me he came off as a reckless bad-ass. Finally the title match was great, and I immediately got behind Albright, and was sure we saw the title change hands. Morishima was solid, but with the language barrier, I don’t think he’ll ever truly connect, and he just ends up like a boring JBL. A guy who hits hard, and looks like he’s legit kicking somebody’s ass, but without the promo work, why should I care one way or the other. Oh, and that back-suplex sucked as a finisher back when Michaels used it when Sherri was his manager in ’92, and it sucks now. That being the move that ended Albright’s night really deflated the crowd, because it looked weak as shit. Not to sound too negative, I loved the show, and I’ll be there on 11-2, and maybe i’ll do the opposite of you and drive North on the turnpike to Edison for the PPV.

– I noted above that Matt Sydal is close to signing his developmental contract with WWE. He has no future dates scheduled for Ring of Honor, which means he may have had his last match for the company. Larry Sweeney is on top of the world right now, as he has gotten a big WWE deal for a very, very new member of Sweet ‘n Sour Inc and he’s the guy to be associated with right now. He only has one championship talent in his stable at the moment, though. I’m sure he wants more of that. More on this later.

– The 9/14 show in Detroit will be named “Motor City Madness 2007”. It will happen the night before the big third PPV taping on 9/15 in Chicago. At the 9/14 show, the Briscoes, if they are still the tag champions, will put their belts on the line against storied rivals Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries. Danielson still has Aries’ share of the 10,000 dollars from last month’s tag match. How will Danielson and Aries interact, and will Aries get his money if he and Danielson can win the tag gold?

Ring of Honor: Caged Rage in Hartford, CT
Friday, August 24, 2007 at the Connecticut Expo Center

Austin Aries, Matt Cross & Erick Stevens v. Jason Blade, Eddie Edwards & Pelle Primeau

– Austin Aries has decreed that the other two members of his Resilience will be put to the test tonight in Hartford. After a big loss against the No Remorse Corps on the second night of Death Before Dishonor V weekend in the street fight, Austin Aries wants to see if Matt Cross and Erick Stevens can handle the pressure and really want to stay in this war as a part of the Resilience. They will team up with Aries to take on the team of Blade, Edwards and Pelle Primeau, and if any of those three men can pin Stevens or Cross, that man will take the spot of the man he pins. That means that after tonight, the Resilience may no longer have either Cross or Stevens and may have Blade, Edwards or Primeau as a new member. What happens if Aries gets pinned?

Hallowicked v. Chris Hero

– Chris Hero has a big match on Saturday night against former best friend and teammate Claudio Castagnoli, but he will have to deal with Chikarmy member Hallowicked, a guy who has looked impressive thus far in Ring of Honor. Hero may only be looking at this match as a warm up, but Hallowicked may be able to do some serious damage if he can knock off Hero tonight. It will do a lot for his standing currently in Ring of Honor if Hallowicked can defeat a big star, and it may get into Hero’s head going into his match with Claudio. Hallowicked has nothing to lose and everything to gain tonight against Chris Hero.

Nigel McGuinness v. BJ Whitmer v. Adam Pearce v. Delirious

– This match was supposed to feature just BJ Whitmer versus Adam Pearce, but something went on and Nigel and Delirious were added to the match to make it a Four Corner Survival. Tonight is the 158th show in Ring of Honor history and the 161st is coming very soon… could that have anything to do with it? What do the events of the Respect is Earned PPV in which Pearce spoke with Whitmer have to do with this, if anything? What did Pearce say to BJ? That cryptic promo from Adam Pearce was interesting, and this happening may be the beginning of us figuring out what it meant.

Bryan Danielson v. PAC

– August 24 and 25 will be the weekend of PAC’s United States Ring of Honor debut, and it’s not going to be easy for him. Tonight he will step in the ring with just about the best ROH has to offer in the Best Wrestler in the World Bryan Danielson. A couple weeks ago in Philadelphia Mike Quackenbush largely strayed from his high flying tactics and tried to take it to the ground with Dragon and his strategy did not work out well for him. PAC is a very lauded high flying star and has done some very amazing things. Will he be able to use his aerial abilities to bring Danielson down a notch on the way to his shot at the Ring of Honor World Title? How huge would it be if PAC could take down the American Dragon?

ROH World Title: Takeshi Morishima v. Brent Albright v. Claudio Castagnoli

– On Death Before Dishonor weekend, ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima came VERY close to losing his title in both of his defenses. In Roxbury he defended in what is said to have been an incredible match against Claudio Castagnoli and the following night Morishima almost lost his title in the same place he won it, Philadelphia, to Brent Albright. Tonight he will put his title on the line against both men in the same match. Interestingly, this is the first time Takeshi Morishima has ever been in a triple threat match. Will Albright and Castagnoli take advantage of this and team up on the dominant champion and try to fight it out amongst themselves? This match is one fall to a finish, not elimination style, so they will all have to watch their backs. Whoever comes out on top in this one can’t rest for very long, either, because they will be faced with a very hungry American Dragon Bryan Danielson the following night, and Danielson wants his title back.

Steel Cage Match: Jack Evans v. Roderick Strong

– Jack Evans and Roderick Strong were once a very good tag team in Ring of Honor. They are former members of the great stable Generation Next and they used to be great friends. But after Roderick Strong turned on Austin Aries in New York City this February, Strong took the phrase “if you’re not with me, you’re against me” to heart. Jack Evans has said that he doesn’t want to take sides, which means to Roderick that Jack is against him. The men have fought multiple times in brutal battles over the past couple of months, and all throughout that time Evans has not had a crew at his side. Jack has promised that his crew is coming soon, so while the war with Strong may be over after this cage match, the battle between Evans and the NRC might just be beginning. Roderick Strong has defeated Jack Evans twice this year, but in their most recent battle, out in Japan where Jack is very comfortable, Evans was able to pick up the victory. Will Roderick Strong be able to up the brutality in this cage match or will Evans be able to use the environment to his advantage as a high flyer to defeat his former friend once more?

Steel Cage Match, ROH Tag Titles: Jay & Mark Briscoe v. Kevin Steen & El Generico

– As the article on ROH’s website said, this started off very innocently and as a good competitive battle. But with Kevin Steen involved, can it really ever stay that way? With the volatile nature of Kevin Steen and his big attitude problem combined with the temper of the Briscoes and their love for their tag team titles, this rivalry was sure to become more than just a friendly rivalry. After Steen attacked Mark Briscoe and went after his recently concussed head months ago, this feud elevated to a new level, and then it elevated to an even higher level two weeks ago when the violence was encouraged. Steen and Generico may have the number of Jay and Mark. The Briscoes lost in a street fight tag in Roxbury after Steen brought a ladder into play and utilized his devastating package piledriver, and then both Steen and Generico took singles matches the next night when Generico defeated Mark in a Falls Count Anywhere match and Steen kept Jay down for a 10 count in a Lights Out match. Steen and Generico will finally get their shot at the ROH World Tag Team Titles this weekend. Tonight they have their chance inside a steel cage, and if they can’t finish the Briscoes there, they have a 2/3 falls match in NYC tomorrow. If they can win in the cage, then they will defend their belts tomorrow night against the Briscoes.

Ring of Honor: Manhattan Mayhem II in New York City
Saturday, August 25, 2007 at the Manhattan Center

Matt Cross & Erick Stevens v. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw

– This is Quack’s final match in Ring of Honor for the year 2007. He wasn’t supposed to have any more dates, but this Saturday has been freed up, and the NYC crowd will get to see Mike Quackenbush for the first time. He and Jigsaw have looked very good in ROH tag team competition even on the losing end of matches, and Stevens and Cross have been put under a lot of pressure by Austin Aries. This could be a good opportunity for the already impressive Chikarmy duo to finish their, or at least Quack’s time in 2007 in Ring of Honor with a victory that will put him in place for more high profile dates in 2008. There’s no issue between the competitors, but this looks like it will be a very good match with plenty of high flying and interesting spots. It’s definitely one to look forward to.

Nigel McGuinness v. BJ Whitmer

– In a return match of their contest in Osaka, Japan, BJ Whitmer will have a chance to get his first victory since the final show of the Fifth Year Festival back at the beginning of March. Whitmer lost to Nigel in Japan but he may be able to grab a victory in New York. Will BJ’s recent mean streak be an asset to him or will it cost him another victory this Saturday?

Davey Richards v. PAC

– In PAC’s second match for ROH in the US, he will take on the No Remorse Corps’ Davey Richards. It’s another match where he will have to test his high flying abilities against a very hard hitting ground specialist. We all know that PAC will wow the audience with his athletic abilities, but will he be able to use it to defeat the violent Davey Richards?

Chris Hero v. Claudio Castagnoli

– Claudio and Hero were once the best of friends, and now they have begun to become worst enemies. Hero attacked Claudio a couple weeks ago in Philadelphia and destroyed his Race to the Top trophy both on the mat and on Claudio’s forehead and left the Most Money Making Man lying on the mat bleeding. This Saturday will be the first time the two men will be in the ring together in one on one competition and not only will Claudio finally be able to get his hands on his new nemesis, but it may have some big World Title consequences. If Hero can get a victory on Claudio, who has looked very impressive against the World Champion, it may put him right up into contention for the title. And what if Claudio walks out of Hartford tonight with the title? One would expect that this match might not be for the World Title, but a victory against the World Champion here would absolutely give Hero a future title shot. That’s getting a bit ahead of ourselves, though, but either way this is a very important match for both men, and chances are no matter what the outcome, this rivalry is very far from over.

Austin Aries v. Roderick Strong v. Jack Evans

– In the first meeting between all three of the leaders of top factions in ROH, even though Jack’s faction has yet to be seen, three former Generation Next members will do battle in a triple threat match. Aries is coming off a leg injury suffered a couple weeks back in Roxbury suffered at the hands of the No Remorse Corps and it only got worse during the huge street fight in Philly. Roderick Strong and Jack Evans will be coming off their cage match in Hartford here, and all three men will be looking to put themselves in the forefront of this rivalry. Strong and Aries have yet to have a one on one meeting since Strong turned on Aries back in February, but they will be here against each other without either of their groups involved in the match. Will any of the groups be involved in this one? Will Aries’ group even still be in its original form by the time this one goes down? A victory on Saturday night will be most important for Aries and Evans. Aries needs to prove that he and his faction can win matches and are worthy foes for the NRC, and Evans needs to prove that he should be a part of this feud and can hang with his former stablemates. Roderick Strong would surely love a victory here as another feather in his cap, as he and his strong No Remorse Corps have been very successful since forming, especially against Aries and Evans.

2/3 Falls Match, ROH Tag Titles: Jay & Mark Briscoe v. Kevin Steen & El Generico

– Who will be the tag team champions coming into this match? Will that team have the advantage? We know that both teams will be beaten down from their big cage match against each other the night before. That much is for sure. We also know that it seems like Generico & Steen may have the number of the Briscoes. Jay and Mark have been absolutely dominant in 2 out of 3 falls matches, winning multiple ones in 2007, and winning them all in two straight falls. This kind of match has become the go to match for the reigning tag team champions, and it will be the deciding match of the huge feud between these two teams that began all the way back in February. Will the Briscoes be able to continue their dominance or will the hot team of Kevin Steen & El Generico be able to unseat Jay and Mark in their signature match?

Ring of Honor World Title: Takeshi Morishima v. Bryan Danielson

– We’re not even sure right now if Morishima will still be champion after facing the challenge of Claudio Castagnoli and Brent Albright in Hartford. However I would be willing to bet that Bryan Danielson wants him to retain the belt tonight. Danielson wants to be the guy to take the title off of this monster, and he feels like he has the right strategy to tame the beast and take the title that he feels is rightfully his. Morishima has been champion since the middle of February and almost nobody has even come close to ending his reign. He has had a few scares, including his two most recent defenses, but other than that he has been solid. Is the solid streak of wins over? Is Morishima, as Austin Aries speculated in an interview recently, beginning to weaken now that he is six months into his reign as the Ring of Honor World Champion? It looks like we’re going to find out this weekend. Two weeks ago Morishima had his toughest weekend as a defending champion to date. This weekend is going to be even tougher. Two challengers who alone both almost defeated him on Friday and a challenger on Saturday who held the title for 15 months and was just as dominant as Morishima, a man who knows how to hold the title and more importantly for Saturday, knows how to win it. It will be a very interesting and intriguing weekend for the foreign monster.

– I really don’t have much to say about WWE TV this week. RAW was really bad, and I don’t care about SummerSlam, at least not the way they probably want me to. My concern is that they’re going to put the title on Randy Orton at the wrong time after a really shitty and poorly done “feud” with John Cena.

– ECW was okay this week, but not up to par with recent ventures of the brand. I am looking forward to the Punk/Morrison match this Sunday.

– I’ll have my Impact thoughts up soon in the Impact Crater. As I said above, I’m filling in for Byers this week who has prior commitments.

Greg Clark wrote me an email:

Another good article again today. You are completely correct about TNA, what the fuck are they thinking? It truly seems like they are trying to put on a bad product. Get rid of Pacman, get your 2 hours, and start pushing some of your homegrown talent. Kaz, for example, is bad ass in the ring, but is never on TV. Completely frustrating that company is.

I’m with you on that. Kazarian did get some good screen time this week, though. We’ll see how it turns out.

Andrew J. LaBarge wasn’t a fan of a comment I made last week:

Hi, I first want to say that I love the column and all the stuff you guys do there at 411(insert foley smile and thumbs up). But I just want to say something about this line:

Now I am not trying to come of like an asshole, but I think the Missing link thing was out of line. The man just died of cancer at the age of 68. Making light of something like this when so many people have lost loved ones to cancer is a little callous. I am not saying anything about Brian Adams because we do not know how he passed. And just to make my point clear how you die does affect how one should be talked about after they are gone. I think that Adams probably died from something drug or steroid related, thats not fact, just more of a feeling. He probably died from something he did to himself where as cancer is a lot of times unforeseen and random to those that it strikes. Thank you for the time and keep up the great work.

David Plows also didn’t like it:

I know that you will undoubtedly defend it as “humorous” and “no harm intended”, but your comment that Bryan Adams and the Missing Link (whose real name is John Roberts, by the way – at least give him that much respect) “reportedly killed themselves for TNA’s sake when hearing that the company had interest in signing them” was, at best, in poor taste, and at worst, a slap in the face to their memories and to the families and friends of both wrestlers. For God’s sake, both men have not even been put in their graves yet (at the time of your column). Mr. Roberts died of cancer, and the cause of Mr. Adams death has not even been determined yet, and you are already using their deaths to “enhance” the so-called humor in your columns. And add to the fact that these deaths come so close to the tragic events in the Chris Benoit case, and it just seems like that is was ill-advised to even go in that direction anyhow. Just one man’s opinion – for what it’s worth.

Both of you, please get over yourselves. It was a little throwaway joke. It meant nothing and I wasn’t disrespecting anybody.

QUICK ‘N DIRTY FOR SUMMERSLAM

– Cena, Khali, Punk, Mysterio, Triple H, Umaga, Beth Phoenix, Kane

That’s all I got this week. SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYA