Your News, My Views 1.08.08

Today in Wrestling History:

Births and Deaths:

Damn Csonka’s good…

ECW on Sci-Fi Preview: 15-Minutes to Reign…

From WWE.com:

It’s a new year in the Land of Extreme, and Chavo Guerrero revisited ECW, aiming to defeat CM Punk for the chance at an ECW Title Match. But Guerrero’s New Year’s Resolution was broken when CM Punk defeated him by count-out. The Straightedge Superstar got his retribution against Guerrero, but is this truly the end for Punk and Guerrero?

With the help of Kelly Kelly this week, Shannon Moore & Jimmy Wang Yang again took on The Miz & John Morrison, who teamed up with Layla. With Tuesday night’s win, Moore & Wang have defeated the WWE Tag Team Champions twice in a row. They’ll take part in next week’s special 15 Minutes of Fame Tag Team Challenge against The Miz & Morrison. The team that scores the most decisions in 15 minutes wins the gold!

Colin Delaney returned to WWE for more punishment, as the young newcomer was brutally defeated by Big Daddy V, who has proven once again he’s the Most Dominating Force in WWE.

Shelton Benjamin continued his winning streak, defeating James Curtis on Tuesday night. ECW’s “Gold Standard” has yet to suffer a loss in ECW. Is it only a matter of time before the “Gold Standard” is wearing ECW gold?

Your News: John Cena’s recovery is said to be going well. Word is that he is slightly ahead of schedule. The hope right now is that he will be back right after WrestleMania with the worst case scenario being that he returns right before summer.

My Views: This is not surprising to me at all. Cena is firstly a work out freak, and if I remember correctly went to school for something to do with physical conditioning. He knows how to rehab, he knows the right foods to eat and he knows what not to do during the rehab process. So the news that he could possibly come back early doesn’t shock me.

But now the question comes, if he is 90% and medically cleared, do you try to show horn him into WrestleMania? I say no. Here is why. WrestleMania is WrestleMania. I think they will do over 600,000 domestic buys as long as they build like they have the last few years, and will do over 1-million world wide when all is said and done. They don’t NEED John Cena to make this show a big success. Sure the return of John Cena with the right opponent could possibly pull in close to another 100,000 buys for WrestleMania, but why waste it there on a show that traditionally does very well? Why not save him for Backlash or another post WM show that will doles buys, and milk the return there and hope for the boost in buys there. That way you’re getting the best of both worlds.

Your News: Randy Orton is getting some praise in the locker room these days. The basics are that he isn’t taking any flack from HHH or Shawn Michaels. While the crew was in Iraq, Umaga was getting new tights made. Apparently he selected some colors that the seamstress said he couldn’t use because, “They were HHH’s colors.” Umaga insisted and had the tights made. Michaels apparently threw a fit when he saw this and Randy Orton stood up for Umaga. Right now Orton has the feeling that he is untouchable, like Shawn Michaels used to have, which is why he feels he can stand up to HHH and Shawn, which has earned him the respect. There is still the feeling that HHH buries people when he has the chance, unless it is Cena. Many feel that HHH is responsible for Booker T leaving the promotion due to the booking of their Summerslam match.

My Views: And to Randy Orton I say good for you. It is refreshing to write something positive about Orton these days. Too many times we have to discuss his drug problems, trashing hotel rooms and or shitting in bags and it gets depressing. This is one of those instances where the backstage bullshit is just that, bullshit. HHH’s colors? Oh really, for fuck sake. Ridiculous. But apparently young Randall is earning respect while HHH is losing it. To clear up one thing, while the BERRIAL by HHH played a part in Booker wanting out, Booker was actually in talks with TNA before Summerslam, and what really set his leaving in motion was the suspension.

Your News: Randy Orton made what are some “controversial comments” in a recent interview: On what he wants to bring to wrestling: I’m young, I’m good at what I do. Hopefully, me being young and good at what I do opens the door for other people in this business who are at a young age and accelerating at a high rate. Talent like Mr. Kennedy, John Cena, Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, Brian Kendrick and Paul London. I would like to take the game away from the guys in the over 40-club -Triple H, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. It’s at the point where their bodies are so broken down, they can’t really hang with the younger guys. We have our injuries, we make our mistakes – personal and professional – and we learn from them. What I would like to bring to the industry is the next generation of men and women to represent athleticism, attitude, charisma, and the overall perception of being young talent as opposed to (laughs) old, balding talent.

My Views: Well it appears as if Orton’s “untouchable” attitude spans to interviews now. While applaud him on the notion that the young guys need a chance, I do have to say that the opinion that those guys cannot hang anymore is BULLSHIT. Taker had some great matches with Batista last year. HBK had great matches all year with everyone as well. Hell, as much as many of us bitch about Hunter he has recently had good matches with Hardy and ORTON himself. Some say it is all in character, but when you make remarks like this, there is always some truth behind it.

Your News: WWE Survivor Series did about 340,000 buys in 2007, way down from 395,000 buys in 2006 and 405,000 buys in 2005.

My Views: Well then this is a disturbing trend. WWE Survivor Series is one of the big four PPV’s, and WWE expects the big four shows to do between 400,000-500,000 buys (internal estimates.) So in 2005 they were in that window, but over the last two years have seen the PPV drop by 65,000 buys. That is not going to make the company happy. I think the reason for the drop is that the last two years they have put on 14-15 PPV’s a year, secondly there was a string of BAD WWE PPV events through the summer, Sumerslam included, No Mercy and so on. People get pissed off when shows aren’t that good or very bad, which some were, and maybe they decided that the Survivor Series wasn’t going to do it for them, and opted not to buy. And you really couldn’t blame them. Finally, there was NO John Cena. The man has been on top, they have had the resurgence in house show business and live gates overall, and now he is gone. I think you all it all together and you have an easy formula for losing 65,000 buys.

Your News: Maria will be the WWE Diva posing for Playboy this year as part of the WrestleMania promotion.

– Maryse, who appears on Smackdown, is part of the Playboy’ “2008 Hottest Nudes” calendar. She is Miss January.

My Views: Maryse has already done nudes, no big deal as she’s rather generic. Blond, big tits, nice legs; not that there is anything wrong with that, but it is nothing new. Maria is getting some major attention as she is someone that people have wanted to see the goods on. I have no objection, I’ll check out the pictures when they hit the net.

Your News: JR was on the sidelines for the Oklahoma Bowl Game last night. The TV crew showed JR during the 4th quarter, looking noticeably disappointed, and then made a comment that JR couldn’t be happy with how things were going.

My Views: Some people have taken to bitching, asking why this was deemed important enough to post as a news bite. So why was it important enough to post? This is why:

DISAPPOINTED~!

Your News: Torrie Wilson and Nick Mitchell, who she is dating, are opening up a clothing store called “Jaded” in The Woodlands, TX. Wilson says she has always had a love for clothes, and could never find the kind of stuff she wanted in Woodlands. They plan on franchising the place and already have an official website up at www.officiallyjaded.com.

My Views: And I say good for them. All too often we hear the tales of the old time wrestlers who are broke at the end of life due to them not saving what money they made due to one thing or another. Thankfully many of this generation have learned from the mistakes and have retired early, start schools like Lance Strom and Booker T and or other businesses like this. I wish them the best of luck and hope that the store is a big hit for them. These are the good stories that I like to write about.

Your News: Speaking of Torrie, she is still having back problems. She recently posted the following message on her Myspace page:

“On the health front, my back problems don’t seem to be getting any better and I am actually starting to feel worse believe it or not! It’s gotten to the point that I can barely stand up in the morning. I’ve never really been hurt before so this is really, REALLY annoying to me. I can’t stand feeling frail and just want to go back to my active lifestyle. I am looking into another type of treatment right now that looks promising so let’s hope this problem goes away soon. Please pray for me! I have actually been out of the action in the wrestling ring for quite some time and am really starting to miss it.”

My Views: While I don’t particularly think that Torrie is a good wrestler, I never like to hear about anyone being injured. Being injured like this takes away from what you do for a living, and in all reality puts her job in jeopardy. This is another reason that I am glad that she opened up her clothing store, because if this is a serious thing that ends up putting her career to an end, she’ll thankfully have something to fall back on. Here’s to hoping she recovers soon.

Your News: Ron Killings has been in talks with WWE, but has not been signed. He has been offered a contract and it is very likely that he will end up signing with the company.

My Views: This is actually surprising to me. I fully expected Killings to go to AAA because of Konnan booking the promotion and because he had planned to work a lot with X-Pac, who is down there. That being said I do still think that he and Elijah Burke would make a fun tag team and wouldn’t mind that happening to strengthen up the division.

Your News: Marijuana testing is considered “non-existent” at this point. They are testing once a year, with a fine of $1,000 for a failed test.

My Views: Is anyone REALLY surprised? Really? Are you? Really? This was just an addition to the existing policy, which from day one has been flawed, to take attention off of them. They know that a lot of the locker room uses marijuana, and as long as they “appear to test” then they feel that they are in the clear. I wonder what CM Punk thinks about all of this?

CM PUNK: “Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…”

Your News: Snitsky qualified for the WWE Royal Rumble at a show by defeating Drew McIntyre. Hardcore Holly also did, defeating Trevor Murdoch. WWE will be going qualifying matches on TV and on house shows leading up to the Rumble. John Morrison and The Miz qualified for the Royal Rumble today by beating Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore at the WWE Smackdown/ECW house show in Johnstown, PA. Yang and Moore qualified yesterday by beating Morrison and Miz.

My Views: This is actually a fun little deal. We all know that nothing important really happens on house shows, so at the very least the people go home feeling as if they saw something “semi-important.” I like this idea, and think that they should do more of this kind of thing when they can. The tag team one was wacky though, I have to admit.

Your News: Ashley Massaro addressed the crowd at the RAW house show in White Plains, NY last night. She is expected to return to the RAW brand.

My Views: I was wondering when they were going to bring Ashley back, and it appears as if it will be any day now since she is back on house shows. Truth be told I haven’t missed her at all. She isn’t good in the ring, as she wrestles like she is under water and they already have enough chicks that stand around to look good and can’t wrestle. Also add onto it that that they seem to be transitioning her to Raw, and I highly doubt that they will provide any explanation to that move, which goes back to the brand extension argument, being that it is a constant exercise in the wrong execution of the right idea.

Intermission kids, let’s party!

TNA SEEMS TO FINALLY HAVE A DRUG TESTING POLICY STATING: TNA’s Terry Taylor told the wrestlers prior to the Final Resolution PPV tonight that TNA will institute drug testing at the 1/21-1/22 Impact tapings in Orlando, FL. These will likely be baseline tests to determine levels of use for steroids, painkillers, and illegal narcotics. No word yet on punishments.

Drug testing has been talked about internally in TNA for months and the wrestlers seemed receptive to the announcement.

My Views: To start off with, many have emailed and asked if “I am going to take credit” for this. Obviously not. But I would like to think that the amount of people constantly calling out the promotion on their lack of announced and or public drug policy had something to do with it. Now, it is all well and good that they have announced “drug testing.” But what disturbs me is the fact that next to no details have been announced. They haven’t said what they will test for, if these are in fact just baseline tests, how often they will test, and or what forms of punishment that they will hand out for offenses. So while this is a nice announcement, I will not believe it until I see it actually in action. Because let’s be serious, if they did legit testing, a LOT of that locker room would be suspended. Let’s hope that this is for real. And for those worrying about me filling column space, as you’ll notice from this week’s column, I am having no problem doing so.

Your News: Stars from New Japan Pro Wrestling will work the next set of TNA Tapings, which fall on January 21st and 22nd.

My Views: Good deal, I have mentioned many times that this could be a good thing for both companies, if booked well. This particularly can help TNA since this is something you’ll never see in WWE. I wonder if that young up and comer Curry Man will be making the trip?

Your News: Apparently many people in Canada were unable to order the TNA Final Resolution PPV from Viewer’s Choice last night. TNA says that there was an equipment malfunction that kept Viewer’s Choice from providing the PPV.

My Views: As if TNA needs more obstacles preventing the purchasing of their PPV’s, I mean, wow, that sucks for them. I heard from a guy who ordered the show and went out, came back to start his DVD and had three hours of test pattern. Needless to say this did not make this man happy. Let’s hope that TNA and Viewer’s Choice can get this settled before the next show, because this is the kind of thing that turns people off of buying PPV.

Your News: Immediately following Sunday’s “Final Resolution” Pay-Per-View event, TNA Wrestling management informed TNAwrestling.com that a rematch has been made for this Thursday night on “iMPACT!” as Gail Kim will once again defend the Women’s Championship against Awesome Kong!

Following the all-out brawl between Gail and Kong on Sunday night, apparently both TNA femme fatales demanded another bout take place ASAP to settle their issues – and management has obliged by signing a title rematch for Thursday night’s broadcast!

My Views: Wait…wait…let me get this straight. Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong has been the best-booked feud in the company. Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong have been having great matches. Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong has been getting great crowd reactions. Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong has been making women’s wrestling seem important for the first time in a long time on the national stage. Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong has a chance to draw money. TNA is heading to South Carolina next month for a PPV, an event that they can actually sell tickets at and make money, but they are going to give away a HEATED rematch on FREE TV with NO BUILD, and I am sorry the Internet doesn’t count as build. This, unfortunately, doesn’t surprise me. People are going to argue that having 1.2-1.5 million people see the title change will be more important, but the feud has been build well and could have been a hook for PPV buys. Having the match on TV to me is a mistake, and thusly…

NO FN BUYS~!

Your News: The InDemand website has this description of the TNA Against All Odds PPV for 2/10.

“Razor sharp edges ready to rip, tear, and feed on flesh and bone. A modern day torture chamber… Barbed wire massacre two! Every man’s nightmare… A masochists dream… Let the bloodbath begin…”

My Views: I think we can safely assume that this will be Mesias vs. Abyss. The first one with Sabu was a good match, of course that also depends on if you like this kind of match. Also, this goes back to the point of constant gore with the tacks and such. This will not mean nearly as much considering that people see Abyss bleeding and doing gimmick shit almost weekly. But they’re going to cut themselves up and likely have fun doing it.

Your News: The reason the TNA Title didn’t change hands during the DQ finish to the Christian Cage/Kurt Angle match in Montreal last week was because someone goofed when booking the match and forgot that TNA changes titles on DQ.

My Views: And in all seriousness, this does not surprise me. This is a company that was too concerned on running a 10-year old WWF Angle for this house show swing. Now one can say that the DQ rule left with the NWA Title, but then again, they have NEVER said it was gone. Just like they didn’t remind us about it before the title change happened on it, and why it meant nothing because 90% of TNA main event SHOULD have a DQ ending, but the authority figure is always booked like a complete goof. This is an EPIC FAIL!

Your News: Starting on Saturday 1/5 in Great Britain, Impact will move permanently to the main Bravo channel starting at 9PM.

My Views: Well that’s good news. Improving TV slots is always a good thing for the company, and it is a nice start for them in the New Year. Good news is always good, and TNA could use some these days.

Your News: ROH promoter Gabe Sapolsky was involved in a car wreck over the weekend in Philadelphia.

My Views: Apparently his car went out of control and was hit by a truck, which totaled the car. Thankfully he is ok, although he needed 18-stitches to close a head wound. Gabe had posted on the ROH Message Board and all appears to be well. Get well soon Gabe.

Your News: Stemming from her Howard Stern appearance, Leticia Cline called into the show again to update Howard and crew on her situation. Apparently her father will not talk to her after the appearance and she had lost her Moto-cross job. She announced that she had signed with the Rio Heroes MMA promotion to do announcing work. Also, she has had talks with WWE, but doesn’t like the schedule, as she only wants to work a few days a week. As far as TNA goes, she would like to return to the company because she considers them like family.

My Views: I love how she was offended that she was fired from the one job, after appearing nude on Stern. HOW DARE THEY! Her father apparently won’t talk to her because on the show, either her or someone on the show referred to him as a racist. Nice. As far as WWE, if she only wants to work a few days a week, she’ll never get the job. They won’t make a special schedule for her, in their eyes she isn’t shit and they already have 15 other generic chicks that are interchangeable. Also, I don’t understand why she would want to go back to TNA when they released her, and she was apparently very angry about it.

Your News: Former WWE and WCW star Jacques Rougeau was married in the ring on December 29th to long time girlfriend Nancy Menard. The wedding was described as a “Brady Bunch” atmosphere, with Rougeau’s three sons in the ring along with Menard’s five children.

My Views: Well that’s a pretty damn cool story. Let’s wish the happy couple all of the best in their marriage. Interestingly enough, Jacques Rougeau then wrestled in the main event of the show, defeating Kurgan of WWF fame. The show drew 2,200 fans, which is almost double what TNA drew two night’s earlier. Marriage = BUYS~!

Your News: TLC will start airing a new reality show on 1/22 called The Bussey Bunch. The show will follow the Bussey family, which promotes independent wrestling shows in Arlington, TX. Two episodes will air on 1/22 at 9PM ET and 9:30PM ET.

My Views: Damn, I was really hoping this would be about Gary Busey. His stint on Celebrity Fit club was EPIC! Anyway, I will certainly check this show out. I am curious to see if they are a traditional wrestling family, in other words, dysfunctional. If that’s the case, there should be plenty of entertainment fun to be had.

Your News: Former TNA X-Division champion The Amazing Red is training to make a full comeback to the ring. Red had left the business while he healed his knee following several surgeries.

My Views: I hope that he has recovered from the knee injuries. He had suffered some severe knee damage and kept working, including a job match on TNA that saw him limp to the ring, bad limping like Konnan before his hip surgery. So in that aspect, I hope he has recovered fully and that his comeback is a huge success. My thoughts on Red as a wrestler are, well, he can be fun. He’s like Rey Mysterio stripped of all of the knowledge he has acquired on the art of working a match. Red is a great gut to have for wacky scrambles, gauntlets and matches that will be a giant spot festival. That isn’t a bad thing, but not someone you want to build a company or division around. Hopefully in this comeback effort he learns the things that have held him back as a worker, because he does and gets that aspect of psychology down, he is an awesomely sympathetic baby face character. Below is a video of him training with Xavier and the S.A.T. Somehow I don’t see his ring psychology improving working with the S.A.T.

Your News: Big Vision Entertainment is releasing a DVD called: Best of Rey Misterio Jr – The Early Years. The DVD will be filled with matches before he broke onto the US scene with ECW. There will be matches with Psicosis, Juvi, La Parka, Octagon, Pentagon, Halloween and Damien. Konnan and Larry Rivera (of XPW fame) will be doing Spanish commentary while Kris Kloss will be doing the English voiceovers.

My Views: Oh yes, this is cool news. The Big Vision releases have been good thus far as far as production and layout. DVD’s like this I feel are the way to go in terms of making money. You get footage of a guy like Rey, who is popular in the current WWE product. This DVD then contains footage that WWE has no ownership of, which is rare these days since they seem to own so much footage. You then market it as such, “Best of Rey Misterio Jr – The Early Years.” And then emphasize the DVD, such as, “Before he became a World Champion for WWE, Rey Misterio Jr was a young sensation in Mexico. See his battles with Psicosis, Juvi, La Parka, Octagon, Pentagon, Halloween and Damien before the lucha craze hit America!” Seriously, that’s money to me. They should do well with this release and I can’t wit to check it out.

Your News: Bobby Heenan’s initial surgery on December 14th to repair his jaw, which was damaged due to radiation therapy failed. December 18th, four days after the surgery, while Heenan was in a medically induced coma they redid the surgery. The surgery saw bone being taken from his legs to reconstruct his damaged jaw. Heenan remained in another induced coma for another week, through December 26th. The comas were so that Heenan would not move, to allow the surgery time to heal and the reconstruction set it. He will now undergo a much longer recuperation period than first thought.

My Views: My God that sucks, not only did he have to have the initial surgery, but he had to have it again and stay in the coma for longer than first anticipated. Could you imagine waking up and it being after Christmas like that, when you planned to be awake 5 or so days before that? Wow. In all honestly the Brain is in my prayers. That man has entertained me for years and still does through his commentary. 24/7 has reminded me even more of that fact. I hope that this surgery works and that soon enough Heenan can return home and enjoy eating again.

Your News: The rumors regarding Hustler publishing nude photos of the late Nancy Benoit are true. The photos will run in January, and are from before she was involved in Pro Wrestling. Mark Samansky, who is an Orlando DJ, took the photos for her as she was looking into nude modeling. She would get into wrestling and the photos were thought to have been destroyed; but Hustler obtained the negatives and will run the spread.

My Views: Question kids, name a business sleazier and with less moral fiber than pro wrestling. If you answered with a variation of “the adult entertainment industry” then YOU are correct. To me this has nothing to do with the fact that it is Nancy Benoit, what I hate is that someone with a degree of popularity dies and right away people dig for dirt to make the almighty dollar. God we live in a shitty world.

Your News: There are current negotiations going on with the creators of Mucha Lucha to run “Mucha Lucha” themed wrestling shows. The shows would be based off of the characters of the Mucha Lucha cartoon, and be aimed towards children and families. The shows would take place at county fairs in the Southwest and West Coast in 2008.

My Views: Mucha Lucha FTW~! I think that this is a good idea for various reasons. First of all, there is not a wrestling group geared towards children, and untapped resource. Second of all Much Lucha is a popular cartoon. Thirdly, you can play off of that coveted Hispanic demographic. Fourthly, and this doesn’t completely apply since this is a small scale thing, but I still believe that a Lucha group would do HUGE business in America with the right backing and TV deal. If this shit came close to me you could be the family and I would be in attendance.

Your News: NWA WRESTLING SHOWCASE” BEGINS JAN 16, 2008 ON THE DISH NETWORK January 3, 2008 (Charlotte, NC) – The National Wrestling Alliance® and Colours Television announced today that the “NWA Wrestling Showcase” will premiere on Wednesday January 16, 2008 on Dish Network Channel 9407. The program will air at 9:00 PM (EST)/6:00 PM (PST) and replay 2:00 AM (EST – Thursday)/11:00 PM (PST – Wednesday).

The hour-long program features NWA World Heavyweight Champion “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce, NWA World Tag Team Champions “The Real American Heroes” Joey Ryan and Karl “Machine Gun” Anderson, NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Mike Quackenbush, NWA Ladies World Champion The Amazing Kong, NWA North American Champion Mike DiBiase and NWA National Champion Pepper Parks. Other personalities you can expect to see are Blue Demon, Jr., Nicho the Millionaire (formerly Psicosis), Rob Conway, “Special E” Dinsmore, Puma, Rocky Romero, Cassandro the Exotic, the team of Los Luchas and many, many more

From January 18 to April 2008, Las Vegas and the Plaza Hotel and Casino will play host to the monthly tapings. Joining the NWA on this venture is legendary Las Vegas Stage Producer John Stuart.

My Views: I hoe that this version of the NWA Wrestling Showcase is better than the one that was running on MAV TV. It looked too low rent and what I saw of it, I didn’t see enough to keep recapping it. There are a ton of names that I am interested in watching on that list, but I don’t get the channel so it really doesn’t mater. A note to finish on, a lot of people have been saying that “I feel bad for “Special E” Dinsmore, he’s labeled with that gimmick for life.” Do NOT feel bad for him NOW. I felt bad for him while he worked with the E, that he never got a chance to be what he could be, but now, I don’t feel bad for him. The reason is this. He has YEARS on TV exposure as the character, and he is commanding a HIGH amount of cash on the independent scene and getting it. Also, “Special E” Dinsmore, Eugene or whatever the fuck you call it is an EASY gig as far as the ring work. He’ll be able to do this shit for years and will laugh all the way to the back, so yeah, don’t cry for “Special E” Dinsmore.

Your News: ATLANTA – A verbal agreement has been reached in the fight over the estate of Canadian pro wrestler Chris Benoit, who killed his wife, seven-year-old son and then himself in June, Benoit’s father said Wednesday.

“In principle, it’s there. It just needs to be documented,” Michael Benoit said in a telephone interview from his home in Alberta.

Benoit said the agreement calls for the proceeds from the estate to “pretty much” be evenly split between his son’s two children from a previous marriage – a 15-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl – and the family of his slain wife Nancy. Michael Benoit, who has been acting on the children’s behalf, declined to provide the exact terms.

“There’s lots of things that need to take place, properties that have to be disposed of, tax returns that have to be filed, a whole number of things over the next three to five months,” Benoit said.

My Views: The lawyers’ fees and expenses of roughly $500,000 to $600,000 will reduce the ultimate value of the estate, which consists of two homes, several bank and investment accounts and other assets. One estimate of the estate has put its value at $1.5 million to $3 million. I am happy to hear that things seem to have settled down and that they have come to an agreement on everything. The whole Benoit Family tragedy was bad enough, but having to relive details of it all just because of the money would have been horrible and could have lasted longer then it did. Thankfully it appears to be over, the kids will be taken care of, her family will get what amounts to pain and suffering money and hopefully this chapter of the tragedy can end.

My Response: You are welcome!

Reader Comment: Bret has said in the past that he doesn’t want to be near the wrestling business unless he’s actually wrestling. Presumably this would be the case whether he was bitter or not. Other then that nitpick, I enjoyed the column.

My Response: I do vaguely remember something along those lines, so good work. But he has been close to coming back over the last few years in other capacities, but likely he goes back to the statement you mentioned, which is why he hasn’t. Good work.

Reader Comment: Whatever it is that keeps Savage from returning to WWE (besides his complete insanity), I’m sure that those promo videos for his website that still hasn’t opened several years later where he talked about kicking Triple H’s ass and banging Stephanie don’t help. They should bring him back anyway, because the Macho Man was the greatest of all time. Also, he should make another rap album, that album was awesome.

My Response: The Macho Man rapping was EPIC~! I will agree that Savage was a great in ring performer, a favorite of mine actually and most likely a future hall of famer, somewhere. I have seen the video where he talks about stealing Stephanie, as if those rumors weren’t bad enough that added fuel to the fire.

Reader Comment: The Christmas story is one of the funniest things I have ever read. I’m a diehard TNA, but even I’m not dumb enough to be say stuff like he said. By the way, what kind of wrestling mark doesn’t read the internet?

My Response: He doesn’t own a PC, doesn’t have an email address and has no desire town a computer. He was amazed to learn of this “great internet wrestling society” where he could read news and stuff like this. Some have said I was mean to him, because I posted this, but #1 I did it to make a point that the rare mark is out there, #2 show that there are marks for TNA and #3, well, I didn’t like him that much.

Reader Comment: Larry, you gotta stop feeding the trolls. The more you draw attention to them the more they think they are ‘part of the show.’ The thing that amazed me most about the new man is the idea that TNA actually has casual fans. The image I had in my mind, possibly created by their rabidly over protective fan boys was that they were the smarkety smark brigade. From the start TNA’s advertising model has been catering to the internet fan, and considering the lack of advertising they do I would have thought it hard for them to draw in many markish fans.

My Response: But you see, feeding the trolls is fun. There is nothing I enjoy more than making the puppets dance! And yes, it is rare I think to find the total TNA mark like I did. I asked how he found out about TNA and it was back when Rhino came to TNA. He was watching something on SPIKE, caught a commercial, saw Rhino, and the X-Guys doing their shit and tuned in and he said he was hooked and started ordering PPV’s. He has almost as many TNA DVD’s as I do, and I have close to all of them. So while he is a rarity, they are out there.

Reader Comment: Where’s berried, squash, and Mike Tenay? I didn’t see them in a long ass time…

My Response: Well…

SQUASH~!

OFFENDED Mike Tenay~!

BERRIED~!

Reader Comment: Great column, as always. I have too things to say. 1, is the wife happy about all the James pictures, and 2, sorry, but Lita owns Mickie.

My Response: Christi is cool with it because Mickie is on “The List.” Lita is good to, I would lay it to her just the same. I don’t discriminate.

Reader Comment: I’m very surprised you were able to keep your composure with your sister-in-law’s boyfriend. I hope you don’t have family functions too often, otherwise you’ll need to find a way to convince her to dump that guy. Anyone with that diluted of a brain can’t be safe as a parent, hahaha. I used to be a TNA fan in 2005, was on their Street Team even, but then they decided to try to constantly pump into my brain that WWE was far superior to their own product by constantly pushing those who were released from WWE, as well as promoting past and present WWE angles on their own TV program. I’m now ashamed that I was ever a TNA fan and I wish the best for Daniels, AJ, and a few others who have stuck with TNA since the beginning and are now treated like jokes compared to wrestlers who made their name elsewhere and came into TNA with the mindset that they were more important than everyone else (and TNA allowed them to have that mindset). I try to watch iMPACT on occasion to see wrestlers I like, but I just can’t get past the ridiculousness of the booking and the Total Nonstop Angle plaguing their airwaves. I don’t care much for WWE either, so it’s hard to be a wrestling fan when your favorite feds are non-televised or based halfway around the world. Keep up the good work, Larry.

My Response: Nothing to keep composure over really, I knew he was “just a fan” and was interested to see what he had to say, like a sociology case study if you will. This isn’t the reason for her to drop him either…ANYWAY, your tale is a tale I have heard a good bit. I was a fan during “So and so time frame,” but ever since the beginning of 2007 or so (Russo coming back) I can’t/won’t watch anymore. I hear it all too often really, sad. But I don’t blame you one bit.

Reader Comment: Another crappy column. The “new man” bit was great, but totally bogus. Wow you found a dumb wrestling fan? REALLY? I guess those people that think Kane and undertaker are real bothers are smart? Who cares. BERRRIED! SQUASHEDNW! YOU SUCK! The only decent part of this column was the Mickie James pics. You’ve gotta feel like a major nerd typing away about buy rates and shilling shirts that haven’t sold ONCE. Please quit 411 soon.

My Response: You know, you sit there and get a hard on every time I post a column. And you get off typing like a big man about how much I suck. Yet you click every week, you read and you get off with the negative comment. The “new man” bit was far from fake, sorry if you don’t understand that there are marks still that don’t read the internet. And I hate to say, but since I run 411, I won’t be quitting anytime soon. When you’re typing, all I can imagine is…