Your News, My Views 1.29.08

Today in Wrestling History:

1996 – Konnan defeated the One Man Gang for the WCW U.S. Heavyweight title

Births and Deaths:
1929 – Died – The Terrible Turk Hassen Muhammad at 38
1963 – Born – Samu
1963 – Born – Bob Hardcore Holly
1964 – Born – Sabu

~Is this the end for Bobby?~ Let us preface this all with this statement: It could all be one big work, we should expect anything now after the return of John Cena. You know, last week seemed like it would be any other week. We were headed to the Rumble, the Tuesday news was done and the Rumble preview podcast was finished. And then the story broke that Lashley wanted to leave WWE. According to Bobby Lashley’s official website Lashley commented, “Circumstances, which are out of my control left me no decision but to leave the WWE. I can’t go into details of this now but like I said before, sometimes people will hate you personally and try to destroy you, which has happened here. Evil has prevailed. However like I said before, if you continue your struggle, doors will open around these people. You have not seen the last of me, so please don’t stop your support. Add Bobby Lashley to the list of RECENTLY RELEASED!” Right away shit started to light up and tons of discussion was happening. Was it fake? Was his site hacked? Were they working us? I thought that they may have been, planning a surprise Rumble run, but obviously that didn’t happen. The basic story is that Bobby Lashley had informed WWE that he wanted to leave the company. One of the reasons Lashley wants to leave revolves around the fact that he is upset as how his girlfriend Krystal Marshall was treated and released. Marshall refused to be paired with Edge as she would have played a Lita like role, and apparently she feared racial elements being added by creative. Some have jumped on Lashley for this, saying he was stupid to side with his woman when he had such a bright future. He’s the guy Vince loves, an athlete, huge, and jacked to the gills. But we can’t judge him for this. Maybe they are getting married, maybe he’s in love. If you’re not married or truly in love then you cannot understand the choices you sometimes have to make. The other reason that Lashley was reportedly upset is that he didn’t feel like he has been treated well while he has been out rehabbing his injury. He has had little communication with Vince McMahon, and there have been no firm plans to get him back on TV, even though he is cleared to do so. On this one I can understand the frustration. He has been cleared for weeks, and apparently no one in the company had any communication with him. They were closing in on the Rumble and they had no communication and nothing for him. Now imagine you’re Lashley, you were in a huge match last year at WM and you figure that you’ll get somewhat of an important match again this year. But then no one is talking to you and you aren’t figured into the Rumble match, the beginning of the Road to WrestleMania. I could see why that was something that set him off. Yesterday another statement was released, stating: “If you’re a wrestling fan then I am sure you’ve all heard all the latest news all over the internet. Well, as posted by Bobby on Tuesday, on the forum, due to circumstances beyond his control he made the decision to part ways with WWE. Lashley will be speaking more on this matter when he can. Please stay tuned to the site to find out what’s next in Lashley’s career.” I have to say this. Either there is fire where all this smoke is coming from or they are working very hard to WORK us again. I wouldn’t put it past them. But what does this mean? Well, Lashley is a young, athletic guy with a huge build. As mentioned, the kind of guy Vince loves. He has the military background is clean cut, list of past issues and could be a huge star to the African American Community; if properly promoted. So I think that he did have a bright future in WWE. That all being said, I don’t think he was the next big thing. Sure he had the rocket strapped to his ass, and he did steadily improve. But he was another guy brought up from developmental WAY too soon. Look, Brock Lesnar was awesome. Not only did he have the background and pedigree to excel in the sport, but also they kept him in developmental for what seemed like forever. People were always wondering when he would come up, and when he came up he was ready. Lashley didn’t get that chance. Don’t get we wrong, I am not about to hop on this new bandwagon that is proclaiming Lashley the biggest piece of shit in wrestling. The kid had skills, he was a damn good athlete, but it was too soon. He wasn’t ready, skill wise or emotionally I feel. The running joke, especially on 411 forever has been “Black Lesnar.” Well, there are some comparisons in that they were both given a lot early on, and both maybe leaving the sport very early. As for me, well I was a “take him or leave him” kind of guy. I never really missed him while he was away and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to him coming back. I don’t dislike him not think he sucks, I am in the middle; which is actually worse than being one way or the other. Apathy is death in wrestling. If he leaves, they could be losing a future star for years to come. But the thing is WWE isn’t releasing him or telling him to get out, this seems to be his choice, and if that is the case then maybe they gave another kid too much too soon. That’s another bitch of the lame developmental system and the death of the territory system. Oh well, maybe he and Brock can match up down the road in the octagon. ~Is Cena back too soon?~ back in October John Cena went down with a torn pectoral muscle. He was holding the title at the time, and most thought they would see if he could gut through a match to switch to the title. John Cena went to see famed doctor to the athletes Dr. James Andrews, who has put together more wrestlers, let alone other athletes than I could guess. He is the man to go to plain and simple. The injury was a devastating one, a complete tear of the pec. Andrews recommended surgery right away after the MRI, examination and diagnosis. And while I am sure Cena may have wanted to go on, in the end the right call was made. He had surgery and WWE moved on to figure it out. That night Vince McMahon appeared on ECW to explain the situation, and while we didn’t get definitive answers, we got the right decision. Cena was hurt, going to have surgery and was “stripped” of the title. While it is a horrible way to end such a long and successful run, this is the way it had to be. I am glad to see that this is becoming the norm, safety first and not bravery/stupidity. John Cena was scheduled to be out a minimum 6-months from surgery, so early April most figured at the soonest. There had been small reports that he was ahead of schedule, and that if he could go at WM (late March) then they would do it. Cena hinted at an early return during an interview with Sky Sports in Great Britain, saying he felt fine and that “you never know” when he might return. The plans were if he was god to go at WM, and that they would work him in to the mix with no matches, but promo work and brawls with who ever his opponent would be. But it looks like we were all wrong and we were duped. WWE and John Cena got word that he would be able to return to the ring early from his pectoral tear, and they decided to have him make media appearances where he said he was still months away from returning and would also probably not be able to work WrestleMania. The idea was to throw everyone off and deliver a big surprise return at the Royal Rumble. And it worked big time. No one knew it was coming, I think Vince, God and Cena knew and then later Steph, HHH and Batista. They have put the clamp down on stuff getting out, and have gone to new highs to keep stuff under lock. That’s why Dave Lagana was fired, but we’ll discuss that later. Cena also make stuff up regarding his next WWE film project, 12 Rounds. While the film is real, and shooting will be in New Orleans, it will only be for 4-5 weeks, not five months like Cena was saying. Cena was saying that he would film the movie while recovering, again, as a way of keeping people in the dark about his surprise return. In hindsight I am surprised no one picked up on the movie thing, because five months is an obscenely long time to film his flick, he isn’t shooting the Return of the King. I am not saying it tipped me off, but in hindsight it was a little too over the top. But now that we have all of the back story done and out there, let’s discuss the comeback from another perspective. This man tore a pec, a complete tear of the muscle. The diagnosis was that he would be out for 6-8 months, and at worst 12-months. Now I will say that John Cena is a workout freak, he is a guy that studies the human body and takes health, supplements and all of that very seriously. But still, to come back in three months from a completely torn pec gets some speculation. He is medically cleared though, but what are we supposed to think? Now for those that are throwing the bullshit out there that the “Surgery was a work,” you need to go and die. The surgery happened, the tear happened, but maybe it wasn’t as severe as first thought. Maybe John Cena has impeccable genetics. Maybe the man has impeccable genetics, and that combined with the knowledge of the human body, his supplemental regiment and intense workout schedule was able to rehab the injury much faster than the average man. It has been known to happen, I have known others that came back quicker than thought from a surgery, and even when I was younger, after my first knee surgery I was back and played a tennis match for my high school team 10-days later. I wasn’t 100% and I doubt Cena is, but it has happened. Perhaps John Cena is a CYBORG. Maybe John Cena is a big old money making, crowd manipulating, pussy getting CYBORG that needed some time off for maintenance. I mean, Vince was and has been on and off a billionaire, it isn’t out of reason that he would hire some Japanese guys to make him a money making, crowd manipulating, pussy getting CYBORG. Think about that one. Or…maybe he is the {alleged} jacked up juice monkey that a lot of wrestling fans think he is. Some people have already come out to say that this is PROOF that he is on steroids, HGH or whatever else is out there. Now I don’t have a urine or blood sample on hand, so I can’t confirm it, but I can tell you this. I have had numerous surgeries and have been legally prescribed steroids and HGH. And again, I cannot say what amount he was prescribed and all of that good stuff. But I cannot blame anyone for thinking that while Cena was gone that he filled the gas tank so to speak to make a quicker recovery. I would say that he should get the benefit of the doubt, but over the last year we’ve been burned so many times by these guys that no one has any credibility with the fans anymore. Kennedy came out and “defended the boys” and was found out to be a big old liar. I am not saying that Cena DIDN’T use steroids and or HGH to aid in recovery, but he may have used them the right way. Finally I think we need to go back to the “is he 100%” argument. Now, no one really works at 100%. But I wonder, he is cleared, but is he “75% and still improving and will be fine at WM,” which would explain him drawing #30 and only being out there for 8-minutes or so, with some well placed stalling. If that is the case, it is a very questionable move for them to make. Cleared and “ring ready” are two completely different things. I am sure Cena was gun ho about this, but until we now more, one has to question of they took Cena’s health into consideration here. I would like to think they took his safety into consideration, much like they did when he was initially injured. While this was a great surprise, I am still concerned overall with the quick return, as many people are and really they have the right to be. I just hope for John Cena’s sake that this is not too soon, and that he doesn’t get injured again.

Damn Csonka’s good…

My Views: You know it is funny, when news of this came out people were quick to slam Lagana and the ECW product. Now while I agree with a lot of this criticism, this isn’t the reason that he was fired. Nope, Lagana had loose lips syndrome. WWE has been trying to clam down on leaks ever since the Kennedy/McMahon’s Illegitimate son deal got out. They were PISSED that it got out and have been trying to go lockdown on the roster. Seriously, according to some it is like discussing military secrets backstage. Anyway, for a while they thought Lagana might have been a source of some leaked information. Apparently they fed him some bullshit information, it got out and that was the end of Lagana. Sorry about your luck.

Now it has been reported that Dusty Rhodes will be the one to take the helm of ECW. Dusty’s last run in TNA was bad, but it wasn’t all his fault. He had to tell the story after he was given bullshit bullet points from Jeff and Dutch. But a lot of what he wrote wasn’t bad. Dusty does have a sketchy track record in the way some things were booked, but he has also done a lot of good, and I think could be a good thing for the ECW product. He and Hayes worked together on Smackdown and did a great job, and I feel that the show will get some good direction, and hopefully some real credible baby faces. That show desperately needs them.

Your News: WWE will also be promoting Brock Lesnar’s UFC debut against Frank Mir this week. The fight will be part of UFC 81 on Saturday. TNA has already started promoting the event and will continue to do so on Impact this week.

WWE will be promoting the event via WWE.com, commercials during WWE programming in most markets, and in-arena promotions at live WWE events At the Royal Rumble last night, there were signs all over the concourse at Madison Square Garden as well as on the big marquee for the Garden outside on 7th Avenue with video playing of Lesnar. WWE likely won’t make UFC promotion part of any of their shows like TNA is.

My Views: It is official. Dana White is officially the smartest man on earth. He was able to get both WWE and TNA to promote the UFC debut of Brock Lesnar. I mean, seriously, when the TNA deal was announced I thought he did well. It appears to be completely one-sided for UFC and I though that was a great deal. Before this WWE and UFC had come to an agreement for UFC to use WWE footage in their promos. While the then WWF was willing to work with the UFC back in the Ken Shamrock era to promote PPV, that was a much different time. UFC was pulling TNA like PPV numbers and needed the help, in return the WWF got UFC footage of Ken Shamrock. But that was 10-years ago. Today the UFC is a direct PPV competitor to the WWE. The only thing I can imagine is that Dana had to pay out the ass for this footage. Also I am surprised that Vince would even make a deal for them to use the footage due to his personal anger with Brock over the way he left the company. That all being said it is a great commercial and a VERY smart move by UFC to try and pull in wrestling fans to see Brock’s debut. There is a lot of interest in the fight I feel, among MMA fans that want the wrestling guy to fail, and among the wrestling fans who want to see if Brock is as bad as they always made him out to be. Dana has played his hand perfectly, and you have to respect that.

Your News: In a recent interview with SportsTalkCleveland.com, Rob Van Dam said that Vince McMahon actually believes that fans still chant “ECW” because he trained them to do that over the last five years. He also said that when he told McMahon that nobody would like the new ECW, Vince said that he never intended for the new ECW to be like the old and that nobody even remembers the old ECW. RVD also said that when the plan was to put the ECW Title on RVD at the start of the new ECW, Triple H told people backstage that RVD didn’t connect with the crowd.

My Views: Oh wow, we got a load of shit here, shit would be the key word. As much as Vince would like to think that he controls the entire wrestling universe, he didn’t train shit. People have been chanting ECW at WWE events for over 10-years, they did it when ECW was still around so he didn’t condition shit. It was obvious that the new ECW wouldn’t be like the old ECW. RVD is wrong, because there are people who really like the new ECW, but for Vince to say that no one remembers it is also bullshit. I also still think that they could incorporate some themes from the old ECW into their 2007-2008 version and help make the show feel different and a bit more fun. Finally on the HHH comments, are you surprised? HHH has always been down on RVD and has always put the bad mouth on him. It’s just more of the same old shit.

Your News: Before Jim Ross signed his new two-year deal with WWE, he had been working for WWE without a contract since November. The two-year deal is seen as a vote of confidence, as last year he had only been offered, and signed to a one-year deal. Also with the move to HD, the signing is seen as another vote of confidence, since WWE is more image conscience as ever because they know that the HD will make some things appear worse than they are, as Ross’ image has always been something of a knock against him.

My Views: As mentioned last week, I think it is a great idea for them to re-sign him and keep him around. I also agree with the notion that the two-year deal is a vote of confidence. Last year was for one-year, and apparently there was a big push by some, namely Kevin Dunn to not bring Ross back. I also thought that with the move to HD that Dunn might get his way, because JR “AIN’T PURTY ENOUGH.” Thankfully cooler heads prevailed and they have him locked up to another two-years. It was a bit dangerous though having him work nearly two-months without a contract. Not because of him going to TNA or anything silly like that. But what would have happened if one night JR got pissed and just didn’t show up? They would have been shit out of luck. But it is all over, and we’ll move on from here.

Your News: With the success of his first book, “A Lion’s Tale,” a second Chris Jericho autobiography is already in the planning stages.

My Views:The tentative title for the book is “A Lion’s Fail…” I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. I haven’t gotten all the way through Jericho’s book as of yet, I just never get enough time to sit down and read it, but from what I have read I have enjoyed it, and it has gotten rave reviews. But it only told the story of his career up to the point where he was about to go through the curtain and debut with WWE. He did it that way to ensure he could tell the best story, and basically if it did well enough, for him to be able to write another book. That was a smart plan, and now he’ll write the second book, and if it is half as good as the first, we’ll be in for another treat.

Your News: Vince McMahon has approved of the incest/Cruel Intentions angle for Katie Lea and Paul Burchill. The couple will likely appear for ECW or Raw, due to the fear of backlash from network TV. McMahon has wanted to do an angle like this for some time, once suggesting he be the father of Stephanie’s baby and also back in 1998 where on screen bother and sister Ken and Ryan Shamrock (Alicia Webb) would end up as lovers. Ken Shamrock nixed this plan at the time. In an interesting twist he and Webb did end up as a couple during that time.

My Views: I know this is not an original question, bur seriously, I have to ask. What in the HELL is wrong with Vince McMahon? First of all having a hard-on for 10-years to do an incest angle is messed up as it is. Then the rumored angle with him being the father of Stephanie’s baby I thought was always sick as hell. Seriously, this man needs psychological help.

Your News: Maria, Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool, and Layla will all be on the February 6th edition of Project Runway on Bravo. The episode will be titled “RAW Talent.” The episode will focus on the designers working with the WWE Divas.

My Views: Project Runway…I think we need an expert’s opinion on this…

Your News: Apolo missed a court date and will now be in jail for a month.

My Views: For those that may be in the dark and wonder why this in the WWE section, Apolo is under a WWE developmental deal. Surprising huh? Apolo is a guy with decent size, good athletic ability and could have better runs in TNA and a good mid-card WWE run coming Put him on SD with the Latino audience, a short alliance with Rey and boom. But he had attitude issues in TNA, no showed events and now is headed to the clink for a month. His WWE career may be over before it begins.

Your News: WWE’s action figure deal with Jakks Pacific ends in 2009 and there is talk that Hasbro might make an offer to land the WWE license, or the TNA license. Hasbro currently makes the Star Wars and Transformers figures.

My Views: With the lawsuit issues between WWE and Jakks, I would expect that WWE will look to end the relationship and if Hasbro has a good deal that they’ll take it. If I am Hasbro I am looking to land the WWE and will do a lot to make that happen. I mean, I like TNA, even with all of their problems, but from a business perspective WWE is the biggest game in town and will make you the most money.

Intermission kids, let’s party!

My Views: It’s funny, when this was announced the first thing I saw was backlash. Now I know TNA does a lot of things wrong, and sure we could argue about placing the performers in danger, but you would think that TNA ate a baby marinated in kitten blood. I can agree with the fact that we are placing the performers in danger that they don’t need to be in. Anything could happen. I could also agree that TNA doesn’t need to do so many gimmick matches. BUT…in the years of the monthly PPV, Destination X has been home to the Elevation or Ultimate X match, so they get credit for sticking to that. Also, while 99% of scaffold matches tend to suck a big one, Elevation X was actually a good match last year. They told a good story and took an innovative approach to the match that I enjoyed. Sure they threw a lot of it away afterwards, but the match was far from bad. Also they aren’t burning through another Ultimate X, so while they could probably do better, this is far from the worst idea ever. What I am wondering is who will be in the match? Would they do AJ in the match two years in a row, and I guess have him face Cage? I doubt that. They could go Devine vs. Machismo for the X-Title, which isn’t the worst idea I have heard. I will be interested to see who will be the ones being put in the match

Your News: During an appearance on the radio today, Kurt Angle called Brock Lesnar a “mental midget,” claiming Lesnar could not do well under pressure even though he was a good in-ring competitor. Angle said that Lesnar will probably win the MMA matches where he has little to no pressure on him.

My Views: And to counter that, during a recent UFC conference call, Brock Lesnar said that he and Kurt Angle are friends, but that Angle hasn’t made the transition to MMA because he is physically past his prime. Some think that they are building to an MMA bout or eventually a match in TNA, and to that I say bullshit. I cannot see Dana allowing Brock to do Pro Wrestling under his UFC contract, and there is no way in hell that he is having Angle in his promotion, even if it means money. I can’t see it happening. I just think that this is all part of the hype of Brock going to UFC. I have been wrong before, and could be here, but I doubt it.

Your News: As previously reported, TNA did start their drug testing this week. The tests were baseline tests, similar to when WWE began their policy. Dixie Carter and other TNA employees took the test as well, as the test will be company wide, and not relegated to the in ring performers.

My Views: Well the good news is that they have begun the testing. Whether they follow up on it and punish people is a different question entirely, but they have begun and that’s a great first step.

Your News: TNA will run their first European house shows in June. The official announcement will be made soon, but the company plans to run Liverpool, Essex and Coventry. British Promoter Alex Shane will be handling the local promotion. Shane has done the same for ROH in the past.

My Views: I think that it is great that they are going to run the UK. I have said for ages that they need to explore International touring, IF they promote it properly. They have TV in the UK and if properly promoted, they SHOULD draw well there. Memo to the TNA guys, actually a word of warning; beware of Alex Shane. He likes to go to TRANNY bars. Ask CM Punk and Steve Corino.

Your News: TNA is working on the editing for the Global Impact DVD, which they hope to have out by March.

My Views: Excellent news. Overall I heard the show was a good one and I will be wanting to pick that show up to see the stuff I have heard about or have only seen small parts of.

Your News: The reason that Christy Hemme was not at ringside two weeks ago was due to her not being medically cleared. The doctor that evaluated her discovered that she had suffered a concussion a few months back and was still showing signs of it. There was heat on Hemme for her not speaking up when it happened, but she felt if she said something that it would be held against her. Some angles were dropped due to this. She was back this past week, but was in a position where she wouldn’t have to take any bumps.

My Views: Some people don’t understand why she wouldn’t speak up, but if you have followed wrestling at all you should know better. The wrestling business is not a 9-5 job in “the real world.” Seriously, if you tried to explain the business to someone that had no knowledge of it they would be completely confused. The inner workings of wrestling are a fucked up thing. But the fact is she should have spoken up. First of all concussions are nothing to fuck with, we should all know that by now. Secondly, it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t get it pole dancing on the weekends for spare cash, she got hurt in the ring. In actuality she may have made things worse for herself because there will be a question of trust from now on. Kids, if you get your bell rung, get checked out and don’t mess around.

Your News: Internally SPIKE was hoping for a 0.6 rating for the Global Impact special, so when the show scored a 0.8 they were pleased. TNA was also hoping for a solid number, if only to prove that elements they used in that special could be used well in their regular weekly presentation.

My Views: Quote: “that elements they used in that special could be used well in their regular weekly presentation.” THANK GOD SOMEONE WAS THINKING THIS! A common theme from people that watched the show was, “How could the same company produce the episode of Impact that they did as well as the Global Impact special?” Trust me, I wondered the same thing. IF some of the people on the creative team can take some of the things that worked on the Global Impact show and add it into the current product, it could help. But they also need to drop the 787 things happening in the two-hour show. Less is more they say. Another bit of good news is that there are more specials in the vein of Global Impact being planned. I hope so, because if they are anywhere near as good as Global Impact was, I know I’ll at least be getting one very well done hour of wrestling.

Your News: Shelley Martinez, aka Salinas had some heat with the company for not attending a house show to corner LAX. She had a commitment to do an autograph signing at a porn convention. There was a feeling of a double standard among the wrestlers, as they would never be allowed to drop a date for an autograph signing.

My Views: And it is a double standard. If Hernandez said, “Hey, I have an autograph signing at the local Game Stop, so I can’t work tonight” they would tell him to show up of be fucked. So seriously, she gets to slide to not only go to an autograph signing, but she gets to pull off of a show to do an autograph signing AT A PORN CONVENTION! Oh yes, that’s giving the company a good reputation. Jesus, I can hear Tenay now…

TENAY: “AND DON’T FORGET TO CATCH SALINAS THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AT PURE PLATINUM!”

WEST: “OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “

TENAY: “THAT’S NOT ALL DON, THEY HAVE A SPECIAL…BUY TWO LAP DANCES, GET THE THIRD FOR FREE!”

WEST: YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your News: Consequences Creed will be returning to TNA with a new official debut at the Against All Odds PPV.

My Views: From what I hear Creed will be working a dark match for the show, and then appear on TV after that. Which makes sense, as they have been building to AAO and have about all of the card set. With that all being said, I am excited to see Consequences Creed back, under contract and ready to go. They will have a lot of work to do to repair the X-Division. They have Machismo, Devine, Dutt, Sharky, Elix and Petey. They have taken a lot of talent and moved then onto other things. Guys like AJ, Joe, Young, Kaz, Shelley, Sabin, Homicide and Rave. Not that some of these guys haven’t done well, a lot of them have, but the once rich X-Division, the thing that was defining the company, is not anything like it was. So a fresh face will be appreciated. Hs PPV debut was shockingly good, and I say that due to his inexperience and the fact that he debuted on PPV like he did. I am not saying that he is going to turn shit around, but a fresh and motivated face can sometimes do wonders for things. Let’s hope that they get some rebuilding done and that he can be a part of that.

My Views: All right, let’s check this out. First of all, I think that it is a good idea to cut back the number of people on the roster per show, as well as the fly-ins. While I tend to hear great reviews from ROH live, one complaint I do hear is the “marathon nature” of some the shows. There is a point to getting your money’s worth, but also some people don’t want to be at a show for over 4-hours. If set up fairly I feel that the rotation idea should work well and not over expose some angles and performers. As far as Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries and ROH Champion Nigel McGuinness go, if it works around the dates they were already to miss, then it is a good plan and gives others a chance to step up as well as to do something they have done well, and that is feature the ROH Tag team titles in the main event.

As far as the whole PPV deal, for ROH the idea of moving to PPV was to help get the ROH name out more, increase attendance and DVD sales. Unfortunately that has not happened as of yet. It was a big move for the ROH promotion to make. One thing I have said in the past is this: judging by the way ROH, Gabe and Cary have done business thus far, this was something that they looked into heavily and didn’t just jump into it. Gabe learned from the mistakes of ECW, so hopefully he won’t repeat them. And I think that he has learned, hence the cut backs now and not trying any kind of crazy expansion.

In truth, the PPV deal was a “Low Risk, and Low Reward” type of deal. It is cheaper to do delayed PPV than live PPV, that way there is no chance ROH would lose their ass over this. That’s the low risk. The low reward is that in the end, ROH won’t make that much money. Let’s say the shows are $15, they are rumored to be 10-15, but we’ll use $15. $7.50 right away goes to inDemand, WWE only gets half as well. Now out of that $7.50 that is left, G-Funk Sports is probably going to get close to half, say $3.50, leaving $4.00 profit per show for ROH. NOW, they have to pay for talent, upgraded production and all of that, so you see that there won’t be much left. The reason that there won’t be much left is that the show will NOT do that many buys. First of all ROH doesn’t think they will do that many buys, internal hopes are for 5,000 buys. First of all they have had an uphill battle, there is SO MUCH PPV out there right now. Boxing and MMA rule PPV right now. WWE is right behind. That is a HUGE part of the PPV buying audience. Then there is TNA who is battling for scraps, and just getting that, scraps.

And then there is the basis of familiarity. People don’t invest themselves and their money into something if they don’t know the people. That is where ROH has a big disadvantage. They don’t have any familiar names. Hell, TNA had names people knew and still does and they can’t even do 50,000 buys consistently. That has nothing to do with quality people; it is quantity and familiarity. WWE can put on some shitty shows and still do tremendous business. It is branding and familiarity. Bottom line.

From day one I have said that for ROH to succeed they will have to put out quality shows EVERYTIME in order for people to try and hook onto them and will have to make sure the quality is good production wise, because when trying to get new fans that is an important thing to them. And they have done that. The shows have been good to excellent; the production was rough on show one but steadily got better and is looking good. But they aren’t doing as well as they hoped. Live attendance isn’t growing like they hoped and neither are DVD sales. Also, in my opinion I feel that the West Coast debut hurt the company. They did poor attendance numbers and took on the cost of traveling across the country, which for them is something they haven’t had to do before. Growing pains, but still not good on the books.

Adding to this is that they have had to make a talent cut back, which is that Daniel Puder will no longer be used in the promotion, at least for now. Part of it is the cost of his west coast fly-in, and that his ring work isn’t at the level ROH feels it needs to be at for him to headline. Gabe Sapolsky is high on him, and feels he has a star aura about him. And that is one thing that ROH lacks, is that “Big Star Feel.” Again, people need to relax before they get pissed, that isn’t meant meanly, but as much as Bryan Danielson rules in the ring, when you show him to a casual wrestling or die hard WWE fan, he’s just another guy. Puder had the look, can talk, had the confidence and the swagger of a star. And I hate to tell some of you this, but more guys have made money off of those traits than being “the best worker in the bunch.” See Hogan, Hulk.

But this is not a doom and gloom story. They aren’t losing their ass, checks aren’t bouncing and they are in no way going to shut down tomorrow. As mentioned, I think that Gabe learned enough from his time in ECW to know when to pull back the reigns a but, and that is how I look at the situation. They are bringing in GO, Mathews and Ibushi. This is far from the end of days. But one thing I think some people have to think about is this. While most ROH fans like to think that the company is well off, we don’t know. Many think that they are rolling in profit, but in actuality they may just be getting along, but we don’t know. What we DO know is they have made these cut backs due to high expenses. And if expenses are high, maybe they are losing money. I was talking with 411’s Mike Campbell over the weekend, and we both same to the same conclusion about ROH. At this point and time, ROH is suffering from Smokey Mountain Syndrome. They are too much of an Indy company to run like a major promotion, but on the flip side they are too major a promotion to run like an Indy company. It is for that reason that I feel ROH needs to sit down and decide what they want to be and make that move before the end of 2008.

Your News: The old UWF shows that aired on ESPN Classic from 1/14 to 1/18 did ratings between 0.0 (yes, one did a 0.0) to 0.07.

My Views: Trying to resist…

Your News: Last week, some of the UWF on ESPN Classic shows were re-runs, which means ESPN Classic may have already aired all of the available video library. There is a chance that ICW (the Joe Savoldi version) will eventually replace the UWF episodes.

My Views: Well keeping with the UWF trend, I guess is that is the case that only a small portion of the library could be purchased. It sucks that I don’t have ESPNC because like 24/7, I dig watching old school stuff or just stuff that is not owned by Vince because it is becoming rare. But, if they switch to some ICW, that would be fun as well. I know someone on the forums mentioned GWF stuff, and THAT would rock because I dug some GWF back in the day. Jerry Lynn vs. The Lighting Kid FTW!

Your News: Ring of Honor’s Gabe Sapolsky posted the following update on Jack Evans: I just heard from Jack Evans. He did sustain some facial injuries and will be out for this weekend. I’m not sure of anything past that, but it sounds like he won’t miss much action. We’ll have updated lineups for this weekend in the newswire tonight. Sorry for the lineup change. I assure you that we will bring great shows to both Dayton and Chicago. Thank you.

My Views: As it turns out, Jack Evans had surgery last week and had four plates inserted into his face and will miss at least six weeks. The injuries were a broken nasal cavity, broken eye socket and broken cheekbone. Evans apparently told ROH that he was willing to wrestle last weekend despite the surgery but thankfully ROH held him off the shows, a move I was very glad to see. Jack’s surgery apparently went as well as expected and he is now on the road to recovery. Get well soon and stop trying to break yourself.

Your News: Big Vision Entertainment will be releasing a “Before They Were Stars: CM Punk” DVD on April 15th. They have previously done similar releases for Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio Jr.

My Views: There’s no match listing released yet, but I know the Rey DVD got good reviews and overall Big Vision has put out some good releases. I am hoping that this will part of my package of goodies from them.

Your News: Lex Luger is still wheelchair bound, but is starting to regain feeling in his legs and torso. He is now also about to hold a drink in his hand.

My Views: While he is far from recovered, that is great news to hear. I know that many people don’t like Luger for various reasons, but whether you were a fan of Luger or not, I think we can all agree that we should all hope for him to fully recover and recover soon. Get well Lex.

My Response: I disagree to a point. I know a lot of families that go to or near Vegas for vacation and they say that there is plenty to do as a family. But I do agree that the Gulf Coast area wouldn’t be a bad place to run the event either, especially after the success they had for WM 17 in Texas.

Reader Comment: WM 25 should be in DC. The roots of Capitol Wrestling are there, it’s a major city that they haven’t run and it’s got a great mix of Northern smart fans and Southern marks that would make the trip. I’m not sure if the new Nationals stadium is supposed to have a retractable roof or not (because I doubt they’d go outdoor twice in a row) but if it does it would be a perfect venue.

My Response: That is actually a cool point regarding the roots of Capitol Wrestling and the mix of fans that will easily travel to the event. But as you said, unless it is a retractable roof I doubt they would chance going outdoors two years in a row. But the idea of WM is DC is cool, I like it.

Reader Comment: Loretta Hunt of The Fight Network said the USA for 2008. As you say, the UK move brings them originally shows from The Wrestling Channel such as LDN Wrestling and UK MMA. “Bring it to the new Wembley stadium please Vince! It has a retractable roof” Wrong! The new Wembley does not have a retractable roof, hence that idiot of an England manager had his umbrella up as it was raining inside! The Wales stadium is much better than that overpriced piece of worthless junk, as is other grounds in the UK.

My Response: I had heard her say 2008, but I imagine that it will be more like 2009. All I know is that I want The Fight Network on my TV. And besides the fact of Wembley not having a retractable roof, I HIGHLY doubt that we’ll get a WM overseas/the UK due to the time difference. Unless they air WM at 7pm UK time and at the same time air it in the US (2pm EST.) Sure it is WM, but I don’t think that they want to mess with what works.

Reader Comment: Senshi quit, TNA gave him his release, and yet he’s still on Impact and being featured more than he was when he was under contract. Sure, he’s not winning, but he’s having good matches, which means a lot to me as a fan. When I read about him asking for his release, I was afraid I wouldn’t get to see him anymore. so I’m glad to see him showing up every week and being involved in a good match. I’m a fan of Russo (he gave us World Champion Booker T, and featured some of the lesser established guys, along with his many screw-ups in WCW), so I’m not the first to accuse him, but is it possible that Senshi’s release was a Russo idea to work the net, aka TNA’s fanbase?

My Response: Nope. Senshi is gone from the company as of the last match he had on TV. He may work with TNA in the future, on a pay per date type of thing, but he is done and happily the PWG Champion.

Reader Comment: Long tine reader. Really enjoy your columns. Question. How come the WWE hasn’t released anything on 2001 and more importantly, the Invasion angle. It is impossible to find matches or find anything related to the invasion storyline. My friends and me thought that even though the angle was short lived, the E did a great job of providing a bunch of funny moments and good matches. I’ve checked DVD listings, WWE 24/7 and no go. Are they ashamed of the Invasion storyline, or is there a dvd in the works that I’m not aware of.

My Response: Well, they have released the PPV’s from that time frame, but as far as a special 2 or 3-Disc DVD set on the time period itself, no they haven’t. I don’t know of they are ashamed, but I feel that they threw away a license to print money with the way they booked the whole Invasion. They theoretically could have ran for a year with WCW and another year after the addition of ECW. Some say the WCW guys were failing but the only reason they failed was due to how they were booked (not allowed to do anything of damage to the top guys) and Vince refused to bring in the WCW big guns to make it a fair fight. That’s because even though he won, he still looked at it as WWF vs. WCW. It’s a shame really.

Reader Comment: Hey man, I’m a regular Your News reader and I really dig the reader’s comments section at the bottom where you respond, so I hope this can make it there. Anyways, I’ll just start off by saying I absolutely hate the TNA announce team. A lot of people put the blame on the shoulders of Don West, but in my personal opinion Mike Tenay is just as annoying. Between Don West screaming “Right There!” after every move (i.e OH AND HE JUST HIT HIM WITH THE STEEL CHAIR RIGHT THERE!) and Mike Tenay commentating like TNA is on the radio, it gets irritating after a while. Here’s what I wanted to run by you and get your opinion on. What if they replaced both with JB on pbp and Nash on color? I think it would really give the show a fresh feeling, JB is great on the mic and still pretty young too, and Nash is Nash, I think color would be the perfect gig for him, say what you will about his politics but the guy has a sense of humor and can be funny as hell on the stick, and he really doesn’t need to be wrestling anymore. Now I don’t want you to think I wish unemployment on anyone, they could give Tenay a regular spot on creative or even give him Job’s current gig backstage and let Don West do his insane deals shit or whatever, giving him a couple minutes in each hour of Impact to shill t-shirts and PPV and dvd’s and the likes, or hell even make him a HEEL manager, I think that would be pretty entertaining.

My Response: Trust me, you’re not the only one that is constantly annoyed with the announce team. I would rather have Done West in the backstage role schilling stuff, and have said so in the past. I think Tenay has been and could be fine again with the right partner. I actually think a smart ass Nash working with Tenay as a straight man would be good. JB is fine, but isn’t a TV commentator in my opinion. But you’re on the right track with the fact that something needs to change there.

Reader Comment: 411 is an awesome site. I am always on the pages of wrestling and TV/movie, keeps me entertained and I enjoy the views of the people who write. However there is one thing I have a major problem with and that’s the Wrestler of the week standings this year and last year.

Now this year his streak is done, he has lost to many people on the roster, dropped the ball or TNA dropped it 3 times by everyone’s count on the site but he is number two, two points behind Angle who at one point held every title and hold currently two top titles in the world of wrestling, how does this make any sense??? It seems to me if the guy was injured he would still make it in your top 5 by year-end because they whole site has a love affair with this guy. Face facts, winning the main even clean or not for the WWE is worth more than any other main event going today. ROH star wins the top gold same week and WWE star wins it is not the same thing. WWE is watched by more people, worth more in dollars, harder to reach the pinnacle etc…. Now ok if someone wins the gold at an ROH or TNA event give the man his dues especially when they do some of the stuff they do for it but you cannot tell me Cena did not have a better year by far than Joe in all aspect except maybe match quality.

My Response: It’s a hard question to answer. All I can tell you is to pay attention to the weekly column. Each writer gives an explanation as to why they picked who they did, and then points are assigned to the top 6 people. So while being the champ for a long time and such like Cena was does grant you points, also being consistent and having good matches counts as well. Every week we have anywhere from 10-20 writers vote in the awards, all with various tastes in wrestling, and various ways of ranking weekly accomplishments. I really wish I could give you a perfect answer, but with a column of this nature, I really can’t. As far as Joe goes, he had a lot of good matches, the year he won he was still working ROH and must have done enough to gain the confidence of the voters.

Reader Comment: Csonka, welcome to 2008! Long past time to get an HDTV and go HD!

My Response: Brother, I have a wife and kid. HDTV is not exactly a priority in the Csonka household. But if anyone wants to make a donation, feel free.