WELCOME~!
Welcome back kids! It’s Tuesday, it’s the wrestling zone, there is news to discuss and I am here as always! I hope that this finds everyone doing well, relaxed, and having a good start to the week. I got nothing. Let’s get to the column.
BUYS or NO BUYS BUYS or NO BUYS is a new feature here, similar to what I used to do in discussing random events and small bits of wrestling news. BUYS or NO BUYS is a phrase I use all the time, even outside of wrestling. In a way it is just another way of ranking GOOD or BAD. So each week I will kick off the column with BUYS or NO BUYS, discussing the world of wrestling, this website and or my life. Feel free to skip it, I won’t be offended.
MANY BUYS to the Pittsburgh Steelers! My boys put on a good show this weekend and destroyed Cincinnati as they should have. Moore stepped up big time in place of Willie and the defense was excellent. Good job boys!
NO BUYS to UFC 89. This wasn’t a bad event, but it just wasn’t a very good one. The fights we saw were fine, some pretty good, and one that was a cure for insomnia. At the end of the night all I could think was, “Jesus, this show has lasted forever.” That’s not a good thing. In the end I was VERY glad that this was a fee show, because I would have been very disappointed if I had paid $45 for this. No Buys indeed.
MANY BUYS to my little brother Zach! The boy is in JROTC, and continues to be awesome an anything that he does. They just had a meet this weekend, and not only did his squad place highly (he’s a junior and the overall commander) but he took first place in two different individual events.
NO BUYS to THE OLD MAN and his wife. Most of you know the old man as Christi’s grandfather. He’s still being a sore loser about the golf thing, but this isn’t about that. You see, “gram and pap” have this bad habit of dropping in whenever the FUCK the want WITHOUT a phone call. This is a pet peeve of mine. That an stealing fries without asking.
MANY BUYS to my Father in Law’s Ego. This dude plays a few games of Madden and decides that he is the man and wants to challenge me.
* Larry 57- Father in Law 0
* Larry 45- Father in Law 3
* Larry 52- Father in Law 0
* Larry 38- Father in Law 7
The sad thing, he demands to be the Steelers and I allow it, I picked the Lions. And he wants more beatings. I love this
MANY BUYS to GAS PRICES. That’s right, back-to-back many buys! I am loving Gas prices right now, although I never thought I would be happy about paying $2.53 a gallon. But shit, it’s better than the $3.75 it was 10-days or so ago. Let’s all hope that the prices keep dropping.
…LINKZ… Remember that fun, free, addicting flash games await you at 411’s new sister site, TigerFlashGames.com! Go there or Ashish will cry!
~The Short Essay~ ~Sometimes…I Miss the Characters ~
You know… when I think back to when I stared watching wrestling, things seem so different. Now I will admit once again that I was a HUGE NWA fan, and I have never hidden that fact. I loved the NWA, the Horsemen, the tag teams and just the product. To be honest I watched WWE, but it wasn’t MY promotion. But when I look back I do see one thing that sticks out. Everyone seemed so different back in the day. There were different shapes, sizes and characters. Characters, it almost seems like a dirty word these days. Now I will freely admit, these days I am not that thrilled with some of these new characters we see, and that goes for the regular guys as well as the Boogeyman and Kizarny’s of the wrestling world. I mean, think about it. We see a guy like Ted DiBiase come up and the jokes flow about him looking like a Randy Orton clone. Sean/Gavin Spears, the same thing. While it is a fun joke to make, it’s also the truth. Just for fun, let’s look back at some old school fun, involving characters that people not only remember, but also miss.
~The Bossman Sees the Light~
In that clip we see five distinct characters, lets look at those:
Jake “The Snake” Roberts: A man that was completely into mind games in and out of the ring, and raising snakes for personal pleasure as well as just mind fucking his opponents.
“The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase w/Virgil: Your stereotypical millionaire that believes that he is not only entitled to anything he wants, but also practices the mantra that money can buy everything. And just to solidify that persona, he has a manservant to do anything he wishes.
“The Doctor of Style” Slick: A former preacher that turned to using the con game and his jive talking abilities to get what he wants, by any means necessary.
The Big Bossman: Next you have the former prison guard who is trying to work for law and justice. Unfortunately he sometimes got on the wrong side of things.
Brother Love: Brother Love is the corrupt televangelist that has taken himself into the wrestling world, and the only thing he wants to do is make himself happy at the cost of others.
So we have these defined characters, and they were in an angle that everyone could follow, get into and even relate to in some way. Jake Roberts and Ted Dibiase were feuding. Jake took possession of “The Million Dollar” Belt and placed it into the giant bag, where his snake lived. DiBiase, stereotypical millionaire that believes that he is not only entitled to anything he wants, but also practices the mantra that money can buy everything goes to the former preacher (Slick) that turned to using the con game and his jive talking abilities to get what he wants, money and power. He then goes to HIS man, The Big Bossman, the former prison guard who is trying to work for law and justice and tells him that the title has been stolen. He does what he thinks is right and gets the title back, and thinks he has done the right thing. Enter the antagonist, Brother Love who is more that eager to stir the pot and cause problems. It is then that the Bossman finds out the he has been bought off, the same corruption that he has always fought against. This OFFENDS him to no end, and in that instant he realizes that he is NOT on the side of right, but on the side of evil. He makes the decision to do the right thing and go back to the ring, and releases Jake and returns his property. The Bossman did right, saw the light and is transformed in an instant.
This is a great use of a diverse collection of characters. It is a simple story, it is told well, as well as executed perfectly. It’s amazing what you can do with established personalities, established characters and a simple story. Sometimes I miss that…
Dixieland Developments and Diatribes:
The Suicide character has now officially been put on hold due to Frankie Kazarian having surgery to repair his triceps. Due to the surgery he will likely be out until early 2009. I discussed this a while back, and thought that it was a horrible idea to start airing the promo packages when they knew that Kazarian was injured and wouldn’t be able to get physically involved for months. I also understand that this was the original idea to help hype the Video Game, which was a good idea in theory but they should have either backed it off or made the call to place someone else in the role. I say that because the character was originally going to be debuting either with a run-in at Bound for Glory or shortly after, and obviously that will not be happening now. So now we have the issue of whether or not the character is viable or not. On one hand they have completely blown the chance to hype the game with the character coming in, which was the whole goal in the first place. That’s a dead issue. On the other hand, this character was also designed to give Kazarian a chance to “retire,” and then come back under the hood and start a new journey, eventually unmasking. I feel that this could still work as a vehicle for Kazarian, IF properly booked; but as far as hyping the game that ship has sailed. Maybe they can get some late sales on it, but nothing that will make a difference like it would have if the character debuted earlier.
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Johnny Devine asked for his release 3-4 weeks before the Bound for Glory PPV. It was then agreed upon by TNA and Devine that he would finish up at the Bound for Glory PPV. He was released as agreed right after the PPV. Following that, Devine was on Fight Network Radio and stated that he is looking at taking a broadcasting course in January to finish his degree, but is not leaving the business completely. Devine said that he was unable to showcase his talent in 2-minute TV matches and wasn’t having fun anymore and decided to leave and said the door was left open at TNA. On one hand I can understand Devine’s frustrations. Sure he was paired with Team 3D and got a lot of TV time, but he was nothing more than a lackey for them and he was never really elevated. If you read the R’s you’ll know my feelings on the short ass matches, they suck and I understand why he is pissed. Also, he is busting his ass in these dangerous matches, not being elevated and still making the same $30,000 a year (base) that he was since the beginning. I can understand his frustrations. Devine then gave an update on Jimmy Rave, who injured his neck during a spot last Sunday at the PPV between the two. Devine admitted that it was the sloppiest thing he has ever done and it was completely his (Devine’s) fault. He said he has spoken to Rave this week and he is fine. I am glad to hear that Rave is fine, and I am also glad to see Devine take complete responsibility for the spot. I have seen him do the “Devine Intervention” tons of times, and while he usually made it LOOK dangerous, I have never seen such a shitty execution of the move from him as I did at Bound for Glory. That’s not exactly the last impression you want to leave, even if the door is left open for a return. I have always liked Devine since he originally debuted with TNA as a part of Team Canada. He went through a tough time as he was stabbed and had a long road to return to the company. He was hot and cold for a while until he got paired with Shelley and Nash with the Paparazzi deal. Since then he had moderate success, but worked hard and while some will disagree; I feel that he was one of the more underrated performers in the company. He’s not a great loss for the company, but with the X-Division not exactly on fire right now, they certainly could have used him much better.
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There are no plans for Sting to start working TNA house shows, and again this is a problem for the company. He is THE MAN, THE CHAMPION and is NOT working house shows. Things like this are what hurt WCW’s house show business. In 1997 they wanted to see Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, instead the got Virgil and Scott Norton. Don’t get me wrong, I am a HUGE Scott Norton fan, but the general public wasn’t paying to see him. When guys like Sting don’t work the house shows, you get a divide in the talent, like they are portraying on TV. But worse than that, their house shows are usually pretty good but they are having attendance issues. Having Sting periodically appear for a match and after show autograph session would help this out to some degree. But the real issue is that your champion HAS to do house shows. He SHULD be a draw and SHOULD be helping you make money, not just collecting it. Give HHH all the shit you want (and I DO), but the brother works his ass off and does the house show circuit.
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In order to prepare for broadcast in HD, TNA is making changes to the Impact Zone. So far the bleachers behind the Spanish announcers table have been removed, several seats behind the main announcers table have been removed, and the face entrance will apparently be removed by the Impact taping on the 27th. Right away people liked to joke that TNA was removing seats because they couldn’t fill the building for free, and again those are people that shit on the promotion no matter what they do. I am fully behind the move to 10 of the PPV’s to be outside of Orlando next year, and I am also behind them working on some Impacts outside of the Zone. Vegas is a great spot, the JOINT is a good venue, and it is something they should do 3-4 times a year there, if they sell well, which they should. I also think that they should use the Hammerstein Ballroom for a PPV at the very least, but also shooting 3-4 episodes on Impact a year, along with the Joint would be something good. The one thing I will say about the move to HD is that it could be a disaster. Between TNA’s shitty director and the combined Bacne from Dutt and Bashir and people may never tune in for another episode again.
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK Is this what Dave Penzer gets for fucking Karen Angle?
Stamford Occurrences and Outbursts:
Last week Lance Cade was released from WWE, no reason was given. Speculation was the name of the game, but I believe that Jim Ross in a recent blog shed a lot of light on the subject. Let’s look at some of these comments, JR will be in italics:
Lance’s dismissal had zero to do with his in ring performances or his lack of ability…
A lot of people thought that Cade was dismissed due to a poor performance in the tag team match with DX. I will admit that I felt Cade had an off night, and with the follow up with HBK where he was destroyed with numerous chair shots, that seemed like a sound theory. But JR is dismissing that, so we’ll move on.
Lance Cade made a major league mistake while utilizing bad judgment that cost him his job. This included Lance having a seizure on an airplane and having to have emergency medial care…
And the plot thickens. What could cause this “seizure,” if it was indeed a seizure.
Lance got taken to a hospital where a battery of tests were run that luckily determined that there was nothing seriously wrong with the young man such as a brain tumor, etc…
Now this is interesting. There was a theory going around that Cade needed to take medication to deal with seizures, and that he dropped that medication so that he could indulge in alcohol, drugs and or steroids. But according to Ross, Meltzer and others, there were no medical issues that were found.
Everyone makes mistakes but in this day and time some mistakes just simply can’t be condoned. Lance Cade will likely still be perceived as the victim in this matter and his punishment too harsh…
Ross discusses mistakes here, and while I admit to speculating here, I think that this all points to Cade indulging in alcohol and or drugs. Perhaps it wasn’t a seizure ay all, perhaps it was an “OD.” Again, purely speculation here, but I am going off of what we know.
Under the circumstances of the situation, I don’t know what other decision the WWE could have made. I really like this kid and hope that he continues to follow his dreams. Second chances are not foreign in the wrestling business so perhaps that could be in Lance’s future but that’s just a personal observation…
Ross here discusses the circumstances. Those were a performer “in some form of trouble” on an airplane. I feel that Cade was in the wrong lace at the wrong time, being so close after the Jeff hardy plane incident. WWE may have felt pressured to punish Cade since they couldn’t or wouldn’t punish Hardy. This kind of thing isn’t that impossible to believe.
Lance has been knocked down and now it is up to him to get off the canvas and get back in the game. Let’s hope Lance’s peers are paying attention to this situation…
Ross talks about being knocked down and second chances. He also talks about, “Lance’s peers are paying attention to this situation.” If this was a medical issue, I don’t think he would speak in this way. JR seems very concerned in his words, and that leads me to believe that this is a serious drug related issue. If that is the case, it all makes sense.
So where does Lance Cade go from here? I am sure he will find decent work on the Independent scene. Trevor Murdoch has and seems to be doing well, and they can always reform their tag team (Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch will be reuniting for the IWA Mid-South “Chris Cadido Cup Tag Team Tournament” on Dec. 5-6 in Joliet, Ind.) If this is a drug related issue, one would think that he would have trouble getting in with TNA, but with TNA’s history of hiring people with issues, I doubt that he would have a problem. Part of me really wants to see a Cade and Murdoch vs. Beer Money feud, I admit that. In the end I just hope that he gets the help he needs and stays healthy. It will be interesting to see if more details come out or if this is kept quiet as it has.
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I appears as if we have two three hour Raw’s coming up before the end of the year and guess what? Vince McMahon isn’t a fan of doing the three hour editions of Monday Night Raw! Many in the company know all to well what happened to Nitro when it went to three hours, and they don’t want to repeat history. Many times when Nitro was a three-hour show, they would be shows that felt like they lasted forever. Filled with mostly filler and shows that you wished you had a DVR for so that you could start late and fast forward through. With the three-hour shows there is a ton of promotion only to do “disappointing numbers.” The company dump a bunch into the promotion, and the first hour always does a low number. In the end the show will do the same rating as the two-hour events, and they basically don’t feel that they have gained anything. Plus, there is a problem with producing too much product and burning the audience out. WWE produces FIVE hours of TV each and every week. They already have fans that don’t watch all five of those hours, and when you add in another hour, people just don’t watch. Hell I know people on our staff that FEAR this extra hour. It all boils down to the fact that Vince doesn’t want to turn it down and upset the USA Network. He wants to keep the relationship strong and keep delivering the ratings that they are happy with so that when it comes time to renew the contracts ,the USA Network will play ball and give them a good deal. The USA Network has actually toyed with the idea of wanting the show to be three hours long, but for now are just working with the occasional specials. I personally hope that they stick to two-hours with the occasional special. While I may not speak for everyone, I don’t need that extra hour every week.
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Hey guess what kids, Jeff Hardy is back in the news again. That’s right, and this time it is for being late. Oh yes, Jeff Hardy didn’t arrive for last week’s Smackdown until after the card had already started. Yes, AFTER the card had already started. For those that may have forgotten, he was in the main event of that show; losing to Vladimir Kozlov. You would think coming off of the airplane incident/non-incident that he would be on his best behavior, just to make sure all was well. With the chance that he could be on the way to the WWE Title, I feel that this again is another black mark on his record. Sure it is a small thing, and some will say that it is no big deal, but these things add up. Jeff has to be seen as reliable if he wants to be in the main event, to be THE main event. Jeff has a history of being late and no-showing events. He has been good about it lately, and yes this is one incident, but with two strikes and the airplane incident/non-incident; you’d have to think that Vince is keeping track in the back of his mind.
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Today in Wrestling History
1983 – Jack & Jerry Briscoe defeated Rick Steamboat & Jay Youngblood for the NWA World Tag Team titles
1985 – NWA World Champion Ric Flair battled AWA World Champion Rick Martel to a double count out after 34 minutes in Tokyo, Japan
1996 – Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Marc Mero for the WWF Intercontinental title
1996 – Brian Christopher & Wolfie D defeated Bill & Jamie Dundee for the USWA Tag Team title
2001 – Event – No Mercy, Savvis Center, St. Louis, MO
2001 – Edge defeated Christian for the WWF Intercontinental title
2001 – Chris Jericho defeated The Rock for the WCW Heavyweight title
2002 – Triple H molested a corpse while dressed as Kane, in the infamous Katie Vick necrophilia skit!
2003 – The Basham Brothers defeated Los Guerreros for the WWE Smackdown World Tag Team Titles
1944 – Born – Bushwacker Butch
1963 – Born – Brian Costello
1965 – Born – Horace Boulder
1965 – Born – Charlie Norris
Independent and International Insights~!
CMLL is still not doing well and it doesn’t appear as if much will change anytime soon. Attendance is steadily dropping and staying at 5,000 and below, and there doesn’t appear to be anything right now that can stop that trend. Hector Garza injured his ankle on October 3rd and it looked as if he would miss more time as he was coming off of an injury, but he was back wrestling on October 7th at Arena Mexico, in the main event. Garza is working hard and trying to be a company guy, but the fact is that he is likely doing more harm than good. He is also a known steroid user, and if he decided to shoot up a bit extra to help recuperate, then he could be opening himself up to numerous muscle tears. Some have said he is the “HHH” of Mexico, and the mean that in the early 2000’s HHH where he was busting his ass and awesome. Let’s hope that he doesn’t become the torn quads HHH.
Part of the issues with the attendance is the injuries of the top stars. Last week we discussed Mistico has re-injured himself during his rehab, and that his return would be December. Well that changed and Mistico now looks to not be back in action until January. Perro Aguayo Jr. hopes to be back in December after his torn biceps, but that isn’t a given either. CMLL is just trying to stop the bleeding. Garza staying through injury helps, but it’s like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound. The need Mistico and Perro Aguayo Jr back and back soon. They have proven themselves as draws, and if they get back and they do the Villano’s vs. Panther and Mistico feud as has been discussed which would translate into Panther vs. Mistico then things may turn around.
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In more injury news from LUCHA LAND, Vampiro missed a few AAA house shows recently, claiming that he suffered a concussion. Vampiro is also saying that that the left side of his body was limited in movement. First of all if this is the case, I feel bad for the guy. Vampiro has taken a lot of shit in his career injury wise and is always banged up. This is a guy that has very little training, but due to the look and charisma was able to become a superstar in Mexico. But there is one other thing he does better than work a crowd, and that is to BULLSHIT. Now I am not trying to be heartless here, but if you have ever heard a Vampiro interview the guy shovels more shit that a farm hand in the summertime. He had the line about his new promotion and all of the TV deals he had in place, which he didn’t. All of the tales of working with the Mexican Guardian Angles and teaching Krav Maga to semi-paralyzed midgets, and well, I don’t exactly take him at his word. If he is injured I hope that he is ok and recovers quickly. If he is bullshitting, well, fuck him.
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I know that some of you may not believe this, but here is a lot of heat on Teddy Hart within AAA. NO SHIT! Teddy? Heat? Lying? NO! But seriously, Teddy has been late to many shows recently, and that led to AAA not putting the tag titles on he and Jack Evans, which was the plan for a while now. What sucks about this is the fact that not only does Teddy get punished, but Evans does as well. You would think that Evans would know about Teddy enough by now and either not associate with him of kick him in the ass and make sure he shows up for events. But he didn’t so he got screwed in the end as well. On top of that Hart had told AAA that his girlfriend Nikki had experience working ringside. He wanted to get her a job to be with he and Evans, and for the extra check. Well, AAA discovered that she had no clue what she was doing, and that Hart had fed them a line. Teddy! Lying? NO! I am just as shocked as you are, which is to say that I am not shocked at all. This guy is a pro at pissing away opportunity.
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While a few weeks ago it was just a possibility, it is now being reported that former WWE and TNA talent Shelley Martinez (Ariel/Salinas) will likely begin with AAA on October 24th. They haven’t finalized what role she will be in as of this time, but the odds are that she will be with Degeneration-Mex or one of the Goth Groups AAA has. While she has proven to play the Goth role well, part of me would actually like to see her with Degeneration-Mex. Waltman, Romero, Kozlov and her together would be an interesting dynamic. Plus I like her better as the bouncy, dancing groupie chick rather than the batgirl deal. Come on, who didn’t love those giant can-cans doing the dance to the LAX Theme Music.
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Shane Douglas has returned to teaching at a middle school in New Brighton, PA. Some may wonder why such a small news item is here to wrap things up but that is because I have a story, and it’s true. Many of you know I am from the Pittsburgh area, and while I lived in the Pittsburgh I had the opportunity to do many cool things. I got to go to Penguins games, Steelers games, live wrestling events and I played with Chicago in concert. Seriously, one of the highlights of my musical career. So back in 1993, between his WCW and ECW time, Shane was teaching again. My trumpet instructor/band director in high school and I hung out a lot. His son was my age, we were both going to school for music and all three of us had shitty knees. So we were going to work out one Saturday, and Walt was like, “Hey, we’re going to work out with my friend Troy today, we used to teach together.” So yeah, you know where this is going. We go to the gym, I see Shane Douglas; I completely mark out and then learn that this is Walt’s friend Troy. Good times…good times…
