The Bell to Bell News Report 12.28.08

With the hopes that you all had a safe and happy Christmas season, welcome back to another week chock full of wrestling news, shows and my opinions on them as we’re ready to go Bell to Bell. This week saw ECW take a break with a best of show, Raw head to Toronto for a taping that brought them one step closer to a new number one contender for John Cena, Impact stink out the joint on Baby Santa’s birthday and Smackdown put on a somewhat plodding and lackluster show on the day after. Despite the holiday, there was still some good news stories as well, so let’s get right into what you might have missed in the past seven days.

The Stories

— No pay-per-view this week, so we’ll just get to Sunday’s stories though there were slim pickings there as well. There were some interviews with guys like Mick Foley, CM Punk and Armando Estrada, but nothing particularly earth-shattering came out of any of those. We did hear some news from TNA about Vince Russo wanting to have an Al Snow/Mick Foley feud based out of Snow’s appearance at Final Resolution. Jeff Jarrett put the kibosh on it by overruling Russo, saying that if Snow was too closely affiliated with the Main Event Mafia, he’d likely water down the group as everyone in the group now are former world champions. I have to agree completely with Jarrett on that one as the worst thing about the NWO was how watered down it became when lunks like Stevie Ray and Vincent were wearing the black and white T-shirts. Right now, the Main Event Mafia have credibility because they are what they say they are. Badasses who main evented arenas around the world that take people out. Al Snow hasn’t main evented anything since he was the lead in his fourth-grade play, and to include him in the mix of the MEM would probably be the death rattle for the group. Their credibility and their identity is based on the exclusivity of the group. Plus Snow vs. Foley would have been an abortion of a fight as both guys are well into their forties and neither have had a very active ring schedule in the past few years. Not only would it have been an angle-killer it would have been a terrible match, so Jarrett did the right thing in pulling a slight power play.

The Show

Raw Results:

Race To The Rumble Match: Kane vs. Shawn Michaels – Winner: Shawn Michaels (pinfall, Sweet Chin Music)
Kofi Kingston vs. Manu – Winner: Kofi Kingston (pinfall, Crucifix)
Layla & Jillian Hall vs. Mickie James & Melina – Winners: Mickie James and Melina (pinfall, modified sunset flip powerbomb)
Race To The Rumble Match: Rey Mysterio vs. JBL – Winner: JBL (disqualification, Shawn Michaels interference)
Race To The Rumble Match: Randy Orton vs. Batista – Winner: Randy Orton (forfeit, Batista injury)
Race To The Rumble Match: Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk – Winner: Chris Jericho (pinfall, Super Codebreaker)
Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix vs. John Cena and Trish Stratus – Winners: John Cena and Trish Stratus (pinfall, Cena F-U on Marella)

Raw came from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto as part of the Raw/Smackdown supershow taping and I have to say that it was a pretty interesting show from top to bottom. Of course, everyone is going to be buzzing about Trish Stratus and her return to action for one night only. It was a fun surprise to see her back and she certainly looked like she hadn’t missed a beat in her time off. They did the right things with her and kept the match and her involvement in it short and she looked fantastic as a result. The crowd ate it up with a spoon and the pop that she got when her music hit was befitting someone who left at the top of her profession and will likely go down as one of the greatest women’s wrestlers in history.

Elsewhere on the show, the WWE Championship number-one contender situation was cleared up slightly as four Race to the Rumble matches were held. The winners of those four matches will meet in a fatal four-way next week with the winner earning the shot at John Cena at the Royal Rumble. One of the matches wasn’t really a match as Randy Orton earned a bye into the fatal four-way due to Batista’s injury. After the forfeit, Orton cut a relatively good heel promo, taking credit for the injury and gloating like a prick. The thing with Orton is that people have already shown that they’re willing to not like him. He just has to get people to care about him and with this latest run he seems to be well on his way.

Two other matches between JBL and Rey Mysterio and Kane and Shawn Michaels featured one of the WWE’s most-talked about storylines between Michaels and JBL. After Michaels won his way into the four-way by dropping Kane with some Sweet Chin Music, he helped JBL advance as well. During the bout with Mysterio, Michaels came down to the ring and saved his boss from the wrath of a 619 that would have surely ended the bout. However, Michaels wasn’t done as he slapped the taste out of JBL’s mouth soon after, causing Mysterio to be disqualified. This was a great dimension to add to the storyline as it allowed Michaels to physically show his displeasure for what he’s being put through, without him having to go ahead and turn against Layfield and set up the blow-off. This just adds another layer to the ongoing saga and continues Shawn Michaels epic run in terms of storytelling. His feuds for all of 2008 have been works of booking art, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this all plays out, especially next week with both of them in the same match with the same goal.

Outside of the return of Trish Stratus, the centerpiece match of the night was between CM Punk and Chris Jericho in the Rumble race. I loved the match, loved the pacing, loved the storytelling in the ring and loved getting to see Jericho in front of a raucous, pro-Canadian crowd. Nothing beats the reactions he get when he’s close to winning a match in front of his hometown fans, either with the Codebreaker or the Walls of Jericho. The pop that he got when he turned Punk over and every other time that he dragged Punk away from the ropes was only topped by Stratus in her return. The one thing that I’ve noticed about Jericho is that heel or face, his finish ALWAYS gets a great response. When he hits that double-leg and tries to turn someone over into the Walls, he always gets a HUGE reaction, which is a testament to how great a performer he is. Punk had his part in this match too as he brought another strong performance in a year that has been full of them for him, but this was Jericho’s match and Jericho’s night.

The Stories

— The biggest story to come out of Monday was the injury to Batista. It was reported that Big Dave had suffered a full tear of his hamstring tendon after dealing with hamstring problems on the last European tour. Batista is scheduled for surgery that will keep him out of action for 6-8 months and it will leave him out of this year’s WrestleMania plans. I don’t like to wish ill on anyone, but I’m kind of glad that Batista went down with this injury as he was putting on rather uninspired and apathetic performances in the ring and with the amount of power he has, it would only have been a matter of time before he would have botched something and hurt someone in the ring. Being gone for that length of time might let him rediscover some of his passion for the business and give him a chance to come back fresh. As much as I talked about Punk needing a heel turn, Batista could use one as well as he’s pretty much run the gamut as a face on both Raw and Smackdown and he really needs some fresh match-ups.

The other good thing that might come about because of the injury is that Batista could come back and do the right thing for the business. He’s old, he’s very injury-prone and he’s had muscle tear after muscle tear. He was pouting about not being in the title picture, but how can they push him with any certainty when he continues to be an injury liability. The best thing that could happen for Batista at this point as far as I’m concerned is for him to come back for six to eight months, have a lucrative run at the top of the card to make some new stars and then retire. He’s accomplished a lot more than anyone would have ever expected from him with his late start in the business and he’s really done everything there is to do. Unless he’s a total mark that gets off on how many title reigns he’s had and wants more, he needs to realize that his time in the business is coming to a close. If he’s a much of a student of the game that respects the game as he has seemed to be, he’d realize that he needs to put some people over before fading into the sunset. I could be proven wrong and he could come back better than ever, but I think that one last run and retirement would be the best thing for him to do in the long run.

— The other piece of news from WWE land saw R-Truth denied entry into Canada for the big Raw/Smackdown supershow taping that took place on Monday night. He was sent home from the trip and while there’s no word on why he was denied entry into the country, my guess is that it’s not a paperwork snafu. I hope that it is something as simple as some misfiled paperwork, but my fear is that it’s something that will land Truth even further in the doghouse. He was already seemingly on thin ice as the office was down on him for not having a grasp of basic wrestling moves and this is just another strike. The WWE has been making cuts recently and if R-Truth isn’t careful he might be receiving a best wishes FedEx sooner than he thinks.

— On the TNA front, congratulations are in order for Samoa Joe, Frankie Kazarian and Traci Brooks. Samoa Joe and his wife celebrated the birth of their first child, a healthy baby boy, and Kazarian and Brooks were recently engaged. Contrary to reports, Kazarian didn’t tear both of his quadricep muscles off of the bone while getting down on one knee to propose.

The Show

ECW was their best of 2008 show, so there’s nothing to report on on that front. The ECW show recap will make its return next week.

The Stories

— Since there was no ECW show, I’ll throw in an extra news story or two for Tuesday as there were a few things that looked interesting enough for me to touch on. Firstly, TNA announced that they would be having Web Exclusive matches. Every week a new and exclusive match will be shown on the TNAwrestling.com website thanks to YouTube and the syndicated Xplosion show. While I think that this is a cool idea to try and get on board with the new media of the 21st century, I also know that this is likely where good matches will go to die. By that I mean, there won’t be any. If it’s anything like what the WWE’s former contribution to internet wrestling matches (Heat after it was dropped off of television) it’s going to be all of TNA’s C and D-level stars having matches that will have no bearing or meaning at all in the company. Eh, free wrestling is free wrestling and like a sucker, I’ll probably watch it.

— In an earlier edition of the Bell to Bell I touched on Hade Vansen and his new character that would be debuting soon on Smackdown. It was expected that he was going to head straight into a program with The Undertaker, but after one vignette Vansen has had his character dropped and his angle finished. While that’s not a good sign for someone in developmental when they have their character and angle stripped after one week, it’s good for the brand that they won’t go through with an angle that would have probably tanked anyhow. The thing about working a feud with a big name like The Undertaker is that you have to have the credibility to be able to hang with him in the eyes of the fans. Vansen would have had none of that and his associates Kevin Thorn and Black Pain would have been useless. This reeks of a new version of Mordechai and as it’s come to be known, Michael Hayes is the man that pushed for both of those characters and for both of those characters to feud with Taker. In my eyes, Hayes needs to drop the whole “occult” thing since that went out with The Brood.

— Finally, the NWA announced that they’d be heading to Mexico to reclaim their championships. Not through a tournament or any sort of challenge, but by simply telling CMLL that any of their talent that holds the NWA Light Heavyweight, Middleweight or Welterweight Championships will not be recognized as real champions. The NWA had left the titles there to die as they never had a reason to run in Mexico, but with Blue Demon Jr. as their NWA World Champion, they have reason to now and they want their titles back. My take on this? Who really gives a shit. Is anyone really going to care if the NWA has their Middleweight and Welterweight titles back? Go on, raise your hands. All four of you? That’s what I thought. The NWA ceased to be relevant after Fliar stopped holding their championship belt and anything they try to do like this to try and raise their profile just reeks of desparation. The NWA need to pull their collective heads out of the sand and realize that they’re never going to get back to their glory days of the past, no matter how hard they try.

The Stories

— Wednesday was Christmas Eve, and the only real story to come out was the announcement of a Hardcore Reunion that will take place at the Merchants Square Outlet Mall in Allentown, PA. There’s a HUGE list of former ECW talent that will be taking part in the show including Raven, “The Franchise” Shane Douglas, “The Queen of Extreme” Francine, “The Hardcore Icon” The Sandman, Justin Credible, Mikey Whipwreck, “The King of Old School” Steve Corino, Spike Dudley, Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney, Chris Chetti, Sunny, and Little Guido. The best part to come out of this reunion (outside of the fact that it’s being held at an outlet mall), is that FINALLY, after all this time…THE BWO WILL REUNITE!! The Blue Meanie, Super Nova and Stevie Richards will all be appearing at the reunion show, which will make it worth the price of admission already. There was no word if there is going to be any wrestling at the reunion, but I damn sure hope not. Most of these people looked in rough shape at the Hardcore Homecoming shows, so adding a couple of years on to them will not do them any favors.

The Show

TNA Impact Results:

X Division Championship Tournament Semfinal: Kiyoshi vs. Chris Sabin – Winner: Chris Sabin (pinfall, Cradle Shock)
Scott Steiner and Booker T w/Sharmell vs. AJ Styles and Brother Devon – Winners: None (No Contest)
Santa’s Workshop Knockouts Streetfight: Sojournor Bolt, Rahka Kahn, Raisha Saeed and Awesome Kong vs. Christy Hemme, Roxxi, Taylor Wilde and ODB – Winners: Christy Hemme, Roxxi, Taylor Wilde and ODB (pinfall, Wilde cradles Kahn)
Kurt Angle vs. Rhino – Winner: Kurt Angle (disqualification, Jeff Jarrett interference)

The last Impact of 2008 was possibly one of the more underwhelming Impact programs I’ve seen in a long, long time. I’m pretty sure that they were expecting a lower number of people to be watching the show since it aired on Christmas night, but I wish they hadn’t made it so obvious that they didn’t care. After the first hour and ten minutes of a two-hour program, I had seen one five minute match between Kiyoshi and Chris Sabin that could have easily used another five minutes. That’s it. The rest of the time was eaten up by in-ring promos, backstage segments, video packages, and more promos, segments and packages.

This was the very definition of a throwaway show with no real angle advancement in any of the matches except for the MEM/Mick Foley situation and another piece of business between Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett. They got another bunch of segments on this show, with Jarrett having a sit-down interview with Mike Tenay and Angle busting up the announce position to reply that Jarrett was close to being finished. Even with that, not a lot happened with the segments and the only thing that was different than any other week was that BG James got knocked on his ass at the end of the show. While I’m all for BG taking lumps whenever someone can dish them out, that wasn’t a very strong note to end the show on. The pull-apart between Angle and Jarrett after the main event would have been a much better closing sequence.

Moving on to the Main Event Mafia/Mick Foley deal, I get that they wanted to have Foley appear in the ring and that if he was going to it would likely be in a situation with the Main Event Mafia. What I don’t get is how they could have Foley show up, pull out his sock (which will probably be called Sawk-o or something like that if TNA have their way) and take out the entire Main Event Mafia in one fell swoop. After the TNA Frontline had failed miserably in trying to fight the MEM while the odds were even, how bad do they look when a mostly-retired, over-40 wrestler with horrible knees can not only hold his own, but send four members of the MEM scurrying to the apron in terror. There were a million other ways that they could do this and it’s just a shame they chose the one way that could have possibly done irreparable damage to the credibility of the Frontline. If it hadn’t been for the hour of talking that had already turned me off of the show, this would have probably angered me a lot more.

The Stories

— There were no news stories on Christmas, so look for this section of the report return next week as well.

The Show

Triple H vs. Chavo Guerrero – Winner: Triple H (pinfall, Pedigree)
United States Championship Match: Hurricane Helms vs. Shelton Benjamin (C) – Winner: Shelton Benjamin (pinfall, Paydirt)
THE Brian Kendrick vs. Carlito – Winner: Carlito (pinfall, Backstabber)
WWE Divas Championship Match: Maryse vs. Michelle McCool (C) – Winner: Maryse (pinfall, kick to the face)
MVP vs. The Great Khali – Winner: The Great Khali (pinfall, Punjabi Plunge)
Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Vladimir Kozlov – Winner: Vladimir Kozlov (pinfall, Uranage slam)
Non-Title Match: Big Show vs. Jeff Hardy – Winner: Jeff Hardy (countout)

The highlight of this show for me was the bout between Shelton Benjamin and Hurricane Helms for the United States Championship. They got a good ten to fifteen minute match in and it was back and forth with a ton of action the entire time. They had a great finishing sequence with Helms hitting all of his greatest hits finishers but still coming up just short before Benjamin scored with the Paydirt to hold onto his title. I really liked this match and I would love for them to get another fifteen to twenty minutes at the Royal Rumble. Between a match with Helms and Benjamin and a match between Regal and Punk, the Rumble could be home to two of the best WWE PPV matches of the year 2009 in January.

The rest of the show was kind of hit and miss, with Maryse winning the Divas Title and former champ Michelle McCool turning heel by laying a beating on Maria after the bout was over. As much as I like watching wrestling, the WWE’s women’s division has been stagnant for a long time and I haven’t really paid much attention to it. I have seen that Maryse is starting to turn the corner as a performer to where she’s starting to look a little better and a little more like a star, but this is still nowhere near the glory days of Trish, Lita, Victoria and the like. Outside of that, Triple H squashed Chavo Guerrero, Vladimir Kozlov squashed Jimmy Wang Yang and The Great Khali squashed MVP. Eh.

Week two of the Jeff Hardy as WWE Champion experiment was also in full effect, with Hardy cutting another “Joker”-style promo before the match and then putting on a decent main event against The Big Show. Again, Hardy was made to look weak as instead of going over Big Show to look like someone who could retain his title if someone challenged for it, he beat Big Show by countout before being stuck into a match against Big Show and Edge next week. I really don’t get what they’re trying to do with Hardy, but by booking him like this they’re probably doing more damage than they would have if they had just not given him the belt. Rey Mysterio looked horrible after his title run and still has trouble being bought as a legitimate main eventer and instead has been fighting in upper-level feuds against guys who are above the Intercontinental Title level but below the main event. If Hardy’s booking doesn’t turn around soon, he’s going to end up like Mysterio where he’ll have a brush with glory and a short reign before he’s stuffed back into the midcard.

The Stories

— The time around the Christmas holidays is usually Death Valley for wrestling news and this was true again on Friday, with the only story that was worth commenting on was an interview with Ring of Honor owner Cary Silken. Silken spoke on a variety of subjects including the firing of Gabe Sapolsky, the company’s production values and their involvement in The Wrestler. When he spoke about the firing of Sapolsky, I’d say that some of it was the truth and some of it reeked of him trying to keep from firing up a ton of people about the situation. He said that six years plus as a booker might be a record, which it could be, but it also feels like him trying to justify it for a reason other than doing what’s right for the company. I also agree with him when he talks about the production values, and I’m glad to hear that they’re in the process of improving them and that their DVD’s will begin to look a lot better in the future. It’s not that they look terrible on their own, it’s that I’d like it if the production would look at least a fifth as good as the matches are. I’m able to look past it, but a lot of other people aren’t and if they’re looking to increase their fanbase, that could be a good way to start getting new fans to give them a shot. With The Wrestler talk, I don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference in the end as I think that it’s going to be a scenario where they get a slight rub, but in all honesty how many people who go see the movie will know that Ring of Honor is even a real promotion? My guess is not many. They’ll get a boost from within the wrestling world and that will be pretty cool for them, but I wouldn’t expect some sort of huge mainstream exposure based out of their involvement in the film.

The Stories

— As usual, Saturday is a show-free day and that leaves us with only the stories. Saturday’s biggest was the successful surgery undergone by Batista. WWE.com reported that the surgery to repair the torn hamstring ligament was a success and that physical therapy will be beginning soon after. As I said earlier, Big Dave seemingly has two choices when he comes back. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope that there are no complications when it comes to his physical therapy, but I would be lying if I said I would be excited for his return. He’s due back in about six to eight months, but I’m sure the hype videos will be beginning before the Royal Rumble, since the WWE loves to hype a comeback. For me, no amount of hype will get me wanting to see Batista come back if he’s the same guy he was when he left with the injury.

And that brings us to the end of another edition of Bell to Bell. Thanks for taking the time to check it out during the wild and crazy holiday season and I hope that everyone has a safe and happy New Year’s, however you choose to celebrate it. We’ll see you all next Sunday.