WWE News & Notes from the 7/26 Observer Options

[Enigma]

There are plans to greatly expand developmental. While nothing is official, the latest idea seems to be to add as many as three new territories, with Connecticut at the Trax training facility, an Atlanta, and a Tampa system. To me, Los Angeles is the place to add and move people like Al Snow, Shawn Michaels (whose track record as a trainer is very good), maybe Bill DeMott and Lance Storm to places like that. The kind of people they are looking for naturally congregate to Los Angeles because of acting and bodybuilding, which is not to say I'm suggesting trying to recruit actors and bodybuilders, just that per capita, you're going to find more people with "the look" in L.A. because that's where people with "the look" go. I'd also call the schools "WWE Wrestling Schools," because the brand name on the school will encourage far more people to try out. A football player who wants to be a wrestler will think he's demeaning himself going to most wrestling schools, and working independents in front of 100 people. But if the WWE name is attached, they may not see is as the same thing.

The Ric Flair book “To Be the Man” will be No. 5 on the 7/25 New York Times bestseller list in the non-fiction category. That would be the highest of any WWE book since "Foley is Good: And the Real World is Faker than Wrestling" in 2001. There was said to be a lot of internal gloating at Bret Hart's response to Ric Flair, both because they thought it would help book sales, plus it amused some people who like to see Hart look bad. Hart is very well respected by most of the wrestlers, and some in power, but those who have the strong "with us or against us" company mentality get off on seeing him look bad. What has turned out to be sad about the book is that it really is good, but the company has taken the low road now in promotion, with Flair going off on Foley and Hart at every opportunity, and the company even having Jerry Lawler read Flair's passages on Foley and Hart as both a way to promote the book, and either promote potential feuds or get back at them (whichever is more convenient to tell them at the time) for perceived transgressions against the state. At the core, it's quite pathetic.

WWE filed a lawsuit against Marvel Comics over the names “Hulk Hogan”, “Hulkamania”, and “Hulkster”. In the early 80s, when Hulk Hogan started taking off from a merchandising standpoint, and Marvel owned the name “Incredible Hulk”, both sides signed a 20-year usage contract. Marvel claims the contract was signed on July 9, 1984, which means it has just expired and wants more money for a new deal. WWE would blow it off, except Hogan is such a big part of the company's plans to market its video library. WWE claims the contract was signed in March of 1985, which means it has a few more months left. If WWE and Marvel don't strike a new deal, WWE would have to re-edit all Hogan tapes to take those phrases out of the visuals and commentary.

To the surprise of nobody, Rikishi (Solofa Fatu) was officially fired on 7/16. He himself had known he was on the bubble when he got nasal surgery while being out of action with a bad ankle. Even though his gimmick called for him to be overweight, there had been consternation among company officials because after getting down to 350, which everyone felt was healthier for him, he started packing the weight back on. Some time back, he had friends send feelers to TNA about coming in, with him expecting to be let go. According to sources, Rikishi had a tremendous downside guarantee, and had earned $700,000 in 2003. Things were made worse for him when, while out of action with an injury, he worked for Afa on 6/21 in Allentown, PA, and booked himself to work on 7/21 in Honolulu.

Bret Hart had a meeting with Shane McMahon on 7/19 to discuss the idea of doing a DVD later this year. The big hold up, as mentioned before, is how the end of 1997 is portrayed. Hart doesn't want to be involved if they do another "Monday Night Wars" style history piece, if you get my drift.

Garrison Cade will be undergoing knee surgery very shortly.

Vince McMahon sent a letter of apology to Verne Gagne over the behavior Chavo Guerrero Sr. at the Cauliflower Alley Club deal. The sad part is Gagne, who can be defined as very senile at this point in his life, had no idea what it was for. Jim Ross had already done a similar letter to Nick Bockwinkel of CAC right after the Chavo-Gagne incident happened, where Chavo, way out of control, confronted Gagne and started screaming, almost in a threatening manner, at Gagne over a payoff from a 1988 PPV show that lost money and Gagne didn't pay a lot of the guys for. The reason nothing happened was before it could escalate, Danny Hodge grabbed Chavo, who apparently was going to take a swing until he saw the face of death. Only a wrestler would know that guy in his 70s, who looks no different from any other man in 70s, is the real face of death.

Matt Hardy has arthroscopic knee surgery scheduled for late August to repair a torn MCL. He's going to keep his angle going through SummerSlam, and would likely be out of action until around November. Not sure how they are going to work it since Kane was originally scheduled to face Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam.

They had taped an angle where Kurt Angle fired all the women on the Smackdown roster, but it was edited off the show.

Many people internally tried to talk Vince McMahon out of using Jon Heidenreich in such a prominent position, since he's geared to work with The Undertaker as his next program after JBL.

There seems to be company-wide praise for Hiroko Suzuki, Kenzo's wife. There was an article in Japan where Kenzo noted that it takes so much time for her to do the make-up they have her doing that she starts at 1 p.m. and he doesn't see her again until about the time they go to the ring, usually 7 or more hours later. Story I heard is that Vince McMahon made a remark that he thought she was really good, and then suddenly, everyone else parroted it.

Nova's work on the weekend WWE house shows with Steven Richards was praised.

This week's revamped version of the Smackdown line-ups for August, which will probably change again next week, are JBL vs. The Undertaker with no DQ, Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle, John Cena vs. Booker T vs. RVD vs. Rene Dupree (so Kenzo Suzuki is out of the mix), Billy Kidman & Paul London vs. The Dudleys for the tag titles, Rey Mysterio vs. Jamie Noble vs. Spike Dudley for the cruiserweight title, the women in bikinis contest, Charlie Haas vs. Luther Reigns, Orlando Jordan vs. Kenzo Suzuki, and Johnny Stamboli vs. Jon Heidenreich (well, somebody has a sense of humor, either that, or they secretly hate their crowds).

For the Smackdown Australia tour at the end of August, the immediate sellouts of the past aren't there, but it's still doing very well. Melbourne, in a 6500-seat arena, is sold out except for the $375 tickets. Most seats were priced at $175. In Sydney, there are a few cheaper tickets remaining, but all the good seats are gone. Brisbane is the slowest. This was as of three days after tickets went on sale.

Brad Cain (Lodi in WCW, who was out for a long time with a broken neck), was given a shot for a tryout at last week's tapings in Manchester and Providence. He drove up from the Carolinas, and they didn’t put him on either show. Obviously, he was thrilled.

“Walking Tall” opened in the U.K. the weekend of 7/9 to 7/11, doing 350,000 pounds. Almost every major theater reduced the number of screens it was on later the first weekend. Considering the amount of publicity, the figures were likely disappointing.

Chris Nowinski wrote an interesting article in the New Hampshire Union Leader about the subject of concussions, which he's been studying a lot since they may have ended his career at the age of 24. He noted the dangers of football in particular, since he got his original concussions in football, before wrestling. He noted that it's a mistaken belief that a helmet protects children's brains. He said a 2001 study in the Journal of child Neurology said half the high school football players suffer at least one concussion during the season. He noted that medical science is just learning the links between multiple concussions and later repercussions such as Alzheimer's, depression, memory loss, cognitive impairment, and dementia. Anyone who has been around fighters for many years who have taken lots of shots to the brain can certainly attest to the memory loss and cognitive impairment, and I can also see the depression, although there are so many things that lead to depression that I don't know if that can be pinpointed. A large study of former NFL players found 20% of those with three or more concussions suffered from depression and 17% reported memory problems. The thing again with the depression is a large percentage of athletes after their careers end suffer from depression, concussions or not, although it would be interesting to see what that percentage would be in a controlled study. Nowinski wrote: "The damage caused by concussions in children theoretically impairs the child's ability to reach their full cognitive potential, inhibiting their ability to learn and classroom performance, and can cause personality changes, behavioral, emotional and attention deficit disorders, and many accelerate the natural process of brain degeneration when they get older. This fall, thousands of American parents will face a child begging to be allowed to play football. If you truly believe that the game is not for your child, stand firm."

Actual paid attendance for the Raw and Smackdown tapings on 7/5 and 7/6 in Winnipeg were 8,800 for Raw and 5,800 for Smackdown.

7/12 Smackdown house show in Cape Cod drew 1,800. 7/16 Raw house show in Wilkes-Barre drew 2,500 and $90,000. 7/17 Raw in Reading, PA drew 2,300 and $68,000. 7/18 Raw in Frederick, MD drew 2,400 and $76,000.

[Lord of The Curr...]

So Danny Hodge is the face of death?

Not what I pictured.

[Kardo]

Considering he still has his death grip and people still bring him things to test his strength and grip at 70, I'd be very watchful of Danny Hodge.

[JHawk]

Most people who know Hodge say that his handshake can still damn near break your hand if you're not ready for it.

I'd love to meet the man, but I'd be scared to be respectful enough to shake his hand.

[Kardo]

I remember some Jujitsu guy calling into Meltzer and saying he got choked out and demolished by Hodge when they were talking in the lobby before the Cauliflower Alley conference.

[Australian Pride]

According to sources, Rikishi had a tremendous downside guarantee, and had earned $700,000 in 2003.

This is absolutely ridiculous, but it's WWE's own fault i guess.

[strummer]

Does anyone know why Chavo Senior is so bitter? I heard he didn't save his money and had to become a taxi driver in Vegas. He got a gift run in WWE this year and he blew it. He seems like his worst enemy, not 87 yr. old ex-wrestling bookers.

[AndrewTS]

Most people who know Hodge say that his handshake can still damn near break your hand if you're not ready for it.

I'd love to meet the man, but I'd be scared to be respectful enough to shake his hand.

If he was on Smackdown and met the Undertaker, what would the proper thing to do be? (IMG:http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

Bret Hart had a meeting with Shane McMahon on 7/19 to discuss the idea of doing a DVD later this year. The big hold up, as mentioned before, is how the end of 1997 is portrayed. Hart doesn't want to be involved if they do another "Monday Night Wars" style history piece, if you get my drift.

...it's a shame Bret is soooo bitter and won't let be put behind him. He should really let it go and be an adult about this situation like the WWE has been...

They had taped an angle where Kurt Angle fired all the women on the Smackdown roster, but it was edited off the show.

Really hurtin' for content this time?

Matt Hardy has arthroscopic knee surgery scheduled for late August to repair a torn MCL. He's going to keep his angle going through SummerSlam, and would likely be out of action until around November. Not sure how they are going to work it since Kane was originally scheduled to face Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam.

I guess that's it--Kane v. Hardy at Slam. Which means that stupid angle is going to continue...

There seems to be company-wide praise for Hiroko Suzuki, Kenzo's wife. There was an article in Japan where Kenzo noted that it takes so much time for her to do the make-up they have her doing that she starts at 1 p.m. and he doesn't see her again until about the time they go to the ring, usually 7 or more hours later

...they paint her face white. No way in hell it takes that long. They could turn her into a freakin' Klingon with that time.

If so, wow, what a momentual waste of time for *Kenzo Suzuki.*

Story I heard is that Vince McMahon made a remark that he thought she was really good, and then suddenly, everyone else parroted it.

....sounds about par for the course for the WWE.

[Detox]

Rikishi is eating very well....

[SamoaRowe]

Chris Nowinski wrote an article for the Union Leader? How did I miss that? Ah well, being a NH native, I can safely assure you that the Union Leader is a laughing stock of a newspaper.

[Beast]

...it's a shame Bret is soooo bitter and won't let be put behind him. He should really let it go and be an adult about this situation like the WWE has been...

Yeah, the WWE is being really adult about the situation, bringing it up everytime they go to Canada. Why is it wrong for Bret to not want a DVD about HIM, to not make him look bad? The Monday Night Wars DVD was a one-sided attack on WCW, from all sides. Bret obviously doesn't want everyone to be demeaning him for the incident, while backing up current employees, McMahon and Michaels, on BRET's DVD.

[Guest_JMA_*]

...it's a shame Bret is soooo bitter and won't let be put behind him. He should really let it go and be an adult about this situation like the WWE has been...

Yeah, the WWE is being really adult about the situation, bringing it up everytime they go to Canada. Why is it wrong for Bret to not want a DVD about HIM, to not make him look bad? The Monday Night Wars DVD was a one-sided attack on WCW, from all sides. Bret obviously doesn't want everyone to be demeaning him for the incident, while backing up current employees, McMahon and Michaels, on BRET's DVD.

I'm pretty sure Andrew was being sarcastic.

[Beast]

I'm pretty sure Andrew was being sarcastic.

Oops. My bad.

[Use Your Illusio...]

HEIDENREICH vs Undertaker!? Fuck this, quit Mark, now. This shit isn't worth it.

UYI

[Dark Age]

Yes, go Mark. Go now! I won't miss you.

I'd also call the schools "WWE Wrestling Schools," because the brand name on the school will encourage far more people to try out.

How original.

Story I heard is that Vince McMahon made a remark that he thought she was really good, and then suddenly, everyone else parroted it.

Good at what, exactly? Doing nothing? Walking to the ring? Speaking English?

[EdwardKnoxII]

Many people internally tried to talk Vince McMahon out of using Jon Heidenreich in such a prominent position, since he's geared to work with The Undertaker as his next program after JBL.

So does this mean that UT is winning the belt and then feuding with Jon Heidenreich over the WWE TITLE of all things? Nice to see Vince has learned his lesson over what happened with Jon last time and Nathan Jones thing. (IMG:http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[SuperJerk]

Many people internally tried to talk Vince McMahon out of using Jon Heidenreich in such a prominent position, since he's geared to work with The Undertaker as his next program after JBL.

So does this mean that UT is winning the belt and then feuding with Jon Heidenreich over the WWE TITLE of all things? Nice to see Vince has learned his lesson over what happened with Jon last time and Nathan Jones thing. (IMG:http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

I think Vince is high enough on JBL that he's willing to let him keep the belt for a little while longer.

Undertaker needs another world title like Jerry Lawler needs more hormones. Surely even Vince can see that.

[Guest_Fook_*]

Matt Hardy has arthroscopic knee surgery scheduled for late August to repair a torn MCL. He's going to keep his angle going through SummerSlam, and would likely be out of action until around November. Not sure how they are going to work it since Kane was originally scheduled to face Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam.

So what are they going to do with Kane/Hardy at SS? Are they going to have a match where Kane wins and puts Hardy on the shelf for a while, or just do some type of backstage attack?

Personally, I can see them having a "match" where Kane will get himself DQed in about two minutes and then take out all that aggression that he has since he can't touch Lita by just destroying Matt and "breaking his leg".

[Guest_nikowwf_*]

Is it not very very creepy that Vince likes Kenzo's wife/valet a lot? She hasn't done ANYTHING yet Vince is big on her.

I don't know why and I have NO way to back up my opinion but it still seriously creepts me out.

[EdwardKnoxII]

I think Vince is high enough on JBL that he's willing to let him keep the belt for a little while longer.

Undertaker needs another world title like Jerry Lawler needs more hormones. Surely even Vince can see that.

Now this brings up an interesting question. If JBL keeps the title after the UT feud who does JBL fight next? The only face I can think of that will work is Cena. Unless they want JBL and Eddie to feud again.

[Guest_JMA_*]

I think Vince is high enough on JBL that he's willing to let him keep the belt for a little while longer.

Undertaker needs another world title like Jerry Lawler needs more hormones.  Surely even Vince can see that.

Now this brings up an interesting question. If JBL keeps the title after the UT feud who does JBL fight next? The only face I can think of that will work is Cena. Unless they want JBL and Eddie to feud again.

I really hope they give Eddie a clean win against JBL sometime soon. If they don't, it will be the second time a racist character has won a feud against the object of his hatred (the first was the Triple H/Booker T feud).

[Dark Age]

I think they'll go JBL - Taker - Angle - Eddie

[Crimson G]

There seems to be company-wide praise for Hiroko Suzuki, Kenzo's wife. There was an article in Japan where Kenzo noted that it takes so much time for her to do the make-up they have her doing that she starts at 1 p.m. and he doesn't see her again until about the time they go to the ring, usually 7 or more hours later

...they paint her face white. No way in hell it takes that long. They could turn her into a freakin' Klingon with that time.

If so, wow, what a momentual waste of time for *Kenzo Suzuki.*

1 hour for the makeup...after the 6 hours of bukkake.

[humongous2002]

Many people internally tried to talk Vince McMahon out of using Jon Heidenreich in such a prominent position, since he's geared to work with The Undertaker as his next program after JBL.

Vince is always blinded by his love for hosses Heindenreich is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

[Ultra Violence]

Heh, he won't be pushed after he botches a move on the undertaker

[Promoter]

I think Vince is high enough on JBL that he's willing to let him keep the belt for a little while longer.

Undertaker needs another world title like Jerry Lawler needs more hormones.  Surely even Vince can see that.

Now this brings up an interesting question. If JBL keeps the title after the UT feud who does JBL fight next? The only face I can think of that will work is Cena. Unless they want JBL and Eddie to feud again.

Cena/JBL are scheduled for some house shows. I can't see them putting the title on Cena just like that could they?

[Enigma]

I think Vince is high enough on JBL that he's willing to let him keep the belt for a little while longer.

Undertaker needs another world title like Jerry Lawler needs more hormones.  Surely even Vince can see that.

Now this brings up an interesting question. If JBL keeps the title after the UT feud who does JBL fight next? The only face I can think of that will work is Cena. Unless they want JBL and Eddie to feud again.

Cena/JBL are scheduled for some house shows. I can't see them putting the title on Cena just like that could they?

They're about to chuck the RAW Title on Randy Orton. So, yes.