Enigma

55. Smackdown wrestlers no longer get free 7/11 slushees and taxi rides to the arena

Velocity's gone when WWE moves back to USA Network.

The original plan was for Hogan vs. Lesnar at Survivor Series 2002 with Lesnar going over. Hogan wanted to win the title, and that was the end of that.

He'll probably go back to being Trish's bodyguard.

I remember one of Lord Alfred's last appearances on WWF television. It was on that shitty Saturday morning show WWF Mania hosted by Todd Pettengil. His Lordship just showed up in the studio out of nowhere totally playing heel and being an absolute jackass to Todd. It was a thing of beauty.

Rudo is by far the biggest asshole on these boards. I don't understand why he hasn't been deported to banland.

If I remember correctly, Juventud was the one who fucked up Jerry Lynn's back with a reckless Juvi Driver in TNA, which caused Lynn to miss a long time.

Looks like the Great American Bash will once again be featuring a Concrete Crypt Match!

From WWE.Com Due to the unfortunate terrorist attacks in London on Thursday, July 7, which coincided with our pre-produced WWE SmackDown! program, UPN has asked us to be sensitive to the usage of the Arab-American character, Muhammad Hassan. We have agreed with UPN, and have not had the character on SmackDown! since that date. It is uncertain as to whether or not the WWE will continue with this character beyond this Sunday’s Pay-Per-View, The Great American Bash.

What? I thought HBK was supposed to help HHH in his match against Undertaker at WM17, thus leading to HBK returning at Backlash the next month with HHH against UT & Kane. They sent HBK home the Smackdown right before WM17. They were supposed to do something with him on RAW, but got cut out of the show due to time contraints.

RAW in Canada will not feel the same now.

On Unforgiven 2000, they talk about how that day was Stephanie's 24th birthday, so taking that into account, Stephanie is indeed 28 and will turn 29 on September 24th.

I think the Jackyl-led Acolytes were always meant to join the Ministry.

The #9 edition of PWTorch's "Ask Ed Ferrera" was completely dedicated to how if it weren't for former WWF and WCW booker Ed Ferrera, Bradshaw probably would have been fired in late-1998. The question is, is Ferrera credible? ===================================== PWTorch.com reader Antohny Miletic asks: How did you and Bradshaw get along while you were in WWE? I heard he was and is a jerk and a bully. Also, I heard he was happy to see Vince Russo go, what about you? Did he dislike you as well? Ed Ferrara answers: During my time in the WWF, Bradshaw was a guy I enjoyed working with. I never had any problems with him, and we got along quite well. As soon as we had left, however, he did a 180 and became one of our most outspoken, venomous "critics," which should say something about how much of a straight-shooter he is (or was). I had heard plenty of tales about his bullying tendencies, and had even seen it happen in the ring on several occasions (most notably one night when he completely stiffed Public Enemy in the ring to "test them"). The ironic part of his venom toward me in particular is that he probably wouldn't even have a job today if it wasn't for me. This isn't me putting myself over - it's a fact. Because what I'm about to describe all went down during booking sessions between only Russo, VKM and myself, this story has probably never seen light of day. I doubt if John even realizes it! I was always a big fan of John Layfield, back to when he first came in as Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw. The old-school fanboy in me marked out for him as the second coming of Stan Hansen, from the way he worked at the time, right down to the "hook 'em horns." Problem was, he wasn't getting over the way VKM expected, and was about to be cut from the roster. VKM gave Russo and me a short-list of talents that were about to be let go if we couldn't think of anything to do with them - and on top of that list were both Bradshaw and Ron Simmons (Farooq). Russo and I both dug Simmons, but I was pretty much the only one struggling to keep Bradshaw around. This was around the time when we were planning Taker's Ministry of Darkness, so I came up with an idea for how to re-invent Simmons and Bradshaw as The Acolytes and insert them into that mix. Needless to say, the gamble paid off - the Acolytes gimmick worked for them and they took off, eventually morphing into the A.P.A., and then on to today's JBL. But if it hadn't been for The Acolytes gimmick, Bradshaw would have been released. So every time I would hear about some snotty comment Bradshaw would make about me, I'd have to simply shake my head and laugh, because he had no idea how close he was to unemployment back then. =====================================

Triple H feuded with Eugene and everyone still found things to bitch about.

Funny, I thought Stevie said "Now that the bWo is officially Smackdown" and Meanie said he was supposed to be at SD this week. And nothing.

It's a total work now. WWE.Com just posted an article on Matt, transcribing the message Matt had on the website. Also, they announced that Lita would be on Wednesday night's Byte This to respond to Matt. Woooooooooooooooooooork.

While World Wrestling Entertainment decides who to put in Jim Cornette's position, Paul Heyman will be helping to write and produce Ohio Valley Wrestling's TV tapings. Heyman was actually down in OVW this past week (he goes down there regularly to work with and evaluate talent) when the Cornette slapping incident went down, although he wasn't present when it happened according to several sources. I'm told that as of now, this is just a short term deal while the company decides who will succeed Cornette. credit: Mike Johnson/PWInsider

They never referred to them as terrorists. If you're considering them to be terrorists just because they're associated with Muhammad Hassan, you're confirming his gimmick.

Yeah, really. You people knew what was going on and still watched it. If it offended you so much, why did you watch it? Sounds to me like car accident spectator syndrome. I don't really see what the big deal is. All that happened was 5 masked thugs came out and choked The Undertaker with a wire. WOW, SO OFFENSIVE. You people are acting like they bombed the arena. Sure, they did look very conspicuous, but who knows? Hassan may have been playing into the stereotypes placed upon his people and next week, he may come out and admit how ridiculous it looked. But when I think about offensive things they could do, the last thing I'd think about is 5 masked guys in camo pants choking UT. Last time I checked, the terrorists use guns and bombs and knifes. Not wire and a gimmicked pipe.

The show was taped on Monday. And plus, nobody bitches when other TV shows portray actors at terrorists. I don't see how or why wrestling should be an exception to this.

I love that they are using the actual bWo music. I love that song.

Taking Stock by John "Bradshaw" Layfield I thought the ECW PPV was very good. Because I lived in Texas I had never got a chance to see ECW, but I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The interaction with the fans was great. The guys worked as hard as they could work, which is always fun to watch. Sandman’s entrance was probably one of the best entrances I have ever seen in wrestling. It is amazing what works and what doesn’t. If you had said that a guy with a cigarette in his mouth drinking beer would be the highlight of the night, I would think you were crazy. However, it was. Charisma like that is just innate, you can’t teach it. The last match was fun to watch. I have always been a fan of The Dudleys. I thought they put on a great show with Tommy Dreamer. Chris and Eddie had their normal solid outing. Mike Awesome tried to kill himself, and you could tell the fans appreciated it. I missed Lance Storm and Jericho, though I heard it was very good. I wish RVD had been well for this, you could tell how much it meant to him. I, too, thought his promo was very good. I admire hard work and passion and this PPV was full of it. What do you have to do to go to jail in this country? There was blood in the bronco, Robert Blake tried to hire a hit man and Michael Jackson had tons of evidence against him. I can’t believe that the jury found him not guilty. I believe that the jury just thought that the family was so screwed up that they couldn’t find Michael guilty. I couldn’t believe it. I am on the plane returning from the UK. We had four sold out shows in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dublin, and Manchester. Fans here are awesome. I love Scotland, my ancestors are all from there, the MacGregors. Our overseas markets are just on fire right now. The WWE stock is significantly undervalued right now. For full disclosure I have to say I own it and just bought some more because I think it's a good buy. I am going to beat the market again this year for the ninth straight year easily, which is a pretty good record. My radio show should be up on the web now; I will have it posted at the beginning of each week. I will answer e-mails starting next column. I have had several hundred, but I don’t have access to them here so I can’t answer them this column. One e-mail I do remember is a question about my toughest match physically, was it the last one with Cena? I think the answer is no. Though the I Quit Match was extremely physical, the most physical match I have ever had was with Undertaker at No Mercy. I had two black eyes and could barely walk for a week. I also thought that was one of my best matches ever. I was at the Grand ole Opry a couple of weeks ago for an appearance. I got to listen to Charlie Pride, which was a thrill. My affiliate in Nashville WWTN allowed me to do my radio show from their studios. Be sure and check out my show this week on the radio, it is the fastest growing show in radio today. ========= Take this into effect along with interviewing Matt Morgan after his release (completely exposing the studdering gimmick) and the Lesnar contract "negotiations", WWE.Com may be going back to it's old straight-up, non-kayfabe style.

Shades of Gray sucked.

Lauren Jones' bio has been removed from the Smackdown webpage, so she's probably out of here too.