QuestionMan

I love this guy's bio: HEIGHT: 6'3'' "...one of Japan's tallest wrestlers..."

Kenzo Suzuki, Japan's answer to Sid Vicious (i.e. he sucks ass).

CHANGE HOMETOWNS Meanwhile, DeMarco confirmed Vince McMahon was behind a decision to change the announced hometown of various Canadian fan favourites -- including Winnipeg's own Chris Jericho -- to locations south of the border. "It came from Vince himself," said DeMarco. "What Vince is trying to do is he's trying to portray reality as to where the WWE superstars are now residing from." However, Jericho doesn't live in Manhasset, N.Y. -- where WWE ring announcers now bill him as being from. Although Jericho was born there, he was raised in St. James and now lives in Tampa. He told The Sun earlier this week he still considers Winnipeg his hometown. DeMarco fended off suggestions Canadian fans should be offended by the move. "I don't think anyone is trying to take away the history, the heritage and the roots that our Canadian wrestlers have," said DeMarco. "I don't think Canadian fans should be offended -- they should be very proud." The full article is here. Excuse me, but why would this be something to be proud of.

Sato was Shinja? Learn something new everyday...

And Korea's not even country. There's North Korea and South Korea.

So, where the fuck was the new superstar Shelton Benjamin?

Well Ric Flair controlling most of the match and regulating S.B. to chops and more chops, can't argue that. Flair's bumps were a little sloppy for the spinning heel kick and the flying clothesline too. Tsk Tsk. At this point, beating Ric Flair is like beating Matt Hardy.

"There are no plans at all right now to revive ECW. The new TV schedule, starting on 5/1, is that the two-hour Saturday night block is being canceled. Spike TV wanted to put something else in the time slot, but there are contractual stipulations providing WWE a certain number of hours of programming. Velocity will be moving to 7 p.m. on Saturday night. The Velocity change in the long run is probably for the better, although it will take a few weeks to get the audience trained. Interesting that they are running Saturday and Sunday nights in what was very close to the same time slots TBS did with great success for decades (Saturday's new slot is same as the second hour, Sunday is an hour later). Confidential is out and there will be a new show called WWE Experience at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning to provide the added hour. The new show will be hosted by Ivory and Todd Grisham and will be pushed as the only show covering both brands. It'll be more kid-oriented than Confidential, which it is replacing, with weekly diary segments with wrestlers like Chris Jericho, John Cena, and The Hurricane talking about what they've supposedly been doing out of the ring that week. There are also supposed to be music segments on the show. The Canada deal wound up as a front page story in the Winnipeg Free Press on 4/10, which I guess goes to show a lack of news on that day when WWE changing Chris Jericho's home town is front page news. Keep in mind I think the new WWE doctrine is stupid, with no upside and only a downside, but when it becomes a front page story in the newspaper that they've changed a few guys home towns (even if I'm quoted in the story), that's a bit much. The timing is curious with some televised events over the next two months scheduled in Winnipeg (depending upon how Smackdown sales go, the plan is to do both Raw and Smackdown from the Arena on 7/5 and 7/6), Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, and Kelowna. The story noted that the new company doctrine has hit a nerve with Canadian wrestling fans, which it was guaranteed to do. The story talked about Canadian fans starting a petition to allow Chris Benoit, Jericho, Edge, and others to be billed from Canada once again, with the story noting that heels La Resistance have now claimed being Canadian instead of French, while Christian is still from Toronto. The petition being circulated read, "We believe this is an attempt by the WWE to. try and hide the fact that they are Canadian. This message proves that the WWE doesn't care about Canada." Actually, it only proves that WWE thinks its American audience is unbelievably racist. The TV taping last year in Montreal where they tried to make Canadian wrestling fans heels was when I realized they either didn't understand or care much about the Canadian audience. The story noted that Jericho grew up in Winnipeg, went to high school and college in Winnipeg, and is married to a woman from Winnipeg (although the couple has since moved to Florida). The CBC's (equivalent to PBS in the U.S.) national radio broadcast on 4/10 also covered this story in similar fashion, as did the Calgary Herald. The Backlash final line-up for 4/18 in Edmonton is Chris Benoit vs. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels for the title, Randy Orton vs. Cactus Jack for IC title in a falls count anywhere no DQ match with Evolution barred from ringside, Ric Flair vs. Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho vs. Christian & Trish Stratus, Edge vs. Kane, Victoria vs. Lita for women's title and Tajiri vs. The Coach. It wasn't a one-time deal as Brian Lawler signed a new contract and is back as Grand Master Sexay. I'm also into bringing back guys like Eddy Guerrero who have their troubles, but go to work on the independents and Japan and show they've still got it. I'm usually against guys who take the same route and stink up the joint on independents and in Japan (Scott Hall comes to mind) because odds are if they stink elsewhere, they aren't going to be turning their lives around here. Anyway, Lawler was among the worst guys when he worked in TNA, and only the top few guys in TNA can really hang here. Lawler was fired several years ago when he was caught going across the Canadian border with cocaine and methamphetamines, which I don't believe he ended up being charged with. He's been trying to get back for years and was at one time both a good worker and charismatic. He still has some charisma in his role, but didn't look good at all, granted he hardly had time to, in his return on the 4/12 Raw getting squashed by Kane. Walking Tall as of 4/11 had taken in $28,953,956. Its second weekend drew $8,442,008, which was a 44% drop from the first weekend. The drop off was less than predicted, so overall its above projections. It was hoped to do $35 million to $45 million in its theatrical run, and should easily beat the former number. When Chris Benoit was in Toronto this past week doing promo work, he kept getting asked about being announced from Atlanta. Because the real answer is not about to make the company look good in Toronto, he didn't explain the change other than noting they don't bill him as "from Atlanta," but as "residing in Atlanta," which he noted is the case. He also said that when he retires from wrestling he would move back to Edmonton. He also said that he never actually believed he was winning until HHH actually tapped. Even though it didn't surprise me at all, because it was the right thing for business, there were a lot of wrestlers in the company who really didn't believe HHH would be the one to tap in that match even though they knew Benoit was winning. Benoit himself said the final moments of the match were in slow-motion to him. It's so weird to people who don't follow wrestling how something like that which is pre-planned can be such a big deal to someone. Most of the match was called in the ring, with only the basic outline of the match planned ahead of time. He appeared on TSN's "Off the Record" on 4/13. Among the highlights were his basically avoiding the Canadian question, saying it was unfair to blame wrestling for all the deaths in wrestling because they were largely due to people making their own bad decisions. He said he was mad about the USA Today story that came out. He talked about his frustrations in WCW. He even said in WCW that he would say hi to some of the top guys, mentioning Hulk Hogan, and they'd walk right past him without even acknowledging him. He also said he came close to retiring in 2001 because he was worried he wouldn't be able to come back from the broken neck and was in tears when he got the original word that he needed severe neck surgery. Edge is apparently considering moving back to Toronto. I guess if that's the case, they'll have to bill him as "formerly residing in Tampa, Florida" due to the no top Canadian babyfaces doctrine. There are a lot of decisions made that I don't always agree with, but most of the time, I can at least understand the rationale behind making the decision. You know, like when they call up the worst guys in OVW, I understand, because they are usually the ones who look good in still photos. But this no top Canadian babyface deal I can't even fathom on any level. Like Bret Hart would have been a bigger star if he was announced as being from Los Angeles. Ultimo Dragon is leaving for now, but scheduled to return in the fall. I think they are doing an angle in Japan where Dragon is quitting, but then will make up and return. The 6/27 Smackdown brand PPV in Norfolk may be called "The Great American Bash," (am told it's not 100% but the word already got out and it is the going plan) the first time WWE has used one of the traditional WCW names for a show. This would be the first time since the ill-fated attempt in late 1991 to do two PPV's so closely together (Survivor Series 1991 and then Tuesday In Texas six days later). They have things also scheduled this way in October, which will experiment with a Tuesday night PPV on 10/9 from the Raw brand, hit hard by angles the night before. The decision was made to release William Regal's book in the U.K. next month. As noted here, the book was written and according to one source which read it, it was very good. It talks in depth about his starting as a carnival wrestler at the age of 15, wrestling people like Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, and Kendo Nagasaki as Roy Regal, and then going to the U.S. and going through drug and alcohol problems. The company's marketing department, which was under the impression Regal would never be brought back (we noted that controversy a few weeks ago) to TV, canceled release. It is uncertain whether the book will be released for the U.S. market. When doing one of zillion interviews to promote "Walking Tall," The Rock talked to a reporter in Williamette, WA, who was a wrestling fan and brought up when his father worked the Pacific Northwest in the 70s and the name Dutch Savage. You could tell it struck a chord. Rock started talking about when he in Vancouver, WA and went to the matches at the Portland Sports Arena. He asked about Don Owen, and then asked if the appliance dealer with the crew cut (Tom Peterson) was still around. Funny that he's still got that crew cut and he's now sponsoring the new TV version of Portland Wrestling. WWE.com had an article on William Regal, and positioned it like almost a miracle that he may return to the ring. It said he was cleared this past week to wrestle, but for now, he's going to do the managerial gig. His active career ended 14 months ago when one side of his heart wasn't functioning properly. They had to stop his heart and restart it, and at the time, it was thought he would never wrestle again, although that was never said publicly. He has been training in the ring with the different wrestlers and said if he came back he'd have better matches than before. Regal is now 36, having started wrestling as a teenager and has experience all over the world. Regal said he watched tapes of his matches before his health problems and felt he had gotten into a rut, and felt he was doing nothing to make his matches seem special. Regal is also an unofficial trainer for a lot of the younger wrestlers, particularly the ones who worked the old Memphis developmental territory like Garrison Cade and Victoria. For a little while he was working as an agent, and I don't know why that didn't continue, although it may be a numbers issue because they have a full staff there. John Bradshaw Layfield just got engaged to Meredith Whitney, an anchor personality on the business shows he regularly appears on for Fox News Network. Layfield's radio show legit starts on 5/1 from 8-10 a.m. every Saturday morning. I'm guessing he'll be doing it from home in New York, which means he's got to wake up and do the show, and then fly to wherever his house show is that night. Jerry Lawler also recently got engaged to a woman who I believe is from Boston. This would be his fourth marriage. At press time there were still second row tickets available for Judgment Day at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the Guerrero-Layfield PPV on 5/16. The release date for the 2-disc "Rise and Fall of ECW" has been delayed to 11/16. Several WWE wrestlers will be working Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Hart's Memphis Championship Wrestling show on 4/23 at the Mid South Coliseum. The main event is Jerry Lawler & Road Warrior Animal vs. Money Inc., which are two bodybuilders from the Carolinas who work on the group Jimmy Hart does TV for, not the old WWF tag team of Ted DiBiase and I.R.S. Doug Gilbert, managed by Hart, stole Lawler's old AWA and Unified world title belts from the late 80s that they have resurrected for their shows and teased he was going to throw it in the river. Maven is scheduled against Grand Master Sexay, and Mabel is defending the Southern title against Rodney Mack, who had Teddy Long cut a promo for him. They also announced a WWE diva (Shaniqua, but they are teasing it's a mystery diva until the day of the show) would be challenging Christie Ricci for the XWF women's title and TNA's Kid Kash faces Derrick King for the XWF light heavyweight title. There has been a lot of praise for Orlando Jordan and Mark Jindrak, after their house show matches, instead of rushing out, they get the tapes and go over them looking for flaws. A funny note from the Columbus tapings when the fans were all putting their drinks and such into Layfield's cowboy hat. If you watch the tape, you can see UFC fighter Wes Sims, who wants to be a pro wrestler, spitting into the hat. Sims and Kevin Randleman were visible on the show as they were in the front row right behind Michael Cole and Tazz. Some of William Regal's remarks on Eugene such as calling him a window licker (a British term for mentally challenged child because they are seen taken away in special school buses licking windows) have been edited off the U.K. versions of Raw. However, Bradshaw's anti-Mexican remarks on Smackdown are not edited off. Dennis "Mideon" Knight did an interview with Alex Marvez talking about his attempt to come back. He's dropped 70 pounds and was training in Undertaker's ring. Since he left the company, he's worked as the world's largest chef at his family's Florida restaurant. Paid attendance for 3/29 in Cincinnati for the Raw taping was approximately 10,000 and for the Smackdown taping on 3/30 in Columbus, OH, was about 3,000. After the positive attendance signs for the past several weeks, this was a bad weekend. 4/10 Raw house show in Saginaw drew 1,800. 4/10 Smackdown house show in Ames, 1A, at Iowa State University drew 1,400 in a 15,000 seat arena. The Easter Sunday shows on 4/11 drew 2,300 for the Raw brand in Peoria and 3,700 for the Smackdown brand in Omaha (which is, per capita, and has pretty much always been since the 1910s, one of the best cities when it comes to supporting pro wrestling). They came back to Omaha just eight weeks after selling out for a live Raw in the same building. Raw on 4/12 in Chicago drew a sellout 15,186, which was the first wrestling sellout in Chicago (and boy does that say something about the state of the industry the past two years) since February 18, 2002, which was the night of the Hulk Hogan/Rock confrontation that solidified the Mania main event. 4/12 in Terre Haute for the Smackdown house show drew 1,700. Many didn't seem to know much of the talent and storylines because Smackdown doesn't have much penetration in that market. In Saginaw, they opened the show with Johnny Nitro announcing Ric Flair and HHH weren't there because they were doing a business deal. Wow, I’m sure that makes fans that spent $40 for a ticket feel real good about the big stars blowing off the city. At least an injury is something people can accept. I believe HHH wasn't there because Stephanie still hasn't fully recovered from her surgery. Not sure with Flair, although he had a busy week with a U.K. promotional trip scheduled. Nitro said that he was appointing himself ref in the main event. The new evil Canadians, La Resistance, cut off the national anthem, setting up the opening loss to The Hurricane & Rosey. They had Victoria and Lita practice for their singles title match at the PPV. They did a four-way against Jazz and Molly, and Jazz and Molly were both pinned at the same time first leaving those two to work several minutes. With Victoria as the champ, she had to go over. Eugene vs. A-Train saw Eugene come up with a stuffed Easter Bunny, but A-Train tore it apart to start the match. Eugene then tried to put the bunny together again. William Regal ended up being cheered as a babyface. The finish saw A-Train head-BUTT the exposed turnbuckle when Eugene moved and knocked himself out. Eugene didn't know enough to cover him, but was sitting on A-Train's leg while trying to put his bunny back together and the ref counted three. Regal may be great but this idea doesn't look to have legs. Edge was on the road. After Kane pinned Rhyno, Edge did a run-in, gave Kane a low blow and a spear. Before the Randy Orton vs. Shelton Benjamin match, Nitro said he's changed it from one fall and a one hour time limit to 2/3 falls and a 20 minute time limit. It was Orton's first match back. They split falls and went the 20. For Chris Jericho vs. Christian, Nitro said that it was no DQ for Christian, but not for Jericho. This overbooking is going to bum people out. Anyway, Christian went for a chair shot, Jericho moved, and the chair rebounded off the ropes and Christian knocked himself out. Yes, too similar to A-Train knocking himself out. Chuck Palumbo, who was supposed to be a babyface, got no reaction, so worked as the heel against Matt Hardy. Hardy wrestled as a face on TV a week ago, but was back as a heel on Raw. Chris Benoit vs. Batista with Nitro as ref saw Nitro help Batista like pulling the ropes to him while caught in the crossface. Benoit attacked Nitro. A second ref came in. Garrison Cade and Orton both did run-ins and then Tajiri, as a babyface, blew the mist at Cade while Benoit won clean with the crossface. In Ames, main event was Eddy Guerrero over John Layfield in a bad match. Layfield came out and give a speech anti-Mexican and since they were in Iowa, the fans cheered him. Then he started on about how Iowa sucks and how if he won the title, he'd never defend it in Iowa. Report was the crowd lost interest in this match. People suited chanting "Marco" "Polo" and at about the fourth time, Guerrero lost his temper and started swearing at the guy who started it. Each kicked out of the other's finisher. Then came ref bump time. Kurt Angle tossed the belt to Layfield, but Guerrero got it and used it, and then tossed it back to Angle. Ref got up, saw Angle with the belt and Guerrero selling. Guerrero then got up for the pin. John Cena beat Rene Dupree via a walk out count out in a short match. Those finishes are the ones that make people glad they paid $30 to see a show. Nobody could believe it was over and it killed the crowd for the main event. After the match, Dupree came back in and got FU'd. Torrie Wilson returned and did two segments. The first saw her come out and start cheerleading until Angle booted her out of the ring. She showed her ass on the way out. Second saw Dawn Marie do microphone work and insult Wilson, leading to them rolling around over Angle and Wilson tearing Dawn's pants off and leaving her in a thong. Billy Kidman & Paul London played heel in a prelim loss to The Dudleys. Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty beat The Bashams. Horshu, who is in the movie "Girl Next Door," is getting people to chant "Horseshit" at him. Omaha was similar to Ames, although John Cena vs. Rene Dupree was a totally different match, going long with Cena winning with the FU in a good match. Eddy Guerrero and John Layfield did the same finish. Said to be a better match than you'd expect and Layfield even looked good at points. Still, said that Layfield wasn't over enough in the building to be a viable main event. Billy Kidman & Paul London were told to work stronger as heels against The Dudleys. They did a deal at the end of the show where Guerrero, Cena, and Rikishi cleaned house on all the heels and Eddy gave Chavo Guerrero a stink face. In Peoria, the Raw show was almost the same as Saginaw. The main change was that they made Randy Orton vs. Shelton Benjamin for the IC title into a 2/3 fall match with a 10:00 time limit, which is just plain stupid for a house show. Apparently the feeling was they couldn't keep the crowd for 20:00, but why do 2/3 which then just cheapens the show and the belt. They didn't announce the 2/3 deal, and just had a match and Benjamin won clean. People thought they saw a title change, and then Nitro came out to say he made a mistake and it was 2/3 falls. William Regal was again considered a babyface by the fans when managing Eugene. There is a push from those on the road, because the crowd doesn't know any better and reacts to Matt Hardy as the face, to make Hardy a full-fledged TV face and turn Chuck Palumbo back heel, since nobody knows he turned face to begin with. This speaks volumes about how the crowd that pays to see the product doesn't watch the B shows. Terre Haute, at Indiana State University, was a poor crowd with a lot of problems. There is no UPN station in the market, nor do most of the neighboring cities bring in UPN via cable. A lot of the fans who came, and the crowd was tiny to begin with, weren't familiar with a lot of the talent. It's the same Smackdown show they had been doing all weekend. Danny Basham got on the microphone saying he was appalled at the people booing him since he went to college at Indiana State. Kurt Angle made a goof as he came out and talked about there being two matches left on the show, noting John Cena and Eddy Guerrero were defending their title next. Problem was, the John Cena-Rene Dupree match had taken place two matches earlier. Fans yelled at him over that one. Guerrero beat John Layfield on top in the same match they did all weekend. Layfield, to get over as a heel, ripped on Larry Bird, who went to college there, saying he couldn't hold Dr. J's jock or Magic Johnson's, and if he played today, he'd get raped by Kobe Bryant and referred to Bird as an overrated white man." Credit: Dave Meltzer/Wrestling Observer Newsletter

I was at the nWo Monday Nitro episode. December 1997 in Macon, GA. And let me tell you, it was boring as hell. I think WCW 2001 doesn't get nearly as much credit as it deserves due to the circumstances. Sure, the main event scene sucked, but when did it ever not suck? The mid-card and the Cruiserweight division was definitely on it's way back to prominence with the implementation of great new talents such as Shane Helms, Jamie Knoble, Cash, and Jason Jett and the established veterans of the division Chavo Guerrero, Jr., Rey Mysterio, Jr., and Billy Kidman. The match quality from the lower-card to the upper-mid card was absolutely fantastic and doesn't get near enough recognition it deserves due to it following the very bleak WCW 2000 period and the sale to Vince McMahon which ultimately killed the company.

I'm going to watch it at Hooters, just as I have done with every PPV since Vengeance '03 (with the exception of No Mercy '03 because I just had no desire whatsoever to see that show). Post 500, bitch.

One problem, they billed Royal Rumble as 10 Years in the Making. How are they going to explain that HHH and HBK didn't even know whom each other were until 9 years ago?

No.

Why would we care if it's not going to be shown on TV?

"This week's edition of Smackdown did a 2.9 broadcast rating, with a 5 share, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is down from last week's 3.0 and continues the show's recent downward ratings trend. It’s also the lowest number that the show has done in some time. While some may say that it was up against increased ratings pressure from the season finale of "The Apprentice" (which did a 17.2 broadcast rating, up 4.3 points from last week) and a special edition of "American Idol", "Friends" (which aired two repeats) saw its ratings drop so that should have worked in their favor. As it was, the highest rated quarter hour, a 3.2, occurred from 9 to 9:15 so the hour with repeats of "Friends" did nothing to help the number. I think the recent trend of the show, with it dropping over the last few weeks, is more related to the quality of the show and the recent changes to the brand than to anything else." Credit: Dave Scherer/PWInsider Upon investigation, this was the lowest rated non-holiday version of Smackdown since the October 2nd, 2003 show did a 2.9. The main event of that show was John Cena & Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker & Kurt Angle.

Statement #1: You are happy you got traded to SmackDown! Miss Jackie: True. Rico and I now have more people to give makeup tips to. Rico: True. I believe there's a lot more talent that I will be able to work with there. I have a good chance for the Cruiserweight Title, the U.S. Title -- I see many good things for me and lots of good competition on SmackDown! Statement #2: Miss Jackie should be in Playboy. Miss Jackie: I don't know. Why don't you have the fans tell me? Rico: True. Definitely. You've got somebody young, beautiful and very, very intelligent. Why deprive the world of something so beautiful? Statement #3: Rico should be in Playgirl. Miss Jackie: True. His best assets are yet to be seen. Rico: False! (Laughs) It'd probably be in the comedy section. I had my time. The hourglass has run out of sand for me in Playgirl, but I will do a feature in GQ. Statement #4: Of the Rico-Jackie partnership, you are the sexiest Diva. Miss Jackie: True. Although on my off days, he gives me a good run for my money. Rico: (Laughs) I'd say we both have something to offer the Diva world -- I have my strong points, and Jackie has her smooth points. Statement #5: More men should wear thongs. Miss Jackie: False. Usually when they're looking at themselves in the mirror, they're looking at the front and not the back. So they don't see the finished product, which is what we see. Rico: True! More men should wear T-backs. They're a lot more comfortable. And you don't get those horrid bikini lines on your BUTT, or those horrible, horrible boxer wrinkles in your jeans. T-backs give you a nice, smooth fanny, so everyone can enjoy! Statement #6: *NSYNC should reunite. Miss Jackie: False. But bring back New Kids on the Block. Rico: False! *NSYNC should stay in retirement! Forget boy bands! This is a man's world! We don't need any more boy bands. Let's move on! Like the group said, it's from boys to men. et's grow up, America!

Don't forget how Austin sabotaged the promising career of one Billy Gunn. He would have made SO much money as a main eventer. Almost as much as Bradshaw!

"For the second time in less than a week, WWE has cancelled a match that was to involve a WWE wrestler competing with a wrestler from TNA. Last weekend a match between Abyss and Carly Colon was changed at the last minute when WWE objected to the matchup, and WWE officials have now told officials at CSWF in New Jersey that they can't move forward with a planned match between Al Snow and Ron Killings that was scheduled for April 24." credit: 1Wrestling.com

Good. I was sick of Austin constantly beating the shit out of mid-carders.

Remember everyone, this IS the same guy who tears his quad everyday when he gets out of bed and ends up just fine! Everything's going to be ok!

"Some or all of the Canadian babyfaces have been told that they want to change their hometowns to cities in the U.S. The decision was made prior to Chris Benoit winning the World Heavyweight Title, but that they gradually want to do it with Edge and Chris Jericho (who is now billed as from Manhasset, NY, which is where he was born, starting this week). I think Edge will be billed from Tampa, FL, where he lives. Christian, since he's a heel, apparently is from Toronto again (despite announcing Tampa as his new hometown on a RAW over two years ago to turn heel in Canada). Vince McMahon (or someone who doesn't think like a wrestling fan and convinced Vince) was concerned that so many of his top babyfaces on RAW are billed from Canada and was afraid it would cause an anti-Canadian backlash among his U.S. audience, which is the prime audience. They're nuts. Secondly, everyone knows they are Canadian to begin with and never cared about it in anyway negative. It won't help in the U.S. and if it has any effect, it would be to cause a minor Canadian backlash since WWE has generally been more popular per-capita in Canada and a lot of Canadian fans take this stuff very seriously, and it's a legit slap in the face. The story I got is that the wrestlers aren't happy with this doctrine (most notably Benoit and Jericho), but nobody wants to rock the boat on it for obvious reasons. Then to make things even funnier, for Backlash, they are pushing Benoit's return to Edmonton including listing the terminal and flight he's coming in on, hoping to get a huge group of fans there for good video footage." credit: Dave Meltzer/Wrestling Observer Newsletter Current Changes: CHRIS BENOIT BEFORE: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada AFTER: Atlanta, Georgia CHRIS JERICHO BEFORE: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada AFTER: Manhasset, New York CHRISTIAN BEFORE: Tampa, Florida AFTER: Toronto, Ontario, Canada GAIL KIM BEFORE: Toronto, Ontario, Canada AFTER: Korea LA RESISTANCE BEFORE: Paris, France AFTER: Quebec City, Quebec

PWInsider is saying he's going to be back in WWE around September.

"Earlier tonight on Raw, Brian Lawler, aka Grand Master Sexay, made his return to WWE television. There has been talk going back to WrestleMania XX that Lawler might make a return to the company. He was seen during that weekend at the hotel where the company was staying. Lawler was fired from the company back in 2001 after being arrested in the Calgary International Airport for possession of illegal drugs. Canadian authorities found in his possession one tenth of a gram of marijuana, one tenth of a gram of methamphetamine, and a half a gram of cocaine. He later plead guilty to the charge of cocaine possession with the other charges being dropped. He was ordered to pay a fine and make a donation of $500 to the Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Program. As was previously posted on the site, a reader had sent us an e-mail about a conversation he had with Lawler on Sunday at the Chicago O'Haire Airport where he confirmed that he had reached an agreement with WWE. Tonight on Raw, Lawler returned to his former character Grand Master Sexay and was beaten by Kane." credit: 1Wrestling.com

"Is anyone else tired of Benjamin yet?" Yeah, I mean, 3 weeks is just way too much, man. Who the hell wrote this? Scott Keith?

Tonight, World Wrestling Entertainment came to Indianapolis, Indiana and held "SmackDown!" at the Conseco Fieldhouse. I would say 99.9% of the building was full. They blocked off the very top of the building on the camera side but not the other side. It was a great show with some surprises. Let's get to the information... To begin the evening, they showed the WWE Desire video on the history of WWE. They've updated the video to showcase recent storylines and characters. It's amazing how The Ultimate Warrior hasn't been on a TV screen since 1999 and he received one of the biggest pops along with Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, The Rock, Undertaker, Bret Hart, and Stone Cold. Tony Chimel gave us the usual copyright information and "don't throw stuff at us" comments. I'm not sure if these were dark matches or Velocity matches so I will just list them. 1) Matt Cappotelli (Tough Enough 3) pinned Jamie Noble. 2) Paul London pinned Bryce Albright. Josh Matthews and Bill DeMott came out to ringside. Chimel called Matthews "The Youngest Voice In WWE." 3) Nunzio pinned Ultimo Dragon. The Velocity video opening aired followed by fireworks. 4) Hardcore Holly pinned Akio. Holly was accompanied by Billy Gunn while Akio was accompanied by Sakoda. 5) Orlando Jordan pinned Johnny "The Bull" Stambolli. 6) WWE Tag Team Co-Champion, D'Von Dudley defeated Doug Basham. D'Von was accompanied by Bubba Ray Dudley while Doug was accompanied by Danny Basham. The Bashams did the switch so in the end it was Danny who ended up being pinned. Michael Cole and Tazz came out to ringside. Chimel called Cole "The Voice of WWE!" The WWE video opening aired followed by highlights from last week's "SmackDown" regarding Eddie Guerrero, Justin Bradshaw Layfield, Kurt Angle, and the Great American Award. The SmackDown video opening aired followed by fireworks. The Tale of the Tape for Booker T V/S Rob Van Dam was displayed on the TitanTron. Eddie Guerrero came out for an interview. During the interview, an anti-Eddie/pro-JBL video was played. Kurt Angle then came out to the stage and said if Eddie wanted JBL then that's what he'll get tonight. JBL came out via Limo and stated he was sleepy, he hadn't been to the spa all week and needed some time off. He told Angle (off microphone) an idea. Angle then announced at Judgment Day it would be Eddie Guerrero defending the WWE Heavyweight Championship against Justin Bradshaw Layfield and tonight it would be Guerrero versus The Big Show. Guerrero looked worried as a graphic appeared on the TitanTron advertising a Champion v/s Champion match up next between WWE US Champion, John Cena and WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Chavo Guerrero. -commercial- A preview of an upcoming "Star Trek: Enterprise" was aired. Kurt Angle and Justin Bradshaw Layfield were backstage talking when The Big Show came into the room. He asked if his match would be for the title. After stammering around for a few seconds, Angle said no that since JBL was awarded the Great American Award, he gets the next title match. Show said he knew what was going on and tonight he would quit if he couldn't defeat Guerrero. John Cena came out to the ring and gave a usual pre-match promo. Chavo Guerrero's music interrupted Cena and the match quickly got on their way. In the end it was Cena who won the match. Neither championship was on the line. A preview of the Chris Jericho versus Christian and Trish Stratus match at WWE Backlash was shown. -commercial- A package was shown, showing highlights from Rob Van Dam and Booker T's first day in SmackDown. The purpose of the package was showing how RVD was happy to be there and Booker wasn't. -commercial- A segment aired with Rene Dupree at a table with French music playing and him drinking wine with a beautiful individual. The individual turned out to be Fifi. Most of what Dupree said was in French so I have no idea what he said. But he did mention he would interview Torrie Wilson next week on SmackDown. I'm assuming it's a new interview segment for the show with Rene as the host. Rene assured Fifi that she was prettier than Torrie. A clip from "SmackDown" last year aired that showed The Big Show attacking Eddie Guerrero and slamming him onto the truck he rode to the ring. This was a few days before their match at No Mercy. Charlie Haas was warming up backstage when Jamie Noble came over to him. Noble said nothing Haas could do would be able to prepare him for a match with Rico. Haas explained that he's agile, quick, and a great athlete, blah, blah, blah. Noble asked how all of that would help him when Rico rubs his chest. Noble said to be sure Rico doesn't get him from behind. Charlie excused himself as he had a WRESTLING match to attend to. On his way out, he bumped into Nunzio who said "Excuse me piezon (correct spelling?)" and then slapped him on his BUTT which startled Charlie. A graphic appeared advertising the match between Rico and Charlie Haas. -commercial- I'm not sure if this will make it to TV as it was a very long segment. Haas makes his way to the ring and just jumps up and down for about two or three minutes. Finally, Rico comes out along with Miss Jackie. WWE created a very small runway for the two to walk on before getting to the ring. Once the match started, it was obvious Rico was in Charlie's head as he rubbed Charlie's chest, grabbed his BUTT, pulled his tights below his BUTT, and rode him on all four. After Rico kissed Charlie, Haas ran outside of the ring, into the crowd and then ended up being counted out. Backstage Justin Bradshaw Layfield was telling Big Show he appreciated Show teaching Guerrero a lesson tonight. Show stated he wasn't doing this for Angle, for Layfield but for himself. Layfield said when he's victorious he'll buy him a pizza or anything he wanted. He then reminded Show he gave his word that if he loses, he'll quit. The upcoming SmackDown live event dates were announced. -commercial- In one of the more stranger moments of the night, a promo was aired regarding a man named Mordecai. He wears a white robe, all of his hair is white, and he says he is working for the father. His logo is a variation of the Christian cross. I really have no idea who the wrestler is. In a match made earlier in the night, Eddie Guerrero pinned The Big Show. Show controlled most of the evening and after he lost the match he came very close to crying. Guerrero managed to get the whole crowd to chant "Naa Naa Naa, Hey Hey Hey...Good-bye!" Show was shown saying "Why are you all laughing at me?" More footage regarding Rob Van Dam and Booker T's short history in SmackDown was shown. This time it was RVD wrestling Charlie Haas and pinning him in their first match and then the altercation between Booker and Guerrero in the locker room. A preview for the WWE Intercontinental Championship Match between Randy Orton and Mick Foley at Backlash was shown. -commercial- A replay from the Eddie Guerrero versus The Big Show match and after the match incident was shown. WWE cameras showed the Big Show walking backstage, almost in a trance. He then heard Torrie Wilson at the make-up area laughing with Jane The Make-Up Lady. The two were laughing and Show thought they were laughing at him. Torrie assured him they weren't. Show then left and Torrie said since she didn't have a match, she was going to go to her hotel. Teddy Long was in the ring for an interview where he brought out Mark Jindrak, who is now using Lex Luger's old "Narcissist" theme song. There was a mirror in the ring so Jindrak could stare at his sculptured body. Spike Dudley then came out to the ring for a match due to the incident from last week with Spike and Teddy. Those incidents were shown on the TitanTron. Jindrak controlled most of the match and then ended it with a pinfall. One more look at Rob Van Dam and Booker T's history in SmackDown was shown. Sadly, I don't remember what was shown. The Tale of the Tape for their upcoming match was shown one more time. A preview for the new show "The WWE Experience" was advertised. The show debuts on May 2, 2004 on Spike TV. No time was announced. -commercial- WWE cameras showed a live shot outside of the Conseco Fieldhouse which was then followed by the new weekly "RAW Rebound" segment. When the cameras returned to SmackDown, Torrie Wilson was at her car preparing to leave when Big Show came out to confront her. During this segment he smashes the driver's window with his fists, the driver's backseat window with his boot, the back window with his fists, and then lifts the car over and turns it onto it's top by himself. Torrie screams several times during this segment, then in "horror movie" fashion runs away from the monster, trips and falls, gets back up and runs away. -commercial- A preview for the World Heavyweight Championship Triple-Threat Match between Chris Benoit, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels at Backlash was shown. A replay of the Torrie Wilson and Big Show incident before the break was shown. Booker T came out to the ringside for his match with Rob Van Dam. The match was a brawl with both men getting several two counts. For awhile, the two fought on the outside. Booker tried to hit both of his moves (The Bookend and The Scissors Kick) but failed. RVD tried for the frog splash and failed. Later in the match, Booker managed to get RVD tied into the ropes, ala Andre The Giant, and repeatedly punching him in his face/head/nose area. The referee counted him several times and kept pushing him back but Booker wouldn't let up. This lead to Booker being disqualified which then lead to a HUGE boo from the audience. Kurt Angle was shown walking backstage when a TV assistant ran up to him saying that Show had Torrie cornered. Angle told the guy to take him to them. Show and Torrie were somewhere in the Fieldhouse where there was a second floor with a huge drop to the first floor. Show kept saying "You think I'm funny now Torrie?" and told her if she didn't laugh at him then he would make her scream. Angle showed up and told Show not to do it that it would be Angle's ass if Torrie was hurt. Show stated he didn't care so Angle said he would get up to where they were. Show pushed Torrie to her BUTT as Angle gets up to location. Show then chokeslams Angle off of the platform. Torrie began to scream very loudly. Angle looked completely lifeless with one leg under his body. The cameras showed Angle from several angles and there were no padding, no tables, nothing under Angle. Blood began to pour from behind Angle's head as the cameras faded to black. After the cameras faded, Booker's music began again and he walked back out to ringside. He stated that he wanted to thank his fans for coming out to watch him tonight and that he had just been informed he was the new General Manager of Smackdown. He said that he would be fair and to show it, if there was anyone who had a beef with him, come out now so they could settle things. This started an Undertaker chant but it was John Cena's music that began. Cena reminded everyone that Booker didn't like SmackDown, which meant he didn't like the fans. He reminded that Booker admittedly said he didn't want to be on SmackDown which meant he didn't want to be with the fans. He did say that with him, you don't go home empty handed so he could be the GM of his nuts and threw a bag of nuts into the ring. He ran into the ring as a fight between Booker and Cena began. When Booker had the advantage, Eddie Guerrero came out and helped Cena. Cena then F-Ued Booker and Guerrero stuck the bag of nuts in Booker's hand. Cena's and Guerrero's theme songs began at different times and they walked around the ring and shook hands to end the evening. All in all it was a great night and I can't wait to see how this comes across on the television as the crowd was hot all night long.

They should bring D.O.A. back too so that they and Too Much can continue their ambiguous friendship angle. You know you loved the pink motorcycle helmets.