Hunter's Torn Quad

One item from the Observer I missed was the story behind Gunner Scott/Brent Albright being demoted. When he was called up they had no idea what his strengths were. They tried to make him Benoit's protege but after Benoit was put out of action Albright was lost and, apparently, Finlay buried him for some reason.

Bernard looks to be Kojima's lone blemish before what seems like the inevitable loss to Tanahashi. POINT STANDINGS A BLOCK - Tanahashi (4 pts) - Kojima (3 pts) - Bernard (1 pt) - Nakanishi (0 pts) - Liger (0 pts) B BLOCK - Tenzan (4 pts) - Nagata (2 pts) - Makabe (2 pts) - Kanemoto (0 pts) - Yamamoto (0 pts) The next matches are: I think we'll see Tanahashi beat Bernard, Nakanishi beat Liger most likely, Nagata beat Makabe and Kanemoto vs. Yamamoto could go either way.

Dupree was someone who he could do the mechanics and looked like he knew the basics but didn't know what to do beyond the basics. He was definitely someone who would have benefited tremendously from the old territorial system, because he was not ready for prime time when he was called up.

The latest WO.com update says that Dana White has confirmed that Ortiz and Shamrock have come to verbal terms for a rematch, likely at the UFN special in October.

The point that Dave was actually making is that UFC and baseball fans don't understand the incentives to take steroids while wrestling fans do.

Because...? And Bischoff's contract has expired or will expire very soon.

From Puroresupower.com: No surprises at all on the first day. Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi: 2 Satoshi Kojima: 2 Giant Bernard: 0 Manabu Nakanishi: 0 Jushin Liger: 0 Block B: Yuji Nagata: 2 Hiroyoshi Tenzan: 2 Makabe: 0 Naofumi Yamamoto: 0 Koji Kanemoto: 0 The next matches are: I think we'll see wins for Kojima (or maybe a draw), Tanahashi and Tenzan, with Makabe vs. Yamamoto I think having the potential to go either way.

Bill Watts had nothing to do with Mabel getting pushed. Watts didn't get to the WWF until September of 1995, which was long after the Mabel push started.

As well as Lashley and Khali being cleared, Super Crazy may also be cleared too. Khali's elevated enzyme count was high enough to force him out but not considered dangerous. Lashley and Crazy's counts were high enough that it was strongly considered that they had hepatitis and were not expected to be back anytime soon and so were written out. Tatanka was told on 7/25 that he was going to be suspended for 30 days. Tatanka was upset over this, vowed to fight it and managed to past a second test even though it usually takes more than a week to get results back. When Tatanka was suspended, the odds of so many wrestlers (seven) in a row all on Smackdown to fail a drugs test or have liver issues was 729 to 1. The odds of five of them being cleared within seven days was "significantly more astronomical". There was talk of discrepincies between the people doing the testing and the personal phsyicians of certain wrestlers where if the doctor writes a prescription for steroids or other applicable drugs the wrestler could fail the test but still be cleared to wrestle. Matt Hardy and Kid Kash remain suspended with little over three weeks to go before they return. Jamie Noble was not suspended and was taken off because they will reform the Pitbulls when Kash returns and they had no role for Noble until then. Dr Roger Soloway, a hepatologist and professor of medicine at the University of Texas in Galveston talked to the local paper. the Galveston News, in a story regarding the liver problems, and downplayed the early fears of Hepatitis. He said Hepatitis A was likely have been rampant in the company if one of the wrestlers contacted because of the close quarters contact they all have and it would have spread in a hurry. Dave said that while you can't make a specific call in individual cases, many times when an athlete has elevated liver enzymes it is down to steroid use. Another quote from Dr Soloway: "It's not the case with growth hormone drugs, which affect every organ in the body, but steroids are metabolized through the liver." Ryan Reeves in developmental was suspended for 30 days. Says that if wasn't for his body there is no way he would have gotten a first look in the TE tryouts and it tells to why the situation is what it is. From Dave: Trish Stratus and Lita are expected to be gone within the next two months. Trish is getting married on 9/30 and her deal expires around the same time. She has not signed a new deal and is not negotiating a new one. She is expected to take a break and there are no signs she is even thinking about coming back at anytime soon. Lita's deal expires in the next month or two and there are no talks going on for a new deal. Lita has had strong money years and as saved her money up to where she is financially very comfortable. Lita is also expected to be gone for some time, but is considered likely to return at some point after a lengty rest. Summerslam is currently; Hogan vs. Orton, Edge vs. Cena for the WWE Title where the title can change hands via DQ, Michaels and HHH vs. Vince and Shane and Undertaker vs. Khali in a Last Man Standing match. Most likely at SS will also be Batista vs. Booker for the world title, Rey vs. Chavo, Flair vs. Foley, Finlay vs. Lashley or Finlay vs. Lashley vs. Regal for the US Title and possibly Big Show vs. Sabu for the ECW Title. Also might see James vs. Stratus for the women's title plus something with the IC Title. With Stephanie out of the picture backstage, Heyman is said to have had a greater hand in writing television. This weeks TV, I presume ECW, was mostly his stuff but not so with the non-televised matches. Heyman is also said to be getting more power regarding house shows as the current handling of it has been a complete flop. He's pushing for the house shows to be longer than two hours. Heyman is also pushing for changes in ECW creative including Dreamer getting back involved and Vince is said to be considering it. There was a lot of unhappiness over the crowd at the Hammerstein Ballroom, mostly, but not solely, down to the obscene chants. Production had to turn down the crowd audio due to the obscene chants and the feeling was the crowd was smart enough to know the chants would be a problem and did them anyway, though apparently it would not have been much of an issue if they had not crapped all over Batista, who is one of their handpicked guys. Batista letting it get to him as bad as he did didn't help, and the reactions made it very likely the 12/3 PPV would be moved to Chicago. However, the crowd did help CM Punk, who had been buried by Hunter, Shawn and Arn Anderson after his first television match, that wound not airing. Heyman was high on Punk from the beginning, however, and pushed him in OVW and picked him for ECW. The match getting over big made Vince, Heyman and other very positive and it sealed the deal on Punk getting a push that some had been against. Orton did an interview in WWE Magazine regarding his being suspended for someone stooging on his smoking a joint, which Dave, correctly, called simpliflying the issue a lot. Orton's 60 day suspension after WM as far as being the straw that broke the camel's back was on 3/28 when he was openly smoking a joint inside the Kemper Arena in front of people right after the first drugs test, and it was felt he was openly flaunting it and playing it like he's such a big star he can get away with breaking the rules so openly and they showed him otherwise. However, there were a couple of incidents leading into WM and repeated fines over the last couple of years that also played into it. The "Orton Knows Best" segment was said to be the idea of Michael Hayes. Dave called the segment lame and said it went on for too long. When Justin Credible was driving away from the Hammerstein Ballroom he saw some fans and yelled "Target rules" at them because he often gets chanted at over working at Target. Some people are unhappy over Kurt Angle being brought back because they know he shouldn't be out there but he is anyway.

Block A has: Jushin Liger, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Giant Bernard and Manabu Nakanishi Block B has: Yuji Nagata, Naofumi Yamamoto, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Makabe and Koji Kanemoto I think the semi's will be Tanahashi beating Kojima and Tenzan beating Nagata to set up Tanahashi beating Tenzan so he can avenge his loss in the 2004 finals. Liger and Yamamoto seem destined to be the respective jobbers of their groups, though one or both might get an upset win, with Yamamoto's being probably over Makabe or Kanemoto and Liger's possibly being over Nakanishi.

This might explain most of it. It's from the thread regarding money matches that never happened and covers the main event to Wrestlemania VIII.

The problem with ECW Title matches being under extreme rules is that, unless every match ends with a million run-ins to cause a no-contest, then it leaves them no 'out' to avoid having to do a finish. The way it is now, they can get out of beating people they don't want losing.

He's set to be part of the build to Orton vs. Hogan, so it should be very soon.

Hardy could simply be bad at cycling off. Long story short, Barnett was UFC Champion but stripped of the belt after testing positive for steroids. Part of his defense, which did not go over well with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, saw his manager literally say to the Commission, "Does he look like he's on steroids?". He didn't look like he was, but he was. You need not look like you're on them to be on them.

He could just have bad genetics. Some guys can take tons and tons of steroids but if they have bad genetics then they'll never have the body you'd think a steroid user would. Josh Barnett tested positive for steroids and he certainly never had the kind of body you'd think a steroid user would.

Matt Hardy is a lot bigger than people think. He looks small compared the huge guys around, but when you put him next to a normal looking guy, like Chris Daniels, he looks huge. Nobody thought Jeff Hardy was big but when he was in the ring with AJ Styles he made AJ look small.

I just watched the ending again and it took 24 seconds for Hunter to make the cover after hitting the pedigree. As for whether Booker should have won or not, once they started the racism storyline he had to win. At least then, while the storyline would still have been stupid, the racist would have been proved wrong and the babyface been triumphant. If Booker wasn't going to go over, and he was meant to when the deal started, they should never have done the racism part.

From the latest F4W Weekly: Important stuff has been bolded. Looks like the webmaster of Matt Hardy's site is keen for people to just accept his story and not question him at all.

David Terrell has pulled out of his UFC 62 fight with Yushin Okami due to a sinus infection. Terrell just pulled out today so there is no replacement finalized. From Meltzer.

Eddie Guerrero tribute video Chris Benoit makes coffee Tribute video for Owen Hart

I think the actual time was about 21 seconds.

This is where WCW manages to get one over on Vince in that department because they actually gave thought to running such an angle where they'd fake a wrestler's death. Then Owen Hart died and they rather wisely shelved the idea.

You make it sound like that finish wasn't a burial. That finish buried Booker six-feet under.

Urban myth. It's not a match that I find great, and it took me three or four attempts to watch it all the way through without falling asleep, but what I hate about the Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels match at the KotR in 1996 is how Bulldog works over Shawn really well for 10-12 minutes only for Shawn to shrug it all off and win after only a couple of moves and a terrible looking superkick.

From Meltzer.