Hunter's Torn Quad

I think it could have been when he had his knees operated on. He appeared a couple of times that year on TV with crutches.

I think it was a "faggot" chant.

Why?

--Raw did another 3.9 rating this week.

<_<)--> QUOTE(<_< @ Jul 19 2006, 04:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I disagree. Look at Big Show going from jobber to beating Lesnar for the title in a couple of months. Someone like Doane can easily be transitioned. Blame the others for the fact they didn't win, then give him a US/IC push. Even with the rest, it'd only take a few wins for them to be ressurected. SS are jokes, but the individual wrestlers aren't. As has been said, they're interchangeable enough to get away with it. He got the push, but he wasn't over like he could have been had he been treated better. I don't disagree that something can be done with them. Just that they'll need to be taken off TV for a while for it to work. They were beaten up and treated like jokes as all five of them couldn't beat up two people. That leaves an impression on people, no matter how generic they looked.

Whatever gets done with the members of SS, it can't happen anytime soon for it to work. They got beaten up so often and so badly that the fans will never accept them as anything other than jokes without major rehab.

I don't think Savage thought Hogan and Liz were having an affair. I think what happened was Liz became friends with Hogan's wife Linda, and Liz confided in her that she wasn't happy with the marriage, and Linda told her that she didn't need Randy and that if she wasn't happy she should leave him. So Savage blamed Hogan and his wife for the breakup. I may be completely wrong about this. I'm sure HTQ knows. Brother, help me out! You're pretty much completely accurate. Re: Goldberg refusing to work with Jericho in WCW: That was down to Nash getting in Goldberg's ear. Jericho was getting pretty hot at the time, so you can work out for yourself why Nash talked Goldberg out of the program with Jericho. Re: Shawn and Hogan: It was meant to be a two match program, with one match at Summerslam and the second either the next night on Raw or the next month at Unforgiven in a cage match, depending on where in the timeline you're talking about. Shawn suggested either a cheap win or a DQ win at Summerslam to set up the rematch at Unforgiven. Hogan refused and insisted on a the pinfall win. He was open to doing a cage match the next month, and was willing to do a photo finish ending where he'd get out of the cage a split second ahead of Shawn, but he refused to loss. This upset Shawn a great deal, but there was nothing he could do about it. So, the next night, Shawn did the promo he did burying Hogan. Vince OK'd the promo and was somewhat eager that it happen, because he's always had a thing for ruffling feathers over personal issues to get his kicks.

After being humiliated and treated like complete jokes for almost two months straight, what can you do with the members of the Squad apart from take them off TV and wait for the stench to fade?

Shawn refused to work with Owen after Shawn had his fight with Bret. Austin didn't want to work with him after the accident at Summerslam, but nobody else did. After Owen came back in December, the plan was for Owen to beat Shawn for the European Title to set up a series WWF Title matches at house shows, but Shawn refused to drop the belt to Owen and instead we had that 'match' where Shawn literally laid down for Hunter.

The SS members are dead right now. The only way to salvage them is take them off television for a few months, let memories fade, and then bring them back with totally new gimmicks.

New Japan, 7/17/06 --> "CIRCUIT 2006 TURBULENCE" <-- 29-year-old Hiroshi Tanahashi today became New Japan's bright light after a dark couple of days. Tanahashi outlasted five bigger and older superstars today in the IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament to finally live out his dream of becoming the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. It was a tournament that occupied much of today's four hour show at the Tsukisamu Green Dome, which, in another bright point, was about 70% full, much better than expected after refunds were offered following Lesnar's disappearing act (and 3,955 was New Japan's highest number there since July, 2004). Round one started out with what you could argue was the biggest match of the entire tournament, Tenzan vs. Akebono. Tenzan's condition has been improving a little lately, and today he used a Superfly splash, taught to him by one of his coaches (Gedo), but had trouble handling Akebono's weight. A crushing loss for Tenzan right before the G1 saw him flattened by Akebono's body press, and the "King of Tournaments" exited in round one. He will look to continue his harder training of late and aim towards a better G1 campaign. Nagata fought off Travis Tomko, winning quite convincingly in the end. Nagata avoided Tomko's Swanton bomb, and won with a backdrop hold. The semis started with Bernard vs. Akebono, and not known for his stamina, Akebono couldn't last long with Bernard, who rather than try and take the former Yokozuna off his feet, eventually just cradled him for the win. The other semi was called a very good match between Nagata and Tanahashi, their third of the year. They were 1-1 going into this, and at a disadvantage, Nagata fought really well and controlled large portions of the match. In the end though, Tanahashi's freshness allowed him to advance, as he used the ground Cobra Twist (countering a knee kick), made famous of course by certain New Japan legends, to pin Nagata. So there was no heroic final march for any of the four round one participants, the two semis finalists with free passes advancing safely. The main event was then Tanahashi vs. Bernard, a rematch of their very heated Korakuen war last month. Tsukisamu Green Dome is known for being a tough crowd to please, but they were into much of today's show, and this one more than anything. There were huge "Tanahashi" calls, but also some "Bernard" chants from the crowd. Like last time, the gaijin overpowered the native, but at the same time had to be wary of his trickery. Bernard used an F5 (Verdict) during the match, but it had less effect than expected, I guess sending multiple messages, and Tanahashi also survived several of Bernard's other big moves, such as the Baldo bomb and corner splash. Bernard had help from the outside, Tomko interfering more than once. He was later banished by referee Tiger Hattori, ending a string of boos. Hattori also hit the ground briefly, after Tanahashi had countered the Bernard Driver with his Sling Blade, and no one was present to count when he covered. Tomko returned with a chair, but Tanahashi caught Bernard with a flying forearm, sending the chair into his face and causing bloodshed. Tanahashi then used his new Sling Blade off the top rope, followed by a regular Sling Blade, and covered for three perfect counts and one big gold belt! Tanahashi was in fact given the second generation title (Hashimoto's), because the other one is in America, and its former holder, Brock Lesnar, told Tokyo Sports (through someone else) that he isn't giving it back, because he is the true champion. Many fans rushed to ringside after the match, and the heat was said to have been absolutely incredible (hopefully comes off as well on TV). Tanahashi was interviewed in the ring, and said he'd done his best without giving up, and that the belt is heavier than he expected. Regarding Lesnar's last minute cancellation, Tanahashi again said he is sorry, in response to which many fans shouted "It isn't your fault!". Tanahashi smiled, and said from now on the kindness of fans will be repaid through is matches. He was asked to say something to the fans to end his interview, and Tanahashi replied, "I love you! And I love New Japan Pro-Wrestling!". He wants to make today the dawn of New Japan. Tanahashi will now greet the G1 Climax as the champion, a far cry from last August when he couldn't even beat Yano and lost to most of his seniors. The "future" that we talked about a few years ago may have arrived, and the other young generation ace should be making a move towards returning home soon... A tag team revolution is starting and the reason is Real Wild Child (or HOOOOOO FEAR! as they are nicknamed by the Japanese internet scene). Nakanishi & Omori today added another set of tag belts to their NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Title (which wasn't on the line today, even though Tokyo Sports said it would be the other day), defeating the IWGP Provisional Tag Team Champions, Koshinaka & Makabe. The champions, who have been causing all sorts of problems on the current tour, used rulebreaking tactics, but despite that, Koshinaka was as popular as ever. RWC used some good teamwork, but so did Koshinaka & Makabe, at one point isolating Nakanishi at ringside with a union piledriver, leaving Omori in a terrible position. Makabe nearly had Omori, firing three running lariats at him, but Nakanishi was back by then, and the two hit the Washington Convention (McEnroe/Axe Bomber combination) that won them the NWA belts, and while Omori blew away his former friend Koshinaka with an Axe Bomber, Nakanishi dropped Makabe with the Hercules Cutter for the three count and belts! After a title drought of around six years, Nakanishi is suddenly a double champion. Even though they are not the "real" tag champions, they now hold the old belts, while ChoTen have the new ones. Speaking of ChoTen, Chono was doing commentary for the match (more on him below), and he entered the ring post-match to congratulate the new champions. After feigning a handshake, he KO'd both of them and advertised himself as the "true champion". A collision between ChoTen and Real Wild Child is surely on the horizon now, once Chono returns from injury! Wataru Inoue's attempt to repeat his Super Jr. win over Tiger Mask failed today when he challenged for the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Title. This was said to be a fairly ordinary match, not one of the highlights today. The finish was very nasty and concerning, as Tiger dropped Inoue with a brutal avalanche-style backdrop, then finished him off with a Tiger suplex hold. Wataru, who missed much of last year with two separate concussions, wasn't very responsive after the match and had to be stretchered to the back. Once again, the veteran juniors win when it matters most, despite good efforts from the young generation. Tiger Mask is now returning his focus to Liger, who you may remember accepted Tiger's invitation to challenge for this title after their Super Jr. semi final. Tiger wants to receive Liger's challenge for his V3 defense. Yano & Ishii's sublime teamwork led them to a big win today, over Choshu & Yamamoto. Choshu declined to put himself in the tournament, so replaced Iizuka in this match, and at times treated Yano and his pupil Ishii like children, showing that he still has some of his old strength. Yamamoto's lack of stamina was conspicuous today, something he may want to sort out before the G1, and Yano, who isn't in the G1 despite having pinned Yamamoto regularly in recent months, pinned the young lion with his Oni Koroshi. Today's fourth match was said by some to be the best on the show, although others leaned towards Tanahashi vs. Bernard and Tanahashi vs. Nagata. This was a junior match that did deliver between the Japan/Ireland/Mexico junior connection and CTU, the finish of an exciting bout seeing Kanemoto (who, according to his blog, has remodeled his physique back to how it was during his Team 2000 days) pin Minoru again! Their inevitable title match is surely not too far off, but having originally been expected to take place today, the question is when? Today's opening match was also have said to be very good, much more than most expected from an opener. Team Hokkaido - Uwano, Ishikari & Hirasawa - overcame Iizuka (also from Hokkaido), Yujiro & Naito in a match where the young men showed lots of fire, while Iizuka just kind of stood back. Taichi Ishikari in his first match on the main New Japan brand, made a good impression, but it was Hirasawa who picked up the win, submitting Naito. Antonio Inoki appeared after intermission, hitting the ring for a scheduled interview. There were many cheers and although some tried to boo him, they had no chance. Inoki, who incredibly tried to subtly blame New Japan for the Lesnar incident in today's Tokyo Sports, completely avoided the issue, and talked about how often he flies from New York to Japan. Inoki then announced that all ¥380,000 (US$3,265) seats for his scheduled "INOKI GENOME" show on 9/1 have been sold out (even though tickets are not on sale to the public yet, it seems his acquaintances bought them). Inoki left with a patented "1-2-3-DAA!". Before the tag title match, Chono hit the ring for his long awaited showdown with Simon Inoki. Chono updated the fans on his condition, then went on another anti-Simon tirade, asking where "Simon Kelly" was. It appears that President Inoki is still in America though, busy organizing "INOKI GENOME 2006" while his company has a major show. Chono blamed Simon for certain problems, although didn't go into detail, then left for the commentary booth with an "I AM CHONO!". Not surprised to see Tanahashi get the belt. New Japan needed to start things afresh, and Tanahashi was the only real choice. G1 combinations announced Block combinations have been determined for this year's G1 and announced. There will be only half as many G1 matches per show as recent years, which some may consider a good thing and some a bad thing (New Japan felt eight matches tired out fans and lessened the impact of each match individually). This is very much going to be a "hard fight through contents", as the star power is significantly down on recent years, not only on the outsider side but on the New Japan side with Chono and Nakamura absent. Each show typically has two big matches and two smaller matches. Because the G1 was cut down from twelve to ten men, each wrestler will also get a day off. Its said that special matches will be constructed on each show, with Akebono (if he's healthy after K-1) and the juniors likely to have some interesting matches, and certain other names (including Takayama) having come up as candidates recently. The biggest test for Kojima back before New Japan fans is likely to be on the final two days of group stage matches, when he faces Tanahashi in Nagoya, then Nakanishi at Sumo Hall. The TV schedule is still not finalized, but I'd guess those current without any tapings listed may run on Samurai! TV. I see Tanahashi coming out with only one loss, if that, to set up a future title match. I think the final will be Tanahashi avenging his 2004 final loss to Tenzan.

Anvil was gone from WCW by July of that year, and was never going to be in the War Games. It was meant to be Hawk, but that deal fell apart, hence the Shockmaster being put in the match.

Could DX be put over Vince and company any stronger? They've come out on top so often and so strongly that I don't see any possible angle that could make DX vs. The McMahon's interesting at all.

The Squad are flatlining after getting squashed that badly. Also, I liked the angle with Hogan getting RKO'd. It was a creative way to have Hogan take the RKO and not have to take a bump.

According to Bret, as soon as they locked up, the first thing DB told Bret was that he had gone blank and couldn't remember anything they had talked about for the match. Bret said that he was proud for having that good of a match that he had to call as it went on, but he also said he regrets that he was caught on camera so often calling spots because wrestlers aren't meant to let that happen.

With almost a complete lack of people to put right into a top spot, they didn't have a choice but to put Orton in the spot. Orton getting suspended then being put in the position he is in right now bodes well for RVD for when he comes back, because chances are pretty good he'll be right back where he was if only because there will be nobody else to put in the spot. And after hearing the reaction for Cena, I'm dying for certain people to explain it away as 'X-Pac heat'.

It might also be that guys are thinking so hard about being careful that they make mistakes they wouldn't normally make. If they're so worried about getting injured, they might tense up for something, and wind up doing exactly what they are trying to avoid.

That wasn't a WCW show. They lent some talent, but it was all organized and promoted by Jacques.

Dave called UFC 61 horrible. Said there were two questions coming out of the PPV: How much damage did it do, and what is going on with UFC and PRIDE? Said neither question could easily be answered yet. Said its personalities and grudge matches that draw, that Ortiz vs. Shamrock was the greatest combination of both, as well as television build up, in US MMA history. Said it was clear UFC knew the fight could never live up to the hype, which is why it was put in the middle. UFC told the AP it expects UFC 61 to do above 500,000. Said that a lot of people who never ordered a UFC PPV got this one, and that it’ll be a long time before they order another one. Says UFC have had two previous shows that have been so bad as to significantly hurt repeat business; UFC IX, with Shamrock vs. Severn II (which Dave said that, as bad as people talk about the matches on this show, nothing matches Shamrock vs. Severn II), and UFC 33 in September 2001 (this is the one where all the fights went the distance and a lot of companies carrying the show went off the air before the end). Says the long-term effects of this show will be “nothing”, but that short-term it will gave an effect for a few months. Spoke of last year when, after UFC built to what was its biggest ratings match ever, Chris Leben vs. Josh Koscheck, and they had a bad match, that people were claiming that UFC had shot itself in the foot and that people would see it as boring. Said that while ratings decreased the following week, it was only back down to the normal levels it had been doing anyway, and that in the last year UFC’s PPV popularity increased tremendously. Said Joe Stevenson vs. Yves Edwards was a good opener, and that the amount of blood spilt bordered on sickening. Said Frank Mir really should have beaten Dan Christison quickly and decisively, but that both men lost this one because nobody wants to see them fight again. Said the stoppage in Ortiz vs. Shamrock terrible. Said Burkman vs. Neer was a good match, but the crowd hadn’t recovered from Ortiz vs. Shamrock. Said the show needed a good main event to be saved, and that it’s a good sign of how well the heavyweight title match was pushed as Las Vegas crowds usually leave after the marquee match and few people left before the heavyweight title match. Said you would have expected an early knockout from Arlovsky vs. Sylvia, but instead the fight was like a five-round bad boxing sparring session. Arlovsky blew out his knee and ankle in round two. He was hospitalized that night, was put in a cast, and will have had an MRI done this week. Said that a lot people started leaving at the end of the third round, not understanding that title fights are five rounds, and that while most seemed to come back, people left in droves during the fourth round and many of those paid $750 for tickets. Said that in round five, with the match there to be won (two judges at it 38-38 after round four), Arlovsky simply tried to survive and made no attempt to win. After the fight, Arlovsky said that his injuries were why he never attempted a takedown, and that he was concerned that if he shot in and bent his knee to that degree it would lock up and he wouldn’t be able to continue. Said he’s not sure what it says about Sylvia when he fought a guy on one leg for three-and-a-half rounds and was never aggressive in trying take him out. Sylvia suffered a concussion from a punch and passed out in his hotel room later that night. Called the people at Mandalay Bay UFC fans and not MMA fans, and Wanderlei Silva was virtually unknown to them. Says the live fans were unhappy with the announcement, because they weren’t in the mood for hype for an upcoming show. Says UFC has access to all the top Silva footage and we’ll see it used on specials and the like to build up to his fight against Liddell. Dave says it should be enough to do solid business. Says Liddell vs. Silva will be a striking match and that Silva gas faced superior strikers than Liddell has. But Dave also says that were different matches at different times in their careers. Silva will be steroid for the first time in Nevada, and he won’t be able to use his stomps or soccer kicks. Dave says that Liddell is, stylistically, a tough opponent for Silva. Calls Silva super aggressive, a hard hitter and has incredible stamina, but that he throws wild and can floored by someone who comes up the middle. Says Liddell doesn’t do that exactly, but that he is a great counter puncher, and that he is physically bigger. Says that Silva has great recuperative powers, citing that Mark Hunt, who Dave says hits harder than Liddell, knocked him down but that Silva got up. Says Liddell hits hard and has a granite chin. Dave calls Liddell the better wrestler, but that neither man will want to take it there, unless Liddell is having a tough time. Says Liddell would at least have that option, but if Silva is having the hard time then it’ll be harder for him to get the takedown, but even if he does than Liddell will likely get right back up. Liddell has shown that he can be outpunched, but hell take the shot, but all he needs is one good shot at the counter and he can get the KO. Silva has been tested by far superior strikers and hasn’t been KO’d in eight years. They both have big fights coming up they could lose, and with Silva having one or two fights against bigger men coming up, if Silva has tough fights then it could work against him in November. Dave says there are far more important things than who wins the fight, and he calls it a battle for the future of MMA. Dave says a year ago it wouldn’t have mattered, but with UFC growing so much and PRIDE being almost gone, the feeling in Japan is that this is a Hail Mary move from PRIDE to save the company. “However, what if, on a UFC PPV show, that Silva beats Liddell?” Dave says that would mean that everyone would now know Silva, but not necessarily PRIDE. Says it’ll also mean that every UFC fan will know that PRIDE exists and that its champion is really the top guy. Dave talked about the risks being taken by this, in terms of what both have to lose and perceptions and says that this is one risk that UFC should not be taking, as the risks are too high. Dave called it the MMA equivalent of Muto vs. Takada I where New Japan had Muto beat Takada; “It wasn’t UWFI getting mainstream exposure it was UWFI’s last stand.” Dave said that UFC would not book this match unless there was no way they couldn’t come out a winner, which Dave says tells you something about PRIDE and its future. Dave says the entire situation is so sensitive that why the deal was made or anything about where it is going and that Dana White himself told Dave that he’d be able to talk about it at some point but he couldn’t talk about it now. Gate figures aren’t official, but indications are it won’t break the current record set by Liddell vs. Couture III ($3,447,600). Dave was told to expect a gate of $3.2m to $3.4m. The early PPV numbers are said to be strong. Dave talked a lot about the stoppage in Ortiz vs. Shamrock, having watched it “over-and-over in super slow motion”. Dave says he knows why the ref made the call, to protect Shamrock, and Dave thinks the idea that was had by people that Shamrock was going to get killed worked against him, because no other fighter would have been stopped in that position. Fans did worse than boo, as one woman from the TV crew was injured by a beer bottle. Says the fans were infuriated by Ortiz talking about a rematch, as they felt screwed and the last thing they wanted to hear was talk of a rematch right after. Dave said he heard the stoppage defended, with Goldberg and Couture saying Shamrock wasn’t intelligently defending himself, but at no point was that the case; The pay sheets show Ortiz got $200,000 for the win and Shamrock got $100,000 for the loss. Both men are also getting a percentage of the PPV. Says UFC are in bind, because with Ortiz getting two wins over Shamrock, and the second one being so quick, a third match, especially when nobody thinks Shamrock has a chance, would be controversial. Putting it on PPV could make people feel leery, because it would be charging for a one-sided fight. Dave is torn, because he doesn’t want to see Shamrock get destroyed again, but at the same time “he was screwed”. He also said the fans were screwed. “As much as people in the know recognized what this fight was, they are a tiny percentage of the people who support the organization. To the masses, they are two well-known superstars whose name value is incredibly high. Even Ortiz was screwed out of the decisive win that he probably deserves to end all of this. After six years, it left a terribly bitter aftertaste that the longest and greatest feud in UFC history would end in such a manner.” Dave talks about the Spike shows UFC has until the end of the year, and how the have no marquee match they could put on that people would care even one-tenth as much about. He suggests putting Ortiz vs. Shamrock III on the November show, which will be the Ultimate Fighter 4 finale. Says Ortiz is put in the best position if you’re the promoter, as he needs at least one win before his title fight in February against whomever the champion is. Another match against Forest Griffin would be a better fight, and make more money, but Griffin has a strong chance of winning, especially as a lot of people thought he won the first fight, and Ortiz title fight is the big money fight you don’t want spoiled. There is a big cost involved, as Spike would be spending more money on this fight than any other. If it costs so much more than a normal fight, then “chalk it up to the cost of doing such great business on this show and doing a favor for the near record paying audience”. Dave also calls it an investment in the future, because there will be a lot of first-time viewers who’ll be drawn in if the fight was put on free television, and they’ll see two fights, the UF 4 finals, here the winners will be getting PPV title fights very soon after. If either Ortiz or Shamrock want the kind of payday they got from UFC 61 then it would become too much financially. Dave can’t see doing the third match on PPV, as it would only make a bad situation worse. Dave can’t see Shamrock turning it down, because from where he is he has nothing left to lose after the 78 second loss, and Ortiz would be getting $200,000 for far less risk than any other fight he could have for the rest of the year. The fighters might not se things the same way. Dave has talked about this with people inside UFC, but the feeling he got from people was not positive towards the idea, and was given the impression that it couldn’t financially be done for free TV. Says Dana White could announce that because so many were unhappy over the stoppage, that they’re giving them a PPV rematch on free television. Dave said it would a great goodwill gesture, and would soothe over the people who swore off of UFC after what happened. However, Dave says that a rematch does have a lot of negativity. Firstly, it “backstabs Herb Dean’s decision”. In addition, Dave says that UFC’s enemies will use this match as fodder, with many of them using the end result of the match as reasoning that it should never have taken place it all, which Dave says ignores the record level public interest in the fight. Says there are two key questions that need to be answered that aren’t so easy to answer; Do we really want to see Ken Shamrock fight again? And, after all he’s done to draw and build for this business, for over a decade, does he at least deserve the chance to end his career with the same chance that any other name fighter would have had? That is the opportunity to at least have the chance to escape from a bad position. Ortiz was the crowd favorite going into the fight, but was booed heavily in his post0-fight interview, especially when he talked of doing a rematch. Dave talked about how a lot of people were laughing about Ortiz kicking up a fuss at the weigh-in over Shamrock, in his eyes, not making weight, when Ortiz was the one who turned out not to make the weight at first. Drew Fickett vs. Kurt Pellegrino: Fickett got $12,000 for the win and Pellegrino got $2,00 for the loss. Cheick Kongo vs. Gilbert Aldana: Kongo got $6,000 for the win and Aldana got $2,000 for the loss. Jeff Monson vs. Anthony Perosh: Monson got $20,000 for the win and Perosh got $3,000 for the loss. Dave says there is a good chance Monson got the $5,000 bonus for the best knockout. Hermes Franca vs. Joe Jordan: Franca got $8,000 for the win and Jordan got $4,000 for the loss. Dave says Franca had to have gotten the $5,000 bonus for the best submission. Joe Stevenson vs. Yves Edwards: Steven got $24,000 for the win and Edwards got $8,000 for the match. Dave said it’s a good bet that both men got the $5,000 each bonus for having the best fight. Frank Mir vs. Dan Christison: Mir got $56,000 for the win and Christison got $5,000 for the loss. Josh Burkman vs. Josh Neer: Burkman got $10,000 for the win and Neer got $6,000 for the loss. Sylvia vs. Arlovsky: Sylvia got $120,00 for the loss and Arlovsky got $90,000 for the loss. Other News HBO says don’t expect a deal with UFC anytime soon. There will very likely be a Spike TV special in September that will come from the Hard Rock café in Hollywood, FL. The special in Texas, in either October or November, is right now being talked about has taking place in a military base. Kenny Florian pulled out of his 8/26 match against Sean Sherk, citing the need to train more for the fight. Ken Shamrock did an interview with Newsday, and when asked about TUF 3, he said he stopped watching three episodes in. He said the show w as entertaining but it didn’t portray him in the best possible light. Dana White met recently with Phil Baroni, who will be returning on the November PPV. Baroni coming back is a different deal than Silva coming in, as White didn’t go through PRIDE for Baroni, and PRIDE are not happy about Baroni making the deal. They are currently working on an opponent for Baroni. The PRIDE website said that Kazuyuki Fujita would be debuting on the November PPV too, but Dana White told Dave that is not true. Jeremy Lappen, the promoter of the WFA PPV, was kicked out of the UFC PPV. Lappen made a big deal about it after the fact, and claimed that it was because of WFA that UFC was working with PRIDE. He also claimed that Joe Silva was calling all the WFA fighters trying to get them to come to UFC. Undertaker was at the PPV, but never acknowledged. Dwayne Johnson was meant to be there, but because of his injury was unable to attend. Kevin Kay, GM of Spike, says UFC is their highest rated show and their biggest revenue generator. Dana White has said that he believes UFC will hit the 1 million buys mark “very soon”. When a UK reported told Michael Bisping that Dana White ha called him UFC’s answer to Ricky Hatton, Bisping said, “Great! Does that mean I’ll be getting $4m a fight then?”

Buy rate news: The first estimates for the Judgment Day PPV are at 238,000, which is up on the previous ‘B’ shows this year by some margin. It’s up 11% on Backlash. Domestically, JD did between 140,000 and 145,000. Dave says the above average trend indicates either Mysterio as underdog champion actually work, despite his near burial, or that Great Khali drew money first time out. Says the number is by no means a success, but by 2006 standards they shouldn’t be doing this well on the first estimate. Last year’s JD did 233,000 on first estimate, though this year they waited longer to get that estimate, which usually means it will be higher. Last year’s JD did 260,000 on the final number, with 170,000 domestic buys, but PPV last year was going much better business. The raise in price starting with the June One Night Stand PPV will more than make up any monetary differences. Notes on Raw: Said Cena vs. Benjamin would have had more meaning if it had been billed as the winner faces Edge for the title rather than Cena has to win to get the title shot, and Benjamin would have been elevated just by being there. Dave called Melina vs. Stratus the women’s match of the year. Dave also said Melina came off as such a superstar in the match. Dave also said Melina had more presence than Trish, which was a surprise, that she carried herself as a superstar, and that even the top men would be pressed to do a match this good in that short a time (The match went 3:56) Called Foley’s promo one of the greatest in the history of wrestling and that it was easily the best promo of the year. Said the only negative was that he was a total face in the promo and he’s meant to be the heel. The promo itself was actually taped last week, and several who saw it said it was too inside and made Flair the heel, but Vince was so busy with his stuff that he let it go. Said the people who put together the Haas-Viscera-Garcia skit must still be traumatized over a pretty girl they had a crush on in high school who didn’t like them back, and this was them getting the revenge they never got back then. Dave called the Diva Search segment one of the worst ever., and The Miz was “pathetic”, as host. Other news: Jonny Fairplay was talking about an idea to manage The Miz, and Steve Lombardi told him it would be a bad idea because “The Miz has to be a babyface.” Jimmy Hart, Ron Simmons, Maria and Ashley visited military bases in Kuwait. Hart wanted to go because his son was over there for a long time and he wanted to experience the situation as well. Ashley was sick. Hart noted that they found locals and servicemen with bootleg WWE DVD’s, and Hart even picked up a DVD of “See No Evil” for $3.50. Danny Basham will be part of ECW teaming with Doug Basham, but their role is strictly to put over The FBI at house shows. The results of Matt Cappotelli’s latest MRI show that his brain tumor has neither increased or decreased in size. Right now, he’s avoiding surgery. While Van Dam is scheduled to headline an ECW house show in his hometown of Battle Creek, MI on 11/6, it’s not etched in stone because it’s a Monday and they might pull him from the show if he’s wanted on Raw. Daniel Rodimar was signed to developmental deal this week. What he has going for him, apart from being tall and big, is that he looks like a 60s bodybuilding icon called Dave Draper, and that’s someone who Vince grew up on. Someone who saw him recently said, however, that he likes every other generic guy, because of the short haircut and his tattoos. He was told by John Laurinitis that was on the “fast track” to the main roster. Rodimar has done exactly zero pro wrestling matches. Jimmy Hart and Gene Okerlund will be hosting the Hulk Hogan DVD that comes out this year. It will be 9 hours in total, and will include a Hogan vs. Lawler match from Memphis. Stephen DeAngelis being replaced as ECW ring announcer was down to a couple of factors. Vince felt he shouted too much and told him that. He also got labeled an “ECW Original”, which is a big knock internally. Kevin Dunn heard about the criticism and suggested to Vince that he get removed because he had an “annoying” voice. It was also claimed he was too inquisitive for a ring announcer. Atlas Security were gotten rid of because Kevin Dunn said they kept getting in the way of the camera shots.

It's always funny hearing people like him insist that Cena turns people off, even though his segments regularly draw a high increase in viewership and often manage to get Raw's peak rating. Though, I have come to expect it from someone who last year, just before the Hassan character was dropped, said that if he had the book he'd have Hassan beat Batista for the World title at Summerslam, in Batista's home town, and then have Batista get the belt back the month later at Unforgiven.

-John Cena vs. Umaga, stemming from last night's angle. DQ or CO?

She's too old for him. Lawler likes them a little younger.

I believe the intent was for Brock to begin touring properly around the start of the year, as that was when the talk began to come up of New Japan wanting Brock to tour came up. If Brock was able to negotiate a sweet deal for himself that was to the detriment of New Japan then the blame lies solely with New Japan for giving him such a deal. A wrestler should try and get the best deal for himself he can, because nobody else is going to get it for him. Lesnar is meant to be signing a deal with an MMA group soon, almost certainly HEROES, so that is where he is likely headed.