Atticus Chaos

WWE isn't willing to fix itself, though. That would mean a overhaul of the creative team, and the chances of that happening are slim. As for Hammer, I doubt she's an expert on wrestling but she's been watching since 1997 or so (which gives her an advantage over most of the Hollywood writers). She probably knows what works and what doesn't. I find it hard to believe she's suggested 10-20 ideas and none of them are remotely workable. Either way, ignoring her is surely just going to piss her off.

how bad was it? i started watching again when they were already on USA 1. Spike felt, not unreasonably, that since Raw was no longer doing the high ratings they were in 2000, that they shouldn't pay as much money to WWE. Vince apparently felt they should have more. Also, I heard Vince was so tough to work with during negotionations, they completely alientated the spike people and then had no choice but to go to USA. 2. The last show on Spike, Spike asked them not to mention or publicise USA network. Vince then proceeded to mention the USA network a good twenty or so times for the rest of the show (they tried to block it out but eventually gave up) Plus, Spike is going fine without WWE. After they lost Raw they started pushing UFC, with great results. And TNA gets good ratings (and aren't nearly as costly or troublesome as WWE were).

Bet Vince is wishing they hadn't parted on such bad terms with Spike now.

Has he ever been given the chance? And, before you say "last night's ratings prove he can't", you know, that's one week. Let's not totally bitch about the guys reign within the first 48 hours. Ever heard the term lose the battle win the war? In the RVD/Orton feud there's no doubt Orton came out on top. RVD may have gotten the win, but since his career was ended (kayfabe) he was definetly the ultimate loser. Same with HBK. He didn't get the pinfall but you know he did HBK serious damage, currently illustrated by the fact that HBK is now so eager to get revenge on him. If the HBK/Randy concussion thing was as irrelevent as you claim, why is HBK so mad about it? Kicking Cena's dad got him way more heat that if he had just beaten Hardy or Kennedy to become number 1 contender. Orton had wrestled twice that night, he wasn't fresh either when he beat HHH (clean). It was a lot more credible than any of Edge's MITB title wins. I don't think he's been booked great. But look at the other main eventers. Rey has been booked as a jobber who needs Batista to save him. Batista himself needs about 9 title shots to finally win, Khali was turned into a clown. CM Punk gets squashed by Daddy V, Booker jobs to HHH in eight minutes...etc. But no one's demanding they not be main eventers because of this. No, Orton hasn't been booked well, but who the hell has in WWE? Apart from HHH and Cena?

Best superkick since Shelton/HBK.

Didn't Orton just come out and RKO Cena in the last 30 seconds of Raw on July 30th and that's how he was announced number 1 contender? I don't see how that could have made a huge difference to the ratings for that particular show. I don't think Orton is a huge ratings draw, but he's no worse than anyone else. ECW ratings have dropped to their lowest since CM Punk's been champ, but no-one's blaming him for that, are they?

I wouldn't call Cena a huge ratings getter either. The ratings were 3.2 last week, remember? In terms of merchandising he's huge. But that has never translated to ratings for some reason (unlike Rey).

Michael Hayes was the one who pushed for the heart attack route in the Kristal/Teddy wedding storyline. He had been wanting to an angle involving Viagra for quite some time. The Viagra induced heart attack on the wedding night had actually been scripted since June. The plan was for Vickie Guerrero (and at one time Kristal but she's likely staying babyface) to get hold of Long's medical records, find out about the medical condition, and orchestrate this whole thing out of the storyline. The big goal of this storyline is to turn Vickie into a major heel. The plan is now for Vickie to turn heel, and then turn her wrath against Rey in particular, to do a Hispanic version of Stone Cold vs. Vince McMahon. She is also likely to fire Kristal. The plan for Kristal was for her to move to raw following the storyline. She's currently in a real life relationship with Bobby Lashley and he asked Vince McMahon if she could move to raw to be with him. However, Lashley is out of acton till at least December, so that may be held off for a few more months. Another idea being batted around for Vickie to get even more heat from the fans is for her to start a relationship with one of the male wrestlers on smackdown. The idea is that the wrestler would get preferential treatment and it would make her more of a heel to the fans because she's betraying Eddie. The other idea being talked about is that the wrestler up for the role would be using Vickie to get preferential treatment and Vickie would be trying to get the wrestler 'in the sack' in exchange. The wrestler would tease the idea but it would never actually happen in the storyline because the wrestler isn't interested in going to bed with her; he just wants to use her to further his career. MVP appears to be the primary candidate for the role. There has also ben talk of using Edge in the role but MVP seems more likely. wrestling observer newsletter Sex Kitten Vickie? If she had better acting skills that could be fun, but as it is it's difficult to imagine her in a role like that.

Kennedy didn't actually injure Lashley, that was kayfabe. I'd say Kennedy could be depushed but there are so few top names right now. WWE simply don't have the luxury of being petty. He'll stay upper mid card at least.

Keller says the rumour is Orton/Umaga/HHH.

Can't they institutionalize her? From what I'm hearing, her problems are way more than drugs (possibly serious post partum depression). She needs to be put away and taken care of for a while. Even if it is against her will. And I don't mean that in a callous way, I honestly think that the only option that can guarantee her safety.

There has been a growing concern regarding Michaels. Michaels, who the expectation was would return from knee surgery in November, has made it clear he's enjoying life right now with his family. He has young children and no financial concerns. He's also having more time to devote to his religion, which is his passion right now and is largely disconnected from wrestling except regularly talking to HHH. HHH has been trying to talk him into coming back to television because of the depth issue regarding lack of stars, even if he can't wrestle yet. Michaels hasn't opted for it. HHH brought him to OVW to talk to the talent and a lot of people were surprised he agreed to go. The feeling internally was that being around HHH and seeing the hungry young wrestlers would put the fire back into him to come back. Everybody was doing the "Once you get around the business again, you can't walk away so easily," maxim and were actually surprised he agreed to come with HHH to OVW a few weeks ago. He's been telling HHH he's on the fence abut returning and he really doesn't know how much wrestling he wants to do. He said his family is his top priority, his knees are really bad and he feels his comeback in recent years has vindicated his entire career from his admitted past transgressions of the 90s. Those close to the situation surmise that one of the things he's wanted to do in recent years was to come back with a new attitude, make a new reputation within the business, and leave with a better legacy than he left with in 1998. Of all the various people out with injuries and other sabbaticals this years, even though Rey Mysterio came back and made the biggest difference in demos, the two people whose injuries seem to have left the biggest holes are Edge and Michaels, as their spots have never been adequately replace. The feeling is that while the wrestlers of the 90s may have negative things to say about him personally, the modern wrestlers and people working in the company today look at him in a a positive light. It's also not like anyone is talking that he's retiring, but nothing is definite, and again, even if and when he comes back, a key may be getting an even more reduced schedule. wrestling observer newsletter

I heard the pick a ref stip was the other option for the Cena/Orton match. Maybe they figured it might stand a real chance of beating hell in a cell so it had to go. I'm guessing they'll go with anywhere falls for the 3 rd option for Cena/Orton, it sounds intresting enough but you know it doesn't have a shot at getting more votes than HIAC.

Joe seems to have pissed someone off.... http://pcwaction.blogspot.com/ Samoa Joe Can Go Fuck Himself Anyone who read my comments on the message board in regards to the Back to School Bash last night know that I was very unhappy over-all. I wanted to take some time and calm down before I posted a blog. Some time has past but I am probably more angry now then I was last night, especially as more details emerge regarding the situation. What Joe did last night was unprofessional, idiotic, self-centered and ego-driven. Over the course of six years, I have had the pleasure of working with many, many "names" and never have I seen a guy with such a "diva" complex and such a chip on their shoulder. Nor can I imagine a decision that was worse for business (and THE business) then the choices Joe made last night. First, allow me to express two things. 1) Chris Sabin continued to demonstrate why he should absolutely be getting a bigger, better push in TNA and why his schedule should be booked solid. He's a class act and a fantastic performer who "gets" the business and had the match of the night. I could not have asked for anything more from Sabin and I certainly hope he will be apart of PCW in the future. 2). On previous occasions, Joe has been a joy to work with and gave exactly what was asked of him. I am sure it is no coincidence that "what was asked of him" was to look strong against our talent. When it came time for Joe to do something that didn't involve him looking like Hulk Hogan circa 1985, suddenly, he's not so accommodating. I owe our fans a huge apology. Rest assured, Samoa Joe will NEVER be back in PCW unless he intends to come and give us the other half of the match he was paid for. Allow me to explain in detail exactly what transpired. To be fair, I did not specifically speak with TNA in regards to Joe putting Kenny over. I did not care either way and said to a few guys in the past few days that I hoped Joe would put him over but if he didn't want to, it wasn't a big deal. In the past, whenever I have specifically checked with TNA on whether their talent would be willing to do business for our guys, I have been told "no problem. The business is a work." Exactly. And to quote a certain someone last night..."I don't care who wins or loses, I just want to have a good match." I wonder who said that. After being told by Joe that he'd be "right down" to the locker room for forty minutes (and thus, I was unable to begin the show when I wanted to), I finally went up to his room. I told him he was free to take his time coming down since it would be some time before his match, but I just wanted to get on the same page with him. I told him he was booked against Kenny Omega and asked him if he knew of him. Joe shrugged. Since Joe had spoke to me earlier in the day about his previous two trips to Winnipeg and seemed to have a fairly solid recollection of them, I reminded him that Kenny had worked with AJ Styles on this show last year. Joe shrugged and said "yeah, so?" I shrugged too and said "would you mind putting our guy over?" "No way," he scoffed. "I don't do that. I'm a top guy on television. It's company policy that we don't put over anyone but TNA guys." Now, I was totally fine with that up until the line about "company policy" which I knew to be untrue. Tell me you don't want to lay down. Tell me you feel it will impact your position and reputation (even if it wouldn't), but don't lie to me. I said "really? Styles put him over last year and they put together a match and a finish that made sense for both guys." Joe said "No way" again. He turned to walk away from me saying "there is no way that's happening." Let me be VERY clear. I had absolutely NO problem with that. Of course I was going to inquire as to whether he minded putting our top guy over, but I thought he likely would have declined. No problem. I thanked him for his time and told him to come down whenever he wanted. There is a huge difference between beating a guy and eating a guy. There is a huge difference between having a great match and trying to destroy a territory. Joe doesn't "get it". It makes a lot of sense to him when guys sell their ass off to make him look like a million dollars and an unstoppable killing machine. But it apparently makes "no sense" to ask him to "not kill our top guy." I won't speak for Kenny at all. He's a class act and encouraged me to forget about it and move on. But I will mention that I am fully aware of the poor attitude Joe demonstrated in the back and his insults. There is more to the story that I won't reveal here that clearly indicate that Joe made a deliberate and malicious decision to go to the ring and make our top guy look bad. For that, Joe can go fuck himself. And from what I understand, I am hardly the only promoter that feels this way and our fans are hardly the only ones to walk away from a Samoa Joe match disappointed. The match was too short and did absolutely nothing to enhance our talent or promotion. In retrospect, if Sabin/Sanchez had been the top match, I would have been thrilled. Sabin "gets it". Joe doesn't. How nice it must be for Joe to be so independently wealthy that he can execute a piss-poor match and then say "save your money and don't book me again." When we book "names", there are certain obligations on both sides. We're expected to pay the PO, trans and accommodations and act in a professional and respectful manner. In return, we expect the talent to show up, work hard, enhance our talent and promotion and act in a professional and respectful manner. Part of that means interacting with the fans and giving them their monies worth. On previous occasions, Joe did that. Last night, he left many fans who wished to shake his hand or get a picture, disappointed. That fact coupled with his terrible in-ring performance angered me greatly. I'm not one to shy away from confrontations and fortunately, I had to pay my crew so I did not get the chance to go speak with Joe immediately. I was encouraged by some to go talk to him and by others to let it go. "What can you do?" was an oft-repeated question. I made the decision to let it go. But as I thought about it further, I didn't want to be accused of being a guy that didn't have the balls to express my unhappiness face to face. I promptly marched up to Joe's room where he was enjoying his third or fourth quarter pounder of the day. I reminded him of his flight information and informed him that someone would be at the hotel in the morning to drive him and Sabin. I then asked to speak to him. Sabin walked into the next room, clearly sensing that I wanted to speak with Joe about a serious matter. I asked him if he was unhappy or upset with anything. He said "not at all" and asked why I was asking. I said "well, Joe, I guess I was wondering why you ate my top guy." He said "what did you want me to do, get dropped on my head?" I said "no. I wanted a good match that was a positive for our talent and promotion. That match killed our top guy and hurt my ability to draw moving forward." Joe invited me in and asked me to sit down. He asked me to explain what I would have wanted different out of the match. I politely explained that I expected the match to go longer and I expected our guy to come out of it looking good and I expected the fans to be willing to pay to see Joe again in the future. I explained that none of that happened. Joe didn't agree to disagree. He didn't express that perhaps their was a misunderstanding. He proceeded to bury Kenny in the most ridiculous way possible. One guy in that match moved around. One guy was not blown up and huffing and puffing. One guy gave a crap. Guess which guy that was? While Joe took the time to pay me lip service and try to placate me, he contradicted himself several times. He made ridiculous and lame excuses. The one honest thing he repeatedly said was "I'm not going to give you the answer you want." I explained that I was not looking for a certain answer. I, as the guy paying the bills, was simply looking to express my unhappiness. It made no sense to kill our top guy. It was bad for business. If Joe had any sense, he would have realised that. We could continue to book him and make money or we could do what happened last night. Joe rejected my opinion that the match was too short. I explained that I'd rather have a good 10 minute match then a bad 20 minute one, but that was a bad 8 minute match. After a few more excuses which Joe usually contradicted on his own without my help, I said "look, good work is good work. That wasn't good work." Sabin, Petey and Styles can come in, have a great attitude and have a fantastic match with Kenny. But Joe couldn't. That says a lot about Joe. I expressed my feeling that the fans didn't get what they paid for. Joe scoffed and pointed out that it was a long show. I said "yeah, WE gave them what they paid for but YOU didn't. They paid for Samoa Joe." His reply "and they saw Samoa Joe." I said, "They didn't pay to SEE Samoa Joe, they paid to experience a quality Samoa Joe match." They didn't get that. Joe actually said to me "if you wanted your guy to look good, then you shouldn't have booked him against me." I didn't make Joe the highest paid guy on the show because I wanted him to make our talent look bad! From a business perspective, I asked him how that match was a positive. How was that going to help PCW draw? How was that going to set up Joe or any other TNA talent to return to Winnipeg and draw a crowd? Again, Joe's response was that I shouldn't have booked him then. I shook my head in disbelief. When Ric Flair was NWA World Champion, he travelled the US making every home town guy look like a million dollars because it was GOOD for business, built up the territory and ensured repeat bookings and money for everyone. One thing Joe said was that he was doing what he felt was best for his promotion. Wrong. Wherever you go, you're a representative of TNA. Everything you do, you're selling PPV's. All Joe did last night was show that he's not a very good worker and, unless a faster and better worker makes him look good, he's got nothing. Quite honestly, Joe forgot where he came from. Who would Joe be if guys hadn't been willing to make him look good or help him out? Joe made a name for himself squashing smaller guys. Well that gimmick is getting old. I haven't been around 20 years. I've been around six. Worked with a lot of good talent, names and produced some pretty big shows. Don't give me the "I think I know better" bullcrap. I agree - you SHOULD know better. If other promoters ask for my opinion I will tell them honestly - Joe is over-rated, out of shape and not worth his asking price. Book Chris Sabin. Book AJ Styles. Book Chris Daniels. Book Petey Williams. Don't book Samoa Joe unless it's a "going out of business" show. He'll successfully give you what you need in that regard. I'm not writing this to bury Joe. I respect TNA and their talent. I don't respect Joe. Not anymore. I owe an explanation and apology to our fans and this is it. Our show was good - very good. Better then anything else you'll see in this city. Some promotions would kill to have our worst match on top of their card. But it wasn't good enough for PCW and it wasn't good enough for us. For that, I sincerely apologize. A few notes on last night. AJ Sanchez had a fantastic match with Chris Sabin. That speaks volumes about Sanchez as a talent and about Sabin as a person. My sincere thanks to both guys. Due to Chevy's injury, Don Douglas was put in a position where the match changed on him. I thought he worked very hard and put forth a great effort. Mike Angels and Adam Knight had another great match as did Antonio Scorpio Jr and Nate Hardy. Scorpio and Nate had a ton of crowd heat. This was their third straight match working face/face and to keep getting that reaction says alot about them. I remember being against the idea of them working three shows ago and I was VERY wrong. I'm an honest guy and I felt we should have drawn better. We drew great, but could have been better. Though, with Chris Sabin as a surprise, we sold tickets based on Joe alone. Thank GOD we brought Sabin in!! Kenny never, ever has to defend himself to anyone. If a guy like Joe or anyone else doesn't want to come to work when given the chance to work with a talent like Kenny, then so be it. It's their loss. Kenny's future lays waaaay beyond Winnipeg. I feel really bad for him and am sure he is disappointed. But fortunately, he's got a match with Ultimo Dragon this weekend and I encourage everyone to go see that show. That match alone is worth the ticket price. Our DVD of the Fifth Anniversary show is now available. Our production guy upgraded his equipment, including a boom cam (which, by the way did have a video monitor so he knew exactly what he was filming). I take complete responsibility for the negatives on last night's show. I don't want to read anyone being critical of the talent. For the most part, they worked very hard and had great performances. Everything that was not as tight as it should have been from booking to pacing to technical issues all fall at my feet. I'll make it up to you all next show. I promise. I also don't want to get too 'down' on the show. For those "competitors" who couldn't bring themselves to check out our event, trust me, you couldn't put that show on in your wildest dreams. It was very good. But not good enough. This is a personal blog and my personal opinion. I'm frustrated. I appreciate the support of the fans and I hope you'll come back on Oct. 25th and let us erase the memories of Samoa Joe with a show that will do just that. I fucking guarantee THAT

No, it seems Kristal really did love Teddy. In WWE land beautiful twenty something woman really do fall madly in love with ugly 60 year old men and have no ulterior motives .

I just love the idea that a widow dating almost two years after her husband died is somehow the most horrible thing ever. Michael Cole: Oh, my God! Vickie is making out with a man!!! How can she disrespect the memory of Eddie like this! Not this way! Not this way!

There is talk of doing a trade that would send Mark Henry to Raw and Umaga to smackdown. This is basically a way to provide fresh opponenets for each brand's top babyfaces. McMahon is very interested in doing a Umaga vs. Undertaker feud. Henry would likely feud with Cena since Raw is so low on top heels. Henry's program with Undertaker appears to be over after he was soundly defeated by him yet again at last Tuesdays' Smackdown taping. Umaga's program will HHH will likely be over soon as well. wrestling observer newsletter I'd like to see Undertaker/Umaga

Well, it's done well in the ratings apparently, so it's probably sticking around for a while... I thought Katee Sackhoff really stole the show. Everything else was kind of meh...it wasn't bad but it wasn't that great either.

Ashley should have known when to back down. All this time she's been working in such a politcally intense working enviroment, and she hasn't yet figured out you don't confront the alpha male? Especially when you're so low on the totem pole?

It reminds me of Dark Angel a bit. I do see potential there. And you have to bear in mind that, with a few exceptions, pilots are often bad tv anyway, because there's usually far too much exposition and setting up characters and whatnot. It'll probably improve next week.

I'm surprised Routh thinks he's a position to pick and choose. Unlike Bale he's still not a big box office star. I heard they're interested in Tom Welling now. Which would be great if they played into the smallville continuity.

Bryan Alvarez doesn't think there will be any hearing anytime soon, from this weeks f4w

I wouldn't call Candice the next Trish. Granted her wrestling skills have improved, but she's still not that impressive a performer. And she's still fairly short on personality or charisma. The crowd (last night aside) never seem that fussed about her. I think Jillian Hall has the potential to be the next 'big' diva: she's a good wrestler and has a somewhat interesting character.

How old is Jack supposed be? He'll be hitting his fifties soon, surely?

Assuming he's gone (honeymoon) for two weeks, you can't barr the guy from building 2 weeks in a row. Bit predictable.