JimmyHendricks

I don't understand recent WWE logic that when a champion vacates the title due to injury, that there must be a NEW champion crowned ASAP. When Batista went down Angle was quickly moved over from RAW and won a battle royal. When Edge went down Khali won an immediate battle royal. Even when Kennedy was (supposedly) going to be out long term they took the MITB off of him immediately. I can understand Shawn losing his smile/ Final 4 becoming a title match--they had to build to something at WrestleMania then, but why can't they just start a big, WrestleMania IV-type tournament over the next month or so, or just have a bunch of qualifing matches this Sunday to set up Deadly Game II at Survivor Series in a month? Instead, they'll hot shot someone and give them the belt, and it'll be even more difficult to build them up. If they win 3 or 4 matches to win a tournament for the belt, it adds credibility. I just don't understand the PANIC mode they've gone into. They've been fine with the same champ for basically the last 2 years, so why can't the title be vacant for more than 5 days anymore?

I don't see him being rushed back into a match at Mania. It will be more like 8-12 months before he can actually wrestle again.

I love how everyone is thinking of every possible scenario involving Jericho winning the belt, when it will just be Orton pinning Kennedy and kicking him to death. Or, they'll just bring some big man over (Khali). Remember, this is the WWE.

Don't you mean the 3 week Orton title reign followed by the 6 month HHH title reign? I'm sick of injuries ending title reigns. Bleh.

Another drug related death, even if it was "accidental".

I feel awkward, but I can watch a Benoit match. Usually within 5 minutes or so I focus on the wrestling and can get through it easily. I haven't watched Hard Knocks yet, though. I could probably get through it if I tried. However, I popped in Raw is Owen a couple of days ago and completely lost it during the first segment. Now my sadness has more to do with the fact that he was a completely drug free family man, a rarity in wrestling anymore--and he's gone. I mean, I've always felt that way, but now it's magnified more than ever with everyone doing drugs and dropping dead left and right.

They actually did have a PPV match. It was at the February '96 In Your House PPV. Owen was ducking Shawn until Shawn offered to put up his WWF Title shot at WM12, so Owen finally agreed to have a match at that PPV which Shawn won and that was the blowoff. I think he may have been referring to the Shawn/Owen feud from late 1997/early 1998. I can only guess they wanted to shoot Austin to the top ASAP since they didn't know how long his neck would hold up, so Owen was moved to a feud with Shawn's DX compatriot Triple H over the European Title. I remember a great Shawn-Owen title match on Raw where Owen had the title won before HHH blatantly busted up the match to save the championship. Then why did they have Taker/Shawn at RR 98? Why not make it Owen/Shawn? I guess they needed a place for Kane to kill Undertaker to set up their Wrestlemania match?

Thank you. That woman probably dated Benoit for two weeks and hadn't spoken to him in 25 years. She probably had the daughter with some other deadbeat. She's just speaking out now because it's a hot news topic. Why didn't she do this while he was alive? Because it isn't true.

Greatest site ever: http://www.thewrestlingfan.com/twfhell.html Don't know if it's been posted or not. NOT Work Safe.

This is big, big news. The next few days are going to be some of the most important in recent history.

This case/situation will become the racially motivated topic of this decade. Like O.J over a decade ago, it won't be about what Michael Vick did, but rather about the color of his skin. Expect Jesse Jackson to come out and protest if Vick isn't offered back his starting QB job with the Falcons the instant he gets out of prison. When no team will sign him, it won't be because he led an illegal dogfighting ring on his own property--no--it will be because he's black. People need to stop getting caught up in the idea of being black/white/hispanic and just look at what he did. If Peyton Manning did this, it would be all about the crime. With Michael Vick, it will be all about race. I see white people on TV talking about how he couldn't get away from his street cred as a black man, like they have some idea what it's like to be African-American. I see black people on TV supporting him, even defending what he did, and trying to downplay it. Stop. Send him to jail. He deserves it. If some NFL team wants to sign him when he is released, fine. But don't take sides because of his race--which is what I see happening.

From TMZ: Hulk Hogan's son Nick was seriously injured in a car accident tonight in Clearwater, Fl. Law enforcement tells TMZ the accident occurred around 7:31 p.m. ET tonight. According to police, a Toyota Supra, driven by Nick Bollea (Hogan's real name), was traveling at a very high rate of speed when it lost control and hit a raised median. The car was flipped around and the back end hit a palm tree. The impact, we're told, "destroyed the entire car." The two male occupants were flown by Medivac helicopter from the accident scene to a hospital in St Petersburg. We're told both injuries are "very very serious." The accident happened on Court Street, a main drag in downtown Clearwater, causing the entire street to be shut down for hours. No 911 call was made to police. The accident was actually called in by an officer who rolled up right after the crash happened. Oh my. UPDATE, from PerezHilton: A male passenger was critically injured in the awful accident, but police are saying that it was not Nick Hogan. We all saw this coming, didn't we? Cnn says nick is in serious condition. http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/26/h...rash/index.html Perez has pics of the car: That CNN link has footage of Hogan at the scene. I'm not surprised at all that this happened.

Cena winning again is hilarious, but I agree that it was the correct decision. Orton winning would be much more enjoyable, but it would be a matter of weeks (maybe even days) before he would fuck up and the title would go back to Cena anyway. At least have him finally lose it to someone who might keep it a while.

From TMZ: Hulk Hogan's son Nick was seriously injured in a car accident tonight in Clearwater, Fl. Law enforcement tells TMZ the accident occurred around 7:31 p.m. ET tonight. According to police, a Toyota Supra, driven by Nick Bollea (Hogan's real name), was traveling at a very high rate of speed when it lost control and hit a raised median. The car was flipped around and the back end hit a palm tree. The impact, we're told, "destroyed the entire car." The two male occupants were flown by Medivac helicopter from the accident scene to a hospital in St Petersburg. We're told both injuries are "very very serious." The accident happened on Court Street, a main drag in downtown Clearwater, causing the entire street to be shut down for hours. No 911 call was made to police. The accident was actually called in by an officer who rolled up right after the crash happened. Oh my. UPDATE, from PerezHilton: A male passenger was critically injured in the awful accident, but police are saying that it was not Nick Hogan. We all saw this coming, didn't we?

They can create a new set for every PPV, yet name plates are too much. O-Kay.

Damn, 2 grand for his WMXX tights? I love how they put a disclaimer up about how they aren't trying to profit off of a tragedy. Yeah, it's just a horrible coincidence that we decided to sell these AFTER he killed his family.

Exactly. While I'm glad he condition was caught (last thing we need is another one dropping dead, both as fans and for the business), it is also an obvious attempt by the WWE to put over how "thorough" and "top of the line" their Wellness Policy is. The WWE.com article praises it (the policy) numerous times--if they weren't under fire, it would probably be all about MVP's condition, as it should be. Instead, it's a slightly awkward rah-rah piece.

Honestly, I think the whole (real) reason for the Death angle was so Vince could completely grow his hair back. I never, ever thought he would be off TV for a year or whatever the rumor was.

A lot of what I'll say is common knowledge, but I'll repeat anyway. John Cena, the WWE Champion, is supposed to be their biggest star, a face, and yet half of the crowd boos him every time he comes out. While this is an interesting twist for a top guy to have, it no doubt impacts the ratings when HALF of your audience dislikes the guy. The half that is cheering him is mostly kids, women who think he's hot, and marks who cheer because they are told to. However, the audience is much smarter than they were even 5 years ago, and see right through him, and that's where the boos come from. I like John Cena and think he can definitely be the top guy for years to come, but he seriously, seriously needs a character makeover. It isn't innovative and hip to have your top guy be disliked by 50% of the fanbase. If you want to give the guy a Hogan-like, multiyear run at the top--fine--but Hogan also benefitted from not being on TV every single week. The product is much more televised and overexposed than it was 20 years ago. They'll never do it, but they really should cut back on monthly Pay Per Views, now that they include all 3 brands. Every RAW (and Smackdown and ECW) is about building to the next PPV in 3/4 weeks, when they really should have several months to build up contenders for titles and various feuds. Like I said, that won't ever happen because monthly PPV's make revenue, even if the buyrates suck. But they definitely hurt the product as a whole. If it doesn't spike the ratings, they don't stay with it. How can you build a guy into a star when he's only given 4 weeks and one PPV match/title shot? We get short-term booking. Orton going from loitering around the midcard to being a #1 contender who can kill people by kicking them is an example. People don't buy someone suddenly becoming a threat. They also are, again, much smarter than the WWE thinks (or wishes). EVERYONE rolls their eyes when J.R and King go into Owen Hart mode whenever Randy punts someone. It's dumb, not riveting entertainment. The fans were nuts for Austin back in mid 1997, but he didn't get the title shot (or the title) until mid-1998. It was a slow build. Nowadays the #1 contender is just someone to feed to Cena, ala Hogan in the 80's. I don't think the "Long Term Champion Overcomes the Odds Yet Again" formula works anymore. It seems like more top guys (and more guys in general) are suffering major injuries. More and more guys (and girls) are doing more high risk moves and spots, trying to impress someone with the 4 minutes of match time that they have. Vince "We Make Movies" McMahon is all about the entertainment, but it IS possible to be entertained by actual wrestling. Pro Wrestlers (the vast majority of them) are terrible actors. So why are we being subjected to soap opera vignettes and feuds over who is the best fake "King"? Yes, I know USA Network is pressuring them (now, at least), but this has been a problem for years. It might not have a short term impact, but letting the talent script their own promos and characters, rather than writing for them, line for line, would in the long run make things seem less artificial. Part of the reason Cena can't get over with the smarks is because he's being written as a corny, PG rated Rock knockoff. If they let him do his own thing, perhaps it would give him an edge people could get behind. Rock and Austin became stars because they had the talent to get over themselves. Everything is too controlled now, and I don't know why. The biggest stars the Pro wrestling business has ever seen got themselves over. But I think the biggest reason RAW (and the entire WWE) is struggling (and has since 2002 or so) is the talent they have isn't even close to what was around 7 years ago. You better believe that if WCW was still around and doing well, or if TNA was actually a threat, that half the guys you see on your TV every week wouldn't be there. But, now they don't have to beat someone else in the ratings, so we get un-over cookie cutter characters and guys who are greener than Dr. Dre's finest bag of chronic. I'm all for bringing in new talent and creating new stars, but (and I've said this before), they could release half of the roster and I wouldn't care about most of them. Back in 1998/9/2000, things seemed more realistic. You truly felt that Austin, Rock, and HHH were playing versions of themselves. Mick Foley was over largely because fans liked his book(s)--he, not Mankind, was beloved. Now we have cartoons like Umaga, parodies like "King" Booker, and greatly exaggerated sterotypes like Cryme Time. I don't know what the answer is, but I'm sure they will panic and do some sudden, short term change, when the real solution is slowly building and evolving. It's funny that back in 1997 and 98, at the heat of the Monday night wars, the WWE was much more thought and planned out than today. They don't have a competitor breathing down their necks, they can do things their way, at their own pace, yet they don't. And the product suffers because of it. The ratings were at record levels 7 or 8 years ago because they brought in casual, non-fans--mainstream success. Then that boom went away. WCW folded. Rock went off to make movies. Austin retired. HHH tore his quad, and wasn't the same in the ring afterward. The WWE became complacent. They need a major, top, crossover star. John Cena is NOT it, at least in his current incarnation. HHH has never, to me at least, been capable of being a major, mainstream guy. I still remember some MTV interview Austin did back in 1999 or so, and when HHH invaded and attacked/confronted/ Austin, literally no one in the audience knew who he was. This was just as he was becoming "The Game", but he had been the leader of D-X and at the top for quite a while, and everyone was still like, "who?" The WWE (and HHH himself, especially) would want you to believe that he's one of the biggest stars in history, but it's only because he's booked himself at the top for the last 5 years. He would never fare well with the typical drive by fan. Rock and Austin were Hogan, HHH is Flair. Not necessarily in talent, but in terms of marketing and crossover appeal. Hogan is a household name. Flair is a household name if you've ever watched him on TV. I really don't know who can be that guy. It'll probably just happen, like lightning in a bottle, just like it was with Austin 10 years ago. But I fear that with everything so controlled and literally scripted, that no one will be able to breakthrough. We smarks have always had an inside view as to what would be happening, but now even marks can tell what will be happening. The only time something surprising happens is when (A) Someone gets injured and they have to do a SHORT TERM booking change, or (B) They try something interesting, but it usually is only SHORT TERM and things return to normal, with Cena as champ and Vince on TV. I remember Bischoff's line on the Monday Night Wars DVD, something about how fans want to see something realistic, something surprising, something spontaneous. Nothing feels that way anymore. Will it change? I hope so--as much as I (and others) bitch, I've been a fan for 19 years, and I want to watch every week with excitement like I did when I was 10, and even when I was 17. Will it happen? I hope so. Time will tell.

Double Post, Sorry.

This won't last long. Anyhoo, I've always liked Austin's theme, especially the Disturbed one. It put a new fresh twist when he came back from the neck surgery.

Trash a hotel room=title shot.

So pro wrestlers have been kicking each other in the head for 100 years, but suddenly Randy Orton does it and it's DEADLY, and warrants an Owen-voice moment?

Donkey Kong = Mark Henry Plus he could be a ref like in Punch Out.. And whenever Marella loses, they should play the "you died" jingle overhead from the original Super Mario Bros. When he makes his big comeback, they could play the "Star/Invincibility" music, and as soon as it ends, he gets crushed and pinned.

Also, it seems the Torch is reporting that Cor Von called Johnny Ace minutes before the show started, saying his pet leopard had diarrhea and that he wouldn't be able to make the taping.