Thanks for the Fish

FCW is going to have a sizeable roster and will be tough for all of the talent to get used regularly. OVW knew this was coming, which is likely why Derby City wrestling was started. I assume there will be some sizeable cuts after the Florida guys get a looksee at what the former OVW kids have to offer. It will be interesting to see the new angles/gimmicks/characters the OVW wrestlers are given by the FCW bookers. OVW had 22 developmental wrestlers, which will be added to the current FCW roster of 25ish to make a whopping roster for developmental purposes. With all of the British wrestlers being brought in, I have a feeling that they will look to start a British federation sooner than later that will act as a quasi-developmental, though be run with some wwe names. Either that or they realize that their training is rather homogeneous and that they'll be producing by in large the same wrestler and figure British trained wrestlers will offer something different both to the school and possibly to the main roster down the line. OVW had a much better website than the current Florida Championship offering. I don't believe it's been updated(other than removing the bios of released talent) since it opened for crying out loud. Also FCW bookers don't seem to know how to develop characters/gimmicks for the workers and everybody is pretty generic and bland - typical indie stuff. At least the wwe seems to realize this - according to the Heyman interview they offered him a lot of money to book their developmental territories in order to create characters/gimmicks and new stars for the wwe to use, of course he obviously refused.

HA! I like it. She's also going to be 36 years old this year...

Latest Lashley News (taken from General thread, I believe from Observer) Bobby Lashley has been sent a release by WWE but has yet to sign it. A number of people are still expecting him to wind up back with WWE due to the lengthy non-compete clause that would come into effect. WWE is also hopeful of negotiating another release clause that would prevent him from discussing his departure in public or disparaging the company. John Laurinaitis has been getting some heat over the Lashley situation, which comes after many other top wrestlers have left the company in a negative manner, with many people noting that Jim Ross never had such problems when he was managing talent relations. Michael Hayes' name has also been mentioned as a major factor in Lashley's unhappiness, which is perhaps in relation to supposed 'racial overtones' of the planned angle for Lashley's girlfriend, Kristal Marshall, which would have seen her and Edge become an on-screen couple. Whilst numerous people doubt it would have been an issue, there are still a number of old-school people with old-fashioned opinions about 'mixed race' couples and the way they are portrayed. Lashley was also feeling the fatigue of the busy travel schedule, to the extent that he was becoming a difficult person for public relations to handle. He was also unhappy about his WrestleMania 23 pay-off of $250,000, feeling that as the winner of the biggest-drawing match in WrestleMania history he was entitled to more. According to Dave Meltzer, Lashley earned around $1,000,000 in 2007 alone even without selling a lot of merchandise. Additionally, Lashley was good friends with Booker T, who of course became so frustrated with WWE for various reasons, some of which also reportedly involve Michael Hayes, that he quit last summer.

Add to that he only put over Hardy because he was pissed at the Jericho rehiring and instant top guy push and had said that Jeff Hardy is better to push than rehiring Jericho. Basically Hardy's current push is an FU to Jericho and those who wanted him back so desperately. Jericho's return was lacklustre and he's currently in a midcard nothing feud with JBL.

Which is why I don't buy the Majors break-up/name change basis rumor. I just think it was a bland, go-nowhere generic team gimmick that lead to their repackaging.

Burchill/Katie can't go to SD! because it's network and they thought the angle would be too hot for network television. It was either Raw or ECW. Since VKM has wanted an incest angle basically for ever, he has a decent chance at getting ring time, however Vince's style is also to beat you over the head with it rather than a nuanced approach, so expect a "Live Sex" show in a couple weeks between the two. DH Smith is wrestling on the past few Heat shows. Kid isn't nearly ready - it's actually too bad they signed him, but either they signed him or he would have went to TNA. The show is taped because the Raw show is heading overseas (Japan?) and it would be too cost prohibitive to tape abroad I guess. I know they've done it in the past, I wonder if the HD sets and signals are to blame.

I love how the race card gets played because certain higher-ups might use "the word", however actions speak louder than words and the wwe's actions had Lashley in the plum Trump vs McMahon angle. This is all about Kristal Marshall not getting re-hired and wwe had to let him walk because of the dreaded race card.

It's being showed live from tape sorta deal as they are taping two weeks worth of Raw tonight since they are touring next week. Spoilers are probably already out for tonights show in the usual places.

Ace was never going to catch on with the wwe - he'll probably go back for a run in ROH before calling it a career. I love the Heyman interview and basically laid out exactly what I wanted in the EC. Show getting choked out by Punk mints Punk in the eyes of the fans without him having to win the belt. Remember at this time Big Show was calling it a career as well - he wanted to go out on his back. Booking it the way Vince did put over one wrestler - Bobby Lashley. If it would have followed Heyman's booking you could have put over 3-4 wrestlers. Punk by beating Big Show in five minutes, have RVD and Punk wrestle to a five minute stalemate, push Test or Holly in that they pin RVD and Punk, and wait for a 2-on-1 advantage over Lashley, and the Lashley for winning the title. I still hope that Russo burns out again and leaves TNA and that some of the TNA power brokers push for Heyman to be brought it. I'd love to see Heyman vs Vince with the TNA money behind him. Angle has tremendous clout there right now, and I believe he was a big fan of Heyman. There is a movement in TNA that judging by the reaction to Global Impact, that they might want to eliminate a lot of the "sports entertainment/silliness" of their show and instead strive for a more competition/title based show. That's basically what Heyman wanted to do with ECW, bringing in Angle, booking Punk as a MMA shooter, and created the Boris Alexiev character that Santino Marella played while in OVW. The Alexiev character was a rip-off of Pride Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emilianenko and was set to be a major threat for Angle. Also look how he booked OVW during his stint down there - some of the best character development and storytelling at that time.

Observer put the kay-bosh on the Punk in the doghouse rumors, saying that in actuality Punk is in a better position now that Lagana was fired as he was his main detractor and was pushing for Morrison to get the title back right away before and was the person who put the title on Chavo. Dusty is a big Punk fan and Hayes has been trying to get him on SD! for awhile. Ed Koskey(sp) is booking ECW now, with Dusty's help, however Hayes has a TON of political power right now and is likely overseeing both ECW and SD!

Hardy will never be as hot as he was @ RR though. And if they hotshot the title on to Cena at NWO just so they can give the title to HHH at WM than that's a friggin crime.

According to wrestling observer via a rip-off site Nathan Jones and the wwe are in talks about him possibly returning to the company. I might be the only Nathan Jones mark to ever exist, but I'd love to see him back. I still don't know wny Matt Morgan was blacklisted by the wwe before his TNA hire. I mean the kid was a legit 6'10", muscled up, solid on the mic(proven in TNA) and could work a decent match at worst (light years better than Khali). Something had to go down between Morgan and somebody with serious political clout. The Colossus of Boggo Road would push the Great Khali's shit up.

Armando Alejandro Estrada (aka Big Lalo) had to drop his middle name because fans were singing along. Kofi Kingston had a "middle name" of Nahaje on the indie circuit as well. HBK wants Flair to go out with a helluva match - sure he gets the plum spot, but it should be Flair's best match in recent memory. Supposedly HBK said he's not opposed to losing, of course he could just be saying that because he knows the angle ends at WM.

Edge doesn't have a WM streak. He was in the MITB match last year and didn't win, which also would mean he lost. Now he could say he has never been pinned or never lost a singles match, however to say he never lost is plainly false.

So it's either Dusty or Michael Hayes as the "racist" or both? Punk is really hit or mis in the ring - he seems to work better once he gets comfortable with his opponent, but can't have a one-off match to save his life.

Actually the show was pre-taped for whatever reason and spoilers are available at the usual sites. I wasn't close (or was I...)

Umaga needs to head over to SD!ECW. He's played out on Raw and on jobber duty, but in the Rumble he was interesting when facing off against Undertaker and Batista.

I wonder if there will be any noticible chance in direction/philosophy with Lagana fired and replaced by Dusty Rhodes. I doubt it as Lagana wouldn't have put the title on Chavo Guerrero, that was obviously a SD! crew call. Probably have the standard Miz/Morrison tag match, maybe against Hawkins and Ryder in an attempt to give "The Family" more titles. A Colin Delaney squash - what bigman is left though? I guess Chuck Palumbo could further his heat by squashing the kid. Other than that I think his fifteen minutes might have ran out. Kofi Kingston needs to be put in the ring with a better jobber. Either get somebody he has worked with in FCW or give him Nunzio. I expect a Guerrero vs Dreamer match if Punk doesn't call in his rematch tonight.

Interesting news about Meltzer and Lagana. You have to assume Meltzer was paying his source though. However it couldn't have been a lot. Seems like he was fired out of no where, so this would certainly make sense. I wonder how Meltsz will deal with this "rumor", and where he'll get such another high foodchain source.

I just posted basically the same scenario in the Raw thread - the Matt and Jeff ending anyways. However I had Matt beating MVP for the US title and Jeff winning MITB. I also had Edge vs Flair in a Title vs Career match at WM where Edge would win and retire Flair. Of course you don't want to send the fans home unhappy so Jeff Hardy cashes in his MITB match and beats Edge for the title.

I think it could be epic if Hardy wins MITB at WM and cashes it in later that night to win the title. However for it to work, a heel win would have to end the ME. Edge ending UT's streak would be interesting as hell, but I don't think that's going to happen. What about Edge vs Undertaker vs Batista with Edge pinning Batista - Would that keep his streak in tact or would that be a loss on the score sheet? Another possibility would have Edge challenge Ric Flair in a title vs career match. Edge and Flair put on pretty damn good matches together and it would be the Rocky Balboa storyline where Flair gets his last shot at the title. Flair comes close a couple of times, but Edge beats him cleanly to end the match and his career. Flair realizes it's all over, starts crying takes off his boots and leaves them in the center of the ring and walks to the back in his socks. Edge being the heel bastard heads back to the ring and kicks then out of the ring and poses with his title not wanting the spotlight off of him. Cue Jeff Hardy's music as the crowd goes ape shit. He cashes in his MITB shot and after a 7-8- minute match he scores the pin and wins the title. Matt Hardy comes out (winning the US title earlier in the night) and they celebrate in the ring together a la Eddy and Chris Benoit as the show fades to black.

Does anybody care about Snitsky in the least? I don't care if he looks 100x grosser in HD. He's channel change material for me. Raw is so damn tired and lame. Hardy was the only freshness it had going for it, and now he'll be nothing but an afterthought.

I guess Hardy is winning MITB this year to try and keep him hot/over without putting the title on him any time before Summer Slam. HHH vs Flair at WM? They're trying to sell it "What title will Cena go after" like going after Edge over Orton would make any sense. You know what I would love - Cena not choosing to go after a title - Either challenge Flair at Wm to retire him (which would be a heelish thing to do) or Undertaker to go after his streak. Of course it would cheapen the titles in the sense that Cena chose to not fight for one. But I think it would be great to see Flair lose in upcoming weeks and retired. Only to have Cena come out and say "A legend isn't going out like this" What do you say Flair, me and you at WM! Vince would say he can't as Flair lost and is retired. Cena would then say that winning the Rumble gives him his choice of opponent and while it is assumed the winner goes after the title he doesn't have to and it's about doing the right thing. Flair vs Cena at WM24 in Ric Flair's retirement match.

Bah. Cena back already? Hardy loses cleanly? It's almost as if you should stop watching the PPV as soon as the Edge match finishes and skip the last two. Orton/Cena does NOTHING for me.

Yup. Thanx. I never chose Webber, unless by accident. I assume that is the default? I'm rocking the TSM Pro style now.