Thanks for the Fish

Okay so what are the odds we get Punk vs Chavo 5 next week with Punk winning the title back? And this was done to add intregue to an otherwise pretty heatless Royal Rumble?

I guess this is what happens when MVP is waiting for Matt Hardy and they really want to pimp out the new stable.

I like Chavo, but he's not a draw AT ALL. However if this means a possible Punk vs Edge feud I'm all for it. However if Punk is tied up with Edge, who the hell feuds with the heel Chavo? What other faces are on ECW? Dreamer??

It would open the door for Punk in the Rumble to go after Edge, but Chavo would be a terrible champion as he simply isn't a draw. I think Mysterio will come out to neutralize Edge and Punk will pull it out.

I actually picked him in the Rumble Prediction thread to be one of my surprise entrants. I'd love to see it actually happen. He should be #1 and have him manage to hang around til the end by just laying on the mat and playing dead. Hell have him win it. Yeah that's going too far. But it would be classic - dude gets pummelled and the forgotten about, maybe outside the ring, but not eliminated. Have the "winner" celebrate and the announcers completely sell it like he won and have the winner exit the ring over the top rope and celebrate atop the ramp. Just before the fade to black you see Colin climb into the ring and start looking around...

No. He'll be around a couple more weeks though because he was asked to cancel indie appearances over that time period. After which it's assumed they'll decide what they want to do with him I guess. What other monsters do they have for him - Khali this week. BDV, Mark Henry, Kane already used. Undertaker is certainly not going to slum. Maybe Umaga and Big Show?

I wouldn't have cried - probably shit myself though.

Yeah. Because a muscled out steroid freak is somebody you shouldn't take seriously. I mean the kid is 15ish yo and seemingly never met Batista, certainly not well enough to have a rapport where pranking physical violence on him could be laughed off. I'm surprised Dave didn't soap up his ass in a shower for shits and giggles as well.

Don't look now, but Ron Killings ins being brought in and given extreme heat h has with Raw writer Brian Gewirtz he'd very likely heading to SD! or ECW... Maybe "Kwik Ron Killings" (yes, that's his ring name) can team with Elijah Burke...

Who? Lena Yada is a Diva Search cast-off who was hired anyways and debuted before the eventual winner, albeit as an dance-off interviewer who might actually dance worse than Kelly Kelly.

I'd love Benjamin and Burke to become a tag team and go agter the straps, however with Punk working with Benjamin on the house show circuit, I think they're setting up a Punk vs Benjamin title feud for WM. I hate how Burke is getting left behind after "bringing" Benjamin ton ECW. I don't think Punk drops the strap - I think Punk will bring out Mysterio to be his "second" tonight to neutralize Edge. Only reason I could see Edge dropping the title is to set-up in inclusion in the RR. I think we'll see something more along the lines of "You TRIED to screw me out of my title, however since I love competition and am a good guy I'd going to ender the RR and win to come after your title Edge. Did I mention I love competition".

Helms is having some nerve issues in his arm and there is no timetable for his return last I heard. Also I believe he recently lost a parent (though don't quote me on that one). I like Helms much better sans the Hurricane gimmick. I actually though he could be a solid upper card guy before his injury/surgery. He'd have been great in ECW feuding with Punk, Morrison and now Benjamin if that's the way they would have went with him as well.

Kingston is actually pretty good and could get himself over in short order. I can't see Chavo going over unless there is a bigger storyline brewing here that will have Punk go after Edge. And even then I think Punk is ECW for the most part and if you took him off for even a stretch to go after Edge on SD! it would really hurt the brand. I mean outside of Punk what is there really reason to tune in? A Delaney squash? Miz and Morrison vs a non-over tag team of the week? Benjamin showcase match? I think Miz and Morrison need to drop the straps and go solo again. Both have fallen in stature (especially Morrison) since they were teamed. What ever happened to Jesse and Festus? Is one of the duo injured or are they already yesterdays news?

I liked the first hour of the show, but the second hour started to drag a bit. HBK vs Kennedy was a really solid match, some innovative offensive from both competitors and solid selling for the most part. Beth vs Mickie was solid for what it was, though I don't think the two women have much in ring chemistry and have seen both have better matches with other opposnents. I actually got a chuckle out of the Holly, Rhodes and Kendrick backstage segment - mostly for Kendrick. I remember him being brutal in backstage segments - I wonder if that was taped. I love when a wrestler has a lisp it's overlooked, but you take a perfectly speaking wrestler like Matt Morgan and give him a studder. Holly still bores the hell out of me, but at last they're giving some dynamic to the Rhodes/Holly team with Holly being the old curmudgeon and Rhodes being the young foil sidekick. I thought the Highlanders were moved to SD!/ECW? Is the brand split not even pretended to be in effect anymore? Was there an explanation on ECW last week? Rory has gotten pretty fat lately - I don't think the Highlanders are long for the company. I don't know what role this match had other than to get Hornswoggle on programming I guess. Jericho's promo was top notch as well. He and JBL can play really well off each other. I like that the wwe realized that the goofy Jericho with shiny vest was passe. I would have hoped Kendrick would have upset any wrestler other than Umaga last night. Umaga has fallen hard and fast and probably needs to move to SD and soon. What is London out with? How long is he expected out? I think both London and Kendrick could make it as singles, though I'm a pretty big London mark. Carlito vs Holly was just there and was a throwaway nothing match to give Carly his heat back. There was really a hard sell for the Main Event at RR between Hardy and Orton - doesn't the acutal rumble usually sell the PPV. Not so it seems this year. I liked the backstage segments each had with VKM and the video montages. Even the final staredown at the end wasn't bad, but as has been mentioned it basically guarenteed that Hardy isn't winning on Sunday and I agree that Hardy should have shook his hand after he put him out. I thought for sure there would have been a "fourth" competitor that would have came and eliminated HHH with Regal not being an official competitor and all. Especially when he was posing on the second rope after the Regal elimination. I guess he's needed in the RR... The announcers seemed to call the show more seriously tonight and I'm in favor of the change if it was a conscious effort and will be going forward. They sold the drama in matches and put over the talent more than selling the storyline. It's as if JBL was feeding them lines in the back instead of the regular voice in the ear.

I'd be all for HHH losing and not being included in the RR. If that was to be the case than Big Show would make certain sense, however it would lead to HHH vs Big Show at the RR and I don't think anybody would care about it. What about Big Show coming out and laying down for HHH? Though I guess Raw doesn't need any more faces with HHH, HBK, Jeff Hardy, Jericho and Cena(eventually enough). Big Show can play a heel just as he could play a face but Show vs HHH, Show vs HBK, Show vs Jericho, Show vs Hardy, Show vs Cena fail go get my juices flowing. Big show vs Orton isn't a bad minor PPV feud, and versus Ken Kennedy and even Santino Marella would be something I could be interested in. I guess Big Show wouldn't have to stay on Raw after his re-debut. On SD! he could give Batista something to do, and I wouldn't mind seeing matches with Edge, MVP, Finlay, Punk, Benjamin and I'm sure he'd have run-ins with Khali and Big Daddy V. I'm anxious to see what the new set-up looks like - especially after reading that description.

Angry Amish Roadkill coming to a indie fed near you? It's being reported that the fromer Roadkill has major heat with the office for no-showing the last couple of OVW tapings. He was pissed because he'd be scheduled, show up and wasn't being used. I can't say I blame the guy. The CT in me believes that the WWE never had any plans for him, that Undertaker's opponent aided ring rope walking spot would pale in comparison to Roadkill walking the ropes unassisted for the splash/elbow.

Impact Pro Wrestling ("Impact Pro" for short) would have been a good change, however it already exists as a wrestling company in NZ.

I'm far from a casual wrestling fan and I can't stand the ring. I think casual fans would be even less forgiving. Turn on Impact and in the first 30 seconds you are fed the silly "TNA" brandname, the gimmicky six-sided ring and Don West - that's a terrible first impression.

It's different just for the sake of being so and it's awkward to work in for the vast majority of the non-lucha wrestlers who've wrestled in and trained in the traditional square rings their whole lives before landing in TNA. When somebody is being whipped into a corner, they usually have to decide if they are supposed to "bounce" back off the ropes or head to a corner and you can usually see them change direction to pick one corner over the other.

Just further proof that TNA has to ditch the gimmicky 6-sided ring. They made a ton of mistakes early and are still paying for them to this day. One was the six-sided ring, and another biggie is the "Total Nonstop Action" which was silly when they were under the NWA banner, however leaving NWA and becomming TNA Wrestling was a terrible decision. It would be hard to re-brand now, but I honestly believe the name will work against them every step of the way as they try to grow.

It's ridiculous. I don't know why they wanted to treat Big Daddy V as a new character when everybody knows exactly who he is. It's not like the old territory days where feds existed in their own bubbles. It just makes the on-air talent look silly ans stupid at the same time. It could have easily been explained that Matt Striker refocused "the Worlds Biggest Love Machine" and turned him into what we have now. Why even keep the "V" connection if he's supposed to be a new character?

According to Rajah who probably poached it from a pay site Bonnie Hammer has stepped down from her position as head of the Sci-Fi channel. I don't know if this bodes well for ECW after their current contract runs out (albeit in a year) as Hammer pushed for the show eventhough many were against it as not fitting the brand.

I think the tan in a bottle overkill is a result of the switch to HD - "If you can't tone it - tan it!". I wonder if they'll have free botox injections backstage over the next few weeks and months. However then you couldn't emote properly to sell the drama in your matches. Jig scars from blading over the years will be crystal clear as well - Maybe the wwe will decide to go Lucha and everybody will sport a mask.

Regarding the move to HD, the wrestlers are worried both because the fakeness of wrestling could be covered up by the lower quality production - that will not be the case anymore. I wonder if wrestlers will start working stiffer next week. Also the age of the older wrestlers was also hidden with the softer focus, which will not be the case anymore. The belief is that the wwe would have rather stayed in the "old" non-HD format, however it was something they couldn't fight.

Derick Neikirk and Chet the Jet have both been suspended under the Wellness Plan. Other reports have Neikirk released already. Chet was moved from OVW to FCW and told to cut his hair because wwe supposedly had something ready for him. He also changed his ring name to Mariuz Jablanski, though is called "Chet" on the FCW website. The "push the envelope" characters wwe is going to toy with is a "Cruel Intentions" rip-off where Paul Burchill and Katie Lea will be booked as brother and sister, though have rather overt sexual tension between them. It's going to be tried in OVW first, to see if they can pull it off though. I wonder if somebody got this idea from the twins that married each other over in the UK, or Vince finally got around to seeing Cruel Intentions and thinks it's cutting edge (I mean he had no idea Pirate Paul Burchill was supposed to be Pirates of the Carribbean Jack Sparrow as opposed to Jean Pierre Lafitte and thus didn't get the gimmick). I believe in CI, the the invilved brother and sister were half-siblings...