WWE News From The Torch

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

Here's this weeks Torch. Enjoy.

 

credit to wade

 

TOP STORY: TNA brought in Lex Luger. The weird thing about it is that, barring a jump in buyrates, getting Lex really does nothing to help the company. And even a buyrate increase may not help in the long run.

 

Reaction amongst the TNA wrestlers was mixed. Last week they talked of the pop that the announcement got, but there were wrestlers who quickly realized what a bad idea it was. Reaction to the move by fans on the internet was strongly negative, eliminating all but the "I wanna see how bad it will be" type buys. Wade says he didn't get any more feedback than a usual week of TNA would get, not that this says anything about the buyrate one way or the other. But the net crowd didn't care enough to spend ten bucks.

 

It did get people talking about TNA, but the talk wasn't positive. Announcing Luger probably got TNA a few more mentions on radio shows like John Boy & Billy, but all that does is say to people "hey, remember WCW Thunder, well it's back on PPV". TNA put out a statement defending their use of Luger, and some compared it to the situation with Kobe. If Luger was already working for TNA, like Kobe was already playing for the Lakers, that would be one thing. And Lex's legal problems are open and shut, unlike Kobe's. Cops came into his house and saw the drugs firsthand.

 

The only value TNA could have gotten from Lex in-ring would have been if he put over AJ Styles in the tag match. If nothing else, giving one of their young stars the rub could arguably be worth bringing Luger in. He brings some curiosity buys, a TNA regular gets elevated, hey why not.

 

But that didn't happen, and the booking of AJ Styles is another controversy coming out of the show. If Lex did bring any curiosity buys, unless the customers really were fans of Thunder, it seems hard to believe that any of them would be motivated to buy TNA again after the show they put on.

 

So at the end of the day, bringing in Luger got TNA plenty of negative publicity, and they delivered with a really bad show. Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one.

 

TOP 5 STORIES OF THE WEEK:

 

#1 - Crash died. He'd been staying with Stevie Richards due to a separation from his wife, who said in a newspaper interview that internet reports about how Crash died weren't true. She also said she didn't want to discuss how he did die because people would judge him. Crash also had a little girl, apparently from a previous marriage or something.

 

#2 - Jeff Jarrett beat Sting by DQ.

 

#3 - TNA makes Luger announcement.

 

#4 - John Cena starts babyface turn.

 

#5 - TNA President responds to criticism of Lex being brought in.

 

WWE NEWS:

 

- A definite rivalry has developed between the two writing teams. Vince had wanted this to happen, because ideally it would lead to both sides thinking outside the box to try topping the competition. But it's also leading to some bad feelings on both sides.

 

Michael Hayes is a writer on Raw, but also works as an agent for Smackdown. This past week he suggested at Smackdown that John Cena should punk out Chris Benoit after their tag match, and some people disagreed. Some people did agree. But Hayes went to Vince and allegedly misrepresented how some others felt about the angle, and Vince said to go ahead and do it. Then the other side made their case to Vince, and ultimately it was edited off of Smackdown.

 

The reason Hayes put forth for wanting Cena to attack Benoit was that they shouldn't lose any of Cena's edge while they turn him babyface. They want him to be the same character, just as a babyface. So what better way to show that he's not suddenly a goody-goody than have him argue with Benoit and then give him an FU? Plus, it would lead to tension going into the PPV. His point of view can certainly be disagreed with, and it obviously was since the spot didn't make the final show. But it was a legitimate suggestion and, from most accounts, Hayes was honestly trying to help.

 

But because of the rivalry between the shows, some of the people against Michael on this issue seemed to get paranoid that he was trying to sabotage Cena's babyface turn. Why would he do that? Well, there seems to be a feeling either on the Raw side, or paranoid Smackdown thinks that Raw is thinking this, that Smackdown jobbed Matt Hardy to Zach Gowen to stop any momentum he had before going to Raw. Not that it's true, it's just a suspicion. But Smackdown guys are like "they think we did this, so they wanna get back at us" and they didn't trust Hayes. Obviously the only way to cure this is not to let someone have influence on both shows the way Hayes does.

 

But the issue was not that big a deal at the show. People say this kind of thing happens every week... two sides disagree, Vince makes a decision. There's no heat on Michael Hayes, except for if he really did misrepresent to Vince what other people were saying, then that wasn't good.

 

To read the report of this story at a certain unnamed website, however, the first words you'd read were that "a huge controversy erupted" backstage, and you'd think that Michael Hayes was trying to drive the company out of business with his selfish actions. Could it possibly be blown any more out of proportion? Why, it's almost enough to make you think that the site is blindly loyal to a certain person at Smackdown who was involved in the creative discussions on this issue.

 

I assume they're taking subtle digs at 1bob and Heyman, right? Okay.

 

- Speaking of Matt Hardy. He and Lita have been pushing for a while to get reunited on the road, which would mean him jumping since there's no women's division on Smackdown. At first Vince told them that he didn't want any jumps between shows until after WrestleMania, but then he gave in and agreed. There won't be a trade, Matt's just jumping over, and he may appear on Smackdown again to do an angle to explain his jump. Shannon Moore is not coming with him.

 

- Kurt Angle's neck has been giving him problems since the ironman, apparently from a chairshot that Brock gave him. He felt some numbness in his hands afterwards and had an MRI done this week. There was some serious concern at first that his neck was still bad after the surgery, which shouldn't be a knock on the procedure since Kurt has done little to change his wrestling style since coming back. But towards the end of the week, the thought was that he simply had a pinched nerve in his neck or shoulder, not a serious issue with his neck again. The MRI results weren't yet known, though.

 

- WWE has already been accused of trying to distance themselves from the Crash situation by not mentioning his death on TV yet. But considering it was up on their own website before anyone else had heard about it, that's not the case. The feeling inside the company is that they just finished their coverage of Stu and Hawk, with the big Hawk tribute running just this past weekend, and jumping right into another death announcement seemed a little too soon. Not to mention that it's kinda depressing to start a show that way.

 

This has brought up a somewhat callous discussion at times of how Crash's death should be handled. Some people seem to be expecting JR and Lawler to take a couple minutes out of the show to discuss their memories of him, with anything less being a slight on his legacy. One fan attended a house show where they didn't do a 10 bell salute for Crash and was upset about it, pointing out that WWE had done one at the same arena for Andre when he died.

 

But the other side of the coin, and it's a valid position, is that Crash was not exactly Andre or Stu Hart or Hawk. At most, even if Crash had died three months ago or three months from now, we probably wouldn't see much more than a graphic to inform people that he'd died. There wouldn't be a discussion about it during a show, or a video package on him, or anything like that.

 

They may still run a graphic for him on the major shows, especially if people complain or something. But the thought in WWE was that their announcement on the website, and a mention of it on Confidential or something like that, would be appropriate. They did do 10-bell tributes to him at some of the shows over the weekend.

 

There's a little mini-column from Bruce where he says that Crash should be the bar for getting a death graphic or not. If you were as important or more-so than Crash, you get one. But if not, you should have tried harder.

 

- Goldust has been cleared to return, he just needs to be written in. The notes that Booker is getting may be from Goldust, with the thought that they'll play it up serious like someone is after Booker. But then it's just Goldust being queer and everyone laughs.

 

- WWE is putting out a DVD called "Monday Night Wars" that will "drop" in February.

 

- Austin's book made #11 on the NY Times hardcover nonfiction list.

 

- Zach Gowen got a concussion from the attack by Tajiri's thugs, and is complaining of headaches that make it impossible to travel. The wrestlers don't buy it and think he's just trying to get out of facing them. More and more stories are coming out of Zach being an ass. Some wrestlers were at a restaurant and the waitress said she'd be with them in a second. Zach said "Do you not know who I am? I'm a WWE superstar", which embarrassed everyone at the table.

 

Now he even has heat with the OVW roster. After missing some of his workouts there, he quickly got heat in the locker room. Between the way he was acting around them, and the stories they'd heard from WWE, the OVW guys shunned him. Zach responded not by being humble and apologizing for missing his workouts, but by accusing the OVW guys of being jealous because he's on TV and they aren't. One wrestler said Zach talks to lower card guys like he thinks he's the Undertaker.

 

But the best story came from Zach's return after the injury angle with Brock. Before his first match, he told his opponent that he wanted to take it easy because not only hadn't he been working out while he was away, but he'd taken up smoking and his cardio was bad. "Put another leg on him and he'd be working at Burger King," said one wrestler.

 

His locker room heat is said to rival the heat that Don Callis had, which is legendary in the annals of WWE. If he's brought back to TV, which is an "if", people think it'll be as a heel since the sympathetic route hasn't led anywhere. Plus then he can just let his personality shine through.

 

- A "steady stream" of WWE midcarders have continued to contact TNA about work. But it's such lowcard guys that their name value wouldn't give TNA any sort of boost.

 

- Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart reunited at an autograph show last weekend. A fan in attendance said the Anvil looked to be in great shape, but Bret looked awful and clearly didn't want to be there.

 

- It was just a joke, but Wade suggested that maybe that dude's "Little Johnny" could be Jon from Survivor. Jon is still on with about 7 cast members left, despite rumors before the show started that he was one of the first to be voted off.

 

- In Memphis they ran a TV angle where Mabel attacked Rocky Johnson, which is leading to a lot of speculation that Rock might make an appearance soon. He'll be in Memphis filming something shortly.

 

TNA NEWZ:

 

- There seemed to be more interest in seeing the Luger show among wrestlers than there was among fans. Wade talked to several guys in WWE who watched it. Most everyone agrees that Lex worked about as hard as he could during his match, which brought up the quality from "abysmal" to just "terrible". Wade rated the match *1/4 and the wrestlers mocked him for rating it that high.

 

Lex got to the show around 4 or 5. Regulars are supposed to arrive around 1. He hung out in Jeff's office most of the time and just said hi to a few guys. He didn't interact with the locker room at all. Some people thought it'd be a nice gesture if Lex shook a few hands and thanked some of the regulars for the opportunity to be on their show, but nothing like that happened.

 

- The way AJ Styles was booked on the show has a lot of people thinking that Dutch Mantel never watched TNA before he came in, has never seen AJ, and has no idea what AJ's already done in the company. He's the former NWA champion, X champion, has main evented numerous times, and was probably the co-MVP (with Jerry Lynn) for the first year of the company. And yet the angle of the match and the talk of the broadcasters was that Styles needed to prove himself for some reason. Better yet, he had to prove himself to Lex, of all people.

 

That booking would have been strange even if AJ had pinned Luger decisively, which he didn't. The finish saw Lex put AJ in the Torture Rack, Sting broke it up and hit Lex in the gut a few times with his bat, and AJ pinned Lex on a roll-up. Then Lex quickly sat up to show shock over being pinned, like he'd just been upset by Barry Horowitz. It made Styles look like a chump, it's upsetting to regular TNA fans to see one of their biggest stars treated like a joke next to Former WCW Superstar Lex Luger, and "the fact that decision-makers in TNA don't see this is a testament to how much trouble this promotion is in."

 

- Erik Watts and Goldylocks are not really dating.

 

- Jerry Lynn never signed a TNA contract, which is why he hasn't been around much. They wanted him to take a 40% paycut and he refused, and he's been badmouthing the company lately during interviews. Some people are applauding him for standing up for himself, considering all he did for the company the first year. But others are pointing out that it's not like Jerry has a lot of options, so he probably doesn't wanna burn this bridge. Elix Skipper is in the same boat as far as not signing the contract due to the paycut, although he wasn't making as much as Jerry was.

 

- The TNA office seems sure that Hogan's knee surgery was a necessity and couldn't wait until after the PPV. "Why would he go through the big angle in Japan and get everything started just to back out?" asked somebody. There's talk now that Hogan and TNA are discussing an overseas tour together, but as of now the PPV is the only set date he'll be working.

 

- TNA announced new pricing for the shows. You can now order a month's worth of shows for the same price as a WWE PPV, $34.95. If there happen to be 5 Wednesdays in the month, you'll get the 5th show for free. Not all cable companies will be offering this deal yet, though.

 

CLASSIC TORCH:

 

- Jerry Lawler was charged with raping a 13 year old girl. It was statutory cause of her age, not forced rape. Lawler denied everything. The WWF did a 1-900 contest to pick the main event of Raw, despite airing on tape delay in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

 

ON TOPIC WITH JASON POWELL:

 

New Jack called and threatened to make Jason his fifth justifiable homicide if he didn't take back what he'd said about Raven being the first guy to push a shopping cart with weapons to the ring. But actually, Raven said that himself (sort of) in one of the Torch Talks, so Jack went off on Raven.

 

"Everybody and their momma knows who brought the garbage can and shopping cart out first. Everybody knows I brought that sh– to the table. Raven's been stealing everybody's sh– for years. He was using a staple gun in TNA until I got there. He even tried to do the same dance I do after I use the gun, but he can't because he's got no rhythm."

 

He also pointed out that Raven never worked with him in ECW. "I was willing to work with him, but he was probably afraid I'd kill him, like Tazz was. Tazz is a bitch and I'd kill that motherf–er. Johnny Rodz told me that Tazz quit his school every three months. I saw a picture of Tazz hanging in Johnny's school back when Tazz was white and had an afro. Then Paul E. created that gimmick and he got lucky."

 

Jason tried to contact Raven for a response, but hadn't heard from him before press time.

 

THIS WEEK WITH WADE KELLER:

 

Hey TNA, using Luger and Duggan and Steiner is not a good idea.

 

THE MCNEILL FACTOR:

 

Mick Foley, who rumor has it will face Triple H at WM20, made an appearance at an indy show as guest referee for a match between Jerry Lawler and Al Snow. With two wrestlers who've been featured on WWE programming (although as broadcasters), not to mention the legendary Mick Foley, it may be surprising to learn that the show only drew 500 people to a building that holds 3000. TNA might want to keep this in mind while planning their big mega-event with Hogan.

 

TORCH TALK WITH RAVEN:

 

The final installment. He mainly talks about working indies, then closes with another big rant about how guys need to know how to work.

 

OH GOODY A JAMES GUTTMAN COLUMN:

 

He writes about respect for the dead. I'll post it cause it was online, and maybe some of you soulless heathens will see the light.

 

Why care?

Because you're human

By James Guttman, Torch columnist

 

I remember hearing about Owen Hart's death. I was at a going away party for two friends who were graduating college. Around 11 o'clock, figuring that they were moving out of state the next day anyway, I used their phone to call a 976 number and get the results from that night's Over the Edge pay-per-view.

 

The voice was rushed, as 976 numbers are typically one minute long rather than charge for additional minutes. He sped through the results until he got to Hart's match with the Godfather. I can still hear it.

 

"...before the opening bell, Owen fell from the rafters, seventy feet...to his death."

 

It was the most numbing thing I could imagine. I had called merely to find out what happened in the Steve Austin-Undertaker match. I wanted to get some results from the fantasy world I escaped to twice a week. Instead, I got a dose of reality.

 

Owen Hart's death hit a lot of people hard. There was a lot of reminiscing among both fans and performers. The WWF even overhauled the next night's Raw show in tribute to the tragedy. Wrestlers stepped out of character and gave their memories of Owen. The card was more of an exhibition wrapped around respect for the King of Harts. It was a surreal time for everyone who had tuned in.

 

The respect was short lived, though. Shortly thereafter, on his CBS late night show, Craig Kilborn also decided to weigh in on the Owen death. Kilborn did a joke in his opening monologue about the death of the "Blue Blazer," attempting humor by assuring us that the "white turtleneck" was unharmed. It didn't go over well.

 

Many fans were enraged at the "joke." There was even a poll on the CBS website asking if Kilborn had stepped over the line with his comments. I thought it was disgusting. I had watched him up until that point, but following the Owen remark, I never watched it again. Today WWE wrestlers regularly appear on Craig's show. I still don't watch. That's just my choice.

 

I'm not trying to start a boycott on Craig Kilborn here. I'm merely trying to illustrate the point that a major performer in sports entertainment passed away. His death was ridiculed by an outsider and many fans reacted accordingly. We expressed our disgust. How dare he judge the worth of someone's life, especially when that someone chose to entertain wrestling fans?

 

Let's fast forward a bit. We are now four and a half years removed from Over the Edge. Since that time, many more wrestling stars have passed away prematurely. In some cases, people have seen these losses as a red flag. It symbolizes this industry's inability to govern itself and its encouragement of substance abuse among its performers. This is not necessarily my stance on the issue, but those that believe it, fight for it. For that alone, they've shown that death in this industry is something to care about.

 

My take is that someone who is willing to take drugs would be willing to do so in any career. Every job has stress and pain. It may not equal the pain and stress of being on the road, but those in other positions don't know that. They know how hard their lives are. It's an individual choice to harm his own body. Unless someone held them down and injected them with steroids, I can't really pass the buck. But that's not what I'm here to debate today. Both of these stances conflict, but they both reflect an argument by those who cared enough about wrestling's mortality rate to have an opinion.

 

Now while I feel that drug or alcohol abuse is the choice of the individual, I still respect that individual's life. As they say, no man is an island. The death of one person touches so many others. My thoughts instinctively go to those who were closer to the deceased than I was. I remember the good moments of that person's life. A death is a time for empathy and reflection. It's something that you should look at deeply. A tragic passing should remind you of how fragile life is. It should remind you how lucky you are. It should force you to treasure what you have.

 

But not all are willing to look at death as a learning experience. My issue is with those who are so quick to become the apathetic morality police when a wrestler dies. My problem is with people who don't really have any regard for a human being's passing at all. It's those who see wrestlers as the proverbial dancing bears, existing for mere entertainment and then disappearing into the TV set when the power button is pressed. It's those who can't lower themselves to pay tribute to someone that gave them some sort of entertainment a few times a week.

 

If you read about someone's death and recognize their name, that's enough. You have some sort of memory of their performances. Whether they died from a drug overdose, suicide, accident, or murder, you knew who they were. Before you take the checklist out to see if they fit your criteria for caring, think of what you saw them do on television. Pay a little respect.

 

Those who ask the question "why care" about the death of addicts are looking in the wrong place. That answer isn't on the internet or in the TORCH. It's in you. If you don't know, then you should really do some soul searching.

 

We don't know these people. Many people in wrestling don't really know these people. Do any of you act differently at work? Do your boss and co-workers know the real you? In most cases, no. You are a human being. You have a personal life that you may keep personal. Your close friends and family are usually the only ones to know you well. Anyone else is in no position to judge.

 

So keeping that in mind, to disregard someone's entire life simply because of the way they passed away is reprehensible. How someone died isn't the issue. You should care about it. You have to. If we, wrestling fans, can't even have enough respect for those in our business that have passed away, how can we expect anyone outside to respect the industry at all?

 

"But James, I didn't find so-and-so entertaining." Well that's fine and dandy. Maybe you didn't. Maybe every single memory of that wrestler is a boring vapid waste of your time. Have you ever heard that it's not right to speak bad about the dead? Why? Well, because regardless of what your thoughts are on that wrestler, there's someone out there that didn't see him as a performer. They saw him as a husband, brother, father, friend, or loved one. Now their loved one is gone. Have some sort of humanity. Is there any left or were all those studies about desensitized fans true? Have DX's crotch chops really made us numb to everything? God, I hope not.

 

Perhaps the answer to this apathy lies with the eternal argument that fans are responsible for the choices of performers. As I mentioned, some feel that pressures in our business force wrestlers to make bad choices. It's the fans who pay to see them perform, therefore it's the fault of the fans when performers use illegal substances to advance. It could be the fact that so many fans feel responsible, yet helpless, when someone overdoses or dies from bad decisions that leads to this apathy. Perhaps some people feel as though it's easier to disregard the wrestler's existence than feel the guilt over their passing. It's a sad thought. Fans aren't responsible for the decisions wrestlers make in their private lives. It's choices that they made. You don't have to feel bad for buying a t-shirt from Shopzone. You were merely supporting the business you love. You didn't force anyone to make personal choices. That may explain the "who cares" attitude of some. The others? Well, they need to reevaluate their stance on humanity. No one's asking you to pity the performers or condone their actions. All it takes is some sort of reverence for a life lived. Is that too much to ask?

 

Those same judgmental individuals are all over the Lex Luger/TNA deal for the wrong reasons. If you don't like Lex Luger's ability, then that's reason enough to not order the show. But that's not the main critique that many have. They cut him down for the tragedy that befell Miss Elizabeth. How many fans calling him every name under the sun have spoken to him at all since the ordeal? I haven't. We don't know if Lex is a cold-hearted callous person deserving of our scorn or a man tormented by the death that took place in his own home. Those against Luger's pay-per-view inclusion have reminded us of his domestic abuse charge with Elizabeth just prior to her death. You're right. Maybe he's just a mean guy who we shouldn't hang out with. But once again, how do you know that it's not something that he has to live with now that she's gone? Maybe he has nightmares about it. Maybe he regrets it every morning when he wakes up. Maybe it's a low point in his life and all of us looking to play judge, jury, and executioner have chosen to kick him repeatedly while he's down.

 

Those who care so much about her passing have a funny way of showing it. There are jokes about his role in Elizabeth's death. Amazing. I hope that those saying these things never experience tragedy combined with the judgment and ridicule of others. Between Luger's judges and the apathy towards death lately, I'm left disgusted. We didn't take it from Craig Kilborn and we shouldn't take it from ourselves. The same thing upsets me about this as when I heard the Owen joke. How dare you judge the worth of someone's life, especially when that someone chose to entertain wrestling fans? It's even worse when those judging are the same fans who were entertained.

 

Have a bit of class. Ease up on the critiques and apathy until the body's in the ground. It's the least you can do for the friends and family members of those gone. While you're holding your tongue, use that precious silence to say thank you to those that have passed for the memories you were given. Remember how precious life is and use that to strengthen your relationships. Most importantly, pay tribute to the fact that a man whose career you followed is now gone. Think back on the Doomsday Devices. Recall the Perfectplexes. Remember the 24/7 Hardcore title matches.

 

The least you can do is say a silent thank you to Mike Lockwood. May he rest in peace.

 

END NOTES WITH WADE:

 

He talks about how to book Cena as a babyface.

 

BYE

[deancoles 0]

ON TOPIC WITH JASON POWELL:

 

New Jack called and threatened to make Jason his fifth justifiable homicide if he didn't take back what he'd said about Raven being the first guy to push a shopping cart with weapons to the ring. But actually, Raven said that himself (sort of) in one of the Torch Talks, so Jack went off on Raven.

 

"Everybody and their momma knows who brought the garbage can and shopping cart out first. Everybody knows I brought that sh– to the table. Raven's been stealing everybody's sh– for years. He was using a staple gun in TNA until I got there. He even tried to do the same dance I do after I use the gun, but he can't because he's got no rhythm."

 

He also pointed out that Raven never worked with him in ECW. "I was willing to work with him, but he was probably afraid I'd kill him, like Tazz was. Tazz is a bitch and I'd kill that motherf–er. Johnny Rodz told me that Tazz quit his school every three months. I saw a picture of Tazz hanging in Johnny's school back when Tazz was white and had an afro. Then Paul E. created that gimmick and he got lucky."

 

Jason tried to contact Raven for a response, but hadn't heard from him before press time.

I don't blame anybody scared of getting in the ring with him.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

- Zach Gowen got a concussion from the attack by Tajiri's thugs, and is complaining of headaches that make it impossible to travel. The wrestlers don't buy it and think he's just trying to get out of facing them. More and more stories are coming out of Zach being an ass. Some wrestlers were at a restaurant and the waitress said she'd be with them in a second. Zach said "Do you not know who I am? I'm a WWE superstar", which embarrassed everyone at the table.

 

Now he even has heat with the OVW roster. After missing some of his workouts there, he quickly got heat in the locker room. Between the way he was acting around them, and the stories they'd heard from WWE, the OVW guys shunned him. Zach responded not by being humble and apologizing for missing his workouts, but by accusing the OVW guys of being jealous because he's on TV and they aren't. One wrestler said Zach talks to lower card guys like he thinks he's the Undertaker.

 

But the best story came from Zach's return after the injury angle with Brock. Before his first match, he told his opponent that he wanted to take it easy because not only hadn't he been working out while he was away, but he'd taken up smoking and his cardio was bad. "Put another leg on him and he'd be working at Burger King," said one wrestler.

 

His locker room heat is said to rival the heat that Don Callis had, which is legendary in the annals of WWE. If he's brought back to TV, which is an "if", people think it'll be as a heel since the sympathetic route hasn't led anywhere. Plus then he can just let his personality shine through.

 

Just fire the bitch and be done with it already.

[deancoles 0]

guive Zach to Public Enemy treatment and let someone stiff the hell out of him.

[The Dames 0]

- Zach Gowen got a concussion from the attack by Tajiri's thugs, and is complaining of headaches that make it impossible to travel. The wrestlers don't buy it and think he's just trying to get out of facing them. More and more stories are coming out of Zach being an ass. Some wrestlers were at a restaurant and the waitress said she'd be with them in a second. Zach said "Do you not know who I am? I'm a WWE superstar", which embarrassed everyone at the table.

 

Now he even has heat with the OVW roster. After missing some of his workouts there, he quickly got heat in the locker room. Between the way he was acting around them, and the stories they'd heard from WWE, the OVW guys shunned him. Zach responded not by being humble and apologizing for missing his workouts, but by accusing the OVW guys of being jealous because he's on TV and they aren't. One wrestler said Zach talks to lower card guys like he thinks he's the Undertaker.

 

But the best story came from Zach's return after the injury angle with Brock. Before his first match, he told his opponent that he wanted to take it easy because not only hadn't he been working out while he was away, but he'd taken up smoking and his cardio was bad. "Put another leg on him and he'd be working at Burger King," said one wrestler.

 

His locker room heat is said to rival the heat that Don Callis had, which is legendary in the annals of WWE. If he's brought back to TV, which is an "if", people think it'll be as a heel since the sympathetic route hasn't led anywhere. Plus then he can just let his personality shine through.

 

Just fire the bitch and be done with it already.

I heard that he said he'd sue for discrimination if he's fired.

 

Dames

[Guest TheArchiteck]

LMAO.......Zach sucks.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

I heard that he said he'd sue for discrimination if he's fired.

 

Yeah he did it was in the last Torch and I think Gowen would win.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

WWE.com regrets to inform its fans that WWE has severed its relationship with Zach Gowen effective today. We wish Zach the best of luck.

 

Come on, WWE. Just do us this one little favor...

[MillenniumMan831 0]

C'mon guys, I still want to see Gowen get stiffed by Bradshaw, Nathan Jones, Tajiri, Brock (again), Big Show, Hardcore Holly, and whoever else wants to beat this bitch to the ground.

 

However, I would LOVE to see a Gowen/Bossman feud where he proclaims and proves that Zack's momma is a hooker.

 

"Hey Zack, your momma's a whore and her clients said so!"

 

At least I'd be entertained.

[Downhome 0]

Concerning Zach, I've been talking to the guy for just about all of this year, and quite a while before he had even been contacted by TNA or WWE. Not once in all of the times that I've been talking to the guy has he EVER came off as anything other than just a laid back young guy.

 

I talked to him just yesterday, and I questioned him about everything. Obviously he could just be "telling" me stuff, but I have no reason to doubt him. He said that the "lawsuit" deal is pure bullshit, and that he talked to the guy who supposedly leaked that information. He said that the guy told him that he never said anything of the such, and so on.

 

He DID tell me that he's made a few mistakes since he came into WWE, that much he did say. However, isn't that to almost be expected from a kid who comes in at such a young age? We aren't talking about some sort of guy that busted his ass for years on the indie circuit, we aren't talking about someone who is TOTALLY familier with the way things work, and the way that everyone is expected to act. I mean, he didn't even become a Pro. Wrestler until early last year. Things moved VERY fast for him, and he made a few mistakes.

 

All I can hope is that he's learned from them, as he told me he has, and he'll be able to move on and mature. I think he could be a great heel if they allow him to really play up the character.

 

- WWE has already been accused of trying to distance themselves from the Crash situation by not mentioning his death on TV yet. But considering it was up on their own website before anyone else had heard about it, that's not the case. The feeling inside the company is that they just finished their coverage of Stu and Hawk, with the big Hawk tribute running just this past weekend, and jumping right into another death announcement seemed a little too soon. Not to mention that it's kinda depressing to start a show that way.

 

Bah, I told you all that this was more than likely the reason why we hadn't seen anything about him. Vince doesn't want everyone realizing that Pro. Wrestlers, and those in the industry, are dying so fucking much, so he just avoided this one...for now.

 

I thought that was rather obvious.

[Guest TonyJaymzV1]

Ted Annis* and Zach Gowen= Best Tag Team Ever

 

* I refuse to call him a Hart.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

You mean Ted Anus?

[AndrewTS 0]

WWE.com regrets to inform its fans that WWE has severed its relationship with Zach Gowen effective today. We wish Zach the best of luck.

 

Come on, WWE. Just do us this one little favor...

Whaddya know--Anglesault was right again!

 

AS: Do you predict a pink slip in Gowen's future?

[Fökai 0]

His locker room heat is said to rival the heat that Don Callis had, which is legendary in the annals of WWE. If he's brought back to TV, which is an "if", people think it'll be as a heel since the sympathetic route hasn't led anywhere. Plus then he can just let his personality shine through.

 

If anyone knows this much, what did Callis do to garner so much heat? Is this based on the run he had in late 1998?

[Papacita 0]

I dunno about his attitude backstage and everything, but Zach as a heel would be pretty interesting.

[Guest MikeSC]

- Zach Gowen got a concussion from the attack by Tajiri's thugs, and is complaining of headaches that make it impossible to travel. The wrestlers don't buy it and think he's just trying to get out of facing them. More and more stories are coming out of Zach being an ass. Some wrestlers were at a restaurant and the waitress said she'd be with them in a second. Zach said "Do you not know who I am? I'm a WWE superstar", which embarrassed everyone at the table.

 

Now he even has heat with the OVW roster. After missing some of his workouts there, he quickly got heat in the locker room. Between the way he was acting around them, and the stories they'd heard from WWE, the OVW guys shunned him. Zach responded not by being humble and apologizing for missing his workouts, but by accusing the OVW guys of being jealous because he's on TV and they aren't. One wrestler said Zach talks to lower card guys like he thinks he's the Undertaker.

 

But the best story came from Zach's return after the injury angle with Brock. Before his first match, he told his opponent that he wanted to take it easy because not only hadn't he been working out while he was away, but he'd taken up smoking and his cardio was bad. "Put another leg on him and he'd be working at Burger King," said one wrestler.

 

His locker room heat is said to rival the heat that Don Callis had, which is legendary in the annals of WWE. If he's brought back to TV, which is an "if", people think it'll be as a heel since the sympathetic route hasn't led anywhere. Plus then he can just let his personality shine through.

 

Just fire the bitch and be done with it already.

I heard that he said he'd sue for discrimination if he's fired.

 

Dames

And he'd win --- but I'd KILL to hear a WWE lawyer tell a judge:

 

"But inept, jackass, sideshow freak acts AREN'T a protected minority"

 

Remember when Vince accidentally offered a contract to that other one-legged wrestler?

 

Do you think he regrets "fixing" that mistake now?

 

For a guy with little talent and even less charisma, Zach seems to have a high opinion of himself.

 

Or Keller has a crush on him and secretly wants to fellate him.

 

Hard to tell, honestly.

-=Mike

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

Before his first match, he told his opponent that he wanted to take it easy because not only hadn't he been working out while he was away, but he'd taken up smoking and his cardio was bad. "Put another leg on him and he'd be working at Burger King," said one wrestler.

 

Anyone else think that if Zach was working at Buger King he'd pretty much be like that pimple faced kid from the Simpsons?

[Guest PhantMan]

zach is the 200 equivalent of andre the giant. he's employed b/c he's basically a freak of nature.

 

andre was tough, though.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

I am a Gowan apologist.

You are quite possibly the most delusional man this business has seen, and it has plenty.

 

I can understand the Hogan appreciation and the Goldberg markdom (barely), but seriously, I think marks would be laughing at you by this point.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

andre was tough, though.

Andre could also draw like nothing else and was the go-to guy for putting stiff hosses in their place. Two things that Gowan doesn't and two things that are badly needed in the business today.

 

Am I the only one who imagines the sight of today's stiff motherfuckers like Bradshaw and Goldberg getting their just deserts like that? Maybe Mr. Spear&Jackhammer would protect his opponent a little more after waking up one morning in pain all over.

[geniusMoment 0]

I am also eager to hear of why cyrus had so much heat? They even made light of it one time on an ECW ppv. He didn't forget to shake takers hand did he? Perhaps he forgot the baby oil for his evening with bradshaw, raping people can be expensive. Do you expect him to pay for all those supplies.

[Guest Coffey]

I just don't want to see (or hear) Zach on tv anymore.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

So belly-to-belly suplexes are banned, but sick chair shots (that are injuring top guys like Angle) are still alright?

 

I'd try and find logic in that but I'll refrain out of fear of my head exploding.

 

UYI

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Luger should be in a jailcell. The fact he's allowed to wander about like an innocent man is bullshit

[haVoc 0]

I'm annoyed now. I been waiting all week to hear how Brock and Bob Holly got along backstage and if they stiffed each other during their little brawl at the end of Smackdown.

 

Give me the gossip people!

[deancoles 0]

I'm annoyed now. I been waiting all week to hear how Brock and Bob Holly got along backstage and if they stiffed each other during their little brawl at the end of Smackdown.

 

Give me the gossip people!

Well Holly isn't in hospital so i don't think he stiffed brock.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

I'm annoyed now. I been waiting all week to hear how Brock and Bob Holly got along backstage and if they stiffed each other during their little brawl at the end of Smackdown.

 

Give me the gossip people!

Well Holly isn't in hospital so i don't think he stiffed brock.

Agreed. The fact Holly is still alive is a good indication nothing has happend.

 

Yet.

 

UYI

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

So belly-to-belly suplexes are banned, but sick chair shots (that are injuring top guys like Angle) are still alright?

 

I'd try and find logic in that but I'll refrain out of fear of my head exploding.

 

UYI

Brock's chairshots were REAL chairshots. Not the crap ones the rest of the roster dishes out.

 

 

Maybe Angle shouldn't have tried the "miracle surgery."

[Mole 0]

I'm annoyed now. I been waiting all week to hear how Brock and Bob Holly got along backstage and if they stiffed each other during their little brawl at the end of Smackdown.

 

Give me the gossip people!

I second that.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Before his first match, he told his opponent that he wanted to take it easy because not only hadn't he been working out while he was away, but he'd taken up smoking and his cardio was bad. "Put another leg on him and he'd be working at Burger King," said one wrestler.

 

Anyone else think that if Zach was working at Buger King he'd pretty much be like that pimple faced kid from the Simpsons?

Bradshaw: My God, you're greasy...

Zach: Mr. Johnson?? Help!