WWE News and Notes: 9/18 and 9/20

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

September 18th

 

Says Kurt Angle is perhaps now the single most in demand person in the history of the business. He has the ability, in the short term, to make more money than he ever has before, but at the cost of destroying his body even further. While nobody will say so publicly, everyone from ROH to UFC to groups in Japan to other MMA groups have expressed some level of interest in using Angle when he heals up. And privately, everyone you can think is trying to contact Angle to talk about ideas on how he can be used.

 

While Kurt can write his ticket when it come to wrestling, it’s in MMA where he could conceivably earn close to his $1m WWE salary.

 

While what Kurt has left in him is in question, it doesn’t matter because so many people are willing to deal with him because of what having an athlete of Kurt’s status could do for them. Dave also says it is a potentially nightmare waiting to happen, and while it would be unfair to say nobody cares, because of Angle could mean for them, they don’t care that much, as the best thing for Angle is for him to stay at home.

 

Angle himself started the ball rolling on MMA talks, thought it may just have been testing the waters.

 

Dana White is working hard on getting Angle into the UFC. Dave says that it’s a compelling question if Angle can draw for UFC as a one-time curiosity, and it wouldn’t really be answered until after it happens.

 

Daniel Puder was contacted, either by someone representing Angle or someone wanting to put an Angle vs. Puder fight together.

 

Angle vs. Lesnar might be a fight UFC may sign if it becomes available.

 

One major promoter is also trying to put together an Angle vs. Bob Sapp fight.

 

Says as a one-time novelty there is a good chance the UFC audience would pay to see a famous pro wrestler in would likely be a double main-event.

 

Says he doesn’t see Angle in MMA as anything more than a one-time novelty, maybe a second time if he looks good enough the first time out. Says Angle is, at best, going to be another Ken Shamrock, but the reality is that, at least until December 29th, Shamrock and Ortiz is going to have been the biggest money MMA match in history, and bigger than any pro wrestling match in many years.

 

Using Angle, whoever it is, is to risk problems. MMA is easier on the body than pro wrestling. And think about this, and how Vince McMahon works; WWE are fully aware of how huge an Angle vs. Lesnar match “for real” could be, but they wanted rid of Angle so badly that they willingly gave the keys to the match to UFC, and UFC is kicking their asses on PPV. Whether Dana White would go for it or not, WWE felt he’d be stupid not to, and they still went fired Angle.

 

It’s hinted at, but unconfirmed, that WWE wanted Angle to go to rehab but he refused. Angle did volunteer to go to a pain management clinic. Angle is not in rehab at the moment, and as even done some negotiations over the past week and written a public letter regarding his situation. Angle has also been pitching ideas to WWE for his involvement in Wrestlemania.

 

The about turn on Angle’s story, the mobile alert sent out that called Angle an “emotional wreck” as itself had an about turn done on it as nothing on that has been followed up on, even though mobile alert stuff is usually reprinted on the website. Apparently, it was only done in the first place as a response to an interview Angle did for the wire service.

 

Whether Angle has come to grips with his many issues is the big question. Wrestlers in WWE who have worked with Angle lately and have friends in power positions in other companies have been telling those friends not to touch Angle. The terms of Angle’s release are unclear right now, but a source near the top of the ladder in WWE said Angle’s no-compete lasts until February, which means WWE will be paying him until then. It would block him working for TNA, but Angle is said to have no interest in working for TNA as Vince considers them competition and Angle doesn’t want to further anger Vince. Whether the no-compete covers MMA is unknown, but with his injuries and the training he’d need, Angle wouldn’t be able to fight until February anyway.

 

In regards to the letter Angle wrote to fans and to Vince, Dave said it was rambling, at time scary, and that it was clear Angle is not considering retirement.

 

Raw segment notes for 9/4: Master vs. Crazy and the beginning of the McMahon’s and Show interview gained 520,000 viewers, the Cryme Tyme vignette and Vince backstage announcing his match with HHH lost 260,000, and the Edge, Orton and Lita vs. Cena, Carlito and Stratus main event gained 520,000

 

JBL is going to decide at the end of summer whether to return to wrestling, but his taking the Wall Street job seems to make it obvious what his decision is going to be.

 

Booker has signed a two-year contract extension and says he’ll be wrestling until 2009.

 

On the 9/4 Raw; Said the show had more wrestling than usual, and in some ways it was the best Raw in a while. Said it did a strong job building up Unforgiven, and we’ll see if it helps. Said they did a better job building up the undercard matches, but also pointed out that nobody buys a PPV for undercard matches. Said that Carlito is talented, but has motivation issues and does enough to get by but enough to shine unless he gets pushed to do so by his opponent.

 

Regarding Chris Masters, the decision on whether to cut him hasn’t been made, but their attitude on him as soured greatly; a year ago, the position was “Look at him, and he’s only 22 with that size” and that he was going to carry the company, and that is not even close to being the case now, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him gone.

 

Layla El’s disappearance is apparently down to Vince losing interest in her.

 

The Spirit Squad are still set to be broken up, and the reason it hasn’t happened yet is because it’s not anyone’s priority; Vince is only concentrating on his stuff and Cena vs. Edge, so that’s where the writers priorities are.

 

September 20th

 

The current plan for Trish Stratus’ farewell is for her to go out on top; Lita got the Women’s title specifically to give Stratus the happy ending.

 

On the 9/11 Raw: Said Vince got to headline, but the star of the show was John Cena. Said Cena got the “loud, unique reaction”, and that people weren’t even paying attention to the match he was in and were trying to outshout each other, with “Cena sux”, “Let’s go Cena”, “Go to Smackdown” and “Stay on Raw”. As far as the Vince vs. Hunter finish went, Dave said “in 126 years in this building, this was the main event result which will look amazing self-centered looking back”.

 

Dave pointed out that the deal with DX is that the people love the pranks and comedy stuff, outdated as it is for the guys playing the role, but when it comes time to get heat on DX the people don’t care and the connection to them is superficial; DX are all fun and games but when that ends, people lose interest.

 

Randy Orton was suspended from house shows for 30 or 60 days, most likely 30. Depending on his downside, Orton will be out from $40,000 to $80,000, so they are, somewhat, serious about things. He’ll get expenses paid for, so it won’t be quite the higher end figure, and he may or may not get a PPV bonus from Unforgiven.

 

Carlos and Eddie Colon were at Raw. Carlos was pitching for WWE to sign Eddie to a developmental deal and to use WWC as a developmental territory. There is a decent shot at the former but the later is a long shot at best.

 

The switch to HD would take a minimum of three years to complete, and there is some concern about it happening because while nobody will so publicly, those familiar with HD say that with watching wrestling in HD people can very clearly see missed punches sold and will be also be able to clearly see spots being called, and so the feeling is they will need a ton of practice at it before switching over so they can get the camera work down to an exact science so they can avoid the camera shots of bad punches and the like.

 

The original plan for No Mercy was Booker T vs. Batista, but the feeling was the program wasn’t clicking and their Smackdown match was the blowoff. As noted before, they’ve put Batista with Finlay because they feel Finlay can get Batista back over to where they want him. When Batista was pulled, they didn’t think Booker vs. Lashley was at that level, and at one point had gone with the idea of DX vs. Booker, Regal and Finlay, but there was the problem with Finlay and also the belief that they didn’t have two guys strong enough to face DX. It didn’t matter in the end, because Michaels said his Wednesday morning religious activities would preclude him working Tuesdays.

 

”The current plans regarding DX, through the wishes of both Vince and Stephanie are to go “full steam” with the current program with no plans whatsoever to drop it. There have been complaints regarding the feeling it has run its course, that HHH and Michaels look ridiculous playing defiant teenagers at 40, and that the angle is making no new stars and destroyed the Spirit Squad which had turned into a hot act and is now dead. Vince and Stephanie are refusing to listen to any dissenting opinion of these subjects, including the idea of adding new younger members to DX as a way to give them the “star” rub that made Batista and Orton in Evolution.”

 

There was talk, in early summer, of adding Billy Gunn and Road Dogg to DX, but when Vince and Hunter heard about the interview Gunn and Dogg did where they ripped into them, especially Gunn saying that he’d deck Hunter if he ever saw him again, the idea was immediately dropped.

 

There is no serious talk about bringing in Hall and Nash, as while DX has no real opponents to face at house shows because the McMahon’s don’t do them, neither Hall or Nash don’t want do to them either.

 

Scorpio did well enough in his tryout that he may be brought in, but there is worry over his weight and his past drug issues.

 

Henry Godwin getting signed is controversial, because he was sent to OVW and looked terrible and Laurinaitis had decided against even keeping him around, but Godwin is friends with HHH who recommended using him because they are friends but also because Godwin’s son passed away last year and he misses wrestling and needs the job.

 

One internal report said the Godwin vs. Buchanan dark match was the worst one in a long time.

 

Joey Mercury is still in rehab.

 

Could the people copying and pasting this to other forums credit where they got it from.

[Black Lushus 0]

Cryme Tyme doesn't equal ratings?

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

People thought Chris Masters could carry the company? Wow.

[Jericholic82 0]

”The current plans regarding DX, through the wishes of both Vince and Stephanie are to go “full steam” with the current program with no plans whatsoever to drop it. There have been complaints regarding the feeling it has run its course, that HHH and Michaels look ridiculous playing defiant teenagers at 40, and that the angle is making no new stars and destroyed the Spirit Squad which had turned into a hot act and is now dead. Vince and Stephanie are refusing to listen to any dissenting opinion of these subjects, including the idea of adding new younger members to DX as a way to give them the “star” rub that made Batista and Orton in Evolution.”

 

This is scary to think about, apparantly Vince is that damn clueless

[Downhome 0]

Anyone who thought the program was over was over was just kidding themselves.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

Few things that I noticed

 

Finlay, but there was the problem with Finlay and also the belief that they didn’t have two guys strong enough to face DX. It didn’t matter in the end, because Michaels said his Wednesday morning religious activities would preclude him working Tuesdays.

 

Ok not to sound dumb but, what church does Michaels go to that has activities on a Wednesday morning? I mean my church and the all the ones around here have activies on Wednesday night but, not in the morning.

 

There was talk, in early summer, of adding Billy Gunn and Road Dogg to DX, but when Vince and Hunter heard about the interview Gunn and Dogg did where they ripped into them, especially Gunn saying that he’d deck Hunter if he ever saw him again, the idea was immediately dropped.

 

Ha. HUNTER FEARS MR. ASS

 

Regarding Chris Masters, the decision on whether to cut him hasn’t been made, but their attitude on him as soured greatly; a year ago, the position was “Look at him, and he’s only 22 with that size” and that he was going to carry the company, and that is not even close to being the case now, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him gone.

 

I feel bad for the guy. He gets that ripped cause it's the look they want and it gets him called up. Now they make him lose it, not that it was a bad thing mind you, and he's in danger of getting cut.

[k thx 0]

Could the people copying and pasting this to other forums credit where they got it from.

You mean like you did?

 

Content edit: Heyman's crack about JBL only having the belt because Hunter didn't want to work Tuesdays seems more and more relevant with that bit about Shawn and Lashley.

 

Also isn't God omnipresent?

[Downhome 0]

I feel bad for Chris Masters also. They only push him because of his size (and anyone could tell he was using), then when they force him to stop using and he gets smaller and healthier, they sour on him and job him out to Super Crazy of all people and are on the verge of possibly firing him. Talk about a shitty deal, and very low of them.

 

Still, it shouldn't shock anyone.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Never knew HOG was pals w/ HHH. I wonder if HHH was tight w/ Duke The Dumpster Droese as well.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

Since HHH is best buds with HOG that means HHH will have HOG wrestle Edge in hog pen matches.

[alfdogg 0]

”The current plans regarding DX, through the wishes of both Vince and Stephanie are to go “full steam” with the current program with no plans whatsoever to drop it. There have been complaints regarding the feeling it has run its course, that HHH and Michaels look ridiculous playing defiant teenagers at 40, and that the angle is making no new stars and destroyed the Spirit Squad which had turned into a hot act and is now dead. Vince and Stephanie are refusing to listen to any dissenting opinion of these subjects, including the idea of adding new younger members to DX as a way to give them the “star” rub that made Batista and Orton in Evolution.”

We're really stretching the definition of "hot act" here, I think.

[The Niggardly King 0]

They weren't a hot act, but before the DX fiasco... they were getting some damn good heat... more than anyone expected.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

 

Could the people copying and pasting this to other forums credit where they got it from.

You mean like you did?

People know that this stuff comes from the Observer. I'm the one who types it up to post here, so I just think the people copying it to post elsewhere should note they got it from this forum. They don't have to stay who posted it, just where they got it from.

[Guest JoeMelba]

as always HTQ, thanks for posting this. anything on tna or the ufc in these issues?

 

joe

[cabbageboy 0]

I don't mind DX staying around as a team, but they have to end the in ring aspect of Vince and Shane against them. What's the point anymore? If DX is staying around get some real opponents in there with them.

[Guest brian]

as always HTQ, thanks for posting this. anything on tna or the ufc in these issues?

 

joe

 

 

I'd also appreciate it if you could post some TNA tidbits.

[razazteca 0]

Raw segment notes for 9/4: Super Crazy gained 520,000 viewers

HHH lost 260,000

Edge, Orton and Lita vs. Cena, Carlito and Stratus main event gained 520,000

Super Crazy vs Carlito should be the next Intercontential Championship feud.

[nl5xsk1 0]

It would block him working for TNA, but Angle is said to have no interest in working for TNA as Vince considers them competition and Angle doesn’t want to further anger Vince. Whether the no-compete covers MMA is unknown, but with his injuries and the training he’d need, Angle wouldn’t be able to fight until February anyway.

So, TNA is competition even though the WWE is generating much more revenue, but UFC is not competition even though they're destroying them in PPV buys?!?

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

It would block him working for TNA, but Angle is said to have no interest in working for TNA as Vince considers them competition and Angle doesn’t want to further anger Vince. Whether the no-compete covers MMA is unknown, but with his injuries and the training he’d need, Angle wouldn’t be able to fight until February anyway.

So, TNA is competition even though the WWE is generating much more revenue, but UFC is not competition even though they're destroying them in PPV buys?!?

 

UFC doesn't really take fans away from the WWE though. I feel UFC is more of a threat to Boxing then it is to Pro Wrestling, because of the realness factor to it.

[razazteca 0]

It would block him working for TNA, but Angle is said to have no interest in working for TNA as Vince considers them competition and Angle doesn’t want to further anger Vince. Whether the no-compete covers MMA is unknown, but with his injuries and the training he’d need, Angle wouldn’t be able to fight until February anyway.

So, TNA is competition even though the WWE is generating much more revenue, but UFC is not competition even though they're destroying them in PPV buys?!?

If you want to use the apples vs oranges analogy you can make the correlation that both WWE and TNA are fruits while UFC is a potato a completely different food is it a vegetable. You see fruits is for breakfast or snacks but the potato can be used in so many ways and goes great with any meal it can be mashed for breakfast or dinner, fried for lunch, or slice, diced, and jacked for a tasty salad side dish.

[Guest Hotbutter Spoontoaster]

It would block him working for TNA, but Angle is said to have no interest in working for TNA as Vince considers them competition and Angle doesn’t want to further anger Vince. Whether the no-compete covers MMA is unknown, but with his injuries and the training he’d need, Angle wouldn’t be able to fight until February anyway.

So, TNA is competition even though the WWE is generating much more revenue, but UFC is not competition even though they're destroying them in PPV buys?!?

UFC doesn't really take fans away from the WWE though. I feel UFC is more of a threat to Boxing then it is to Pro Wrestling, because of the realness factor to it.

People who are fans of both UFC and WWE, who order a UFC PPV, might not want to/have the money to order a WWE PPV in the same month. That's one way how UFC takes fans away from WWE.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

It would block him working for TNA, but Angle is said to have no interest in working for TNA as Vince considers them competition and Angle doesn’t want to further anger Vince. Whether the no-compete covers MMA is unknown, but with his injuries and the training he’d need, Angle wouldn’t be able to fight until February anyway.

So, TNA is competition even though the WWE is generating much more revenue, but UFC is not competition even though they're destroying them in PPV buys?!?

UFC doesn't really take fans away from the WWE though. I feel UFC is more of a threat to Boxing then it is to Pro Wrestling, because of the realness factor to it.

People who are fans of both UFC and WWE, who order a UFC PPV, might not want to/have the money to order a WWE PPV in the same month. That's one way how UFC takes fans away from WWE.

 

While that maybe true, pretty most of the people who are fans of UFC, are not fans of WWE. Atleast from what I've noticed.

[Guest Hotbutter Spoontoaster]

I'm a fan of both.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Raw segment notes for 9/4: Super Crazy gained 520,000 viewers

HHH lost 260,000

Edge, Orton and Lita vs. Cena, Carlito and Stratus main event gained 520,000

Super Crazy vs Carlito should be the next Intercontential Championship feud.

 

Ah hell, just push Crazy as #1 Contender for the WWE Championship. How bad could it be? I wouldn't mind seeing Cena eat some triple moonsaults now and then . . . if Crazy is even allowed to do them.

[Ginger Snaps 0]

Oh wow. Angle in MMA is just scary. I don't care if they say MMA is less dangerous than wrestling. Imagining Angle fighting someone for real in his state is scary.

[tominator89 0]

Does Angle seriously want to die in the ring?

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

MMA and Wrestling primarily share the same market place. UFC doesn't capitialize on it like they should, but as new promotions spring up there will be feds that do.

 

PRIDE is living proof that MMA *CAN* seriously hurt Pro-Wrestling. All it takes is fancy lighting, storylines, and one major pro-wrestler to give it the rub it needs. You basically steal all the good elements of wrestling, but leave the bad.

 

Kurt Angle = Nobuhiko Takada. A Pro-Wrestler with some (Or in Angles case, alot) of legitimate skill, whose been pushed as a god in Wrestling because of it. Angle doing a MMA PPV is HORRIBLE for Pro-Wrestling, and no one in the business understands the ramifications. Angle's going to be thrown to the wolves, and UFC and MMA in general will gain the benefit as he gets squashed on live PPV in front of record breaking buyrates.

[Guest JustPassinBy]

September 18th

 

 

 

 

JBL is going to decide at the end of summer whether to return to wrestling, but his taking the Wall Street job seems to make it obvious what his decision is going to be.

 

 

What job is JBL taking?

Is it a legit job with a company, or will he just be doing TV financial reporting like with CNBC?

[Ginger Snaps 0]

Angle doing a MMA PPV is HORRIBLE for Pro-Wrestling, and no one in the business understands the ramifications.

 

No its not. No one in pro-wrestling gives a shit whether he does MMA or not. Unless he dies doing it, that is. If he does MMA, and does well, it doesn't hurt wrestling, he just becomes a guy who was successful at both. If he gets killed (figuratively I guess), than it doesn't hurt pro-wrestling. I guess the MMA fans would try and say that it proves MMA is superior to wrestling. But Angle's a bad example for them to prove that point, because he's in his mid-late 30s and his body is really, really beat up at this point. And I don't think he's ever done MMA before.

 

And if he somehow becomes this big MMA star, it's not as if wrestling fans are suddenly going to leave in great numbers to switch to MMA. Japan is completely different. Wrestling there was always treated like a legit competition, even though it's fake. Here in the States, even when it was treated as 'real', it was done with a wink. American wrestling fans are more into the story of a wrestling match or angle. People aren't going to abandon watching wrestling for MMA in significant numbers just because one is more real than the other.

 

MMA people always act as if one day it's going to destroy pro wrestling. There's cross-over appeal. TNA gets ratings every week because UFC fans keep watching the channel once their show ends and Impact comes on.

[Black Lushus 0]

LOLZ you're saying WWE fans can also be UFC fans? GET OUTTA TOWN!

 

(that wasn't a jab at you, Ginger, btw)