Observer Notes 12/27 and 1/1

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12/27:

 

Vince feels that ECW's lack of success has been due to the absence of humor on its programs. Brad Armstrong's name was brought up as someone who is funny (although he's never really shown it on camera) and that's why he got the tryout on ECW commentary. Also, Vince was trying to mess with Tazz because WWE isn't happy that he's been openly fielding offers from radio stations. So, they had them both at the commentary table and Tazz "ate Armstrong alive" or whatever The Decembrists said in his last notes thread.

 

Joey Mercury will be a jobber on Smackdown when he comes back. Well, not a jobber in the Duane Gill sense but you know what I mean. Paul Heyman saved him from being released recently because he wanted to bring Joey into ECW and push him. But now that Heyman is gone, ECW's Dave Lagana decided to bring Snitsky over instead to give him that planned push. So, Joey is going to SD and he's gonna JOB!

 

1/1:

 

More Heyman stuff that you probably already know. Vince and Paul were destined to have a falling-out. If Heyman made plans for a wrestler and Vince changed them, Heyman would make sure the wrestler knew about it. If Vince really wanted Sandman and Sabu, he could have signed them any time within the last few years, so it's not like he had tremendous faith in them to begin with.

 

Piper's odds of recovery from the cancer are about 70 percent. He was in the middle of making a movie when the cancer was discovered. Piper was hurt so bad when they did the angle where Edge and Orton beat him up before the match where they won the belts that he needed to take morphine just to walk to the ring and get beat up. And of course, they found the tumor when attempting back surgery.

 

In addition to pissing off Vince with the "ripping off Assy Mcgee" thing, Michael Cole also has some heat because he brought in a bunch of people who know little about wrestling to write for WWE.com.

 

Gene Snitsky is going to ECW. He's gonna lose that sweet beard and might have his head shaved too. He will be a heel and will be pushed as ECW's version of Kane.

 

WWE wants Batista to "talk more 'jive'".

 

Robert Gibson is now a part-time trainer for WWE. Steve Williams also does this. And WWE is considering hiring Marty Jannetty to do the same. Well hey, if he refuses to believe he doesn't work for them, why not just confirm his wacky belief?

 

Barry Windham might be an agent soon. But then he might not. He's gone back and forth on it many times.

[tapout 0]

Thanks for posting these.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Thanks a ton for posting this. Can anyone shed some light on the whole "Assy McGee" thing?

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Thanks for posting these as always.

 

I find it funny that Cole is getting heat for bringing in wwe.com writers who know nothing about wrestling but they have NO problem putting those kind of people on the creative team.

 

Batista to talk more jive? Oh dear lord...

[jester 0]

I find it funny that Cole is getting heat for bringing in wwe.com writers who know nothing about wrestling but they have NO problem putting those kind of people on the creative team.

 

Or in the ring.

[BUTT 0]

Thanks a ton for posting this. Can anyone shed some light on the whole "Assy McGee" thing?

Sorry, I didn't realize that hadn't been posted here yet.

 

WWE.com had a cartoon called "Mr. McMahon's Ass" that apparently was a total ripoff of a Cartoon Network show called "Assy McGee". So the creators of that show are suing WWE because of it and there's pretty much no way WWE can win. Michael Cole is the head of WWE.com and he's the one who authorized the whole thing so he's got a lot of heat right now.

[Enigma 0]

I'm starting to think WWE hires Marty Jannetty just so they can run backstage pools on when he'll get fired.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Plus, it's Ted Turner's company taking money from Vince.

[BUTT 0]

In spirit only.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Batista's new manager - Barbara Billingsley.

[Prime Time Andrew Doyle 0]

Batista's new manager - Barbara Billingsley.

 

Clearly they need to bring back Slick to be Batista's new manager

[reign 0]

Jesus it's like reading old reports of 2001 WCW..I will always keep up..not watch mind you..but stay informed on wrestling just to see what fucked up shit they do next...

[haVoc 0]

Vince feels that ECW's lack of success has been due to the absence of humor on its programs.

 

I'm sure this isn't the only reason Vince thinks ECW is struggling.

 

Other reasons are...

 

Fans are confused and don't understand ECW is actually WWE.

 

RVD, Punk and Sabu move so fast in the ring fans can't keep up.

 

RVD, Punk and Sabu don't have bodies like Test and Lashley.

 

The lack of diva's.

 

ECW has yet to have a "Tough Enough" or "Diva Search" contest.

 

Joey Styles still calls too many wrestling moves.

 

Styles and Tazz don't put over the results of Raw enough from the previous night.

 

Fans don't except Lashley as the ECW champion because they miss him on Smackdown.

 

Fans hated Paul Heyman on TV.

 

....

....

....

 

Feel free to add more logical WWE reasons.

[Guest NateW]

Another tidbit from the 1/1 newsletter is that the previous reports of Rey Mysterio's contract expiring around 6 months from now were incorrect. His deal is up in 2008.

[Steviekick 0]

Batista's new manager - Barbara Billingsley.

 

Clearly they need to bring back Slick to be Batista's new manager

 

It would be cool if they redid the Slick/Kamala angle with Batista instead.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Batista's new manager - Barbara Billingsley.

 

Clearly they need to bring back Slick to be Batista's new manager

I'd mark the fuck out, and then actually continue to watch after the initial markout.

[haVoc 0]

Slick will never return because creative will think the fans will get confused between Slick and Teddy Long being on the same show.

[Scroby 0]

Vince feels that ECW's lack of success has been due to the absence of humor on its programs. Brad Armstrong's name was brought up as someone who is funny (although he's never really shown it on camera) and that's why he got the tryout on ECW commentary. Also, Vince was trying to mess with Tazz because WWE isn't happy that he's been openly fielding offers from radio stations. So, they had them both at the commentary table and Tazz "ate Armstrong alive" or whatever The Decembrists said in his last notes thread.

 

So is that the excuse Meltzer is using about putting Armstrong at the table since Tazz has already stated on the WWE website that Meltzer is a lair?

[Guest samoapunk]

Thanks for posting this.

 

Why in the hell are they gonna push Snitsky? I would much rather see a Mike Knox push.

[LucharesuFan619 0]

Thanks for posting these.

[BUTT 0]

I'm proud that my Observer notes have been copied and pasted by one of the hip-hop fans at the sohh.com forums. The influence of SJK spreads!~~~~~~~

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Vince feels that ECW's lack of success has been due to the absence of humor on its programs. Brad Armstrong's name was brought up as someone who is funny (although he's never really shown it on camera) and that's why he got the tryout on ECW commentary. Also, Vince was trying to mess with Tazz because WWE isn't happy that he's been openly fielding offers from radio stations. So, they had them both at the commentary table and Tazz "ate Armstrong alive" or whatever The Decembrists said in his last notes thread.

 

So is that the excuse Meltzer is using about putting Armstrong at the table since Tazz has already stated on the WWE website that Meltzer is a lair?

The exact quote from the Observer about this situation:

 

The deal with Brad Armstrong on the ECW show was a tryout for the spot should Tazz not sign. It was also something of Vince McMahon trying to stir things up and get at Tazz. I don’t think the company liked the idea Tazz has been playing up offers from Sirius and an FM station in New York. Tazz understood what it was, and decided to cut Armstrong off from the minute he got out there…At a production meeting, Vince said that he felt the reason ECW has been failing is because there is no humor on the show. Bruce Prichard started talking about how funny Brad Armstrong is. From all accounts, Armstrong is super funny behind-the-scenes, but unlike Brian (BG James), he’s never been able to show it in front of the camera. Prichard said Armstrong would shine in the spot because nobody else on the show is funny. Tazz saw this as a power play and what you saw was the result.

 

What exactly is Tazz saying Meltzer lied about?

[Scroby 0]

Vince feels that ECW's lack of success has been due to the absence of humor on its programs. Brad Armstrong's name was brought up as someone who is funny (although he's never really shown it on camera) and that's why he got the tryout on ECW commentary. Also, Vince was trying to mess with Tazz because WWE isn't happy that he's been openly fielding offers from radio stations. So, they had them both at the commentary table and Tazz "ate Armstrong alive" or whatever The Decembrists said in his last notes thread.

 

So is that the excuse Meltzer is using about putting Armstrong at the table since Tazz has already stated on the WWE website that Meltzer is a lair?

The exact quote from the Observer about this situation:

 

The deal with Brad Armstrong on the ECW show was a tryout for the spot should Tazz not sign. It was also something of Vince McMahon trying to stir things up and get at Tazz. I don’t think the company liked the idea Tazz has been playing up offers from Sirius and an FM station in New York. Tazz understood what it was, and decided to cut Armstrong off from the minute he got out there…At a production meeting, Vince said that he felt the reason ECW has been failing is because there is no humor on the show. Bruce Prichard started talking about how funny Brad Armstrong is. From all accounts, Armstrong is super funny behind-the-scenes, but unlike Brian (BG James), he’s never been able to show it in front of the camera. Prichard said Armstrong would shine in the spot because nobody else on the show is funny. Tazz saw this as a power play and what you saw was the result.

What exactly is Tazz saying Meltzer lied about?

Wasn't it Meltzer who said something along the lines of "The smart money is that Tazz is leaving because Tazz wanted a raise and if he didn't get it he was going to leave"? or something like that? Recently on that shooting with Tazz segment on ECW.com, Tazz spoke up on that and said "the guy who said that is a flat out lier and can burn in hell."

 

If that wasn't Meltzer, my mistake, but I could have swore I read that on here on a Observer notes post a few weeks ago.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I'd have to re-read what Meltzer wrote, but I think the gist of what he said was that Tazz trying to get a raise and that he might not get it so he'd probably leave because he'd take the better offer from elsewhere.

 

Ok, here is exactly what Meltzer wrote:

 

For whatever this is worth at this point, the betting line internally seems to be that Tazz will be gone when his contract is up. They may still come to a deal. Tazz has been on some New York radio shows so it appears he's at least using that as leverage or looking at that as a new job. Tazz was looking for a raise to stay and since his importance has dropped being on ECW (and with JBL doing such a good job on Smackdown that if ECW was dropped, Tazz likely wouldn't get the spot back), he wasn't being offered a raise.

[RepoMan 0]

12/27:

 

Vince feels that ECW's lack of success has been due to the absence of humor on its programs. Brad Armstrong's name was brought up as someone who is funny (although he's never really shown it on camera) and that's why he got the tryout on ECW commentary. Also, Vince was trying to mess with Tazz because WWE isn't happy that he's been openly fielding offers from radio stations. So, they had them both at the commentary table and Tazz "ate Armstrong alive" or whatever The Decembrists said in his last notes thread.

 

Gene Snitsky is going to ECW. He's gonna lose that sweet beard and might have his head shaved too. He will be a heel and will be pushed as ECW's version of Kane.

 

Snitsky's main upside is his comedy. ECW is nothing but blande hosses and Punk.

[Scroby 0]

I'd have to re-read what Meltzer wrote, but I think the gist of what he said was that Tazz trying to get a raise and that he might not get it so he'd probably leave because he'd take the better offer from elsewhere.

 

Ok, here is exactly what Meltzer wrote:

 

For whatever this is worth at this point, the betting line internally seems to be that Tazz will be gone when his contract is up. They may still come to a deal. Tazz has been on some New York radio shows so it appears he's at least using that as leverage or looking at that as a new job. Tazz was looking for a raise to stay and since his importance has dropped being on ECW (and with JBL doing such a good job on Smackdown that if ECW was dropped, Tazz likely wouldn't get the spot back), he wasn't being offered a raise.

see why Tazz was pist.

[razazteca 0]

Its not his fault that Mr. McMahon is out of touch...

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I'd have to re-read what Meltzer wrote, but I think the gist of what he said was that Tazz trying to get a raise and that he might not get it so he'd probably leave because he'd take the better offer from elsewhere.

 

Ok, here is exactly what Meltzer wrote:

 

For whatever this is worth at this point, the betting line internally seems to be that Tazz will be gone when his contract is up. They may still come to a deal. Tazz has been on some New York radio shows so it appears he's at least using that as leverage or looking at that as a new job. Tazz was looking for a raise to stay and since his importance has dropped being on ECW (and with JBL doing such a good job on Smackdown that if ECW was dropped, Tazz likely wouldn't get the spot back), he wasn't being offered a raise.

see why Tazz was pist.

I'd say Tazz was more pissed that his side, when it comes to negotiations, was revealed, and it's not like his place on the totem pole was a secret either. JBL is a favorite who can be good to great at his job, so he's in no real danger of losing his spot as color guy on Smackdown. With WWE wanting to remove all vestiges of the old ECW, it's not hard to conclude that, whether valid or not, Tazz might think his position in ECW is in danger. Tazz isn't exactly bargaining from a position of power, and I think that has Tazz pissed more than anything. That this news got out didn't help.

[Si82 0]

WWE wants Batista to "talk more 'jive'".

I thought Shawn Michaels was WWE's official jive spokesman.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Well, Batista could use some more personality, but I don't see him as Slickster 2000.