WWE General Discussion for August 2007

[tbondrage99 0]

People keep bringing up Regal mispronouncing Umaga's name but you must of noticed by now that he calls Carlito "Calito" everytime he says his name.

[The Buzz 0]

Or the famous around my group of friends "Triple Haitch".

 

Edit: oops didn't see that brought up earlier in the thread.

[Boxer 0]

Could this man work as a HEEL in the WWE?

 

Could he be a good manager?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyYUCURU1HU

 

[Enigma 0]

I don't think Tony Schiavone wants anything to do with wrestling anymore.

 

Although I thought it was hilarious that Eric Bischoff name-dropped him during one of his harassments of Jim Ross on Raw. I think it was in late 2003.

 

"Hey Jim, if you don't want to do your job, just remember that I have Tony Schiavone on speed dial."

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Speaking of pronounciation, I loved the European / Japanese tours back in the day because the announcers would always pronounce Bret Hart as Bet Hot!

 

So after all this, we'll never get a blow off to the Batista/Henry fued.

 

Yeah, no kidding. After Henry came back, I was like Hear we go again and I was expecting Mark to cost Dave the title. They had three PPV chances to do it and didn't pull the trigger. Maybe they're afraid Batista will get injured again.

 

I pointed out in the RAW thread that umanga is the samoan word for scorpion..

 

Really? Somebody told me his name means "The End", which makes perfect sense when he first debuted with his unstoppable gimmick.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Has anyone seen anything from the Booker T PWA?

 

I wonder if he's really going to have AJ Styles vs Joey Matthews on August 31st...

[Atticus Chaos 0]

WWE officials met with New York prosecutors last week to discuss the Signature Pharmacy case. A number of wrestlers, nearly all prior to the new Wellness policy, had been customers of Signature, which is being investigated for illegally selling steroids and other drugs. An AP article noted that Brian Adams, who died the day before WWE's scheduled meeting, was, along with Chris Benoit, a Signature client.

 

Nothing like an estate battle. The big debate right now is who died first, Nancy or Daniel Benoit, because that will determine who gets Benoit's multi-million dollar estate ("which include two lavish homes, several bank accounts and lucrative investments"). If Nancy died first then Benoit's other two children, David and Megan, currently living in Canada, inherit everything, whereas if Daniel died first it goes to the Toffoloni (Nancy) family. Nancy did not have a will, and Georgia law's Slayer's Statute states that legally Chris is considered to have died first so that his heirs cannot profit from the crimes.

 

If Nancy died first her estate flowed to Daniel, and David and Megan would be next in line after Daniel. If Daniel died first Nancy's estate would flow to her family. The coroner has stated that Nancy likely died Friday and Daniel late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, but the Toffoloni's are now arguing that. It's going to be tough, because witnesses saw all three family members alive Friday evening around dinner time, and other witnesses saw Chris and Daniel playing by their pool on Saturday afternoon. So the only way Daniel could have died first is if Benoit killed them both later Saturday night. Problem is, the level of decomposition suggested that Nancy had been killed much earlier, and it'll be tough to argue otherwise since the coroner is pretty insistent. The Toffoloni's lawyer is noting that issues relating to body size and the temperature of the rooms where the bodies were found could have resulted in mistakes being made in the order of deaths. An initial hearing on the matter takes place August 28th.

 

Dr. Phil Astin's lawyer Manny Arora is now claiming that Benoit had a hormone disorder that permitted him to use steroids in the amounts prescribed by Astin. An article in SI.com said the court filing did not elaborate on Benoit's condition. He did have very low testosterone due to years of steroid abuse, and yes, it would make sense for him to get hormone replacement therapy. It would not, however, seemingly make sense to be prescribed ten months worth of testosterone every three to four weeks, or for his levels to be at least ten times that of a normal human being upon death. Astin has pleaded not guilty to improperly prescribing painkillers and other drugs to two patients other than Benoit. The pretrial conference is now scheduled for September 18th.

 

Clifford Stearns, one half of the Congressional committee that sent letters to WWE, TNA and the NWA requesting drug testing information, visited Dory Funk Jr.'s wrestling school in Ocala, FL this week. Apparently he's in pretty good shape and worked out a bit with the crew on the wrestling drills. I suspect Dory and Stearns have been talking for awhile, hence the comical inclusion of NWA into this whole mess. Stearns also ended up making an appearance on Funk's BANG! TV show that he produces locally.

 

The plan is still for Ken Kennedy to be the illegitimate son of Vince. They do, however, have a contingency plan if it ends up bombing, that being that Kennedy forged the papers and lab results and is basically a CON ARTIST trying to screw his way into a billionaire family. Stephanie will likely be involved in the storyline around October or November, in a deal where she will be put in jeopardy and Hunter will make the save, revealing himself to be Vince's son-in-law and setting the stage for the Raw main event at WrestleMania, which at press time is going to be Hunter as a babyface vs. Kennedy, likely for the title and with all the members of the McMahon family somehow involved.

 

Shane has been told he won't be needed in the ring until around Royal Rumble, so he'll probably be Kennedy's first family victim. Bonnie Hammer of the USA Network loves the storyline, by the way, and wants a big three hour special in October as they did last year with the Homecoming show. It may become an annual event, and unless things change the plan is to slowly drop hints week after week on Raw and not reveal Kennedy as the child until that show. The talk of Raw moving to three hours in the fall has greatly died down, and it appears as of this week there is little chance of it happening.

 

For Smackdown, WrestleMania main event is currently Edge vs. Undertaker for the title. If Edge is back in time, the idea is he'll either beat Dave for the belt at Survivor Series or Armageddon, then hold it through Mania.

 

Mark Henry's deal is up soon and he is not entering into negotiations for a new one. He's looking at acting and other non-wrestling stuff. This also explains his comments in the American-Statesman newspaper after Benoit's death about how he drove alone to shows because he had less of a chance of suffering an accident, and because he didn't want to be in the car if recreational or performance-enhancing drugs belonging to other wrestlers were found during a routine search.

 

"If they get caught, then I'd be (considered) guilty, too. If we get pulled over we're both going down," he said. Henry has been with the company since signing a ten-year deal shortly after his 1996 Olympics bid. It took him a long, long time to catch on to this business, and so he spent years in developmental, and when he was brought up he was often saddled with gimmicks so absurd (Mae Young's lover, etc.) that it seemed pretty obvious the company was hoping he'd quit so they could get out of the deal. But instead, he kept working, saved his money, and is now to the point where, like a number of other fairly young guys, he can walk away from this business forever if he wants. He's being built up for Undertaker's return match, and after that, who knows. Maybe they'll make him the right offer and he'll stick around, but it's said that right now he's enjoying the countdown to freedom.

 

Undertaker wanted to return at SummerSlam, but Vince told him to hold off and he's now scheduled to return at the September PPV. Believe it or not, part of the reason was because Vince felt a SummerSlam return would give the wrestlers the message that they needed to rush back from injuries. He feels now is not the right time to be sending that message.

 

It is believed that a Ric Flair retirement storyline is going to start imminently, perhaps in the next few weeks, to culminate at either Royal Rumble, No Way Out or WrestleMania. I'm sure Flair would prefer the latter. He's been talking for a long time about this being his last year as a regular in-ring competitor.

 

Monday night was a test run to see how Lawler and Tazz would do as a team, and some people were impressed. Neither Ross nor Tazz were told. Vince has been wanting to split up Ross and Lawler for some time, feeling the combo is "too Southern", and Kevin Dunn is strongly against it. If it's made permanent, Lawler would join Joey Styles in ECW, and occasionally work matches there as well. Dusty Rhodes really wants Lawler on ECW. Lawler and Ross are really tight and would not be happy with that change.

 

Lots of talk of another PPV being axed in 2008, probably Cyber Sunday. Instead of doing it as a PPV, they might switch it to another special three-hour Raw with the same concept.

 

Smackdown vs. Raw may miss its November deadline as Vince is going back and forth about whether to leave Chris Benoit in the game. He's in it now and Vince wants him out, but to have him removed would require the game being delayed and they'd miss out on the 2007 holiday season revenue, which is always the most lucrative quarter for video games.

 

The waiter in the Simmons/Maria/Santino skit on Raw was Raw head writer Brian Gewirtz, who wrote and directed the whole thing.

 

Ashley's season of Survivor debuts on September 20th. It is believed she gets eliminated fairly quickly.

 

The Condemned is out on DVD September 18th.

 

Booker is said to be close to signing a new three-year deal with WWE. He has specifically asked that his new deal allows him to sit in on producer's meetings. Basically, the meetings take place before TV or PPV where Vince goes over the scripts. The agents sit there and give feedback and talk about how the talent is either progressing or not progressing, and suggest finishes.

 

HHH sits in on both the PPV and Raw producer meetings and plays both puppermaster and class clown. The belief is that Booker knows he'll be working with Hunter through at least mid-September and doesn't want to be buried in the meetings. It's also said to not be a written deal, but rather a verbal agreement so that he's not required to attend the three-hour-plus meetings if he doesn't want to. It should be noted that about a month ago Booker did an interview and said he was very happy to be going to Raw, but that he would have quit the business if they'd asked him to go to ECW. According to sources in WWE, he was never scheduled to go to ECW.

 

 

John Lauranitis has been putting over Steve Keirn super hard to both Vince and Steph for the job he's done with the new Florida developmental territory. We're told regardless of what he says, it's still a complete disaster. They just this month got air conditioning in the facility. Yes, it's in Florida and they didn't get AC until August. I should note that Booker was nearly ready to walk away after he was passed over for developmental after Deep South got axed. He'd invested in cameras, a warehouse, a new ring, gear, etc., all in the hopes of becoming the next territory. I guess because Lauranitis and Keirn were tight, they decided to go with him despite the fact that he had no experience or setup. The other fascinating thing is Bruce Prichard lives a few minutes from Booker's school and had offered to stop by every day on his off days and work with the students, plus Undertaker and a few other legends including Steve Williams are close enough that they could also help out. One source said Lauranitis just loves going down there, checking out the school, and then leaving to party in Tampa.

 

Stephanie is pushing hard to get D-Lo Brown a job on Raw as a mid-card act. He was backstage last week. His career went way downhill after Darren Drozdov was paralyzed in a match with him after a botched running powerbomb on October 5, 1999. People have always insisted that there is no connection, but as soon as that happened that was the beginning of the end for D-Lo.

 

Unless plans change, Batista is beating Great Khali for the belt at SummerSlam and they'll do another stip match on the September PPV (unless the match is so horrible the program immediately ends). I can only hope the stip match is PUNJABI PRISON.

There is talk that Extreme Expose may all share Playboy leading up to next year's WrestleMania. Yes, Brooke's ass in Playboy. So we all just have to live another seven or eight months.

 

Highlanders will probably be jumping to Smackdown, hence the increased number of jobs lately.

 

Hart Foundation 2.0 is the current working name of the Harry Smith/Teddy Hart/Nattie Neidhart crew. Court Bauer, who was on the writing crew until just recently, gave them that name back when he was promoting MLW and was the main guy pushing for them to come to Smackdown. It is believed they'll be starting on the house shows this fall, and the company really wants to get Bret in to do an angle to introduce them. The trade-off would be promoting his new book, which I'm pretty sure hits the streets in October. It's been pared down from the size of War and Peace, but is still huge with very small type.

 

If Bret won't do it, Jim Neidhart is said to be one hundred percent willing. Michael Hayes is super high on Teddy, thinking his attitude is similar to Hayes' own when he was a superstar heel back in World Class. He thinks something that is missing today is guys living their gimmick, which is what he feels Teddy is doing (I'll say). He wants to bring them in as heels but that's almost certain to be overruled as a number of folks, including Stephanie, think the Harts are too famous to be booed right off the bat. At this point, TJ Wilson, who has basically been a member of the family forever and was (and may still be) dating Nattie, will not be part of the group, and will likely ultimately be brought to Smackdown as a cruiserweight. Apparently he's really upped his promo game and is a totally different TJ from a few years back.

 

According to several sources, Matt Sydal has been sent a WWE developmental contract and just has to sign it. He may already have done so at press time.

 

Those who have seen Batista's book say it's insane. Batista has said he's the most boring guy in the world, which sounds like it would make for a terrible book, but as it turns out he talks nonstop about who he hates and does not respect in the locker room (this is major trouble in the making since he's hated by most of the locker room as it is), his thoughts on certain creative decisions, etc. He also talks "almost recklessly" about the number of women he's banged. It's said to be totally different from all the other WWE books.

 

Foley has been trying to get a larger and more regular role on Raw. Unfortunately at this point Vince is not in his corner, basically thinking that Foley was a big deal in 1998 but doesn't really click with the fans today. Ironically, it's the same criticism Hunter has had for Foley over the past year.

 

Shantelle Taylor, who was released last week, was originally scheduled to debut on Raw as a hot masked babyface who would reignite the women's division and try to replicate the Rey Jr. phenomena on the A-show. There was a lot of talk last year of moving Rey to Raw, but it never happened, then Rey went down with a knee injury. Her debut was delayed and delayed and Lauranitis finally decided to axe her, figuring if they wanted to use her at some point they could sign her again but it was pointless to have her continue sitting in developmental and getting paid (she'd been there over two years). The flaw in the female Rey plan was that she was cute and a good worker, but nowhere near Rey's level.

 

Dusty Rhodes is telling people he wants to slow down. He's currently on the road five or six days a week, and at his age that's killing him. Plus, he feels that he was an important part of rehabilitating Smackdown in 2006, which helps vindicate him from past criticisms of being a crapty booker. He's also thrilled that Cody is finally getting his big break, and doesn't want people thinking that it has anything to do with him being on the writing crew. He wants to step away from creative and take on a role similar to that of Pat Patterson, where he'd work a limited number of days in the role of an advisor. He'd also like to re-release his book through WWE with updated chapters, though I have no idea how far that idea has gotten or how interested WWE would be.

 

This coming week's Raw will air live on Sci-Fi instead of USA due to the US Open Tennis tournament. Raw will air on tape delay on USA after tennis as well.

 

Rosie got a dark match on Raw and was backstage at Smackdown Tuesday night just prior to us going to press for another one. He's dropped a lot of weight, and the late word was that there was a good chance of him being re-signed.

 

credit:F4W Newsletter

 

I'm surprised about Batista's biography...first of all ghost writer did it, and they have to put it past the company first surely?

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Thanks for posting the notes, pretty interesting stuff.

 

Sounds to me like Booker has every reason to be pissed over not getting the development territory. It always seemed to me they wanted to put it in Florida to benefit friends/its a much more attraction location. It's ridiculous FCW didn't get AC until recently, must've been hell to train there.

 

The WrestleMania card at the top looks pretty good right now. Edge vs. Undertaker should be very interesting from the standpoint that both are undefeated at the event in singles competition. Granted, Edge "lost" MITB last year but I bet the argument will be he had to get stretchered out so that is why he lost and it shouldn't count. A win over Undertaker could really solidify Edge's career so I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled the trigger on that one.

 

The interesting thing about the card is that if Cena isn't in the main event where will he be?

 

I'd love to see D-Lo back. I'm a big mark for him and loved the push he received in 1998 and 1999. He'd be a welcome addition on Smackdown! or another more wrestling oriented brand.

 

It'd also suck for Dusty to leave the creative team but I understand his reasons for doing it.

[Black Lushus 0]

well it sounds like UT would take the belt off of Edge at WM...at least that's my interpretation.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

For some reason the video game story amused me.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

I know nothing about the process of making videos games but I always assumed taking one wrestler out wouldn't take that long. Like something you could do in a couple of days.

[cd213 0]

I know nothing about the process of making videos games but I always assumed taking one wrestler out wouldn't take that long. Like something you could do in a couple of days.

 

Don't forget, in these games they have the storylines you can play. Benoit might have been a big part of that in the game, and thus they would have had to edit that whole part out. It's more then just taking him out of the wrestler menus.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Just shrink Video Game Benoit down a bit, change his appearance, and voila! - Jamie Noble.

 

The plan is still for Ken Kennedy to be the illegitimate son of Vince. They do, however, have a contingency plan if it ends up bombing, that being that Kennedy forged the papers and lab results and is basically a CON ARTIST trying to screw his way into a billionaire family. Stephanie will likely be involved in the storyline around October or November, in a deal where she will be put in jeopardy and Hunter will make the save, revealing himself to be Vince's son-in-law and setting the stage for the Raw main event at WrestleMania, which at press time is going to be Hunter as a babyface vs. Kennedy, likely for the title and with all the members of the McMahon family somehow involved.

Yikes, count me out of this. Nothing/nobody appeals to me in this storyline.

 

The belief is that Booker knows he'll be working with Hunter through at least mid-September and doesn't want to be buried in the meetings.

Smart man.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

If Benoit is a major figure in the storyline of the game I hope he doesn't have any cryptic lines or anything. It was weird enough that Eddie Guerrero had that Undertaker storyline in Smackdown v. Raw 2006.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

Call me crazy but I sorta like the idea of the Kennedy as a McMahon storyline with the eventual out being played to end it as well. From what I have read about the "Who Killed VKM" storyline, it would have played out better, but this could work as well.

 

I don't blame Henry at all if he can break into the movies - Even if he'll be bodyguard #2.

 

I was hoping Flair would retire at WM - hopefully the office doesn't screw him over. HHH will probably make sure Flair is done right. With Kennedy vs HHH for the title, I guess Flair won't get the "Rocky Balboa" one more chance storyline.

 

Vince can't get past Lawler and Ross calling Raw can't he. Usually it was Ross who was on the outs, but the office probably realized that PBP guys are hard to find, whereas color commentators are much easier. Too bad Josh Matthews is in the dog house - I thought the kid has potential.

 

Booker T is ready to quit a lot lately. He's booking TNA talent for his promotion as an FU to the office - though I bet the office doesn't care and actually likes the possibility of forming lines of communication with certain TNA talents.

 

 

I'd love to see D'Lo Brown back, though only with a chest protector. I wonder if he is over the accident yet though.

 

Hart Foundation v2.0 is a stupid name. And the team will flop. I'd rather bring in the Stampede Bulldogs of Harry Smith and TJ Wilson and bring in Teddy Hart as a solo act on a seperate brand and heve them unite down the line.

 

I've always thought Teddy was playing the Pillman-esque Loose Cannon gimmick - He doesn't look like a Hart, so it might be the best gimmick for him. Call him the "Black Hart" or something...

 

Rosey is on Fat March or whatever now, so he must make it to the end. If he's brought back, maybe it will be with Sonny Siaki or his Samoan Fight Club partner in FCW, though would have to be on SD! away from Umaga.

 

[Vern Gagne 0]

I'm assuming that Flair is going over his final opponent.

 

I'd suggest having Kennedy destroy Flair, and being credited with ending his career. Of course Flair's been beaten badly so many times it's lost its impact.

[Jericholic82 0]

It has to be said-what the hell did wwe do to Candice Michelles theme music? A freakin' techno remix? Horrible, the old one was fine as it was the right pace for her strut to the ring, now she has to move faster and dance a bit (like when they made Victoria Dancin Victoria in mid 2004) . Unless she likes that music?

 

 

anyhow interesting notes, Dlo would make a fine addition to Smackdowns mid-card ranks I think. Too bad Henry is leaving as now they could reform their past alliance. (then again, no thank god Henry is leaving). But he got a nice reaction at msg (though that could just be nostaligia pops), and looked in great shape.

 

the game thing is interesting. I'd say leave him in, just so as not to make the game even more outdated when it comes out. I wonder if they will bother to change Nitro to Morrison, but that might take too much.

 

 

speaking of which, anyone find it weird that John is working a Jim Morrsion type gimmick, but comes out to a soundalike Jimi Hendrix song? I would think they could get that Morrison soundalike dude who sang "The End" (Armageddon theme song) to do a faux-Doors song. Then again remember Dude Love, who dressed like a hippee, came out to a faux Bee Gees Disco song

[Hawk 34 0]

I'm assuming that Flair is going over his final opponent.

 

I'd suggest having Kennedy destroy Flair, and being credited with ending his career. Of course Flair's been beaten badly so many times it's lost its impact.

 

If they intend to stick with HHH/Kennedy for WM (given the track record for HHH's original plans for WM over the past 7 years, I wouldn't hold my breath), they can have Kennedy take out HHH's best friend and idol prior to WM although he'd be the 200th person to do the act. If Flair does indeed "retire" at WM, he should and I expect him to uphold the usual tradition of going out on his back. You could plug any number of heel acts into the spot ranging from Burke, Morrison, Booker or even slot Batista in there for a respect match. Maybe Flair can do a tag with Batista to play off the mentor aspect.

 

D'Lo Brown would be a solid addition to either Smackdown or ECW. Raw, while being the lesser quality show is already covered with acts.

 

I do like the idea of Kennedy-HHH and Edge-Taker as the present choices for the WM main events but as I said earlier, I wouldn't expect those matches to actually occur.

 

 

[Enigma 0]

Where does that leave John Cena for WM?

[Hawk 34 0]

Where does that leave John Cena for WM?

 

It's not as if being out of the title scene would prevent him from having a high profile match. Putting the title off Cena gives him more options. He could actually have a real feud with someone not named Edge for once or he can used for the "mainstream entertainment" match ala Lashley. There is ECW as well...

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Where does that leave John Cena for WM?

Against Batista.

[Boxer 0]

The plan is still for Ken Kennedy to be the illegitimate son of Vince. They do, however, have a contingency plan if it ends up bombing, that being that Kennedy forged the papers and lab results and is basically a CON ARTIST trying to screw his way into a billionaire family. Stephanie will likely be involved in the storyline around October or November, in a deal where she will be put in jeopardy and Hunter will make the save, revealing himself to be Vince's son-in-law and setting the stage for the Raw main event at WrestleMania, which at press time is going to be Hunter as a babyface vs. Kennedy, likely for the title and with all the members of the McMahon family somehow involved.

 

For Smackdown, WrestleMania main event is currently Edge vs. Undertaker for the title. If Edge is back in time, the idea is he'll either beat Dave for the belt at Survivor Series or Armageddon, then hold it through Mania.

 

It is believed that a Ric Flair retirement storyline is going to start imminently, perhaps in the next few weeks, to culminate at either Royal Rumble, No Way Out or WrestleMania. I'm sure Flair would prefer the latter. He's been talking for a long time about this being his last year as a regular in-ring competitor.

 

Smackdown vs. Raw may miss its November deadline as Vince is going back and forth about whether to leave Chris Benoit in the game. He's in it now and Vince wants him out, but to have him removed would require the game being delayed and they'd miss out on the 2007 holiday season revenue, which is always the most lucrative quarter for video games.

 

Booker is said to be close to signing a new three-year deal with WWE. He has specifically asked that his new deal allows him to sit in on producer's meetings. Basically, the meetings take place before TV or PPV where Vince goes over the scripts. The agents sit there and give feedback and talk about how the talent is either progressing or not progressing, and suggest finishes.

 

Stephanie is pushing hard to get D-Lo Brown a job on Raw as a mid-card act. He was backstage last week. His career went way downhill after Darren Drozdov was paralyzed in a match with him after a botched running powerbomb on October 5, 1999. People have always insisted that there is no connection, but as soon as that happened that was the beginning of the end for D-Lo.

 

There is talk that Extreme Expose may all share Playboy leading up to next year's WrestleMania. Yes, Brooke's ass in Playboy. So we all just have to live another seven or eight months.

 

Hart Foundation 2.0 is the current working name of the Harry Smith/Teddy Hart/Nattie Neidhart crew. Court Bauer, who was on the writing crew until just recently, gave them that name back when he was promoting MLW and was the main guy pushing for them to come to Smackdown. It is believed they'll be starting on the house shows this fall, and the company really wants to get Bret in to do an angle to introduce them. The trade-off would be promoting his new book, which I'm pretty sure hits the streets in October. It's been pared down from the size of War and Peace, but is still huge with very small type.

 

Those who have seen Batista's book say it's insane. Batista has said he's the most boring guy in the world, which sounds like it would make for a terrible book, but as it turns out he talks nonstop about who he hates and does not respect in the locker room (this is major trouble in the making since he's hated by most of the locker room as it is), his thoughts on certain creative decisions, etc. He also talks "almost recklessly" about the number of women he's banged. It's said to be totally different from all the other WWE books.

 

credit:F4W Newsletter

 

The Kennedy-Hunter storyline kinda has Wrestlemania 2000 written all over it again, with the McMahons everywhere in the title match.

 

Edge-Undertaker is an interesting match, but I don't know why I smell a double DQ. Edge doesn't need the win, so the rub wouldn't really establish him, because that's already done. Undertaker won the belt exactly one Wrestlemania ago, so it may not feel as special. Maybe they can throw a third guy in here?

 

The Flair storyline must have a slow burn. Who would be the ideal person to retire him though?

Simple, Randy Orton, come on down. I don't think he ever added Flair to his legend killer list, though I could be wrong. I guess it's natural for the former Evolution guys to slug it out.

 

As for Raw vs. Smackdown, ROOTS GENOA to the rescue. Just make him a blank wrestler or something, like how sports games get around the loophole of players who didn't sign a contract with the players association.

 

I am looking forward to Booker being in the production meetings especially with Hunter there. Maybe this can give birth to a NEW Willy the Worker?

 

D-Lo deserves another run, possibly with the IC or US title. I think Smackdown would be a better fit for him.

 

Great great news for Extreme Expose. Now that is well......... EXTREME! Finally someone I'm actually looking forward to see in the great pages of the magazine.

 

The Harts should get introduced in Montreal, but that's just my opinion. You can reset the last 10 years, by reintroducing them in the same place the original Hart Foundation died. It's a resurrection that didn't involve the Undertaker for a change.

 

So I guess we'll see a lot of Booker T being buried in Batista's book eh? I think besides HHH, Flair and possibly Orton, did he have any other friends in the Raw and Smackdown locker rooms?

 

Where does that leave John Cena for WM?

Against Batista.

 

Exactly. I guess the WWE is deciding now is the time to do the match they wanted to do in at least 2-3 years now.

[King Cucaracha 0]

It has to be said-what the hell did wwe do to Candice Michelles theme music? A freakin' techno remix? Horrible, the old one was fine as it was the right pace for her strut to the ring, now she has to move faster and dance a bit (like when they made Victoria Dancin Victoria in mid 2004) . Unless she likes that music?

 

Maybe I'm the only one, but I personally kinda had a soft spot for it, if only because it's something different from the usual 'generic rock' or 'shouty nu-metal song'. Like the Summerslam theme. When I first heard it, it was like "is this really a WWE theme song?"

 

The problem isn't so much the song as Candice's awkward dancing walk to the ring to it. She doesn't even HAVE to dance to it just because it's a techno song (Steve Corino never did).

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Where does that leave John Cena for WM?

 

Or Randy Orton, or Batista, or Rey Mysterio. Strange that Batista and Orton aren't mentioned at all, even though they might both be champs fairly soon.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Where does that leave John Cena for WM?

 

He wins Money in the Bank, or they try to get a legend to put him over.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Man I'm gonna love Batista's book... it's going to be so awesome, and I expect 5 pages on why he didn't beat Booker T in their scuffle.

[Boxer 0]

For those moderately interested in the Batista book, here's the cover:

 

[strummer 0]

Neither Ross nor Tazz were told. Vince has been wanting to split up Ross and Lawler for some time, feeling the combo is "too Southern", and Kevin Dunn is strongly against it.

 

So Dunn is against them acting "too Southern' or against the idea of breaking them up?

[Scroby 0]

I'd love to see D'Lo Brown back, though only with a chest protector.

 

he doesn't wear it anymore.

[mysterious_w 0]

Good thing that D'Lo might be getting resigned, but Sydal? He looks small in ROH, I mean he's billed at 5' 9" but looks 5' 7" or so. I think he's an excellent wrestler with a bag of charisma, but the fact he's so small may really stifle him.

 

Breaking up Ross and Lawler is ridiculous, that would be like taking Alan Hansen off Match of the Day. Plus I don't think Lawler would want to work in ECW.