WWE General Discussion - December 2007

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

I just think Sapp will come off as the guy trying too hard to be charismatic. Maybe if he dialed it back a bit, play it a little cooler - sorta like MMA's Rampage Jackson.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

It really depends on how Sapp is used...Sapp has a look, that's unquestionable, but it's not just his look. It's who he IS. He's a funny, charismatic, loveable, scary motherfucker. One second he'll be dancing around with tiny Japanese backup dancers, and the next he's killing you with a Beast Bomb.

 

I think on Leno he explained it that it's a switch he'll flip in whatever he's doing. He's a good natured guy, a fun loving guy that people just *like*. But then he flips that switch in his head, and he becomes "The Beast" who will legitmately try to rip off your limbs and beat you to death with them.

 

I don't really have high hopes for Sapp in WWE or TNA. TNA due to their sheer incompetience, but WWE doesn't like letting people be themselves. Take the Predator for example. Not the world's best worker, but passable with a legit background and instead of letting him be his Predator gimmick that had worked in Japan and that he had honed for years, they made him go WWE-ized worked shoot style. Didn't work at all. Terkay bashing people with chains and being a lunitatic = Fun. Terkay throwing horribly worked punches in a fear that he'd actually hurt someone = Bad.

 

I have a feeling they'll try to make Bob Sapp into what THEY perceive Bob Sapp to be. Bob Sapp gets over because he's fucking Bob Sapp. Not someone *playing* Bob Sapp.

[The Buzz 0]

That's the funny part of WWE too. They get on people for "pretending to be wrestlers" when they start in the company. But a lot of time the people they bring in with the same gimmick they had elsewhere end up playing parodies of themselves.

[haVoc 0]

So what do you guys think is the best main event for Armageddon? Orton Vs Jericho or Batista Vs Taker Vs Edge?

 

I gotta go with the three way. I trust the workers in this match more then Jericho and Orton. Plus, I'll mark out if Edge wins. Edge knows his character better then Jericho and there is more money to made off Edge at this point.

 

I predict Jericho will be playing the heel by WM and he'll be worth my by doing do. He just shouldn't be in the position he is right now.

[milliondollarchamp 0]

PWInsider is reporting that Jake "The Snake" Roberts has entered a nine week rehab program after taking up the previous offer by World Wrestling Entertainment to any former talent with substance abuse problems.

 

Bill Parkman also passed this along: This message was posted earlier on the Myspace bulletins via Jake Roberts' myspace account.

 

Dec 13, 2007 10:59 AM

 

Subject: Statement on Jake Roberts

 

Body: To answer many of your questions, yes, the rumors are true ... Jake Roberts entered rehab on Monday, Dec. 10th.

 

Obviously, Jake wanted his whereabouts kept private and confidential.

 

We were shocked and disturbed to see that this information was sadly and unfortunately leaked.

 

With that said, now all we ask is that you keep Jake Roberts in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

 

Jake B (for Jake Roberts, Shannon, Viper & Ben)

 

[RedJed 0]

On the subject of Jake Roberts, I saw him in a very "medicated" state about a month ago (Nov 17) at an indy show in Duluth, MN. Might as well repost some of the thoughts from that when I posted it in another folder here back then.

 

Went to an indy show in Northern MN over the weekend and Christy Hemme, Rikishi, and Jake Roberts headlined....just some randomness from that night that I might as well post here....

 

(Random talk about other parts of the show I took out)

 

And then Jake Roberts - you can imagine the story here. He was hanging around the vending area clearly intoxicated/fucked up on something pretty much right as the show started. Didn't really interact with many people much, just kind of walked around drinking, etc. He was supposed to be in the main event of the night but the promoter ended up putting him in the last match before intermission, clearly concerned he was going to continue to get messed up and be in no shape to perform. As it went, Roberts came out to the ring VERY loaded, did his usual crass sexual manuerisms and everything (if anyone saw Heroes of Wrestling ppv, this was almost a rehash of what he was like) and worked about a 4 minute match, if even that. Just an awful and embarrasing sight to have to witness.

 

There was a follow up "apology to the fans" message from the promoter later on, explaining that Jake showed up at 4pm already really wasted and he felt he had to make the decision to get him out there ASAP because of that. The company even rented out a snake for Roberts to use for the show (I guess he either doesnt have or can't travel with the snake anymore?) and since he was so blasted, they refused to let him bring the snake out to the ring with him. On top of that, the promoter docked Roberts pay by twenty five percent because of everything.

 

Weird night for sure at the local indy show.

 

--------

 

To follow up on my post, I talked to some people involved with that indy show since then and I guess Roberts was an asshole to pretty much all of the roster, definately did arrive to the show way late, when he got there he was already drunk/high, and immediately just wanted to go back to his room before the show started, which everyone thought meant he was going to sober up. Nope....he came back a few hours later even worse than before, and like I saw myself, he was literally wandering around the building in plain sight, still keeping to himself, but still continuing to drink. When he refused to stop drinking, thats when they made the call to get him out there early. They would have totally taken him off the show completely but he was demanding to get paid given the expense of coming up there already. So they put his match on earlier than expected, it was a complete mess of such, and they pretty much demanded he leave the building after they paid him (and only paid him 75 percent of the agreement).

 

All things said, from what I witnessed and then heard about this incident, it doesn't surprise me he ended up going to rehab. He was looking haggard and just totally gone more than I've ever seen him, and that covers alot of ground.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

Well, if anybody needs rehab, it would be Jake. Hopefully he can get himself clean

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

There was a follow up "apology to the fans" message from the promoter later on, explaining that Jake showed up at 4pm already really wasted and he felt he had to make the decision to get him out there ASAP because of that. The company even rented out a snake for Roberts to use for the show (I guess he either doesnt have or can't travel with the snake anymore?) and since he was so blasted, they refused to let him bring the snake out to the ring with him. On top of that, the promoter docked Roberts pay by twenty five percent because of everything.

sed and then heard about this incident, it doesn't surprise me he ended up going to rehab. He was looking haggard and just totally gone more than I've ever seen him, and that covers alot of ground.

 

He was banned from keeping Animals while he was staying in the UK, his flat was raided by the Police and the RSPCA to find alot of his animals were in bad shape and neglected. Can't imagine that ban stretches all over the world.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

I was reading on another news site that OVW developmental is set to appear on a Raw in the upcoming weeks and the news stated he is a former football player - Does anybody know who he is ie real name?

[Hawk 34 0]

I think that's Charles "The Hammer" Evans.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I think that's Charles "The Hammer" Evans.

 

Yeah, I heard good things about him, hopefully he becomes the next big thing to come out of OVW.

[Hawk 34 0]

Here is Evans, for those who haven't seen him before.

 

[Enigma 0]

Fantastic Wellness Policy candidate.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_Wq0YdbHlxo

 

Here's a crash course in Sapp. Part 2 is on the side. This is 2002, so he's a better wrestler these days.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

Atlas Dabone and Charles Evans are two seperate people.

[Silence 0]

Here is Evans, for those who haven't seen him before.

 

 

Lashley II!

 

[Enigma 0]

Bob Sapp is a marketing goldmine. For example, I present...

 

[Mecca 0]

Atlas Dabone and Charles Evans are two seperate people.

 

I don't think Atlas Dabone is even under WWE developmental contract.

[Nate 0]

I thought I read somewhere it was supposed to be Atlas Dabone comin to Raw soon

[Enigma 0]

In an interview with the Kid Chris radio show in Philadelphia, JBL was asked about the incident from One Night Stand 2005 when he legitimately attacked the Blue Meanie during the end-show brawl and busted him open badly. JBL said he has personally apologized to Meanie for it, is still very sorry that it happened, and that he takes full blame for the incident for not handling it like a professional. He said that putting over Meanie on Smackdown a few weeks later was his idea.

 

JBL had years-long heat with Meanie from an interview Meanie did in 2001 after referee Billy Silverman, who had just been hired from the dead WCW, quit the WWF after intense bullying and "bad-natured" ribbing backstage. Bradshaw was one of the people Silverman specifically outed, saying that he made him carry everyone's beer around as "punishment" for flying first class, despite paying for his own ticket. He also told a story where Bradshaw grabbed Charles Robinson, (who also just came from the dead WCW) stripped him down to his boxers, duct taped him to a storage trunk, and wheeled him around backstage. Meanie backed Silverman and claimed Bradshaw was a huge bully in the locker room and said he treated people he felt were beneath him like total garbage.

[Banter 0]

Here is Evans, for those who haven't seen him before.

 

 

Lashley II!

 

 

Good lord man, his cock is pretty much hanging out.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Source: Wrestling Observer

 

- Sources say WWE superstars Jeff Hardy and Umaga are pushing hard for the company to bring back recently released TNA superstar Ron Killings. At this point, Killings has a spot waiting for him in AAA in Mexico and once his working papers are complete, he will likely be heading down there to work. Killings had two very short stints as WWE Hardcore Champion back in 2001.

 

- WWE's No Mercy 2007 pay-per-view did 265,000 buys, which is up from last year's 197,000 buys. Last year's No Mercy was a SmackDown only pay-per-view and this year's show featured all three brands. The updated buyrate for SummerSlam 2007 is 558,000 which is up from the previous number of 548,000. SummerSlam 07's buys are also up from 2006, which was 555,000.

 

WWE's Cyber Sunday pay-per-view a few months back, looks to have a preliminary estimate of 191,000 pay-per-view buys, which would be the second lowest of the year, behind the One Night Stand pay-per-view. Furthermore, the Cyber Sunday event only drew 118,000 buys from North America. The event featured the return of Shawn Michaels and Undertaker vs. Batista with Austin as the special referee. 2006's Cyber Sunday was built around the battle of the World Champions and did a buyrate of 226,000.

 

- WWE's Mick Foley and Michael "P.S." Hayes recently got into a major argument during a filming of the WWE Legends show on WWE 24/7. Not much else is known, but the argument had to do with the Vince McMahon death angle from earlier this year. Foley was adamant that the angle was in bad taste while Hayes strongly defended the angle. No word yet on when this particular show will air, but keep a look out for it.

 

 

 

 

Would be hilarious to see. Michael Hayes in full Freebird clothing and Foley as Mankind.

[The Truthiness 0]

Yeah, Mick talked about that on a Won radio show. There were no hard feelings, just 2 people having a strong disagreement. Mick also said that he didn't know Taz was still mad as hell about how he was treated as a performer.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

The angle itself - Who killed VKM?" wasn't in bad taste, but how it played itself out was. There is certain things that shouldn't have been used in the angle - the wrestlers on the stage, the video remembrances etc. That was in TERRIBLE taste. I don't know how Hayes could defend that.

 

I loved Taz in ECW, however he was a mark for himself. He was the big fish in the small pond with the big man on campus attitude who looked puny when in the ring with the giants of the wwe. He'll always have his debut - that was epic.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Turning it into a comedy angle was pretty terrible, especially in retrospect.

[The Buzz 0]

Even Jim Ross who has a hard on for bigger guys says Tazz could have been used/done much more in WWE. I don't think Tazz could have ever duplicated his ECW run in WWE, but the pops for his Austin confrontations alone showed that the fans wanted a reason to care about him.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Rey looks puny in the ring too, but they managed to push him ok. I can see how Tazz was bitter.

[BorneAgain 0]

Jillian Hall's debut album, which is available exclusively on iTunes, A Jingle with Jillian, has cracked one of their charts. The album is currently ranked on the UK Holidays Top 100 chart at No. 20, and the American Holiday Top 100 chart at No. 72.

-Lords of Pain.net

 

Feel sad for Lilian knowing that a WWE gimmick album is set to outsell hers.

[Jingus 0]

Feel sad? She's sold over half a million downloads of an album where the entire selling point is that she's an absolutely worthless singer and the music is really, reall bad. That's a fairly impressive accomplishment.

[Brett Favre 0]

Lillian Garcia is the sad one.