This is going to be a short post since I don't want to go on and on about this. I wouldn't have covered this at all, as I don't like digging into the real lives of actors, wrestlers, etc. I always look at it this way...I work on networks and computers and it's not a very glamorous job. What, if in a backwards universe, it was? Would I want someone watching where I went, who I dated, what I did, etc, etc? Not at all. So, I try to separate the "superstar" from the person. I can tell you all about a "superstar". When it comes to the real person, I can maybe tell you their name and maybe a few small things (interests, etc). Things like that you find out in interview and whatnot. I don't like hearing about the dirty laundry. It's their laundry, let it be their problem. That's my opinion.
So, the WWE has made the dirty laundry 100% public with the fact that Matt Hardy is now on Raw again. Even if this is a one shot deal to close this up, they have opened Pandora's Box and now they have to deal with it. For those who don't know, long story short:
Matt and Lita we're a couple, both on and off screen, for six years or so. This past spring, rumors started about Lita cheating on Matt with Edge (or Adam, his real name, as Matt referred to him on Raw). It turned out, some of this was true (I have no idea how much since I don't know any of the parties involved and care not to speculate). So, Matt goes onto the Internet and tells the world all about it. The WWE, trying to protect itself (they like to keep things like this quiet, like ANY company does...) released Matt Hardy back in April. For the past few months, Hardy has continued to rant on this. Also, the fans, who wouldn't have thrown water on Matt Hardy if he was on fire back in the fall and winter, started chanting "we want Matt" and "you screwed Matt" and many other more vulgar things. The WWE, seeing an opportunity and being a BUSINESS that likes to make MONEY (like any other business on the planet) gets Hardy back and starts this storyline.
Ok, now that we have the history, my opinion. I don't like it. I intentionally tried to keep the real world out of the story. While I knew in reality that Lita and Edge were together and what had happened, I tried to suspend reality and enjoy the storyline with Kane and the wrestling therein. Now, with Matt back, who’s to say what parts of the things the net was spewing are true or not...was this WHOLE THING a fake? Was part of it a fake? Was none of it fake and they are just using this to make some money (which I cannot knock them for)? We'll never know...at least not till Matt, Edge, or Lita write a book or sit down for an interview in 30 years.
So, again, my take? Let's make wrestling what it is...a story. Leave the real world where it belongs; in the real.
Take care of yourselves, and each other...we're all we've got.
So much for this being a short post...
Friday, July 15, 2005
Thursday, July 07, 2005
WWE - 18 Superstarts Released In 24 Hours
I have to say that my faith (what little I had still) in the WWE is starting to shatter and I have to truly wonder if, in a year or two, there will even be a WWE as we know it. 18 (yes 1-8) have been released, bought out, or have had negotiations fail. The list so far (there are more cuts coming supposedly...)
Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley - This is one of the biggest shocks to me. After they were in the ECW stuff, I was sure they were coming back. It shows how even with a good reaction from the fans, if the powers that be don't think of something for you, you're "useless". I will miss the 3D, the Dudleys, and the fire that they could bring to any match.
Joy Giovanni - While this cut surprises me, it doesn't surprise me at the same time. For those of you with G4 (the video game channel), she was just on a show there as "WWE SmackDown Rookie Diva of 2005". The show she was on was brand new and just started airing a few weeks ago. Again, it shows that, just like the draft, "No one is safe". If I recall, Joy has a kid in real life maybe that had something to do with the decision. Again, I find this cut odd since Joy was one of the few Diva Search ladies that got an actual story on TV...she feuded with the one that was with JBL's group and was Big Show's "girlfriend".
Kenzo Suzuki & Hiroko - Another cut that doesn't surprise me. WWE tried everything with Kenzo...evil guy, silly guy, crazy guy, nothing stuck. He was one of the folks involved in the trade between Raw and SmackDown. It's amazing that the draft stuff is GONE from the WWE website, so it's as if the trade never took place. I had heard good things about Kenzo when he was coming to the WWE, but when he got there, he seemed very slow. It's possible he had a hard time adjusting to a WWE style, but we'll never know.
Matt Morgan - Another shame here...I was hoping since Carlito and Christian switched shows, they would switch bodyguards. Morgan and Christian could have had some great interviews and such. He was also starting to get better in the ring.
Charlie Haas - Yet ANOTHER one of the drops where you have to read it twice to be sure you saw it right. This is a GIANT mistake by the WWE. Haas is an A+ talent, yet was given crap to work with storyline wise. I would hope, if business picks up again in a few years that they bring him back. A true loss for the fans and for the future.
Jackie Gayda - Not a surprise to see her gone is Charlie Haas is being release. I hope they both like this as a wedding present from the WWE. Jackie was one of the co-winners of the 2nd Tough Enough. She did some good valet work with Rico and also with Charlie for a while. Again, not surprising.
Marty Jannetty - Marty didn't surprise me here either. They brought him in for the Angle / HBK build for WrestleMania and I was shocked when they kept him on contract. There is also news that he was arrested for some domestic incident, which the WWE does not take very well. It was nice to see the Rockers together one last(?) time.
Dawn Marie - Another shock to me here...anyone who talks to me about wrestling know that I felt that Dawn Marie, given time to shine, could become the Sherri Martel valet of this generation. She was the senior (experience wise) Diva on SmackDown and was always on the mark, be it in the ring or on the mic. I would hope that she wasn't let go due to being pregnant...if so, WWE better get their checkbook ready when the lawyers start calling...yet another big loss to SmackDown and the WWE as a whole.
Mark Jindrak - Just like Matt Morgan, I think he could have been something, but never got the chance to shine.
Maven - And with the release of Maven, the Tough Enough experiment is complete...leaving only Josh Matthews (the announcer) as the remaining TE person on WWE TV. It'll be interesting to see if Al Snow is released soon since he and TE went hand in hand.
Shannon Moore - I'm honestly surprised Shannon lasted as long as he did. After Matt Hardy was off TV, I was surprised they kept him around...nothing against him, but WWE has very littler patience for the mid card.
James Yun (Akio) - See Mark Jindrak, Matt Morgan. Another good mid-card talent that could have been something.
David Heath (Gangrel) - Gangrel was signed for the stuff with Undertaker and Randy Orton for WrestleMania. I chalk this up to the same level as the release of Marty Jannetty but without all the arrest stuff.
Billy Kidman - Another BIG surprise here....I always thought Kidman had a lock since his real life wife, Torrie Wilson, has been a staple of SmackDown for a while now. Again, this shows that no one is safe...it'll be interesting to see if they keep Torrie around much longer. They've had her in Playboy twice and they have made their money. AGAIN, I am not trying to be vicious towards these people, but with the Diva search and such, it is VERY obvious they are intent on bringing in more and more girls they can parade around half naked.
Spike Dudley - Another loss for the fans. Spike had been hurt for a while but was on the mend...obviously not fast enough for the WWE...
Kevin Fertig - Most people will know him as Mordecai, the character that was in the white cloak for a few weeks on SmackDown a while back when Eddie was the WWE Champ...happy days....sorry, I'm back now. I had heard good things about him from OVW, but I don't think we got to see that on TV...another missed opportunity.
So, after all that was announced, the front page of WWE.Com has freaking BROCK "THE CROCK" LESNAR on there that he wants to come back. You have GOT to be KIDDING me! Mr. "I'm too big for the WWE" and "I want to play football" is now coming back with his tail between his legs after getting a nice dose of reality. I tell you right now, if he comes back, he will be the champ on either show in a second. There is some history between him and Cena (recall the reason Cena's finisher is the FU is a knock and Lesnar's version of the F5) and WWE loves to have their big man vs. big man matches even though the crowd falls asleep. Sorry, had to get that out of my system.
I have to imagine it's bad enough to be cut, especially some of these folks that have been with the WWE for a while, but then to see that they are cutting you, a loyal employee, to bring back Mr. "I carry logs cause that's what my head is made out of...har har har". I'm going to finish this post off...I could sit here all day but then it would never get posted.
Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley - This is one of the biggest shocks to me. After they were in the ECW stuff, I was sure they were coming back. It shows how even with a good reaction from the fans, if the powers that be don't think of something for you, you're "useless". I will miss the 3D, the Dudleys, and the fire that they could bring to any match.
Joy Giovanni - While this cut surprises me, it doesn't surprise me at the same time. For those of you with G4 (the video game channel), she was just on a show there as "WWE SmackDown Rookie Diva of 2005". The show she was on was brand new and just started airing a few weeks ago. Again, it shows that, just like the draft, "No one is safe". If I recall, Joy has a kid in real life maybe that had something to do with the decision. Again, I find this cut odd since Joy was one of the few Diva Search ladies that got an actual story on TV...she feuded with the one that was with JBL's group and was Big Show's "girlfriend".
Kenzo Suzuki & Hiroko - Another cut that doesn't surprise me. WWE tried everything with Kenzo...evil guy, silly guy, crazy guy, nothing stuck. He was one of the folks involved in the trade between Raw and SmackDown. It's amazing that the draft stuff is GONE from the WWE website, so it's as if the trade never took place. I had heard good things about Kenzo when he was coming to the WWE, but when he got there, he seemed very slow. It's possible he had a hard time adjusting to a WWE style, but we'll never know.
Matt Morgan - Another shame here...I was hoping since Carlito and Christian switched shows, they would switch bodyguards. Morgan and Christian could have had some great interviews and such. He was also starting to get better in the ring.
Charlie Haas - Yet ANOTHER one of the drops where you have to read it twice to be sure you saw it right. This is a GIANT mistake by the WWE. Haas is an A+ talent, yet was given crap to work with storyline wise. I would hope, if business picks up again in a few years that they bring him back. A true loss for the fans and for the future.
Jackie Gayda - Not a surprise to see her gone is Charlie Haas is being release. I hope they both like this as a wedding present from the WWE. Jackie was one of the co-winners of the 2nd Tough Enough. She did some good valet work with Rico and also with Charlie for a while. Again, not surprising.
Marty Jannetty - Marty didn't surprise me here either. They brought him in for the Angle / HBK build for WrestleMania and I was shocked when they kept him on contract. There is also news that he was arrested for some domestic incident, which the WWE does not take very well. It was nice to see the Rockers together one last(?) time.
Dawn Marie - Another shock to me here...anyone who talks to me about wrestling know that I felt that Dawn Marie, given time to shine, could become the Sherri Martel valet of this generation. She was the senior (experience wise) Diva on SmackDown and was always on the mark, be it in the ring or on the mic. I would hope that she wasn't let go due to being pregnant...if so, WWE better get their checkbook ready when the lawyers start calling...yet another big loss to SmackDown and the WWE as a whole.
Mark Jindrak - Just like Matt Morgan, I think he could have been something, but never got the chance to shine.
Maven - And with the release of Maven, the Tough Enough experiment is complete...leaving only Josh Matthews (the announcer) as the remaining TE person on WWE TV. It'll be interesting to see if Al Snow is released soon since he and TE went hand in hand.
Shannon Moore - I'm honestly surprised Shannon lasted as long as he did. After Matt Hardy was off TV, I was surprised they kept him around...nothing against him, but WWE has very littler patience for the mid card.
James Yun (Akio) - See Mark Jindrak, Matt Morgan. Another good mid-card talent that could have been something.
David Heath (Gangrel) - Gangrel was signed for the stuff with Undertaker and Randy Orton for WrestleMania. I chalk this up to the same level as the release of Marty Jannetty but without all the arrest stuff.
Billy Kidman - Another BIG surprise here....I always thought Kidman had a lock since his real life wife, Torrie Wilson, has been a staple of SmackDown for a while now. Again, this shows that no one is safe...it'll be interesting to see if they keep Torrie around much longer. They've had her in Playboy twice and they have made their money. AGAIN, I am not trying to be vicious towards these people, but with the Diva search and such, it is VERY obvious they are intent on bringing in more and more girls they can parade around half naked.
Spike Dudley - Another loss for the fans. Spike had been hurt for a while but was on the mend...obviously not fast enough for the WWE...
Kevin Fertig - Most people will know him as Mordecai, the character that was in the white cloak for a few weeks on SmackDown a while back when Eddie was the WWE Champ...happy days....sorry, I'm back now. I had heard good things about him from OVW, but I don't think we got to see that on TV...another missed opportunity.
So, after all that was announced, the front page of WWE.Com has freaking BROCK "THE CROCK" LESNAR on there that he wants to come back. You have GOT to be KIDDING me! Mr. "I'm too big for the WWE" and "I want to play football" is now coming back with his tail between his legs after getting a nice dose of reality. I tell you right now, if he comes back, he will be the champ on either show in a second. There is some history between him and Cena (recall the reason Cena's finisher is the FU is a knock and Lesnar's version of the F5) and WWE loves to have their big man vs. big man matches even though the crowd falls asleep. Sorry, had to get that out of my system.
I have to imagine it's bad enough to be cut, especially some of these folks that have been with the WWE for a while, but then to see that they are cutting you, a loyal employee, to bring back Mr. "I carry logs cause that's what my head is made out of...har har har". I'm going to finish this post off...I could sit here all day but then it would never get posted.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
WWE Draft Results, Trades, 7/4 Raw
A lot to cover in this post, so I'm getting right to it. My draft picks last week were:
Raw gets Eddie Guerrero & Rob Van Dam - Raw got The Big Show and Rob Van Dam. I got one! RVD was the guest on the Cabana last week and seems to be setting up for a feud with Carlito. The Big Show was a surprise since he was in the SmackDown title hunt. More on that next...
SmackDown gets Chris Jericho & Triple H - SmackDown got Christian & Batista. A double surprise here, Christian takes the place of The Big Show in the six man match. He had to be TIRED since he was in the match at the end of Raw (they taped both Raw and SmackDown at the same place on the same night back to back last week). After JBL won the six man match we found out Batista is on SmackDown with the Heavyweight Title. I found it interesting that this was not mentioned at all this week on Raw.
With that, the draft is over. With the trade that took place last week, the moves look like this:
Key -
1-5 = Draft Picks
T = Via Trade
Raw
1 - John Cena (WWE Champion)
2 - Kurt Angle
3 - Carlito
4 - The Big Show
5 - Rob Van Dam
T - Mark Jindrak
T - Rene Dupree
T - Danny Basham
T - Kenzo Suzuki (with Hiroko)
T - Chavo Guerrero
SmackDown
1 - Chris Benoit
2 - Randy Orton
3 - Muhammed Hassan
4 - Christian
5 - Batista (World Heavyweight Champion)
T - William Regal
T - Candice Michelle
T - Sylvain Grenier
T - Simon Dean
T - Steven Richards
The big thing this week on Raw, in my opinion, was Shawn Michaels turning on Hulk Hogan at the end of the show. I didn't see this one coming at all. Michaels was dancing around the ring as he usually does right up to the kick. Amazing stuff...the crowd went dead silent for a second or two and then the boos started. Nice job by Shawn, Hogan, and WWE to make that work perfectly.
Have a great, short week everyone.
Raw gets Eddie Guerrero & Rob Van Dam - Raw got The Big Show and Rob Van Dam. I got one! RVD was the guest on the Cabana last week and seems to be setting up for a feud with Carlito. The Big Show was a surprise since he was in the SmackDown title hunt. More on that next...
SmackDown gets Chris Jericho & Triple H - SmackDown got Christian & Batista. A double surprise here, Christian takes the place of The Big Show in the six man match. He had to be TIRED since he was in the match at the end of Raw (they taped both Raw and SmackDown at the same place on the same night back to back last week). After JBL won the six man match we found out Batista is on SmackDown with the Heavyweight Title. I found it interesting that this was not mentioned at all this week on Raw.
With that, the draft is over. With the trade that took place last week, the moves look like this:
Key -
1-5 = Draft Picks
T = Via Trade
Raw
1 - John Cena (WWE Champion)
2 - Kurt Angle
3 - Carlito
4 - The Big Show
5 - Rob Van Dam
T - Mark Jindrak
T - Rene Dupree
T - Danny Basham
T - Kenzo Suzuki (with Hiroko)
T - Chavo Guerrero
SmackDown
1 - Chris Benoit
2 - Randy Orton
3 - Muhammed Hassan
4 - Christian
5 - Batista (World Heavyweight Champion)
T - William Regal
T - Candice Michelle
T - Sylvain Grenier
T - Simon Dean
T - Steven Richards
The big thing this week on Raw, in my opinion, was Shawn Michaels turning on Hulk Hogan at the end of the show. I didn't see this one coming at all. Michaels was dancing around the ring as he usually does right up to the kick. Amazing stuff...the crowd went dead silent for a second or two and then the boos started. Nice job by Shawn, Hogan, and WWE to make that work perfectly.
Have a great, short week everyone.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
