Hey, what’s up? I’m still Eddie (weird, huh?) and this is still TheBalrogsLair.com, you’re reading the News and Rumors, for which we thank you! I got no time to waste here…
The WWE presented their last RAW show before Armageddon on Monday night and for all purposes, the show was OK, but that’s all it was. The 2 main events were Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy, where Triple H basically squashed Jeff into little pieces, and The Dudley Boyz teaming up with Trish Stratus to take on Chris Jericho, Christian and Victoria in an Intergender Tag Team Table Match. The whole thing ended with a squash as well. The Armageddon card was finalized as well, and there was a stipulation added to the main event making it a 2 out of 3 Falls, with each fall having its own twist. Elsewhere on the show, Steven Richards defeated Jacqueline! YAY! Anyway, a full WWE RAW Report is available right over here, so don’t fall short and get clickin’ if ya need one.
Well, seeing as how it was the last RAW before Armageddon, we now have the RAW side of things for the PPV finalized, so besides Big Show defending his WWE Championship against Kurt Angle from SmackDown!, the Armageddon RAW Part of the Card looks like this:
* World Heavyweight Championship Match – 2 out of 3 Falls: 1st Fall — Street Fight; 2nd Fall — Steel Cage; 3rd Fall — Ladder *
Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (c)
* World Tag Teams Championship – 4 Way Elimination Match *
Christian and Chris Jericho (c) vs. Booker T and Goldust vs. The Dudleyz vs. Lance Storm and William Regal
* WWE Women’s Championship Match — Triple Threat *
Trish Stratus vs. Jacqueline vs. Victoria (c)
It’s also a safe bet that Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit and Edge vs. Albert will make it to the card on the SmackDown! scheme of things. I would also expect, if time allows it, the WWE to put the Cruiserweight Championship on the line with Billy Kidman appearing. We’ll see what the SmackDown! crew comes up with and how they wrap things up.
In another note following Monday’s RAW, there was serious concern backstage over a possibility of a Victoria injury. During the main event, Bubba Ray Dudley was about to powerbomb Victoria through a table, but Steven Richards interfered to prevent Bubba from doing so. In the spot itself, Victoria landed under a bad angle on the mat and appeared to have jammed her neck. She finished the match and even took the spot with the table, though people were afraid of her condition backstage. We’ll keep you updated.
With what Shawn Michaels did to Triple H on RAW, I think it’s almost a safe bet to say that The Game is taking his title back at Armageddon and is defeating The Heartbreak Kid. That’s also reported to be the feeling backstage. Then again, we can always hope for something better, no?
As reported on the main page, Hollywood Hulk Hogan is meeting up with Vince McMahon tonight in what should be an “important meeting.” Hogan was on a radio show tonight and confirmed that his WWE contract expires on January 14th, however, he has a meeting with McMahon on December 10th (Tuesday, tonight). There will probably be an update on that as well once the “meeting” is over and word is out, but isn’t it weird how Hogan used to say he’s not under contract with WWE, then that his contract has a several amount of days, and now he’s back to “I have a contract and its last day is January 14th.” At the same time, Jim Ross kept saying Hogan has a contract. Somebody was lying to us and it’s more clear who now.
As you probably all know by now, Matt Hardy was replaced with Albert on SmackDown! in the “Rey Mysterio Injury” spot. The latest on that is that it was completely Vince McMahon’s decision to make the switch, and not only is Albert going to get to feud with Edge it seems in the near future, but rumors are running wild that upon Undertaker’s return, Albert will be the man to feud with Big Evil.
Paul Heyman was on “Off The Record” today on TSN. As usual, Paul Heyman had a lot to say, and although his interview wasn’t earth-shattering, he had plenty of goods. He touched on both Austin and Rock’s situation and their characters, as well as talked about Rob Van Dam and Booker T, Chris Jericho’s title reign, Vince McMahon’s decision-making (mentioned HHH and Steph didn’t have as much power), among many other issues. To read a recap, click here.
Lance Storm appeared on Tough Enough III last week… Oh, wait a minute, he didn’t, huh?! You know what happened? His appearance got cut!!! He talks about this in his latest on-line commentary, which you can read by clicking here.
Speaking of Tough Enough III, the show scored a 1.5 rating last week, which is somewhat of a success, as TE3 has been doing 1.3 ratings for a long time now. By the way, the show had a 2.3 share and was the highest-rated show on MTV for the day. I know what you’re thinking… Would have scored worse or better if Storm appeared?
Switching gears away from WWE, apparently XPW has signed an exclusive lease to run wrestling at the ECW Arena beginning January 01, and be the only wrestling promotion running the building. Our own Bob Magee has more here.
XPW has not only gotten ECW’s arena, but they have also signed one of ECW’s own — Jerry Lynn! XPW can progress big time in my opinion, but only if ran appropriately.
Before we go back to the world of the WWE… The NWA-TNA promotion is very close to a PPV deal in Australia. I reported in my News and Rumors report last week that Main Event will no longer air WWE PPVs in Australia. The latest has it that Main Event has then reached NWA-TNA for a deal and the two companies are very close to signing. Stay tuned!
John Cena was scheduled to meet Scott Steiner in this weekend’s house shows, but Cena was pulled out of action due to a bad illness he had. B-Squared substituted for him on Saturday, and Matt Hardy took over on Sunday. Apparently, as some people who attended the Saturday House Show report, Cena was at the point where his punches looked real bad and he had to bend over and vomit under the apron. Whatever it is, he must have felt better the next day because he wrestled a short match with Chuck Palumbo and seemed fine. Either way, let’s hope Rap Boy is okay and he’ll be back to 100% soon.
Speaking of Scott Steiner’s in-ring debut at that house show, many people who have attended were saying that Steiner didn’t look good, yet nor did he look bad. He was simply OK. It’s a safe bet to say that Steiner is not what he used to be, and he’s as impressive as he once was due to his health. He hasn’t impressed so far and while it’s still too early to say what his exact condition is since he hasn’t had a feud on TV, I’d say the WWE should be very careful with what they do with Big Poppa Pump.
SaveMyShow.com, a site who is dedicated to helping out shows that are “in jeopardy of being canceled” has now enlisted WWE SmackDown! on their main page. Shows like MADtv and the Bernie Mac Show were also listed alongside SmackDown! as shows to be “saved.” Before I say anything more, just to let you know that SmackDown! is UPN’s most popular show and probably it’s top on at the moment, so there’s no plans that we know of to cancel the show. I have no clue why SmackDown! made it on there, but probably ratings is all they looked at. Anyway, I voted on Monday night whether the show should be canceled or not and back then it was 49% saying it should stay on the air, 50% saying it should be canceled and 1% didn’t care. To go to the SmackDown! page they have put up on their site, where you can vote as well, click here.
Sean Waltman joined the NoHoldsBarredWrestling.com radio show and had plenty to say. Head over there to read about Sean’s comments on WCW and WWF and plenty of stuff about his past, including his latest quires, etc. — click here.
The Hurricane and Stacy Keibler will appear on AOL Live chat this Thursday, December 12 at 5 PM. The ad that hypes up their appearances says it’s so they can hype up Armageddon. Now all they need is an actual role at the PPV.
WWE.com Updates:
* Interview with Bill DeMott
* Interview with Dawn Marie
In some sad news, I recently found out that Michael Blaszkowski is no longer going to be doing News and Rumors reports, as he will debut his own project soon. I must say that I truly enjoyed reading Michael’s work on here, and if you, like me, enjoy his writing style and way of handling the world of pro wrestling, Martin has let everyone know that Michael’s new section will definitely be worth your while! There will be a link on the main page when it gets posted so make sure you keep checking for that! It’s funny that I’ve never even talked to Michael on-line, yet through his writing on this site, it’s like we talk all the time. Anyway, I know I’ll be the first one to check on his new thing, for sure! Big shot-out to Michael.
In other TBL Updates, columns updated in the past couple days feature The Prime Cut (I discuss The Underrated Women’s Division), The Razor’s Edge (He mumbles out loud about the disrespect some Internet people have shown), and The Not So Regal View (Talks about Heels/Faces and lists any in his CAPITAL style). Also don’t forget to check out our RAW Review.
My Thought of the Week
– This may sound weird, but if there’s still some hope deep down inside, can you see HBK and HHH teaming up together at the end of this whole thing? With guys like Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner, and even the possibility of having The Rock or Austin, hell, even Bret Hart or Hogan on RAW, they would have plenty of people to feud with. Give it a thought.
Thanks for reading and Martin should be back during the weekend with a report of his own. As far as I go, I should be back again next week as it seems that we now have the schedule done — Yours Truly will update on Tuesday/Wednesday and Martin on Saturday/Sunday. In the meanwhile, check all other updates and once again, look for Michael’s new project as well as another PTR I’m guessing this week! Peace.