Yo, you’re reading the News and Analysis for the weekend. I hope everyone out there had a good week, and before I move on, just a quick thank you for all the responses to the mid-week edition of N and A. I expected some comments on what I had to say about The Rock, but was pleasantly surpris to find out that everyone agreed with what I had to say. Feel free to always e-mail me your thoughts, whether you agree or not. I’d love to hear from you. I respond everyone, as long as your e-mail address is valid and working. Well, with that said, let’s get to it. Not a lot to say this weekend, but I have some goodies for ya, and no, nothing to do with Debra’s cookies. How long has it been since she’s been around anyway?
WWE went ahead and aired that one show that they call SmackDown! on Thursday night. Originally taped from London, Ontario, on Tuesday, the show was an enjoyable one nonetheless. It was highlighted by the return of Rhyno, and the main event that featured Brock Lesnar taking on Team Angle in a Handicapped Match, with a stipulation — If Lesnar wins, he gets ANY member of Team Angle in a Steel Cage next week on SmackDown!. Heyman ended up being that person, as Brock won. Hulk Hogan wasn’t around, so Vince McMahon cut a promo and aired the No Way Out match between Rock and Hogan, while Sly himself, introduced the clip. Elsewhere on the show, FBI left some impact on the Guerreros and Rikishi, Stephanie McMahon announced that Torrie Wilson will be on the covers of Playboy next month, and Nathan Jones made his debut by saving The Undertaker from these darn bullies Big Show and A-Train. Oh yeah, in what I found a bit odd, Rey Mysterio wasn’t on the show, which makes me think we’ll see him on Velocity. If you need a full SmackDown! report, us folks at TheBalrogsLair.com got one right HERE. SmackDown! ended up with a 3.5 rating, which is a pretty nice score, considering the competition on Thursday night. We’ll see what the rating’s going to be like next week when Hogan will be in the house.
It’s Rhyno!!! The ManBeast is back and and boy, what a comeback he had this past week. The fans went insane for the last man to hold the ECW Championship. The Detroit-native teamed up with Chris Benoit to take on Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore, and folks, Rhyno proved that he’s definitely deservant of being one of WWE’s top players. The big man looked great in the ring, and the Gore never looked better. As far as Matt Hardy goes, it left a lot of people wondering why he got squashed after winning the Cruiserweight Championship at No Way Out, and what’s with that division. Well, there were rumors last week Rhyno will return as Matt Hardy’s bodyguard (yes, you read it right). I don’t know how true that is, but Rhyno is not used to playing a babyface role, so I expect him to turn heel sooner or later. We shall see. Chris Benoit is currently left with nothing to do, so I’m expecting Rhyno to hang around the Crippler for a while, whether as partners or opponents. As far as Matt Hardy goes, I can’t help but wonder why Rey Mysterio wasn’t on SmackDown!. I definitely think that now is the time for WWE to bring Mysterio in the mix for the cruiserweight belt, and Hardy vs. Mysterio or some type of a match involving more cruiserweights for WrestleMania should be in the plans.
Nathan Jones debuted for WWE this past week. A-Train and The Big Show, who are now both clients of Paul Heyman, attacked The Undertaker in the ring, and Nathan made the save. He didn’t do much to be honest, nor did he leave that big of an impact, as to me he looked a bit weak in the ring with three giants. The thing to note here is that Nathan is by all means headed to a feud with either one of these three men, with what seems to be a match with The Undertaker either at ‘Mania or somewhere down the road. More on ‘Mania later on, though. Undertaker vs. A-Train is scheduled for next week’s SmackDown!, and I would guess that both Big Show and Nathan Jones will be there as well, continuing the storyline. This might even end up being a tag team match-up at WrestleMania, as WWE likes to pair up guys here and there to get more people on the card. However, I honestly can’t see that happen. Just picture these four in the ring at the same time — not pretty. Anyway, no negativity. Just stay tuned for this one. For what it’s worth, it looks like WWE will go ahead and push Nathan Jones, but be very careful at the same time. It should also be mentioned that several sites reported not only did Undertaker didn’t mind feuding with A-Train, but he suggested in doing so. That definitely should give the Dead Man some credit, and I hope many agree that A-Train has been trying his best lately and isn’t that horrible of a competitor. As far as No Way Out goes, I think Show and Taker put an enjoyable match together, again, thanks to ‘Taker.
Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle are several weeks away from their showdown at WrestleMania XIX, and you can bet your money that this will indeed be one of the most anticipated matches in WWE history. WWE has done a tremendous job of setting up the bout for near three months, as this whole ordeal began before Armageddon in December. They managed to keep Angle and Lesnar as far as possible, and the introduction of Team Angle has done nothing but good and positive things over on the SmackDown! brand. These two guys are just awesome in their performance week-in and week-out and deserve to be the tag team champions. They have the charisma and the talent to back it up. Brock couldn’t be more over with the crowd than he is now, and with Paul Heyman to keep the feud alive, this whole saga has been an enjoyable one to watch. I think it’s too early to guess on who’s winning at ‘Mania, but nonetheless it’ll be a great match.
Speaking of Heyman, let’s break for a short news update. News got out during the week that Paul Heyman got demoted from his SmackDown! writer position and has now become a consultant for both shows. For what it’s worth, it looks like Heyman’s passion has gotten the best out of him again, as he would get into arguments with people like Kevin Dunn and Brian Gerwetz on occassions, defending the wrestlers and some of the great ideas that come through. I think we should all thank Heyman for the great writing he has done on SmackDown! and hopefully things won’t go downhill from here on. As far as the Cage Match with Lesnar goes, WWE has been long setting up the fans for Lesnar getting the best out of his former manager, so if it happens next week, it’s definitely more likely that WWE is punishing Heyman with the beating. If they keep it for ‘Mania, it’ll show that they’re ready to move on. Bottom line is, Heyman is no longer the main SmackDown! writer, as this position goes to two other individuals, one being Bruce Prichard (Brother Love) and the other one being Dave Lagana, who WWE hired about two years ago if memory serves me right.
Back in the SmackDown! mix, the newly-formed group of Nunzio, Johnny The Bull Stamboli, and Chuck Palumbo is now known as FBI. With Heyman out as the main writer of SmackDown!, you got to wander if WWE will keep pushing these three guys (Nunzio and Heyman are good friends from ECW days). In my opinion, there’s no question they will, and they should. Palumbo and Nunzio are proven comeptitors and Johnny Stamboli isn’t that bad at all. The gimmick is catchy, and if WWE works carefully around it, they’ll be able to get their money worth. I don’t like the idea of having them feud the Guerreros as this kind of goes back to the racial side of things. Now we have Italians feud Latinos. Then again, if you think about it, anyone feuding with the Guerreros could be seen as different, since WWE keeps beating down the point that the Guerreros are two Latin guys who “cheat and steal” for life. Nice. Expect that storyline to continue and with Rikishi involved a 6-Man Tag is all but confirmed.
Ok, well, now it’s official. Torrie Wilson… Playboy… Next month.
Like I said, not much of a news week. With Rock, Hogan, and Austin back on TV, there won’t be as many news to constantly report on, but there’s always something that pops up. Here are some important links on some business-related WWE news, which were posted on the site
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* Marketwatch: World Wrestling posts losses — WWE posted their third quarter fiscal numbers, and things don’t look good. I won’t take the time to comment on each one of their problems, but I’ll just say that things are down big time. WWE announced the lost of near $26 million which is a lot. Business is down, but hopefully things will slowly improve. I really don’t want to get negative here, so I’ll move on.
* WWE to Close The World in NYC — With the bad financial numbers, Linda McMahon also let the world know that WWE will be closing their Time Square restaurant — The World. Ever since its opening, The World wasn’t exactly profitable for the company and its closing was expected by many. Business just didn’t seem to pick up so well. At the beginning, it was going okay, but after September 11 things got worse. WWE decided to get rid of it, and it looks like won’t be trying anything in that area soon. I think that the idea they had here is good, but The World turned into XFL 2.
* Kurt Schneider New Marketing Executive Vince President for WWE — self-explicable stuff here. Not that big of a move business-wise, but WWE is hoping for better times with Schneider. Check the publication for more.
There isn’t much to update you on where Bill Goldberg goes. Rumors continue to run wild all over the Internet about where the negotiations between WWE and Goldberg are. As it stands right now, the two sides have definitely gotten closer over the past few days, and a deal is all but signed. The Rock appeared on a radio show today and did indeed say that the two sides are close to a deal. Other sources have stated as well that Goldberg and WWE are closer to signing now than they’ve ever been. I think the signing is just a matter of time, and obviously Goldberg will not be a part of WrestleMania XIX match-wise. He might appear, but I don’t expect him to wrestle for two reasons. The first being that Steve Austin will have no opponent (If Goldberg signs, he’ll wrestle The Rock), and the second one being that WWE will always have a huge buyrate with WrestleMania, just because of the name and the fact that it’s the biggest show they present the whole year. The card is already stacked, and getting Goldberg on it will kind of make a good match like Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar or Triple H vs. Booker T seem weak, as it’ll be third or fourth from the top. WWE would rather keep Goldberg for the future if they sign him, or possibly have him appear in some fashion at the PPV, maybe even interfere during Rock-Austin or McMahon-Hogan.
With that said, let’s take a look at the WrestleMania card. Not a lot has changed after this week, but I honestly can’t see Nash appear on the PPV now. At least not wrestle, so Scott Steiner is kind of the odd man as of now. Let me know where you think he might end up being, as well as everyone else. I’d like to hear your thoughts. For now, here’s my card, again with (?) signifying matches I’m totally not sure in or am just speculating on.
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— The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
— Kurt Angle (c) vs. Brock Lesnar — WWE Championship [confirmed]
— Triple H (c) vs. Booker T — World Heavyweight Championship [confirmed]
— Vince McMahon vs. Hulk Hogan
— Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels
— Scott Steiner vs. Randy Orton OR Dave Batista
— The Undertaker vs. Nathan Jones (?)
— Kane vs. RVD
— Regal/Storm (c) vs. The Dudley Boyz — World Tag Team Championships
— Team Angle (c) vs. Los Guerreros vs. Chris Benoit and Rhyno (?) — WWE Tag Team Championships
— Matt Hardy (c) vs. Rey Mysterio (?) — WWE Cruiserweight Championship
— Victoria (c) vs. Trish Stratus vs. Jazz (?) — WWE Women’s Championship
— A performance by Limp Bizkit [confirmed]
There you go, folks. Twelve matches. Again, I’m just speculating on a lot of things, so, please, keep that in mind. I still can’t quite fit Scott Steiner and Evolution on the card, but I would tend to guess Steiner will take on either Orton or Batista, with the other one being at ringside. I would also say that more cruiserweights will be involved somehow, unless WWE goes ahead with the one-on-one match. As far as the World Tag Teams Title on RAW goes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see 3 Minute Warning be involved as well on the card, to make it a Three Way Dance. It’s just that WWE really likes to involve a lot of people for the big show. With the same logic, they might add Big Show and A-Train for the SmackDown! tag titles battle, and make it two heel teams against two faces. We’ll see. Let me know what you think.
My Two Cents
When Rock said “I know who you are.. Green outfit, H on your chest, green mask” to Hurricane, was I the only one thinking he’ll say “You’re Triple H?”
Did you notice that this past Thursday was the first time WWE used new shots of Rock in the SmackDown! video, and at the same time it was the first Thursday he wasn’t there since he went to RAW?
So what happens to Billy Kidman now?
Where are Sean O’Haire, Chris Kanyon, and Bill DeMott?
How heel-ish was Vince when he rubbed the fact that Hogan isn’t there in everyone’s face?
From RAW, how darn hilarious was The Rock in all his segments?
Wasn’t it cool for WWE to finally do something with Hurricane, after they brought him to RAW, teamed him up with Kane for a while, then pushed him back?
Don’t you think John Cena deserves some props? You might not be a rap fan, but the guy’s charisma and skills have been obvious from his segments lately?
Thanks for reading guys. That will do it for this week! Make sure to let me know if you have any thoughts on anyhing said in here, or you agree/disagree with some of the stuff. I’m always open to hear what you have to say. Thanks!
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
