Hey everyone. I’m back on a rather unusual mid-week update with some news. After all, this section is called NEWS & Analysis. I figured I’d give you my rundown of the news as well, not just the TV shows like I normally do.
The big news item today is Matt Hardy. Matt was seen backstage at RAW this past Monday night. Many sources concluded that he was simply there to meet up with old friends and spend some time with his girlfriend Lita. However, as it turns out, there’s more to it according to the Wrestling Observer’s website. It was reported earlier today that Matt Hardy has been probably “traded” to RAW. Nothing has been confirmed by WWE (of course), so please take all of this for what it’s worth, but as it stands right now, Hardy is on RAW. To add more to this tidbit, Hardy missed the weekend house shows of the SmackDown brand. The current plan is for him to figure into a feud with Christian, which would have to explain his involvement with Lita as of late.
I don’t know about you but this is a great move by WWE in my opinion. Hardy was simply put back on SmackDown. When he was “traded” to Thursday nights, Hardy became the only guy on the show whose character was actually credible, and whose gimmick of V1 was getting over with the fans. Some good matches and feuds followed, including a program with The Undertaker for the Heavyweight title, as well as one with Rey Mysterio over the Crusierweight belt recently. However, for the past several months, Matt has been stuck on SmackDown with nothing to do. He was in the midst of a feud with Zach Gowen with many believing Gowen will become an M.F.er eventually, but last I heard, Gowen suffered a concussion at No Mercy, and the storyline wasn’t so hot to begin with. On RAW, Matt has many possibilities, as guys he’s familiar with, such as Christian and the Dudleyz for example, are around. His girlfriend Lita is also there and obviously WWE will use that for storyline purposes. If al of this is true, I wish Matt good luck on RAW.
Matt wasn’t the only member of the Hardy Boyz who was backstage at RAW. Jeff Hardy was also at the show, mostly to catch up with old friends. At this point, sources are saying that there has been no talk between WWE and Jeff Hardy for a potential return, and that Jeff was simply visiting. However, it should be noted that if Hardy was let backstage, his relationship with the company isn’t so bad after all. I definitely think that the door is open for Hardy when he’s ready and focused to come in yet again. It will happen eventually, if you ask me.
The Wrestling Observer’s website is also reporting several rumored matches added to the Survivor Series card. Again, those matches are RUMORED, so have that in mind when you look at the current Survivor Series card:
* Goldberg vs. Triple H — World Championship
* Vince McMahon vs. The Undertaker — Buried Alive
* Shane McMahon vs. Kane — Ambulance Match
* Austin’s Team (RVD, Booker T, TBA) vs. Bischoff’s Team (Christian, Jericho, Steiner, TBA)
* Molly Holly vs. Lita — Women’s Championship
* The Bashams vs. Los Guerreros — WWE Tag Team Championships
* Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones, and the Big Show vs. Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, APA, and Hardcore Holly — Survivor Series rules match
I expect at least one or two more matches to be added to the card. The last two bouts are rumored at this time. As far as who else might get on the card, I’d look for Tajiri to defend his Cruiserweight championship, and possibly the Dudleyz will put their straps on the line as well. Time will tell.
As probably most of you know, Bill Goldberg wasn’t at RAW selling his “beat down” by Batista the week before. However, according to 1Wrestling.com, Goldberg is currently suffering through some back pain problems, caused after the October 20th edition of RAW (when he was attacked by Batista). The latest word is that Goldberg will not miss too much TV time and he will definitely be healed by the Survivor Series event, when he defends his title against Triple H.
RVD and Batista will be the special guests tomorrow on WWE.com’s Byte This! There’s a lot of noise online about it, as many people are interested to see what RVD will have to say about the current direction of the company and his character; or if he’ll have any negative remarks directed towards WWE upper management. You can catch Byte This over at WWE.com, at 4 PM ET, 1 PM PT.
In other news, it’s been made public that WWE Superstar Bill DeMott has retired from the wrestling industry. DeMott did the commentary for WWE Velocity last night at the tapings, alongside Josh Matthews. He was off TV due to an arm injury which I guess combined with lack of ideas for him was the decision behind the move. Bill DeMott was an enjoyable character in WCW who went under several goofy names such as General E. Rection, and Hugh Morrus. His popularity in WWE was definitely his appearance as permanent coach on WWE’s Tough Enough III. On behalf of TBL, I wish Bill a pleasant and healthy life with his family!
That will do it for this short news update folks. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought by e-mailing me at eddie@thebalrogslair.com. Thanks for your time and have a great week.
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
