INSIDE THE RING NEWSLETTER
Edition 42
By Trevor Hunnicutt and Eddie T.
RAW Scores Highest Rating This Year
The 4/4 RAW show scored a very strong 4.3 broadcast rating, which is the highest mark it has had this year, and in a very long time. Before WrestleMania, the 3.8 – 4.0 range was the average rating of the show, but it looks like The Animal, Batista, has passed his first test as champion, as the show highlighed by him scored solid in the ratings. It should be also noted that WWE RAW went head-to-head with the NCAA Basketball Final, an event that blew everyone out of the water with a whooping rating on that Monday.
We will have this week’s RAW rating in the regular weekend edition. It will be interesting to see what the reaction is, seeing as it was the second week after the beginning of Batista’s Era, and the show was, quite frankly, bad.
WWE Releases Bill “Paul Bearer” Moody
by Eddie T.
Bill Moody, aka Paul Bearer/Percy Pringle, had the following to say on his website today…
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Back To Business…
With great respect and consideration to all of my friends and supporters through the years, I sincerely feel that you should hear the following announcement directly from me. At times information can get misconstrued on the wrestling Internet. I want to ensure that before the anticipated communication leaks occur, that you get the complete truth that you so rightfully deserve.
During a telephone conversation yesterday with John Laurinaitis, from World Wrestling Entertainment Talent Relations, I was informed that the company decided to terminate my booking contract dated October 3, 2003. The contract specifies that the agreement may be terminated for any reason whatsoever by providing me with ninety (90) days advance written notice. My 90-day written notice will be issued by WWE Legal Department on Monday, April 11th.
I would like to say that our conversation was a courtesy, very cordial, and definitely not unexpected. The WWE creative department has not been able to come up with a viable storyline for the Paul Bearer character since he was “buried” in cement at THE GREAT AMERICAN BASH on June 27, 2004.
The last two years have indeed been a blessing, as the company made a major life saving surgery possible for me. I will always treasure the many friendships and memories of my almost 14-year association with The McMahon Family. I will never shut the door on a future relationship with WWE, as you well know anything can happen.
The next 90-days will be very important for me, as I must make some serious career decisions. Once again, I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. For some odd reason I feel like it’s somebody’s birthday around here tomorrow. I know it can’t be mine! Then again, it very well could be. Hehee.
Take care, my friends.
~Percy
And that’s that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him brought back some day in some role, seeing as WWE can definitely use someone like Moody in a lot of ways, other than as an on-screen personality. Time will tell. The staff of TheBalrogsLair.com wishes Bill Moody the best!
WWE Releases Rhyno
by Eddie T.
World Wrestling Entertainment has released WWE superstar Rhyno. The reason being is an incident that occurred on the weekend of WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles. After the show, the WWE superstars all headed to the hotel they were in, and after that to the WrestleMania after-party. Rhyno was overheard screaming to his wife in one of the halls of the hotel, which immediatelly grabbed the attention of the hotel staff, and guests, as well as fans, who were present. The incident occurred in front of other people, which made it that much worse. Several members of upper management had a talk with Rhyno right after, but a release wasn’t mentioned for the time being. As of today, they made it official, and Rhyno has been let go of the company.
I am not sure what this means, as far as the ECW PPV this year goes, seeing as Rhyno was the last man to hold the ECW Heavyweight Title, as well as one of ECW’s major stars, especially towards its end. I’m guessing that WWE might give him a one-night deal for the PPV, since Paul Heyman is involved, and he’s a really good personal friend of Rhyno.
WWE Releases Jesus and Willy Jones
by Eddie T.
WWE released Aaron “Jesus” Aguilera, as well as Willy “Chilly Willy” Jones today. Willy Jones is a former ECW talent who was working in OVW and was said to be doing pretty well, so his release comes as somewhat of a surprise. He has also done some international shows after ECW folded. Jesus, on the other hand, made a debut on WWE television, as Carlito Caribbean Cool’s bodyguard, but unfortunately suffered a neck injury which required surgery back in January. He’s been out ever since, and the company has now released him. He had one match on PPV, as he faced John Cena in 2004.
WWE Releases Matt Hardy
by Eddie T.
The releases from WWE keep on going. After Paul Bearer, Rhyno, Jesus, and Willy Jones were released, WWE.com announced earlier today that Matt Hardy has been released from the company as well. This comes as a huge surprise to many, seeing as Hardy had just recovered from a knee injury and was setting to make his return to the company. There should be a very interesting follow-up on this story, as one has to believe Matt’s relationship with Adam Copeland (Edge) and Amy Dumas (Lita) had something to do with the decision, although that’s pure speculations as of right now. There really wasn’t a good reason to let go of Hardy, who made a name for himself with the Mattitude gimmick in 2003 and 2004. More to follow. Stay tuned to TBL for the latest in pro wrestling.
Matt Hardy’s Response to Being Released; Wrestlers’ Opinions
by Eddie T.
Matt Hardy posted the following on the message board of his website TheMattHardy.com:
“First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for the incredible support that you have shown me in this very hard and difficult time. I have been kicked down before (although probably not this much, in such a short amount of time), but I always find a way to rebound and make my life a better place. Thanks for the outpouring of emotion and letting me know how much you care–I need that now. For all of you who believe in me, cheer for me, and care for me, I am not going away–I will rise above. Thanks and much love…
Matt”
A lot of people saw Rhyno’s release coming, seeing as he did it to himself during WrestleMania weekend, while most of the wrestlers were surprised to hear about Hardy.
There’s been a lot of chatter in the back when it comes to the decision of firing Matt Hardy. Many people feel that the company has crossed the line of privacy, seeing as they used a real-life occurrence to make such a big decision. This definitely doesn’t sit well with many wrestlers in the back. However, management and others feel that Hardy is to blame as well, since he was the one who released (not directly) the news of his break-up with Lita to the media, and WWE hates any of their wrestlers talking to the dirt sheets.
One can’t help but wonder if the Lita/Kane segment on RAW that featured some toncil hokey was the final F-U to Matt Hardy by the company.
WWE Releases Molly Holly
by Eddie T.
The cuts keep on coming.
World Wrestling Entertainment posted the following on WWE.com earlier today:
Molly Holly and World Wrestling Entertainment have mutually agreed on her release. WWE wishes her the best in her future endeavors.
There really isn’t much more available as of this writting, other than it seems the “post WrestleMania” cuts have continued. The response to recent cuts has been very lukeworm in the back, as one would expect.
UFC The Ultimate Fighter Season Finale
by WrestlingObserver.com
While watching “The Ultimate Fighter” finale, a familiar feeling came
over me. It was the the feeling I had when Saturday Night Main Event
debut on NBC or when ECW finally landed its first Pay Per View. I found
myself not really rooting for the matches but for the show itself. The
UFC needed a good TUF finale and thanks to Forest Griffen and Stephan
Bonnar, they got a great one.
Bonnar and Griffen layed down a blueprint for how stars are made.
Using a combination of humor and wit, they each cut promos that were not
only entertaining but built towards their fight as well. Neither one
had to stand in the ring for a half an hour; huffing and puffing over a
rehearsed script that was written for them by some Hollywood screen
writer. They simply talked about a match that they were passionate
about while turning their own personalities up a notch.
Phase two was the actual match itself. They had been saying all along
that they were going to give the audience what they wanted. In doing
just that, they in turn gave the UFC what it needed. If you missed the
fight, just imagine Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed wrapped up into three
5 minute rounds, with the feel good ending of both men receiving a 3
year/6 figure UFC contract.
The format of the show went down exactly like I thought it would. From
interviewing Dana White a few days ago, he made it very clear that only
three fights would be airing during the telecast. With two of the three
fights ending during the first round, this left a lot of time that was
filled with recaps and highlight pieces. Before Diego Sanchez and Kenny
Florian started the first match of the night, we had to sit through a
half an hour of bed spritzing and the now famous Asparagus war of 2004.
Did the lack of an actual fight cause viewers to tune out? My theory on
that is no. The hardcore fans were going to stick with it no matter
what. The casual or new MMA fan, who watched TUF regularly, would at
the very least come back over once the actual fights started; And those
who were tuning in for the first time probably benefitted from the back
story that the recaps told. Lets face it; if a viewer does not have a
certain level of patience and attention span, they are never going to be
a fan of the sport anyways. MMA will never have a crash television feel
to it, and I thank God for that.
At the end of the show, four new MMA stars were created. Diego Sanchez
continued to dominate his way through the Middleweight field, picking up
his 4th win on the show, by stopping a bloodied Kenny Florian in the 1st
round. They really played up Diego’s hispanic heritage which may have
been an attempt to create a new “Latin Superstar.” Sanchez possesses a
cocky attitude that will either cause fans to love him or hate him.
With the proper buildup, either of those are fine in regards to making
money
Forest Griffen was portrayed as a tough, crazy, likeable good old boy.
The previous story of how he knocked an opponent out with his one good
arm after his other arm had been broken will go down as MMA legend.
Forest is a pretty hard guy not to like. He has been in the sport for
awhile, but he still has potential to grow as a fighter. Especially now
that he has the financial means to concentrate solely on training.
Griffen told his story of how he put all his belongings in storage, quit
his job as a police officer, and moved in with his coach, in his quest
to become the Ultimate Fighter.
Stephan Bonnar proved that you can sometimes get over more in defeat
than in victory. Bonnar is everything that the UFC wants in a fighter.
Educated, well spoken, exciting, cross trained. Bonnar and Griffen’s
names are going to be synonymous with each other for the time being.
Again, there is nothing wrong with that as far as making money is
concerned. The viewing public is already screaming for a rematch.
Arturo Gatti/Micky Ward and Erik Morales/Marco Antonio Barrera have
shown us the PPV potential of an exciting trilogy of fights.
With a new 8 fight contract, it looks like the UFC has its biggest plans
set aside for Rich Franklin. If Bonnar is everything the UFC wants than
Rich Franklin is their wet dream. Dana White can downplay the Sports
Entertainment influence to his product all he wants but Franklin vs. Ken
Shamrock was Pro Wrestling 101 as far as booking was concerned. As soon
as I heard the details of Franklins new contract, I knew that the people
on the inside had a pretty good idea that Rich was going over. Anything
can happen in a fight though, so wisely a lot of options were left open
pending the outcome. As it turns out, Shamrock passed the torch and
Franklin was set up as the new possible face of the Middleweight
division.
I am still up in the air about this decision. Franklin did not look to
good to me in his one Middleweight outing thus far against Jorge Rivera.
Although he won by submission in the 3rd round, it looked like cutting
to 185 lbs. made him very lethargic. He has already decisively beat the
current Middleweight champ, Evan Tanner, when both were competing in the
Light Heavyweight division so a rematch is already set in place. The
problem would be that the winner of Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell is
going to need a legit #1 contender as an opponent coming up soon.
Franklin is the only fighter under contract that remotely fits that
mold. Maybe Dana has something up his sleeve.
Shamrock was in great shape coming into the fight, but despite Joe Rogan
shilling the fact that the 2005 version of Ken was better than the
fighter he was 11 years ago, everyone kind of knew different. I wish
the slip never happened but in a stretching it sort of way, it does give
Ken an excuse if he chooses to return. I would actually like to see
Shamrock used in a different way. A coach for the 2nd season of TUF is
a good fit.
Thinking out of the box, I would love to see him take over the role as
an on air commissioner. Dana White is doing a good job but I wish he
would do so more behind the scenes. There is just something unsettling
to me about Dana constantly on screen, explaining the ins and outs of
the sport to a new audience. It’s not that I buy into the theory that
you have to have been a Pro Fighter to know shit about the sport; I just
think Ken would be excellent in that role.
So now that the first season of TUF is over, where does that leave
things in regards to the UFC and Spike TV? A season 2 has been
confirmed, featuring Heavyweights and Welterweight, but that is some
time away. Could the UFC pull off a “Tuesday Night Fights” type of
show? I think they could but it would not be the best option at this
time. You got to remember, every show is not going to have a
Griffen/Bonnar type fight.
If I woke up with the decision making shoes on, I would go the route of
a two hour block consisting of a 1 hour UFC news magazine type show that
would feature profiles, PPV hype, and one or two hand selected fights
per week that could be taped during a small house show type deal. Every
month, they could rent out a small venue, tape about 12 to 15 fights and
pick out the most exciting ones to air. Save the big name fighters for
the PPVs and just concentrate on developing unknown talent. Even with
cable TV, I still see the UFC being a PPV driven business for now.
The second hour would be TUF Season 2. How many personalities were
created during the last 3 months? Sanchez, Griffen, Bonnar, Quarry,
Leben, Koscheck, Hogar, Southworth, Swick. I can still think of three
fights that would draw PPV buys from this group; Bonnar vs. Griffen
part 2, Leben vs. Koscheck part 2, and Sanchez vs. Quarry.
Between these two shows, MMA fans would see around 8 to 10 fights a
month on free TV, and around 10 new marketable fighters will have been
created throughout the year. That is about 9 more than the WWE created
last year. If the UFC can promote wisely and spend less than they make,
they can end up being a strong sports entertainment alternative.
Hopefully, TUF turned a lot of Pro Wrestling fans on to the sport of
Mixed Martial Arts. That was one of the main reasons why I wanted to
cover the show for the Observer. I am just like many of the readers
here. I have been a hardcore fan of Pro Wrestling for 23 years. I have
also been a fan of MMA since UFC 1, eleven years ago.
Without chiming in to the debate of whether or not Pro Wrestling and
MMA belong under the same umbrella of coverage, I will say this. Over
the past 3 months, “The Ultimate Fighter” has brought back many emotions
that Pro Wrestling has long since killed off for me. I found myself
actually caring about wins and losses. I anxiously awaited matches all
week long. Pay Per Views and big events meant something again. There
were bad guys who I wanted to see get what was coming to them, and good
guys who I cheered for in their triumph. I had made a statement a few
months back that I still believe today. I would love to see more
elements of MMA in Pro Wrestling and vice versa.
UFC The Ultimate Fighter Season Finale Rating
by Eddie T.
The long-awaited number is in. The finale of The Ultimate Fighter scored a 1.9 rating on SpikeTV this past Saturday night. I’m not sure what SpikeTV was hoping for, but having in mind the day and the hour, UFC should consider this as a fair number. The show was an absolute success for both UFC and SpikeTV if you look into the big picture, and I’m also sure that the replay on Monday night after RAW did a solid number as well. If you didn’t get to see the special, try your best to find a tape because the Stephan Bonnar vs. Forrest Griffin bout was absolutely amazing.
TNA Impact Report & Analysis (4/1)
by George “TMI” Champlin
Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s IMPACT report. My name is George “TMI” Champlin and I am here to test your brain and fill you in on the best wrestling federation out there today. Normally this is the section where I give my weekly shout outs to the members who answered my trivia question correctly, however I received no answers which either means two things. One, no one read my comeback report which I would find very upsetting. Or two, no one knew the correct answer. I will go with number two just to keep my self esteem above ground. Ok now it is time for my MELTDOWN of the week. This week’s meltdown is this week’s Impact show. I understand that they need to hype the upcoming PPV but to only give us two matches out of an hour show is just not right. Granted the last match was great and lasted 26 minutes but the other match was a quick squash which meant we had PPV plugs shoved down our throat for 30 minutes. TNA balance is a word you need to think about. Let’s see the wrestlers that are going to be in the PPV then shove flashbacks and histories down our throat. Most people that are watch Impact right now knows all the history so save that for when you get a different time spot and channel. Ok time to get down to brass tacks.
Ok we started out with a recap of the whole JJ, Outlaw, and Monty Brown VS Kevin Nash, DDP, and Sean Waltman. A basic recap of the events that has transpired over the last three weeks between the two teams was shown. The productions of these recaps are done great but by shows end I was tired of them.
We then go to Don West and Mike Tenay who tell us that the winner of tonight’s main event will face Christopher Daniels at LOCDOWN for the X Division title. We are also informed that Dusty Rhodes has agreed to the Six Sides of Steel match between JJ, Outlaw, and Monty Brown VS Kevin Nash, DDP and Sean Waltman. And if that was not enough we were also told that the other Six Sides of Steel match (too many gimmick matches in one PPV IMO) would be AJ Styles VS Abyss and the winner would get a shot at JJ’s title down the road.
AJ Styles comes down to do commentary and surprise the match has Abyss in it. Sorry to sound so sarcastic but I was really letdown by this weeks Impact.
Cassidy Riley vs. Abyss: Cassidy ducked two big swings from the big man and tried to punch Abyss only to have no effect on him. Abyss grew tired of this and put Riley in the Torture Rack and then did a sit down power bomb. Then for frosting on the cake Abyss hit Riley with the BLACK HOLE SLAM at the 1:28 mark for the pin. I GIVE THIS MATCH 2 RINGPOSTS OUT OF SIX FOR BEING YOUR TYPICAL SQUASH MATCH.
After the match Abyss stared at AJ and then got a bag of thumbtacks out from under the ring and went to use them on Riley but Jeff Hardy came out and hit Abyss with the TWIST OF FATE. Then Raven came out and helped Abyss attack Riley until AJ came from the announcers table and hit Abyss with his clothesline from the top rope while Hardy cleared out Raven. We went to a commercial as they showed AJ and Hardy in the ring.
Next we saw an outstanding video package of the history of Triple X from them forming to the forced breakup at Victory Road. Then they covered Daniels turn on his partner and they got the point across that if Prime Time would win the main event that the match would be a great grudge match.
Next was an interview between Monty Brown and Mike Tenay. A good interview for Monty who I feel is getting his heel role over very well. I always thought of Brown as a heel so I hope they keep this going. The tease is still there on if JJ promised Brown a title shot for his turn so that’s got to play out yet.
After a commercial break Tenay and West talked about the six man six sides of steel match. They did a good job of getting the storyline over even though we have seen recap’s once already and we will be seeing another one soon. Surprise we see a video clip of the last PPV with the Monty Brown Turn and then last week’s attack of Kevin Nash. Of course we were led to worry about the extent of injury to Nash.
We got to see ANOTHER video package this time of the beginning of the PPV against All Odds and then a rundown of all of the top TNA wrestlers. We then got to hear Tenay and West talk about the main event and the winner would face Christopher Daniels at Lockdown. Due to TNA messing up the order of their videos we were already informed that Daniels would be facing Prime Time so we already know the winner of this match.
X-Division Shootout match with Prime Time, Chris Sabin, Michael Shane, and Petey Williams: This by far was one of the best Impact matches that I have seen in a very long time. It was so good that it should of not been given away for free on TV. To be honest with you I had a hard time keeping up with what wrestlers were doing what and to whom. The entire bunch hit some great high spots with Shane and Williams being out of the match we were down to two. Prime Time and Sabin have a great chemistry in the ring together. Both of these men hit incredible moves and reversals with the tempo building up until Prime Time hit the ” SUDDEN DEATH” at the 21:21 mark for the win: I GIVE THIS MATCH SIX RING POSTS OUT OF SIX FOR SOME OF THE BEST WRESTLING I HAVE SEEN ON FREE TV IN A LONG TIME. PRIME TIME POINTED TO THE X BELT AS THE SHOW WENT OFF THE AIR WHICH REALLY TO ME MAKES THIS THE MAIN EVENT IN MY MIND AND NOT THE SIX MAN SIX SIDES OF STEEL.
Last week’s trivia question was never answered so I am going to leave it open for now in case anyone wants to go back over last weeks newsletter to try and answer it. Well this is Wrestlemania day so I must go prepare for the evening. Until next week take care.
Contact Us
Eddie T. — Levski11 at aol.com
George Champlin — geochamp at comcast.net
Trevor Hunnicutt — THunnicutt at aol.com
