INSIDE THE RING NEWSLETTER
by Trevor Hunnicutt and Eddie T.
Edition 45
GREAT AMERICAN BASH
by Eddie T.
You can find tons of information on The Great American Bash over at the main
page of TheBalrogsLair.com – _http://www.thebalrogslair.com_
(http://www.thebalrogslair.com/) . If you’re looking for a funny, twisted review of the PPV,
I encourage you all to check out my brand new – Eddie’s Blog – at
_http://eddie.thebalrogslair.com_ (http://eddie.thebalrogslair.com/) .
THIS PAST WEEK’S WWE TV
by Trevor Hunnicutt
RAW
5
The writers wrote material for the Diva Search and it was poorly delivered
and it fell flat. That was essentially the sour note that rang through this
show. Really boring and underneath that nothing much was really accomplished.
At this point, the carelessness of the booking can’t really be explained by
anything except lack of ability. It can’t be lack of ideas—the draft lottery
handed RAW a plethora of fresh options, and they already had the Hogan idea to
build around for several months (despite him producing the only recent
below-average buyrate in Backlash). Since 2001, the writing has been at times bad,
ineffective, careless, and absurd. Not to say it isn’t all that currently,
but now it’s so vapid and unremarkable that it doens’t even have to be stupid
to fall flat. The Matt Hardy situation has been improperly handled, but it
remains the most exciting part of the show. Shawn Michaels as pseudo-heel
doesn’t cut it for me. John Cena as psuedo-champion doesn’t either. Brian Gewirtz
needs to come back. His booking was driving the company into a hole, but at
least it was going somewhere.
SmackDown!
5
If this show was intended to make anyone buy Batista vs. JBL on PPV, it
didn’t work. And that is the desired intent of the go-home show, isn’t it? For
the second week in a row, Guerrero was the only highlight here. But he’s not in
the feud that will make people spend money–he was as a face at one point,
but those days are long gone. Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero was a very good
match. Super Crazy vs. Rey Mysterio should have been better, but this is not
the same Super Crazy as six years ago. For those of you who aren’t aware of
Road Warrior history, let me explain their drawing power to you. They got over
because of their bodies, refusual/inability to sell (much like Taz or
Goldberg), and Hawk’s charisma. As is clear, Fat Joe as Animal has no body of note.
As was classfully pointed out last week, Hawk is dead. And I’m sure Animal
is equally as inept a wrestler as he was 20 years ago, but that isn’t likely
to help this situation. So that plus Heidenreich isn’t exactly a profitable
equation. MNM is one of the hottest acts on Smackdown and this makeshift tag
team only serves to show the weaknesses of the tag team division rather than
build them up. The advancement on JBL/Batista is hugely problematic. If Batista
is pushed off to the side as champion, playing a cameo role in the show, I
can guarantee you it won’t help him. The JBL segments through the night and
promo at the end of the show did nothing to tell me why I should pay to see him
fight Batista. I saw lots of colors and lots of talking, but I was looking
for a bottom line and there wasn’t one to be found because there still hasn’t
been a sufficient explanation why these two are feuding other than it just
fell together that way. Then, Batista came out and talked some more, but we all
know this is his weakness, and I got about as much out of this as I did out
of Cena’s Y2Cheap promo. It’s a distinct possibility that I have attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, but I just didn’t get anything out of this
talking. I felt it was a way around actually booking something to make a better
point. The show ended with Batista looking like a fool.
RAW RATING
by Eddie T.
This week’s RAW rating came in at a 3.8, with a 6.1 share. Although a solid
number, the rating tells an interesting story – one of two completely
different hours. Hour 1 of the show did just a 3.4 rating, while hour 2 jumped all
the way up to a 4.2 score.
ALFRED HAYES PASSES AWAY AT AGE 77
Former WWE announcer and long time on-air talent for the company during the
Hulkamania era “Lord” Alfred Hayes passed away this past Wednesday at age 77.
Hayes was also a pro wrestler himself, gaining a lot of attention in the 60s
and 70s as a top heel. He began working for WWE in 1982 under Vince McMahon
Jr. as his single British voice of the company.
For the last number of years, Hayes had been living on his own in Dallas,
Texas. Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Alfred Hayes.
WWE NOT TO RESIGN IVORY’S CONTRACT
In a situation similar to that of the Dudleys, WWE has opted not to renew
Ivory‘s contract. The company released a statement on its website Friday
afternoon:
“Ivory’s World Wrestling Entertainment television contract will not be
renewed. She will make her final appearance on The WWE Experience this weekend.
WWE wishes Ivory well and hopes to work with her again in the near future,”
said WWE.com.
After the massive roster cuts two weeks ago, there had been a rumor that WWE
had considered releasing an additional four specific workers. It is not
known if Ivory was included on that list of four.
WWE FIRES EARL AND DAVE HEBNER
by Eddie T.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about this, but WWE fired Earl Hebner
earlier today allegedly for selling merchandise without authorization. Hebner
is the most well-known pro wrestling referee in the United States. Word has it
that Dave Hebner was also fired, however Dave Meltzer is reporting that
these rumors are incorrect as of the moment, although Dave was alleged to be
involved and has been disciplined.
Earl Hebner has refereed most of the main events in the company over the
past two decades, having been with WWE since 1988. He was most famous for the
_1997 Survivor Series Screwjob_
(http://www.thebalrogslair.com/extras/screwjob.shtml) where he “screwed” Bret Hart, as the fans love to chant.
Following Earl Hebner’s release this past Monday, and the controversy
surrounding the situation, WWE has also let go of Dave Hebner. Rumor has it that
Dave was suspended at first, but then released on the following day.
MMA UPDATE – PRIDE GETS TV DEAL
by Trevor Hunnicutt
In a groundbreaking development, the PRIDE Fighting Championships promotion
has landed a television deal with Fox Sports Network, according to a report
from the website MMA Weekly Monday.
The deal, which has been in the works for several weeks, will give PRIDE
television exposure in the United States that it hasn’t had to promote its PPV
shows. The show will air Sundays at 9 pm.
Mixed-martial arts has largely been on the upswing lately and much of this
deal rested on the recent television success of the Ultimate Fighting
Championships. UFC specials have aired on FSN to relatively high ratings in the past
and a more recent special and reality show have been successful on Spike TV.
The UFC season resumes July 25, with a 1-hour taped special after RAW at
11:05 pm. These specials will air weekly through August 22, when the second
season of Ultimate Fighter begins. A live special airs on August 6.
The PRIDE debut on FSN has no official start date.
For a company whose DVD sales and PPV sales have rested entirely on a
hardcore base of fans who have sought the programs out, a venue to promote the
shows further nationally is seen as a positive move.
*The new MMA group that has run two successful shows, Hero’s, will run again
on September 7. The show will feature the first round of a 154-pound
tournament. On the drawing power of new star Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Bob Sapp,
the second show drew a sellout of 10,697 and a 16.6 rating on TBS, beating
baseball competitively.
*Results from Bushido volume 8 in Nagoya, Japan on 7/17: (audience claimed
of 9,784) Josh Thomson d Daisuke “Amazon” Sugie in 2:35 of the first round;
Dennis Kang d Andrei Semenov by unanimous decision; Marcus Aurelia d Jutaro
Nakao by unanimous decision; Kazuki Okubo d Ryuichi Murata in 9:30 of the first
round; James Thompson d Henry “Sentoryu” Miller in 1:31 of the first round by
knockout; Joachim Hansen d Masakazu Imanari in 2:34 of the first round by
knockout; Daniel Acacio d Kazuo Misaki by unanimous decision; Tatsuya Kawajiri d
Luiz Buscape by unanimous decision; Ikuhisa Minowa d Kimo in 3:11 of the
first round by submission; Phil Baroni d Ryo Chonan in 1:40 of the first round
by knockout; Takanori Gomi b Jean “White Bear” Silva by unanimous decision.
This show airs next Friday on tape delay in the US.
TNA ANNOUNCES SPIKETV DEAL
by The News Wire
TNA iMPACT! TO TELECAST ON SPIKE TV!
New York, NY (July 21, 2005) – TNA Entertainment, LLC has signed a deal with
Spike TV to telecast TNA (Total Nonstop Action) Wrestling’s weekly action
athletic entertainment series “iMPACT!” The weekly one-hour show will join
Spike TV’s popular “Slammin’ Saturday Night” programming block starting this
Fall, taping at Soundstage 21 at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL.
“We are thrilled to be coming to Spike TV,” said Dixie Carter, President,
TNA Entertainment, LLC. “We look forward to bringing our exciting style of
Total Non-stop Action and entertainment to their male viewers.”
The new wrestling alternative, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling’s iMPACT!
delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, live-action athletic entertainment. TNA’s
roster includes some of the most exciting and recognizable stars in
wrestling today such as, Jeff Jarrett, Raven, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Abyss, Sean
Waltman, Christopher Daniels, Monty Brown and others. TNA features the
high-flying “X Division,” the “Six-Sided Ring,” and concept matches such as “Ultimate
X,” “King of the Mountain,” and “Six Sides of Steel.”
TNA Entertainment, LLC is a privately held company headquartered in
Nashville, TN. TNA programming is currently available in 118 countries. TNA is also
available on monthly pay-per-view on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, Dish Network and TVN
as well as Viewer’s Choice, Bell ExpressVu and Shaw PPV in Canada. The names
of all Total Nonstop Action Wrestling televised programming, talent names,
images, likenesses, slogans and all TNA Wrestling logos and trademarks are
exclusive property of TNA Entertainment, LLC. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners. For more information, visit
www.tnawrestling.com.
Spike TV, the first network for men, is available in 88 million homes and is
a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International
Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).
Contact:
Robert Pini Spike TV 212/846-8074 robert.pini at spiketv.com
Debra Fazio Spike TV 212/846-6240 _debra.fazio at spiketv.com_
(mailto:debra.fazio at spiketv.com)
CONTACT US
Trevor Hunnicutt – _THunnicutt at aol.com_ (mailto:THunnicutt at aol.com)
Eddie T. – _Levski11 at aol.com_ (mailto:Levski11 at aol.com)
