Thank you for taking time out of your day to enjoy the second installment of
the newly renovated XHeadlines/TBLWrestling Newsletter! The staff at
XHeadlines
TBLWrestling
and yours had fantastic Thanksgiving holiday.
Hopefully you were able to spend time with your family and friends and relax
a little, especially knowing that tomorrow begins another week at work!
XHeadlines is now looking to add to its established group of reporters. We
are accepting applications for the following positions: Opinions Columnist,
Programming Reviewer, News Analyst, and Syndicated Contributors. Please
email Jacob Spades at jtravis13 at gmail.com with the subject heading XH
POSITIONS and submit your information along with which position you are
applying for as well as a sample of your work.
This past week has been a busy one, seeing a few superstars return to
action, trading between brands, and the beginning of new rivalries that may
last through WrestleMania XIV. So without beating around the bush any
longer, let’s get straight to what YOU need to know to get prepared for the
upcoming week!
*HEADLINE NEWS from the World of Wrestling*
Probably the biggest story and *most-anticipated return *since Shawn
Michaels in 2002 was that of the Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah, the Larger
Than Life Living Legend, the Sexy Beast, and the first Undisputed Champion
in WWE history… *Y2J CHRIS JERICHO*! For weeks upon weeks, WWE ran a
viral marketing campaign promoting the *2nd_Coming* of someone that would *
Save_Us.X29*, and Chris Jericho revealed himself at this past Monday night’s
RAW program in the last segment, taking out Randy Orton‘s torch runner and
immediately thrusting himself in the WWE Championship picture. Read more
news at TBLWrestling…
Not to be outdone by his fellow Canadian’s return, the *Rated R Superstar
EDGE made his return* after suffering a torn left pectoral muscle injury on
the July 20, 2007 SmackDown!. The last time we saw Edge, he was forced to
relinquish his title. At Survivor Series, Edge returned to the ring,
appearing during the Hell in a Cell match and *attacking The
Undertaker*causing him to lose the match and Batista to retain the
world title. On the
following SmackDown!, Edge became embroiled in a love scandal with
SmackDown! General Manager, Vickie Guerrero. You simply have to read this
to believe it! Continue reading at
XHeadlines…
Former wrestling mega-star *Hollywood Hulk Hogan * and his family have been
in the news quite a bit recently. According to reports, Hogan’s wife,
Linda, was exposed by popular celebrity-reporting site TMZ.com as literally
being a *”Vehicular Lunatic”. * The video, from a documentary called
“Vehicular Lunatics,” also shows Linda boasting, “I love it. The rush, the
speed on the road … racing in between all the cars, dodging the cops. It’s
awesome.” It also reportedly *showed Linda Hogan drag racing another
vehicle*, with daughter Brooke in the passenger seat. Continue reading at
XHeadlines…
Also, during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC commercials began
airing promoting the *January 16th 2008 return of American Gladiators*. The
show will begin taping next week in California and will feature WWE Hall of
Famer *Hulk Hogan as a host*. Hogan was not featured in the commercials. Read
more news at TBLWrestling…
And finally, Hulk Hogan and his wife Linda are the latest celebrity couple
to call it quits as *Linda filed for divorce two days before Thanksgiving*.
It reportedly * came as a surprise to Hulk* since he was told by newspaper
reporters, and was quoted saying “My wife has been in California for about
three weeks. … Holy smokes. Wow, you just knocked the bottom out of me.”
Continue reading at
XHeadlines…
It looks like ECW Champion may finally have a new contender to his title in
*Shelton Benjamin*. The new ECW Superstar is featured in a storyline article
on WWE.com where it appears they are pushing him towards the title. Continue
reading at XHeadlines…
TNA’s booking team still consists of Dutch Mantel, Vince Russo and Jeff
Jarrett, others such as Abyss, Mike Tenay and Jeremy Borash have been
invited to sit in on creative meetings to help give input. The three have
not been officially added to the writing team, but were wanted to bounce
some ideas off of. Read more news at
TBLWrestling…
*Featured Column of the Week*
*
State Of The Squared Circle: RAW IS…
Dead???
*
Written by: Tom Corless of XHeadlines.com
Is Chris Jericho the WWE’s Savior???
I’m sure that all of the internet community is buzzing with the news of the
not-so-secret return of Chris Jericho to professional wrestling. Well, maybe
not professional wrestling, sports entertainment. To call what the WWE has
been doing for the last 3 years professional wrestling would be an insult to
all of the entertainers who ever laced up a pair of boots. WWE has stressed
child’s entertainment and bad storylines over any semblance of in-ring work
over the last few years, and this has put the industry in a black hole. The
sports entertainment industry has been lost since 2004, and it’s hard to
think of any WWE pay-per-views other than the Wrestlemanias that have been
worth their hefty price tags since then. So how does Y2J change all of
this???
He doesn’t.
Let me just stress that I used to adore Chris Jericho and his work. When
Chris was in WCW, he wowed crowds with 5 star matches with the likes of
Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko, and the Ultimo Dragon. His
microphone skills were even more impressive at the time, a heel like no
other, able to get crowds heated as much as they would be for Hollywood
Hogan at the time. Jericho was so good, he got a job offer he couldn’t
refuse from the WWE in 1999.
He debuted in the summer of 1999, much like he did on Monday night. Clad in
a silver vest, he appeared to an explosion of fireworks after a 10 second
countdown. Much like he also did on RAW this week, he claimed he had arrived
to save the WWE. The difference was, in 1999, the company didn’t need
saving. In 1999, there wasn’t an entire publicly traded business and billion
dollar industry on one man’s shoulders. This time around, WWE won’t even
deny that he was brought there to save them. This time, they are praying for
him to actually do it.
A lot has changed since the last time Jericho was in a WWE arena. Television
ratings are low, ECW was revived and then killed, and the death of one of
Chris’ closest friends has lead to a drug investigation that threatens the
very existence of professional wrestling. The business is at its lowest
point ever, even more depressed than it was in the early to mid-1990’s.
Besides all of these other problems, the WWE continues to put out a poor
product that insults the intelligence of its audience, almost as if the
McMahon’s are trying to kill the business.
Monday’s RAW program was a perfect example of what 2007 has been for the
WWE. The show started out strong with a heated moment between the legendary
Shawn Michaels and the industry’s brightest new star, Ken Kennedy. This was
followed up by one of the greatest matches the WWE has had in quite a while,
when Jeff Hardy and Umaga clashed in an epic encounter. Even the women
superstars went out and entertained better than most of the male athletes in
the company on Monday. Then they killed it. Stupidity won out once again,
when a midget wrestler was put out in the main event to face a superstar
being punished for wanting out of a company that doesn’t want him. And so,
what could have gone down as the best RAW of 2007, became another mediocre
success. A crowd that could have been electric for what was a do or die
moment in the company’s history, was almost entirely silent for most of the
return of Chris Jericho. So where do they go from here?
I don’t think the McMahon’s have entirely lost it, I think they still know
how to run a good wrestling promotion. If they do, they know that Jericho
chasing the WWE Championship is the only thing that can help them. Instead
of pushing Jericho vs. Orton into the spotlight right away, they should know
that the match between Jericho and the reigning champion must main-event
Wrestlemania 24. Instead of coping out for an Orton-Triple H match that no
one that’s not a twelve year old child wearing a DX shirt wants to see, they
could have something that everyone will look forward to. Instead of looking
forward to what ridiculous entrances they could give to the competitors in
Wrestlemania’s main event, how about looking forward to who is actually in
it. If Jericho challenges for the title any earlier than April 2008, then
the WWE has just wasted a seven figure contact on the Ayatollah of Rock N’
Rolla.
Chris Jericho can not save professional wrestling by himself, but lucky for
him, he has some help. For five years, another company has been showing fans
what wrestling is all about. This other company offered Jericho a sizeable
contract, but wasn’t able to lure him away from the ridiculous amount of
money WWE was offering him. TNA wrestling has all the talent and storylines
to be the top dog in the industry, but WWE’s latest failures have hindered
the growth of sports entertainment. Jericho will bring a few fans back to
the business, but it will take the effort of everyone in these two
organizations to save their craft. Great entertainers such as AJ Styles,
Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Abyss, Jeff Hardy, Ken Kennedy, Umaga, and Christian
Cage can not hold up on their own, it’s time for those notorious few to step
up to the plate and refuse to settle for ridiculous stories and boring
matches. It’s time for performers like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The
Undertaker, John Cena, Batista, Rey Mysterio, and Booker T. to start
wrestling again, and stop being lazy. Only if the WWE superstars become
wrestlers can the business we love continue to exist. These PROFESSIONAL
WRESTLERS can not rely on a man who hasn’t performed in two years and isn’t
in any shape necessary to get back in the ring. Step up, or step out. I’m
tired of being embarrassed to watch the SPORT I love.
*
Updated TNA Turning Point Card- December 2*
SIX MAN TAG TEAM WAR
KEVIN NASH & SCOTT HALL & SAMOA JOE vs.
THE ANGLE ALLIANCE (KURT ANGLE, AJ STYLES, TOMKO)
SIX MAN TAG TEAM TABLES MATCH
TEAM 3D & JOHNNY DEVINE vs.
THE MOTOR CITY MACHINEGUNS & BLACK MACHISMO
MATCH OF 10,000 TACKS
ABYSS & RHINO vs. BLACK REIGN & RELLIK
TNA WOMENS CHAMPIONSHIP
GAIL KIM (c) vs. AWESOME KONG
FEAST OR FIRED
15 Superstars compete for TNA World Title shots
*Updated WWE Armageddon Card- December 16*
NO OFFICIAL MATCHES ADDED YET
Edge vs. The Undertaker vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship
in a Triple Threat Match (RUMORED)
Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship (RUMORED)
Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Kenendy (RUMORED)
Triple H vs. Umaga (RUMORED)
*
WWE Programming Results*
*Quick SURVIVOR SERIES RESULTS for November 18 *
– CM Punk defeated The Miz & John Morrison in a Triple Threat Match to
retain the ECW Championship.
– Mickie James, Maria, Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool & Kelly Kelly defeated
WWE Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, Melina, Victoria & Layla in
a 10 Divas Tag Team Match.
– Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch defeated Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes to
retain the World Tag Team Titles.
– Triple H, WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio & Kane
defeated Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, WWE U.S. Champion MVP, Finlay & Big Daddy V in
a Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match.
– The Great Khali defeated Hornswoggle via DQ.
– Randy Orton defeated Shawn Michaels to retain the WWE Championship.
– Batista defeated The Undertaker to retain the World Heavyweight
Championship in the Hell in a Cell match (via Edge interference)
*Quick RAW RESULTS for November 19*
– Shawn Michaels and Mr. Kennedy fought to a no-contest
– Jerry “The King” Lawler defeated Santino Marella
– Jeff Hardy defeated Umaga via DQ
– Cody Rhodes defeated Harcore Bob Holly
– Maria and Mickie James defeated Melina and Jillian Hall
– Hornswoggle defeated Carlito
– Chris Jericho returns
*Quick ECW RESULTS for November 20*
– ECW Champion CM Punk defeated Kenny Dykstra
– Shelton Benjamin defeated Tommy Dreamer
– Jesse and Festus defeated Duece and Domino
– Kevin Thorn defeated Nunzio
– Kelly Kelly and Layla fought to a no-contest in a food fight
– Kane defeated Big Daddy V and Matt Striker in a 2-on-1 Handicapped Match
*Quick SMACKDOWN RESULTS for November 23 *
– WWE Tag Team Champions The Miz and John Morrison defeated The Major
Brothers
– Kane defeated Big Daddy V via DQ by Striker
– WWE US Champion MVP defeated Rey Mysterio
– Finlay and Hornswoggle defeated Mark Henry in a 2-on-1 Handicapped Match
– Jamie Noble defeated Chuck Palumbo
– Torrie Wilson defeated Victoria
– Edge interviewed Batista on ‘The Cutting Edge’
*TNA Programming Results*
*Quick TNA iMPACT RESULTS from November 22 *
– Chris Sabin of The Motor City Machineguns defeated Brother Devon of Team
3D
– Samoa Joe defeated Johnny Devine and Kip James of the Voodoo Kin Mafia
– AJ Styles defeated X Division Champion “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal and
“The Instant Classic” Christian Cage
– Samoa Joe defeated AJ Styles and Chris Sabin
– ODB defeated Velvet Sky and Angelina Love
With TNA’s Turning Point pay-per-view coming up on December 2, be sure to
stay tuned to XHeadlines and TBLWrestling for all of the latest news and
developments to this epic event. As always, we are your source for in-depth
coverage of anything and everything wrestling and we strive to GIVE YOU WHAT
YOU WANT! So be sure to sound off by commenting on our articles and sending
our staff your feedback!
XHeadlines has just presented a new poll question as well: “Do you agree
with thrusting Jericho into the Championship picture
immediately?”
As it looks right now, the standings of the results are:
– Yes, he deserves it (38%)
– As long as SOMEBODY takes the belt from Orton (38%)
– No, he probably still has ring rust (25%)
– No opinion/Other (0%)
Be sure to swing by XHeadlines and voice your opinion on the poll question
and check out the results to our latest archived poll: “What is your
favorite Survivor Series main event in recent
memory?”
We’ll be back next week with the third edition of the
XHeadlines/TBLWrestling Newsletter. Enjoy your week after Thanksgiving!
Jacob Spades- Email Him!
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