By: David Stephens of Wrestleview.com
Ousta! Welcome back to the only WrestleView column covering topics both nowhere yet everywhere at once. If you are new to the column you are probably going to hate me for the first couple weeks, but then you are going to hit a point where you say ‘oh wait a minute, I think he gets it’. Don’t worry, that’s exactly how it is designed to be. This column is all about gut reactions and traveling thoughts. As the great Andy Kaufman once said: “I just want real reactions. I want people to laugh from the gut, be sad from the gut, or get angry from the gut”.
Weeelllllll…… I’m BACK!
From outer space, and –
Nah, no Weather Girls for the moment. I don’t think we need to get that crazy right off the bat. School is back in session which means you all shall once again be treated to your weekly editions of ‘That’s a Wrap’. I was working 50 hour weeks over the summer so between work, Recapping RAW, and producing my weekly radio show which I co-host with Mr. V (From the Desk of Mr. V), I just didn’t have any time left to get this baby out.
Let’s start off with a really cheap, cheap plug. For those of you who are VIP members, please check out the radio waves each Saturday as I co-host ‘The Teachers Lounge’ with Mr. V. Yeah, check that out because it is totally awesome! Or check it out so that at least one person listens and I can continue to pretend I am a valuable member of the WrestleView community.
Anyways, let’s move on to the news.
What’s in the News?
My opinions are in italics
All news is gathered from WrestleView.com unless otherwise noted
In regards to rumors about Aloisia (Lindsay Hayward) being pulled by NXT over “raunchy” online photos only to discover that her replacement, Kaitlyn (aka Celeste Bonin, a former fitness competitor from Houston) had even raunchier photos online, Diva-dirt.com has now revealed those photos in question.
Seriously, where the hell are these raunchy photos? I’ve looked EVERYWHERE. All I can find is some thong shots with her looking particularly muscle-laden. Weird looking? Yes. Raunchy? Nope
Phil Strum of The Poughkeepsie Journal is featuring an interview with former TNA and current Ring of Honor star Christopher Daniels where he talks about his return to the company earlier this year.
Daniels added, “I think the thing that brought me back was the quality in the wrestling. It’s never been disputed that the best wrestlers in the world are in this company. The spotlight’s always been on them, as far as what’s up and coming. I like to challenge myself and be on a show with the best wrestlers.”
Daniels certainly makes the show sound like must-see TV
Recently released WWE Diva Serena (Serena Deeb) made a surprise return at yesterday’s SHIMMER tapings in Berwyin, IL reports Prowrestling.net. Serena, who is working out her 90-day no complete clause with WWE that allows her to work indy dates, defeated Kelly Skater in her match.
Serena is a talented Diva who unfortunately did not want to give up certain aspects of her life. I respect her decision, but it cost her weekly national exposure
“Legendary” starring John Cena, running in select theatres nationwide on a total of 177 screens, did a very disappointing $135,000 in its first weekend despite a ton of promotion. While the theatrical release was designed to be small as they want to make more money on the DVD release with previous Cena films drawing better that way, it still wasn’t the greatest number.
I can’t figure out why they put so much time and money into promotion of this movie if this was the goal? Why not promote lightly the theatrical release, and then heavily promote the DVD release? A lot of fans may have been confused as the vast majority of theatres were not even carrying the film
Thank you for purchasing the Ring of Honor ‘Glory by Honor IX’ show. GoFightLive.tv was the broadcaster of this event. As you know, we experienced technical difficulties during the show that caused the live stream to halt and at times become jittery, causing our viewers to miss some of the action. These technical problems were caused by a new piece of hardware we introduced into our broadcast system. We have an initial version of the show available now. We are working to insert the missing video portion and our goal is to provide you with a complete video by Wednesday.
Ring of Honor produces high quality events, and this technical issue was GoFightLive’s problem alone, not ROH’s. We are working to ensure that this problem never occurs again at any GoFightLive event by analyzing and fixing the faulty piece of hardware.
Well, I bought the iPPV, however at no point did I actually get to view said iPPV because the stream never worked for me. I sent over a dozen emails back and forth with the company but nothing suggested would work. That being said, I certainly don’t hold those problems against Ring of Honor itself. This entire issue is in the court of GoFightLive. Who, by the way, still haven’t responded to my requests for a refund
It is true that Kevin Nash’s TNA contract does expires on 10/12, and even though he said on Twitter that he’ll be finishing up with the company, the belief in TNA is that he’ll stay and agree to a new contract.
I’m very excited to watch the upcoming RF Shoot Interview that Kevin Nash recently did along with Sean Waltman. According to Feinstein’s press release which addressed this topic amongst many others it is quite the dynamic shoot
The Connecticut Post is reporting that a spokesman for World Wrestling Entertainment has confirmed that the company is being investigated, “by state officials for classifying its wrestlers and other, behind-the-scenes production talent as independent contractors.” This comes after weeks of media scrutiny in relation to Linda McMahon’s current campaign for U.S. Senate in Connecticut.
WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman added, “WWE has always complied with the law. Up until this election, WWE has not been fined nor investigated in the past for independent contractor classification. However, curiously the state of Connecticut is currently conducting an audit of WWE’s classification of independent contractors. WWE constantly reviews its internal practices and procedures to comply with ever-changing employee laws.”
I’ll be following this particular case quite closely over the next couple of months. I have long been an outspoken critic of the current state of employee classifications
TNA star Desmond Wolfe is expected to be out of action for the next few months due to an undisclosed medical situation. Jason Powell of Prowrestling.net reports Wolfe was very quiet at the last set of Impact tapings about his medical situation that prevented him and Magnus from appearing on the No Surrender PPV. Magnus was not brought in for the TV tapings last week and it remains to be seen what plans they may have for him with Wolfe expected to miss a significant amount of time.
Seriously, what the hell is going on?
Alex Riley, who was one of the rookies on season two of WWE NXT, is expected to remain a regular on the Raw brand from this point forward reports The Wrestling Observer. Riley has been involved in angles with his NXT season two pro The Miz.
I always viewed Riley as being on near the same level as Kaval in regards to ability on season two of NXT. It’s great to see him find a role on RAW
Robert Zimmerman, who is in charge of U.S./Canada media inquiries for WWE, confirmed with Wrestleview.com this afternoon that the original comment issued to Newsday by a WWE spokesperson was indeed official information coming from the company regarding Matt Hardy being pulled from two separate WWE events recently (one in White Plains, New York on September 5 and the other on the last stop in England this past weekend).
The Wrestling Observer, which later admitted that using the “sent home” terminology in reports on Sunday was wrong but not completely off base, reported today that Hardy is on pretty thin ice with the company after his video blog tirade. Were told there was some against releasing Hardy right away in fear of a Hardy’s reunion in TNA, but after his comments on the video and his actions of late it seemed like appropriate action.
Hardy has a history of trying to work the wrestling media. That being said, I’m not a big fan of the guy so I don’t really care that much. I do find it pretty annoying that he has once again managed to capture the front page of wrestling news sites, yet is incredibly stale on TV. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is all going according to whatever little plan he has chalked up in his head
Ratings
RAW 9/13 – 3.0
iMpact 9/2– 1.04
NXT 9/7 – 0.96
Superstars 9/9 – 0.58
Quick Results
RAW Sept. 13th
-Daniel Bryan vs. United States Champion The Miz ended in a No Contest
-Daniel Bryan def. Alex Riley in a Submission Match
-Edge def. Evan Bourne in a Body Slam Challenge
-Mark Henry def. Edge in a Body Slam Challenge
-R-Truth & Eve def. Ted DiBiase & Maryse in a Song and Dance Match
-WWE Champion Sheamus def. John Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere Match
-Chris Jericho def. WWE Tag Team Champions The Hart Dynasty in a Steel Cage Handicap Match
-Goldust def. William Regal in a Trading Places Match
-Randy Orton def. John Cena in a Tables Match
NXT Sept. 14th
-Kelly Kelly & Naomi (1-0)* def. Alicia Fox & Maxine (0-1)
-Primo & AJ (1-0)* def. Goldust & Aksana (0-1)
Superstars Sept. 9th
-R-Truth def. William Regal
-Goldust & Gail Kim def. Primo & Jillian
-Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft def. Vance Archer & Curt Hawkins
-Big Show def. Luke Gallows
TNA iMPACT Sept. 2nd
-Madison Rayne & Tara def. Beautiful People
-Stevie Richards def. Abyss
-Sting def. Jeff Jarrett
-Elimination Match: Fourtune def. EV2
-The Pope & Mr. Anderson def. Kurt Angle & Jeff Hardy
Smackdown Sept 10th
-Jack Swagger def. MVP
-Alberto Del Rio def. Matt Hardy
-Drew McIntyre def. Kaval
-Kofi Kingston & Chris Masters def. Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler & Chavo Guerrero
-The Undertaker def. CM Punk
Final Thoughts
-Alicia Fox is STILL a horrendous wrestler
-Adam Martin said that the Kings of Wrestling v. Hass & Benjamin from ROH’s Glory By Honor IX was the best Tag Team match of the year. I have the audio to prove it!* (audio may have been taken slightly out of context
-I have an uncanny bias towards A.J. on NXT, and I have no problem admitting it
-If there are any attractive girls reading this column that also attend Rutgers University, hit me up with an email! (am I allowed to say that?) psh, yeah I am
So ‘that’s a wrap’…. Love it? Hate it? Disagree with everything I said? Just want to chat wrestling? I’m always up for reading your thoughts so send them ’em on over.
Look for the newest edition to the WrestleView Radio Network: “The Teacher’s Lounge” featuring Anthony Valvo (From the Desk of Mr. V) and myself this Saturday!
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