Thursday's Thoughts

As reported forever ago on Tha O Show, Trish is leaving the WWE and it was finally confirmed by them on Monday.

Trish will be getting married late in September and having a very exclusive reception at a gorgeous venue in Toronto. Get this – you have to have a special invite that is read by a digital reader. A guard then confirms your name is on the list, and then once passing more security – you’ll get in. I wonder if Rob and Trish are trying to avoid any Owen Wilson / Vince Vaughan wannabes from showin’ up. Congrats to the happy couple!

NBC and the WWE have extended the ECW airings on Sci-Fi until the end of 2007. The initial 14 week pilot is being viewed as a ratings success – despite the fact that the product has been pure unadulterated shit.

The Brian Pillman DVD will be released on Sept. 26th. If anyone wants to hook up Big Daddy with a birthday gift (my day bein’ the 21st) then you’ll be entered into the O’ster hall of fame!

Following up on yesterday’s Jericho article regarding wrestlers in the mainstream: the final domestic numbers are in for Kane’s See No Evil flick. A whopping $15,032,800. You know how many Wrestlemanias that is? Trust me, The Marine isn’t the last WWE Film you’ll be seeing churned out.

Ric Flair was not flown in for Raw on Monday and wasn’t told why. He ran into a ‘friend’of Tha O Show on Tuesday he said Ric was ‘pissed’ about not being used and not being told why he wasn’t being used.

Add Carlito to the list of disgruntled WWE workers. Carly Colon had apparently been told a main event spot was on the horizon a couple months ago, but he was held off Summerslam and is stagnating in an I-C title program.

The Great Khali will be out of action for a while. Not cause he sucks, but because he needs surgery on both wheels. Talk right now is that the WWE is considering a babyface run for Khali. Ok, I’ve heard EVERYTHING now!

Before Kristal and before Layla, my boy Dan-e-o swore his heart to the ass of former WWE diva Nidia. There’s been talk lately of Nidia coming back, but those talks have been brought to a halt, as Nidia recently learned she is pregnant. Congrats to her and her boyfriend.

We’ve been talking a lot about the state of tag team wrestling lately on Tha O Show, and the Shane Twins (Gymini) are ready to return to Smackdown. One of the twins (oh please, you try and tell them apart) has been out of action with a torn bicep.

Bret Hart’s oldest son Dallas is about to start training with the great Lance Storm for a career in the ring. Ok, I’m not the biggest fan of Bret Hart – the person, but I’ve always respected Bret Hart the wrestler. If his kid gets any of his athletic ability and becomes half as good, he’ll be special. Or, he could be David Flair.

The dude who played lame ass "Fake Kane" back in June, Drew Hankinson, will be called up to Smackdown any day now. He will be shooting some vignettes for his Freakin' Deacon character. Hankinson is currently in DSW, and is one of the first to make the jump from that promotion to Tha “E”.

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Jericho booted off Fox

Chris Jericho found out last night that the transition to the mainstream might be a little harder than he had initially thought.

As mentioned last week in Thursday's Thoughts, Jericho was a contestant on a new show called Celebrity Duets. The concept is simple. They take a group of B-list celebs, (Cheech Marin, Alfonso Ribero, Xena Warrior Princess and a bunch of other people I've never hear of) and have them sing a song while being teamed up with someone currently working in the music biz (Michael Bolton, Michelle Williams, Randy Travis etc).

At the end of last night's two hour debut episode, Jericho was sent packing.

In fairness, they did sort of pull a fast one on The Ayatollah Of Rock and Rolla. This week the celeb was voted off the show by the juding panel – consisting of Marie Osmond, Little Richard and David Foster. Starting next week, a contestant must be voted off by the viewing audience. Why they decided to change such an integral piece of the show after one week, I have no idea. Maybe they weren't sure anyone would actually be watching.

You have to assume that SOME wrestling fans would tune in and support ol' Y2J. Right? Well, maybe not.

The judges certainly didn't know a damn thing about the former Unified Champ. They just took the opportunity to throw out some brutal wrestling references and cheap shots. They referred to his performance as weaker than a reversed suplex - like what the hell does that mean? One judge suggested Jericho start a rock band. Um, hello? Of course, Mr. Witty Judge thought the band should be called Jerichole. Knee slapper. The jokes never stop on a show with Simon Cowell's name attached to it.

Here's the tricky thing for wrestlers breaking into the mainstream. If you're an active wrestler and dip your toe into another area, the fans will support you en mass. Proof: Mick Foley is an author who's been on the NY Times Best Seller's List three times. Now, Mr. Foley is a talented writer, but if he made his living as a meat packer from Wisconsin, I promise you he never would have reached number one. Kane's movie 'See No Evil' quadrupled company expectations at the gate. Sable, Chyna, Torrie and Candice Michelle have all been on the cover of Playboy and been part of some of the highest selling issues in it's history.

Then there are those who dabble once they've left the big time. Maven was a bomb on a VH1's Surreal Life. Chyna made a porn that nobody watched other than Sean Waltman and some really horny 17 year old guys with Limewire. Jeff Hardy's band sucked more ass than a champion ass sucker at an ass sucking contest (that was Dan-e-o by the way).

Wrestling fans support wrestlers when they are relevant and wrestling.

Look at The Rock's biggest Hollywood successes. The Mummy 2 and The Scorpion King. Why? He was still a semi-active member of the roster. When he came back after a few films and had ignored his wrestling fans, they booed him mercilessly. You could argue that The Rock has been the most successful of any wrestler in the mainstream, but he is a B or C-lister at best.

To wrestling fans – you're only a 'wrestler' as long as you are either A) active or B) still respectful and proud of your wrestling roots. To the mainstream, you're always an ex-wrestler.

Case in point – Jericho. These days he is billed as “Actor, Musician, Comedian”. When anyone talks about him freely, he's “former WWF guy and world rasslin' champ, Chris Jericho”.

Jesse Ventura got the support of wrestling fans in Minnesota and rode it all the way to the Governor's mansion. But when Jesse appeared on CSPAN or CNN or MSNBC – he was always dubbed, Ex-Wrestler and Governor of Minnesota.
There is a negative stigma attached to those who participate in this great sport when they attempt to break free of this niche.

Hell look at Hogan. He's done a ton of movies. Virtually all of them were filmed while on some sort of wrestling hiatus. Have ANY of them made a nickel, save for Rocky? (which was completely on Stallone's shoulders).

Don't feel bad Jericho. You've still got your gig at McDonalds.

By the way – just in case you thought I actually watched that lame ass Celebrity Duets to write this piece, I didn't. All info about last night's show was pulled from Fox's website. I'd never watch anything that gay. I was busy watching Big Brother.

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TLC In Toronto

Sweet. The first two matches announced for Unforgiven are "specialty matches". A Tables/Ladders/Chairs Match between Edge and Cena (I swear WWE advertised this already, before Edge's "decision" Monday night) and a Hell In A Cell Match between the McMahons/The Big Show and DX. Donnie said I'd be disappointed by the latter (I watched "Raw" today, missing it last night) but I'm not.

As mentioned numerous times before on Tha "O" Show, both Vince and Shane McMahon are no strangers to receiving O's, especially on a pay-per-view scale. Although, they may have 'under-delivered' our chances to exclaim our favourite letter at SummerSlam, I'm sure having the McMahons and DX perform the climax to their feud in a huge cage at Unforgiven will be crazy!

Considering that Tha "O" Show will be front row, that means we will literally be face to face with the cell! We may even get our new "O" Show t-shirts spattered with somebody's blood. (Cheap plug: the shirts are on the way O-sters, here's hoping we may count on your continued support!).

In addition, Edge and Cena in a TLC match! Never one to pop for anything Cena does, I'm excited to see our hometown boy Edge perform in the match he made famous. Here's an idea for a sign I might bring: "If Cena wins, we REALLY riot!".

Speaking of which, let me take this opportunity to open up a contest, of sorts, to our loyal O-sters. If you won't be at Unforgiven yourself...send us some ideas for signs that YOU would like to see us bring. We'll do our best to get as many done as possible...and hopefully you'll see YOUR sign at the PPV! We're trying to be as inventive, funny and original as possible. We're sure you'll have some dope suggestions.

Kinda nice to know WWE is allowing Trish to retire on TV (as she is in real life) instead of concocting some lame storyline. Looks like she'll fittingly end her career in Toronto, where it all got started. I remember training for my "Corrida De Toros" video (which can be viewed at www.feedlynks.com) in 2000 with the now-defunct Apocolypse Wrestling Federation. At each training session, I kept hearing that "Trish" might be coming in to train before heading to WWE where she had just signed. I never did get to meet Trish until this past January. She is truly a sweetheart, and I wish her all of the happiness and success that she's worked so hard for.

According to Big Daddy Donnie, who once worked with Trish at Fan 590, Trish's next step is getting married and starting a family. It looks like Torontonians will be getting to see her more often.

Had to mention this: Jim Ross screwed up a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" reference on "Raw" last night before the Divas match. He mentioned that Jerry Lawler had to keep his Larry Flynt (Hustler magazine dude)-like ways in check during the bout between Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle. Sounds like he was confusing Flynt with Larry David (Seinfeld co-creator and "Curb" star). By the way, if you have never seen "Curb Your Enthusiasm", you're missing one of the funniest shows on TV ever!

JR did make up for this gaf later on in the show by claiming that a referee's count was "slower than government aid to New Orleans". Nice.

And to touch on a recent hot topic...the tag division on "Raw" seems to be getting somewhat of an inkling of respect lately. I like how The Highlanders keep mentioning that they are in WWE for one thing: the tag titles. Also, looks as if they are attempting to establish certain tag teams again: Cade/Murdoch, Viscera/Haas, Duggan/Eugene.

The tag division is definitely more promising on "SmackDown!" however...as evidenced by The Pitbulls run-in on Kendrick/London and James/Stevens last week. To paraphrase what JBL said about KC James and Idol Stevens being tag-team specialists, a tag match is not four separate guys involved in singles action. You need to be a 'specialist' to make tag matches work. Let's hope WWE is really running with this train of thought.

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Who the hell can stop Liddell?

Last night at UFC 62, 'The Iceman' Chuck Liddell silenced another big talker and a group of Liddell haters by vanquishing his biggest threat in a long time. Liddell didn't just successfully defend his Light Heavyweight Title, he absoultely destroyed Renato Sobral. Just past the one minute mark, the greatest striker this sport has ever seen went to work on Babalu's face.

When the fight was stopped, many were asking - WHO can handle the champ? There doesn't seem to be anyone in the UFC capable of the job.

That being said - let's look at the roster over at Pride. My first thought is - would Mirko Filipovic be willing to cut weight for that fight? Man that would be interesting. The Cro Cop is currently 213 and shouldn't have much trouble dropping 10 pounds. The bigger questions are - a) does he have any interest in fighting for the UFC and b) what would it take for Pride to let that happen? The much anticipated fight with Wanderlei Silva and Liddell appears to be off because Pride doesn't like the deal for them. Silva has been as dominant in Pride as Chuck has been in the UFC. This would be a superstar dream match.

The wrestling fan in me sees huge dollage signs and marketing potential in a Chuck Liddell - Quinton Jackson tilt. They have similar styles, and 'Rampage' is a natural born thrilla. The man just knows how to entertain. It'd be interesting to see if he could toss a few of his trademark bodyslams on the Iceman.

If all that fails, Dana White may have start creating tag teams to face Liddell.

In other news from UFC 62:

Forrest Griffin managed to beat Stephan Bonnar by unanimous decision for the second time. In my opinion, the judges were wrong. Bonnar won the second round and the thirs round was very tight. At the end, the fans booed the normally popular Forrest. He smirked and said on mic, "Aw come on guys. You're booing me? I have low self esteem! I thought I won the fight. I don't think it was 30-27 though, Stephan won the second". When asked if there would be a Griffin-Bonner III, Forrest said "I owe it to Stephan".

Joe Rogan then asked how far he thought he was from a title fight. Without missing a beat, Forrest jokingly remarked - "Did you see me doing 'this' tonight?" (he then put his chin to his chest, eyes down and started wildly flailing his arms into thin air). "When I stop doing that, I'll be ready".

Talk about refreshing. Self-effacing and humble. That's Forrest Griffin.

Other quick results from last night:

• Nick Diaz beat Josh Neer with a beautiful Kimura


• Hermes Franca forced Jamie Varner to tap to a very deep, nasty armbar


• Cheick Kongo knocked Christian Wellisch out in the first round


• Wilson Gouveia caught Wes Combs with a rear naked choke in the First Round.


• David Heath (no, not Gangrel) also won with a rear naked choke in the First.
Round.


• Eric Schafer slapped a side choke on Toronto Police Officer Rob MacDonald in the First

All in all, I give this show eight out of ten O's! Great job Zuffa!

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A life on the brink

Kurt Angle has been released by the WWE. Those are eight words I never would have thought would be written together in that order.

Kurt Angle.

A six time World Champion, and arguably the best pure wrestler the WWE has ever had, has had his contract terminated.

I posted a column here on Tha O Show on Monday July 10th (Kurt Angle forced to face his demons). which foreshadowed this horrible situation.

Kurt is a drug addict.

It's been known within the business for the better part of a decade that the 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist has become addicted to performance enhancing substances, HGH and most tragically, pain medication.

The WWE's Wellness Program, instituted on the heels of Eddie Guerrero's drug induced death, is the reason Angle will no longer draw a paycheck from Vince McMahon.

One WWE superstar I spoke to this week (who wished to remain annoymous) stated, "Kurt is on the brink of becoming the next Eddie. He can't stop taking the pain pills. His thirty days to get clean was a joke."

Add to this the fact that Angle is now in the midst of a divorce with his pregnant wife. That same WWE superstar says 'people think Kurt might be on the brink of doing something drastic". Frightening words indeed.

Already there is speculation that TNA and organizations in Japan are salivating at the chance to lure Angle into their fold. Angle has stated many times that he wishes to pursue an acting career when his wrestling days are done. In truth, he should be financially set for life.

I'm hoping Angle decides to get serious professional help and take a year or more to get clean. Eddie was clean for a few years but the damage he did to his body eventually caught up to him.

Angle does have a history of heart disease in his family. His sister, among other family members have died as a result of heart complications. Now add years of HGH and unsupervised medication, and things are looking very dark for one of my all time favorites.

Kurt, your fans urge you. Get clean, and hang up your boots. Your body has taken enough abuse. Thank you for everything you've done for us. Thank you for years of unforgettable moments. We will try to live by the 3 I's - and right now, more than ever, we hope you do too.

God bless.

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New TNA Tag Champs - The Tag-Team Debate Continues...

There's been a lot of talk here at Tha "O" Show over the past week or so about tag-teams. The resurgence of tag-teams, the lack of tag-teams today, our favourite tag-teams...whatever.

It's no secret that good tag-team wrestling requires a unique type of in-ring philosophy and storytelling. Like for heels...when to distract the ref in order for your partner to choke out an opponent in your corner. Or for babyfaces...when to set up the hot tag when one team member has been getting his ass handed to him and the other is jumping up and down on the apron ready to be a "house on fire".

There in an excitement to tag-team wrestling that is just, simple and plain, different than a one-on-one match. Who hasn't created their own tag-team monikers with a brother or friend when they were kids? To this day, my wrestling moniker is still "Mayhem".

Back in '91, I used to watch pay-per-view events by my boy Strida's house. Together we were "Destruction". He was "Terror" and I was "Mayhem". We got the name straight from a lyric from LL Cool J's brand new (at the time) song, "Mama Said Knock You Out": "Destruction, terror and mayhem, pass me a sissy soft sucker, I slay him!".

Our respective younger brothers of course, were a little less inventive. They were "Razor" and "Blade". My brother Brian (Blade) still takes pride in sharing a namesake with Wesley Snipes' vampire character.

Tag-team wrestling creates a sense of brotherhood and comradery and by the same token, betrayal and revenge. Teams like The Rockers enjoyed success as high-flying babyfaces who inevitably allowed for a superstar to emerge in the form of Shawn Michaels. His 'betrayal' of Marty Janetty, not only cemented HBK's future as a major superstar but gave birth to one of the greatest heel-turns ever. Who could forget Shawn Michaels' superkick to Marty Janetty sending him flying through the window of the Heartbreak Hotel...or was it The Barber Shop? (Remind me guys).

Anyway, last night TNA crowned new tag-champs in the form of Homicide and Hernandez of the Latin-American X-change. "TNA Impact!" had this bout as its main event, strengthening the ever-growing argument that tag-team wrestling deserves a greater amount of respect. The match definitely had its high spots...how could it not when A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels are involved? I think the concept of the tag-team straps as prestigious titles needs to be evoked even more...especially in WWE.

What would you do to strengthen the tag-team circuit in the "E"...or in TNA for that matter? Would you unify the TWO tag-titles? Create more tag-teams? Which two superstars would you create a tag-team out of? Let the debate rage on...

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Thursday's Thoughts

I recently watched Summerslam 92 on WWE 24/7. Sure, the prevailing memory is Bret versus Bulldog in front of that Wembley Stadium crowd, but something else stood out to me. The number of really credible tag teams. Remember, this was during an era where many people were unhappy with the tag team situation. Back in 92, you had The Natural Disasters as tag champs, Money Inc, Nasty Boys, The Beverly Brothers, The Legion Of Doom, The New Hart Foundation, The Orient Express, The Bushwhackers, and The Headshrinkers.

Today, we have London and Kendrick (the guys who have a gimmick, but no one seems quite sure what it is), The Spirit Squad (a b.s. Tag Team of 5 guys), The Pitbulls, The Highlanders, and a few other thrown together teams. All this and we have two sets of tag titles on two brands? Oy.

Hulk Hogan was recently on his favorite radio show, Bubba the Love Sponge. The Hulkster nearly broke down into tears when he found out that Bubba's listeners had voted daughter Brooke's lame ass music video No. 4 on VH-1's charts. Hogan discussed how he had invested so much money and emotion into Brooke's career. Lemme tell ya somethin' brother... if you want a musical investment that's gonna pay off – cut the tether with Brooke (she can help Uncle Jimmy Hart write wrestling themes for some indy company) and sink some dough into my boy Dan-e-o. Now, THERE'S an investment. P.S. Hulkster, he takes pretty decent bumps!

Former wrestler Chris Jericho will be one of the contestants on Simon Cowell's new show, 'Celebrity Duets'. He'll be paired with another B-lister to rock off karaoke style. I'll set my VCR now.

Some comings and goings to note:

Hacksaw Duggan has finally been added to the Raw Superstars page on WWE.com. He's had a full time contract for sometime now, so I'm not sure what the hold up was. Just Michael Cole and his crack staff on the ball again.

Sean O'Haire has been calling the WWE looking for work, but hasn't received any phone calls back.

Jimmy Wang Yang (real name James Yun / Yun Yang) will make his Smackdown re-debut tomorrow. He had a stint in the WWE as Akio and was a Velocity regular. Now, using his hilarious cowboy gimmick, Jimmy Yang may finally get the push he deserves.

2 Cold Scorpio worked a dark match for Smackdown this week. Here's a guy who was in the WWE before (as Flash Funk) and unfortunately was just another victim of the WWE gimmick machine gone wrong. He was a part of many classic moments in ECW, and if there is talk of bringin him back into the fold, I'm surpised it wouldn't immediately be as a member of that brand. We'll see.

Speaking of people on the ECW brand; it seems several ECW originals that are on the current roster are in danger of being released. Among them: Francine, CW Anderson, Tony Mamaluke, Jazz, Stevie Richards and Al Snow. The belief is that Richards would head to OVW to assist with training, and Snow (respected by anyone who's anyone in this business) would receive an office position. Francine has barely been visible as a member of this new brand. One of the telling signs that she is on the outs, is that the company decided to use Torrie Wilson this week for the bikini contest instead of Franny. Personally, I think this is ridiculous. Francine is a major assest to any company. Hell if she gets cut, she's got a job here at Tha "O" Show.

BG James and Kip James were both contacted on the weekend (by friends on the WWE roster) about returning for a run in DX. As The Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, these two were a major part of DX, and did a lot more for it than Shawn Michaels did. Remember, HBK's stay was short as he had to go have his back surgery, and retire for five years. Remember that? The James Gang are under contract to TNA and aren't going anywhere.

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Triple R: Random Raw Realizations

Just a couple of short weeks ago, WWE.com posted this picture on their website. It was noted that the WWE headquarters had been vandalized and that an investigation was underway to discover who was responsible for the dirty work. This, however, was NEVER mentioned on TV...until tonight.

How dumb. How would DX even get their logo (perfect each and every time without variation by the way) painted on the side of a building that big? Why am I even dedicating time to mentioning this? Like most O-sters, I thought DX would move on to other things after SummerSlam...guess we were wrong.

Sadly, we're stuck with more chicanery (another word I never thought I'd use in an article) and unrealisticness (a word I think I just made up). The back axle of the McMahon limo being pulled out from underneath it at the end of "Raw" however, was actually worthy of an "O". Wasn't quite expecting that...looked cool.

I also liked the Melina heel-turn. Such turns don't happen as often as they used to anymore. Complete blindsidedness...not sure where this storyline is going...but I like the fact that I was surprised by it tonight.

Also feelin' the development of some new feuds. Orton and Carlito...I especially like Orton calling out Carlito's entire gimmick out and dissing his absence from the SummerSlam PPV. I wanted realism...and got it in that backstage segment when they had their confrontation.

Umaga and Kane too...not that I like watching either of these guys in action...but it's about time they put Umaga in a feud with someone who may actually be a challenge.

No Layla on "Raw" this week...but I thought I'd just thank WWE again for letting me see her ass this past Sunday. Yeah baby!

It's no secret that I'm no fan of John Cena...but his movie trailer doesn't look half-bad. Don't expect me to be in any line ups to watch it...but I'm just giving credit where credit is due. Ah screw it, I hope it bombs.

I'm really hoping that Jeff Hardy experiences the push I THINK he may be getting. Throwing him in the mix with Edge right of the bat suggests that Jeff will, if not put in the title picture, get some sort of top billing. He's more than deserving based on his in-ring abilities and history in the company. A major push with the champion and other top superstars is what SHOULD have happened with his brother Matt upon his return to the "E"...let's hope they don't screw up Jeff Hardy's resurgence before it gets off the ground.

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SummerSlam So-So

In what could never be called an amazing pay-per-view, last night's SummerSlam event wasn't too bad either. Unfortunately, that's not saying much considering that SS is commonly referred to as WWE's second biggest PPV of the year. We DID, however, get to see brand new WWE Diva and my future wife, Layla's bare ass! That alone was worth the price of the event, admit it! Seriously though, that's exactly what she was hired for, so kudos to WWE for utilizing their new talent appropriately. Excellent job.

And for those who weren't able to pick up on the sarcasm drenching the last couple of sentences...what was up with the LACK of talent used in this event?

Now, generally WWE will throw in at least one surprise match-up per pay-per-view event. Especially, in the case of this year's SummerSlam where there were only seven announced matches. My only surprise last night was that there were no surprise matches! More importantly, BOTH tag titles, the U.S. Championship, the Cruiserweight Championship, the Women's title and the SummerSlam 1992 headlining Intercontinental belt were all kept off the card last night. Way to push your 'champs' guys.

Either way, for the card being presented, in wasn't half bad. As predicted, Chavo Guerrero came out as the victor in his bout with Rey Mysterio. My initial reaction to the opening minutes of the match was that the two superstars were telling the story all wrong.

This was considered a 'grudge match' as both opponents were embroiled in a bitter rivalry concerning the beloved Eddie Guerrero. Why were they using wrestling holds and high-flying moves instead of pounding the shit out of each other in the opening stages? Isn't that what usually happens when you're REALLY vex with someone you're having a fight with?

Aside from that, I really liked the in-ring chemistry between the two and I thought they pulled off a decent match. I just knew Vicki Guerrero would play a role as well...and again, Chavo needed this victory to maintain even an inkling of what one can call a career. As far as predictions go, I'm one up on Donnie at this point.

The ECW title match goes second? Wow, the fans are really being made to believe that we should think a lot of this brand. Too bad Sabu had to face The Big Show because it was evident he would have pulled off a greater performance with someone who wasn't so slow. You could tell Sabu was having trouble working his style of match during a couple of botched spots. He never fails to deliver on providing of a few good O's though. The Big Show wins, however. I'm 1-1, Donnie's 0-2!

Now don't get me wrong. I wanted Hogan to win. I even wrote that I hoped Randy Orton would lose to a legdrop! But damn, can't Hogan think of ANY other way of winning a match? It's obvious I'm as big a Hulk Hogan mark as there is but this was basically a repeat performance of last year's SummerSlam main event with Shawn Michaels. Check that, it was a repeat performance of every Hogan victory ever! Unbelievable...but hey, Orton sucks so at least he deserved to lose, right?

Orton really is wack. As my brother pointed out, you would think that with his physique, he could actually pull off some moves. A.J. Styles he is NOT! Anyway, Hulkamania still lives and Dan-e-o is up 2-1 on predictions to Donnie's 0-3. HA!

Now in what I expected to be an O-fest, I found a fairly decent pop-worthy affair. Foley and Flair delivered...but not in the "you gotta see that match!!!" type of way one would have hoped for. Of course, they both bled like that time of the month (gross, I know...sorry guys) and there were some O-worthyness for sure (man, it really looked like Flair was trying to take out Foley's eye with the barbedwire bat at one point!) but...I guess I was kinda hoping to jump out of my seat at something.

In addition, in what Tha "O" Show and all its O-sters have been discussing for weeks, Flair and Foley are two of the best on the mic ever....you would have thought that in a match that INVOLVED a microphone, there would have been better dialogue. It was good, but not great. Line of the night: "I'll kill you too!" says Flair to Melina! Donnie was right though, Mick Foley is WWE's top jobber. I'm 2-2, but still up on Big Daddy's 1-3 score at this point.

Now here's where the PPV saves itself from the world of sucking ass. King Booker retains his title! At this point, I don't even care that the match ends in a lame ass DQ. King Booker retains his title! I don't even care that my prediction score is now at 2-3 (hey Don's at 1-4 at this point). King Booker retains his title! The always O-less, charisma lacking, no move having, muscle head Batista walks out of SummerSlam with no gold! King Booker retains his title! And all is right with the world.

DX and the McMahons perform the joke of a match it was pretty much expected to be. In a feud dominated by prank-pulling and tomfoolery (never thought I'd use that word in an article), this "contest" pretty much stayed true to the concept of this rivalry. A total of no less than ten guys (let's see if I got this right...five Spirit Squad members, Kennedy, Finlay, Regal, Umaga and The Big Show) yeah TEN guys rush the ring to but a beatdown on the TWO-membered D-Generation X...and the McMahons still can't beat them? Okay...

It's all good I guess, considering I'm back at .500 with a 3-3 prediction count while Big Daddy Donnie improves to 2-4, still with no chance of having a winning record for the evening. I was hoping for a few more O's especially from Shane "O" Mac...but I really liked the spot where HBK superkicked him while he attempted his "patented" Van Terminator.

Finally, Edge VS. Cena. I don't know if I've even seen Cena in a match that I thought was "good". Honestly, as in the case with my man, Book...I'm just glad Edge retained his title. No...I'm fuckin' thrilled Edge kept the belt! THANK GOD we don't have to watch John Cena rocking the gold. As mentioned before, Edge is a thousand times more entertaining and certainly deserving of keeping the strap longer than a "transitional champion".

So ends SummerSlam 2006. A so-so show at best. Dan-e-o finishes with a decent 4-3. Big Daddy Donnie ends with a 3-4 score. WWE fans are left hoping Unforgiven is better. (WE at Tha "O" Show sure hope so!).

Other O-ster results:
Signguy_shooter - 2-5
watch-wrestling.com - 5-2 (and wins the challenge he set up!)
Team Tom - 4-3

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SummerSlam Predictions

First off, let's just say this: SummerSlam is the second biggest WWE pay per view of the year, and the second oldest (this is the 18th edition of the August classic). That being said, shouldn't all titles be on the line?

Shouldn't ALL of the top stars that have been shoved down our throats this year be ON the show? As of the writing of this column, only three titles are on the line - all of them 'allegedly' World Titles. The WWE championship, The "SmackDown!" World Title and the ECW belt. Nowhere on this card do we see Angle, Carlito, Shelton, Lashley, Finlay, RVD, Nitro, Kennedy, Vito, London, Kendrick, The Spirit Squad, Kane, Terkay or even the guy who has been shoved down our throats the most - UuuuuuuuuuMAAAAGaaaaa. Hell, even the legendary Undertaker is off the show since The "Not-So-Great" Khali can't appear on a live broadcast. How embarassing is that? I mean they put Nathan freakin' Jones on WrestleMania, but they're worried about how bad Khali is? If he can't be seen on a live show - where all the big blow-offs take place - can his ass now!

But I digress. On to the SummerSlam '06 predictions...

Rey Mysterio VS. Chavo Guerrero

Big Daddy says: I hope Eddie is watching this from above and spitting on both of them. Michael Cole actually said this match is about one thing: "Eddie Guerrero". It's about a guy who died almost a year ago and the company hasn't finished squeezing every bit of rub out of him for these two ham and eggers. Rey is still a company darling, while Chavo will forever be a curtain jerker.
Winner: Rey

Dan-e-o says: It's crazy that Eddie Guerrero is still so much a part of the storylines on "SmackDown!" Even crazier is the idea that both Rey and Chavo are fighting in 'honour' of Eddie. During the time of his death, Chavo had forsaken the Guerrero name to become "Kerwin White" and Rey had just recently finished one of the most bitter feuds with Eddie ever. (Seriously, how dumb was it for Rey to be wearing an "I'm your Papi" t-shirt after Eddie's passing?). Either way, if they have nothing else going for them than to use Eddie as the centrepiece of thier feud, they better put on a hell of a match. I'm going to go out on a limb here and pretend as if the WWE writing team has some sense...and uses this match to "push" the "returning" Chavo to greater heights.
Winner: Chavo Guerrero

Ric Flair VS. Mick Foley
"I Quit" Match

Big Daddy says: I still remember Flair's last "I Quit" match very clearly. November of 1989, when he beat Terry Funk at Clash of Champions. Foley's last "I Quit" match was against The Rock with one of the most unusual, yet memorable finishes ever. Truly, they can go either way here. This match is going to be all about the "O" factor. Let's be honest, we're not looking to 'elevate' anyone and nobody is moving up the ladder of contention. More than likely, neither of these dudes will wrestle again for a long time. I'm going with Flair, since I still say Foley's is and always has been the company's top jobber.
Winner: Ric Flair

Dan-e-o says: This should be the O-fest of the evening. For their own varying reasons, Foley and Flair have been able to provide wrestling fans with some of the greatest performances ever to occur inside (and outside) the squared circle. So I'm expecting a culmination of craziness this Sunday at SummerSlam when these two lock up. With Flair taking the rare two wins in a row victory over Mick Foley during their Best 2 out of 3 Falls Match at Vengeance, I'm going with Foley on this one. If, for no other reason, he deserves it for being the "company's top jobber".
Winner: Mick Foley - yeah!!

Hulk Hogan VS. Randy Orton

Big Daddy says: I can't stand Randy Orton. He's a real life prick with nothing to offer this business. He looks and sounds like every dumb jock without a unique thought in his head. He's horrible on the mic, and brutal in the ring. His work rate must make his daddy say "Goddamm boy were you adopted?". His Diamond-Cutter rip off must make DDP say, "Are you f'n kiddin me?". That all being said, It looks like Orton will be the one to end Hogan's unbeaten streak (9-0) at Summerslam.
Winner: Randy Orton

Dan-e-o says: I'm liking this disagreeing streak I have with Big Daddy Donnie so far. I DO agree that Randy Orton is wack. Watching him wrestle reminds me of this scene from "Family Guy" when Stewie and Brian have a private underground business meeting with Kermit The Frog during one of their cutaway gags. After Kermit runs off, Stewie asks "What's his appeal?". Jokes. The only difference is watching Orton wrestle is not funny...it's mundane. Nothing he does is O-worthy and I too, think he's lucky to be experiencing the push he's having. However, my disagreement with Donnie will be in choosing Hogan the winner of this bout and STILL stay undefeated at SummerSlam. Like the bout with HBK last year, this is the "money match" of SummerSlam and the star of the show needs to have his hand raised in victory. Classic WWE.
Winner: Hulk Hogan - yeah brother!!

DX VS. The McMahons

Big Daddy says: I got two words for ya "Dx wins". And if you're not down with that, I really don't care. DX is tired, played out and stale. I'd love to see The McMahons take them down (maybe with help from Umaga or the cheerleaders) forcing a split. HHH's promo last week was good. Don't forget who we are - The Game Triple H and The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. The problem is, these two together are actually hurting each other's rep. Their goofball antics don't put them over as a legitimate force. They're just class clowns. It worked the first time around because Hunter was basically Shawn's bitch. Now, HHH is just as big a star as his old buddy. If they are working together they should be ROLLIN THROUGH people - not toying with the Spirit Squad or Shane or dropping pinfalls to Jamal. I'd love to see it end, but my thinking is, it'll end on a high note.
Winners: DX

Dan-e-o says: The disagreement streak ends here. DX will win and hopefully move on to bigger and better things than to pull pranks on the McMahons. This, however, should be an entertaining match as Triple H's in-laws are true O-champs at pay-per-view events. Never afraid to perform a high spot or get busted open, the McMahons always provide a lot of entertainment. And to their credit...not afraid to have their asses handed to them on live TV while doing it.
Winner: DX

Big Show VS. Sabu
ECW Title Match

Big Daddy says: Please put Angle in this match. Sabu is being exposed for what he is since joining the WWE. A spot monkey. He doesn't 'wrestle' and anytime he's in a non-extreme rules match (something that happens in the new ECW but didn't happen in the old) he is out of place. There's only so much he can do with a guy like Show. I sense a title change happening with a ton of outside interference. I'm assuming there will be at least ONE title change, and I don't want to see them happen in the other two matches!
Winner: Sabu

Dan-e-o says: Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I've been unable to keep up with the ECW show. It bothers me, nonetheless, that proven WWE superstars seem to be the new face of ECW instead of the true extremists who deserve the spotlight in this environment. WWE has done a poor job in even making a casual wrestling fan believe that ECW is actually a brand on its own. Case and point: the ECW title is up for grabs at SummerSlam: WWE's second-biggest PPV of the year. I hope the ECW strap goes back to someone who truly represented what the company was all about and make some sense out of having the brand exist at all.
Winner: Sabu

King Booker VS. Batista
World Title Match

Big Daddy says: All hail King Booker. If Batista wins I'll be pissed. I mean really pissed. Booker is gold on the mic, still puts forth a solid effort in the ring and he has EARNED his spot. You can't say the same about Batista. I'm hoping the King takes out Ultimate Warrior 2K6.
Winner: King Booker

Dan-e-o says: I despise Batista even more than Randy Orton. Honestly, I LIKE Randy Orton in comparison to Batista! The most over-for-no-good-reason wrestler, perhaps, in WWE history, Batista BETTER not win the belt on Sunday. King Booker is pure entertainment. Witty, humorous and ever so arrogant, Booker is both an excellent character AND in-ring competitor. For some strange reason, this is rare in today's pro wrestling-world. And for some even stranger reason, Batista, who possesses neither on-the-mic prowess nor in-ring talent is a fan favourite. Even worse, he's a potential two-time world champion! I'm praying that doesn't occur as early as SummerSlam. I concur my good man, All Hail King Booker! And here's to Sharmell wearing something that compliments her luscious booty this Sunday!!
Winner: King Booker


Edge VS. John Cena
WWE Heavyweight Title Match

Big Daddy says: If Cena wins, we riot. Man, I really really hope this is the end of the Cena / Edge feud. I want Edge to retain and for Cena to start climbing the ladder again as a full fledged heel. Unfortunately, there are those within the company - most notable being Vinnie himself, that see Cena as a major draw and the second coming of Hulkamania. Personally, I don't get it. His delivery in his promos has become forced and unnatural. His ring work is clumsy and awkward. He never sells. Ugh. Like Booker, Edge has EARNED his spot. He's been with the company EIGHT freakin' years. He's got history at Summerslam. He's wrestled for tag titles, IC titles, and a lot more. Cena is an over pushed juice bag that is being cheered because the sheep (aka WWE marks) are told to cheer him. These are the same people who love Batista, but didn't know who he was three years ago.
Winner: Edge


Dan-e-o says: I totally agree with Donnie again. The first thing that makes John Cena suck so bad as that he THINKS he can cut a promo. They DO sound forced and unnatural and UNLIKE King Booker (and Edge for that matter) Cena is SO unfunny! The second thing that makes Cena suck is that in the ring, he makes Randy Orton look like Chris Benoit. Boring, same ol', same ol' completely O-less moves that somehow get crowd pops...Cena's wrestling holds are nothing short of Scotty 2 Hotty-ness. (The Worm and The 5 Knuckle Shuffle are equally shitty ass moves...and yes, The Rock's People's Elbow, as corny as it was, was both more entertaining and more convincing). With Cena releasing a new movie shortly, I worry WWE may feel he needs his title back to promote it...similar to when his album dropped. But I PRAY the strap stays with our Toronto bredren so that we can watch a champion who's actually entertaining week after week on "Raw".
Winner: Edge

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Thursday's Thoughts - ok so it's Friday, kiss my ass!

Ok, so for the first time ever, I'm publishing a belated edition of Thursday's Thoughts. I was out of town all week with my family visiting our nation's capital. I got back to see Tha O Show traffic was booming, Dan-e-o had pledged his love to Layla and Watch-Wrestling was writing articles for us. Hey, it's good to be back.

I thought about writing an article today dedicated entirely to Vince McMahon. The headline would have read “SICK BASTARD”. The new McMahons DVD actually features commentary from Stephanie where she admits that she Vince really wanted to do an incest angle, with his own daughter.

Vince thought great TV would be him revealing to the WWE audience that he was in fact the father of Aurora Rose. How depraved do you have to be to even suggest something like that to your own flesh and blood daughter? This isn't someone 'playing' the role of his daughter – this is the little girl he watched come into the world. The one who's diapers he changed and who's scrapes he cleaned. Had Steph approved the angle, would it actually make for a better broadcast? Would it boost the ratings at all? Could it potentially damage the ratings? As the father of a gorgeous baby girl, I can tell you this man is twisted.

Word has it that a lot of the major talent in TNA is very unhappy. Monty Brown reportedly “quit” TNA the night of the Hard Justice pay per view, only to be convinced to stay by Terry Taylor. Rhino is apparently very upset with his spot as well. It's no secret Samoa Joe recently had a major shouting match with TNA booker Scott D'Amore, and now most recently – Ron “The Truth Killings, a two time NWA world champion, has asked for his full release.

Killings, Dan-e-o's least favourite TNA wrestler, is pissed off that despite the pops and reactions to his feuds, he is treading water. There seems to be interest from the WWE in Killings. Johnny Ace has apparently pitched the idea of rehiring Brian Lawler and Rikishi and reuniting Too Cool with Scotty Too Hotty. The idea would then be to add Killings and his lame ass dancing to that crew. Ricky Steamboat is a WWE agent and a major backer of Killings, and has suggested that if he were to become available they should snap him up. That being said, it's entirely possible Terry Taylor will smooth everything over with Ron.

X-Division champion Senshi is taking a ton of heat backstage right now for knocking the crap out of Jay Lethal last Sunday at Hard Justice. Lethal botched a spot and Senshi beat him to near unconsciousness.

As if the morale isn't bad enough in TNA – it seems Sting is getting a rematch for the World title at Bound For Glory. Oy.

Senshi's not the only one with heat right now. Kurt Angle has apparently pissed people off for becoming the new Triple H of ECW. Not only is he being allowed to have way too much say in his role, he's having it with people / angles that don't involve him in the least. Angle is a favorite of management and will likely stay that way. Expect Kurt to somehow be figured into the ECW World Title Match at Summerslam on Sunday.

A Summerlsam preview article will be up on Tha O Show soon!

According to WWE.com Arn Anderson has been helping Candice Michelle with her training. That's like Einstein trying to teach long division to a chimpanzee. That may actually not be fair to the chimp.

Speaking of Divas, Dan-e-o's girl Layla is the diva search winner. Check her out on myspace if you're so inclined. http://www.myspace.com/laylainc

The WWE is spending a lot of time in court as of late fighting copyright infringement. They have opposed the trademark filed by Jayceon Taylor (known to the hip hop world as The Game). They have also opposed Christian Cage (Jay Reso's) copyright of Captain Charisma, saying Reso signed away rights to all intellectual property created while a member of the WWE roster. Join me all in a collective Fuck you to Vinnie Mac and his lawyers.

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Hip-Hop Loves Wrestling! Pt. 2: 12 More Dope Rap References to the Ring

In case you haven't read it yet, go to Tha "O" Show's Archives section and click the link to February 2006. Scroll down about four articles and you'll find Part One of this article which contains some of hip-hop's illest wrestling-related rhymes ever!

It's no secret that wrestling and hip-hop go back a long time. The two artforms just happen to be my two biggest loves (besides my girl Layla: congratulations sexy, I knew you could do it!) so there had to be a union created between the two at some time. As mentioned in Part One, hip-hop has crept its way into storylines, characters and special appearances at WWE events. Groups like Run DMC and Salt-N-Pepa have had the opportunity to perform on the REAL grandest stage of them all: WrestleMania.

And remember the M.O.M. (Men on a Mission) gimmick? Okay, now forget the M.O.M. gimmick! And let's get into some more of the illest ring-referencing rhymes in the world!

1) “Breakin’ necks like Bam Bam Bigelow, the neighborhood gigolo, watch the bigger nigga go!”

- Maestro Fresh-Wes on “On The Jazz Tip” from the album, The Black Tie Affair (1991)

2) “Busta Rhymes is like ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan, been thuggin’,
Lovin’ the way we flood jewels for nothin’”

- Busta Rhymes on “Simon Says (Remix)” from the Pharoahe Monch album, Internal Affairs (1999)

3) “I crush the cabbage of another Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage”

- Busta Rhymes of Leaders of the New School on “The End Is Near” from the album, T.I.M.E. (1993)

4) “Oh, I’m tag-teaming, I feel like Hulk Hogan and ‘Macho Man’
Randy Savage over Elizabeth, you know what I’m sayin’?”

- Donald-D on “Just Suck” from the album, Notorious (1989)

5) “I’m a rebel, blessed, able to hold a mic like a hammer,
Treat a rapper like a wrestler, and body slam him”

- Big Daddy Kane on “Young, Gifted & Black” from the album, It’s A Big Daddy Thing (1989)


6) “I slayed MC’s back in the rec room era,
My style broke motherfuckin’ backs like Ken Patera”

- Genius/GZA on “Shadowboxin’” from the album, Liquid Swords (1995)

Now if I may interject here for a moment, it's at this time that I'm going to have to throw in both a shameless plug and a super shameless boast about my crew, Monolith. For those who don't know, my 12-membered Scarborough, Ontario-based hip-hop collective just very well may be the owners of the greatest wrestling-related raps ever written. I may have battled it out with Redman in Part One of this article...but I think I'll share the spotlight with my crew this time around. Check this out...

7) “I daily denounce fables with sounds able
to smash MC’s like Spanish announce tables” (and later)
“I’ve responded for the world’s most slept-on click solely
to prove we do more damage to Mankind than Mick Foley”

- Dan-e-o on “Jackin’ 4 Beatz (T.O.)” (originally released in 2000), from the album, Dear Hip Hop (re-released in 2004)

THIS ALBUM IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR ONLY $7.99 AT MY ONLINE STORE!!

8) “I’m on a next plateau, I’m something special
It’s the main event of Raw but I’m not comin’ here to wrestle
But I make you tap out when I rap out and slam phones
And like S.D. my special delivery, you will Jones…”

- Nish Raawks on “Let’s Go” from the album, Buck Canuck (2004)


9) “You think that every digit I dial is some chick I’m phonin’?
With her, I wasn’t tryin’ to hook up like wrestling opponents”

- Dan-e-o on “358” from the album, Speak No Evil (The Last of Dan-e-o) (2005)

THIS ALBUM HAS BEEN RE-MASTERED AND RE-RELEASED THIS WEEK FOR ONLY $7.99 AT MY ONLINE STORE!!

10) “With rhymes more diesel than Goldberg’s shoulders
Makin’ these rookies salute to the older soldiers”

- Black Cat of Irs on “Strictly For The Heads” from the album, Welcome To Planet Irs (2003)

11) “It’s time I lay the SmackDown!, you preach you’re the bomb and so great
Anytime my girlfriend tries to promote the Monolith tape…”

- Dan-e-o on “My Girlfriend Told Me…” from the album, The Book of Daniel (2000)

THIS ALBUM HAS ALSO BEEN RE-RELEASED THIS WEEK AT MY ONLINE STORE!!

And finally, in what has got to be the sickest rhymes ever dedicated to the squared circle:

12) “Ample to me is opportunity when I’m in a jam
Wrestling with men while we pick them up and give ‘em a slam
Me and my man be like Animal and Hawk, the Scott to Ricky Steiner
The undisputed tag team champs amongst rhymers
Comin’ down the aisle at a combined weight
Of 340 pounds of raw talent and fate
To devastate the crowd and make ‘em chuckle
Distract the ref while I’m chokin’ ‘em on a turnbuckle…”

- Korry Deez and Black Cat of Irs on “Beats” (released as a single in 1999)

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Guest Article: ECW Recap

SUBMITTED BY WATCH-WRESTLING.COM

So here's my official take on "ECW" last night. The night starts off on a sour note due to the fact the Heyman informs us that Kurt Angle will not be able to compete in the 3-way ladder match due to a groin injury. Next we're treated to Mick Foley participating in a 3-way "dance" as he literally dances with Kelly Kelly and his good friend Melina in the ring before being charged and choked out by an irate Ric Flair.

We are now near 20 minutes into the one hour program with no official in-ring action as of yet. Next up we have the rematch between CM Punk and Justin Credible. My immediate reaction to this one was that I was psyched to see CM Punk wrestle again and bummed out that Justin was about to job yet again. I was indeed correct in my assumption. The former ECW World Champion has yet to have a victory on "ECW" television. I continue to ponder why this Kliq member consistently gets the shaft from the WWE higher ups.

But who cares because up next is the FBI in actual tag team competition! The only problem is they're facing Test and Mike Knox and subsequently get squashed in serious fashion. Great.

Now comes the main event. Even though Angle is out of the match, I have high hopes that we'll be treated to a high spot buffet by two of the best: RVD and Sabu. While I would definitely consider the ladder match to be solid ignoring more than a couple botched spots, it wasn't everything I imagined it to be. There were a couple stiff ladder bumps involved by both
men, but the screwjob ending really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Surprise surprise! The Big Show gets involved by attempting to take out both challengers with Sabu accidentally grabbing the contract above the ring in mid-power bomb. It came out looking sloppy and cheapens Sabu's win. Sick post-match table spot with RVD being thrown rather gingerly through a ringside table by the Big Show, but as we fade to black I'm once again left
unsatisfied by the program.

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Is Tag-Team Wrestling Making A Comeback?

Dare I say it? Perhaps it's just wishful thinking or maybe more of a hope than a reality, but I think tag-team wrestling just might be making a comeback in WWE! Now don't get me wrong, I know the days of having legitimate tag-teams like The Killer Bees, The Hart Foundation, The British Bulldogs, The Road Warriors, The Rockers, Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff, Strike Force, The Can-Am Connection and The Dream Team (you get my drift) are gone. But can it return?

I remember when a tag-team, in and of itself, was the attraction. The concept of having a unit that performed together and needed each other to be stars was huge.

Tag-teams were also used to catapult at least one of those stars to superstardom (a la Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels). This concept, however, seemed to have been abandoned in recent years...until now (I think).

It's been a while since a tag-team was introduced as a tag-team in WWE...as opposed to being thrown together at a later date. Now, things aren't perfect, but I think they're trying.

MNM debuted as a team not long ago, grabbed the titles, had a decent run and then split up (in all fairness, Joey Mercury's 'personal demons' cut their run short). But now Johnny Nitro's the new IC champ, so the old-school philosophy seems to be rearing its head.

Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch were also introduced as a tag-team...and they went where exactly? So maybe I'm just looking into this too much.

Mexicools...same thing.

However...take a look at what WWE has done with tag-teams over the past couple of months:

THE PITBULLS
Jamie Noble and Kid Kash. Two dope wrestlers...seemingly no direction. Now usually, I'd shit on throwing together two guys going nowhere (Val Venis and Viscera, Matt Striker and Rob Conway...), but in this case, repackaging these two talents (and they are talented) with a new name (an old name actually, but still) and having them wear matching ring attire pays proper homage to the concept of a tag-team. This too could have gone somewhere if not for Kid Kash's suspension. Let's see what happens...

THE HIGHLANDERS
A couple of Cambridge boys (as confirmed by one, Big Daddy Donnie) repackaged as Scots make their way to WWE in search of tag-team gold. For the record, I'm glad they haven't won the titles yet...not just because they haven't been all that impressive but I miss the days where competitors CHASED the title.

The drama was built over months of trying but not succeeding...so when they actually DID win the titles, it would have been both more rewarding and more importantly, it shone the tag-titles in a more prestigious light. Introducing these superstars as a tag-team will hopefully add to the idea that acheiving tag-team championship status is a major accomplishment.

PAUL LONDON/BRIAN KENDRICK
These two represent the real meat of this article. By that, I mean that I think the current WWE tag champs are bringing back what tag-team wrestling is all about: Quick tags, neutralizing your opponent by keeping him in your corner and having a myriad of moves that are required to be performed by BOTH team members!

Don't you hate when a tag-team gets a win (in a non-PPV, extenuating circumstance situation) when only one guy delivers his finisher? What's the point of having a partner if you can't double team your opponent for a Hart Attack, Doomsday Device or Dudley Death Drop?

As shown on last week's "SmackDown!", London and Kendrick have excellent chemistry. Have the ability to be both mat technicians AND high-flyers and don't even need much of a gimmick to get over. Now, I admit I wish there was SOME sort of explanation for the weirdo theatre masks they wear to the ring...but their performances allow for the mystery to slide.

In addition, their tag-teaming prowess allows for two legitimate wrestlers to shine in a company that would otherwise designate them to singles competition during dark matches.

KC JAMES/IDOL STEVENS
First off, let me say that I hate it when a brand new tag-team is already embroiled in a feud with the tag champs. As mentioned earlier, WWE needs to revisit the concept of the 'chase'...and the concept of 'earning' your shot by climbing up through the tag-team ranks. However, these guys wreak of 'old school' wrestling. I don't even mind that they don't have a tag-team name yet. They look like two dudes who could have taken a time machine to 2006 from the 80's.

Unlike conventional tag-teams these guys wear different tights and had no character build-up. I'm not sure where they're going with these two, so under normal circumstances, I'd be dissing their introduction to the audience.

I mean, why are we seeing vignettes of some arrogant, braided-up, blingin' brother tryin' to get a contract from Teddy Long while the on-screen talent hasn't spoken a word yet? In this specific case, I think I actually have an answer.

James and Stevens don't need 'characters'. They're wrestlers. And TAG wrestlers at that! Old school, just like I said. The fact that we know that they are a team and they are in the "E" to win the double straps is all we need.

I hope they actually have a good feud with London and Kendrick, among others, before getting the straps. Allow the audience to feel as if they deserve it or AT LEAST have them around long enough for them to 'discover' the right ways to cheat in order to win gold at the WWE level.

I think they pulled this type of win off way too early last week on "SmackDown!" but also I think I like where the tag-team scene is going...I hope I'm not speaking too early.

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Dear Layla...

Dear Layla,

God, you're fine. I mean damn, you're one of the sexiest things I've ever seen on television ever. Seriously, you're giving my girl, Kristal over on "SmackDown!", a run for her money. You're so dope, you're actually making me risk serious ridicule for dedicating an entire "O" Show article to you baby. Do you understand what this means?

You're actually so gorgeous and sexy, I don't want you to win the 2006 WWE Diva Search this Wednesday. Yep, I said it. I hope you're NOT chosen as the winner!

You see, this would allow for you to free up your time and come to Toronto to begin carrying my child. Forget the quarter million dollars girl, it's time you become the new Mrs. Faraldo! It's true. I love you, Layla.

You're so unbelievably beautiful that you're making me neglect the fact that SummerSlam, WWE's second biggest pay-per-view of the year is this Sunday. I'm not even going to mention how much I'm looking forward to the "I Quit" match between Ric Flair and Mick Foley. I've been writing in recent weeks that these two superstars are among the best ever at cutting promos - one of the main components to creating excitement over an impending match.

As well, it only heightens my eagerness that there is legitimate heat between these two competitors as has been outlined in their promos and literary works. Considering that this is an "I Quit" match and the fact that, as Foley mentioned on "Raw", Flair is an 'easy bleeder', I expect a lot of gruesome O's to transpire in this bout. It's always dope when there's a long build-up to a match - giving it greater importance than most others - as this isn't done a whole lot anymore. Flair have Foley have been able to accomplish this brillantly over the past couple of months. The match should be sick.

But like I said, I'm not even gonna mention that.

You proved how amazing you are last week on "SmackDown!". The other moronic Divas tried to display their 'athletic' prowess and even poetry(!) skills during the 'talent' competition. How wack.

You, however, know that generally, when it comes to WWE Divas, the WWE audience wants to see nothing but tits and ass. Period. And that's what you gave us baby. You can really shake that thang! Your time as a dancer for the Miami Heat has definitely come in handy. You're as hot as they come sweetheart.

I'm so taken by you, I'm not even gonna bother mentioning that not since Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero have I been more happy about the current Championship situation. Edge and Booker T, excuse me, KIIIIIIIIINNGGG BOOOOOOKKERRRRR, are among my favourites in the "E" and have been for a while now. They deserve the titles that are currently around their waists.

Once a silent mid-carder, my fellow Torontonian, Edge is a thousand times more entertaining (and technically sound in the ring) than John Cena. Why the fans (a good amount of them anyway) still cheer Cena, I have no idea. His promo last week on "Raw" was nowhere near funny. His incessant use of lame-ass moves like the "5 knuckle shuffle" is insulting.

Edge, on the other hand, can hold a mic and your attention at the same time - something that SHOULD come natural to a pro wrestler. The 'home invasion' angle this week on "Raw" was reminiscent of Stone Cold Steve Austin trying to break into Brian Pillman's crib to open up a can of whoop-ass years ago.

It might not have been the most 'realistic' angle in the world (remember the gun Pillman was holding? - you probably didn't watch wrestling then) but it created some wicked hype during their rivalry. Now Edge's 'invasion' of John Cena's dad's house may not have necessarily been his idea...but Adam Copeland's ability to push his 'evil' persona in the ring during the early stages of "Raw" this week, sets him apart from the average Superstar. It definitely makes him better to watch than John Cena. Where's Edge's movie??

King Booker is an awesome champ as well. I've been saying for weeks - months actually - that he is the best character on "SmackDown!". JBL said it last week...he's not only the best competitor on the show, but the best announcer as well. Always witty, humorous and able to play his 'royal' character to a tee, Booker is the man. How is it that WWE is able to still convince the sheep-like viewers of their product to cheer for a non-interesting muscle-head like Batista? He truly is a peasant.

Although it isn't likely, I hope both champs maintain their championship status when SummerSlam is done this Sunday. But, like I said, I'm not even going into it. Lately, I've only been able to think of you.

I'm so enamoured by you, I won't even mention Hulk Hogan's return to the ring this Sunday. It's no secret I've been a Hogan mark since I was a child. (Do you know who Hulk Hogan is?). Not that I think he should even be in the ring anymore, but Randy Orton is just a half-step more impressive than Batista and John Cena. Between the three of them, Orton is probably the best on the mic and in the ring! And that's not saying much. The Legend Killer push given Orton by WWE over the past several years still hasn't put him over, in my mind.

While guys like Johnny Nitro are performing corkscrew moonsaults (and don't even get me started about the stupidly under-used talent in ECW and the amazing feats they can perform), Orton continues to get main event status with his moveless arsenal. I hope he loses to a legdrop at SummerSlam, like Shawn Michaels did last year. As well, The Hulkster has never lost at SummerSlam...he's The Undertaker of this event. (Did you know The Undertaker has never lost at WrestleMania? Do you know what WrestleMania is?).

I don't mean to be sarcastic baby. It's just that its common knowledge that most Diva wannabes are not exactly professional wrestling know-it-alls. The job of a WWE Diva is to be straight up sexy. And that you are, Layla. So on the real, I definitely hope you DO win the 2006 WWE Diva search. I've been voting ONLY for you, trust me. I honestly think it's a lock.

But just in case...the invitation to the T-dot (and my bedroom) will always be open.

Sincerely,

Dan-e-o

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Words From Stro: "A champion and a chief"

The following is a column written by Stro - formerly The Maestro of World Championship Wrestling.

Hi everyone. It has been another hot summer so far. Travels have been going good and the shows have been going alright. So let's get started with the "WFS".

Had a great match with ACPW champion Corey Edsel a few weeks back in Kenansville , North Carolina at the Auditorium. It was a very solid match and probably one of our best matches to date. Corey is a big guy with great agility and a strong mat game. Great wrestler. The card as a whole provided a lot of action with TNA's Elix Skipper and David Young along with the ladies match between Amber O'Neal/Lollipop and some of my graduates from the school such as KC McKnight, Jay Steele, V.A. Hampton, and Brandon Maretti. Looking forward to returning there for ACPW's legends show October 7th when I will be wrestling once again Tracey Smothers. Tracey and I have wrestled for quite a few promotions over the years, so it will be great to face him again in October.

Speaking of October 7th, I will be the grand marshall for this year's 2006 Fireman's Day parade in Magnolia, North Carolina. The start of the parade is 10 pm est. If you are a country/gospel band and would like to be a part of the parade, just email me at stro@thestro.com and I will give you information to reach the director of the event. Looking forward to seeing all the fans there in October.

Will be returning to SCW/Ohio September 9th in Zanesville, Ohio at the PAL building. The start of that show will be 8 pm est. Will be great to see all my Ohio fans again and I am looking forward to coming back there to SCW/Ohio next month.

Female pro wrestling great Lady Amazon, the only female to be trained by the late Tojo Yamamoto, will be in my corner for a pro wrestling event November 4th in Tifton, Georgia. Looking forward to having the pleasure of Lady Amazon being in my corner for that event.

Had a great time at the Blackberry Festival this year for Mason Dixon Wrestling as this was the first year there that I got to actually stick around a bit to enjoy the festivities afterwards. The entertainment was great and the fireworks afterwards was amazing. Looking forward to returning there again next year.

Rick Steiner and I will be appearing in Southern Pines, North Carolina Sept. 30th for a pro wrestling event to help raise funds for the practice of C.W. Mclemore, M.D. of Moore Care. To make a donation to the practice. Send to:

C.W. Mclemore, M.D.
General Practice
7613 Hwy 211
Pinehurst , North Carolina
28374


Tales from the Lair
____________________

"Had the pleasure of wrestling the late legendary Chief Wahoo McDaniel at an event a while back in Southport, North Carolina. It was such an education. From first hand experience, Wahoo had one of if not the hardest chops in the business. There was point during the match that surprised Wahoo and even myself when I lifted up the big man in a vertical suplex (click on the link to see the photo of it) http://www.geocities.com/colossusg/GGIIIvsWahooMcDaniel.jpg .
A little while later after that event, he came up to me and said he hasn't been suplexed like that since Harley Race. Was honor to be in the ring with him and one I will never forget."


Stro Mailbox
______________

Frederick from Ireland:

"What is your opinion on the Degeneration X and how Shawn is handling his role?"

Stro: I think Shawn and Triple H have great chemistry and are very entertaining together. As a Christian, I respect how Shawn is handling his role with DX. The duo has been very entertaining. The McMahon impersonating segment had me in stitches!

Carissa from Ohio
"Looking forward to seeing you in Zanesville Stro. Big fan."

Stro: Same here Carissa! Some of my best fans have come from Ohio. See you next month!

Stanley from California
"Who do you think will win at Summerslam in the I Quit match with Ric Flair and Mick Foley Stro?"

Stro: That is a tough one to call. This type of match environment favors both of these greats and could go either way. Regardless of the outcome, I feel there will be a newfound respect between both men once this is over. This match should be a real treat for any wrestling fan!


To write feedback for the mailbox section
of the Words from Strozilla column, email to:
wordsfromstrozilla@yahoo.com. Let me hear from you!
If you would like to contribute and send any wrestling
related news and events ,email at :
stronews@yahoo.com

To book Stro formerly WCW's Maestro for
appearances,autograph signings,seminars,or for your
pro wrestling event,
email at:
strobookings@yahoo.com


Upcoming events and more:


Saturday August 26th
ACPW
http://www.acpwpro.com
belltime: 7:30 pm est.
(location to be announced)
email: acpwarena@yahoo.com

SCW/Ohio


Pro wrestling event
Saturday Sept. 9th
Zanesville, Ohio
PAL Building
804 Pine Street
Belltime is 8 pm est.

Featuring:
Stro formerly Maestro of WCW, Paul Harley, and other
top SCW/Ohio stars!

For advance ticket information, call : 1- 740-
787-1394

September 30th
Pro wrestling event
Southern Pines, North Carolina
National Guard Armory
Belltime: 8 pm est.


ACPW
http://www.acpwpro.com
Legends show
Saturday October 7th
Kenansville Auditorium
Kenansville, North Carolina
Belltime is 7:30 pm est.
email: acpwarena@yahoo.com

Grand marshall for this year's Magnolia Firemen's Day Parade in Magnolia, North Carolina Saturday October 7. Start of the parade is 10 am est.


Mason Dixon Wrestling event
Sunday October 8th
Ravenswood, West Virginia
(Location to be announced)


Saturday November 4th
Tifton Georgia
Pro wrestling event.
Belltime: 8 pm est.
(location to be announced)

Thank you guys for taking the time to read my column. Will return next week for another "WFS" column edition. Till next week,You all have a great weekend. Please remember our brave men and women soldiers who fight and protect for all of us. Be safe and take care. GOD bless!

Stro/formerly WCW's Maestro
"Nobody can go toe to toe with the Stro!"
http://www.thestro.com

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Thursday's Thoughts

A somewhat slow week in the world of professional wrestling, but still a few things worth mentioning.

Tommy Dreamer has asked to be relieved of his office job with the WWE. For those that weren't aware, Dreamer has been serving as the head of the developmental program for a few years now. He has worked directly under Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis (Johnny Ace).

Dreamer has decided the job is a little too taxing, and wants to give his all to the ECW brand. He has stepped down and a successor has been named. It's none other than Simon "Nova" Dean. Dean, (real name Mike Bucci) is a class act that I've been fortunate enough to chat with a few times. He truly has an eye for talent and has a much more approachable vibe than Laurinaitis or Dreamer. He will be a breath of fresh air to the office and will certainly help develop the future. This effectively ends Simon Dean's in-ring career.

As Nova, Bucci was a major force in ECW. He was a high flying risk taker with a sick finisher (Kryptonite Crunch). He also donned the Hollywood gimmick as a member of the Blue World Order. Funny story, that MOST people have heard. His WWE gimmick is a rib on Dean Malenko, whose real name is Dean Simon. If this is the end for 34 year old Bucci he's had a great run. Congrats Mike

In to other news: Randy Orton sucks.

Jim Cornette did an interview this week where he really carved up the Insane Clown Posse (who had crashed a recent autograph session of his). Cornette said they were in a bad mood; "because they got the recent sales reports on their record. You know those records weren't released, they escaped. They released it and it went plywood. It was on the verge of becoming sheetrock, but sales fell off."

Classic.

This just in: Umaga isn't over.

I don't give a rat's ass that he's pinned John Cena, Triple H and Shawn Michaels in the last month. The dude is NOT over. He spent months beating the crap out of enhancement talent and guys like Eugene and Duggan - and suddenly we're supposed to buy him as a legitimate main eventer? Sorry, but no. Me thinks you skipped a step.

Jeff Hardy is back in the WWE fold, and several names within TNA couldn't care less. Not the least of which is Alex Shelly, who recently said "Jeff Hardy was a pain in the ass, so I could care less -- I care more about what I would be having for dinner than Jeff Hardy going back to the E."

Is it just me or is Bobby Lashley's body just way too jacked up for his little head? Isn't it kinda weird that this guy was held off a pay per view that really needed him and was cleared for action a week later? People within the company stated that Lashley had the highest enzyme readings ever seen by the doctors. He was a serious health risk. Then BIM BAM BOOM, he's ready to go? Dammit, if you're gonna hold a major baby off a big show - fake an injury. Send in get well cards. Bring him out on tv with crutches or some shit. Do something! This just makes what guys like JBL are saying seem legit. That puffed up Bobby Blackberg is just too soft.

Tha O Show has spoken to several major talents this week about interviews and will be recording some shortly. Among them are a couple of former world champions!

Did ya see tha new O Show Tee in the side bar? It'll be ready for purchase soon in Dan-e-o's online store. Make sure you get one soon.

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Hogan says he's ready to go

In a somewhat suprising move, Hulk Hogan has confirmed today that he will face Randy Orton at Summerslam.

Just two days ago, while appearing on Regis and Kelly, Hogan admitted that he has a knee injury. He said he blew out his good knee and had been scheduled to wrestle a match in a couple weeks but wasn't sure if it would happen or not.

Interestingly enough, Mr. Salesmanship never once mentioned Randy Orton's name, Summerslam or even the WWE.

Yesterday on CNN’s Showbiz Tonight, Hogan said he was still a few days away from making a decision. Apparently the decision was made within a few hours

From WWE.com :

“I’m going to show up in Boston, which has always been a hotbed of Hulkamania, brother. [At SummerSlam], I’m going to walk to the ring with my red and yellow, stand in that ring, and I’m going to kick Randy Orton’s ass,"

Several people I've spoken to within the industry now believe that the booking for Summerslam will be changed, and Orton will go over. Hogan will use the injury as an excuse, the match will be brief and we'll have a big blowoff gimmick match between them at Wrestlemania.

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Ortiz - Shamrock III will be free

Earlier today, Dave Meltzer confirmed that there will be a third UFC fight between Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, and will happen on free tv.

Meltzer said the following on his website today:

"Dana White just confirmed to us this morning that he's gotten verbal agreements to terms from both Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock for a 10/10 fight on a Spike TV special. The show will likely be held at the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood, FL."

Shamrock has been completely destroyed by Ortiz in their first two fights. The rematch, which happened last month was a complete destruction, but Shamrock maintains the fight was ended prematurely.

I'm betting than Ortiz beats Shamrock even faster this time.

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Hogan out, Hardy in

WWE.com has released two major stories within the last 24 hours. Hulk Hogan has been injured and will apparently be unable to compete at Summerslam, and Jeff Hardy has been given a "second chance" with the company.

The Hogan situtation comes hot on the heels of a "Great American Bash" pay-per-view that should have been renamed "Subject To Change". Now, the match that was supposed to sell "Summerslam", 'Hogan-Orton', appears to be off. How on Earth did the Hulkster manager to get injure himself?

The former world champion told .com, "[On] Friday, I did a couple of leg exercises at a gym. When I got home, I sat on my new couch and it was like sitting in a hole. When I got up, it sounded like a snap, an explosion in the kneecap. I can stand and walk a bit, but its hard for me to sit and get up and down the stairs."

Orton's standard heel response: "Typical Hogan. I have been around the man since I was a child. It seems that every time he gets in a situation that he can't handle or if he gets in over his head, he blows out a knee or his back. Case and point, the old man (chuckling) blew out his knee getting up from the couch."

Hogan's Raw appearance for Monday has been said to be in doubt.

Jeff Hardy was a red-hot superstar three years ago. He had started to carve out his own niche as a singles star in the WWE when he apparently just "burned out". Hardy didn't put his heart into his work, and created a lot of heat for himself by arriving at shows late, and not fulfilling his contractual expectations.

Hardy, who first worked for the WWE/F when he was just 16, has also had drug problems, and claims to now be recfocused and clean.

This does remind me of when the WWE rehired Eddie Guerrero who had been released for substance abuse problems. Guerrero went on to the biggest pay days of his career and main event status before having his wreckless past catch up with him.

Jeff hasn't exactly been a boyscout sice leaving the WWE. He spent time in TNA and had been in management's doghouse for arriving late to events or no-showing all together. He has been informally suspended by TNA twice.

The first thought would be that the WWE would try to reunite the popular Hardy Boys tag team - but to what end? To feud with the dysfunctional and soon to be defunct Spirit Squad? To feud with London and Kendrick? There is no tag team division on either brand to speak of.

My next thought is - are surprise returns dead? Remember that feeling you used to get when the WWE would bring back an old fav with a shocking run in or as a surprise tag team partner? Are those days gone? Hey - we here at Tha "O" Show aren't the ones spoiling this bit of news - it's the WWE themselves.

Is this simply a case of not wanting to be scooped by the internet so they'd rather spoil it themselves? Whatever the rationale, it sucks.

I hope Jeff Hardy nothing but health and big pay days. I hope Hulk Hogan manages to rub some magic lotion on that knee so he's able to compete at "Summerslam". Hell, you know he wasn't gonna put Orton over, and one more loss on that dick makes me a happy guy.

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Kingdom's Column

My wrestling viewing habits have become rather erratic and I don't think I'm alone in this at all. Now I must admit that I probably have a better excuse than most of you: I work evenings from 730pm until 3am. Sometimes I catch the start of Raw or Smackdown before work kicks into full swing, but unless its a holiday Monday or one of the increasingly rare times I don't have to cover for someone on a Saturday night, just about the only wrestling I know I'll get to see has been TSN's 3:30am Tuesday night/Wednesday morning replay of Raw... which I often fall asleep during.

Sure I could set my vcr and tape Raw and Smackdown and Impact. But I don't. Frankly there's just nothing going on on any of those shows that's inspired me to do anything more than catch them when I can and miss them the rest of the time.

There are only two things I've really made any effort to watch lately. The first is actually thanks to a kid on YouTube.com. With his his diligence I've seen all the wwECW shows from SciFi despite the fact that it doesn't start on Canadian tv until next week. And let me tell you, kids... the Vince McMahon ECW revival is, as my boy Ron would say, an abortion of biblical proportions.

No one with any intelligence thought the new ECW would be an exact continuation of where the promotion left off or, even more far-fetched, a throwback to the promotion's early glory. What everyone prayed it would be though, is something different than the current WWE in both its style and its substance. It is neither. The current ECW does not fulfill the dream of a promotion carrying on in the manner of the original.

Instead it comes off like a psycho ex-girlfriend you had a One Night Stand with while your new girlfriend was away who's gotten into your closet, put on your new girlfriend's favorite outfit and is running around your bedroom screaming "I can be her! You still love me!" Think Meryl Streep. Stephanie McMahon is gonna boil your bunny.

Thank god CM Punk debuted this week. For a precious few minutes I watched wwECW and didn't want to claw my eyes out. Punk is fresh and new for this product and is the beacon that I think most fans will follow thru the darkness of the new ECW.

Test? Mike Knox? Big Show? Weekly main events featuring people I already don't want to watch on Raw and Smackdown? Strippers who don't know how to strip? And Joey Styles and Tazz shilling for the garbage like they can't smell the "suck" in the air. Who the hell has wanted any of that?

Here's the test for the WWE brain trust: will they learn anything from the massive positive reaction that CM Punk received in New York this week and the massively negative reaction that Show vs Batista were shown and start reworking things to spotlight talents like Punk, RVD, Stevie Richards, Little Guido, Tony Mamaluke and the like???

OR...

Will they ignore what the crowd did Tuesday and fight to swim against the currents of the Great Material Continuum (nerd alert: I just made a Star Trek reference about a Ferengi philosophical belief. The GMC is like a river the flows throughout the universe and if you sail upon it smartly, your boat will be ladden with riches. Oh shut the F up... If you knew anything about Star Trek you'd know how PERFECT that analogy is.) and continue to forcefeed us crap on toast like Show vs Kane and
Test run-ins and the Vampire because they know what's good for us???

Time will tell.

Oh yeah, there was a second thing I made the effort to watch recently and that's the Dusty Rhodes dvd set. Three discs full of Dusty is like a trip to Tha Pay Window, daddy! You must view this set. Not even the edits to commentary from older matches can steal the fun away from watching Stardust doin' his thang.

Watch each and every match. Savor each and every promo. Vince McMahon has made sure that a performer as talented and charismatic as Dusty will never rise to the top of the business again. (And yet Vince is the guy making the money off this set of dvds. Don't let the irony escape you folks.)

And while the documentary portion of the first disc is the kind of love letter one would fully expect from this sort of production (highlight the positives, hide the negatives unles they can be used for tear-jerking purposes), there's one thing that really pissed me off:

Dusty takes credit for putting the WCW World title on Ron Simmons.

Huh?

Did I miss something? Apparently I did because the move to put the World title on a black wrestler for the first-ever time is something that I, for one, have always credited to "Cowboy" Bill Watts. Its nothing new for the WWE to engage in this particular kind of revisionist history. They do it now with practicaly everything they release. Its just sad that they feel they have to.

But don't let that deter you from watching the set. Its a decidedly enjoyable piece of viewing, from Dusty early days tagging with Dick Murdoch and working territories like Florida and the AWA, to his NWA title runs under the Crockett banner, to his lamentable WWF run more remembered for a polka dot outfit and a "fan-turned-manager" named Sapphire (Oh, the nightmares this brought back) to the Corino feud in ECW. Its the story of that little plumber's son from Austin, Texas who grew up to be soooo sweet...

And its hard to resist charm like that.

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Examining Impact!

After watching last night's edition of Impact I have a few comments. Some nice, some not so nice.

I'll start off gently. TNA is really using Jim Cornette the right way. He has more background in this industry than Jeff Jarrett and all his boys combined. That makes him a believable 'general manager' / face of management. I still cringe when I think of Eric Watts in that role.

The promo Cornette cut last night was awesome. I loved how he ribbed Bischoff and Teddy Long. He doesn't feel the need to be on TV all the time, taking away from the wrestlers. Gold.

My one beef that came from his promo actually had nothing to do with Cornette, but the creative powers in TNA. Who's idea was it to have a Christian Cage versus Scott Steiner match next week with that HORRIBLE stipulation? Did you miss it? The winner, gets to be in his man's corner (Sting or Jarrett) at the Hard Justicee pay per view.

That's your prize? Work your ass off so you can be manager for a day? Geez that sounds like a prize you offer to a couple of fans who wrestle in inflatable sumo suits at a fan fest. It demeans Christian as a main event and cements him in the shadows of these old timers.

Samoa Joe's match with Rhino at Hard Justice has been turned into a three way with Monty Brown. That of course means, Joe will lose. In case you haven't noticed, he hasn't won anything in TNA that wasn't of a one on one type affair.

The elevation of the Naturals is great. I really like Shane Douglas on the mic as the tough as nails, take-no-shit ex-wrestler who knows what it takes to get to the top. Are you like me though? Are you wishing Douglas had another run in him? Damn TNA could use him in the main event picture.

I might be the only one who isn't Latino and is seriously digging the LAX, but I am. Sure Homicide has his issues, and our boy Steve Corino's got plenty of heat with him, but I like where this angle is going. Konnan is good on the mic, brutal in the ring. They are hiding his weaknesses, showcasing his strengths. I'm not one of those who says "Well he's doing the same shit he did in WCW so I hate him". Say what you will, but he was always over in WCW. As a face in TNA he was always over. Now he's plugged into a hot button issue that we've seen taken away from guys like Ron Killings and Muhammad Hassan.

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