Official WWE/TNA Wrestling Thread

yeh...I didnt win...


I am actually in awe that HHH is going to Smackdown. I never thought that would happen. Once again though it looks like Raws roster is going to be over loaded while Smackdown has a few talented performers.

 

Couple of things to keep in mind with this draft.

First, ECW got hosed, but we knew that was going to happen. The reaosn Raw was loaded up is twofold. First off, Raw is the flagship show and will ALWAYS come out ahead. Second, and maybe more importantly, ECW is now going to be filmed before RAW as opposed to SMACKDOWN. Meaning ECW talent will be combined with RAW talent each week. So get read to see a bunch of Raw guys bleed over onto ECW and vice versa.

I am not sure if anyone else picked up on it, but WWE tipped their hand pretty badly tonight. In every match tonight, you could tell who was winning based on the referee assignment. If a Raw ref was working the match, a Raw guy won. If an ECW ref was working? ECW won, and so on and so forth.

I picked up on it after the second match and kept tabs since then. I don't think they broke from theat formula.

I should also point out that they did a good job of moving a lot of key pieces around, which is rare for this type of thing. Although some of them were painfully obvious. Thing I knew were gonna happen include:

Umaga to Smackdown
CM Punk to Raw
Misterio to Raw
Jeff Hardy to Smackdown ( I had him going to ECW)
Matt Hardy to ECW (I figured they would have team extreme in ECW, I was close)

I knew they were changing announcers during the women's match based on the way they were talking. I think the thinking is again, two fold. JR is the best they have still, and I think they want to have him work with Foley and try to get him up to their standards. Plus, I think they are giving Cole the ball here and hoping he doesn't drop it.

My problem though is not with Cole, but with Lawler. He is unlistenable and I think WWE would be best to move him into a different position witin the company and give the color role to someone else. I actually have someone in mind, but I will save that for a piece I am working on.

I also knew that Kennedy was moving on as he has better opportunities on Smackdown.

And the Batista draft became obvious when he ran out after the match. The way WWE telegraphs these things is sickening sometimes.

Oh and I am a mark for battle royals but man alive that was a snoozefest.

 

My guess is that Triple H is back on RAW sooner than later. Triple H was drafted to Smackdown a few years ago and threw an absolute fit backstage that they ended up switching him back to RAW.

My guess is Triple H wins at the PPV and shows up on RAW the next night saying since he's the RAW champion he has to stay on RAW until he loses the title and by the time he actually loses people will forget he got drafted to Smackdown in the first place.

 

Apparently, JR contemplated retirement after finding out he was drafted to Smackdown. In his latest blog he makes his feelings very well known about what he feels is the company pushing him out the door.

The funny and ironic part for me is that he refuses to go to connecticut for voice over work and instead says the WWE can instal a DSL line in his house if they want him to do the work. But then in a paragraph or two down, he talks about how he would never phone in his work.

I love that.

 

Early word is they're moving Triple H to Smackdown so it can get some strong ratings when it switches networks. Most of the RAW wrestlers are glad he's gone since it opens up spots for them but the general feeling is he'll be back sooner or later.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ2aX-Lgh6M&feature=related

 

Yeh......didnt look like he was acting when he moved over to the smackdown table.

 

I think HHH defeats Cena, Keeps WWE title on Smackdown, Batista Defeats Edge, Keeps title on Raw. Kane loses to Big Show or Henry keep title on ECW.

 

Kofi to RAW? Someone's going places.

 

I see the Intercontinental Title in his near future.

 

Kofi vs Chris Jericho? Fighting as if it's the WCW Cruiserweight division.....

 

Or the Lightheavyweight Title, or Cruiserweight Title. Damn I'm missing those.

 

Of course. The Rock. Stone Cold Steve Austin. Chris Jericho. The Hardy Boyz. The Dudleyz....

 

Don't forget Triple H in his prime, Mick Foley, Eddy Guerrero, Chris Benoit (before he killed anyone).

And also WCW and ECW.

 

I was thinking about the oddities the other day. Anyone remember when they had the whole usa vs team canada( bret hart) thing going on. With that one dude the patriot and vader....

 

Oh my god I can't believe someone is nostalgic for the European Title. Quite frankly, the WWE has too many belts as it is, yearning for more seems counterproductive to me.

If inaything, I think they should get rid of a few of them. Eliminate one set of tag team belts, the ECW belt and the U.S. title and you have yourself a decent range of titles still to use as storyline devices (IC, Tag Team, Women's and TWO world titles).

The only type of title I think I would want to see added would be something called the No Limits Title (or something to that affect). What would make it unique would be that the CHAMPION would get to decide what kind of match he has to defend hsi title in. 2 out of 3 falls, 1 fall to a finish, ladder match, stretcher match, hardcore match, four corners match etc.

Essentially, the champion would have "no limits" in booking his match. I think that could be cool if done correctly. Especially if you got it into the hands of someone like Santino who kept booking the same type of match over and over again (like an Italian speaking match or something ******ed that only he could win) which would tick off the crowds each and every week.

 

Its safe to say Kane will lose his title at NOC...With Henry going to ECW i can see him winning the title and having Henry vs Show in future

 

The same could be said for Edge or Triple H.

 

i really hope, and think they will switch the titles...and if they do i hope they get rid of the spinner belt

 

I'll tell you what, Koffee and Shelton have been putting on some awesome matches. Last weeks was really good, IMO.

 

The look in general is hideous. They should bring back the Classic Eagle belt as that, in my opinion, was the best belt and has a ton of tradition to it.

 

Sort of on topic - but wasn't the hardcore title originally the title that Bret held last? I seem to remember hearing that it was an inside jab at Bret by Vince. I think they went to a new belt design shortly after Montreal.

 

The hardcore belt was a broken up Classic Eagle belt. But it would be easy enough to re-do that design. It is not like they had only ONE belt that they passed around.

I would even be okay with the belt that succeeded that belt as it was nice as well.

Ultimately, I would like to see them combine and have an UNDSPUTED WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION. But that is a pipe dream at this point.

 

Yeah the Hardcore Title was the same title that Mr. Perfect took from Hogan and broke with a hammer I believe.

And yes it would be nice having one World Champion but they did try that originally during the 1st brand switch and it worked poorly in my opinion. I think two titles works for the seperate shows but it looks stupid when they have a joint PPV as why should the viewer care about one World title more than the other.

 

Classic Eagle:


Hardcore:


I actually don't think its the same belt Perfect smashed. Most likely, it is just another belt that was broken up and taped together. When Perfect smashed that belt, it had a different design and the busted parts were right in the middle of the belt, where the world was.

Also, I think the undisputed champion thing could work if they had whoever the champ was, compete on both brands (ECW doesn't count) and whenever he loses the belt, he stays on the brand that he lost the belt to.

For example, if HHH was the chap, he would travel to both Smackdown and Raw. If at a pay per view, he lost the title to John Cena who was wrestling for Raw, HHH would take Cena's place on Raw and Cena would then travel to both shows. I really think it would work well.

Especially when the title falls into the hands of someone like Edge. Lets say he is avoiding the Undertaker, therefore he refuses to show up on Smackdown or feigns injury so that he can't wrestle on Smackdown, but somehow is fine for Raw each week or something like that. I think it would be entertaining as hell and would really help develop new fueds and sustained storytelling.

 

I'm almost positive someone like Scott Keith or someone else said it was the same, but whatever not important, you could very well be right.

Yeah what you said is exactly what the WWE did originally with the title and the draft split. In theory it should be able to work however it just didn't and that's why the WWE changed it. It makes sense to me, however it still wouldn't be able to get me (or I'm guessing the average wrestling fan) to watch Smackdown. And there's no way McMahon would lessen RAW without a world champion.

EDIT: You're right it's not the same title belt, the one that Mr. Perfect hammered was kept by a WWE official.

 

They KIND OF did that when it first started, but it was aborted quickly and for no real good reason if you ask me. I think they did it for about a month or two with Brock as the champ and then made him exclusively a Smackdown talent. Brock hated traveling and the schedule so much that he bought his own plane to avoid the hassles of flying.

I think if you did it now, with people who love this business, it could work. But its irrelevant if it would or not. It won't happen.

I just think if you explained to the talent that not only would they be getting ore exposure, but also more money, they would be willing to make the extra day of work.

And for watching Smackdown, I agree with you there. The day they put it on Fridays was pretty much the last time I watched a full episode. Now, I will simply skim through any potential good matches online. At this point, Raw is the only wrestling show I consistantly watch and half of that is on fast forward.

ECW was winning me back to the point where I put them back on DVR, but moving Punk, Kingston, and Benjamin off the show are probably going to kill my viewing dead of that show.

The worst part? I won't watch Smackdown just for Benjamin but might have continued watching had they kept him there to work with Matt Hardy. As it is now, its not compelling enough to hold my attention. Plus, they have stacked SD for their re-debut that talents lke Carlito, Shelton and a few others won't even get a chance on the B Show.

I would love to see what those guys could do if you put Benjamin, MVP, Carlito, Kingston, Burke, Bourne, Punk, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Umaga, Knox (who has grown on me), London and Kendrick with a couple of ring veterans like Finlay, Chavo and someone like Regal when he comes back and see what happens. I am willing to bet that that crew could put on fabulous wrestling matches and shows, week in and week out. Plus, that barely touches the outer rim of main eventers for the WWE.

 

Yeah Smackdown's quality went downhill pretty quickly too in my opinion (not like RAW is lighting the world on fire either). I honesty can't remember the last Smackdown I watched but it was pretty when Brock was still around. It's their minor league program and that's how they treat it. It's too bad because they do have talent on the show but its just not enough to get me to go out of my way to watch.

 

What about the European Belt? what ever happen to that?



My brother got to touch the Hardcore belt when Tommy Dreamer had it it was pretty cool.

 

The European belt was merged with the IC belt after RVD and Jeff Hardy put their titles on the line against each other (RVD was the IC champ, Jeff the Euro).

It was the equivalent to the old WCW TV title and really served no purpose once the US/WCW World and other titles were ported over to the WWE.

 

Eh I don't know about Santino, I think his character is funny as hell but I doubt fans would ever take him seriously even with a new girlfriend and/or stable. He's a comedy character thats all. His wrestling skills are pretty poor but his charsma and mike skills are great. Maybe they should turn him into a manager, he'd be great with that.

 

Spoiler

Did I not call Kofi getting the IC title in the near future?

 

Glad to be wrong. Although, the irony of having Dusty's kid be Dibiase's partner or second banana is kind of funny when you think about the original Ted Dibiase/Virgil/Dusty storyline.

Something tells me that Holly will get Dad to try and even the score.

 

You're probably right but god I hope not, I'd rather see the WWE putting the younger guys over 'real' wrestlers and not retired ones which will put on an awful match.

 

Although, it would be cool to see Holly get Dusty to come out and have Cody to freak out, only to have Dusty flip flop and fly with a bionic elbow to Holly thus, joining his son and the Dibiase's in the center of the ring, money being strewn about everywhere. It would help give the children a nice heel rub to haev their parents endorse this behavior and further humiliate Holly, which I am all for.

Plus, it could be a one time type of thing. Dusty doesn't have to be seen again for a long time really.

 

Wow ... CM Punk just won the World Heavyweight Championship.

That was completely unexpected. Pretty awesome angle to start the show.

 

I don't usually watch the product much anymore, preferring to watch the DVDs and older stuff. So it was a nice surprise to be rewarded for my viewing.

Punk's probably just going to be fed to Batista.