Steroid issues another dagger to the WWE

The WWE suspended 10 "unnamed" wrestlers that they will announce on November 1st.

The speculated list includes many high profile names in the WWE. Some of them include guys like Edge, Johnny Nitro (or John Morrison), Umaga (listed as Eddie Fatu), Shane Helms, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters, Simon Dean (aka Mike Bucci), Randy Orton, Mr. Kennedy, Funaki, and William Regal.

Umaga and John Morrison each were stripped of their titles this week so it does say something about it. Eugene was released and he had been suspended after an incident involving some drugs.

We will find more information when the WWE does release these names but this might be the dagger for the WWE as they have to take out some of their better performers because the people who aren't fans of the WWE are saying that steroids are wrong etc.

I will say that the WWE will probably be around for awhile but it looks to be in a decline and I haven't watched at all since the Vince McMahon angle and when the Benoit situation popped up.

It just doesn't seem likely that the sport will improve especially with the rise of MMA where real amateur wrestlers can make it big.

Chris Benoit Estate Battle Turns for the Worst

Chris Benoit was a millionaire as he sacrificed his life to be a professional wrestler though he did receive millions. Upon his death there are multiple sides fighting for the family estate as there have been no wills left by Benoit or his wife Nancy.

This battle for the millions has turned for the worst. Literally. Nancy Benoit's mother wants an investigator to review the order of the deaths. As the order in which they were murdered would depend on if Benoit's two children from another relationship would receive the money or if Nancy's side of the family would receive the family.

As one would recall the story told to us was that Nancy was killed first then their son Daniel. Under that scenario the money would go to Chris' children.

My stomach cringed and I felt sick when I read that story was released here by the associated press. Why this story was picked up I don't know but it is almost sickening to have it as a reason as I'd expect them to be grieving still.

Rest in Peace Chris Benoit

I was going to get my post on the Maple Leafs acquisition of Vesa Toskala which I'll delay for another day.

Benoit was born in Montreal, Quebec and was usually billed from Edmonton, Alberta. Either way he was Canadian and I always rooted for him from the start.

He was known by his nicknames "The Rabid Wolverine" and the greatest technical wrestler. He only won the title once and didn't have the longest run and would always get mixed in the shuffle when it came to the "main eventers" but always put on the greatest matches with his array of moves and perfect execution of every move.

His favourite moves were The Sharshooter, his finishing submission the Crippler Crossface, the diving headbutt and the three consecutive German suplexes. He got injured from time to time and had to have the spinal fusion surgery that requires wrestlers to be on the shelf for upwards of 1-2 years but he continued to perform and give his all to the fans and the fans loved him for that.

Rest in Peace The Crippler. You'll be missed Benoit!

The Death of a WWE Fan (Not McMahon)

The WWE recently held a draft and a tribute to Vince McMahon on WWE Raw. Many bloggers and the internet have covered this storyline calling it “stupid” or “dumb” and I am with them. However for the WWE has been thrown to the gutter when it comes to how much I like it and I even refused to buy tickets for RAW when it came to Toronto and I didn’t end up watching it.

Like many of my friends when I tell them how I still watch wrestling their response is “I used to watch it when….” Usually guys my age tell me when The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were big or before the “invasion” or WCW/ECW. For me it ends when they brought in ECW as a brand and discarded the hardcore stipulations altogether to about the time they decided they would “kill off” Vince McMahon.

I am angry that I wasted my time being a big fan but whatever I won’t be giving them any of my money that’s for sure. Here are some reasons why the WWE is on a bridge to nowhere and heading there fast.

1) We know it's fake but come on!
It's a tough sale for anyone and WWE to broadcast themselves as a sport when the outcomes are predetermined unlike the "kayfabe" days. 99.9% know it's fake (except that guy who cried and said it's still real to me) and we still watch wrestling why? Well sometimes wrestling is still very entertaining. However WWE has gotten boring with squash matches and overall less wrestling. It's also become way too predictable and we really don't see anything innovative.

2)Commercials between matches
If there is one ploy to capitalize on the most out of the advertisements it's the WWE banking on commercials in between matches on TV and usually their main event. Who the heck does that? Does UFC show the introductions to the fighters and when the round starts they kick to commercial? These stupid commercials are a momentum killer and overall make the TV experience suck.

3) Dealing with the "good guy" vs "bad guy"
In individual competitions there are always fan favourites but in general there are fans on both sides of the fence. If Edge came to Toronto or anywhere in Canada he is by far the fan favourite as we love him up here and he has a lot of talent. The WWE wants too much control of the fans and they either lower the noise, force the guy to say something to piss off the fans but they get away from the ultimate goal. The WWE is NOT built by Vince McMahon it is built by the fans and if I were the WWE I want the loudest fans possible and I want to present that atmosphere on TV. Who cares if fans like a guy they are not supposed to like? Don't shut them up but alas they do and they want you cheering guys like Cena even when he does occasionally hear the boos.

Why do you think ECW: One Night Stand at the Hammerstein Ballroom was such a success? The fans, that passion just goes to everyone else. Look at Toronto FC.

4) Use of talent or seeing "talent".
The WWE always seems to dip into the pool of tall, muscular 300-400 pound guys who can't move and wrestle for shit. I could care less about these guys. I want to see more high flyers like Meysterio, The Hardys, Paul London and Brian Kendrick are always exciting to watch. I don't care if wrestlers are fat and not exactly in shape. I just want to see performance. Most of the wrestling fan base is men so I don't care if they are roided up and using baby oil I just want to see some exciting shit - muscles don't impress me.

5) Taking away the Extreme in ECW or HARD in hardcore. WWE is soft!
I was very upset when they got rid of the Hardcore title a few years back as it was the favourite part of my show. When they brought ECW I was excited because that meant they would bring hardcore style matches like the only PPV I felt worth watching in ECW: One Night Stand. Violence is part of the smart so what if it's with weapons? The naysayers will always be there and this doesn't stop things like Backyard Wrestling to still be produced. Most people know it's fake and that it does hurt. If you want HARDCORE check out CZW the new ECW in my mind, some entertaining wrestling that my friend really liked and he's not as big of a wrestling geek that I am. Their stuff on youtube is superb!

6) Not increasing their fan base.
The WWE gets new fans everyday. As a child the second you watch violence like them you are hooked. It's hard to look away. However, every time they gain a newer viewer they lose an adult viewer who is probably more profitable to target. There are still adults who watch the WWE a lot but if you compare the numbers of adults who used to watch the WWE at one point as a child to those who still watch it, I think that ratio would be alarming. I myself wouldn't put the time to do a survey as it's not worth it to do it for WWE. I would expect this ratio to be quite large so you can argue that WWE is not capitalizing at all with the number of POTENTIAL viewers they could of had. If you notice ratings are always staying the same without any improvement and I can tell you that it's not because they are keeping the same fans.

7) Future looks bleak for WWE's Pay Per Views.
A small portion of the WWE's fan base actually pay for the PPVs anyway and obviously there is a large number of potential dollars that WWE would like to use. However they will never reach it. First like the argument above, they are gaining younger fans each and every day and losing an older one. Children or even people in the 18 year old range do not own the ability to order a PayPerView so they miss out on the sales. PayPerViews in general are a difficult sale especially now with all the updates and the video uploads that people use. Unless you are getting together with a friend you will not be paying for an expensive show and you and a friend would just split the costs. This is easy to do this with the UFC as it's great to just watch some fights even with boxing. The only show worthy of going out with friends and actually paying money to see is Wrestlemania and the statistics reflect that. Without Wrestlemania the WWE would be out of business and with a questionable fan base and overall direction by the WWE how long is this "success" going to last?

WWE 2007 Unforgiven Picks

CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke
Winner: CM Punk as he is the favourite anyway and I just can't see Elijah Burke winning.

Ric Flair vs Carlito
Winner: Carlito. Carlito is a favourite of mine when he is the heel but this one is a toss-up. Flair can easily win.

Shawn Micheals vs. Randy Orton
Winner: Shawn Micheals. Randy Orton's European troubles and HBK is on a roll beating World Champion Edge on the last RAW.

Chris Benoit vs. MVP 2 out of 3 Falls
Winner: MVP as it is his time to be a US Champ.

Bobby Lashley vs Umaga and The McMahons
Winner: Vince McMahon. I see this annoying reign to continue for a little bit before he passes on the title to Umaga.

John Cena vs. The Great Khali
Winner: John Cena. The Great Khali can't have an actual reign and Cena looks to escape with the win and an eventually heel turn.

Edge vs. Batista
Winner: Edge. They would have given Batista the title beforehand.

WWE 2007 Backlash PPV Predictions

Note: Photo was taken by me at last year's Unforgiven.

Edit @ Apr 29 9 am EST: Added 2 matches due to me doing this before Smackdown! and looking at unupdated sources....
Melina vs. Mickie James for Women's Title
Winner: Mickie James. The Women's matches are usually just filler but Mickie James' plant DDT is one of the sickest finishing moves in all of WWE (I really like it) it is easily sold as a automatic win if she hits it.

Hardy Boyz vs. Cade& Murdoch for World Tag Team Titles
Winner: Hardy Boyz. Cade and Murdoch have been dominating the singles match up but how can you not pick the awesome Hardy Boyz? Always fan favourites and rightfully so. Hardy Boyz bring respect and interest back into the tag team division.

Chris Benoit vs. Montel V. Porter for US Title
Winner: MVP. I think MVP deserves a shot at a mid-card title run by cheating his way to victory to keep Benoit looking strong. Benoit can compete for the heavyweight title so it's senseless having him battle fresh-looking (but kind of old) talent. I think it'll be a good time to give MVP a chance to prove himself.

Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga & Shane + Vince McMahon for ECW Championship
Winner: Umaga. Umaga is probably looking for a new home though he's done a great job as a monster. With Khali the guy doing all the squash matches on RAW, it's time to move him to ECW as champ for now and bring some interest in ECW.

The Undertaker vs. Batista - Last Man Standing Match for World Heavyweight Title
Winner: The Undertaker. It's the dead man how could I not choose him? I don't think The Undertaker could lose coming off a Wrestlemania win and he should continue his run. I'm not much of a Batista fan anyway.

John Cena vs. Shawn Micheals vs. Edge vs. Randy Orton (picture) for WWE Championship.
Winner: Shawn Micheals. The 53 minute marathon of a match between Cena and Micheals was and will be one of the matches of the year and I expect this one to be BETTER. Mixing in Edge and Orton will probably let this match be an hour and a half with many close calls and several finishing moves in a row. I would say this is the time for Cena to lose his title due to the recent defeat. I would've said a toss up between Orton and Micheals but with Orton's recent troubles (sent home from European tour and fined for allgedly trashing a hotel room) I see it as punishment that he doesn't get the title. All four guys should have gold by the end of the year at some point with involvement from Triple H to make it an exciting year.

Wrestlemania 23 Main Event Preview: HBK and John Cena

In a match of WWE’s arguably two most popular stars, HBK and John Cena have had an interesting feud the past months. Teamed together more often then not, this match has had a dynamic of the two actually protecting each other until the final RAW before tonight’s festivities.

Though occasionally you would find booing the two stars, I actually have a lot of respect for them and they probably would be favourites of mine if they were heels and not baby faces like they have been seen as for a good year. I think it’s great that Triple H got injured and let Micheals get propelled into the spotlight. Cena has been champion since I saw him take it from a ladder in Unforgiven (see archives for pictures).

What’s my prediction? I really like HBK more then Cena here. I think Cena has had another impressive title reign and he really needs to step down and work without the title again. I would like to see him become a heel again as I think he really needs to prove his naysayers that he is a good performer.

This should be an awesome match and word probably don’t describe how exciting the performance can be.

Wrestlemania 23 Preview: Batista versus Undertaker for World Title

If there are people who I feel sorry about when it’s in Wrestlemania it’s both Batista and The Undertaker. In WM23 the World Heavyweight Title match has taken a backburner to the feud between Shawn Micheals and John Cena. Batista stated on SI.com that he is heartbroken that his match is not considered part of the main event but that they are going to put on a great show. I hope he is right.

This should be a great match, every time there is the Undertaker in Wrestlemania it turns out to be a great match. Face versus Face matches are probably the greatest matches since the crowd will be in it and constantly chanting. Who are you rooting for?

I personally like the Undertaker more. His matches are more entertaining and I love it when he does his traditional moves like the Old School. I really just never bought into Batista after he went on his own to dominant everyone. He was a favourite of mine in the Evolution days. While Batista can move for a larger man, I just don’t buy into his move sets and it’s tough to root for a guy who fights monster-esque without some high flying ability.

I don’t think Batista is the guy to beat the Undertaker’s undefeated record. The crowd doesn’t seem to embrace Batista like he did when I saw him on Smackdown! He was THE man when he came to Toronto. I expect the Undertaker to either retire undefeated in Wrestlemania or his loss will come in his last match. Batista while probably deserving of a longer title reign, doesn’t seem to have that in the cards.

Wrestlemania 23 Preview: Battle of the Billionaires

I was trying to make my own Donald Trump potentially being bald picture but this is how it turned out. At first, I wanted to put another bald person’s head up there but it didn’t look good. I just used my own drawing, which sucks, and I almost wanted to draw a penis out of his head and have the caption say “I’m a dickhead” but this is what I settled on. I’m not much of a artist but hey he is already bald!

Okay back to the match, Umaga vs. the freak of a specimen called Bobby Lashley with special guest referee Stone Cold Steve Austin. This match would seem as “meh” type of match but with this stipulation it has added excitement that I myself won’t deny.

To be honest predicting this type is somewhat tough. I personally want to root for Donald Trump becoming bald due to his atrocious hair anyway. From my opinion I think that it would be better if Trump was bald or both of them either way the only way WWE wins is if Trump finally get rids of his plug-ins. The media exposure from Trump becoming bald is far greater then Vince becoming bald. I also like Vince’s hair considering his age. It’s graying but it’s still styled well.

Some of these things have to remain constant throughout the match: Austin stays as a fan favourite. Umaga and Vince for sure will eat a stunner but I wouldn’t count out him hitting one on Trump and Lashley. Lashley and Umaga have to be built as super freaks that never lose. Having neither look inferior will be important. No heel or face changes are expected in this one. In the end, this match could suck and I will still be interested and so will you. As a wrestling it’s not so bad to see Vince Mcmahon bald but if you’ve read my blog previously you would have seen my Donald Trump rant so you know who I’ll be rooting for.

Go: Austin, The Samoan Bulldozer UUUUUUMAAAAGAAA! Armanda Alejandro Estrada is the bomb.

Wrestlemania 23 Preview: Money in The Bank

I really tried to do posts for the Women’s championship match and the US Title Championship match but I was not motivated to actually write great material so I said screw it. I have Ashley and Benoit winning BTW.

Here are the eight guys who are in the 3rd Annual Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Edge, Randy Orton, Booker T, Fit Finlay, Jeff and Matt Hardy, Ric Flair and CM Punk.

They seem to be in increasing the number of people in this match each year but it is usually a great highlight of the show as it brings out the next eventual champion.

My winner of the match is Mr. Ken Kennedy…...Kennedy! He is ready to become a champion in my opinion and everyone secretly likes him even with his cocky attitude. He has some great mic skills to carry the belt and while he has had some title shots he can be that annoying egotistical guy that holds on to that briefcase for a long time.

I really believe Edge and Orton will feud after this match after they both wreck their own chances in this match. CM Punk is not yet experienced with victory as I believe he should be moved to either RAW or Smackdown! Before a title shot comes his way. The way they have him in the Elimination Chamber made it seem like he has a week link.

As for Ric Flair he’s just too old to justify holding the championship though it would get a huge pop. He just can’t wrestle every single house show to warrant a champion. As for the Hardy Boyz they can’t be champions yet and maybe a Hardy feud is in the works with the release of Joey Mercury and they have nothing to do.

That leaves Booker T and Fit Finlay. I don’t think Booker will win it because he has had a long championship reign already and I’d prefer him keep his King Booker stuff instead of Mr. Money in the Bank. The stopping of a name change is a good theory!

I’d really like Fit Finlay to win but I doubt that due to his age and I am not sure how the crowds would warm up to him. Therefore, Mr. Ken Kennedy will win! Should be great.

Wrestlemania 23 Preview: Kane vs The Great Khali

Dubbed as the Super Grudge Match between the two monsters, this match will probably draw more snoring then actual fear. While Kane is a great performer, The “Great” Khali is a very poor in ring wrestler in which WWE did not have confidence in to allow him on the Pay-Per-Views for his feuds such as the Punjabi Prison Match and yet they allow him into a match in Wrestlemania? What’s up with that?

Dalip Singh can not move at all in the ring. These are his moves in a nutshell: choke slam, power bomb, shoulder block, Irish whipping an opponent into a wall or something and the occasional punch to the floor. This clearly brings up to why WWE continues to push this guy. Only cause physically he’s a beast. Shame on you WWE, promote the little guys like Brian Kendrick.
I think this match will be stupid and Khali will dominant because that is how WWE is booking him and having him lose will basically be very pointless.

P. S. If it helps you to fear The Great Khali he did in fact kill a guy while training in APW

Wrestlemania 23 Preview: ECW Originals and New Breed

The first match on the WM23 card is probably the least I care about as I rare watch ECW on Friday nights. This 8-man tag match will include Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, Sandman and Sabu for the Originals and for the New Breed we have Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von (formerly Monty Brown of TNA).

I expect this kind of a slow match to start out WM23 with the New Breed dominating the action and the Originals getting the crowd going by making a comeback…. until CM Punk comes in shows his allegiance to the New Breed.

Why I say this? Well I’ve been reading the promos that Burke has been doing to get the straight-edge wrestler to join them and usually as it plays out, a heel turn ensues on the next Pay-Per-View.

Should be alright match though I’m never a fan of 8-man tag teams.

What's so good about Donald Trump?

My friend Brent, who was excited to tell me that Donald Trump in the WWE, inspires this article. My first initial reaction, mind my French, who gives a fuck? (Who should?)

I realize many people do look up to this person and he is like a hero to some. To me, he is just some guy who has a lot of money looking for publicity and fame. Let’s go over what he’s done that makes him such a “success”. He is the CEO of Trump Organization and founder of Trump entertainment which has business ventures in gambling. He is a certified billionaire in the recent Forbes’ list. He is also popular from that show “The Apprentice” incase you didn’t know.

Simply he is only popular because of how much money he has. His popularity stunts are stupid such as holding press conferences to announce that Miss USA will continue her throne or the recent battle between himself and Rosie O’Donnell which has been downright stupid. His recent feud with Vince McMahon in WWE solidifies in my mind that he wants fame along with his fortune.

I’m not going to care what happens in the hair vs. hair match between Umaga and Lashley but I believe that Donald Trump will lose his hair because that would bring more publicity to both the WWE and Donald Trump if he loses and it would be overlooked if McMahon shaved off his head (at least to media outlets).

Overall with all the talk about Trump being a real estate billionaire, there is nothing based on ANY charity work. Wikipedia includes things such as properties, bankruptcy, his online site has no personal charitable foundations but is purely based on properties owned, and business related information. One would figure that with a billion dollar organization, Trump could spare significant amount of dollars to show that he’s not all about making money. By significant, I mean newspaper worthy a la Bill Gates.

But that’s exactly what he is -a money hungry jerk! I don’t understand why people look up to this guy, yes he’s a good businessman but would we rather become filthy rich that making a million dollars becomes irrelevant instead of doing great service to this world? I bet you when Donald Trump dies, the people who revered for him these days, could care less. He will go down in history as some guy with a lot of money who happened to be somewhat famous. He will be forgotten. He has done nothing for this world but create an atmosphere where people’s goals are to just make money and do nothing for this world. This is solely the reason why I look at Trump and I shake my head.

Yeah, he has a lot of money and I would likely prefer to be in his situation then mine but hey, I’m perfectly happy with having a couple grand in my bank account instead of being one of the richest people in the world.

ECW One Night Stand: changing locations

The past two ECW: One Night Stands have been major successes so much that the WWE and Vince McMahon had what we thought was the great idea of bring back ECW. That has idea has flopped horribly.

From releasing most if not all the ECW originals, the ECW has not been a success with the crowds so incredibly stale especially when they are sharing time with the Smackdown! Brand. Right now we do have some young guys getting their opportunity with ECW but most people just seem to be wastes of talent and I could care less about Bobby Lashley, says a lot when your champion is going after another brand’s 2nd tier champion (Umaga).

So far, WWE has removed Paul E. Heyman from running ECW into more of a direction of their style which upsets me. The biggest news for me though is their decision to move the venue from the Hammerstein ballroom to Jacksonville, Florida. The reason I watched ECW was that the crowd really made the events lively. I wish Toronto was like that, crazy, cheering and really passing the vibe on to both the wrestlers and the crowd watching back at home. Now I know if they went back to Hammerstein it may not even sell as well we would get pure booing due to WWE firing so many of the ECW faithful. Either way I lost my reason to watch

Even though I download my material, I will never watch ECW again on TV or PPV even if I get it for FREE! The fans make wrestling its money and I feel like WWE has really turned off a lot of fans over the past year. I have lost most of my passion for wrestling

My Problem with the WWE

Compared to my friends some would call me a hardcore wrestling fan even though it's scripted. I don't care if it's scripted as all I want is to be entertained. However, I'm not being entertained anymore and I have been scarcely watching the shows as I've been totally annoyed. Here's what I think they need to do:

1. Unite the brands: Splitting Smackdown! and Raw has seemed to be a huge mistake though it as lasted for awhile. The problem is there is no reason for a person who watches RAW on Monday nights to tune in on Friday to see a taped Smackdown event. Also due to less shows before a PayPerView, feuds have lacked that same intensity that we've seen in the past in my opinion.

2. Cut down on the commercials or have better placement of them. I absolutely hate it when the commercial is in the middle of a FUCKING MATCH (sorry). I flip on the TV to watch matches and the more time you take away from it, the more disgruntled I get.

3. Let the bad guys dominate the show. I find that the shows were it is hostile are the best. At ECW's one night stand, the Cena vs Rob Van Dam match was awesome due to crowd being so hot and bothered. I could care less that Cena ends up winning all the time.

4. Speaking of Cena, there are some people who should be heels and faces (at this time) I'll list a few:
Cena: He came into his wannabe rapper persona and everyone hated it. He was just so good at it and everyone started cheering for this guy. He is the WWE Champ since he is a supreme talent (there's no doubt) but it's the way they book him as a stupid guy who has the same basic move sets. Make him a heel again and you'll see how much more people will be interested.

Carlito: He came into the WWE as a guy who spit apples at people and said "That's not cool". While he was a heel everyone started embracing him and he later became a face where he seems to be doomed as midcarder. Get him back into the lying, cheating and stealing!

Shelton Benjamin: He doesn't have the mic skills to be the heel he is now but he is a great performer that still gets pops from the crowd. He wowed me at money in the bank last year at wrestlemania and his potential will be maxed as a high flying face.

5. Get rid of ECW: releasing everyone didn't help and now it just adds another hour of television I am not going to watch. Expose these guys to the mainstream shows.

Summer Slam Picks

Okay, going to have like 2 or 3 posts today I've got a lot to talk about :) and what better way to organize it by posting multiple times instead of just squishing it all together.

Rey Meysterio vs Chavo Guererro, I hate the storyline like every other fan but I'll go with Mr. 619 cause he's awesome but I have a feeling Chavo will win due to cheating.

Mick Foley vs Ric Flair "I Quit" Match. Easy pick, I hate Flair but no face ever quits in an I quit match. gooo foley

Hulk Hogan vs Randy Orton. Easy Orton wins. The legend killer prevails and Hogan is injured anyway. Usually what they do with Randy's legend killer persona is they let him win first then POSSIBLY let the legend win the 2nd match (e.g. Undertaker)

DX vs The McMahons. DX easily but I don't care it's kind of annoying.

Big Show vs Sabu. Big Show retains title due to interference. Paul Heyman maybe? Kurt Angle?

King Booker vs Batista. Booker wins as they wouldn't take the title off him that quick though the supposed heat between them is very real.

Edge vs Cena. Edge retains, hmm with Jeff Hardy debuting on RAW monday, I smell something fishy. If Edge doesn't retain, man I will literally scream the most profane words ever at Unforgiven at Cena.

Anyway I'll be back with some updates of what I did Friday and yesterday and lots of photos.

Update: Look at this picture of The Masterpeice Chris Masters. He looks very very thin and non muscular since he was caught taking roids.