The General Wrestling Thread

[Bigpapa42]

I keep hearing little tidbits about Vader's kid. Never very detailed but typically positive. Interested to actually see what he can do...

[JayDizzle]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7Ji5WdlVsQ&feature=player_embedded"]Only in Wrestling[/ame]

[Kuzzy Powers]

LOL @ how desperate the WWE is to try to sell HHH vs Taker.. getting all these "legends" to hype it up this way. It would be pretty cool if this were done last year or the year before.. but noone gives a fuck about this match, no matter how much you try to sell it.

[JayDizzle]

[dave]

I watched "The Story Behind Wrestlemania" documentary via torrent tonight.
Even stupid HHH says in the doc no one should break The Undertaker's streak.
Kinda poor timing, don't you think?

The doc itself was two hours long, reasonably entertaining, but there are probably a million things they could have added to it. Of course, this being the WWE, they didn't.

[Nature Boy]

Just so you know...the WWE isn't in the wrestling business.


Drew Carey Inducted Into Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. Huh? Drew Carey??!!

Comedic actor and game show host Drew Carey is the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame.

According to the WWE, "Carey established his place in WWE history as a surprise entrant in the 2001 Royal Rumble. However, Carey’s fortunes quickly turned, when the massive WWE Superstar Kane entered the ring, prompting Carey to eliminate himself from the match."

The announcement adds, "The WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony...will take place at the Philips Arena [in Atlanta] on Saturday, April 2, and the one-hour TV special will air Monday, April 4, at 8/7c on USA Network."

Next thing I know, I’ve received an email from one Kellie Baldyga, a publicist for WWE, DEMANDING that we correct the story. She also copied our owner, Rance Crain, on the email.

What had drawn her ire was the headline. Baldyga wrote in her email, “We are no longer a wrestling company but rather a global entertainment company with a movie studio, international licensing deals, publisher of three magazines, consumer good distributor and more.”

No doubt WWE is into more things than just wrestling, which is its bread and butter, I thought, but this can’t really be a big deal. I was busy and emailed her I’d call her the next day, which was yesterday, March 17.

First thing yesterday morning I received this email from her: “Chuck, did you mean call me today (Thursday)? I apologize but I really need the correction made sooner than later if possible…”

As regular readers to this blog may recall, for most of my career as a journalist I haven’t gotten along with most publicists. Most of them don’t like me, and I don’t have patience for many publicists.

Baldyga was beginning to bother me. First, our headline was perfectly fine and accurate. Second, what was this “demand” about changing OUR headline?

I called her and introduced myself. The conversation then basically went as follows:

Me: Your release says that Carey is being recognized as being an entrant in the 2001 Royal Rumble. I believe that was a wrestling event.

Kellie: No, we don't do wrestling events. They're entertainments. And we don’t call them wrestlers. They’re superstars and divas.

I’m thinking to myself, is she kidding me? Is this woman mad? The company’s official name is World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. Its crown jewel is an event called WrestleMania. In the best tradition of wrestling on TV since its earliest days, they put on terrific shows (and events), with athletes who are performers and they’ve got storylines that are far more elaborate than any Gorgeous George and Freddie Blassie would have ever imagined. Why would they want to run away from who they are, from what’s made them wildly successful beyond most people’s dreams?

Me: Kellie, I really don't have time for this. WWE presents wrestling events. I'm not going to change the headline or anything in the item. If you'd like, I'll just remove it.

Kellie: Huh? What?

Me: Kellie, I don't have time for this. What do you want me to do?

Kellie: Remove it.

So I did.

Kellie sent me a follow-up email saying “I hope nothing was contentious in our conversation…” She added, “I know the perception is that we are a wrestling company but we are actually much more than that--we are a global media company which is how our Chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon, positions us.”

Whatever. Take away wrestling from WWE and what do you basically have? I don't think WWE is quite as diverse as global media companies such as News Corp. or Time Warner or Viacom, but what do I know.

LINK

[FedEx227]

As usual a wrestling company that wants to do the exact opposite of what their target audience is or wants.

It's really a great business plan.

[JayDizzle]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLTDCOvI8xU&feature=player_embedded"]What could have been[/ame]

These two make every villain out now look like pussies and all they did was fight Taker/Kane, Jericho/Benoit...

[SHOGUN]

So Alissa Flash was back on TNA a week or so ago....and got squashed in less than 30 seconds.

And now they have Sarita dressing up like a hoodrat from Spanish Harlem.

[EmpireWF]

Taken from last nights WWE house show in Illinois report over at f4wonline:

Sin Cara's debut

Match 4
Primo Colon vs THE DEBUTING SIN CARA

Wow, this was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to Sin Cara hopefully bringing back this exciting style to Monday nights. Mistico errr Sin Cara did most of his trademark spots, including the Corkscrew Plancha, the Springboard Rana, the Spinning Flying Head Scissors and the running headfirst dive between the ropes. They weren't all super smooth, but this is still night one. Sin Cara tried for another springboard rana but Primo reversed it into a power bomb. Primo tried for another Power Bomb, but this time Sin Cara reversed it into the La Mistica (!) for the submission win at 11:12. Good match and people liked Sin Cara, especially considering no one had seen him before or knew who he was. ***1/4

[EmpireWF]

Taken from last nights WWE house show in Illinois report over at f4wonline:

Sin Cara's debut

Match 4
Primo Colon vs THE DEBUTING SIN CARA

Wow, this was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to Sin Cara hopefully bringing back this exciting style to Monday nights. Mistico errr Sin Cara did most of his trademark spots, including the Corkscrew Plancha, the Springboard Rana, the Spinning Flying Head Scissors and the running headfirst dive between the ropes. They weren't all super smooth, but this is still night one. Sin Cara tried for another springboard rana but Primo reversed it into a power bomb. Primo tried for another Power Bomb, but this time Sin Cara reversed it into the La Mistica (!) for the submission win at 11:12. Good match and people liked Sin Cara, especially considering no one had seen him before or knew who he was. ***1/4

[IamMedellin]

:

And now they have Sarita dressing up like a hoodrat from Spanish Harlem.

OH ROSITA

[manchild24]

Thought HHH did a great job last night (as much as I cant stand him) and I really think the UT was rather crappy.

Like HBK telling Hunter "you cant win"

If HHH beats the UT then Im done with the WWE.

[Kuzzy Powers]

Yeah HHH/Taker FINALLY put up an enticing promo last nite.. it only took Shawn to help them out. I thought for sure they were gonna announce Shawn as the guest ref when HHH said "tell him why im gonna win Shawn", but it never happened.

[SHOGUN]

John Cena is a coward and I feel that any man that marks out for him is soft.