*WWE and pro wrestling discussion topic*

[Rob1981]

Smackdown has a "beat the clock" concept to determine who will face World champ Batista at Royal Rumble. 16-men are in it (8 total matches).


The concept is simple: whoever wins their match the quickest wins and faces Batista. So far Ken Kennedy is leading with a time of 5:07, and there is 3 matches left in it.


I like the concept, but I think they should've spread it out more. On Smackdown a few days ago: there was 5 matches for it. Next week there is at least 2, since 4 wrestlers have been announced. They could've easily started this in December. A few weeks hype doesn't seem like much for one of the bigger PPVs of the year.


I'm thinking it will be Undertaker facing Batista. As much as I like Kennedy, I doubt he will get a title shot at Royal Rumble (this year at least). JBL is an option, since he is rumored to be returning to action this month. But jobbing in a title match at the first PPV back doesn't seem like a very good idea.

Here is a look at the results, people in it still and out of it:

Leader- Ken Kennedy (beat Chris Benoit)

Out: Benoit, Kane+Chavo Guerrero (Kane won), Kendrick+London (draw), King Booker+Helms (Booker won), Tatanka+Jimmy Wang Yang (draw).

Still in: Undertaker, Finlay, MVP, Matt Hardy, ? , ?


I'm guessing William Regal and JBL as the last two choices. If JBL isn't one, I guess it could be someone like Boogey Man, Vito or Sylvan.
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[coralvalley]

I agree with your Rob1981 I think that Undertaker is going to be the one facing Batista as well. I do not really know why, but it is just a vibe that I am getting there. It would prove to be interesting since there is speculation about Batista and Undertaker facing one another at WrestleMania Twenty Three. I have tickets to that and am excited to be going, but I am not sure what the match ups will be like this year.

As for who Batista is facing while Kennedy seems to really be growing in popularity, I just cannot for the life of me see him and Batista facing off with one another again. The last time they had a feud they were extremely boring. I was at a SmackDown where they faced off against one another one of the first times and I have to tell you that it was a really, really boring match. They just did not have that in ring chemistry that I think is needed to carry a match. I thought Finlay worked well with Batista, but I do not know if the writers will go down that road again considering everything that has been dragged out over the last few months with the whole Booker T battle and Finlay tossed into that. My guess would still be Undertaker simply because there is that whole rumor around Wrestlemania like I mentioned earlier.

On another note, what does everyone think about John Cena being the one to end Umaga's undefeated streak? I know a lot of people that I am friends with were hoping that he would not be the one to do it. Personally I find it odd that Umaga loses to John Cena shortly after Samoa Joe lost to Kurt Angle on TNA. Granted the wrestlers have different gimmicks, but it felt kind of similar to me. Oh well, I am guessing John Cena will still be the champ by the time Wrestlemania Twenty Three rolls around since he seems to be at the top of Vince's list of super wrestlers.

[Obecorp]

I agree with both of you. It probably would be the Undertaker winning the Beat the Clock challenge. It is speculated that he and Batista will go one-on-one in 'mania, and this could be what starts their feud. But, if in fact Taker does fight Batista in Mania, I hope Taker wins. I don't think it would be fair for him to give up his prestigious Wrestlemania streak to someone who probably won't be in the business in the next 5 years (since Batista is almost 40). Plus, if Taker wins, this can possibly give him an opportunity to go out on top, which is well deserved.

NYR was yesterday. Honestly, I thought that Cena wouldn't end his streak. I would've thought Cena would lose, but without losing his title. But I guess it didn't happen. As far as Umaga being like Samoa Joe, I think the WWE created his character as their answer to Samoa Joe. But, IMO, if you compare Joe to Umaga, it's not even close. Joe is much more skilled technically, and the more well-rounded performer. Also IMO, Umaga has one of the lamest finishing move in the history of wrestling while Joe probably has one of the best.

The TNA PPV seems to be stronger what WWE put out last night. Although, I think the Iron man match between Joe and Angle should be an hour. But, I guess they already overbooked the card so they can't make it that. I'm willing to guess though that Joe and Angle will end up in a draw, since I don't think they will end this feud yet (since I believe it's still in it's early developmental stages).

WWE seems to be pulling another publicity stunt, because in their website, they have announced a Donald Trump vs Rosie O'Donnell match for RAW tonight. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what they have planned there.
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[Rob1981]

[Rob1981]

Well as I figured... the Rosie/Donald match was stupid. The fans hated it, and even chanted TNA during it. Fans promoting a rival wrestling company = a bad sign for WWE. I wonder what Vince was thinking when he thought up the idea? The fans probably wouldn't have hated it so much, if it was shorter... and there wasn't all those stupid backstage segments prior to the match.

Overall: the show wasn't that special. The only somewhat notable thing from Raw was Great Khali appearing. He hasn't been with WWE too long, and already has been on all 3 brands. I guess they want big men/monsters to job to Cena. I can picture it now: Cena defeating Umaga+Khali in a handicap match.... cleanly. The booking for Raw is just horrible, same goes for ECW. Khali should've been fired a while ago, instead of jumping brands. I guess I shouldn't assume, it could just be a part time thing with Khali on Raw.


In the strange but true department: former WWF world champ Ivan Koloff is now a minister and can perform marriages.
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[Obecorp]

The Rosie-Donald match was one of the stupidest things WWE aired on TV, and one of the dumbest ideas that Vince has thought up, imo. I know they're trying to get any publicity you can, but if you have to sacrifice the quality of your product to the point that your fans start chanting your competition's name, you know you've made a huge mistake. The K-Fed match got a lot of publicity, and I guess Vince and his writers thought having this on the program can give them even more publicity. I haven't seen the final rating yet (I'm betting it won't be that great due to the BCS title game) nor have I really followed much of the entertainment media shows, so I'm not sure if it had the effect that Vince planned for. But, I really hoped that being in ringside while the fans clearly chanted "TNA" gets him to change his mind as to which direction he's gonna take his company.

Great Khali is horrible. At least in Smackdown/ECW he had Daviari with him and being his mouthpiece. Now, it seems like he'll be by himself in Raw. I just see this as a train wreck waiting to happen, unless he actually gets better in his wrestling skills and adds more moves to his extremely limited move set.

I have an opinion on ECW. I don't like the idea of Lashley being the champion. Don't get me wrong, he has a look, and some pretty good skills, but they have clearly rushed him, and he still can't cut a promo. The only person that I can probably see that is worthy to hold the ECW belt is RVD. I'm hoping he'll get another run before his WWE contract expires. Perhaps there may be a Lashley-RVD-Test triple threat in Wrestlemania? I can probably see that happening.
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[Rob1981]

[Rob1981]

On Smackdown a few days ago: Beat the Clock ended. Ken Kennedy ended up with the best time. With the win, he faces World champ Batista at Royal Rumble.

I think this is a mistake. I see the match going one of two ways: Batista just dominating, or a somewhat decent match... ending in a no contest or a DQ. I'm hoping the second choice, since Kennedy doesn't need to be squashed. Nothing else for the Royal Rumble PPV is annoucned yet, except for the Royal Rumble match itself. Matches likely to happen: WWE title match, ECW title match, along with 1 or 2 more matches. Hopefully no Benoit/Guerrero at Royal Rumble. Next week they are facing each other in a no DQ match, It seems like overkill to promote the match for yet another PPV when it's on free TV only weeks before the event.

I finished the Shawn Michaels book a few days ago. It's a good read, but I somehow doubt Shawn is completely accurate on the whole situation involving the title, him and Bret Hart from Survivor Series. Shawn seems to hate Bret and bashes him (and does compliment him a few times), but I think it's just Shawn acting immature. If Shawn wasn't such friends with Vince and Triple H, I think the parts about Bret could be different.
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[Obecorp]

I don't see Kennedy getting squashed in Survivor Series. It should be a highly competitive match for they are trying to build Kennedy as the bright future of Smackdown, IMO. But, there might be a chance that the ending might not be clean though. As far as other rumored matches, I heard a Lashley vs Test match for the title being rumored, as well as a Cena-Umaga rematch. I'm thinking too that Cryme Tyme might get their shot at the Tag Titles against Rated RKO.

Another little ECW tidbit I read from somewhere. I heard that CM Punk is being de-pushed in ECW because of some back stage politics between the back stage agents like Arn Anderson, and Fit Finlay, the new ECW head writer, and Bob Holly. It seems that they feel that CM Punk need to pay his dues and job to Holly cleanly. I think this is dumb, and it's further proof that the WWE to their fans. I have respect for Arn, and Finlay for what they have done in the ring, but if this is the case, they simply got it wrong. Punk is simply over with the fans and Bob Holly has never gotten the kind of reaction in the years he's been around that Punk has in the few months he's been in the WWE.

TNA has their PPV tonight. Just from reading the results, it looks like a pretty decent PPV. I'm sure I'm gonna see Angle-Joe III some way or another in the future. Seems like they might have raised the bar again, but I can't really judge until I've seen it.
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[coralvalley]

I was really surprised that Kennedy was the one to win the beat the clock match as I was sure it would be Undertaker. Of course I still get the feeling that it will be Undertaker versus Batista at Wrestlemania there still. It would be a great match, but I too hope that Undertaker would win. I remember reading something where Batista had commented on wanting to face Undertaker just so that he could lose to him at Wrestlemania so I would like to see Undertaker keep his undefeated streak.

The TNA pay per view was pretty good tonight. There was a lot happening as there tends to be these days. The Joe and Angle match was alright. I am a huge Kurt Angle fan, but I honestly came in expecting him not to win tonight because I really figured to myself that this would be Joe's match. For a while I was waiting for it to pick up, but that was just me as I am kind of tired of the feud myself. I would imagine that even though tonight served as an ending so to speak that down the road when one of them has the championship belt I would imagine it to return to the surface so to speak. I was very surprised by the outcome of the match considering that I had predicted a different outcome, but it was a really good match. Normally I do not pay attention to Rhino, but his match against AJ Styles was really good too. AJ Styles really impresses me as a wrestler as he really pulls out some amazing moves and the guy seems to really be on top of his game. It is always impressive. I did not see the match between Abyss, Christian and Sting yet, but I am sure it is a good one. I cannot wait to go back and watch it since I was called away while it was on. It is so funny seeing Abyss in the ring because his character is so different than what he was like when I met him. When we met him at the Bound for Glory fan fest he and his manager (I cannot remember his name) were both very friendly and talking about the weather and the such. It was pretty cool and the manager had a Hawaiian shirt on, which is a change too. I always think about that when I see them on screen. Still I will admit I never really watched TNA before Kurt Angle joined up, but I really am impressed with it considering that the guys that work there are pretty talented and very nice in real life. They all seem to have a lot of heart and put a lot into what they do and the product shows that.

[Rob1981]

Final Resolution seemd good, but a few things I didn't like:


Voodoo Kin Mafia (BG and Kip) did another lame segment. They bash WWE about lame things, but they are basically a parody of DX. They've wasted alot of time on Impact and PPV events. Bashing WWE in front of Orlando, and having fans chant things isn't helping TNA much. Now it seems like they are going after women, from the looks of it.

Which leads me to my next point: why does TNA insist on trying to start a women's division? Now Jacquelyn is with them. So now it's Gail Kim, Jacquelyn, Christy Hemme, So Cal Val and Jackie (off TV for now due to giving birth). I doubt a women's division will work in TNA. I suppose it could be just a feud with Jacquelyn/Kim, but I've heard rumors of a women's division in TNA in the past.

Team 3-D and Runt being a drunk is getting old. Didn't we see enough of the love/hate relationship between them in WWE? TNA's tag division is going downhill, that's for sure.

Rhino defeated AJ Styles: big mistake. Styles should've won, he is the better wrestler.

Last but not least: the garbage with the baseball player and coach (wrestler Dale Torborg) continued. Hoyt fought with them after his pre-PPV match. I imagine it could make ESPN, but I doubt it will draw many new fans in.

At times TNA just tries too hard. Just imagine: if BG and Kip were off, dumb things like the attempted comedy (not so funny though) of the PCS didn't happen, etc... Impact and PPVs would be better.
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[Rob1981]

Monty Brown debuted last night in ECW, by squashing another ex-TNA wrestler: Cassidy Reilly. Now Monty is known as "The Alpha Male Marquis Cor Von". In his promo, he said he came to ECW to mark his territory. What is he, a dog? I think the promo was dumb. TNA didn't copyright the Monty Brown name, so I don't see why WWE couldn't just use that as his name still.

The ECW title match for Royal Rumble was announced: Bobby Lashley vs Test.

The Royal Rumble match has 27 of 30 people announced. I guess there wont be many surprises this year. So far: 11 from Raw, 9 from Smackdown and 7 from ECW. My guess is two more for Smackdown, and one surprise entrant (either the Coach, Jerry Lawler or a former WWE star such as Jimmy Snuka). I don't expect a big surprise. I doubt JBL would return for the Rumble match, just to lose it.
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[Obecorp]

[Rob1981]

...And the 2007 firing spree begins:

A list of people gone so far-


ECW: Tony Mamaluke, Al Snow, Doug Basham, Danny Basham, Sylvester Terkay

Not active with a brand (were in development): Rodney Mack, Jazz, Gangrel, Gymini


The only one I'm surprised about is Sylvester Terkay. He had alot of talent, and could've gone far if he was on Smackdown still. Going to ECW was his downfall, in my opinion. This leaves Elijah Burke with little to do, but I suppose he could do well on his own.

Bashams were talented, but being stuck as Heyman's security on ECW didn't help them much.

Other matches will be added to the Royal Rumble I bet.

RR = 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. Each title match is 20 minutes at least. So far, that's only 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Plus backstage segments/interviews. I would assume one or two short matches could be added.
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[Rob1981]

Added to the fired list: CW Anderson and Tatanka, plus 3 development wrestlers (Jack Bull, Ryan Reeves and Seth Skyfire)


Rest in Peace: Bam Bam Bigelow. He was only 45. No official cause of death has been revealed I don't think.


I must say Deuce, Domino and Cherry(they debuted on Smackdown tonight) have the potential to go far. Hopefully this is just the start of fixing the tag division. I'm still waiting for Idol and KC to return... but I bet their manager Michelle McCool will need to be ready first (it seems that way at least).

I don't know the source: but I read Impact will get a special on Monday night in the future. So I'm thinking it could be a good test, to see how TNA does against Raw.
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