*WWE and pro wrestling discussion topic*

[Obecorp]

[Rob1981]

WWE continues to fire people: now it's just development wrestlers, as well as a commentator for Deep South (Bill DeMott: known as Hugh Morris during his wrestling career).

Hardys vs MNM is official for the Royal Rumble. While they do put on good matches, I don't want to see this go into WM. End it at Royal Rumble, and put MNM on Smackdown again. From the looks of it, I think Hardys/MNM will be at Wrestlemania. Hopefully not for the tag titles though. Sticking the belts on either team would be a mistake. The only times they seem to team is during this feud (and I believe Hardys squashed FBI in ECW a few times). Non-regular teams don't need belts.
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[Rob1981]

Royal Rumble is this Sunday, I'm assuming the card is complete:

-World champ Batista vs Ken Kennedy: I expect a somewhat decent match, with a DQ, no contest or count out ending. Batista doesn't need to pin Kennedy in this case.

-WWE champ John Cena vs Umaga (last man standing): I don't expect anything special. I wonder what WWE was thinking, when they decided to do LMS.. right after TNA Final Resolution had it. Cena will retain.

-ECW champ Bobby Lashley vs Test: Lashley retains in the shortest of the 3 title matches

-Hardys vs MNM: good match, and hopefully the end of this feud. Hardys will win probably.

-Royal Rumble match: as of now, 29 people are confirmed. 12 from Raw, 10 from Smackdown and 7 from ECW. I expect the last spot will be ECW (Marquis possibly) or a mystery entrant. My guess on the winner: Shawn Michaels (since it's in Texas), Undertaker, Edge or Randy Orton. If Undertaker wins: it's safe to say Edge or Orton will face Cena at WM, with the other facing Michaels probably.


Overall: above average, could be a little better than Final Resolution.


In WWE news: Daniel Rodimer (from Tough Enough if I remember right) has done some Raw house shows lately. A pretty good sign he will be on that brand when he debuts.

In TNA news: it looks like contract issues with Scott Steiner are settled. This might finally give them the chance to do Steiners/Voodoo Kin Mafia (New Age Outlaws) dream match, that they've been wanting to do. I believe I read somewhere: the match will take place for UWF this year anyway.
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[Obecorp]

It looks like the WWE Royal Rumble is all set. From the WWE website, there are already 30 names listed. Here's the official list...

Shelton Benjamin
Chris Benoit
Carlito
Tommy Dreamer
Kenny Dykstra
Edge
Finlay
Ric Flair
Chavo Guerrero
Jeff Hardy
Matt Hardy
Gregory Helms
Hardcore Holly
Kane
King Booker
Chris Masters
Shawn Michaels
The Miz
Johnny Nitro
Randy Orton
Montel Vontavious Porter
CM Punk
Sabu
Sandman
The Great Khali
Kevin Thorn
Undertaker
Rob Van Dam
Viscera
Super Crazy

I'm thinking it will be Randy Orton who will win. Undertaker is a good pick also, but, since they had a Smackdown winner from last year, I'm thinking it would be a Raw or ECW guy this year. I'm thinking sometime during the match, Shawn will get "screwed" by Edge, and he'll be one of the last to be eliminated. Edge can't win because that'll probably mean he'd have to job at Wrestlemania and end his undefeated streak. And if an ECW guy would win it, the best bet would be CM Punk. Although his time will probably come, it's still probably too early for him to headline a Wrestlemania. RVD would've been a good ECW pick too, if his contract isn't expiring or if he's gonna renew his contract (but it looks like he isn't). I still do think though that Taker will fight Batista for the World title, but the WWE title match may be a triple-threat with Michaels being a 3rd participant, and the ECW title match might be a triple threat extreme rules match with Test, RVD, and Lashley. Those should be decent championship matches for WM.
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[Rob1981]

Well that stinks, all 30 are announced: no surprises. Unless someone gets injured (real or for a storyline).


In TNA news: April's Lockdown PPV will be in St. Louis. This is a good step for TNA, by going outside of Orlando again. I think they need to do at least 3-4 PPVs a year outside of Orlando. Fans want to see them, but shouldn't be stuck going to Florida or the east coast (for the most part) to see them wrestle.

Speaking of St. Louis: the Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein will have a team to face A.J. Pierzynski of the White Sox (at Against All Odds). I'm thinking it will probably be tag match: with Lance Hoyt and Dale Torborg. David and AJ most likely wont wrestle much I would bet.

Also announced for Against All Odds: Christian Cage vs Kurt Angle, Sting vs Abyss (Prison Yard match).

Prison Yard match?! I think TNA is trying too hard to come up with gimmick matches. The storyline of Abyss and prison, fits the gimmick match... but it's still simply a hardcore match I bet. I can imagine TNA will tape it in advance, not show it live (if the match is taped in an actual prison yard, which it might not be).

The PPV is shaping up to be good (except for the newest "Base Brawl"). If TNA can pull off a decent PPV, then they should draw in some new fans. I'm sure some people at least will buy it to see base brawl.
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[Rob1981]

Armed and Famous with Trish Stratus has been cancelled by CBS, due to bad ratings. It was up against American Idol most of the time: what did CBS expect? There is 3 unaired episodes, which could air sometime in the future as a filler I would imagine (or on a cable affiliate of CBS).

I watched the show, and it was entertaining. It was basically a celebrity version of Cops in my opinion.


In WWE news: Vito is the new Deep South Wrestling champ. Hopefully this means less Smackdown time for him. I don't like his whole dress wearing gimmick, plus he isn't much of a wrestler in my opinion.
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[Rob1981]

Well Undertaker won the Royal Rumble like I thought he would. They are teasing he could face the Raw champion: but I highly doubt that will happen.

The plan as of now (from what I've heard at least): Batista vs Undertaker, John Cena vs Randy Orton or Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania. Shawn seems more likely to face Cena now, because of Raw last night, but we will see.


Cena and Michaels won the tag titles last night: which makes WWE almost full of face champions (Helms is the only exception). I simply hate that. It will probably change before Wrestlemania though: so some faces can win gold at the big one (and not just retain gold).

The continued Trump/McMahon feud continued on Raw last night. I must say this is just getting lame. As of now, they is plans for this continue until Wrestlemania (at least). WWE needs to focus on better storylines, instead of this crap.

In ECW news: CM Punk's push seems to be dead now, due to his attitude. Sabu and Sandman are likely to get fired in the future.

In the "who cares" department: Scotty Too Hotty has apparently been moved to Raw. His profile for WWE.com is in the Raw section, and he worked a dark match last night. Scotty is decent, but if they are going to move wrestlers around... it should be notable ones, not jobbers.

An update on the Monday Impact: it will be when Raw is pre-empted due to a dog show. I believe the exact date is February 12. Originally it was going to be PPV matches, but now it looks to be a regular Impact that was taped. I don't see why a live version couldn't air.
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[dylan2xs]

Well guys I will not say a Rock or Austin are a dime a dozen. However there has always been a few superstars that have carried the torch from generation to generation we all know that. The problem is that they don't really have that right now. You can make a case for HHH but come on .. to be honest. He is really the only one carrying the a show that he himself is starting to look wornout. If WWE were intelligent they would promote and develope the new hart foundation properly and then return the story lines to something more interesting. I believe there is alot of money still to made in wrestling. I think it just needs a new voice and direction. Not to mention new competition.

[Rob1981]

[Rob1981]

Tomorrow on Raw, the Undertaker will announce who he is facing at Wrestlemania.


If Undertaker chooses Cena: I'm betting Undertaker will win the title. If Undertaker chooses Batista: Batista will go over I think.


WWE has been changing Wrestlemania plans alot, so nothing is set in stone about the match yet.


I think it's kind of dumb, a Smackdown star should make his announcement on Smackdown. Things like this simply make Smackdown seem like the B show in fan's minds. Not to me though: Smackdown is much better than Raw.

As of now, No Way Out is looking to be alright... Batista+Undertaker vs John Cena+Shawn Michaels as the main event. I guess WWE wants to get higher buyrates for brand exclusive PPVs. They could've easily had Undertaker and a Smackdown star against Batista and a Smackdown star.

Other likely matches for No Way Out: King Booker vs Kane, Finlay vs Boogey Man, Brian Kendrick+Paul London vs Deuce and Domino. If Deuce and Domino win the titles at NWO, I think Hardys or MNM will win the titles at Wrestlemania. Seeing as how Wrestlemania features alot of face wins/title changes: Hardys are the front runners for the gold. Otherwise: MNM wins the gold before WM, then Hardys win it at WM.
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[Obecorp]

I think that it should be pretty obvious that Undertaker is going to choose Batista for his main event shot. I don't think they are gonna have him fight Cena, since a one-on-one Raw match between Cena and Shawn Michaels will probably be a better draw. Plus, as I said before, Batista/Undertaker has somewhat of a buildup already.

If Taker fights Batista, I don't see Taker dropping his WM streak to put Batista over. Batista has been somewhat of a draw during the past couple of years, but if Taker has to drop his streak, it should have to be someone who is the "future of the business". And, believe it or not, Batista is already kind of old himself (late 30s), and I don't see him being the future of the business. Personally, I think Undertaker should have one more run as the champ until Summerslam, and maybe even retire as the champion.

There is no way Deuce and Domino are gonna win the tag-team titles, so soon after debuting. They've been ok, but they haven't been impressive enough for them to win it. I do see them fighting London-Kendrick in No Way Out, but they shouldn't win. I still think that London/Kendrick should hold the titles in Wrestlemania and have a match against each other, which could potentially steal the show. If they have such match, they'd probably work a storyline with Ashley too, since her Playboy would already be out by then.

As far as WWE/TNA go, it looks like they will be in direct competition with another for just one week. Since Raw will be pre-empted by the dog show, the first hour will air on Thursday against Impact. From what I hear, they will show a replay of Raw on Saturday that will air against the reply of Impact too. It should be interesting to see the developments that should come out of that. Personally, I hope that TNA beats WWE during that time period they're in competition.
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[Rob1981]

New Wrestlemania plans:


It's been talked about that Hulk Hogan will be managed by Donald Trump, while Vince McMahon will manage Shane McMahon or Great Khali. What the hell is this garbage? End the Trump crap already. Ending it at WM with a stupid match isn't the way to go. It's not official yet, so hopefully they wake up and realize people could careless about this Trump garbage.

Also: as of now, it will be Cena/Michaels, Undertaker/Batista at WM. No opponent is set for Lashley.
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[Obecorp]

[coralvalley]

I really, really do not want to see Undertaker lose to Batista because I am certain that in doing so Batista will probably become a very hated figure in the wrestling world for breaking the streak. I was kind of hoping that Undertaker would decide to go up against Cena simply because Cena is viewed at the SuperMan of the wrestling world and it would have been nice to see someone beat him fairly after all this time, but still I am sure that Undertaker and Batista will be a decent match up as long as the whole match goes as it should with Taker continuing to be undefeated.

With Shawn Michaels I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed Shawn and UnderTaker's match at the Royal Rumble. Granted they were not the only men in the match, but in my opinion it was the first time in a long time that there was something to be really excited about. I thought that they put out a top notch performance and even though I knew that Undertaker was going to win it, it was in fact an amazing match full of a lot of excitement.

As for Wrestlemania I am really hoping that it will turn out to be a good one, but I am starting to have my doubts on that. Naturally the year that it is here in Detroit and I have tickets it feels like the card might be a little weak, but time will tell. I was really disappointed that Triple H got hurt, not that it was his fault at all, but it will not be the same without him there. Every time I have been to a live show with him there he has put out a top notch performance. Not that he is my favorite by any means, but he just adds something to the show. Plus with Kurt Angle being gone from WWE that was a bit of a let down for me too after I ordered my tickets.

Of course I am over that part of it now since I was able to meet Kurt Angle at Bound for Glory and man do I love that man! Still with WWE I have found myself more interested in TNA and their show lately. I think that while their story lines might be lacking a bit in the areas where WWE has a strength anyone who watches TNA can see that they have a very talented roster and I am continually impressed with the talent on the show. The moves they pull out and their athletic ability is rather impressive and I would like to see this show grow and evolve into something more. I think with the right promotion they will do well. Right now I am really enjoying Christian Cage versus Kurt Angle. I am probably biased since I met them both and they are both incredibly nice and friendly, but still. Christian just does so well playing a heel that I can see his title run being an interesting one this time around. Kurt Angle even hinted that he too would like to see Christian keep the title for a while since there are a lot of great possibilities. Still I think TNA is certainly picking up and getting better. They have a lot of talent and in showcasing it more they might be able to give WWE a run for it's money.

[Rob1981]