This Week in ‘E – That’s Not Cool

Columns, Features, Top Story

Carlito gets his walking papers that have been years in the making, Linda McMahon gets one step closer to her political aspirations and Orton gets injured…again.

Opening Witty Banter
So I just found out that Shaman’s Harvest will be playing in a small town/city in my old stomping grounds of northeast South Dakota the second week of July. Who are Shaman’s Harvest? Those guys who do the kick-ass theme for Drew McIntyre. Apparently it will be a two day event where will the only other bands I know are Keller Williams and Saliva. Looks like I might have to take a trip back home. Also, tonight’s column is brought to you by the LOST series finale. I hope to have this written by the time the final episode starts as I need all my energy and willpower to fully understand that mindtrip of a show.

Let’s take some ‘E…

The News of the Week
World Wrestling Entertainment announced the release of Carlito on May 21.

According to wwe.com, Carlito violated the company’s Wellness Program and refused to go to rehab. It was only Carlito’s first Wellness violation, and standard practice for a first offense is a 30-day suspension. However apparently Carlito’s refusal to check himself into rehabilitation was enough to release him.

Carlito Colon, Jr. is a second-generation wrestler, born to the famous Puerto Rican star Carlos Colon. Carlito joined World Wrestling Entertainment in 2003 and worked in Ohio Valley Wrestling before being called up to the main WWE SmackDown roster in the fall of 2004. Originally debuting under the name Carlito Caribbean Cool, he started out with a big push. He beat John Cena in his first televised match to win the WWE United States Championship. The two men feuded for weeks before Cena won the Championship back in a rematch.


Carlito was traded to the RAW brand in the 2005 Draft and won the Intercontinental Championship from Shelton Benjamin on his first night on the RAW brand. Carlito then settled nicely into a mid-card role that allowed him a lot of flexibility. He could move up or down the card as was needed and frequently hosted the Carlito’s Cabana interview segment to help keep him visible and advance various storylines.

In the fall of 2008 he joined with his real-life brother Primo (born Eddie Colon) to form a successful team. They beat Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder to win the WWE Tag Titles in September 2008. They feuded with World Tag Team Champions The Miz and John Morrison, which culminated in a unification match at WrestleMania XXV. The Colons won both sets of belts and were the first ever Unified WWE World Tag Team Champions. After they lost the Championships in at The Bash ’09, the brothers split up and had a brief feud.

Carlito fell into a low card role and only once again regained visibility by acting as the Pro for the Rookie Michael Tarver on WWE’s newest show NXT. He reunited with his brother Primo just weeks ago and they were acting as hired guns for Ted DiBiase at the time of his release.

You know who really got the shaft in all of this? Primo. He was just getting back on track a little by reunited with Carlito and acting as the hired second generation goons for DiBiase. Now without his big brother, where does he go? Yoshi Tatsu and Evan Bourne took his “Tito Santana” role on the face side. And if he stays a heel he’ll may remain DiBiase’s bootlick, but with the real Virgil back then that may be even in jeopardy. That’s not cool.

According to politico.com Linda McMahon won the GOP’s endorsement in her bid for United States Senator in the state of Connecticut. On Friday night she defeated early frontrunner and major opponent, former Rep. Rob Simmons, in the first round of ballots.

Simmons had originally said that he would drop out of the race if he did not win the Republican Party’s nomination but plans to stay in the race until the August 10 primary. Should McMahon win her party’s nomination she is expected to meet Democratic nominee Richard Blumenthal in the November election.

McMahon officially cleared the way for her political aspirations by stepping down as World Wrestling Entertainment’s CEO back in September 2009. She further distanced herself from her husband’s WWE empire by officially resigning from the company in November 2009.

Hey if Linda becomes Senator she will be following the great wrestling political lineage of others such as Jesse Ventura and The Great Sasuke.

The MIA Finlay is still with the company, but is back working as an agent, rather than an on-screen wrestler. He was last seen on WWE TV in the build-up to WrestleMania when Batista destroyed him on an episode of SmackDown. The 52-year-old is off television because Vince McMahon is on a youth kick.

I have never been a fan of Finlay as an on-screen character but the veteran is incredibly valuable in grooming young talent. Even if he isn’t on TV he should still be on the house show circuit doing some valuable on-the-job training with SmackDown’s young heels like McIntyre, Ziggler, Shad, Croft and Baretta, to name a few.

Last night’s Over The Limit proved to be a painful one as wwe.com has confirmed that Orton dislocated his shoulder during his bout with Edge. Eyewitnesses speculate that it happened during Orton’s traditional mat pounding ritual that leads to the RKO.

So between Orton, Batista and Edge, who has had the most major injuries? There’s gotta be some sort of total somewhere. This injury couldn’t come at a worse time for Orton as he was just getting on a great hot streak as an anti-hero. Here’s hoping the shoulder won’t keep him out too long. Or at the very least I hope he can remain on TV in a non-wrestling role to keep his momentum up.

In more injury news, CM Punk took a nasty spill into the barber’s chair during his bout with Mysterio. He was bleeding like crazy during the bout, even after the medics temporarily stopped the match and tried to patch him up. He began bleeding again during his post-match haircut. Joey Styles is reporting that it took 13 staples to patch him back up and the footage is too graphic for the PG era wwe.com.

You know, the blood and injury I would wager help make the match into something more and put it on a more epic level. I’m not a bloodhound like many fans, but sometimes a little color (incidental or not) can be good for the story.

The full details behind the much-anticipated Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat three-disc set have finally been revealed:

Disc 1 Documentary:
Growing Up
Training
Travelling
Mid-Atlantic
The Dragon
WrestleMania III
World Champion
Fire Breathing Dragon
Mentoring
Hall of Fame
Legacy

Special Features:
Ricky’s First Car
Mike Graham Remembers Richard Blood
Ricky Forgets His Name
Having a Positive Attitude
World Wide Wrestling – February 16, 1982
Tuesday Night Titans – April 5, 1985
Steve Lombardi Remembers Ricky’s First Match in the WWE
The Body Shop
All-Star Wrestling – June 22, 1985
Becoming the Dragon… The Three Moments of Truth
Chris Jericho Meets Ricky Steamboat For The First Time
Tuesday Night Titans – September 10, 1986
Update with Gene Okerlund
Superstars – January 31, 1987
Dragon in the Oven
Superstars – April 11, 1987
Return from Japan
World Championship Wrestling – March 18, 1989
William Regal Remembers Watching Ricky Steamboat & Ric Flair
World Television Champion
WCW Saturday Night – September 19, 1992
Ricky Steamboat’s Induction into the WWE Hall of Fame – April 4, 2009

Disc 2:
NWA World Tag Team Championship Match
Jack & Gerry Brisco vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat & Jay Youngblood
Starrcade November 24, 1983

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair
Boogie Jam March 17, 1984
(Commentary by: Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat & Matt Striker)

Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Cowboy Bob Orton
Capital Centre July 20, 1985

Lumberjack Match
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. The Magnificent Don Muraco
Maple Leaf Gardens September 22, 1985

Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts
Boston Garden August 9, 1986

Intercontinental Championship Match
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Randy “Macho Man” Savage
WrestleMania III March 29, 1987
(Alternate Commentary by: Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat & Matt Striker)

Disc 3:
2 out of 3 Falls Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair
Clash of the Champions VI April 2, 1989

United States Championship Match
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Lex Luger
The Great American Bash July 23, 1989

WCW World Tag Team Championship Match
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes vs. Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyzsko
Clash of the Champions XVII November 19, 1991

Iron Man Challenge Match
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Rick Rude
Beach Blast June 20, 1992

No Disqualification Match for the WCW World Television Championship
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Steve Austin
Clash of the Champions XX September 2, 1992
(Alternate Commentary by: Ricky Steamboat & Matt Striker)

Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Chris Jericho
Backlash April 26, 2009

We can pick nits about the match selection, but at least one match against Flair and the WrestleMania III match were absolute essentials. The rest look like a great mix, with his early tag team stuff with Jay Youngblood, his 1991 return to WCW, the Iron Man against Rude, his final bout against Austin and his improbable return against Jericho all make for a must buy.

The “Satan’s Playground: The Elimination Chamber Anthology” listing has also been released:

Disc one:
The Chamber is born.
Survivor Series 2002
Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, Kane and Booker T
What makes the Chamber unique.
SummerSlam 2003
Triple H, Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton
The King of Kings is King of the Chamber.
New Year’s Revolution 2005
Triple H wins his third chamber in a row
Edge takes advantage.
New Years Revolution 2006
John Cena, Kurt Angle, Carlito, Kane, Chris Masters and Shawn Michaels
ECW takes center stage.
December to Dismember 2006
Bobby Lashley, CM Punk, Big Show, Test, Hardcore Holly and Rob Van Dam
The Monsters invade the Chamber.
No Way Out 2008
Undertaker, Big Daddy V, MVP, Batista, Finlay and Great Khali
No Way Out 2008
Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, JBL, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Umaga

Disc Two:
Two is better than one.
No Way Out 2009
John Cena, Edge, Mike Knox, Rey Mysterio, Kane and Chris Jericho
No Way Out 2009
Edge, Big Show, Jeff Hardy, Undertaker, Vladimir Kozlov and Triple H
Shaping WrestleMania
Elimination Chamber 2010
Sheamus, Ted DiBiase, Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston
Elimination Chamber 2010
Undertaker, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, CM Punk, Rey Mysterio and R-Truth
What’s next ?

Bonus Content:
The Game speaks out on his signature match.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying match: Chris Jericho vs Carlito (from 2009)
Elimination Chamber Qualifying match: Shawn Michaels vs Kane (from 2009)
Elimination Chamber Qualifying match: Triple H vs Rob Van Dam (from 2003)
Elimination Chamber Qualifying match: Undertaker vs Mark Henry (from 2009)

So I’m guessing that Chamber bout from New Year’s Revolution ’05 with Benoit will only be in highlight form I guess.

Wrestler of the Week
Week of May 17 – 23: Christian
Even though Christian didn’t even make an appearance at last night’s pay per view, he still had a phenomenal week. On Monday Night RAW he went toe-to-toe with Edge in a great one-on-one match that was a treat for longtime fans like myself. Then on NXT he was on hand to seal the fate of another Rookie. Two nights later he beat Dolph Ziggler in a great Superstars main event. He then capped off his week by bringing back The Peep Show interview segment on SmackDown and further his burgeoning rivalry with Ziggler. It was quite the week for The Livewire.

RAW’s On Tonight!
Jon Lovitz will guest host RAW tonight from Toledo, Ohio. He used to be a favorite comedian of mine during the ‘90s when he was on Saturday Night Live and was the star of the animated show “The Critic.” I have not found his comedy funny for about ten years but he will be on hand to promote “The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club,” which is based in Hollywood, California. I don’t expect his appearance on RAW to make much of an impact on my recent opinion of him or his recent career. As for the show itself a new permanent RAW GM will be announced. Smart money says that Abraham Washington of all people is going to be named the new GM, which should be just downright awful. Plus what will become of Bret Hart and his newly won United States Championship? Also John Cena rid the company of Batista for the time being but Sheamus has already stepped up as his next challenger. And Randy Orton appears to have injured himself badly at the pay per view, will Edge be there to gloat about Orton actually being the only person more injury prone than Edge himself?

On Last Week’s Episode…
Ivan covered NXT, which was easily the best episode of the season. I’m actually excited to see what’s coming next…on NXT. Sometimes it’s fun not knowing the answer. And Bryan Danielson kicking the hell out of Michael Cole and getting another chance to vent and shape his character on international television? Priceless.

Marshall, Wheeler and Pruett provide triple coverage for RAW, which was one of the most top-to-bottom entertaining and impact episodes of RAW in the guest host era. Think about it, Bret Hart defeated The Miz to win his fifth United States Championship, live from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. So basically the company but a Championship on Hart, in Canada, while he isn’t any sort of long-term deal with the company. It had to the ultimate apology for the infamous “Montreal Screwjob” back in 1997 and a way to finally heal the wounds between the company and the Harts.

How They Rated
SmackDown! (5.7.10) – 1.7

Superstars (5.13.10) – .61

A.M. RAW (5.16.10) – .84

RAW (5.17.10) – 3.44

NXT (5.18.10) – .89

In Case You Didn’t Spend the $40
Over The Limit is in the books. Check out PK’s live review and Pruett’s 10 thoughts.

Here are the quick results:

In the dark match before the pay per view went live on the air, Montel Vontavious Porter beat Chavo Guerrero.

In the opening match, Kofi Kingston pinned Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre after hitting the SOS to win the Intercontinental Title. Post-match, Matt Hardy came out and hit McIntyre with a Twist of Fate.

R-Truth pinned Ted DiBiase after the Lie Detector.

Rey Mysterio pinned CM Punk after a roll up. Post-match, Luke Gallows and the masked mystery man attacked Mysterio but Kane saved him. Mysterio then shaved Punk’s head as per pre-match stipulation. Punk was bleeding during the haircut as he had cracked his head on the barber’s chair earlier in the match.

Unified WWE World Tag Team Champions The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd & DH Smith) successfully defended their Titles against The Miz and Chris Jericho. Kidd pinned Miz after a Hart Attack.

Edge and Randy Orton went to a double count out. Orton apparently dislocated his shoulder during the match, necessitating the double count out finish.

The Big Show beat World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger by disqualification after Swagger hit Show with the Championship belt. As a result Swagger retains the Championship. Post match Show attacked Swagger with a chair.

WWE Divas Champion Eve Torres retained her Championship over Maryse.

WWE Champion John Cena beat Batista in an I Quit Match. Cena threatened to give Batista an Attitude Adjustment off of the roof of a car on the staging but Batista quit before the move could be executed. Post-match, Cena executed the move anyways. Sheamus then arrived and attacked Cena.

IP Staff Roundtable Results for WWE Over The Limit
Another pay per view is in the books and thus another staff roundtable is also in the books. And frankly the four staff members participating did pretty poorly. I can’t say too much as I would have done just as poorly I feel. The Orton-Edge draw was something no could have predicted. Show winning by DQ screwed everyone up, as did R-Truth’s inexplicable win.

Roundtable Results:
Matthew Michaels: 4-4 (191-174)
Andrew Wheeler: 4-4(189-112)
Steven Gepp: 2-6 (45-60)
Raffi Shamir: 2-6 (141-121)

This is Boring, What Else is There to Read?
Logan continues his run through the awesome/awful Monday Night RAW episodes from 1995.

David B. continues to take a trip down to Tennessee, circa 1992.

In a cheap plug for myself, check out my review of The Hart Family Anthology.

Glazer continues to be wordy with his new column The Tuesday Morning Backlash.

Ditch continues to be awesome in his puro coverage.

Check out issue seven of The Wrestling Press, featuring yours truly, among many other talented scribes…

Follow me on Twitter here.

For more relevant, interesting and exciting wrestling information from your truly, check out my gig as the Pro Wrestling Examiner over at Examiner.com.

Mark was a columnist for Pulse Wrestling for over four years, evolving from his original “Historically Speaking” commentary-style column into the Monday morning powerhouse known as “This Week in ‘E.” He also contributes to other ventures, outside of IP, most notably as the National Pro Wrestling Examiner for Examiner.com and a contributor for The Wrestling Press. Follow me on Twitter here.