The 2011 Hall of Fame gets awesome, Mike Adamle finds himself back in the spotlight and much more about Tough Enough…all this and an update on Jackson Andrews!
Opening Witty Banter
Well I’m writing this on about three hours of sleep in the past day and a half so forgive the extra mistakes/snarkiness.
Let’s take some ‘E…
The News of the Week
Shawn Michaels has been announced as the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2011. WWE Hall of Fame member Jerry “The King†Lawler made the announcement last night, January 10, on WWE Monday Night RAW. The 2011 Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on April 2, 2011 in the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, the night before WrestleMania XXVII.
Michaels is a legitimate “first ballot†Hall of Famer and one of the best professional wrestlers in history. He is a top five pro wrestler on any list compiled and was voted #1 on WWE’s recently produced Top 50 Superstars of All Time DVD set.
“The Heartbreak Kid†is a former three-time WWE Champion, one-time World Heavyweight Champion, six-time WWF/E World Tag Team Champion, one-time WWF European Champion and two-time AWA World Tag Team Champion. He won the WWE Royal Rumble in both 1995 and 1995, became the fourth man to capture the WWE Triple Crown and the first man to win the Grand Slam.
I am kind of disappointed that it looks as if WWE may be straying away from the proposed WCW-themed Hall of Fame class for 2011, but you can’t go wrong with putting arguably the best in the world into the Hall of Fame at the earliest possible opportunity.
Meanwhile, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman are all threatening that they will be at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.
That scenario should just be filmed for its own reality show. But is Justin Credible coming along as well to truly complete the Kliq? Waltman especially has become one of those guys, like both Hardy brothers, who I used to be a huge fan of but now am so apathetic towards that it hurts.
Former WWE personality Mike Adamle was arrested at approximately 1 AM on Monday, January 10, on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Adamle was pulled for failing to observe a flashing stoplight. The officer felt that Adamle had been drinking and performed a field sobriety test. Adamle failed the test and was arrested. At the police station, it was determined Adamle was displaying “erratic behavior,†and he was taken to the hospital for a drug screen.
He was charged with disobeying a traffic control device, DUI, and failing to inform the Security State’s office of an address change. He is scheduled to appear in Cook County Circuit Court in Skokie on February 14.
Adamle is currently a sportscaster for WMAQ Channel 5 NBC in Chicago. Adamle is also a former NFL player who played through the 1970s. However his probably most famous for hosting the original American Gladiators show from 1989 – 1996.
He also spent 2008 as a part of World Wrestling Entertainment. He originally debuted as a backstage correspondent for pay per views and Monday Night RAW. He then transitioned into being the play-by-play man for Extreme Championship Wrestling from April until July. From there he was positioned as the General Manager for the RAW brand from July until November. He resigned from the on-air position and November and resigned from WWE altogether shortly thereafter. His tenure in WWE was marred by constant on-air mistakes from Adamle, which were then turned into part of his on-air character as a way to mask his errors.
Later in the week, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Adamle’s blood alcohol level was at .04, below the .08 legal limit, at the time of his arrest. However Adamle suffers from epilepsy, and the drug tests he took may show if any medications that he is currently taking would have impaired him. He is still being supported by the local station he sportscasts on.
I think everyone already took all the good jokes already. But how the hell is that guy 61 years old? He doesn’t look a day over 45.
WWE posted the following casting information regarding the new version of Tough Enough on their website:
Are you “Tough Enough” to be the next WWE Superstar?
WWE and the USA Network are bringing back the hit reality competition show Tough Enough! One competitor will earn a WWE contract and be the next WWE Superstar or Diva!!!
Casting Producers are searching the world to find extraordinary men and women with the following qualities:
– Charisma
– Personality
– Athleticism
– Agility
– Stamina
– Strength
– And an intense desire to be the next WWE Superstar or Diva!
If you believe you have what it takes to not only earn the contract, but excel in World Wrestling Entertainment you must complete the self submission application and video by Jan.14, 2011. See application form for details.
If you cannot download the application from this site, please e-mail ToughEnoughCasting@shedmediaus.com with your name, age, city, and state, phone numbers, a current photo of you, and a brief paragraph about you and why you think you can make it in WWE.
Meanwhile, Adweek has a video of Jeff Watchel, USA’s President of Original Programming, discussing Tough Enough. He says that wrestling is a “successful island” and that the biggest challenge was keeping the audience tuned in. You can check out the video here.
Colored me intrigued by the return of this show, if only to rid the world of the absurdity that NXT has become. I mean Jacob Novak and a rat infested Conor O’Brian are sure a far cry from Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett from only a year earlier.
Speaking of Tough Enough, rumors are going around that WWE is only seeking talents under the age of 30, particularly especially talents that would enter their developmental system. It’s not said to be an official edict, but several talents have been told this in recent weeks when trying to get work with the company.
Okay that’s logical I guess when trying to build the future of a company, but it’s sure nice to have some veterans and people who know what they re doing lying around to help these young kids. I mean with that under 30 edict when they would ever find superstars like The Boogeyman? But I mean having a few people like Finlay, William Regal, Chavo Guerrero, Goldust and Val Venis around surely doesn’t hurt things.
While announcing that Brock Lesnar was going to be one of the coaches for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, Dana White once again said there was no truth to the rumors that Brock Lesnar considered going to WWE.
“I liked all the rumors [saying] that Brock didn’t want to do this anymore and that Brock wanted to be a WWE wrestler,” White said. “Obviously I was in contact with Brock and his team the entire time. There was no wheeling and dealing about the WWE, I think everybody knows how I feel about that, he’s under contract with me.”
For me the more surprising thing is that Dana White convinced that miserable grizzly bear to leave Minnesota for six weeks to be taped constantly in Vegas for a television show.
Speaking of that conflict, The Undertaker was actually at the SmackDown tapings this past week. He surprised many that he showed up, because he had to fly to Birmingham and has been focusing on his shoulder rehab.
While he was there to spend time with his old lady Michelle McCool, he was also there to watch the angle develop involving Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel and Ezekiel Jackson joining up Wade Barrett on SmackDown. Both Barrett and Jackson have been rumored as opponents for Taker at WrestleMania, due to the fact that they want to book him in a match where he won’t be expected to put on the physically taxing type of match that he’s had in recent years with Shawn Michaels. The idea is to give him a match on the card where he can keep the Streak alive, but not feel the pressure to top the last two years.
Logical thoughts for The Undertaker’s next match. They can’t all be winners, as we have become spoiled by his masterpieces with Michaels over the past two years. He’s had plenty of big lug matches like this in past (see Gonzalez, Giant, Bundy, King Kong and Henry, Mark.) Besides next year is the money shot anyway, with him aiming to become 20-0.
According to Pwinsider.com, WGN America has been picked up by a number of Time Warner Cable systems. The big news is that it has been picked up in New York. WWE Superstars will now be available on those systems for the fist time, with the 8PM showing as well as the midnight replay.
Yeah! Now more people can see the awesomeness of Darren Young, Yoshi Tatsu, Zack Ryder, Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins!
Jackson Andrews, who briefly appeared as Tyson Kidd’s bodyguard, has been sent back down to FCW. The feeling was that he was brought up to the main roster way too soon.
That’s too bad, as Andrews actually made Kidd stand out a little bit. But then again after getting squashed by Mark Henry is short order his whole character was pretty much shot from that point on.
The Road to…The Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble Match
expected participants include: Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, Rey Mysterio, R-Truth, Drew McIntyre
WWE Championship
Randy Orton v. The Miz (c)
World Heavyweight Championship
Edge (c) v. Dolph Ziggler
expected matches
Vladimir Kozlov & Santino Marella (c) v. The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championships
The WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2011
Shawn Michaels
Wrestler of the Week
Week of January 10 – 16: Wade Barrett
There was a lot of little happenings in the week of WWE TV but no runaway star. CM Punk looked like a crazed cult leader on RAW while abusing his new Nexus. John Morrison beat Sheamus in another solid match between the two. And Randy Orton and Jerry Lawler continued to get one over one on The Miz. And on SmackDown, Dolph Ziggler stood toe-to-toe with Edge in preparation for his first run at the main event, and Trent Barretta got the first major victory of his career by defeating Drew McIntyre in a huge upset. But for me no one stood out like Wade Barrett. He debuted on RAW as a main eventer and hastily transferred to SmackDown as a main eventer. He stood toe-to-toe with The Big Show, finally got the new theme music he was promised way back on NXT season 1 and started Nexus, black and blue? edition. His former charges Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater jumped from RAW to follow their former leader, and then he recruited Ezekiel Jackson to be the faction’s new enforcer. Looks like SmackDown’s version of The Nexus will be a force to be reckoned with.
RAW’s On Tonight!
With only two weeks to go before the Royal Rumble tonight’s episode of RAW should go a long way in shaping up my favorite wrestling card of the year. A big John Cena-CM Punk match that should good be a first battle in hopefully a long-standing war between the two main event stars headlines tonight’s show. Plus Randy Orton is still hunting The Miz and the WWE Champion. But with Jerry “The King†Lawler again find himself in action and The Miz and his Miz-fit Alex Riley? Plus perhaps The Usos get their WWE Tag Title match against Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov, and maybe, just maybe, some names will officially be announced for the Royal Rumble match.
On Last Week’s Episode…
SmackDown
RAW results, thoughts and judicial review
How They Rated
Superstars (1.6.10) – .58
SmackDown! (1.7.10) – 1.9
A.M. RAW (1.9.11) –
RAW (1.10.11) – 3.1
This is Boring, What Else is There to Read?
Glazer talks WWE’s best heels in his Tuesday and Friday Backlashes.
Steven Gepp reviews Dynamite Kid’s autobiography. Solid read.
Logan looks at RAW from ’96 and Superstars from ‘94
Ditch looks ahead to puro in 2011.
Mark has been a columnist for Pulse Wrestling for over three years now, evolving from his original “Historically Speaking†commentary-style column into his current 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.
