Looking Ahead
Happy New Year! Welcome to the first Looking Ahead of 2006. We’re taking a somewhat different direction this week. I’m very privileged to be able to write for InsidePulse, so I’m now doubling efforts to write something good if not decent every week.
One of the reasons I’ve not been that motivated to write is because I’ve been working about 80 hours a week for the past 2 months. I’m a Bar Manager at a hotel, and we’re very f*cking busy at this time of year with all the company Dinner-Dances and Functions and whatnot. So that’s the main reason why I honestly couldn’t be arsed to attempt to write anything.
I’ve also just got over the worst case of Flu that I can remember having, so there’s reason or excuse number 2.
And finally, excuse number 3… I tried to post the column before I had to shoot off to work last Monday, but IP was down.
So there you have it. An honest confession from myself, to you dear reader. And with that out of the way, let’s get on with the show.
News in the Present
WWE is promoting a 5 p.m. wrestling block on Sky Sports seven days a week.
Hoo… ray. As a Brit who has Sky and Sky Sports, well.. nothing really changes does it? Some sort of WWE programming is already on once a day on one of the 3 Sky Sports channels, so I don’t really care about this. I assume it’s some attempt to combat The Wrestling Channel advertising more up-to-date TNA programs, with us only being a week behind the USA.
Chuck Palumbo is also coming back, playing into an angle relating to his brother being in the Army.
Are there no limits to how far WWE will go for publicity, or for that matter, angles?
Tim White’s “suicide” angle was written by Brian Gewirtz and pushed hard for by Stephanie.
I never saw the angle as I didn’t want to waste my money, however in my opinion Brian Gerwitz needs to take some time off to re-charge his batteries, or leave altogether, as from what I can remember, he’s one of the head writers and has been with the ‘E for quite a while now, so a break is probably needed. Either that, or just hire some writers who know the f*cking business.
Stephanie also was insistent in not changing plans to use Eddie’s lowrider in the angle on the recent Smackdown special, as she (and Vince) felt it was necessary to put Orton over and the writing team barely spoke out against it, even though some wrestlers told her it was a bad idea. A “witch hunt” for the wrestler who wrote to Wrestling Observer saying that everyone has the power to say no to a storyline that may be offended resulted, but Vince blew it off so Stephanie relented.
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble… Anybody else imagine Stephanie walking around the back of the arena dressed in the witches costume she had on at the Halloween Party thing a few years ago, or would that just be me?
With many TNA wrestlers having agreed to relatively low-money deals due to the company struggling, then seeing Sting get signed for what has been reported at around $500,000 for the year, some are questioning the move. Samoa Joe, who makes around $300-500 per show, and is currently renegotiating his contract, has sent feelers out to WWE. In fact, Brian Gewirtz recently attended a Ring of Honor show at his invitation. Was this to “send a message” or a negotiating ploy? Time will tell.
I was watching Samoa Joe beat the crap out of AJ Styles, Austin Aries and Sonjay Dutt in a 3 on 3 tag match on TNA last week, and there’s no way in hell WWE will push Joe like TNA are. And although I love the spot Joe does when he gets Irish-Whipped to the ropes, bounces back and just stops and turns away.. no way will that fly in WWE, because it exposes a flaw. ‘Why don’t any other wrestlers do that?’ some fans might ask. ‘Some Samoan dude can just “wake up”, stop and change direction after being Irish-Whipped, but Cena, HHH, Angle, etc can’t?’ That’s why I’m going to say that when, not if, Samoa Joe comes to the WWE (he’ll come.. mark my words), we’ll be getting a watered down version, or the WWE version, if you will. Saying that, if Joe can loose some flab and tone his muscles, he might just get the special treatment Vince loves to give big boys.
In other TNA news, former CEO Frank Dickerson left the company in part due to being pushed out. He supposedly got heat for not negotiating the merchandise rights for Team 3D, Rhino or Christian Cage.
Dumbass.
Billy Kidman was contacted to be one of Raven’s opponents but politely declined.
Reports that he told TNA to “get bent, I’m happy sitting at home occasionally porking my hot wife and living off her playboy royalties. I’m not jobbing to Raven. I’ll save my return for something special… like finally getting to finish off my feud with Paul London, once he gets fired.”… cannot be confirmed, or denied at this point in my day.
Jeff Jarrett recently nixed an idea for an X Division Tag Title, due to the possibility of diluting the titles with only one hour a week of TV.
Maybe the one smart thing old Double J has done since he took the title from Rhino the day after he lost it. Oh, wait.. er.. since he let Dusty Rhodes go to WWE. Oh… it happened again. Erm. Ok! I GOT ONE! Since he decided to blow half a mill on Sting! Aww crap.. fine! The one smart thing Double J has ever done! There… you happy now!?!
Those close to Matt Hardy and Christian have said that both are very happy with the decisions they made to go back to and leave WWE, respectively. Matt is making good money, in particular on merchandise sales, and Christian was worn out by the schedule and down on how he was seemingly not pushed towards the end of his run.
That’s good to know on both accounts. You have to wonder if Matt Hardy’s sort-of regretting re-signing with the WWE again, but I’m still optimistic that he’ll have a semi-successful run. I’m also still wondering if the Edge vs. Hardy WrestleMania match might still happen. (I think Hardy said something about his and Edges’ feud ending at ‘Mania when he came back).
Paul Heyman is being offered a new contract when his current one expiries in a few weeks, according to The Wrestling Observer newsletter. He was making $250,000 per year as a WWE employee, with additional pay when he was used as on-air talent. No word on what he will be making should he accept the new contract, but the thinking within WWE is that money close to that would be worth it simply to keep him from going elsewhere (and bringing top talent with him), plus if the planned second ECW PPV does anywhere near as good as the first one, the contract would pay for itself. Heyman and Stephanie McMahon have storied heat with each other.
You’ve got to wonder if it’ll be worth re-signing him. Yeah he’s Paul ‘Fucking’ Heyman, but he’s being wasted right now in my opinion, and I’m guessing he knows that. He COULD go to TNA, which would instantly improve things there, but can he afford to go? $250,000 per year goes a good way towards the debts he accumulated from ECW, so can he afford to leave? If I were him, I’d sign with WWE just because of the money. Sell out… I did, and it was so, so good.
Trevor Murdoch and The Mexicools are in line for big pushes.
No shit..
WWE will have its first shows in history in Mexico City (1/19) and Guadalajara (1/20). They then travel to Arena Monterrey for a show on 1/21 to complete the Mexican tour.
Good move by the WWE big-wigs. Extend your brand further and further a field to places and territories you’ve not been before, or for a while. Advertised right, and they’ll sell like hot cakes.. or in my case (being a barman), sell like Blue WKD’s at a pound a bottle!
Ken Kennedy had surgery on 12/6 after tearing his lat on 11/16 and working through it for a few shows. With many in WWE high on him, including Vince McMahon himself, yet no immediate plans for the character (he was reportedly supposed to job to Batista on 11/25 before plans changed), the six months he will likely be out of action may be a blessing in disguise as Creative has more time to write him into a major story. At one point there was talk of him being in a top match at Wrestlemania, and they may keep him on TV in some non-wrestling role earlier in 2006.
Ahh Ken Kennedy… or FudgePacker as my esteemed college Eric S warmly refers to him. I, on the other hand, think he’s awesome, so I’m happy that there’s possibility of “creative” doing some long-term planning for him. I wouldn’t waste his comeback until he can wrestle though, so he can make a big impact like whupping somebody’s ass. I’m looking at you Batista.
Part of the reason Christy Hemme was fired was similar to Daniel Puder’s release, since they were making a lot as part of winning the contest, but WWE didn’t want to pay them so much any longer. Dave Meltzer says that she was sent to OVW as a way for WWE to get her to quit, but when she took it in stride (and since she’s dating Joey Mercury, who lives in Louisville, she was being optimistic about it), they fired her anyway. There was talk of having her team with CM Punk, and in fact she was talking with Punk the night before her release about ideas, so she likely didn’t see this coming at all.
Joey Joey Joey.. you lucky bastard (if it’s true). Bet she’s a REYT cracker in bed.
Crystal Ball for Raw
In this new section, I’ll be taking a gander at this weeks’ upcoming Raw show. Here’s the preview courtesy of wwe.com, broken down with my funny/awesome/arrogant/ignorant comments added.
With Mr. McMahon still interviewing for the next General Manager of RAW, he took it upon himself to make a huge match based on last week’s events.
Translated – Vince and Co. can’t make their minds up who should succeed Bish, or even if he should be succeeded, so we’ll just extend the GM the storyline for a bit and hope nobody notices or cares.
Last week on RAW, John Cena defeated Shelton Benjamin but was then unceremoniously attacked by Kurt Angle and Daivari. Seeing the brawl, Mr. McMahon ordered a match for this Monday between Angle and Cena. But it won’t just be a typical match – it’ll be a First Blood Match, which ensures that by its very nature things will get out of hand. Who will leave RAW wearing the crimson mask, and who will walk away victorious?
I’ll go ahead and call this.. BOTH Cena & Angle get busted open, resulting in a draw. If it happens.. one of you owes me money.
Also, after his latest devastating loss, Shelton Benjamin received a call on his cell phone. Whoever was on the other end of the line will be coming to see Shelton at this week’s RAW. Who will it be, and can that person help Shelton get off the losing track?
I heard Shelton’s Mamma was so fat, even her shadow has stretch marks…
And Shawn Michaels looked seriously concerned as RAW went off the air last week. He had just received a threat from Mr. McMahon, who took exception to HBK’s comments regarding the infamous “Montreal Incident” of 1997. What will HBK have to say this week, and is Mr. McMahon finished with Michaels? Tune in to RAW to find out.
Does anybody really give a shit anymore? I sure as hell don’t…
The Nearest WWE PPV
NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION (RAW)
Sunday, Jan. 8, 2006
Pepsi Arena, Albany NY
Latest PPV Related News / Rumors
Apparently the main event for No Way Out will be Batista vs. Kane for the World Heavyweight title.
Having Kane win the Rumble and then jump to SmackDown! Sits perfectly fine with me, seeing as how Orton just got destroyed by The Undertaker and isn’t anywhere good enough to carry himself to a match against Batista (although he is improving and his matches with ‘Taker are giving him someone to learn from).
SmackDown! Needs more upper-midcard players, and Kane fits in that slot. A heel turn would be welcomed as well, because in my opinion, Kane could go to new heights if they pushed him enough as the crazy, psycho guy. As Eric S said in his column last week, Kane could then go on to feud with The Undertaker, and possibly end his unbeaten streak, although personally I wouldn’t waste it on anybody, and let ‘Taker take it to the grave, so to speak. I just think it’s too big a thing to spoil. Let’s just keep it as a memento to Undertakers career.
The problem with that is, how to get the Tag Titles off Big Show & Kane, and who to put them on? I’ve a bad feeling that we’ll be seeing the, er “awesome” tag team of Tomko & Snitsky beating the champs before NWO. How they go about it will be tricky, however the easiest way to do it would be for a random General Manager (whoever it turns out to be) celebrating his/her new job by making a tag title match involving Big Show & Kane vs. Tomko & Snitsky. Then, Triple H can do a run in on Big Show, furthering the feud, and then voila, that’s that sorted. They’ve already taken the titles from Batista & Mysterio, so all that’s left to do is what I’ve just said above.
Of course, this is all IF Kane does indeed jump to SmackDown! I’ve a strange, unwelcome feeling in my stomach that Mark Henry will be involved in a long feud with Batista, which can’t be anything but bad.
The Card So Far
Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE World Title
John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. HBK vs. Chris Masters vs. Carlito vs. Kane
Big Show vs. Triple H
Intercontinental Championship
Ric Flair vs. Edge
WWE Women’s Title
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Mickie James
The Score So Far
Looking Ahead PPV Score: 7/10
With only a week left to go, this looks like staying at a 7. Nothings really peaking my interest at the moment, but the Trish storyline is intriguing me, as well as the build to the EC.
Even though most people in the IWC (I’m assuming) aren’t best pleased with Carlito, Masters or even Kane being in the Elimination Chamber, I am. It gives people who have been watching the WWE for a long time, like myself, the chance to see new faces in the Main Event, something which has been good for TNA, and partly for the WWE, so this should continue.
The Edge – Flair rivalry has at worst, been good, and at best, been f*cking awesome. Need to get the strap off Flair before this feud can carry on though, as both men are outgrown in terms of needing the belt. Give it to Shelton, with Edge costing Flair the title, and they can carry on the ‘Mamma’ angle by using that as a turning point for Shelton to start winning again.
PPV Predictions
Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE World Title
John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. HBK vs. Chris Masters vs. Carlito vs. Kane
Winner: John Cena
Comments: Cena’s a huge money-maker in terms of Merchandise, so even though I don’t like him very much, I’d still keep the title on him. It’s just good business.
Big Show vs. Triple H
Winner: Big Show
Comments: I’m going out on a limb here and I’ll say that Big Show wins this, and then we’ll have a rematch at the Rumble with HHH coming out on top. Flair will then eliminate Triple H in the Rumble itself, and then the final chapter in the Flair-HHH feud can be written, and end with Flairs retirement at WrestleMania 22.
Intercontinental Championship
Ric Flair vs. Edge
Winner: Ric Flair
Comments: Flair could do with a win here to extend the feud until the Rumble, where Edge can win the rematch. I think this might surprise people by being the MOTN.
WWE Women’s Title
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Mickie James
Winner: Trish Stratus
Comments: If they give the ladies a good 10-15 minutes to go at it, then I’ll be a happy bunny.
Looking Even Further
ROYAL RUMBLE (RAW & SmackDown!)
Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006
American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
The aura is fading…
Any comments, questions, praise, abuse and lovin’ go to my email address, which is at the top next to my name.
See you all next week, and thanks for checking me out!
Danny Wallace.
The ‘Sponsored Sound’ for this week is: Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down, which is taken from their debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’, which I have an advanced copy of.. and it’s f*cking awesome.
