Michael Hayes can be credited with putting the stellar Kane vs Mark Henry lumberjack match at One Night Stand together. According to the Observer, he didn’t intend on using Chris Benoit as a lumberjack but included him after some of the agents spoke up about how Benoit deserves a spot on the card. The planned Benoit vs MVP match had been pulled five days before the PPV because they felt the feud had run its course – despite continuing it on TV after Judgement Day. It has been well-documented lately that Hayes has more or less given up on Benoit and expects him to leave Smackdown. Meanwhile, at Booker T’s PWA show in Pasadena, MVP made an appearance to manage his ‘brother’, billed as VIP…
Also, the decision to put Rob Van Dam over Randy Orton was down to Vince McMahon wanting to surprise the ‘smart’ fans once word leaked that Van Dam was leaving WWE. Clearly the wounds of Lesnar/Goldberg have yet to heal. The thought was that the crowd would be greatly behind Van Dam in his last match and even more so after he won it, so Orton’s post-match attack would get him even greater heel heat than just getting the win. They have to keep Orton strong so he can lose to Triple H in a worthy manner. All very logical, except of course that hardly anybody in the Jacksonville crowd seemed to know or care about Van Dam’s contract ending. There was also talk of having Orton win a rematch on TV in a couple of weeks but that’s to be considered a long-shot.
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 11th June 2007 (click here for subscription information)
