WWE says goodbye to more “superstars” while I wonder whether Randy Orton is purposely trying to sabotage his own career.
Opening Witty Banter
Yeah I’m late this week, I know. Stuff came up. On a completely unrelated note, I just discovered the awesome that is Scrabulous. Today’s episode is brought to you by AWA Wrestling on ESPN Classic. I’m loving it; these episodes from 1990 are in that “so bad they’re good†range.
The Top Story
For the second week in a row the big sory around Titan Towers is the releases of more talent, and the potential departure of one former WWE Champion. I guess they’ve really got to make room for all these second generation kids they’ve got lying around. Let’s see who the latest casualties are.
Stevie Richards
This wouldn’t should surprise too many people, as he has been on the chopping block for years and I dare say it was only the ECW revival in 2006 that helped keep him gainfully employed for this long. I’ve been a long time fan of Richards and I’m sad to see him go as I always thought he was terribly under utilized, and the company could have done so much more with him. He’ll make a nice living on the independent circuit, and hopefully he’ll be brought back into the company at some point in a trainer capacity.
The Highlanders
Once again, not another shocker. These two have been on the chopping line since Robbie was shown in attendance of the TNA taping during WrestleMania weekend. I guess the company was good enough to keep the pair on the payroll until Rory was healthy enough to return to competition so that when they were released it would be easy for them to find work as a tandem. I always thought these two were mishandled from the beginning. Rather than bringing them in as fan-friendly Bushwacker-type comedy characters, they should have been brought in as bloodthirsty Sheepherder-type heels. Once they turned heel last fall I thought we would see glimpses of that, but instead they just became jobbers from he other side of locker room. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if TNA does pick these guys up in a few months to burgeon their waning tag team division.
Colin Delaney
Colin had a great thing going as the Mikey Whipwreck loveable loser gimmick and his heel turn was mishandled from the onset. It’s probably best that they cut their loses with him now before the character became an even more nondescript heel jobber. He’ll land on his feet in no time thanks to his “brother†still being an integral part of CHIKARA.
Cherry
Cherry never really did fit the mold of what WWE has conditioned their Divas to be, but she seemed to be gaining a solid following on SmackDown! She seemed to be improving and integrating herself well. I would be interested to know if there was something else behind this departure. Maybe her and Domino can reunite on the independents to form a new “Greasers†gimmick.
Wes Adams
I guess this is one of the company’s referees. I couldn’t pick him out of a line up if I had to. I wonder if he was the guy that botched the ending of the Matt Hardy/Mark Henry-John Morrison/The Miz main event on ECW last week?
Developmental talents Charles “The Hammer†Evans, Matt O’Neal and “Campus Legend†Brad Allen have all been released as well. I’m not familiar with either O’Neal or Allen, but Evans’ biggest claim to fame was that he worked as one of Floyd Mayweather’s posse during WrestleMania XXIV.
Somehow Funaki, Val Venis and Hardcore Holly hang on. That’s a testament to what the company apparently thinks of these guys and their talents inside and outside of the ring.
Meanwhile Mick Foley is also more than likely on his way out of the country as well. He has been unhappy with how Vince McMahon was producing him while working as a commentator for SmackDown! The angle they ran on SmackDown! a couple weeks ago gave the company and Foley some time work to work on their issues. If Foley were to come back he has a built in grudge match with Edge waiting for him. And if he leaves the company it looks as if Edge ran him out of town. It was rumored that there was another storyline set up for SummerSlam where Foley would be involved, but judging by his absence last night at SummerSlam it was not to be apparently.
It is now the talk of the town that Foley will end up in TNA and help change the face of the company, just like Sting, Booker T., Kevin Nash, Christian Cage, Kurt Angle and so many others have so many changed the face of that company. Personally I have been over Foley since he finished his run with Randy Orton back in 2004. If he ends up TNA he won’t help the company any more than the rest of those guys have done, and wouldn’t only lead to some overblown Russo-dreamt gimmick matches with Abyss. I’m kind of liking the new mixes of announce teams and think Matt Striker and Todd Grisham on ECW is a great combination and Tazz and Jim Ross will start to blend nicely after working together some more.
Everything Else Fit For Print
Randy Orton re-injured himself last Monday on his road to recovery from collarbone surgery. He apparently was thrown 30 feet from his bike, but was wearing a helmet, which he credited for saving his life. This injury will set Orton back another 3 months on his road to recovery from his collarbone injury.
When will athletes learn to keep the motorcycle riding until after their professional career is over? When your job depends on you being in peak physical condition to entertain fans joy riding on motorcycles isn’t probably the best career option. But that’s just my two thoughts.
According to WWE.com, Umaga suffered a knee injury at a live event in Johnson City, Tennessee. He has been diagnosed with a torn PCL, but will not need surgery. He will rehab the injury and should be out 4-6 weeks, and then will be re-evaluated from there.
Get well Umaga. You’ve got plenty of programs waiting for you when you get back with guys like Mr. Kennedy, Big Show and Undertaker.
As a follow-up to last week’s update on Killer Kowalski, he was downgraded today from “guarded” to “poor” condition. He remains unresponsive after suffering a heart attack on August 8th.
The old bastard continues to fight. Shows you tough that guy really is.
Wrestler of the Week
I’m trying to think of new ways to change up/improve this column so each week I will highlight who I think was WWE’s Wrestler of the Week, kind of like what JR does on wwe.com. As this is still in its early stages I don’t really have any criteria, but I’m sure my choice will come from a combination of kayfabe and real-life factors.
For the week of August 11 – 17: The Undertaker
The guy came back from another summer vacation and by all accounts put on a legitimate match of the year candidate with Edge in a Hell in a Cell match last night at SummerSlam. I’m sure this will put him back in the main event scene on SmackDown! The question is, do they rush Undertaker-Triple H next month at Unforgiven, or do they try and hold it off until WrestleMania?
RAW’s On Tonight!
Nothing substantial is being reported for tonight’s RAW but the show is from CM Punk’s hometown in Chicago so expect him to receive a lot of love. Of course they could also go the Jim Ross/Booker T route and embarrass him completely in his hometown. Plus there will be more from Kane and The Adamle in regards to Rey Mysterio’s mask being in Kane’s bag. I hope for a glorious celebration from Santino Marella after winning back the Intercontinental Title, and I’m sure Batista and John Cena will be there. Oh and I’m sure Chris Jericho will have something to say after punching a Nitro Girl in the mouth.
On Last Week’s Episode…
Newcomer Sassy Stice covers SmackDown! while Daniels provides his thoughts.
Blatt gives the play-by-play for ECW and Daniels provides the color commentary.
Marshall and Daniels bring it RAW.
How They Rated
A.M. RAW (8.10.08) – .6
RAW (8.11.08) – 3.1
ECW (8.12.08) – 1.2
SmackDown! (8.15.08) – 2.3
This is Boring, What Else is There to Read?
Wiswell previews Ring of Honor shows from this past weekend. Click to see how his predictions turned out.
Glazer counts down more of Ring of Honor’s top matches.
Kirschner brings the CHIKARA and PWG goodness.
Wells previews PWG’s upcoming All-Star weekend.
Ditch continues to educate us on the career of Kobashi.
In Case You Didn’t Spend the $40
Murray provided the play-by-play coverage of last night’s SummerSlam while Daniels chimed in with some talking points about the event.
Here’s how the event broke down quick ‘n’ dirty style:
MVP pinned Jeff Hardy (10:10).
Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix beat Kofi Kingston and Mickie James to win the Intercontinental Championship and Women’s Championship respectively (5:25).
Shawn Michaels and his wife Rebecca came out to announce Shawn’s retirement, but they were interrupted by Chris Jericho. It ended up with Jericho accidentally punching Michaels’ wife in the mouth.
Matt Hardy beat Mark Henry by DQ in an ECW Championship match (:35).
CM Punk pinned JBL to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (12:05).
Triple H pinned The Great Khali to retain the WWE Championship (10:00).
Batista pinned John Cena (14:10).
The Undertaker beat Edge in Hellin a Cell (27:00).
IP Staff Roundtable Results for WWE SummerSlam
The Pulse Wrestling staff put together a great roundtable discussion in regards to SummeSlam. Click to find out the staff’s picks.
Roundtable Winner:
Danny Cox and Raffi Shamir both came out with 6-1 records, so congrats to you both.
