Kid Rock is gonna take up some airtime at WrestleMania, Vince McMahon makes himself sound like a hypocrite in an interview and John Cena apparently had a movie come out this week. Who knew?
Opening Witty Banter
I am absolutely exhausted from a late night at work so this will be a quick and painless edition. Plus most of the news this week centered around John Cena and his constant prodding of The Rock and I’m not touching any of that fluff stuff so there wasn’t a whole lot else out there.
Let’s take some ‘E…
The News of the Week
WrestleMania has always been about pomp and circumstance. Often times the show has been accused of being more about the glitz and glamour than about the in-ring wrestling. It just isn’t a WrestleMania without some sort of WrestleMania involvement, and this year will be no different as it has been announced that Kid Rock will be at WrestleMania XXV live in Houston to perform a medley of biggest hits including “Bawitdaba,†“Cowboy†and “So Hott.â€
Rock has had a previous working history with WWE, allowing songs like “Lonely Road of Faith,†“Cocky†and “All Summer Long†to be used for pay per view theme songs and official video packages. He also recorded a cover of ZZ Top’s “Legs†for a 2002 WWE compilation album, and The Undertaker used a version of Rock’s “American Bad Ass†in 2000. His former friend and band mate Joe C. also appeared on a 2000 episode of Monday Night RAW.
I love me some Kid Rock probably more than most do so I’m excited that he’s performing at WrestleMania. But (1) why didn’t he perform two years ago in Detroit when it was more logical and (2) with WrestleMania always running insanely long anyways these days do we really need a fifteen minute musical number in the middle somewhere?
In other musician news, Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, will open WrestleMania XXV by singing “America the Beautiful.â€
I guess that could be worse…somehow.
Here’s a juicy little bit of name calling between WWE and their competition TNA. And we all thought Vince McMahon didn’t view TNA as competition. It ain’t much but its all we got in this post-Monday Night War era.
From an interview Vince McMahon gave to Hollywood Reporter recently:
“My concern with TNA is not in terms of competition. My concern with TNA is that they are TV-14, and we are PG. They have to change with the times. I think some of the things they do on television are reprehensible, but it is a TV-14 rating. That’s the only bone I have to pick with them. Their TV ratings are a fraction of ours.” – Vince McMahon
“I think it’s wonderful that Vince watches TNA iMPACT. And I agree with him that things such as the brutal beating of a sixty-year-old man, a vicious home invasion and gratuitous man-on-woman violence can be seen as reprehensible – and that’s just the last three Monday nights.” – TNA President Dixie Carter’s response, SunSport
Seriously everyone and their dog and their mailman has already stolen all the pot-kettle jokes from Vince’s asinine statement about WWE being TV-PG and just altogether wholesome family entertainment. Has he gotten senile and forgotten the “Attitude†era of all of ten years ago? I actually say bravo to Dixie for her cheeky but well put together response.
It took twelve staples to stitch up Ric Flair after that wicked camera shot he took from Chris Jericho on Monday.
What a crazy bastard. He’s still taking crazier bumps while in retirement than most do in the ring in their prime.
WWE is still trying to get the rights to the Mid-South tape library, which is the last great territory that WWE doesn’t have the rights to. (Many different people own Portland and Memphis’ footage so it’s virtually impossible to get a good grasp on their stuff.) Bill Watts’ wife and sons actually own the Mid-South footage as apparently she got it in the divorce settlement. Apparently Ms. Watts and her sons couldn’t agree on a price point with WWE, but company officials in Georgia last week examining the quality of the footage.
I want that footage on WWE 24/7 yesterday. Please make this deal go through so I can finally see me some Mid-South goodness.
The Road to…WrestleMania XXV
WWE Championship
Triple H (c) v. Randy Orton
World Heavyweight Championship
John Cena v. The Big Show v. Edge (c)
Undertaker v. Shawn Michaels
Extreme Rules
Jeff Hardy v. Matt Hardy
Handicap Match
“Superfly†Jimmy Snuka, Ricky “The Dragon†Steamboat & “Rowdy Roddy Piper (accompanied by Ric Flair & Mickey Rourke) v. Chris Jericho
Money in the Bank V
CM Punk v. Kane v. Mark Henry v. MVP v. Shelton Benjamin v. Kofi Kingston v. Christian v. Finlay
Intercontinental Championship
Rey Mysterio v. JBL (c)
Lumberjack Match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championships
Carlito & Primo Colon (WWE Tag Team Champions) v. The Miz & John Morrison (World Tag Team Champions)
(lumberjacks include: The Great Khali, Vladimir Kozlov, R-Truth, Mike Knox, William Regal, Cryme Tyme, Chavo Guerrero, Jaime Noble, Tyson Kidd, Tommy Dreamer, The Brian Kendrick, Paul Burchill, Ricky Ortiz, Goldust, Dolph Ziggler, DJ Gabriel, Charlie Haas, Jimmy Wang Yang, Kung Fu Naki, Jesse & Festus, Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder, Sim Snuka)
25 Diva Battle Royal
Maryse, Melina, Michelle McCool, Nikki & Brie Bella, Maria, Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, Beth Phoenix, Rosa Mendes, Layla, Alicia Fox, Natalya Neidhart, Katie Lea Burchill, Gail Kim, Candice Michelle, Tiffany
(rumored participants: Sunny, Jackie Gayda-Haas, Torrie Wilson, Wendi Richter, Mae Young, Trish Stratus)
rumored matches:
ECW Championship
Evan Bourne v. Jack Swagger (c)
Class of 2009 Hall of Fame
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Terry Funk & Dory Funk, Jr. (inducted by Dusty Rhodes)
Ricky “The Dragon†Steamboat (inducted by Ric Flair)
“Cowboy†Bill Watts (inducted by Jim Ross)
â€The Birdman†Koko B. Ware (inducted by Honky Tonk Man)
The Von Erich family (inducted by Michael “P.S.†Hayes)
Howard Finkel
Wrestler of the Week
Week of March 22 – 29: Randy Orton
Orton solidified as THE heel in WWE this past week when he destroyed Triple H and Stephanie once more. The kiss he gave to Stephanie was so creepy and evil that he was like a comic book super villain. Randy Orton has made himself one of those rare bad guys that isn’t trying to be a cool heel but is just a bad ass. I love for Orton to come out as WWE Champion on Sunday but he’s done such heinous acts to Triple H and his family that you can’t help but root for the good guy to come out on top in this instance.
RAW’s On Tonight!
On the last episode of RAW before WrestleMania XXV all the loose ends will be tied up before Sunday’s big event. This episode is usually one of the biggest and most important of each year as it’s the company’s final impression before the John Cena will battle Big Show in a logical preview of the World Title triple threat that is sure to not end in a decisive victory. Plus Chris Jericho will take on Jerry “The King†Lawler in the legends match that many are saying should actually be the match at WrestleMania. As for the rest of the show every segment should build to something at WrestleMania.
On Last Week’s Episode…
Norine and Clarke cover SmackDown’s big go-home show before WrestleMania week.
Ziegler of all people handles the recapping duties of the best one-hour wrestling program since the original ECW.
Kirschner and Marshall covered one of the most important RAWs of the year.
How They Rated
SmackDown! (3.20.09) – 2.1
A.M. RAW (3.22.09) –.83
RAW (3.23.09) – 3.5
ECW (3.24.09) – 1.25
This is Boring, What Else is There to Read?
Kirschner goes into full hype mode for King of Trios~!
Wiswell looked back at Ring of Honor’s debut on television.
For more relevant, interesting and exciting wrestling information from your truly, check out my gig as the Pro Wrestling Examiner over at Examiner.com.
