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T.G.I.F. with Matt Dawgs: First Members of The WWE Future Endeavor Class of 2010, McMahon and Bret Don't KISS, Ding Dong Bye Kong, Hogan Scales Back The Hype, 24 Loses Steam, Starbucks vs. Over 200 Interviews, and More
Matt Dawgs Presents: Thank Goodness It's Friday!!!!! Hello all. Welcome back and Happy Friday. Let’s just get right to it. In my previous column on this site titled “Matt Dawgs’ Random Thoughts, Opinions, Questions and Observations”, I wrote exactly what the title says I wrote. While this column will definitely hit you with that from time to time, I am also going just basically switch up the formula a bit with my random thoughts from each wrestling PROMOTION this week. Of course I will also throw in some thoughts on real world news, sports, entertainment and gossip. Please feel free to provide any thoughts or feedback on the new format. Enjoy. MATT NOTE: R.I.P. To Mr. 6033 aka Angelo Poffo, father of Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Leaping Lanny Poffo aka the Genius who passed away this week at age 84. 1) WWE News and Notes - WWE announced the newly "Future Endeavored Class of 2010" and it managed to have a major surprise in it this year. Maria Kanellis (pic of her first post WWE appearance). This is a complete surprise being that she was legit named Diva of the Year at the Slammy Awards and she is going to be featured on the hit NBC Show, The Celebrity Apprentice in two weeks (just in time for Mania). The cross promotion between WWE programming and The Apprentice had potential to be huge for WWE. She immediately went on damage control before WWE did and stated that she DID NOT ask for her release and explained that she was let go mainly because she has been working on a lot of outside projects that WWE wanted control over including recording music, the Celebrity Apprentice, etc. - Even more INSANE is that when her 90 day no compete clause ends is right around the time of the season finale of the Celebrity Apprentice. So essentially she could win the entire show and then immediately jump to TNA which would be a HUGE coup for them. - Also joining the “Future Endeavored Class of 2010” are Charlie Haas, Shane “Hurricane” Helms, Paul Burchill, & Referee Scott Armstrong. Those names are and aren’t surprising at the same time if that makes any sense. Haas is surprising because even though he wasn’t being used at all, he had requested his release as he wanted to go to TNA (per Kurt Angle’s request) and WWE decided to give him more money to STAY with them. So basically they felt threatened that he was leaving and decided to keep him for more money. Not a little bit of more money but from what I hear, it was a significant increase. Helms, well that was a given due to the nature of his arrest a few weeks back. My theory is that should be not go to TNA, he’ll probably be back down the line sometime. If he does go to TNA and Jeff Hardy signs, I believe that Matt Hardy would try to work his way out the company and join Helms, Jeff and Shannon Moore in TNA. Burchill is a shame. He had such potential and WWE never bothered trying to use him, ever. They saddled him with stupid gimmicks and never gave him a legit shot. - Armstrong is a shocker because he was well liked and a good referee. He also has a great family lineage in the business and could do a lot other than just referee. It is even more surprising because HHH was one of his biggest backers and praised his work ethic. Many are speculating that there has to be a backstage incident that has not been disclosed as the reason for his release because no one can figure out why. - For the record, several people in power were desperately trying to save Helms from being released. - Wrestlemania build up this year has been nothing short of fantastic. It’s as if WWE’s writing staff lock themselves in a room for a month and wrote nothing but Mania build up shows. Seriously, I don’t remember a time where every main match on the show was built up a month before the show. They are firing on all cylinders right now and are only going to continue moving forward since TNA is moving to Mondays. Fantastic stuff. - So Bret vs. Vince is official. They absolutely need to have a contract signing prior to Mania which Bret reveals his “injury” is a work because I can’t see people being interested in an “injured” Bret fighting Vince. This angle has lost a ton of steam since it started. K.I.S.S. = keep it simple stupid. I learned that in High School. WWE has done the exact opposite of that. They had 12 years of build up for this. Sidelining it with car accidents and shadowing it with the Batista/Cena angle was dumb. - Vince McMahon vs. John Cena next week on RAW. Um…..no comment. - Randy Orton seems completely disinterested in being a babyface. The whole Orton/DiBiase/Rhodes thing has lost all momentum and that is sad. - Hart and Soul: The Hart Family Anthology . - I know it’s as if I am repeating myself each and every week but Dave Batista is ON FIRE right now. Not for nothing but the best thing on WWE TV right now has been the build up for Batista vs. Cena. Both men are solidified GOLD on the mic and I think Batista is taking the lead as the top heel in ALL of wrestling. His gimmick to his promo’s to even his look makes people want to hate him. His line to Cena about “kissing babies and hugging fat chicks” was AWESOME. It’s as if he is a new man. - Cheech and Chong as hosts = DUD. - RAW Guest hosts:
- WWE currently plans on having guest hosts up until August. - Triple H has been suffering from severe pain in his quadriceps muscle and will be taking it easy until Wrestlemania. He is more than likely going to take some time off after Mania as well in order to recover. A third quadriceps tear will most likely mean the end of his wrestling career so they want to play it safe with him. - I am calling a HHH heel turn AT Mania. - They are going to revisit the Miz/Mayrese love story angle in a few weeks as Mayrese is now going to be interested in Miz due to his title wins. - Umaga’s cause of death was announced as “acute toxicity” due to mixing Somas, Hydrocodone and Valium. It was listed as accidental. - Toronto is competing for Wrestlemania 28 (27 will be in Atlanta) and many figure that if they get it, it is a LOCK that Trish Stratus will head the Hall of Fame class. - Since Mania 27 will be in Atlanta, the talk is that it will be mainly NWA/WCW guys’ main eventing the HOF. The goal is Sting who by the looks of things, won’t be in TNA next year. Other guys being talked about are Lex Luger, Ron Simmons, The Road Warriors and the Steiner Brothers. - Shad Gaspard did NOT get the lead villain role in the Conan remake. The role went to MMA cult hero Bob Sapp. - Vance Archer (former Lance Hoyt/Rock in TNA) is on the Smackdown roster. So are Goldust and Tiffany. - Answer this question to yourself. If David Otunga wasn’t engaged to Jennifer Hudson, would he be under WWE contract? Now before you say, “Yes, he has a ton of charisma and can develop into a decent worker”, please keep in mind that he has been training on how to wrestle since he was signed…..in 2006. That is 4 years of training and he barely knows the basics. Think about that for a minute. - WWE wants Jennifer Hudson to sing the National Anthem at Mania. Guarantee it happens if Otunga is wrestling in a match on the show. - Vote Linda McMahon for SENATE . - Thanks to WWI’s own RD Lee for bringing this to my attention but say what you want about him in ring, but outside the ring, John Cena is AWESOME . He has logged more minutes as a “Make-a-Wish” celebrity than anyone….EVER. That is simply amazing. - WWE has signed Orlando Colon, cousin to Carlito and Primo. He is reporting to FCW shortly. - The have also signed former All Japan Pro Wrestling star Joe Doering to a developmental deal and he is currently working out at FCW in Tampa, Florida. Doering was trained by Scott D'Amore and held the AJPW Tag Team Titles with The Great Muta. - WWE.com has added Stacy Kiebler and Dawn Marie to their alumni section. - Mickie James underwent emergency surgery yesterday to clear out a staph infection. Being that it wasn't scheduled, it was serious enough that it needed to be done immediately. No word on when she will be back in the ring although it would be by Wrestlemania. WWE 2010 HALL OF FAME CLASS :
2) WRESTLEMANIA 26 LINE-UP:
3) TNA News and Notes: - Awesome Kong is done with TNA. This has to be one of the stupidest situations I have ever seen in wrestling. Just plain dumb-ass-ness by all parties involved. While I do agree that Bubba the Love Sponge is a douche, Kong should have known better than to hit him. That being said, from what I hear, TNA did their best to protect Bubba and bury Kong. That is a shame. Hopefully WWE sees that Kong has usefulness and can bring her in to work with Gail Kim and Beth Phoenix. That would be some good stuff. - Bubba claimed on his radio show that he is done with TNA and is even considering suing them for the Kong incident regardless of whether Hogan works there or not. - Traci Brooks has been released from the company. No further information was given as to why. - Hogan has at least opened his eyes and now realizes that he isn’t Vince McMahon. In recent interviews he has stated that he doesn’t plan to surpass WWE. All he wants to do is gain more viewers for TNA and bring back the WCW viewers who stopped watching wrestling. - TNA is working hard to finalize a deal with Rob Van Dam so that he can debut on the March 8th live Impact. Basically, he has agreed to a deal and just needs his signature on the paperwork. *SIGH* - They are also pushing hard for Jeff Hardy but that doesn’t seem likely until his court case is done. - TMZ.com released the audio of the 911 call made by the daughter of Ric Flair's fourth wife, Jacqueline Beems that led to Beems' arrest. In the call, the caller (daughter) stated that there was a domestic incident and that Flair was bleeding moderately but he was not in serious condition. Both parties were drunk and punches were thrown. - TNA and Konnan have apparently (& quietly) settled their lawsuit (in Konnan’s favor) as AAA (Konnan’s company) and TNA have re-launched their talent exchange. Mr. Anderson is being sent down for a few shows. - In a recent radio interview, Mr. Anderson says that he was mainly released due to both Randy Orton and John Cena complaining to Vince McMahon about him being “reckless” in the ring and dangerous to work with. That was basically the final straw with Vince who decided to let him go. - In what has to be a rib, for those who missed Impact last night, Mr. Anderson cut a promo where he knocks Kurt Angle, with a straight face, saying that Angle is the one wrestler who is injured the most in wrestling. HE SERIOUSLY SAID THIS. WTF? - I forgot Tomko was under contract to TNA. - Eric Bischoff in an interview said that Jay Lethal is one of the funniest guys he has ever met. Yes, the same Jay Lethal who has not been on Impact since Hogan and Bischoff took over. - The Samoa Joe “kidnapping” is expected to lead to a huge push for Joe. Then again, Joe has gotten huge pushes in the past only to have them taken away from him before being pushed again. Sad to think what he could have been had he signed with WWE since you can see where Punk and Danielson are. Shame. 4) ROH/DGUSA/EVOLVE/Independent News and Notes: - Congrats to Kevin Kelly who has signed on to become the lead Play by Play guy for ROH on HD Net and DVD’s. As someone who has worked with Kevin on both this site and on the independents, this is a GREAT move for ROH. He has a wealth of knowledge and can definitely make the product sound more like a wrestling product. - Tammy “Sunny” Sytch has been announced as being in Phoenix for the ROH events. She will be part of a special meet and greet with Jim Cornette. - ROH has brought up a new concept for their Wrestlemania weekend main events. ON Friday March 26th, Tyler Black will wrestle both Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in BACK-To-BACK matches. The next night on Saturday, March 26th, Roderick Strong will wrestle Tyler Black and Austin Aries in BACK-TO-BACK matches. Both Black and Strong are looking to prove that they are better than the other. I do not think the ROH title is on the line. WSU (Woman’s Superstars Unleashed) presents their 3rd Anniversary show on Saturday from Union City NJ and the line-up is as follows:
RING OF HONOR presents “2 Nights of HD Net Tapings” this weekend in Philadelphia PA and the matches are as follows: FRIDAY : The Semi-Finals for the TV Title tournament are:
SATURDAY : Pick 6 Series action as Roderick Strong battles Kevin Steen. Also scheduled to appear: ROH World Champion Tyler Black ©,, World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe ©, Austin Aries, Colt Cabana, Steve Corino, El Generico, Jerry Lynn, Joey Ryan, Delirious and more. EVOLE presents “EVOLVE 2” on March 13th to Rahway NJ and the line-up is as follows:
JAPW presents “WILD CARD” on March 20th to Rahway NJ and the line-up is as follows:
5) MMA News and Notes - Jenna Jameson has been involved in a verbal war on Twitter with Chuck Liddell and Chuck’s fans for the past few days. It’s some hilarious stuff. Basically, Jenna wasn’t trying to purposely stir up trouble. She just mentioned the fact that her husband, Tito Ortiz was going to beat Chuck and that Tito is better than Chuck. - TUF with Ortiz and Liddell as coaches debuts on Spike on March 31st. - Strikeforce has confirmed their CBS show on April 17th. This was to be a HUGE deal for them but now, it isn’t. Fedor Emelianenko has pulled out of the show due to a right hand injury suffered at a Sambo tournament. THIS is why UFC didn’t bend over backwards to him. They didn’t want him doing outside fighting for this very reason. - The main event of the April 17th show is now Dan Henderson vs. Jake Shields. - On the heels of this announcement, Dave Meltzer reports that UFC has plans on counter programming with a UFC special to go head to head with Strikeforce's debut on CBS. WOW. - Andre Arlovski has signed with Strikeforce and makes his debut on May 15th. - Floyd “Money” Mayweather vs. “Sugar” Shane Mosley is confirmed for PPV on May 1st. I still can’t believe that Mayweather and Pacquiao threw away $40 million EACH. WOW. - HBO is going to have a 24/7 special with Mosley and Mayweather leading to their fight which should be good. - What a difference a week makes huh? Former boxing sensation, 41 year old James Toney has signed a multi-fight deal with UFC. At least we legit know he is interested in training as he has hired Juanito Ibarra (better known as the guy who trained Quinton Jackson) to become his trainer. - Toney’s trainer, Juanito Ibarra wasted no time in causing a stir by suggesting that Toney fight Kimbo Slice as his first opponent. Slice is currently scheduled to face Matt Mirtione at UFC 113 in May but in what could just be a coincidence, the official website for the event no longer shows that fight listed. - Randy Couture is not one to be outdone however. The minute the news about Toney was out, Couture took to his Twitter account with the following quote: “I hope I’m the first guy they call to fight tony! J” That will not be a good idea for Toney as Couture would eat him alive. Probably literally. UFC 111 is on March 27, 2010 from Newark NJ and the line-up is as follows:
UFC FIGHT NIGHT is on March 31, 2010 from Charlotte North Carolina and the line-up is as follows:
UFC 112 is on April 10, 2010 from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emitates and the line-up is as follows:
UFC 113 is on May 8, 2010 from Montreal Quebec Canada and the line-up is as follows:
6) Random Thoughts, Links, Pics, ETC. - Random VIDEO of the week: That’s why there are “Don’t Try This At Home” messages!!! - Fun on FACEBOOK : Don’t forget who’s on your friend’s list. - Where is the “We Are The World” video/song for Chile? Where is the 2 hour simulcast on all channels fund raiser? Are Chilean people less important that Haitian people? Last I thought, an 8.8 earthquake + Tsunami’s > a 7.3 earthquake. - CAUTION: Ice T’s wife COCO . - Not sure how many people know this but movie critic Roger Ebert of “Siskel and Ebert” fame can no longer speak and never will again. He had underwent several procedures to remove cancer, first from his salivary glands and then from his jaw. The reason I am writing this is because scientists out there developed a program connected to his computer using his voice from his television show over the years. He uses it for the first time to conduct a sit down interview. I saw a clip of this interview and was going to link it but I did not have the heart to. It is sad, extremely sad. Basically, just keep him in your prayers. - LINDSEY LOHAN . - Is it bad that I have yet to see this week's 24 yet? Normally I would kill somemone to see it if I missed it. This week, not caring so much. Sign of the show failing? I think so. - I HATE FORMER NBA PLAYER RICK FOX!!! He is dating THIS.She is on my "list". My weekend is ruined. - Lost is awesome. Hard to believe there are only 12 episodes left. - James Guttman just scored the gig of a lifetime. On March 13th, James will be hosting a question and answer session at the “ Legends Mania ” convention in Atlanta Georgia. The talent involved with the Q&A is:
- Also this week, James conducted an in-depth interview with former TNA writer and longtime star of the business, Dutch Mantell. Mantell discusses TNA, Puerto Rico, WWE and more. Join CLUBWWI.COM right NOW!!!! It’s about the price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks or a McDonald’s Cheese Burger extra value meal (unless you live in NYC). DO IT. DO IT NOW. 7) PLUGS - NY Diaper Cakes (Best possible baby shower gift…EVER.) - DJUCH.com (Best Dance Music DJ… EVER.) - Geek Week (RD Lee rocks!!) - ACE Pro Wrestling (The future of independent wrestling. A Virtual “Who’s Who” of East Coast talent has wrestled here at one point in time or another) - Jersey All Pro Wrestling (home of the best independent wrestling not named ROH or DGUSA) - EVOLVE (the Evolution of Wrestling) - Woman’s Superstars Unleashed (WSU Wrestling) Ok kiddies, classes are over for now. See you soon!!!!!!!!! Feel free to discuss whatever you’d like in the “Anger Management” section of the message board or whichever section you see fit. ~ Matt Dawgs World Wrestling Insanity writer Matt Dawgs is the bread and butter of the World Wrestling Insanity family. His future is bright and once James Guttman comes into a large sum of money, you can expect Matt will be getting tons of it thrown at him, at least half of it. Matt used to moonlight as a professional wrestler/manager in the NY/NJ Indy scene. He is legit afraid of getting on Homicide’s bad side but thinks he is a cool dude in general. He also is a funny guy. If you have any questions, corrections, feedback, comments and ideas, he can be reached at Matt@worldwrestlinginsanity.com . If the feedback is negative, you can e-mail Matt at insanity@worldwrestlinginsanity.com . P.S. – In case you didn’t know, James Guttman has a new WRESTLING BOOK out titled “Shoot First, Ask Questions Later”. It is a damn fun read so I suggest you run out and get it today. If you already have your copy, read it. If you already read your copy, read it again. It is funny; like me. Also, don’t forget to check out CLUB WWI . It can be found by clicking the banner at the top of this page. Check out all the new audio updates and features found there. Some good stuff including all of James Guttman’s past Radio Free Insanity broadcasts as well as all new, uncut interviews with some of wrestling past and present names. Good stuff people. blog comments powered by Disqus
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