T.G.I.F. with Matt Dawgs: #71

Good day to you all and welcome to the new look, sleeker, sexier version of World Wrestling Insanity. I am your host for today, Matt Dawgs and this is my column. Since we have a new site, I figured it was time to switch things up and make my column look slightly newer too. Let’s go.

WWE News and Notes

- Before I get into Summerslam and the week in WWE, former WWE Superstar Lance Cade passed away after last weeks column was posted. Lance died of “heart failure”. While many immediately speculated it was drug related due to his past (and it still very well might be), some close to Lance say he was in fact cleaned up recently. Let’s not forget that recovering addicts however are prone to heart issues once sober. So technically, it is still drug related. When are these people going to WAKE UP!!!! Sadly, if wrestlers weren’t pre-conditioned to think they are “not hurt” when in fact they are, his death probably would have been prevented. You see, just three days before his death, Lance’s wife noticed he was lethargic and having trouble breathing. He was rushed to the hospital via ambulance where he passed out while en-route. He was revived and when he woke up in the hospital, he threw a fit and demanded to be released (without being held for observation). He was so upset with his wife for having him taken to the hospital that he ended up going to his father's. He was found dead on Friday morning. Had Lance remained in the hospital after his initial admittance to it, he may still be with us today.

- Linda McMahon was asked about Lance Cade’s death. Her answer? “I think I may have met him once.” Yes, legit answer by the woman who hopes to be future Senator of Connecticut.

- WWE certainly dropped the bomb with a major surprise this past week at Summerslam when the mystery 7^th person on John Cena’s WWE team vs. Nexus, rather than be Miz as the mystery partner, it turned out to be a returning DANEIL BRYAN. Bryan was booked well in the match eliminating two members of Nexus (Darren Young and Heath Slater both by submission with a crossface) before being eliminated due to outside interference from Miz.

- The minor (well pretty major) problem with the surprise is that WWE.com actually posted the Daniel Bryan return story on their website….BEFORE IT HAPPENED. It was only up for about 10 minutes or so but enough people saw it, including the major sites like PWINSIDER.COM that it got out. Kevin Dunn was apparently livid backstage when he heard.

- By the way, I said that WWE should “injure” Khali and WWE should sub him with Daniel Bryan in my column on JULY 23^{RD .}

- With that being said, since Daniel Bryan did not in fact get the win for his team, then Nexus should have won the match. Not necessarily clean but the end should have had Barrett beat Cena in some way, shape or form. No reason for Cena to play Superman and overcome a 2-on-1 advantage for the win. That could have been saved for another day down the road when you eventually plan on scrapping the Nexus gimmick.

- It’s also one thing for Michael Cole to not “like” Daniel Bryan given their history. It is completely different for your LEAD ANNOUNCER to bury him in every single sentence. That isn’t a very good way to get him over.

- While on the subject of returns, The Undertaker is back in the WWE after being in a “vegetative state” for months. He revealed that Kane was in fact his attacker but apparently being in a “vegetative state” isn’t all that good because Kane overpowered him and Taker was unable to get his revenge. Instead, he was laid out by Kane following the match with Rey Mysterio.

- MAJOR NEWS hit last night as the Nexus angle has taken a turn for the worse right now. Apparently Skip Sheffield broke a bone in his leg and WILL REQUIRE surgery. No word yet how long he is going to be out of action but he is definitely going to miss substantial time.

- I HATE THE EMAILING GM ANGLE!!! Horrible stuff and I will continue to say it week in and week out until it is DEAD AND GONE.

- Was Randy Orton OVER at Summerslam and RAW or what? WOW.

- Suffice to say, I think that things aren’t going to be looking very positive for Darren Young. Sad but true.

- Jillian Hall pinned Eve on RAW. LOL.

- No more Undisputed Tag Team titles. They are now one set of belts known as the WWE Tag Team Titles. I wonder if that means they are now exclusive titles on RAW.

- WWE filmed next weeks RAW already and spoilers can be found online somewhere. I am not going to get into it but the “Night of Champions” main event has been announced.

- I’m assuming that NXT guys get their lines written for them as well because for some unknown reason, during one of the “improve” skits that the NXT rookies are told to do, Kaval managed to say “Total Nonstop Action” in it. If that was not scripted, I am completely gobsmacked as to why he would have said that if his goal is to succeed in WWE. Even Josh Matthews said on commentary, “Why would he say that?” WTF?

- And then there was one. Lou D’Angeli (formerly Lou E. Dangerously from the original ECW) has left WWE. He was hired in 2006 working in the marketing department as well as at live events. His last appearance with the company was at Summerslam as he has taken a full time marketing position with Cirque Du Soliel in Las Vegas. Congrats to him as that must be an awesome job/company to work for. Joey Styles remains as the only person who worked for the Original ECW who is still employed by World Wrestling Entertainment.

- Tiffany (aka Drew McIntyre’s wife) was suspended from WWE due to a severe domestic dispute at a Los Angeles hotel last week. Apparently she assaulted Drew and was arrested and released on $20,000 bond (which is $2000 since you only have to post 10%). She was scheduled to appear in a match at Summerslam teaming with Kelly Kelly against Lay-Cool but the match was not on the card on Sunday and no public explanation was given as to why. The latest is that the evening before the incident, both Tiffany and Drew were at the annual Midsummer’s Eve Playboy Party. Draw your own conclusions as to what they were arguing about. Here is Tiffany a FEW HOURS before her arrest.

- This incident also doesn’t bode well for McIntyre who was ALREADY in the doghouse…once again for another reason altogether. While McIntyre has plenty of potential, there was once a time where he and Sheamus were hand in hand as far as the totem pole goes. Sheamus has surpassed McIntyre by far since their debuts. McIntyre also did himself absolutely no favors with this incident since he DID NOT notify WWE about it and they had to hear it from someone else.

- In what is definitely NOT a positive sign for Tiffany, she was removed from the Smackdown opening on last Friday’s show. If someone was just going to be suspended, I highly doubt WWE would go through such lengths to remove her from the opening credits. If she is in fact released, I wonder how that will affect the push of Drew McIntyre or his relationship with Tiffany. If the past dictates anything, 90% of WWE performers who are dating/in a relationship to another performer at the time of their release, the person not released has a tendency to quit when it happens. (See Lawler, Jerry; Lashley, Bobby as examples.)

- Former WWE Women’s Champion Candice Michelle was backstage at Summerslam (she lives in Los Angeles). She was just visiting friends as she recently gave birth to her first child and has told friends she is done with professional wrestling for good.

- Also backstage at Summerslam? Former WCW World champ and WWE IC champ Diamond Dallas Page. Page posted PICTURES of himself with Big Show, Randy Orton and Melina backstage.

- Beth Phoenix is estimating another 2 months before she is able to return to in ring action. The same timeframe applies to Ezekiel Jackson who, like Phoenix, also underwent knee surgery.

- CM Punk fans; Punk has launched his very own Twitter account @2ndCity Savior . If you want to hear what CM Punk has to say then follow him please because he has told friends that he will not tweet once until he has 1,000,000 followers.

- So did Luke Gallows @RealGallows .

- Austin “Consequences” Creed has been re-named in FCW. He will now be known as Xavier Woods.

- Comic magicians Penn & Teller will be guests hosts on RAW on September 20^th. They were originally listed a few weeks ago but were then removed. They have since been re-added to the guest host list over the weekend.

- TRAILER for Chris Jericho’s DVD titled “Breaking the Code: Behind the Walls of Chris Jericho”

- An Alabama doctor was sentenced to 4 years in prison for steroid distribution last week. In a court affidavit on Friday, Dr. Michael Bennett’s records listed former WWE Star Bob Holly, current TNA Star Kurt Angle and current UFC Heavyweight Shane Carwin as clients of Dr. Bennett.

- I was actually wondering why WWE didn’t promote the Expendables more since it is a major feature film starring a WWE Hall of Famer. Sure it wasn’t a WWE film but still. Then I saw the film. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin did a ton of very “un-PG-like” things in the movie. WOW, great stuff.

- Not sure exactly what this means specifically but according to Matt Hardy’s Twitter, he may have to take some time off due to “WWE’s stringent health and wellness policies.” The tweet was followed by his comment mentioning his “injuries” from last weeks Smackdown where Drew McIntyre wedged his ankle between the ring steps and “crushed” them. But by the way he worded it, it could mean something else entirely.

- WWE is working on a new John Cena DVD titled: “The John Cena Experience” and it is set for a November release.

- WWE.com has added Bill Goldberg to their alumni section.

- WWE revised their casting call for new Divas. They are only searching for girls between the age of 18 – 25. John Laurinaitis has also told people that if the girl isn’t pretty enough to be in Playboy then they aren’t pretty enough to be a WWE Diva. Yes, he really said this.

TNA News and Notes

- Honestly, while he did in fact conduct an interview with this very site a few years back, I'm pretty sure, but have no idea whether he reads this site or not. Even if he does, I doubt he reads this column but I am going to ask the question anyway. He wouldn’t read or respond via his Twitter or Facebook so what’s it going to hurt to try here. DEAR ERIC BISCHOFF, you are constantly ranting and raving about internet sites and how they have no clue how the wrestling business works and in the same breath claim that focus groups and facts back up the constant same statement you make that EVERYONE wants to see older stars. If this is indeed the case, how can you explain the lack of ratings growth for TNA since you and Hogan debuted as well as the embarrassing and abysmal “Monday Night Wars 2.0” ratings? You can’t go with the “the fans wanted it on Thursday” excuse because with the exception of 2 episodes, YOU NEVER LEFT THURSDAY!!! So what is it? The fans want older stars, just not on TNA TV? Please elaborate. Thanks. 

- FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY that the “Modern Day Terry Funk” a.k.a. “Da Notorious 187” Homicide has finally been released from his TNA contract and is free to be used properly again. He is currently out healing some injuries but should be back in the ring in 4 weeks or so.

- In an interview with MMAFighting.com, Paul Heyman took a minute to discuss TNA and that they aren’t ready for him to come help yet because they are only interested in the “RIGHT NOW AND TOMORROW” and not looking towards the future and to what could be two years from now. He also stated that if you are over 40 in TNA and he was in charge, you’d probably be gone. The older “legends” are definitely good for autograph signings and video game sales but from a main event level talent perspective, you have to create new stars. Heyman said if he were in charge, he’d backburner all of the old guys in favor of younger guys hitting their prime so he could shape and mold them. He put it in perspective with the following: “You had a great, match of the year candidate in Beer Money vs. the Motor City Machine Guns. Instead of building that the whole show as your main event with guys like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan talking about the whole show how they had to see that match because these guys are the future of the business and have been tearing the house down. They decided to end the show with 50 year old Hogan thanking the 40 year old ECW guys only to be jumped and laid out by a group led by a man in his 60’s.”

- Someone is lying. I said last week that my feelings were that Hogan and Bischoff are in fact gone and that Hogan jumped the gun. Bischoff buried that notion by saying that he and Hogan signed two year contracts. Funny thing is, during one of the first interviews Hogan gave after signing with TNA, he stated that he thinks his contract is for a year but definitely not less than a year and that he and Dixie Carter agreed during negotiations that either party can decide to leave at any time should one not be satisfied with the other. Guess Eric missed that interview.

- The “first” ever Hardy vs. Angle match for “No Surrender” may get scrapped and end up being the finals for the World Heavyweight Title Tourney at “Bound for Glory”.

- They are also most likely going to scrap the whole “Angle goes through the Top 10 since he is penciled in to win the tournament and be champion. What is amazing is that they are still going ahead with the “If Angle loses he retires” stipulation which if it were in WWE, would be a MAJOR angle where in TNA, it is in passing.

- Samoa Joe’s suspension is over on Monday and he is free to work the television tapings next week however there has been no word if he is booked or not yet. Let’s see how he is pushed when he does return, as he is extremely unhappy with TNA right now.

- Brother Runt a.k.a. Little Spike Dudley has a “retirement” match scheduled for an independent show in October. I have no idea if this is a legit retirement or an angle. It isn’t a loser retires match. Instead, he is retiring. Win, Lose or Draw.

- Scott Hall is in a 50-day rehab program that is being paid for by World Wrestling Entertainment according to an independent promoter in New Jersey.

- Huge congrats to Becky Bayless who accompanied Rob Eckos in his TNA tryout. Becky was ALSO signed to a TNA contract and will be debuting as Eckos’ second during his matches. The pair are doing a Jersey Shore gimmick.

Independent / International News and Notes:

- Before I get into other ROH/DGUSA/EVOLVE/Independent news, LONGTIME Independent promoter and probably one of the nicest guys in wrestling, Jim Kettner is retiring from wrestling after 43 years. He promoted for the famous ECWA, which created the annual Super 8 Tournament in Delaware. The tourney was a spotlight for a “Who’s Who” on the independent circuit and helped make stars out of Reckless Youth, The Hardy’s, Simon Diamond, Steve Corino, Low-Ki (Kaval), Christopher Daniels AJ Styles and more.

- NWA Champion Adam Pearce has been let go as booker for Ring of Honor and he will no longer be working for the company in any capacity. Delirious (with a lot of influence from Jim Cornette) will be handling booking duties going forward for the company. What is real interesting though is that Pearce turned down an invitation to try out for TNA and he has told friends that his reason for turning them down was his position as ROH booker. It sucks that he missed out on an opportunity in order to keep his job when in fact he was on the verge of being let go. Both Cary Silken and Adam Pearce were thankful and made it seem like the parting was amicable in statements to PWINSIDER.com however Pearce ended his comments with an “oil & water” analogy. This is likely due to some problems he had with Syd Eick who ran the business side of Ring of Honor.

- Tyler Black reported to WWE Developmental this week in Florida. He is still going to fulfill his Ring of Honor dates until September. My guess? He drops the title on September 11^th in the Hammerstein Ballroom to Roderick Strong.

- Bryan Danielson WILL BE allowed to finish up any independent bookings he agreed to prior to his WWE return meaning he will be at the 9/11 EVOLVE show in Rahway NJ (thus NOT appearing at the ROH show in the Manhattan Center in NYC). His final independent dates are for Dragon Gate USA on September 24^th and 25^th. He was scheduled to work an NYWC show (Mikey Whipwreck’s fed in Long Island) on September 18^th but he cancelled. Instead, he will now work the September 11^th show.

- The reason Danielson never worked for ROH during his release is because ROH was offering to pay him the amount he was making when he left while other promotions would pay him more due to the “name value” he developed while working for WWE.

- Kip James a.k.a. Billy Gunn had a nice phone conversation with a “ FEMALE FRIEND ”. Turns out she ruined his marriage. HILARITY ENSUES.

MMA News and Notes

- Another MAJOR hurdle crossed by UFC as they have been officially legalized in Ontario Canada. One of the few major cities yet that MMA was not legal in. This is going to be huge as there is a major fan base in Ontario that has been clamoring for UFC.

- The injury bug continues to bite UFC. One of the double main event matches for the September 25^th UFC 119 show are down the drain as “Big Nog” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira had to withdraw from the event due to a major hip injury which will require him to have surgery on his hip. UFC is replacing him with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filopovic. Cro Cop confirmed this and said that unfortunately 5 weeks notice is “short notice” so he isn’t going to be 100% ready for the fight. He doesn’t want to make excuses however and plans on delivering against Mir. Cro Cop was smart enough to accept the fight on the condition that if he loses, he will not be cut. Joe Silva (UFC Matchmaker) and Dana White agreed.

- It’s going to be interesting to see Dana White and UFC’s thoughts and/or actions against Shane Carwin now that he has been formally implicated in a the conviction of a steroid dealing doctor. So far UFC has had the ability to dodge steroid implications with their fighters. Thankfully for Dana though, the roids were purchased in 2006 and Carwin did not sign with UFC until 2008.

- The autobiography of Brock Lesnar which is being written by Paul Heyman is going to be titled: “Brock Lesnar: Undisputed”. No release date is set.

- Paul Heyman, in the same interview mentioned above in the TNA section, states that Vince McMahon is partially responsible for UFC becoming the PPV powerhouse it currently is. This is because when RAW was on Spike TV, McMahon had the right to refuse Spike from airing The Ultimate Fighter following RAW. Heyman, who was in the room during the meeting with Spike told McMahon not to let them air because the viewers were the same demographic and if they stuck around and watched UFC, then UFC will start to steal viewers and money from the pockets of WWE. Lo and behold, McMahon allowed it and UFC is now the leading PPV money maker around today blowing WWE out of the water.

- Heyman also met with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker in NY last week. No idea what was discussed but Heyman did say that once his book on Lesnar comes out and he is done promoting it, he plans on working full time in MMA somewhere.

- The UFC 121 card has been officially announced by UFC and will be headlined by Brock Lesnar © vs. Cain Velasquez. It will also feature Martin Kampmann vs. Jake Shields, Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago, Matt Hamill vs. Tito Ortiz, and Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Brendan Schaub.

- Ryan Couture, son of UFC Hall of Famer and Living Legend Randy Couture, won his MMA debut last weekend at the Strikeforce Challengers Series defeating Lucas Stark via triangle choke.

- Latest MMA on EA Sports TRAILER .

STRIKEFORCE: HOUSTON is tomorrow night from Houston Texas and the line-up is as follows:

• LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Muhammed Lawal © vs. Rafael Cavalcante
• MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE: Ronaldo Souza vs. Tim Kennedy
• KJ Noons vs. Jorge Gurgel
• Bobby Lashley vs. Chad Griggs

UFC 118 is on August 28, 2010 from Boston Massachusetts and the line-up is as follows:

• UFC LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE: Frankie Edgar © vs. B.J. Penn
• Randy Couture vs. James Toney
• Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard
• Nick Osipczak vs. Greg Soto

UFC 119 is on September 25, 2010 from Indianapolis Indiana and the line-up is as follows:

• Frank Mir vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filopovic
• Ryan Bader vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
• Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle
• Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham

UFC 120 is on October 16, 2010 from London England and the line-up is as follows:

• Michael Bisping vs. Yoshiro Akiyama
• Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit
• John Hathaway vs. Mike Pyle
• Cheik Kongo vs/ Travis Browne

Random Thoughts, Links, Pics, ETC.

- Random VIDEO of the week: Always know what's going on around you.

- Random PIC of the week: Loving summer.

- Fun on FACEBOOK : PUNCTUATION is important people. Don’t forget that one misplaced punctuation mark can make one thing mean something TOTALLY different than what you intended it to mean.

- Look, SNOOKI forgot something!!

- GO SEE THE EXPENDABLES. It was exactly what I thought it would be and lived up to my expectations. Mindless FUN!!! Don’t go with the thought that you are seeing an Academy Award nominated film or an acting ‘tour-de-force”. If you go in thinking you are going to see a cool action film, I guarantee you will be more than pleased. It was the number one movie at the box office last week surprisingly beating both the new Julia Roberts film “Eat, Pray, Love” as well as the much hyped “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”.

- THIS is the big deal about True Blood? Um…ok I guess.

- Tila Tequila was ATTACKED by fans at the annual “Gathering of the Juggalos” event when she went on stage to perform. Fans threw rocks, bottles and feces on stage and then eventually rushed the stage as she and her bodyguards had to run to their trailer, which was destroyed by the fans. Eventually she escaped with a bunch of cuts and bruises from being hit with items. HERE is a pic from her performance.

- Never before deleted scene from RETURN OF THE JEDI .

- Jenny McCarthy is STILL AROUND .

- Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in prison and then 90 days following prison in a rehab facility. So it should be no surprise to anyone that she only served 14 days in prison an additional 10 days in rehab for a total of 24 days out of the possible 180. If it wasn't for THOSE attached to her, I would wish that she were stoned. (Literally with rocks as opposed to the type of stoned she normally is).

- My Future Wife, Kim Kardashian-Aponte and her family are BACK for a new season of their E! show. Also, here is a PIC from her new calendar.

- James Guttman’s guest last week was none other than “Above Average” Mike Sanders and he has a new one on the way! Check it out at CLUBWWI.COM if you haven’t had a chance to hear it. There are literally HUNDREDS of interviews with your favorite wrestling stars of yesteryear and today!!! If you’re not a member then please do yourself a favor and JOIN CLUB WWI right NOW!!!! What are you waiting for? DO IT. DO IT NOW. Good stuff folks; don’t miss out. You’ll thank me for it.

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

Questions, Corrections, Comments, Feedback or Ideas: Matt@worldwrestlinginsanity.com .

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)