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.

1) WWE News and Notes

- In a turn of events, Rey Mysterio was told by his doctors that a minor surgery followed by a major one at a later date would not work. He was expected to get a minor surgery after the injury angle with Batista and then come back by Mania. Since that isn’t the case anymore, he is going to gut it out for a while longer and will be back on TV next week facing Batista in a street fight on Smackdown. While I fully understand why he is doing it, this is absolutely batsh*t insane for him to do. His career is definitely winding down with all of the knee injuries and eventually he is going to have to retire. He’s absolutely going to have a tough time getting around once he hangs up his mask though.

- In an interesting bit of news, Rey has stated in an interview with the Daily Star newspaper that when he was out with his biceps injury last year, (you know the one where he was out for an extremely long period of time), he was also attending WWE paid for rehab for a pain killer addiction. He said the addiction was connected to the injury and when he realized he had a problem, he immediately went to WWE management and they encouraged him to go.

- In recent interviews, The Rock has confirmed that he eventually will return to WWE to do something for them however he also stated that he has not confirmed what exactly he plans on doing. He also stated that January (which was originally reported, either against the possible live TNA show on January 4 with Hogan’s debut or the live UFC special on January 11) is more than likely not going to happen as he has a lot of publicity stuff he needs to do for his “Tooth Fairy” movie. So March 2010 is now the most likely return date. He also repeated that he doesn’t want to just “guest host” and wants to do something different and more special.

- I FOUND CARLITO . He was squashed by John Cena on RAW on Monday. 9 times out of 10 though, a squash of that stature after being off television for so long is a prelude to future endeavorment. He did look a lot slimmer and cut a promo sounding like it was main event quality level. Too bad it won’t help push him up the card.

- Big Show had his knee scoped and was back wrestling a week later. That isn’t normal. He should have just rested until the PPV. But he said he was ok so I guess no one knows better than him huh?

- The new and improved Festus is now known as Luke Gallows and he fits with CM Punk perfectly.

- R.I.P. to Lexi Pillman, 26 year old step-daughter of Brian Pillman who passed away on Thanksgiving day in a car accident. Lexi was managing and wrestling on independent promotions down south for the past year.

- Randy Orton got his receipt for losing to Kofi Kingston. Sure, it happened with help from Legacy but still, it was unnecessary. It didn’t need to happen. If they wanted to put heat on Orton, they could have just done a prolonged beat down of Kingston. Having him pinned was pointless. My guess is that Orton is going to go over again at TLC which does nothing more than hurt Kofi rather than help Orton.

- Verne Troyer has officially won the title of “WORST GUEST HOST EVER”. He surpassed the absurdity of Jeremy Piven from several months back. This was god-awful on so many levels. I cringed at every single segment he was in. Horrible television.

- Sheamus is gaining momentum. He needs a HUGE angle to put him over the top. The fact that he is fighting Cena in a tables match leaves open the possibility that he could realistically beat Cena for the title without hurting Cena (which at this stage in his career, I can’t see Cena get hurt by booking something like this).

- Jillian Beyor, Playboy Magazine’s 2008 Model of the Year has signed a contract with WWE and will be sent to FCW in Florida for training. She is HOT .

- Mike Johnson recently broke the news that most likely, as of the end of this month, ECW will be no more. They are getting rid of the ECW name/brand and will focus the Tuesday Night on SyFy show for younger, up and coming talent. This is a great idea in my book. Watering down the ECW name as they have been doing is useless. Move all of the veterans to the main rosters and use the time to develop the FCW guys. If you want to put a main roster level guy on the show, feel free. Have them “feud” with a young guy for a few weeks so they can improve and then move them back. It is a better system for everyone because it develops the younger talents who aren’t ready to hang with the big boys but gives them important travel and live event experience.

- Jeff Hardy update. WWE is ecstatic because his DVD is out and his court hearing has been pushed back yet again to January 2010. Normally constant push backs are a sign that the case will not be prosecuted. Either way, just as long as he didn’t have to go to jail while the DVD was fresh is a good thing for them.

- Most of the roster is currently in Iraq filming the annual “Tribute to the Troops” show. Those definitely in attendance are Chris Jericho, CM Punk, John Morrison, Eve Torres, and Layla El.

- Maria is back and she is now assisting Cryme Tyme which means she is replacing Eve Torres in their feud with the Hart Dynasty. She was out filming the Celebrity Apprentice.

- Gerald Brisco is done as an agent. His health has improved from the 3 strokes he suffered a few months back but doctors recommend that he stay off the road and the stress of travelling. He will remain with the company and will be mainly used in a scout capacity similar to his old job with Jim Ross when JR was head of talent relations. He will be scouting NCAA talent again (he helped scout Shelton Benjamin, Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley)

- Jesse Ventura was on the Opie and Anthony Sirius radio show when he got into a debate with comedian Jim Norton when he got fed up and walked out of the studio. FOOTAGE .

- Not sure how this is going to affect WWE (if at all) but Comcast Cable will be taking over the reins of NBC Universal. NBC is the parent company of USA Network and SyFy.

2) WWE Tables Ladders and Chairs PPV on December 13, 2009

• WWE TITLE: John Cena © vs. Sheamus in a tables match
• WORLD TITLE: Undertaker © vs. Batista in a chairs match
• UNIFIED TAG TITLES: Chris Jericho & Big Show © vs. Degeneration X in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.
• ECW TITLE: Christian © vs. Shelton Benjamin in a ladder match

3) TNA News and Notes

- The Hulkamania Tour of is over and by all reports, it sucked. The fans came to see Hogan and Flair and Hogan and Flair alone. No one cared about anything else but the main event and even though neither man was able to put on a 5-star performance, they still got by. The entire match was basically sad from a pure wrestling fan standpoint but the fans soaked up the nostalgia. Hogan is basically done with in-ring competition at this point. Maybe he will come back for one last WWE match but I don’t see him actually wrestling again, especially not for TNA.

- Sid is still telling anyone who will listen to him that he is joining TNA. Apparently it won’t be anytime soon because he tore his bicep in the United Kingdom last week. Tearing a bicep at age 49 = NOT A GOOD THING.

- When given time to wrestle and cutting out all the bullsh*t, TNA can deliver a solid wrestling show. Kurt Angle vs. The Pope was a good match as was Desmond Wolfe vs. Suicide. Stuff like that can help TNA more than it hurts.

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK FROM TNA: Scott Steiner speaking to Mick Foley: “If Kevin (Nash) said it then it has to be true. Kevin doesn’t lie.”

- Lashley vs. Desmond Wolfe on free TV. Will they ever learn???

- Dixie Carter answered fans questions on TNA iMPACT this week. This was a complete waste of time and she answered absolutely nothing worthwhile. I fully believe that these questions were worked and not real.

- Mick Foley’s new book is almost complete and it is titled “Countdown to Lockdown”. It chronicles the end of Foley’s WWE run until his TNA Lockdown PPV World Title win. Should be a good read as all of Foley’s books usually are.

- Speaking of good reads, Foley will be doing a weekly blog on the TNA website soon. Foley has always been open and honest about his feelings on the state of wrestling so as long as TNA doesn’t censor him, this should be some great stuff.

- Bobby Lashley announced on his Twitter that he is going to announce his next MMA opponent next week. As I stated last week, my assumption is that he is going to be gone from the company for a while, if not forever as he has probably signed with Strikeforce.

- Speaking of Lashley, his wife Kristal is going to be a full time, on air talent and she is going to be a heel. Not sure what this means for Bobby since he is currently a face.

- Kurt Angle has been singing the praises of Desmond Wolfe to management. He has told them that he likes working with Wolfe and is pleased with Wolfe’s ability to adapt. He cited their PPV match as an example because Angle laid out the entire match with Wolfe and 2 minutes in, pulled a muscle in his back and the entire plan had to be scrapped and called on the fly instead. Wolfe kept up with Angle seamlessly.

- SHOP TNA .

- For what it’s worth, Angelina Love has been telling friends that she plans to return to TNA shortly.

- Ric Flair has commented publically for the first time about the possibility of working for TNA. He stated that he is willing to listen to their offer and work for them. He states that he has a lot to offer to the wrestling business still and confirmed reports that WWE is no longer interested in using him. He states that the WWE has “heat” against him for agreeing to work a tour of China last year (which never happened) when WWE has been trying to break into the market in China.

4) TNA Final Resolution PPV on December 20, 2009

• TNA TITLE: A.J. Styles © vs. Christopher Daniels
• TNA KNOCKOUT TITLE: ODB © vs. Tara
• FEAST OR FIRED BATTLE ROYAL:
• Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe (2 out of 3 falls)

5) Ring of Honor/DGUSA/EVOLVE/Independent News and Notes

- Ring of Honor will, for the first time ever, air a live event LIVE as it happens via the internet. They have signed a deal with gofightlive.com to air Final Battle 2009 on December 19^th. The airing will cost $14.95 day of or $12.95 in advance. If they can draw a decent number for people who buy this (and Final Battle is a good show to start since it is practically their Wrestlemania) then they have a real good new revenue stream here.

- There are rumblings that Brent Albright is no longer a part of Ring of Honor. ROH officials have stated that this is not true and he is still under contract. Time will tell.

- Austin Aries echoes my sentiments on the pro-wrestling. He states that wrestling is a business and it would be naïve for people to stick with ROH when they get a chance to go to WWE or TNA. The business is about making MONEY. Read his comments HERE .

- Jim Cornette’s ROH on HD NET’s debut is on December 7.

- BxB Hulk became the first Dragon Gate USA Freedom Champion last weekend.

ROH FINAL BATTLE : is on December 19, 2009 from New York City and the line up is as follows:

• ROH WORLD TITLE: Austin Aries © vs. Tyler Black
• ROH TAG TEAM TITLES: The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) © vs. The Briscoe Brothers
• Teddy Hart & Alex Koslov vs. Jack Evans & Rocky Romero
• Also appearing: Roderick Strong, Kevin Steen, El Generico, Steve Corino, Necro Butcher, Kenny Omega, Colt Cabana, Erick Stevens and Rhett Titus

EVOLVE: Debut show is on January 16, 2010 from Rahway New Jersey and the line up is as follows:

• Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi

DRAGON GATE USA: returns on January 23, 2010 in Chicago IL and the line up is as follows:

• FREEDOM GATE TITLE: BxB Hulk vs. Dragon Kid
• Also in action: CIMA, Naruki Doi, Jimmy Jacobs, Jigsaw, Brian Kendrick, Masaaki Mochizuki, Jon Moxley, Mike Quackenbush, Davey Richards, Shingo, Super Crazy, The Young Bucks, Yamato, Masato Yoshino and more.

ACE Pro Wrestling: Returns on December 5, 2009 in Union City New Jersey and the line up is as follows:

• ACE PRO TITLE: Steve Corino © vs. Dan Maff (lumberjack match)
• Benny Martinez vs. Bruno Marciano vs. Rob Vegas vs. Jav-Air vs. Giovanni Michaels vs. ????
• The Fallen vs. The Johnson Express
• #1 CONTENDER’S MATCH: Mo Sexton vs. Mike Donovan
• R8D X vs. Midnight Sensations
• Vince Steele vs. E.C. Negro
• ACE DIAMOND DIVISION TITLE: Bandido Jr. vs. ?????
• Plus the debut of "Crowbar" Devon Storm

Pro Wrestling Uncensored : returns on December 5, 2009 in Orlando Florida. In action are:

• - “The Franchise” Shane Douglas
• - Jerry Lynn
• - The Boogeyman
• - 2 Cold Scorpio
• - “The Raging Bull” Manny Fernandez
• - Big Vito Lograsso
• - Stiff Biff Whitman
• - The Heartbreak Express

6) MMA News and Notes

- Brock Lesnar’s doctor has publically stated on record that Brock has spent the last year fighting at around 60%. NO, THAT IS NOT A TYPO. Most fighters fight at less than 100% due to nagging injuries. Brock was fighting at almost half of his ability. Hear that Frank Mir? Hear that Randy Couture? 60%!!!!

- Close friends of Lesnar say that he is ideally targeting a Memorial Day weekend return date to fight Shane Carwin.

- Sources are rumbling that Dana White is interested in having Quinton Jackson back by that date and scheduling Jackson vs. Rashad Evans on that undercard.

- Gabriel Gonzaga has suffered a staph infection and his January 2, 2010 fight against Junior Dos Santos is off the show. What’s with all these UFC guys going down with injuries lately?

- Bobby Lashley is going to be starting with Strikeforce soon. His opponent will be announced next week.

- Former UFC fighter War Machine (legal name now as it used to be Jon Koppenhaver) was involved in a fight where he attacked and beat up 8 MEN at adult film star Brooke Haven’s birthday party last weekend. War Machine has stopped MMA fighting to become an adult film star himself and recently filmed his first movie last month. The story is that he was flirting with other female stars at the party, he was confronted by his girlfriend Alanah Rae and he slapped her. They were arguing outside when several men tried to intervene peacefully and War Machine snapped, attacking anyone standing within striking distance. He broke one man’s jaw, sent another man to the hospital and even punched his agent in the face. Suffice to say, his adult film career is more than likely over with.

- MMA is now legal/regulated in 42 states with New York being the MAIN holdout to regulate it. Being that it is such a lucrative form of revenue for a state, it is basically considered a formality before it is regulated in NY as well.

- George St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy is confirmed for March in Newark New Jersey.

- After almost having his entire team swept in TUF, how ironic would it be if Quinton Jackson’s last team member, Marcus Jones, would win the entire competition?

- Boxing news: I think it is almost over for Roy Jones Jr. He was knocked out on Wednesday in 122 seconds of the first round by Australian Danny Green in an IBO Cruiserweight title fight. I think it is about time to call it a career. See for yourself HERE .

- Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are thisclose to signing a contract to fight on March 13, 2010 which is what will be the biggest grossing fight in boxing history.

UFC 107 is on December 12, 2009 from Memphis Tennessee and the line up is as follows:

• B.J.Penn vs. Diego Sanchez
• Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo
• Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce
• Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida
• Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve

Strikeforce is on December 19, 2009 from San Jose California and the line-up is as follows:

• - Cung Le vs. Scott Smith
• - Matt Lindland vs. Jacare
• - Robbie Lawler vs. King Mo

UFC 108 is on January 2, 2010 from Las Vegas Nevada and the line up is as follows:

• - Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva
• - Tyson Griffin vs. Jim Miller
• - Carlos Condit vs. Paul Daley
• - Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Junior Dos Santos

UFC 109 is on February 6, 2010 from Las Vegas Nevada and the line-up is as follows:

• - Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman
• - Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen
• - Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg
• - Rolles Gracie vs. Mostapha Al Turk
• - Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller

Random Thoughts, Links, Pics, ETC.

- Random PIC of the week: Sophia Vergara.

- Happy Belated Birthday to BRITNEY SPEARS .

- Ice-T’s wife Coco bought a new CAR .

- Sucks to be Tiger Woods right about now huh? How much do you think he is cutting a check for? Seriously, he is going to have to dig deep into his wallet for his wife when this is all said and done. His rumored pre-nup entitled his wife to $300,000,000.00 WOW.

- IRONMAN 2

- Sons of Anarchy has ended and won’t be back until next fall. Being that there are only 13 episodes in a season, you have until September 2010 to catch up on 26 episodes. Do yourself a favor and DO IT. You’ll thank me later.

- My future WIFE .

- Stevie Wonder breaking down in tears during a Michael Jackson tribute with John Legend. HERE .

- They say there can be only one, but the website that brought you Rory now brings you the other half of The Highlanders as Robbie McAllister, joins ClubWWI.com for an uncut shoot interview that answers all the questions you've had about his controversial career. And this week, a special 2 for 1 deal!!! Erik Watts is back with his “Megawatts” show. Eric constantly has interesting stories and views on pro wrestling. If you haven’t done so by now, do yourself a favor and Join CLUBWWI.COM right NOW!!!!

8) PLUGS

- NY Diaper Cakes (Best possible baby shower gift…EVER.)

- DJUCH.com (Best Dance Music DJ… EVER.)

- Pro Wrestling Uncensored (Mix of old WWF/WWE/WCW/ECW and independent talent on the East Coast)

- ACE Pro Wrestling (The future of independent wrestling. A Virtual “Who’s Who” of East Coast talent have wrestled here at one point in time or another)

- Jersey All Pro Wrestling (home of the best independent wrestling not named ROH or DGUSA)

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.