World Wrestling Insanity: T.G.I.F. with Matt Dawgs...The Rise and Fall of WWE PPV Business, Vince vs. McMahons, Total Nonstop World Order, Suicide Doesn't Want To Commit, Brock Gets The Kissing Disease, No More Outs To #27, Ace Pro Wrestling, Kobe Kingston, and More

T.G.I.F. with Matt Dawgs...The Rise and Fall of WWE PPV Business, Vince vs. McMahons, Total Nonstop World Order, Suicide Doesn't Want To Commit, Brock Gets The Kissing Disease, No More Outs To #27, Ace Pro Wrestling, Kobe Kingston, and More

By Matt Dawgs
Nov 6, 2009 - 8:30 AM

Matt Dawgs Presents: Thank Goodness It’s Friday!!!!!

Hello all; welcome back and Happy Friday! Lets 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: Congratulations to the 2009 World Series Champion New York Yankees. By the time you are reading this column, I'll be in downtown New York at the "ticker tape" parade!!! We did it!!!! #27 people!!! Let’s do it again next year!!!

1) WWE News and Notes

• I don’t know if it was just me being grouchy 'cause the Yankees didn’t clinch their 27 ^th World Series title on Monday but RAW hosted by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne was probably the worst RAW I’ve seen in a LONG time. Just completely abysmal from top to bottom. The only thing I enjoyed was Sheamus destroying Jamie Noble. Everything was just, blah.

• Sharon Osbourne is a fan of Evan Braun and Kobe Kingston.
SERIOUSLY!!! How can people accept guest host positions for RAW without even trying to know who the characters are? WTF??

• In what is definitely a sign to the creative team, WWE reported their 3 ^rd Quarter earnings and results. Summerslam did 369,000 buys, down from 477,000 last years. Breaking Point only drew 169,000 buys (which if you go by trending patterns, Bragging Rights definitely did less than 100,000 which is completely horrible.) and Night of Champions drew 267,000. These are piss poor numbers at best; that’s the only way to describe it.

• Added to Survivor Series is Batista vs. Rey Mysterio as well as a Divas elimination match featuring a Mickie James captained team vs. a Michelle McCool captained team.

• Vance Archer from ECW is the former Lance Hoyt (a.k.a. Lance Rock) of TNA fame.

• Congrats to former WWE Woman’s Champion (and Go Daddy.com spokesperson) Candice Michelle, who announced that she is pregnant with her first child due in May. For those holding out hope that she would eventually return to wrestling, being a female and having a baby usually prevents that from happening. She is probably done with the sport. Good for her though- congrats to her.

• Jeff Hardy’s drug case is still ongoing with a new court date of December 2, 2009.

• That is a good deal for WWE because the Jeff Hardy DVD will be released on December 15 ^th so Jeff won’t be in jail when the DVD comes out.

• British Boxing Legend Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton is hosting RAW on Monday.

• No timetable for Jim Ross’ return but my guess is that it won’t be until 2010 sometime. That is if he signs a new contract.

• Rowdy Roddy Piper is tentatively scheduled to host the November 16 ^th RAW from Madison Square Garden. I guess getting one of the NY Yankees fell through.

• Comedian Dennis Miller is scheduled to host the 12/14 RAW. UGH.

• WWE is still hopeful that Edge will be back for Mania but Achilles heel injuries are tricky and that is not a definite.

• To show you the attitude that Vince McMahon has towards the Shane McMahon departure, here is Vince’s direct quote from the 3 ^rd Quarter Investor Conference Call today: “The other aspect of family, because some people perceive this to be a family business, but I do not . But nonetheless, my son Shane, as well, has decided to pursue other opportunities in the marketplace. Nonetheless, I've mentioned before that the strength of our management team is stronger now than it has ever been. And if your last name is McMahon or not, decisions are always made on your abilities, in terms of whatever position you hold now and/or will in the future, and be judged on your performance, not because your last name is McMahon. So, I'm pretty strong on that as well. And other than that, we will entertain questions, from everyone, and I hope there would be any number of them."

• Add the Sandman to one of the former WWE Superstars who has taken WWE up on their deal for fully paid for rehab.

• Kofi Kingston is officially not Jamaican anymore - Mike Adamle is sad.

• On a positive note, at least for me anyway. Christian is definitely WWE’s best-kept secret. He is awesome both in the ring and on the mic on ECW. Sadly, no one is watching. For those wondering, he has been in an awesome feud with William Regal.

• The Hulk Hogan DVD is going to be released on November 17 ^th . Suffice to say, it won’t be promoted much by WWE.

2) TNA News and Notes

• The Hulk Hogan situation is getting more interesting by the minute. The latest story circulating is that Hogan has NOT committed to wrestling for TNA. He has been making grandiose claims that he is “running” TNA. His friend Bubba “The Love Sponge” even said he saw it in Hogan’s contract. Hogan has told friends that he negotiated directly with Bob Carter, Dixie’s father and that Bob is the only person he has to answer to. All signs are pointing to exactly that - Hogan is the boss apparently.

• The basic landscape is that Hogan and Bischoff won’t be around until the start of the New Year. There are also rumors that starting on January 4, 2010, TNA will be on Monday Night from 8-10 pm ET. Hogan will probably appear on that show but not in a wrestling capacity. Everything else within the company is going to change. The top talents won’t be on top anymore except for Angle and possibly Sting if he is still around. Nash, Steiner, Team 3-D, etc are going to be on the backburner. As for the “young” guys like the Motor City Machine Guns, Jay Lethal, Homicide, Red, etc, who knows? Hogan is a big proponent of “SIZE” so they may not be suited for the new TNA vision.

• In a sign that Hogan isn’t good for TNA, his “debut” on the show was actually a good number considering they were up against a World Series game viewed by 19,000,000 people, but the last segment (which was built throughout the whole show) was Hogan’s debut and while the show gained viewers throughout, the Hogan debut was the lowest rated segment of the entire show. NOT GOOD.

• Hogan is still going ahead with his Hulkamania tour in Australia. It was originally going to spawn off unto other tours around the globe but that is more than likely not going to happen now. What is interesting is that Ric Flair, who is scheduled to wrestle Hogan on the tour, is contractually obligated to Hogan and Bischoff which means, like it or not, if they want him in TNA, he has to go. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

• TNA has raised the price of their PPV’s by $5. As if I needed yet ANOTHER reason NOT to buy their PPV’s.

• ODB has signed a new contract to remain with TNA. You know, WWE really dropped the ball with her - ODB was different and has charisma. For those who don’t know, she was in OVW for years without a developmental contract. Every booker who went through OVW (Cornette, Heyman, etc) liked her and pushed her to the moon to no avail, as WWE never even gave her a look. She eventually got fed up and signed with TNA.

• Dixie Carter announced on her Twitter that we probably have not seen the last of Shannon Moore in TNA. In case you forgot, Shannon was working in TNA without a contract, feuding with AJ Styles, beat AJ clean on iMPACT and then signed with WWE after the win. Kind of a slap in the face to TNA. If they're willing to take him back, more power to them.

• Kevin Nash was suspended by Dixie Carter due to the off-script comments bashing TNA management on the Chris Sabin injury. Luckily for him, he is guaranteed his money no matter what so he is being paid while on vacation.

• Frankie Kazarian (Suicide) asked for his release last week. He was denied. Rumor is that several other talents had asked as well and were also turned down. Chances are that more talents are going to be requesting this in the near future due to Hogan and Bischoff running things as they are going to get moved into minor roles.

• Tomko is back and he is the one attacking AJ Styles.

• Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart beat Jay Lethal at last weeks TNA taping. Yes, Jim Neidhart, also a Hulk Hogan friend.

3) TNA Turning Point PPV Line up for November 15, 2009

· TNA World Title: AJ Styles © vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels

· X-Division Title: Amazing Red © vs. Homicide

· Legends Title: Eric Young © vs. Kevin Nash (up in the air due to Nash’s suspension)

· TNA Tag Team Titles: British Invasion © vs. The Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money

· Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe

· Scott Steiner vs. Bobby Lashley

· Matt Morgan/Hernandez/Pope D’Angelo Dinero vs. Team 3D & Rhino

· Mick Foley & Abyss (yes. The same Mick Foley who just turned heel on Abyss a month ago and fought him on the last PPV is now a face teaming with the man he bloodied and left for dead.)vs. Dr. Stevie and Raven

· Tara vs. Awesome Kong

4) Ring of Honor News and Notes

• Katsuhijo Nakajima is being sent to ROH as a replacement for KENTA who is out for 6-9 months with a torn ACL. While Nakajima is good, he isn’t KENTA.

• ROH can’t be happy about this, (and like I said last week, I fully expect them to do something about this) Davey Richards will be working exclusively for Dragon Gate USA during Wrestlemania weekend instead of ROH.

• On November 5 ^th , The Briscoes will be facing off with Kevin Steen and El Generico. If you haven’t seen any of their matches against each other, they absolutely go crazy with spot after spot after spot. Insane stuff.

5) MMA News and Notes

• Brock Lesnar is suffering from mononucleosis. He is unable to make the rescheduled date of January 2, 2010 for the Shane Carwin fight. No new date has been given but the new main event of UFC 108 is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez.

• Expect Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander on the TUF finale show in Las Vegas. For those who don’t know, Alexander is a heavyweight who is similar to Kimbo. No ground game and a hell of a lot of knockout power. So I fully expect them to throw hammers until one of them isn’t standing anymore. They will be fighting at a catch weight of 215, which means that if Kimbo signs with UFC, he will not be fighting at heavyweight.

• Bobby Lashley is close to signing a long-term contract with Strikeforce. Downside is that he is already in his 30’s so signing a long-term deal with Strikeforce will keep him out of signing with UFC in his prime.

• Lyoto Machida had surgery on his injured hand and will be out for sometime. He was tentatively schedule to rematch against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on January 2, 2010 but that is out of the question now.

• Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfot is also off the January 2, 1010 UFC 108 show. Things aren’t looking good for that show.

• Boxing news: My friend Frankie “El Gato” Figueroa fought to a draw against Rashard Holloway. Unfortunately, the fight was scheduled for 8 rounds but due to poor promoting, they switched it to 6 rounds right before the fight. Had it went 8, Gato would have won and even boxing legend/analyst Teddy Atlas said he had Gato ahead on the scorecards and he should have won.

• Tito Ortiz isn’t too happy about Brock Lesnar not being able to fight. Part of his salary comes from the PPV buy rate. Without Brock, they aren’t making 1,000,000 buys.

• George St. Pierre won’t be back until March at the earliest.

• It’s a shame that Quinton Jackson is “retired’ because he really hates Rashad Evans and that fight would have been MONEY.

• Dan Henderson apparently signed with Strikeforce.

• STRIKEFORCE is on November 7 ^th from Chicago Illinois on CBS and the line up is as follows:

· Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers:

· STRIKEFORCE Middleweight Title: Jake Shields vs. Jason Miller

· Gegard Mossasi vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudiou

· Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Silva

• UFC 105 is on November 14th from Manchester England and the line up is as follows:

· Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera

· Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang

· Dan Hardy vs. Dong Hyun Kim

• UFC 106 is on November 21, 2009 from Las Vegas Nevada and the line-up is as follows:

· Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffith

· Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson

· Karo Parisvan vs. Dustin Hazelett

• 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 Fitch (Thiago Alves torn his PCL and Fitch didn’t want a new date again since he was moved from the November show)

· Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida

6) Random Thoughts, Links, Pics, Plugs, ETC.

• Totally not Random VIDEO. 2009 MLB World Series Champions. 27 ^th Heaven!!!!

• PS – Joe Girardi isn’t just a champion of baseball, he’s a champion in of LIFE.

• FYI, Rihanna admitted that she was still seeing Chris Brown after the February beating at his hands before finally breaking it off because of the message she sent to young woman in the world. Even if Brown never beat her again, their boyfriend may beat them, they follow in Rihanna’s footsteps and go back to him only to be killed. Just remember ladies who read this column, after THIS, Rihanna still took him back.

• One of my former independent wrestling promoters, Frank Goodman is coming back to promoting in Florida. His first show is December 5 ^th in Orlando Florida featuring Balls Mahoney, Jerry Lynn, Too Cold Scorpio, Axl Rotten, The Boogeyman, Shane Douglas, Big Vito and more. Check out details on how to get tickets and to see more names scheduled to appear, check out the Pro Wrestling Uncensored website.

• Angelina Jolie really has conquered the action-heroine market. Here is a preview of her new movie titled “SALT”. It’s like a "Bourne Identity" type movie where she plays a spy. Looks like pure action. Check it out HERE.

• Please support ACE Pro Wrestling. ACE Pro Wrestling is formerly the AWA-NJ promotion, which I last worked for back in 2005. ACE is a solid place for young, up and comers to get their feet wet in the business and mix with a good group of hard working individuals and veterans. They can use your support. Buy their tapes; go to their shows if you are in the NY/NJ/PA area. Just show some support. They return to NJ on November 7 ^th with a solid line-up so far. Main event is for the ACE Heavyweight title with Dan Maff © vs. Steve Corino.

• If you’re NOT watching "Sons of Anarchy" then you are absolutely missing the best show on TV today. It is amazing and I know I sound like a broken record by plugging it ever week but it is an AWESOME show.

• Ice-T’s wife Coco was a MERMAID for Halloween.

• Kim Kardashian was Princess Jasmine from Aladdin.

• Speaking of awesome shows, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER is AWESOME.

• Eric Watts is back with his “MEGAWATTS” update over at CLUBWWI.COM, This week Eric brought a special guest with him. His guest is a Grammy Nominated country music star, Ira Dean formerly of Trick Pony. If you’re not a member of Club WWI then you are seriously missing out. Another MAJOR reason you’re missing out is because James Guttman is also back this week with his Radio Free Insanity and this week’s guest, in his first interview since leaving WWE is none other than Deuce a.k.a. Sim Snuka!!! Snuka discusses his career, WWE, his release and more!!!! You need to join CLUBWWI.COM right now!!!!

• Christina Aguilera = NO BRA.

• BONUS: Britney Spears BRALESS. And for extra points, here is that picture DIGITALLY ENHANCED.

• “Big shout out to my friend and a very good DJ, DJ UCH. Check out his site and show some support by visiting him at DJUCH.com. He also just produced his first dance single that is getting radio play on Dance Stations across the country. The title of the song is “Stranger from the Sky”, check it out HERE.

• Finally, we close out with my wife. She has started her own business creating diaper cakes, which are a very original and cost efficient baby shower gift. Please take a second to visit her website: NY Diaper Cakes

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.

Matt Dawgs
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