World Wrestling Insanity: T.G.I.F. with Matt Dawgs...Celebrity Apprentice Goldberg, WWE War Games, Ultimate Alumni, Unbooking Booker T, The Stone Cold Marine, Marge

T.G.I.F. with Matt Dawgs...Celebrity Apprentice Goldberg, WWE War Games, Ultimate Alumni, Unbooking Booker T, The Stone Cold Marine, Marge > Traci, Pacquiao Prediction, and More

By Matt Dawgs
Oct 16, 2009 - 9:00 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 : Sorry for the lack of column last week - unfortunately I fried my computer's hard drive. I have since gotten it replaced and I'm now up and running better than ever!! I am now running on Apple's SNOW LEOPARD as opposed to the previous operating system of Tiger. On top of that, got a ton more hard drive space- 500GB. So I am definitely good. Anyway, let’s get into it.

1) WWE News and Notes

· R.I.P. Captain Lou Albano who passed away this week at age 76. For you younger fans who might not know about him or his peers, managers played a huge part in the late 70’s and 80’s wrestling and Albano was one of the pioneers. He also played “Super Mario” in the “Super Mario Bros. Supershow” on TV.

· R.I.P. also to BJ Race, wife of WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race who died last week from complications of pneumonia. I didn’t know her personally but from what I have read and heard, she was a wonderful woman and this is going to be a really hard time for Harley who’s world revolved around her.

· Nancy O’Dell and Maria Menounos hosted RAW this week. They weren’t the worst hosts or the best. Somewhere in between. They didn’t flub their lines and weren’t given much to do (well O’Dell wasn’t, Menounos actually wrestled). They didn’t over plug their cause like others did in the past (*cough*piven*cough*). BTW, not for nothing but when did Nancy O’Dell become smoking hot? I remember Maria Menounos being hotter than her. Not this past Monday.

· Guest host for next week’s RAW is Snoop Dogg. (At least he's a wrestling fan.) The main event of this show is John Cena vs. HHH. Yes, on free TV.
· Ozzy Osbourne is hosting the November 2 ^nd RAW.

· Bill Goldberg will be a participant in the "Celebrity Apprentice" this season. Here’s a PIC.

· Finally WWE is considering using the old WCW "War Games" concept. Obviously it won’t use two rings but they would use 5-on-5 teams and the Hell in a Cell cage. The concept would be for the May Judgment Day PPV which will no longer be called Judgment Day.

· No Way Out is G-O-N-E. It's now known as WWE Elimination Chamber.

· No more announcing controversy as Justin Roberts appeared on camera frequently during RAW on Monday and will be the permanent RAW announcer. Lauren Mayhew will be on ECW and Tony Chimmell will remain on Smackdown.

· In some interesting news that will raise a lot of eyebrows and create a lot of speculation, Ultimate Warrior was quietly added to the WWE alumni section thus restarting gossip that WWE plans on inducting him into the Hall of Fame at this years Wrestlemania from his hometown of Phoenix Arizona.

· Ric Flair’s authentic NWA title belt that was used in the Shawn Michaels angle to build up to his retirement match is up for auction by Highspots.com due to Flair’s failure to pay back money owed to them. It was given to Highspots as collateral. The opening bid is $75,000, which has 3 bidders (one of which is a current MAJOR NAME in Wrestling). Not for nothing but this is a REAL SAD story. This was the official NWA title belt from 1975 – 1985 before the infamous “Big Gold Belt” became the official NWA Title.

· Hulk Hogan’s son Nick Boella is currently training for professional wrestling in California with Rikishi.

· I don’t think I reported this before ( 'cause I read it again this week and don’t remember mentioning it) but apparently Lena Yada, former ECW interviewer who happened to be of Asian decent was let go when Gail Kim signed. LOL. I guess they have their female Asian quota? Anyway, she has expressed interest in joining TNA.

· WWE “Bragging Rights” Pay Per View this Sunday will feature a special 7-on-7 Raw vs. Smackdown Main Event. The participants are: RAW: HHH/Shawn Michaels/Mark Henry/Big Show/Jack Swagger/Kofi Kingston/Cody Rhodes vs. Chris Jericho/Kane/Dolph Ziggler/Eric Escobar/Drew McIntyre & Cryme Time. Is it just me or does this match have "train wreck" written all over it?

· Drew McIntyre is getting a rocket strapped to his back and is going to be pushed to the moon. Not a bad idea because he has a great look and is solid in the ring. But for those wondering why, HHH and Michaels are high on him with management hence why he's in the 7-on-7 match on Bragging Rights PPV.

· That match better take place before the Randy Orton vs. John Cena Ironman match which, by the way, if Cena loses, he leaves RAW forever. I can’t see him losing but to take the title from Orton again defies logic. That would mean that the WWE title would have changed hands on three consecutive pay per views. DUMB.

· Mickie James and Beth Phoenix were traded to Smackdown in exchange for Melina, who won the Divas title in her return to RAW and Eve Torres. The Bella Twins were also moved to RAW from ECW but they were practically on RAW every week anyway so this is insignificant.

· There is talk of having a member of the New York Yankees hosting RAW’s return to Madison Square Garden in November. That could potentially be a huge coup considering that MY BRONX BOMBERS are well on their way to winning their 27 ^th World Series ring.

· Todd Grisham and Michael Cole are the commentators on RAW tonight as Jim Ross asked for and was granted the night off to celebrate his 16 ^th wedding anniversary. Yes, you read that right. HE WAS GIVEN A NIGHT OFF. That is more than likely WWE’s way of extending an olive branch in order to get him to re-sign with the company. JR has hinted on his website in recent weeks that he would be totally fine if he didn’t re-sign. He says he wants to stay but if that doesn’t happen then it isn’t meant to be. I think WWE knows he would consider TNA and that he and Tazz would make a good commentating team together and help their product by leaps and bounds.

· When did Teddy Long turn face? How? Didn’t he just turn heel?? This is TNA level booking.

· Umaga has cancelled a scheduled shoot interview he was going to film for RF Video as he stated that he may be returning to WWE soon. More evidence points to this as there are rumors that he is going to pull out of the Hulk Hogan tour of Australia. WWE has apparently offered several people deals to cancel working for Hogan.

· Interesting note from a recent Steve Austin interview with the Sun in England. He stated that the lead in "The Marine" was originally written for him but he turned it down and it went to Cena. He said while it wasn’t the best movie, he thinks it would have helped open some doors in Hollywood for him that are opening now.

· WWE is releasing a John Morrison DVD in February. There has NEVER been a Chris Jericho DVD. EVER.

· Where the hell is Kawal aka Low-Ki? Longest knee injury ever.

· He’s probably with Carlito who has also disappeared.

· Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is more than likely hosting RAW in Mid January/ early February.

2) TNA News and Notes

· TNA iMPACT this week featured an awesome AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle match. If TNA were able to keep it simple with their booking and rely on solid matches like this, it would be a whole different ballgame in the wrestling wars. I don’t understand them sometimes.

· Booker T is treading water - he has basically given his notice without officially giving his notice. He is uncooperative with booking, walked out on a match during their recent European Tour due to fan unruliness, refused to put Matt Morgan over at a recent TV taping and has been privately telling his friends that he plans on going back to WWE when his contract expires in November. WWE has privately been telling their staff that they will gladly accept him back as they need more “main event” level names and could use him on Smackdown. Management has asked that the writing team come up with ideas on how to utilize him upon his return. His final appearance is either the Bound for Glory PPV or shortly thereafter.

· Lacey Von Erich continues to make friends over at TNA. She recently injured her hamstring in a match and instead of going to the training room to get it worked on, she chose to have a MALE trainer walk into the Knockout locker room where Awesome Kong was half dressed. She proceeded to take Lacey to the male locker room and dress her down in front of Kurt Angle among other people for disrespecting the women’s locker room and acting like a diva. Safe to say that Angle, the rest of the men’s locker room, the women’s locker room and TNA management all sided with Awesome Kong.

· It must suck to be Traci Brooks. She had signed to be on the cover of Playboy magazine. Then she got bumped completely from the magazine and was sent to the website instead as Playboy wants nothing to do with wrestling anymore. Well the issue she was scheduled to be on the cover of now has Marge Simpson on the cover. Yes, THAT Marge Simpson. WOW.

· Matt Morgan signed a new 5-year contract with TNA. I’m sorry to hear that.

· Don West has been given an “on-air” role as the promoter for Amazing Red. Stupid stuff, folks.

· D’Angelo Dinero HAS “ IT”. I can’t stress that enough.

· Nothing new on the Angelina Love front, which is mind boggling to me - she was GOLD.
· Christopher Daniels seems like wasted potential to me. He is great on the microphone; great in the ring yet has never accomplished what his potential could have accomplished. He was never a TNA “World Champion” and never made it to WWE. Seems like he just treads water; whether when he was in ROH and now in TNA.

· Shelly “Salinas” Martinez is in some sort of contest. Please go to her website and vote for her. I have been. Shelly is cool peoples. Check her out HERE, HERE and HERE.

3) TNA Bound for Glory PPV on October 18, 2009 Line-up

· TNA TITLE: AJ Styles © vs. Sting

· TNA LEGENDS TITLE: Kevin Nash © vs. Hernandez vs. Eric Young

· Kurt Angle vs. Matt Morgan

· SUBMISSION MATCH: Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Lashley

· MONSTER’S BALL: Abyss vs. Mick Foley with Stevie Richards as the Special Referee.

· FULL METAL MAYHEM MATCH: Booker T & Scott Steiner © vs. Team 3D vs. Beer Money vs. British Invasion

· TNA KNOCKOUT’S TAG TITLES: Sarita & Taylor Wilde © vs. Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne

· TNA TAG TEAM & IWGP TITLES: Scott Steiner & Booker T vs. British Invasion vs. Team 3D vs. Beer Money

· X-DIVISION TITLE ULTIMATE X MATCH: Amazing Red © vs. Suicide vs. D’Angelo Dinero vs. Daniels vs. Homicide

4) Ring of Honor News and Notes

· KENTA is coming from Japan for a November tour. He will be working three shows including an HD Net taping.

· Kenta vs. Tyler Black on November 5 ^th

· Kenta and Tyler Black vs. ROH Champ Austin Aries & Kenny King on November 6 ^th

· Kenta vs. Roderick Strong on November 7 ^th .

· Eddie Edwards will be out of action for 6 – 12 weeks following elbow surgery to repair his broken elbow, which was repaired in 2 places. Knowing him and ROH, he will be back in 6 weeks. ROH will keep the tag team titles on the American Wolves during this time.

· Steve Corino, who was an important piece to ROH’s glory years, returns to the company for the HD Net tapings on November 5 ^th and 6 ^th . Hopefully this leads to a full-time return as Corino (while not as good as he used to be) can still deliver in the ring and contribute to both the locker room and the product.

· Kevin Steen suffered a knee injury recently. No word on the severity of it. As history shows, no matter

how hurt he is, he will rush back to action as that is the ROH mantra.

5) MMA News and Notes

· Boxing fans, you heard it here first - Miguel Cotto is going to get his ass handed to him by Manny Pacquiao on November 14 ^th . Pac man by KNOCKOUT. There are unconfirmed rumors around the boxing world that an “up and coming” boxer humiliated Cotto during a sparring session. Cotto was so humiliated that he ordered his team to send the boxer home. Now while this “up and comer” is certainly gifted, he is no Pacquiao. So imagine what Manny is going to do to him. Apparently Cotto couldn’t hit this guy and was embarrassed by his speed.

· In other boxing news, my good friend and “up and coming” boxer Frankie “El Gato” Figueroa will be fighting on November 4 ^th on ESPN 2 against Rashad Holloway. Tune in if you can as Frankie lost his last fight but is looking to rebound his way back to a title.

· WTF? Wes Simms got schooled. How? What? By WHO?? He got choked the F-OUT!!!!

· UFC Hall of Famer Marc Coleman has an injury and has pulled out of his match against Tito Ortiz. Tito will now be facing Forrest Griffin for the second time instead. Big move and BIG BALLS by Tito. While I think he is going to win this fight (he won a tight decision in their first fight), it is by no means a cakewalk. Forrest is much better than Coleman.

· Chuck Liddell was voted off "Dancing With The Stars" this week. While he was definitely a fan favorite, he wasn’t improving. He wasn't going to win the trophy. Hopefully he had a good time will it lasted.

· Gina Carano is on the cover of ESPN: The Magazine.

· No new news on the Quinton “Rampage” Jackson front. Dana White thinks he will return once his movie stuff happens and claims he is just upset right now but will cool off.

· On the flip side, the Jackson/Evans fight isn’t going to take place anytime soon. Evans just signed to fight Thiago Silva on the January 2, 2010 show.

· CBS is pushing Fedor HARD. Commercials asking “Who is Fedor?” have been airing on Sunday’s during CBS NFL Games

· UFC 104 is on October 24 ^th from Los Angeles California and the line up is as follows:

· UFC Light Heavyweight Title: Lyoto Machida © vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

· Cain Velasquez vs. Ben Rothwell

· Gleison Tubau vs. Josh Neer

· Joe Stevenson vs. Spencer Fisher

· Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

· 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

6) Random Thoughts, Links, Pics, ETC.

· Random VIDEO of the week.

· Good luck Trent. Get your sh*t together, bro.

· THE EXPENDABLES trailer!!!!!

· 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 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 vs. Mo Sexton vs. Azrieal. 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.

· Sons of Anarchy is F’N AMAZING. Great show.

· Not sure how many of you have heard of rapper/actor Ice T’s wife Coco but she is a semi-celebrity. Anyway, she has posted a picture on Twitter of a homemade chandelier she made. I must say; it looks FANTASTIC.

· You’ve heard from Jumping Jim Brunzell here at CLUB WWI. Well this week, B. Brian Blair joins James Guttman in an uncut 47-minute shoot interview. If you’re not a member of Club WWI then you are seriously missing out. You need to join CLUBWWI.COM right now.

· Christina Aguilera is definitely braless again.

· 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

· 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.