RAW 9.25.2006 - News & Notes

It looks like Angle is still part of the opening WWE video. I'm surprised.

What happened to the major event that was supposed to take place in the first 10 minutes of RAW? Maybe it was postponed because of the lighting and audio issues.

Cena looked like he had to improv part of his promo. And I thought a scripted Cena was bad.

Cena should have been blindfolded during his match as well.

That Gorilla Monsoon/Andre boxing match looked like it was a lot better than I remember it being when I saw the match on tape.

Vince McMahon hates predictable matches? He must be very angry lately.

Is Flair going to just roll through the entire Spirit Squad?

That DX Gauntlet match was pretty bad. Was there even a winner in the match?

It was nice to see Eric Bischoff back on TV. I hope it's not just to promote his book and he actually sticks around.

Booker T's stomps looked so weak. It was nice seeing Cena get a beatdown though.

I'm a little surprised that there wasn't anything really involving J.R. since RAW was in Oklahoma City.span>

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Kurt Angle Joins TNA Wrestling

In a shocking turn of events it was announced at the end of tonight's TNA PPV that Kurt Angle has now joined TNA. Although the possibilty had originally crossed my mind I am totally surprised by this announcement. Earlier in the week TNA president Dixie Carter announced that there would be a major surprise @ tonight's PPV. At that point the possibility of TNA bringing Angle in came to mind, but after assuming that he had signed a 90-day no compete clause I dismissed the possibility. Originally there were reports that the announcement was that VInce Russo was rejoining the company. Then there were reports that the resigning of Russo wasn't going to be the surprise and that the real surprise was going to be that Spike TV was going to be expanding TNA's timeslot to 2 hours instead of 1. Well, after the conclusion of TNA's PPV main event Jim Cornette came out and announced that TNA was getting the expanded timeslot as previously reported. He then played a video of Kurt Angle working out in a ring which I assume was TNA's 6-sided ring.

While I think that there is a 90-day no compete clause in place what I am assuming TNA is doing is what the WWE did when they resigned Jeff Jarrett after he left WCW. They are going to have him appear on TV, but just not compete. There is always the chance that the no compete clause also prohibited him from signing with a company in which case there is a chance that Kurt Angle didn't actually sign with TNA and has just agreed to sign with them. Even if the latter scenario is true I expect a lawsuit by WWE. There is no way that the WWE would release him with the chance of him signing with another company so soon. Normally when the WWE releases someone (especially a big star like Angle) and the WWE doesn't want them to work for another company the WWE invokes a no compete clause which is normally for 90 days, but I have heard of them being longer. When the WWE does that they have to keep paying the wrestler until the no compete clause expires. In the event that a wrestler's contract runs out the wrestler can sign with whomever he/she wants the minute that the contract expires (i.e. Lex Luger jumping to WCW for the first Nitro, Haku signing with WWE a few years back, and Christian signing with TNA).

Perhaps TNA is looking for a lawsuit to help raise their profile, but I don't know how likely that is.

I fully expect TNA to ruin Angle's career. I am confident that he will start wrestling before his body is ready and he will injure himself. I hope he doesn't, but I'm sure he will. TNA is a much lighter schedule, so that works in his favor, but that's about it. I am sure that the WWE will replace Angle in that 'Power is Back' video that plays before every WWE TV event. I am hoping that the announcers from all brands don't trash Angle and that they just ignore it, but Vince rarely ignores stuff like this. They treated him in a respectful was when they released him and allowed him to leave with dignity and should continue doing that even though he just joined their major competition.

One last thing. During the Angle video he said what I am assuming will be his new catchphrase. Since 'It's True' is surely copyrighted by WWE he will now be saying 'It's Real'.

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RAW 9.18.2006 - News & Notes

I was more than happy to see John Cena get booed & heckled. It's too bad that Edge's comments changed that.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't think that savages from the jungles of Samoa usually wear grills on their teeth.

Those video greeting for Vince & Shane were very stupid.

I just noticed that Ric Flair doesn't sell a lot of the moves that he receives.

I didn't notice it during the PPV, but the cell for the HiaC match really did look bigger than usual.

It looks like Flair will be feuding with the whole S. Squad.

Mickie seems to be the new top babyface female on RAW. I think she'll be the next Women's Champ.

I didn't realize how busted open Randy Orton's lip was last night until I saw his stitches tonight.

I still don't see the 'Saturday Night Live-type' humor in those Cryme Tyme vignettes.

I'm really surprised that the Montreal crowd didn't chant 'You Screwed Bret' to DX, but maybe I just didn't notice it.

I was flipping around the channels during some of the commercials so unless I missed it I don't think that they played any commercials for "The Marine".

I read that during this week's Smackdown tapings prior to RAW John Cena was being advertised for Smackdown next week in some sort of 6-man tag match. Yeah, I know that he won @ Unforgiven, but can't he just stay there?

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WWE Unforgiven Results

Here are the results of WWE Unforgiven...

IC Championship
Johnny Nitro (c) v. Jeff Hardy
An average match. No real big bumps or anything like that. Melina nailed Hardy in the head with her shoe to allow Nitro to pick up the pin and win. After the match Jeff went to the back where he was met by Matt. Lita approached them and goofed on them.
Me: 1/1
David: 1/1

WWE Women's Championship
Lita (c) v. Trish Stratus
Nothing all that special, but an overall decent match as far as WWE womens matches are concerened. Crowd was heavily behind Trish as expected. Big pop from the crowd when Trish went for the Sharpshooter. Lita would tap out to it to lose the match and the title to Trish. After the match Trish celebrated and cried a bit. I wonder what happens with the title now.
Me: 1/2
David: 1/2

Carlito v. Randy Orton
An OK match. Randy won
Me: 2/3
David: 2/3

WWE Tag Team Championship
Spirit Squad (c) v. Highlanders
This was the one surething of the night. I was convinced that the Highlanders would pick up the titles. I was wrong and so was David.
Me: 2/4
David: 2/4

WWE Championship TLC Match
Edge (c) v. John Cena
A lot of predictable spots in this match, but it was actually pretty good eventhough it looked a little too rehearsed. At one point there was a table set up on another table in the ring. Lita interfered and the top table fell down when Cena F'ed her...I mean FU'd her. At that point Cena placed the table back on top of the other table which obviously meant that the two tables were needed for an upcoming spot. Cena would later FU Edge from the top of the ladder through both tables which allowed him to pull the belt down for the win. Also, While Cena was setting Edge up for the FU on the ladder the referees were holding the ladder upright so it didn't topple over. At first the crowd really bood Cena, but he eventually got his typical babyface reaction.
Me: 3/5
David: 3/5

Hell In A Cell Handicap Match
Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, & Big Show v. DX
Everyone but Big Show got pretty bloody. This match was very slow at times, but nothing too unwatchable. No real big spots. Shane did do a VanTerminator to Triple H though. Big Show was slumped over the top rope and Shane was laid out somewhere when Triple H and HBK pulled Big Show's tights down to expose his ass. DX then made Vince join Big Show's Kiss My Ass Club. After a Superkick by Shawn and Triple H breaking the handle of the sledgehammer across his back Vince was easily pinned. After the match both McMahons were carted away on stretchers.
Me: 3/6
David: 3/6

Kane v. Umaga
Typical match. Both monsters battled through the crowd and into the back for a double countout. I'm throwing this match out since it was a draw.
Me: 3/6
David: 3/6

Final Totals: We both tied at 3/6. Only 50%. A little lackluster of you ask me. It's too bad that the Umaga/Kane match didn't have a real result.

Ever since I posted my picks I had the feeling that I should have picked Trish & DX, but for one reason or another I didn't. I should have. The fact that the Highlanders didn't win the titles really surprised me.

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WWE Unforgiven Predictions

I went back and added up the results of all of the WrestleBlogger predictions that David and myself have done (not including Armageddon) and here are the results. David leads PPVs won with a record of 6-5-1. I, however, lead in overall matches with 42/80 correct compared to David's 39/79. The reason that I have 80 guesses compared to David's 79 is because of all of the last minute changes to the Great American Bash. I was surprised that we each were only around 50% correct. I'm pretty sure that a monkey could have done better. Now it's time for Unforgiven. I can either expand my tiny lead or David can close the gap. Let's see what happens...

WWE Championship
Edge (C) v. John Cena
I Say: Do you love Cena? I mean do you REALLY love Cena? Do you love F-U's and STFUs and 'roided out freaks and people who wave their hand in front of their faces? If so this is the match for you. With that out of the way, Unforgiven is in Edge's hometown of Toronto. Need I say more? Cena will obviously win. I hope he loses though. There is no way that WWE's top draw is going to leave WWE's top show. I would like to see him go though. Perhaps a feud with Batista so they can destroy each other. I think that WWE needs to keep the belt on Edge and really establish him as a top-level guy and not some guy who holds the belt between Cena's title runs. I hope that if Cena does win it will be by DQ so Edge can keep the belt, but I'm sure that's asking for too much. Cena has that movie to promote and I'm sure that WWE wants him to do press with the belt. I think Cena will win and then go on to feud with Orton. On the other hand the Cena/Edge feud may still go on, but the feud is getting very old.
David Says: I went back over every singles match w/Cena that I've predicted and won 60% of the time by always picking Cena to win. At first it was working quite well until Edge got two straight victories over the wrestling gorilla. Believe it or not the first match I predicted for Cena was a victory over Edge way back in January. this time I'm going to make an unprecidented Cena victory by DQ. Therefore Cena will win (as I always predict) but he will not win the title. On a related note my theory of always picking Mysterio has also clearly run out.


Intercontinental Title
Johnny Nitro (C) v. Jeff Hardy
I Say: Even though Hardy has a history with the WWE I think of him as a newbie who needs to re-pay his dues. It's way too early to put the belt on him. I'm always against putting titles on new guys. It's a slap in the face to the guys who have busted their asses. I was especially against it when they did it will Carlito.....twice. His first day on Smackdown he won the US Title and his first night after being drafted to RAW he got the IC title. Therefore I can't see Nitro losing the belt to Hardy @ this moment in time. Could he still lose the match and not the belt? Sure. I really want to pick Hardy to win by DQ, but I'll say that Nitro wins. Not cleanly though. The feud should be continuing.
David Says: Let me just say that I have never been a fan of Jeff Hardy as a singles wrestler. Couple of weeks ago Johnny Nitro got the opportunity to shoot a promo and it was really quite.... mediocre. I see Nitro keeping the title for now but this is a close one. The intercontinental title tends to change hands often and there is some fan interest in Jeff Hardy. C'mon WWE, keep the title on Nitro.

Women's Title
Lita (C) v. Trish
I Say: Ok, Let's see. A Canadian wrestler loyal to the company who is about to leave the company and wrestling on home turf. Where have I seen this scenario before? Oh Yeah, back in late 1997. That's right - I wouldn't be surprised to see a worked screwjob, but Vince has nothing to do with the storyline so I'll throw out the chances of that. Lita is also rumored to be leaving the company soon as well since her contract is said to be up soon. It's been about two and a half years since there's been a match where both participants were on their way out of the company - Goldberg & Brock Lesnar. Back then the WWE chose to give the win to the man who was leaving on good terms Goldberg. I can't use that match for reference though since both Lita and Trish are leaving on good terms. I think that it would be a nice touch to reward Trish with a win in her last match in her hometown, but I'm not sure that the WWE would go that way. No matter what happens I can't see Trish getting the belt. Lita will eventually lose the belt to Mickie. I think Trish will be a professional and 'do the honors' as they say and do the j.o.b. on the way out even if it is her hometown.
David Says: Well, you can't give Trish the championship in her last match and there's certainly no reason to push her anymore. Lita can't possibly lose unless by DQ. Lita will win and Trish will give a short bye bye speech and then fade off into the land of direct to video movies.

Tag Team Titles
Spirit Squad (C) v. Highlanders
I Say: This match is too easy to pick. Highlanders will pick up the titles. I suspect that the rumors of the S. Squad breaking up will come to fruition here. I hope that they have a storyline for them instead of sending them to OVW or DSW. Actually Kenny, Mikey, and Johnny look to be at a level where they can stay on RAW. Mitch & Nicky haven't had as much ring time on TV so they may not be ready yet.
David Says: Unlike the Mysterious 'J' I find the Spirit Squad insufferably boring so I'm going with my heart on this one and picking the Highlanders as the next Tag Team Champs. They are just about the only legitimate tag team in the WWE.


Kane v. Umaga
I Say: It's been no secret that Kane is looking to wind his career down and is willing to put over the guys who will be sticking around. For that reason I am picking Umaga to win.
David Says: At some point every wrestlers undefeated streak must come to an end. If not Kane then who? This is a tough one. I think I have to give this one to Kane in order to move the feud forward.

Randy Orton v. Carlito
I Say: Carlito's career has been slipping for some time and I can't see him reversing his luck against Orton. Orton need to win to keep him as a main-event level guy. He's the company's top heel after Edge and he needs to stay near the top. Carlito may start rising again, but it's not happening here.
David Says: I've done pretty well picking Carlito as the winner in the past but I've done pretty badly picking against Orton. Orton is still the bigger star and if this is going to be a feud the heel needs to get in a few wins. I'm picking the Legend Killer.

Hell In A Cell Handicap Match
Vince, Shane, & Big Show v. DX
I Say: Considering Triple H's history in HiaC matches I really want to pick DX to win. He is 4-2 with one of his losses to Kurt Angle in a match which also included Austin, Rock, 'Taker, and Rikishi. The last HiaC match that he was in was against World Champion Batista and he lost. Add to that the fact that DX was laid out this past Monday and I really want to pick DX to win, but I just can't see DX continuing their PPV winning streak. I have to pick Vince, Shane, and Big Show to win. I fully expect Shane (or HBK to a lesser extent) to take a big bump; Nothing like Foley though. I doubt DX will break-up as a result of this match, but I think that they may take some time off. I'll probably change my mind sometime between now and the PPV, but I'll stick with DX to lose for now.
David Says: The Big Show is in the midst of his biggest push since his early days in WCW when he was invincible. I have picked DX in both previous PPV's and came up aces each time but this is a smaller event and DX already got a victory over Big Show on ECW. I'm gonna go with a McMahon/Big Show victory despite the ass whooping HHH received on RAW.


Summary:
I Say: Cena, Nitro, Lita, Higlanders, Umaga, Orton, and McMahons/DX.
David Says: Cena, Nitro, Lita, Highlanders, Kane, Orton, and McMahons/DX

Are you F'n kidding me? Kane & Umaga is going to decide who gets more predictions right? The one throwaway match is the one that is going to make the difference? Maybe I'll reconsider some of my picks over the weekend.

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RAW 9.11.2006 - News & Notes

I Hate Roddy Piper.

Sabu & Big Show are having a match on ECW on SciFi again? How many times is that now? 5?

The whole 'watching paint dry' joke was stupid last week. Now it's stupid and old too.

Edge's rap skillz are 100 times better than Cena's.

Where's the humor in the Cryme Tyme skits? Am I missing something?

Super Crazy is much more impressive than I found him to be on Smackdown.

They went way overboard with the sound effects that were added to those Hell In A Cell clips. If someone was hit hard enough with chairs, sledgehammers, etc. hard enough to make those noises the wrestlers would be dead.

Does the WWE really need to blur every WWF logo in the older footage that they show on TV? Can't they just keep it unblurred?

Cade & Murdoch on RAW three weeks in a row? Looks like they may be getting a push....Nah.

Did Triple H really do a bladejob on his own ear? One other thing - Triple H needs to stop making it look so obvious that he's holding a blade.

Coming later this week - Wrestleblogger Predictions for WWE Unforgiven.

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Are You Ready?.....I'm Not. [Updated]

Or maybe I should ask "Are You Ready...For A Complete Disaster?".

There is a rumor starting to take root on the Internet. While the new DX is getting stale, the WWE writers are rumored to have come up with an idea to help add more interest to them. Have them feud with an even older and staler group. The nWo. That's right. There is now talks of bringing Kevin Nash & Scott Hall (both of which are in their late 40's) back into WWE. Supposedly there is a chance that Kevin Nash, a man who had a heart attack less than a year ago, will be parting ways with TNA very soon and Scott Hall, who claims that he is back in shape, is eager to make a return to the big time. Add to this the fact that the MTV wrestling promotion that X-Pac is signed with looks like it will never get off of the ground, and you have a perfect recipe for disaster. What's more is that Triple H and Shawn Michaels (Nash, Hall, and X-Pac's good friend) have a lot of pull backstage and it looks like it could be only a matter of time before the DX v. nWo feud becomes a disturbing reality. Nobody on earth can argue against Triple H and HBK still being able to deliver a top-notch match, but Nash & Hall? Nash can barely move, literally, and Hall is still a bit unpredictable as to whether he can be a professional. I think that if this does happen it will only be because the WWE is expecting a huge amount of fan interest, but I doubt the fans actually would care all that much. DX is still over to a certain extent, but the nWo is definitely old news. Anyone remember when the nWo came into WWE the first time? I do and it was little more than a disaster. Why do it again? I also sure that if the WWE does decide to bring them in they will get a HUGE paycheck. More money than they are even worth.

In conclusion - a few months ago a Survivor Series promotional poster made its way onto the Internet. I'm not 100% sure if it was the WWE (I'm 95% sure that I read that it was them), but it was revelealed one way or another that the poster was a fake. With these new rumors I am starting to doubt if the poster was indeed fake or not.

You can view the poster HERE.

If I had to say right now whether or not the rumors are true I would have to say no, but that may just be me hoping that they're not.

There is a small bit of good news though. It looks like those drunken hillbillies that got nWo tattoos back in 1996 can wait a few months more before they get them lasered off.

Update: Adding some feul to fire concerning the return of the nWo, X-Pac made an appearance at a RAW house show this past Friday. After DX's victory in their match X-Pac made a 'surprise' appearance and celebrated with HHH and HBK. If the DX v. nWo rumors turn out to be true it is too soon to tell if X-Pac will be aligned with team DX or team nWo since this Friday's house show wasn't telvised. And as we all know, if it doesn't happen on TV then it didn't really take place.

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RAW 9.4.2006 - News & Notes

I agree with Edge. Cena does wrestle like a retarded gorilla.

The whole skit of watching paint dry was pretty lame.

It seems like less than 11 years since the Monday Night Wars started.

What happened to Trish's farewell address? Was it cancelled because of what happened with Lita?

What if Trish wins the Women's Title @ Unforgiven? What will happen to the championship then?

There was way too much ass-kissing of John Cena during those clips from The Marine.

Now that Super Crazy has been medically cleared to return I am surprised that he wasn't sent to ECW instead.

I'm pleasantly surprised with the reduction of airtime devoted to the DX/McMahon feud this week. I would say a total of 10 minutes. 15 tops.

There is no way that DX could take on 10 guys at the same time and clean house so quickly.

I was a little surprised to see Cade & Murdoch in action. I can't remember the last time that happened on RAW.

I agree that Flair should passs the torch, but not to Umaga as Estrada suggested.

Watching Flair kiss Maria was kind of disturbing.

The WWE better be very careful with what they do with this new Cryme Tyme tag team. From what I understand they are trying to poke fun @ stereotypes, but they better be careful that the gimmick doesn't end up looking racist. That could get the WWE some unwanted attention, but on the other hand, that may be what they are looking for.


This week's matches were actually longer than RAW matches usually are. They also seemed a bit more entertaining as well.

Cena had no mic time tonight! IT'S A MIRACLE!!

I liked how Orton did the 'You Can't See Me' wave after he hitting the RKO.

Where has Shelton been? I haven't seen him on RAW in a while.

My prediction for next week -Since ECW is doing a taping at MSG next week with RAW I am predicting that Big Show will once again show up on RAW and DX, and maybe the McMahons, will be on ECW.

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Latest On Kurt Angle's Release

It's been just over a week since Kurt Angle's surprising release by the WWE and new details have now become known. Via their Mobile News Alert service the WWE released somewhat of an odd news item. The WWE is now backtracking on the story that they posted regarding the meeting between WWE officials, Kurt Angle, and his agent. The initial report by the WWE (along with the interview that WWE.com conducted with Angle) gave the impression that sides agreed that the release was a necessary measure. According to the WWE Mobile Alert message Kurt Angle became very heated and confrontational. It's a little strange that the WWE would change their tune regarding the meeting. The WWE isn't the only one going public regarding the situation though. Angle has decided to post a letter to his fans. In this letter Kurt Angle says the usual suspected things such as thanking his fans for their support during his WWE run and telling them that he gave 100% when in the ring. While Angle didn't mention the reported issue with painkillers he did go into his physical problems and touches on the personal issues such as the toll that his WWE career has taken on his marriage and relationship with his family. In the final portion of the letter Angle claims that he will indeed be back, but doesn't go into detail as to when it will be or the organization he will be wrestling despite his agent claiming that Angle has retired from the ring. Many people are speculating that Angle will re-enter the squared circle once his 90-day no compete clause expires. Angle ends the letter thanking Vince McMahon and calling him a great man. The final line in the letter reads 'When we get together, the next cup of coffee is on me. ; ) '. I may be reading too much into this but after reading about the WWE's Mobile Alert message I have the feeling that perhaps during the meeting @ WWE headquarters that the coffee may have legitimately been on Vince when Angle splashed or poured coffee onto him when the meeting became heated.

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