WWE Raw Feuds

From the debut in 1993 until today, he's the approximate ranking of most WWE RAW TV feuds:

Trish Stratus vs. Victoria: 15 singles matches and 35 tag matches and 1 handicap match
Molly Holly vs. Trish Stratus: 12 singles matches and 24 tag matches and 1 handicap match
Beth Phoenix vs. Mickie James: 10 singles matches and 27 tag matches
The Rock vs. Triple H: 15 singles matches and 17 tag matches and 2 handicap matches
Jillian Hall vs. Mickie James: 5 singles matches and 28 tag matches
Edge vs. John Cena: 13 singles matches and 17 tag matches and 1 handicap match
Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly: 8 singles matches and 20 tag matches
Jillian Hall vs. Kelly Kelly: 3 singles matches and 24 tag matches
Randy Orton vs. Triple H: 10 singles matches and 10 tag matches and 7 handicap matches
John Cena vs. Randy Orton: 10 singles matches and 13 tag matches and 3 handicap matches
Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels: 7 singles matches and 17 tag matches and 2 handicap matches
Eve vs. Maryse: 6 singles matches and 19 tag matches
Edge vs. Jeff Hardy: 3 singles matches and 20 tag matches and 1 handicap match
Melina vs. Mickie James: 8 singles matches and 16 tag matches
Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam: 10 singles matches and 14 tag matches
Christian vs. Jeff Hardy: 3 singles matches and 21 tag matches
Alicia Fox vs. Gail Kim: 5 singles matches and 18 tag matches
Edge vs. Matt Hardy: 4 singles matches and 18 tag matches and 1 handicap match
Lita vs. Molly Holly: 8 singles matches and 15 tag matches
Chris Jericho vs. Triple H: 6 singles matches and 14 tag matches and 2 handicap matches
Jillian Hall vs. Melina: 7 singles matches and 14 tag matches
Glen Jacobs vs. Triple H: 8 singles matches and 12 tag matches and 1 handicap match
Batista vs. Chris Jericho: 6 singles matches and 11 tag matches and 4 handicap matches
Christian vs. Matt Hardy: 2 singles matches and 19 tag matches
Batista vs. Randy Orton: 11 singles matches and 5 tag matches and 5 handicap matches
Christian vs. Glen Jacobs: 4 singles matches and 15 tag matches and 2 handicap matches
Molly Holly vs. Victoria: 7 singles matches and 13 tag matches
Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Christian: singles matches and 20 tag matches
Gail Kim vs. Maryse: 3 singles matches and 17 tag matches
Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels: 6 singles matches and 12 tag matches and 2 handicap matches

Has there been any noticeable correlation between RAW ratings and number of PPV buys?

I look at "Has there been any noticeable correlation between RAW ratings and number of PPV buys?"

Here is my chart of PPV buys (usually based on 8-k filings) and domestic buys (estimated based on annual 10-k) combined with some numbers from the Observer. RAW Ratings were based on charts from Gerwick.

RAW Ratings are warts and all = that means I didn't adjust for 3 hour RAWs, I didn't take out non-Monday RAWs, I didn't adjust for major competition weeks. Whatever RAWs aired between PPVs became the average that I used.

And I'm using RAW ratings alone - nothing with Smackdown! (even though there are Smackdown! only PPVs in the beginning of this list) and nothing with other WWE shows (ECW, NXT, Superstars, etc.) I didn't incorporate price increase, UFC competition, major stips (Elimination Chamber, Hell in the Cell), headliners or anything else in this analysis.

PPV LIST
New Year's Revolution (Raw) 2006 = 294 buys / 182 domestic buys with 3.67 RAW rating avg.
Royal Rumble 06 = 548 buys / 334 domestic buys with 4.37 RAW rating avg.
No Way Out 06 (Smackdown!) 2006 = 219 buys / 134 domestic buys with 4.08 RAW rating avg.
WrestleMania 22 2006 = 958 buys / 584 domestic buys with 4.12 RAW rating avg.
Backlash 06 (Raw) 2006 = 213 buys / 130 domestic buys with 4.18 RAW rating avg.
Judgment Day 06 (Smackdown!) 2006 = 238 buys / 143 domestic buys with 4.02 RAW rating avg.
ECW One Night Stand 06 = 294 buys / 176 domestic buys with 3.8 RAW rating avg.
Vengeance 06 (Raw) 2006 = 339 buys / 203 domestic buys with 4.28 RAW rating avg.
Great American Bash (Smackdown!) 2006 = 227 buys / 136 domestic buys with 3.89 RAW rating avg.
Summer Slam 06 = 529 buys / 339 domestic buys with 4.03 RAW rating avg.
Unforgiven 06 (Raw) 2006 = 289 buys / 185 domestic buys with 3.64 RAW rating avg.
No Mercy 06 (Smackdown!) 2006 = 197 buys / 126 domestic buys with 3.57 RAW rating avg.
Cyber Sunday (Raw) 2006 = 228 buys / 141 domestic buys with 3.66 RAW rating avg.
Survivor Series 06 = 383 buys / 237 domestic buys with 3.75 RAW rating avg.
December to Dismember (ECW) 2006 = 90 buys / 56 domestic buys with 3.8 RAW rating avg.
Armageddon (Smackdown!) 2006 = 239 buys / 148 domestic buys with 3.75 RAW rating avg.
New Year's Revolution (Raw) 2007 = 220 buys / 145 domestic buys with 3.37 RAW rating avg.
Royal Rumble 07 = 491 buys / 324 domestic buys with 3.93 RAW rating avg.
No Way Out 07 (Smackdown!) 2007 = 218 buys / 144 domestic buys with 3.75 RAW rating avg.
WrestleMania 23 2007 = 1188 buys / 825 domestic buys with 4.02 RAW rating avg.
Backlash 07 = 194 buys / 128 domestic buys with 3.9 RAW rating avg.
Judgment Day 07 = 242 buys / 160 domestic buys with 3.6 RAW rating avg.
One Night Stand 07 = 186 buys / 123 domestic buys with 3.45 RAW rating avg.
Vengeance "Night of Champions" 2007 = 243 buys / 160 domestic buys with 3.9 RAW rating avg.
Great American Bash 07 (Smackdown!) 2007 = 229 buys / 151 domestic buys with 3.57 RAW rating avg.
Summer Slam 07 = 537 buys / 354 domestic buys with 3.46 RAW rating avg.
Unforgiven 07 (Raw) 2007 = 210 buys / 139 domestic buys with 3.55 RAW rating avg.
No Mercy 07 (Smackdown!) 2007 = 271 buys / 179 domestic buys with 3.3 RAW rating avg.
Cyber Sunday 07 (Raw) 2007 = 194 buys / 128 domestic buys with 3.13 RAW rating avg.
Survivor Series 07 = 341 buys / 225 domestic buys with 3.58 RAW rating avg.
Armageddon 07 = 237 buys / 156 domestic buys with 3.6 RAW rating avg.
Royal Rumble 08 = 533 buys / 352 domestic buys with 3.15 RAW rating avg.
No Way Out 08 = 329 buys / 217 domestic buys with 3.62 RAW rating avg.
WrestleMania 24 2008 = 1058 buys / 697 domestic buys with 3.58 RAW rating avg.
Backlash 08 = 200 buys / 132 domestic buys with 3.36 RAW rating avg.
Judgment Day 08 = 252 buys / 166 domestic buys with 3.26 RAW rating avg.
One Night Stand 08 = 194 buys / 128 domestic buys with 3.06 RAW rating avg.
Night of Champions 08 = 273 buys / 180 domestic buys with 3.21 RAW rating avg.
Great American Bash 08 = 196 buys / 129 domestic buys with 3.4 RAW rating avg.
Summer Slam 08 = 477 buys / 315 domestic buys with 3.35 RAW rating avg.
Unforgiven 08 = 211 buys / 139 domestic buys with 3.01 RAW rating avg.
No Mercy 08 = 261 buys / 172 domestic buys with 2.98 RAW rating avg.
Cyber Sunday 08 = 153 buys / 101 domestic buys with 3 RAW rating avg.
Survivor Series 08 = 319 buys / 211 domestic buys with 2.99 RAW rating avg.
Armageddon 08 = 193 buys / 127 domestic buys with 3.24 RAW rating avg.
Royal Rumble 09 = 450 buys / 284 domestic buys with 3.46 RAW rating avg.
No Way Out 09 = 272 buys / 171 domestic buys with 3.54 RAW rating avg.
WrestleMania 25 2009 = 960 buys / 605 domestic buys with 3.77 RAW rating avg.
Backlash 09 = 182 buys / 115 domestic buys with 3.8 RAW rating avg.
Judgment Day 09 = 228 buys / 144 domestic buys with 3.34 RAW rating avg.
Extreme Rules 09 = 213 buys / 134 domestic buys with 3.41 RAW rating avg.
Great American Bash 09 = 178 buys / 112 domestic buys with 3.94 RAW rating avg.
Night of Champions 09 = 267 buys / 168 domestic buys with 3.63 RAW rating avg.
Summer Slam 09 = 369 buys / 232 domestic buys with 3.77 RAW rating avg.
Breaking Point 2009 = 169 buys / 106 domestic buys with 3.79 RAW rating avg.
Hell in a Cell 2009 = 283 buys / 178 domestic buys with 3.3 RAW rating avg.
Bragging Rights 09 = 181 buys / 114 domestic buys with 3.32 RAW rating avg.
Survivor Series 09 = 235 buys / 148 domestic buys with 3.44 RAW rating avg.
TLC 2009 = 228 buys / 144 domestic buys with 3.2 RAW rating avg.
Royal Rumble 2010 = 462 buys / 282 domestic buys with 3.5 RAW rating avg.
Elimination Chamber 2010 = 285 buys / 174 domestic buys with 3.54 RAW rating avg.
WrestleMania 26 2010 = 885 buys / 498 domestic buys with 3.57 RAW rating avg.
Extreme Rules 2010 = 182 buys / 111 domestic buys with 3.28 RAW rating avg.
Over the Limit 2010 = 218 buys / 121 domestic buys with 3.15 RAW rating avg.
Fatal 4 Way 2010 = 143 buys / 87 domestic buys with 3.2 RAW rating avg.
Money in the Bank 2010 = 165 buys / 101 domestic buys with 3.37 RAW rating avg.
Summer Slam 2010 = 350 buys / 214 domestic buys with 3.38 RAW rating avg.
Night of Champions 2010 = 165 buys / 101 domestic buys with 3.21 RAW rating avg.
Hell in a Cell 2010 = 210 buys / 128 domestic buys with 2.78 RAW rating avg.
Bragging Rights 2010 = 137 buys / 84 domestic buys with 3.12 RAW rating avg.
Survivor Series 2010 = 244 buys / 149 domestic buys with 3.12 RAW rating avg.
TLC 2010 = 195 buys / 119 domestic buys with 3.15 RAW rating avg.
Royal Rumble 2011 = 446 buys / 272 domestic buys with 3.18 RAW rating avg.
Elimination Chamber 2011 = 199 buys / 121 domestic buys with 3.31 RAW rating avg.
WrestleMania 27 2011 = 1042 buys / 617 domestic buys with 3.74 RAW rating avg.
Extreme Rules 2011 = 138 buys / 65 domestic buys with 3.47 RAW rating avg.
Over the Limit 2011 = 220 buys / 113 domestic buys with 3.24 RAW rating avg.
Capitol Punishment 2011 = buys / 0 domestic buys with 3.19 RAW rating avg.


I could post about five pictures, but they largely tell the same story so I'll link the other four and just post the one that I think is relevant:

This is for B-shows (I took out Royal Rumble, Summerslam, Wrestlemania, Survivor Series). I also eliminated ECW December to Dismember.

WWE PPV B-Show Domestic Buys vs. RAW Ratings Average


Other charts
WWE PPV All Shows Worldwide Buys vs RAW Ratings
WWE PPV All Shows Domestic Buys vs RAW Ratings
WWE PPV B-Shows Worldwide Buys vs RAW Ratings

Is there a positive linear trend linking RAW Ratings with domestic PPV buys? Barely. The R-squared is almost zero which indicates that it's almost random (i.e. not correlated).

I'm sure that as one of a whole lot of factors (PPV price, Total WWE Health, PPV Competition, Total WWE Ratings Health in key demographics, Stipulation Strength, "TV Build", etc.) it plays a role, but it certainly doesn't seem to be a driver by any means. Some of those factors are easy to name but hard to define.
(BTW, I did a separate analysis that showed almost no difference between a 3-week and 4-week RAW build in historical PPV business.)

So, where are we now?

Last four RAWs
RAW 6/20/11 : 3.09
RAW 6/27/11 : 3.13
RAW 7/4/11 : 2.4
RAW 7/11/11 : 2.9
Unweighted, holiday-included Average: 2.88
Unweighted, holiday-excluded Average: 3.04

Performance Other PPVs below a 3.1 RAW Average
Hell in a Cell 2010: 2.78 RAW avg = 210 buys / 128 domestic buys
No Mercy 08: 2.98 RAW avg = 261 buys / 172 domestic buys
Survivor Series 08: 2.99 RAW avg = 319 buys / 211 domestic buys
Cyber Sunday 08: 3 RAW avg = 153 buys / 101 domestic buys
Unforgiven 08: 3.01 RAW avg = 211 buys / 139 domestic buys
One Night Stand 08: 3.06 RAW avg = 194 buys / 128 domestic buys

Average of those was 225,000 worldwide buys and 147 domestic buys but that was mostly 2008 numbers with 65% domestic. We're a lot closer to 50% now than we are to two-thirds. However, anything can happen.

-Chris Harrington
indeedwrestling@gmail.com

April 1993 to May 1994 - WO Results Notes

For reasons that I can not completely explain, I decided to run through about 12 months of Wrestling Observers RESULTS sections.

These Results sections offer an interesting window in the wrestling scene at that time, though by no means is it absolutely comprehensive and complete. In fact, major shows like PPVs and Clash of the Champions aren't usually listed in the Results section - especially if they are reviewed in another part of the same issue. Which indies are covered were probably a function of whether there was a reader attending or wrestling on those shows.

Observations:

** Award for World's Most Honest Attendance - NCW in month of May

5/10 Dallas (NCW - 30): Ray Evans b Mad Dog Billy, Sangre Guerrera b El Galena, Guido Falcone (Sweet Daddy Falcone) b El Geminis, Jimmy James & Ebony Prince (Dwayne Meadows) b Billy Steele & Chad Starr, Awesome Kong & King Kong b Steven Dane & Chris Barrett, Rod Price & Scotty Braddock b Iceman King Parsons & Action Jackson

5/24 Dallas (NCW - 11): Mad Dog Billy b Country Dog, Big D b Ray Evans, Iceman King Parsons b Chad Champion, Action Jackson b Billy Steele, Awesome Kong & King Kong b Chris Barrett & Thunder Warrior

5/29 Dallas (NCW - less than a dozen paid): Ray Evans b Big D, Awesome Kong & King Kong b Jimmy James & Chris Barrett, Action Jackson b Killer Tim Brooks-COR, Guido Falcone & Vito Mussolini DCOR Calvin Knapp & Steven Dane, Bill Irwin d Iceman King Parsons, Chris Adams b Scotty Braddock to win NCW title

That's right - they had a show with 18 wrestlers and less than 12 people even paid to attend.

Runner up for this award would probably be the ill-named "North American Wrestling Alliance" (NAWA) which criss-crossed the entire continent by running shows everywhere from Chester, South Carolina all the way down to Welford, South Carolina. Dozens of fans turned out to see to Paul Jones Jr, Rick Link, Gary Royal, Johnny B. Goode and Scotty McKeever.

** Globetrotters

While WWF superstars made it to US, Canada, Israel and Europe the man who really worked his passport to the max from May 1993 to April 1994 was SIONNE~!

Yes, the Barbarian was quite diverse:

He worked American Indies in Michigan alongside Dan Severn and Al Snow and Taz, he showed up in Germany to hang out with Papa Shango, Jushin Liger, Reno Riggins and Stan Hansen. He toured India with "Indo-Asian Wrestling" where he won the IAW Championship by defeating Vladimir Koloff and eventually losing to Giant Warrior Butch Masters in front of a crowd claimed to be 75,000. In July he stopped by Puerto Rico to mix it up with Invader #1, El Bronco #1 and watch Carlos Colon carve up Ricky Santana with barbed wire. And he spent most of the year with New Japan teaming with everyone from Haku, Scott Norton, Masa Saito and Ludvig Borga. Guess he had to do something while he waited for Samu to leave the Head Shrinkers!

Stars (Abdullah the Butcher, Jake Roberts, Terry Funk) and future stars (Chris Jericho) spent time on both sides of the ocean. However, I'm most intrigued by the lesser-known working stiffs (aka non-stars) who got to tour the world like Dusty Wolfe, Rambo and Max Moon/Paul Diamond:

Max "Paul Diamond" Moon - toured with New Japan as "Max Moon" teaming with Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit), Red Scorpio (Scorpio Jr) and several Brads (Armstrong and Rheingans)! He worked for both AWF - Australia (wrestling Akira Nogami every night) and Puerto Rico. Lastly, he squirmed around US indies doing everything from headlining PA indies against Nailz, competing in a "Hood Match" in ECW alongside the original Tanaka (Pat) against Public Enemy and even working as a Steve Austin jobber in Atlanta.

Dusty Wolfe went to Japan for NOW to get his groove back (part of an ecletic Gaijin list which included Tiger Ali Singh, Rockin' Rebel and Sweet Daddy Guido Falcone's tag partner Vito Mussolini), fighting to take the WWF jobber mantel by defeating Jose Luis Rivera in WWC and battling the legendary Lord Zoltan in American States Wrestling.

** Stipulations!

I always love digging through the archives for fun stipulations.
Some winners:

4/17/93 Circleville, OH (Big Time Wrestling/Bobby Fulton promoter - 200): Loser has to ride a donkey: Bobby Fulton b Grim Reaper (this should have been the main event instead of Ron Garvin DCOR Abdullah the Butcher)

5/7/93 Dallas Sportatorium (GWF - 1,300/125 paid): Branding iron on pole match: Angel b Black Bart

6/27/93 Dallas (Big D - 290): Hair vs. beard street fight: Big D b Handsome One

8/18 Jefferson City, TN (SMW - 275): Losers must bungee jump: Rock & Roll Express b Heavenly Bodies-DQ (Cornette loves stips like Russo loves poles)

9/2/93 Winnipeg (River City Wrestling): Losers wears a dress: Caveman Broda b Dakota Moondog

10/30/93 Bensalem, PA (NWA - 1,000): Loser gets spanked: Sherri Martel b Jim Cornette (this card was quite the affair with Steve Keirn as Doink, Brian Hildebrand as a Ninja Turtle, Ted DiBiase, Terry Funk, Sabu, Chris Candido and "Ed the Razor" who may have been Beefcake). And yes, this show is on DVD on Fan Cam.

11/26 Knoxville (SMW - 1,280): Loser gets tarred and feathered: Bobby Blaze b Chris Candido (Candido actually did this stip that whole week 11/25, 11/26 and 11/27 along with losing a battle Battle Royal 10/1 where the last man out, him, received that punishment).

11/27/93 Central City, KY (Tri-State Wrestling): Loser must kiss a pig: Dan Shannon b Mountain Man Miller (somehow Mike Samples and Mad Man Pondo managed to be in the other matches)

11/29/93 Memphis (USWA): Loser eats dog food: Little Eagle b Midget D

12/9/93 Indianapolis (Championship Wrestling from Indiana - 450): Flash Flash Flannagan won Royal Rumble rules everyone armed with a board match (GIANT BOARD WITH NAILS IN IT!)

1/27/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Pro Wrestling Crusaders - 600): Nail barricade death match: Power X I & II b Shunji Takano & Nobutaka Araya

2/4 Winnipeg (West Four Wrestling Alliance): Loser chews on winners socks: Chief Saddlebaggs b Steve Stryker (there was a man named "The Sicko" who wrestled on this card - but not in this match?!)

2/14 Memphis (USWA - 825): Hubcap on pole: Wolfie D b J.C. Ice, Unified title vs. Eddie Gilbert's car: Eddie Gilbert b Jerry Lawler-COR to win title (two Car-related stips on one card! Take that Bischoff Autoracing/Wrestling fed!)

** Hardest Working Woman in Show Business!

Now, there are many events - especially from the major federations - which aren't covered in the RESULTS section - usually if they have a separate review elsewhere in the issue. So, WWF and WCW wrestlers are probably under-represented. Additionally, while I've done some name cleanups - there are still 6,000 names listed and I know there are some duplicates.



That said, look at the All Japan Women - particularly in October 1993!

For instance, he was Toyota's schedule:
10/2 Chigasaki (All Japan women - 2,150): Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda b Etsuko Mita & Suzuka Minami
10/4 Iwase (All Japan women - 1,215): Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito b Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami
10/5 Kanagawa (All Japan women): Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta b Suzuka Minami & Etsuko Mita
10/6 Utsunomiya (All Japan women - 1,730): Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue b Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada
10/7 Moriya (All Japan women - 1,075): Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita b Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda
10/9 Tokyo Bay NK Hall (All Japan Women Wrestlemarinpiad '93 - 6,700 sellout): Manami Toyota b Mayumi Ozaki (JWP)
10/10 Tokyo Korakuen Hall (All Japan women - 2,100 sellout): Manami Toyota & Asari b Tomoko Watanabe & Kaoru Ito
10/11 Mito (All Japan women - 1,620): Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue b Aja Kong & Bull Nakano & Suzuka Minami 22:17
10/12 Fukuyama (All Japan women - 1,675): Manami Toyota b Sakie Hasegawa
10/13 Munakata (All Japan women - 1,120): Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada b Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue
10/14 Sakuse (All Japan women - 1,001): Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda b Kaoru Ito & Sakie Hasegawa
10/15 Hakata (All Japan women): Manami Toyota b Suzuka Minami
10/16 Kagoshima (All Japan women - 1,730): Manami Toyota & Aja Kong b Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue
10/17 Kumamoto (All Japan women - 1,380): Toshiyo Yamada & Yumiko Hotta b Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa
10/18 Mitsua (All Japan - 1,190): Aja Kong & Suzuka Minami b Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta
10/19 Himdeo (All Japan women - 1,320): Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada b Aja Kong & Sakie Hasegawa 20:59
10/20 Miyagi (All Japan women - 1,480): Manami Toyota & Suzuka Minami b Aja Kong & Numacchi
10/21 Omura (All Japan women - 1,100): Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto b Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda
10/22 Miyazaki (All Japan women - 1,569): Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa b Kaoru Ito & Yumiko Hotta
10/23 Moji (All Japan Women - 1,230): Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada b Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota
10/28 Shizuoka (All Japan women - 1,550): Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto b Eagle Sawai & Yasha Kurenai
10/29 Fukyama (All Japan women - 1,695): Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto b Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe

That's 22 matches in 28 days.

When you look at who performed in front of the most people that year, the list is geared towards the people you'd expect:

* New Japan (Jushin Liger, Hiroshi Hase, Tatsumi Fujinami, Masa Chono, Satoshi Kojima, Takayuki Iizuka, Shinya Hashimoto, Akira Nogami, El Samurai, Kengo Kimura, Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Shiro Koshinaka, Michiyoshi Ohara, Shinjiro Otani, Keiji Muto, Great Kabuki, Osamu Kido, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Tatsutoshi Goto)

* All Japan (Masa Fuchi, Rusher Kimura, Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue, Giant Baba, Haruka Eigen, Toshiaki Kawada, Yoshinari Ogawa, Takao Omori, Mitsuharu Misawa, Stan Hansen, Steve Williams, Mighty Inoue, Mitsuo Momota, Satoru Asako, Jun Akiyama, Masao Inoue, The Eagle, Dan Kroffat, Doug Furnas, Johnny Ace, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Ryuma Izumida, Richard Slinger)

* WWF (Yokozuna, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Razor Ramon, Samu, Lex Luger, Fatu, Bam Bam Bigelow, Tatanka, Mike Shaw, Shawn Michaels, Rick Steiner, Jacques Rougeau, Doink the Clown, Sean Waltman, Billy Gunn, Bart Gunn, Scott Steiner, Quebecer Pierre, IRS)

* FMW (Tarzan Goto, Atsushi Onita, Megumi Kudo, Ricky Fuji, Miwa Sato, Yukie Nabeno, Mr Pogo, The Gladiator, Big Titan, Crusher Maedomari, Shark Tsuchiya, Sambo Asako, Mr Gannosuke) - Terry Funk might belong on this list with the huge stadium show he did with Onita

* AAA (Octagon, Perro Aguayo, El Hijo del Santo, Love Machine, Rey Misterio Jr, Blue Panther, Cien Caras, Fuerza Guerrera, Heavy Metal, Mascara Ano 2000, Konnan El Barbaro, La Parka, Volador, Misterioso, Winners, Latin Lover, Jerry Estrada, Mascara Sagrada, El Satanico, Universo 2000, Angel Azteca, Psicosis, Fishman, Eddy Guerrero, Vulcano)

* EMLL (Pierroth Jr, Atlantis, Haku, Negro Casas, La Fiera, Jaque Mate, El Dandy, Emilio Charles Jr, Ultimo Dragon, Mano Negra, Dr Wagner Jr, Black Magic, Mocho Cota, Escudero Rojo, Javier Cruz, Kahos I, Gran Markus Jr, Felino, Ciclon Ramirez, Metalico, Pantera II, Olimpus, Chris Jericho, America, Aguila Solitaria, Canadian Vampire Casanova)

* All Japan Women (Manami Toyota, Kyoko Inoue, Toshiyo Yamada, Aja Kong, Yumiko Hotta, Kaoru Ito, Etsuko Mita, Suzuka Minami, Takako Inoue, Mima Shimoda, Tomoko Watanabe, Bull Nakano, Sakie Hasegawa, Chikako Shiratori, Akira Hokuto)

* UWFi (Yoshihiro Takayama, Yoji Anjyo, Yuko Miyato, Nobuhiko Takada, Naoki Sano, Gary Albright, Kazuo Yamazaki, Kiyoshi Tamura, Dan Severn, Badnews Allen, Dennis Koslowski, Tatsuo Nakano, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Tom Burton, Super Vader, Greg Bobchick, Tommy Cairo, Jean Lydick, Billy Scott, Kazushi Sakuraba, Masahito Kakihara, Mark Silver)

* WCW (Sting, Steve Regal, Dustin Rhodes, Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Rick Steamboat, Ric Flair, Marcus Bagwell, Arn Anderson, Too Cold Scorpio, Paul Orndorff, Brian Pillman, Davey Boy Smith, Nasty Boys)

* UWA (Canek, Transformer, El Texano, Yamato, El Signo, Villanos IV, Super Astro. Principe Maya, Negro Navarro, Dos Caras, Scorpio Jr)

* WAR (Koki Kitahara, Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Ultimo Dragon, Nobukazu Hirai, Super Strong Machine, Hiromichi Fuyuki, Masao Orihara, Great Kabuki, Yuji Yasuraoka, John Tenta, Takashi Ishikawa, Arashi, Masanobu Kurisu, Haku, Shiro Koshinaka, Black Cat, Koji Ishinriki, Masashi Aoyagi, Jado, Gedo)

** Not a lot of Fed Jumpers!

Appears to have worked AAA and EMLL in the same year
Pirata Morgan, Piratita Morgan, and MS 1
(not sure if they're all the same person or not but that's what I noticed)

Appears to have worked WWF and WCW in the same year

Terry Taylor (jobbed in WCW to Godwinns, Roma/Orndorff, Ron Simmons, Jim Steele, Steve Austin, Steve Regal, Tom Zenk and TERRA RIZING~!), Van Hammer (jobbed to Damian Demento) and Joey Maggs (jobbed to Bam Bam in WWF and jobbed to Cole Twins, Johnny Gunn, Bagwell, Maxx PAyne, Too Cold and Erik Watts in WCW).

I didn't see anyone who worked both New Japan and All Japan the same year.

There were a few people who worked both ECW and USWA that same year - namely Eddie Gilbert, Axl & Ian Rotten and THE WOLFMAN~!

** Birth of the Triangle Match?
Besides the Jake Roberts triplemania deal, AAA, ECW, MECW/ASWA and SMW all held multi-team or multi-man matches that year including:

3/28 Beckley, WV (SMW - 500): Smoky Mountain Showdown street fight: Rock & Roll Express won over Dutch Mantell & Jimmy Golden and Stan Lane & Tom Prichard

4/17 Johnson City, TN (SMW - 860): Rock & Roll Express beat Stan Lane & Tom Prichard (DQ) and Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden in three-team Smoky Mountain showdown @@@3/4

10/1 Juan de la Barrera Gym in Mexico City (AAA - 6,000): Huichol won triangular match from Misterioro and Vulcano @

10/2 Philadelphia (ECW TV taping - 400): Cage match: Public Enemy won three-team elimination of Tanaka & Diamond and Rottens

10/23 Pigeon Forge, TN (SMW - 300): Rock & Roll Express won four-corners tag match from Armstrongs, Heavenly Bodies and Bruise Brothers

11/14 Essex, MD (MEWF/ASWA - 625) Axl & Ian Rotten won 4-team Death match over Tony Stetson & Johnny Hot Body, Rich Myers & Jimmy Janetty and Southern Destruction

** Worst Match I could imagine

4/9 Linden, NJ (WWWA - 400): Mad Russian b Super Nova, Drake Debonair b Bobby Piper, Frankie Burns b Amazing Martine, Jack Hammer b Rick Ratchett, Diamond Express b Mr. Motion & Ace Darling, Jimmy Snuka b Metal Maniac, Abdullah the Butcher DDQ Nailz

Since 2008, WWE PPVs that have done more than 170,000 domestic buys

There's been a lot of buzz about this Sunday's Money in the Bank PPV and especially the storyline between John Cena and CM Punk. This well may be the last appearance of CM Punk in WWE for some time and the last month of well-executed worked shoot promos have captivated the attention of the many. Some are predicting that this PPV might finally break the 170k domestic B-show ceiling.

Some perspective on that subject:

Since 2008, WWE PPVs that have done more than 170,000 domestic buys:

Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble 08: 352 domestic buys
Royal Rumble 09: 284 domestic buys
Royal Rumble 10: 282 domestic buys
Royal Rumble 11: 272 domestic buys

Wrestlemania
WrestleMania 24: 697 domestic buys
WrestleMania 25: 605 domestic buys
WrestleMania 26: 498 domestic buys
WrestleMania 27: 617 domestic buys

Hell in a Cell/Elimination Chamber PPVs
No Way Out 08: 217 domestic buys (Elimination Chamber)
No Way Out 09: 171 domestic buys (Elimination Chamber)
Hell in a Cell 09: 178 domestic buys (Hell in a Cell)
Elimination Chamber 2010: 174 domestic buys (Elimination Chamber)

Summer Slam
Summer Slam 08: 315 domestic buys
Summer Slam 09: 232 domestic buys
Summer Slam 2010: 214 domestic buys

Other PPVs
Night of Champions 08: 180 domestic buys (Edge/Batitsta, HHH/Cena)
No Mercy 08: 172 domestic buys (HHH/Jeff Hardy, Jericho/HBK Ladder Match)
Survivor Series 08: 211 domestic buys (Team HBK vs Team JBL, Undertaker/Big Show Casket, Team Orton vs Team Batista, Edge/HHH/Kozlov, Cena/Jericho)

Last Five Years of July PPV
Great American Bash (Smackdown!) = 7/23/2006 in Indianapolis, IN = 227k buys @ $39.95 = 60% domestic =136k domestic buys
Great American Bash 07 (Smackdown!) = 7/22/2007 in San Jose, CA = 229k buys @ $39.95 = 66% domestic = 151k domestic buys
Great American Bash 08 = 7/20/2008 in Long Island, NY = 196k buys @ $39.95 = 66% domestic = 129k domestic buys
Night of Champions 09 = 7/26/2009 in Philadelphia, PA = 267k buys @ $39.95 = 63% domestic = 168k domestic buys
Money in the Bank = 7/18/2010 in Kansas City, MO = 165k buys @ $44.95 = 61% domestic = 101k domestic buys*

*) UFC 116 with Brock/Carwin was 7/3/2010 so that shouldn't have affected killed last year's MITB PPV.

12 Rounds - Good Article

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/03/30/monsters-vs-aliens-is-a-dream-for-dreamworks-while-12-rounds/

Steven Mallas has an excellent article up at BloggingStocks.com discussing the latest WWE Film, 12 Rounds. While I would argue that DVD sales for WWE films have been unusually strong, all of the theatrical attempts (See No Evil, The Marine, The Condemned, Behind Enemy Lines) have failed to produce even mildly strong results at the theatrical box office. I believe there is still a market for these films as a vechicle for the talent, but I would move towards the straight-to-DVD/straight-to-Cable vehicles which might be far more lucrative in rights.

200 Fluorescent Lighttubes & Boards Death Match: Shadow WX, Ryuji Ito & Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Takashi Sasaki, Jaki Numazawa & Yuko Miyamoto

BJW, 5/23/08
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,700 Fans

200 Fluorescent Lighttubes & Boards Death Match: Shadow WX, Ryuji Ito & Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Takashi Sasaki, Jaki Numazawa & Yuko Miyamoto

Four minutes later everyone is finally in the ring and introduced. Everyone brawling bare-shirted except Shadow WX. We get some Irish whip fakes & reversals until Sasaki and Numazawa bounce off the tube-robes and deliver stereo dropkicks to Kobayashi and Ito, who in take some bulbs to the back off the ropes. Those four are down so Shadow WX & Yuko Miyamoto play chop-off in the center of the ring. Shadow grabs a HEADLOCK and runs the ropes (ignoring the bulb he busts) to deliver a shoulderblock. Yuko bumps and kips back up. Shadow goes off the ropes so Miyamoto cuts him off with a nice little dropkick. The advantage is not long as Shadow stops Yuko and clotheslines him over the ropes to the outside. WX is taking his time so he throws a lighttube out of his way and gingerly steps outside the Meanwhile, the other four have moved into the bleachers. Kobayashi drinks a fan's water. Back at the farm, Shadow grabs a half-fluorescent and starts parading Yuko around to introduce him to the area behind the bleachers. Yuko's forehead - meet Mr Lighttube. Ito and Sasaki are fighting at the top of the bleachers while Abdullah (now bleeding from both forehead and left arm) has returned ringside to brawl with Numazawa. The Black Angel rams Kobayashi's skull into one of those quintessential Japanese folding table (one foot wide, four feet long) which enrages the beast. He chucks the table back at Jaki who sidesteps the projectile, lifts a folded folding chair and rams it into Abdullah's bleeding arm. The two men both lift a Japanese Table and while holding it upside down, crack both of them on the skull simultaneously several times. Odd spot. Obviously, a battle of the heads will be coming into place this match. Ito is still being worked over by Sasaki and we get a Star Wars wipe back to the ring with Shadow WX, Miyamoto and a giant piece of wood with several lighttubes attached propped in a corner. We're moving back into tag match rules so partners are returning to their customary spots. Irish Whip reversals leads to Shadow WX feeding his back into the wooden-glass combination complete with delicious crunching noise. Miyamoto tags out to Takasahi. WX comes back up slowly with a crimson mask so Sasaki delivers the boot to the breadbasket, snapmare and collects three lighttubes for a quick trip to punishment city - he destroys the trio of tubes via indy strong kick of doom to the base of Shadow WX's spine. At this point, Jaki Numazawa, standing on the apron, visibly winces. Sasaki's dickish pin attempt is unsuccessful so he begins laying in the boots to Shadow WX. When Shadow WX begins to hulk up against the punches, Takeshi cuts him down again with some face kicks and tags out to Numazawa. He launches Shadow WX into the ropes where his back against completes some unholy communion with the lighttubes. Jaki grabs a pair of lighttubes while we discover that a fan has obtained his own lighttube. BJPW staffer runs to the bleachers to retrieve it. Numazawa plays DrumMania (copyright Konami 1999) with Shadow WX's already gushing cranium in a series of sickening blows. Shadow WX is playing deathmatch Ricky Morton face-in-peril now. Numazawa chews on the WX's brow and pronounces it Beefy. Tag out to Yuko who snaps a tube over his knee and rams in into his opponent's frons. That's a little thing we'd like to call... ouch! Unsuccessful pinfall and Yuko throws the 49-year old man into the corner, delivers a nice flying back elbow and headbutts a lighttube right into the center of Shiga's forehead. Plenty of blood (type A according to bjwfans.com) over Shadow WX's face as Takashi Sasaki enters the ring. As Shadow WX is launched off the ropes, a lighttube goes high in the air demonstrating how much collateral damage there could be to fans in a messy deathmatch like this. Takashi executes an X-pac-esque Spinning heel kick to fell the man from Niigata. Punches and kicks galore from Sasaki. Shadow WX does enjoy the posturing and rises to his feet to engage in a blow-battle which ends with Takashi's Tiger Mask spinning back kick. Tags bring in Numazawa while Yuko holds Shadow WX up in the corner. Jaki opts for executing a snap suplex onto two light tubes which mostly end up in Shadow WX's colon. Numazawa, always the perfectionist, rallies the crowd and executes the suplex again to completely bust the lighttubes. Yuko Miyamoto, the baby of the group, tags in to bodyslam Shadow WX and then drop an elbow on some lighttubes across WX's abdomen. We're about eight minutes into the tape at this point. Pinfall attempt is requisite two count. Sasaki clears Kobayashi and Ito off the apron so he can toss Shadow WX into his own corner for a back elbow and four sets of his "break-a-lighttube with-a-kick-to-the-gut" routine. The Coup de grâce? Stuffing two lighttubes down Shadow WX's shirt (only competitor wearing one) and blasting him with a front kick. THIS DOES NOT PLEASE SHADOW WX. HE RIPS OFF HIS SHIRT AND IS FIRED UP. Another blow battle ends with Sasaski's boot to the midsection but Shadow WX clotheslines Takashi after he runs the ropes for speed. Numazawa and Miyamoto jump in the ring to doubleteam Shadow WX but they miscalculate their offense allowing Shadow WX to nail a double clothesline on the pair. Ryuji Ito is finally tagged in as Shadow WX collapses in his corner. Ito's first offense is a set of dropkicks to Sasaki and Miyamoto followed by a somewhat awkward roundhouse to the back of Numazawa's skull. Ito's educated feet (Engineering Studies, Ibaraki University) work over Takashi Sasaki complete with Hogan-esque leg-drop of doom. Nice fisherman's suplex only earns him a two-count. As his wife, the ref, looks on (how impartial can she be?!), Ito culminates an exchange with Sasaki by delivering a top-rope big-back-bump-in-lots-of-shards-of-glass dropkick. Another two count. Kobayashi goes to the top rope but fails to execute his flying KARATE CHOP. Sasaki manages to block it by crossing his arms but this only angers the mighty stallion. Abdullah performs deadly throat thrusts but surprisingly gets backdropped by Sasaki in must have been a little disconcerting for the Butterbean-esque Kobayashi. Numazawa tags in, fires up the crowd, and quickly delivers a spinning back elbow to fell the man from Nagano. However, Jaki's crowd-pleasing antics aren't helpful when Kobayashi rolls out of the way of his elbow-drop to catch him in the corner and deliver a QUINTET of lightbulb-breaking headbutts to Numazawa's crown. Numazawa is tossed into the corner to receive a running manhug from the 13-year veteran. Kobayashi works him over with a series of quick blows in the corner, bodyslam and a plodding (not running - but walking with purpose) elbow drop. It's time for a Vader Bomb - which he hits. Two count. Kobayashi chooses to KARATE CHOP two lightbulbs into Numazawa but his enchanted hand betrays him as Jaki snakes into a half-nelson switched into a jaw-breaker utilizing his own skull. The two bulls decide it's time to ram horns, or in this case, heads. Both behemoths build up a head of steam, run together, and we have a double-clothesline. As they recover, Shadow WX and Yuki Miyamoto come in together. Shadow WX clothesline him in the corner, hits a nice suplex, rallies the crowd and waits for Yuki to stand up so he can clothesline him out of his boots. Two count does not end the match so Shadow WX latches on a crossface. Shadow WX grabs a handful of glass and throws them into Yuki's eyes for good measure. Nice. We're about 13.5 minutes in.
Now, how should one escape? Just press your handy-dandy "Jaki Numazawa savior Button". He'll climb in and kabong a lighttube over your opponent's skull. Shadow WX gets the crowd clapping but Miyamoto manages to execute an overhead belly-to-belly to buy enough time to tag Sasaki in. Time for giant deathmatch lighttube board of doom #2 - this instance being placed against the bottom rope so it's cranked up at about a 30 degree angle. Takashi teases the suplex but shadow WX isn't interested in going two for two through these monstrosities. The men trade waistlocks and Takashi elbows his way out so he can whip Shadow WX into the corner and deliver a running clothesline. A stunned Shadow WX almost receives a superplex but at the last moment he slips down to the mat in order to play that popular carnival game - toss the Takeshi into the board full of lighttubes. Ouch. It's Ryuji Ito's turn now. Snap-mare & indy kick of doom. Ito grabs two lighttubes but Takashi stops him from destroying them on his body. The two men are struggling over these tubes. Ito gets the upper hand with a kick down low - Takeshi takes a knee (with the tubes over his head) - and Ito drops his heel to smash those lighttubes all real nice into Takeshi's skull. Poor chap. Ito plays Lighttube collector - grabs four or five more - puts them against Takeshi's chest and kicks him to kingdom come. Poor, poor chap. In a very short span, Takashi Sasaki has been powerbombed on tubes, had them cracked over his head and broken against his chest. Still, that's only a two-count in BJPW land. Big bodyslam from Ryuji Ito followed by a surprising moonsault. Ito has been moving a little gingerly this match so I did not expect an aerial move from him at this moment. Numazawa breaks up the pinfall this time. Ito's knees have had enough so he tags in Abdullah Kobayashi. Takeshi eats a back-elbow after being whipped into the far corner. Abdullah decides to flavor that dish with two lighttubes being karate chopped into Takeshi's chest. We've all had a day like this. Takeshi gets perched up on the shoulders of Abdullah who is standing on the second rope. Falling backwards equals a big Samoan Drop. Wow – Abdullah has pointy elf shoes. What's next? A piledriver? Nope. Abdullah drops him on his belly in a fancy move whose name I don't recall. Shadow WX is in. He hurks Takeshi up for another powerbomb but Takeshi attacks the eyes. Takashi Sasaki stills get thrown in an ugly powerbomb but he recovers while shadow is clutching his face. Still, no dice for Sasaki as his suplex attempt is reversed and Shadow WX launches him over. Takeshi stops the clothesline attempt and executes a spinning back kick followed by a back brain kick and a giant kick of ouch right to Shadow WX’s thinking cap. Yuki & Jaki come in and clear their opponents off the apron. Jaki whips Shadow WX into the far corner. He runs in with a so-so clothesline. Yuki decides to grab some lighttubes and do a combination knees to the chest & tubes to the skull move which couldn’t have been fun. Top rope frankensteiner from Yuki tossing Shadow WX across the ring. Shadow WX eats a shining wizard from Jaki and then kicks out of a double pin. Jaki DVDs Shadow WX so Yuki can go to the rope and moonsault him. Oh yeah, he stuck some lighttubes in there so the chest-to-chest action busted those up. Right at the three count, Ito broke up the pin. Shadow WX definitely didn’t kick out. Ito and Jaki tussle with Jaki launching Ito over in a nice suplex. Abdullah decides it’s time to break out “fat-man drop kick” and Jaki bails. Takeshi clothesline and kicks don’t the giant. He then delivers a pair of nasty back brain kicks to Shadow WX’s head and then puts two light tubes right by Shadow’s head and delivers an immense kick shattering the tubes and spraying everyone on that side of the ring with tube-glass and tube-gas. Ito breaks up the pinfall and tosses Takeshi to the outside. So, Yuki comes in and goes after the battered Shadow WX. One bodyslam later, Yuki has the man in position. He climbs to the top rope, executes another moonsault (this time holding on the tubes) but Shadow WX moves. Yuki was able to scout this so he lands on his feet and gets in perfect position for Shadow WX to deliver a big clothesline right to the tubes. Abdullah comes in and delivers a release German suplex to Yuki which Ito follows up with a shining wizard. Yuki kicks out before the three count. Bodyslam from Ito. Flying elbowdrop from Abdullah. Lighttubes on Yuki’s chest and the Ito frogsplash of death. Takeshi & Jaki break up the pin. Abdullah chucks Jaki outside and while Ito deposes of Takeshi. Yuki is thrown against the ropes and tries a back-handspring elbow but Shadow WX isn’t playing that game anymore. He lariats Yuki back to medieval times turning him inside out. Two count so Shadow WX does a spinning sitdown powerbomb. Two count. Stalling suplex and it’s finally over. Your winners: Shadow WX, Ryuji Ito and Abdullah Kobayashi. Good match.

IWW: Interview with Colin Delaney (part one)

IWW interviews Colin Delaney (part one)

Indeed Wrestling Weekly, the program with quite a misleading title, has finally returned to air the first part of our interview with former WWE Superstar and current CHIKARA performer - COLIN DELANEY~!

In part one - we talk about growing up, memories of Upstate NY wrestling, breaking in and starting his tag team with Jimmy Olsen, the epic DELANEY CLAN matches, working ROH ringcrew and more. Colin only had a little while so we stuck to mostly pre-WWE talk. The abrupt end of this conversion was because my puppy unplugged my microphone before I signed off. How professional! Anyhow, we'll be back with Colin later this week and will continue the conversation with a focus on his WWE run.

If you have questions for Colin, you can pm me, email the show (indeedwrestling@gmail.com) or post them as a response to this thread.

Hope you enjoy it! If not, well, at least it was free.

9/7/08 - WWE Supershow in Rochester, NY

WWE "Super Show" House Show in Rochester, NY by Ray Rhodes

Friday Night (September 7th) I attended the WWE House Show at the Blue Cross Arena in sunny Rochester, NY. Despite being hailed as a "Super Show" that would feature all the best stars from all three brands, I figured that just meant a Raw live event with Mark Henry on the card. I wasn't that far off.

Tony Chimmel started us off by introducing our special host for the night, Eve, somewhere in the audience that the spotlight couldn't quite find. She upgraded a family to front row after asking the trivia question, "What city did Wrestlemania 24 hail from?" Many of us always joke that the WWE thinks we need constant rewinds and replays because we don't have a long enough attention span or good enough memory. Looks like they're right because I had already forgotten. It's Orlando, of course. Tony also let us know that WE the people could determine the stipulation between Matt Hardy and Mark Henry (score!) in the ECW Championship match: 2 out of 3 Falls, No DQ, or Falls Count Anywhere by joining the digital age and texting our choice. Let me first point out that it's no trick of the TV, the masses really do love Matt Hardy. And *blush*, I do too.

The opening bout featured Chavo Guerrero (w/Bam Neely) against the spastic high-flier Evan Bourne. Not to be confused with Matt Bourne, aka Doink the Clown (which would be awesome). Of course, we all know Evan Bourne used to be Matt Sydal before ECW gave him his requisite awful WWE name (see also: Ryan Braddock, Ricky Ortiz, Gavin Spears, Braden Walker).

Ways to know you're at a WWE House Show: No Pyro, A Diva Host somewhere in the crowd, and Chavo stalls and works the audience for 10 minutes. Pop Quiz later. To be honest, I've had a hard time getting into Chavo if he's not fighting Rey and to me, Evan Bourne is just Cody Rhodes with a higher vertical leap. The two wrestled for a bit before Evan hits the first of at least 35 dropkicks we would see in the night. Bam Neely looks on. Eventually, Bourne hits the sweet Shooting Star from the top to finish Chavo and take the crowd pleasing win.

Next, Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella put their titles on the line against Kofi Kingston and (I hope it's Mickie James, I hope it's Mickie James, I hope it's Mickie James), D'OH, Kelly Kelly. Despite the hot chaps, Kelly Kelly looked more green than a sea sick sailor and was baffled several times. Which was okay because Santino seemed baffled at much of Kofi's movements as well. The crowd didn't seem to mind too much though, but Santino and Beth were able to defend their belts successfully. Santino had a pretty good opening promo about only needing 62 more weeks to break the I-C record.

When you think "Super Show" I know you're thinking "Primo Colon". If so, you'd be happy when Willian Regal came out to fight the brother of Carlito himself. They decided to tell a story by working some arms and well, that's about it. Most of the match took place on the mat and not in an interesting way, either. Primo spent much of the match getting worked over, but not in a cool "Regal Stretchin' Him" or "Regal Knee Striking" kind of way but more of an "Arm Lock" kind of way. Eventually, Primo would make a comeback--in the form of 4 consecutive dropkicks. And that's it. He slapped on a backslide, took the upset and the crowd rejoiced. Sort of.

The radio spots during the week in Rochester were advertising Jeffy Hardy against Carlito against Shelton Benjamin in a Three Way Dance for the US Title. Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Jeff Hardy was a no show but R-Truth was in the house to get rowdy. If he wasn't introduced as Carlito and didn't come out to his music, I wouldn't have believed it was him with his new make over. This was an elimination type match and after R-Truth's recent vignettes and Shelton Benjamin's old vignettes (I brought a gun to school once. The end), we figured this match was a "Who had the hardest childhood to overcome match". It wasn't Carlito as he was eliminated first. Poor guy. R-Truth and Benjamin battled it out for a good chunk of time and I wish I could tell you they put on a classic. If you've been alert at all in the last few years you already know that Benjamin cannot have a decent match with someone who isn't a main eventer. It all falls apart. No exception here. Truth and Benjamin were lost a few times including an Ax Kick that Wasn't Really an Ax Kick and a couple Ducking Mystery Clotheslines spots. Finally, Shelton retains.

Intermission came and went, as they usually do.

Up next we had the World Tag Team Champs, Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase take on Cryme Tyme. First they had a few things to say, mostly about being Priceless or whatever. Yawn. Match was alright and Cody hits his awful DDT for the win.

Everyone loves Matt Hardy and it showed. Mark Henry is a large, large man. The match, picked by texting, was the No DQ match. And here I thought the 2 out of 3 Falls would win. Huh. The two had an energetic fight with Henry looking as good as he ever probably has or will again. After several near falls for Hardy he eventually falls to the World's Strongest Slam. Good match. Special Note: Henry managed to take a "Big Show Bump" of taking a Bulldog by bumping on his back. Tremendous.

Main Event City: Kane, The Great Khali, and MVP took on Big Show, Rey and HHH. The place went nuts for Kane, Rey and HHH, of course, with Rey probably getting the nod. Match featured several SHOW DOWNS and Crotch Chops. Good work by all six, I must say, in a fun match which, of course, saw the faces go over and the place go home happy. The two main events seemed to be enough to make everyone forget about the uh, forgettable first half and the lack of Jeff Hardy, Batista, Jericho, Punk, UT, Cena, etc. To be fair, I think Hardy was the only one of that bunch that was actually advertised on local promos (Cena was too before getting hurt, I think, but that's understandable).

Overall it was a decent time but really could have used some quality talkers. Aside from Santino, no one really worked the crowd verbally, which is a shame because that's half the fun of it.

Ray Rhodes, probably more critical than I should be.

Night of Champions Review by Ray Rhodes

Night of Champions Review, Thoughts, and Comments

by Ray Rhodes

After the RAW Draft and the following Supplemental draft the entire WWE was shaken, not just stirred as in previous drafts. The skeptical viewer (see: the entire IWW staff) would see this as a shameless gimmick to force people to pay attention and to order the Night of Champions PPV to see where the title belts would wind up. And, it seems, a giant swerve to the Internet Community. Jim Ross to Smackdown!? Take that, Good Ole JR! Rey Mysterio to RAW? Where what will the Hispanic audience do? HHH to Smackdown!? They said it would never happen! DH Smith to Fridays? But he was going to be Ted Dibiase's partner! The Swerves! The Intrigue!

Yet, not only was it a shameless gimmick, it was also a great way to freshen up the stale feuds for which I am entirely grateful for. So thank you, WWE, for sending Umaga to Smackdown. Funaki needs his face caved in by Umaga's ass right quick.

Tonight was the Night of Champions and for me, the gimmick worked. I am a huge mark for the title belts and title matches a just the thought of a night where all the belts would be on the line sends shivers down my spine. But since the rising cost of gas has forced Zip Whittle to cut my pay, I haven't been nearly as enthusiastic about dropping 40 bones for a PPV. Any hesitation, however, went away after the draft. Bring on Night of Champions!

With Finlay and Hornswaggle officially moving to ECW, I knew the tag titles could go either way on the hot opener. The Fighting Irish against Miz and Morrison in a worth while match would rest squarely on the ability of the four to manage hard hitting wrestling, tag psychology and comedy. Which they did and then some. Miz and Morrison are fast becoming the best tag team of the last few years (sorry, Carlito and Chris Masters) and Finlay and the sprite put up as much fight as they should without Miz and Morrison losing too much credibility. WWE went the right way here and had the Chick Magnet and the Emperor of Abs go over here.

Speaking of tag teams, the Draft sent Deuce over to RAW. They've done similar things in Drafts of Yesteryear just before they fire someone useless. Sorry, Deuce, we hardly knew ya.

Matt Hardy had to defend his US Title against someone other than MVP. And the world rejoiced. Sadly, though, that challenger would be Chavo Guerrero, who can't seem to have a good match unless it's with Rey Mysterio and 7 years ago. The two worked a decent match, to be fair, and Matt Hardy picks up the win after reversing the last suplex in the Three Amigos and hitting the Twist of Fate.

** Ray Rhodes Nice Touch Moment of the Match**

When Matt Hardy hit the Twist of Fate out of the suplexes, Chavo's bodyguard was taunting the crowd and didn't see the reversal. So when Matt went for the cover and got the three count, Neely was caught off guard and it didn't give him a chance to try and interfere. If he had been watching, it would have looked silly for him to just stand there, especially since he's a heel. So, nice touch.

The Internet World had been a buzz for weeks. Who would be Diabase's partner? Was it DH Smith? No! He went to Smackdown! Was it Teddy Hart? Yeah, right. Was it Cody Rhodes in a move that makes no sense, even to the most toothless of rednecks? Of course! In a swerve that make no legal sense, even in professional wrestling, Cody Rhodes turned on Hardcore Holly and was announced his own mystery opponent. When Dibiase pinned Holly, Rhodes lost the titles with Holly and won them with Dibiase at the same time. To make matters worse, Dibiase has the worst theme music in the last 12 years as well as the worst finisher. Million Dollar Dream into some sort of Russian Leg Sweep? Apparently money can't buy you happiness, good theme music or a decent finisher. But it can buy you an awful storyline. If Ted Dibiase Sr. was dead, he's be rolling in his grave.

Somebody in the WWE woke up and had a good idea. Use Jericho to his ability. And his ability is to be a great heel and to have incredible matches, not brawling with JBL and wrestling once a month.

Now that he's in a great feud with HBK, something had to be done with the IC Title. And that something was recent draft acquisition, Kofi Kingston. In a very strong back and forth match, Jericho did what Jericho does and Kofi showed glimpses of living up to his potential despite a few rough patches. Throw in HBK, a superkick on Lance Cade and a surprise upset and you've got some intriguing TV for the next few Raws. I admit it, I'm hooked.

Pigs began to fly and Hell was frozen over because tonight was the night Mark Henry became a World Champion. It's been a long 12 or so years of multiple let downs, painful matches, and a dozen injuries but Mark Henry has done it! Night of Champions brought us Kane, Big Show and Henry in a match of Sloths. It actually started decent until Kane got roughed up on the apron after getting dumped from the ring which left Show and Henry in the ring longer than should be allowed by law. Eventually, Henry gets the win after massive amounts of bodies crashing around. Mark Henry is a happy man tonight, but the world weeps.

Mickie James defended her Women's Championship against Katie Lea Burchill in a match that would, in my mind, make or break Katie Lea. On a side note, I was digging the Burchill v Kennedy angle but they abruptly ended it and sent Kennedy to Smackdown. Jerks. The two women had a pretty good women's match truth be told and it was an actual match, with barely a hair biel, hair pull, or hair based offense at all. Thank you. Mickie picks up the win but I hope they continue to feud for another month or so.

I originally thought whichever World Title match went on last would be the big title change of the night. So when Edge v Batista was in the Viscera Spot, my hope of Batista taking the title to RAW fell apart. After weeks of getting screwed over, it seemed like the perfect point for Batista's revenge. Sadly, Edge retains but after Batista picks up Vickie and hurls her onto La Famiglia, I'd say it was worth it.

So, logically, HHH was losing to Cena, right?

I guess not.

After hyping the match as a match that would give us a moment we would never forget, it was a typical Cena/HHH match. It almost seemed too robotical and cookie-cuttered and at no point did it reach the point of intensity it should have. Even the false finishes were predictable and with HHH winning it just seemed like a cheat. Sure, it wasn't what was expected but sometimes what is expected is what's needed. Raw needs a champion and for that not to be resolved at Night of Champions just seems like a dirty trick. Like sending Matt Striker to RAW. Sorry, Matt, you're probably not going to have a job anymore.

The best part of the night, perhaps, for comedy anyway, was when Batista and Cena were talking backstage, CM Punk came up and made sure we remembered he had the Money in the Bank Briefcase. Just the thought of Punk againt Cena or Batista made me have a fit of laughter. The day Punk beats either of them is the day Carlito beats HHH. Stranger things have happened, however, Mark Henry is a World Champion after all.

Final Word: The PPV started off good but a baffling and stupid tag team match and no title change in either of the main events brings a possible A grade to a strong B.

Future Presidents appears on RAW; King of the Ring returns!

Political theatre jumped in the squared circle on Monday night as all three major Presidential Candidates appeared on RAW in taped speeches laced with wrestling catchphrases. Also on this special three-hour episode, WWE held a one-night King of the Ring tournament crowning the first champion since King Booker’s 2006 win. (Prior to that, the tournament had been retired since June 2002 when Brock Lesnar defeated RVD in the finals. Trivia note: only five of the sixteen men in that 2002 tournament – Edge, Hardcore Holly, William Regal, Val Venis and Chris Jericho – are still working for WWE now.)

WWE did not announce the participants for this tournament in advance. The news that the Presidential Candidates had each taped a message for the show was also late-breaking. No doubt, with a very close primary in Pennsylvania, any efforts to target young voters (Obama appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Monday as well), were being pursued aggressively. The overnight ratings for the show were not released yet but are expected to be higher than normal for the last two hours.

The timing for a one night, three-hour RAW directly preceding Sunday’s Backlash PPV is interesting. Typically, these specials are directives from USA. A seven-match one-night tournament like King of the Ring is an excellent way to fill the time but on a go-home show directly prior to a PPV, is it dilutive to selling Backlash? PPV storylines were woven into the tournament as well as promos for the RAW main event. However, the tri-focus of KOTR, promoting the upcoming pay-per-view and the messages by Obama, Clinton and McCain gave the show a very odd feeling.

First round was Chris Jericho (Intercontinental Champion, RAW) and Montel Vontavious Porter (US Champion, Smackdown). This pairing is especially interesting because Jericho honed his skills as one of the last modern wrestlers to really tour the world (Europe, Mexico, Japan, North America) prior to joining WWE. MVP joined the professional wrestling community much later in his life, but has shown a veracious ability to learn and improve ever since Kane literally lit a fire under his ass during their inferno match. Both have expressed a deep appreciation for Japanese strong-style wrestling. With these expectations, the match was okay but not incredible. Surprisingly, MVP submitted to the Walls of Jericho after Y2J escaped from the Play of the Day. Considering that Jericho is the referee for the Batista/HBK match and MVP has a singles match with Matt Hardy, I would have thought MVP would continue. However, seeing the rest of the matches, the decision must have been made that face-face matches would play better than heel-heel matches.

Next match was “Never say Die” Matt Hardy and “Mr. Money in the Bank” CM Punk. Considering MVP’s loss, it seemed evident that Hardy would be doing the job. Another match that would play very well in front of a ROH audience, Punk was able to get the pinfall after Hardy escaped from the G2S (KENTA’s Go 2 Sleep).

Fit Finlay and Great Khali had a short match ending in a disqualification. Khali was killing Finlay and destroying his leg by wrapping it around the ringpost. Eventually, Big Show appeared and the two had a short confrontation. I was surprised they had Khali giving Big Show the Tree-Slam on Smackdown last week. Personally, the allure of these two giants fighting one another (in my mind because Big Show had to take Khali’s place in the awful Punjabi Prison Match several years ago) is only special if we can’t see them taking bumps on free TV.

Finlay and son Hornswoggle were leaving when William Regal came out and it was announced that the diminutive former bastard son of Vince McMahon had been entered into the King of the Ring tournament. Regal made quick work of Hornswaggle by applying the Regal Stretch and immediately garnering a submission victory.

CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho in the KOTR semi-final match in the best match of the evening. These two men met just three weeks prior on Monday Night RAW during the build-up to the Money in the Bank Ladder match at Wrestlemania. In that encounter, Jericho landed the Code Breaker to defeat CM Punk in an excellent match. On Monday night, CM Punk avenged that loss when he managed to nail the G2S for the win. With a tournament which has the possibility to create new stars, CM Punk seemed like the right person to get some additional momentum. However, since he already holds the “Money in the Bank” title shot, it’s questionable whether he really would have needed to win this tournament as well.

William Regal and Fit Finlay had their usual face-bustingly violent affair. It was terrific to see them working over each other with their brutal strikes. Eventually, Regal managed to destroy Finlay with a devastating combination of senton-punches-knee lift and Regal stretch for another submission victory. Because of Finlay’s knee injury from the Khali match, I was surprised this one went as long as it did.

The finals for the 2008 King of the Ring tournament was William Regal versus CM Punk. Again, in another promotion, given sufficient time, this could be one of the finest matches of the year. On RAW, this was merely a good, albeit too short, final for a one-night tournament. In the end, Regal matched to apply the Regal Stretch for a third consecutive submission triumph.

A tournament such as King of the Ring offers an opportunity to make new stars. One of the main problems with the WWE Brand Expansion is that with the multiplying number of belts, it becomes harder and harder to establish anyone but the very top tier of the company: Triple H, Randy Orton, John Cena, Undertaker, Batista, Shawn Michaels and Edge. When you remove these players from a major tournament, you are only left with faux-main event contenders (JBL), Tag Champions (Hardcore Holly), Intermediate Belts (US Champion MVP & Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho) and ECW “Superstars” (Kane & Chavo Guerrero). The Fit Finlays of the roster are people whose sole job is really to be a credible opponent without really being a major contender. Wasting a slot on Hornswaggle, especially without a storyline about Regal being a conniving GM stacking the tournament in his own favor, is a real shame. Instead, elevating a young star such as Lance Cade or re-establishing a potential powerhouse such as Umaga would have had far more impact. William Regal’s transition to King of the WWE will hopefully be a productive adventure. He definitely has the skills and background. The real question is – who will he defend his royal title against?

Wrestlemania in Orlando - Ric Flair retires!!

JBL defeated Fit Finlay in a “Belfast Brawl” match. (An interesting choice for hot opener because it’s always tough to follow a weapons melee as the first broadcast match of the night. However, there wasn’t a lot of other choices except perhaps Umaga vs Batista or Bunnymania.) Finlay was accompanied by his returning “son”, Hornswaggle (a.k.a. the Little Bastard), who didn’t really play much of a role in the match. Finlay tried to bring the violence including kicking out the vintage Benoit/Finlay moment of diving to the outside to see the hijo answered with a nasty weapon shot. JBL’s table spot was interesting because he seemed uncertain whether he wanted to take a flip bump or not, so he ended up going shoulder/head first. Ouch. JBL ends up winning with the clothesline from hell.

Money in the Bank with Seven Men: MVP, John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, Chris Jericho, CM Punk and Mr Kennedy. There was no strong contender going into this match following the suspension of number eight man Jeff Hardy due to a drug test violation. As with all Money in the Bank matches, Shelton Benjamin worked hard and a spectacle ensued. Some creative spots with interlocking the ladders brought the nice innovation factor. Matt Hardy made a surprise return to knock MVP away from the briefcase which was a pleasant continuation of their feud. In the end, CM Punk won the match. However, his future is very uncertain – a title shot at ECW One Night Stand, perhaps?

Batista versus Umaga had a solid match with the Samoan Bulldozer working over the Fujian grandfather’s back. In the end, Batista narrowly managed to execute a powerbomb on the giant monster and won the “Battle for Brand Supremacy”. This did not have a big-match feeling about it, nor did feel like it was a meaningful encounter between the two brands. Umaga is probably moving off RAW in the coming weeks.

Kane won the ECW Championship (his second “world” title reign) by chokeslamming and pinning Chavo Guerrero in less than ten seconds. Kane has been on every Wrestlemania since 1998. We’ll see if his reign as ECW champion will be a ratings failure like Morrison’s.

Ric Flair lost his career-threatening match against Shawn Michaels and retired. HBK showed a lot of emotional throughout the match and put his body on line with a Asai moonsault into the announcer table that looked like it busted his ribs and a flip from the top rope to the floor that looked brutal. Arena was emotional with Flair’s last match and that sentiment will no doubt grow tonight as RAW is built around his farewell.

Bunnymania Lumberjack Match did not have Torrie Wilson as a nameless Diva on the outside. Beth Phoenix & Melina defeated Maria and her partner Ashely (filling in for a re-injured Candice Michelle). Not much to say about this match except that Snoop Dogg was given a ridiculous giant throne to watch it at ringside and later hit Santino and kissed Maria. What a great ad for his parenting reality show!

Triple H, John Cena and Randy Orton had a very well-laid out title match where the heel championship was able to retain. Crowd was vociferously booing Cena during this match as expected. Triple H was very popular but did not wear his Halloween costume. This fued will continue!

Floyd “Money” Mayweather defeated Big Show by Knock-out after Paul Wight fought an army of handlers, took several chairshots and was punched in the head by a world champ boxer while wearing brass knuckles. This match was laid out very well and the crowd was very excited to see the natural heel get hit. This may have been the best celebrity pro-wrestling match yet executed.

In the main event of the evening, Edge lost the World Heavyweight Title to The Undertaker by submission. The story of this match was the Undertaker’s 16-0 Wrestlemania streak which remains intact. Many observers pegged this match as the best on the card following a quiet beginning. Undertaker has been working hard to get the Gogoplata submission over and on Sunday, the crowd popped huge so it was a success. As usual, the show ended with a face winning a major championship.

Pre-WM IWW show: http://dl01.blastpodcast.com/indeedwrestling/15285_1206591194.mp3

SUMMERSLAM 2007

Rey Mysterio returns to Summerslam covered in Volcanic Ash.

New IWW show: THE CONDEMNED~!

IWW: The Condemned Review w/ Foywonder!

Another great show with B-movie guru FOYWONDER. We talk about WWE's latest: THE CONDEMNED; Roddy Piper's hits & misses; Jesse's failed buddy cop/wrestling TV show (honestly!) and much more. Also, we have a TRIVIA CONTEST for prizes. Great show!

SANTINO~!, Hogan/Lawler OFF & TNA Lockdown PPV

This week WWE gave something back to their European fans by taping their flagship shows overseas. (And why not? As it stands, this current continental excursion is set to be the highest grossing tour in the history of the company!) RAW & Smackdown were taped this week in Italy. England will host next week.

One of the biggest surprises this past week was moving the Intercontinental Title from Umaga to a brand new character as the opener on RAW. Santino Marella, born Anthony Corelli, has been training at OVW for at least two years. In Kentucky, his character was Boris Alexiev, a faux-MMA superstar that was pushed during Paul Heyman’s time in charge of developmental. Ironically, the reason that Heyman was booking OVW instead of Jim Cornette was incidentally due to Corelli. Back in July 2005, Cornette blew his lid after Corelli, a plant in the front row, reacted poorly and laughed at Boogeyman’s debut in OVW. Cornette, notorious for his short temper, actually began slapping Corelli repeatedly in the face when he returned backstage. In the end, when word filtered back to the office, Jim Cornette lost his job with WWE, and eventually moved on to TNA. Corelli’s new moniker is thought to be a tribute to longtime WWF employee Gorilla Monsoon, real name Robert Otto Marella. The entire scenario was literally a last minute brainstorm by Vince McMahon who basically called Alexiev, and told him to get to Milan by the next day. Reportedly, Boris was in line for an ECW/Taz push by Dusty Rhodes, but that idea is now out of the window.

Some other updates:
• Jerry Lawler vs Hulk Hogan in Memphis has been cancelled. However, the event will continue with Hogan vs Paul Wight. WWE really pressured Lawler to not do this event and in the end, they won.
• Rene Dupree is in rehab. Bob Holly is getting elbow surgery. Kane needs knee surgery. Booker T got knee surgery. Ashley needs work on her leg that she broke last year.
• TNA Lockdown PPV Results from outside St. Louis, Missouri
-Chris Sabin won an Escape the Cage match (against Chris Sabin, Shark Boy, Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt)
-Robert Roode defeated Petey Williams
-Gail Kim beat Jackie Moore
-Senshi (Low Ki) rolled up Austin Starr (Austin Aries) for the pin.
-Former Tag Partners STORM conquered HARRIS in a BLINDFOLD match that was not good.
-Christopher Daniels overcame Jerry Lynn clean.
-TEAM 3-D won something like their 20th Tag Title from L.A.X. in an electrified cage match that was seen as very hokey by the crowd.
-STING beat Abyss in the Wargames match. The rest of the main eventers were in there too.
• Great list of Wrestling Events throughout the country.

Alternatives to WWE

As life is wont to do, the weeks following the granddaddy-of-them-all Wrestlemania, are usually marked with a downturn in interest. This decline will generally stabilize over the Summer, with a small upward swing typically around Summerslam. When Football returns in the Fall, usually that picks off a lot of wrestling fans until around the Royal Rumble.

So, what causes this diminished attention? Is it because WWE typically rehashes their Wrestlemania main events? In this case, Backlash will feature Lashley versus Umaga (this time in a handicap match with Vince & Shane McMahon), The Undertaker versus Dave “the Animal” Batista (again for the Smackdown championship) and John Cena versus Shawn Michaels versus Randy Orton versus Edge (at least a slight variation on the HBK/Cena WM match). Internally, the view is that “branded” PPV, that is Pay-Per-Views where only superstars from a single brand (RAW/Smackdown!/ECW), aren’t sufficiently strong in the domestic market. December’s ECW PPV had less than 100,000 buys worldwide and registered one of the lowest gross domestic buys in North America of the past decade. So, that’s why on this next PPV all three major championships will be defended.

However, if you’re not interested in this retread, what else is out there for you?

Of course, there is TNA: Total Non-stop Action. They used to be known as NWA TNA, but the NWA moniker is being phased out. They’re going back to a NWA Heavyweight Champion touring the indies, and TNA isn’t going to be sending Christian Cage or Sting out to Elbow, West Virginia to perform in a barn. This weekend is Lockdown, the PPV with ALL cage matches. (I believe this was originally Dusty Rhodes idea .) They’re on the road for this event in St. Charles, Missouri so I expect a very rowdy crowd.
The Line-up courtesy of Brian Alvarez:
* Christian & A.J. Styles & Scott Steiner & Abyss & Tyson Tomko vs. Kurt Angle & Samoa Joe & Rhino & Sting & Jeff Jarrett in a War Games match where the guy who gets the pin wins a title shot at the next PPV.
* Latin American Exchange (LAX- Homicide & Hernadez) vs. Team 3D (The Dudleyz) for the NWA Tag Titles in an ELECTRIFIED cage match
* Austin Starr (Austin Aries) vs. Senshi (Low-ki) with Bob Backlund as the referee
* Jerry Lynn vs. Christopher Daniels
* Gail Kim vs. Jackie Moore (Jacqueline)
* Chris Sabin vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal vs. Alex Shelley vs. Shark Boy in an Xscape the Cage match
* Petey Williams vs. Robert Roode (formerly Team Canada’s Bobby Roode)
* Chris Harris vs. James Storm in a blindfold match (former tag partners)
* Bashams (Christy Hemme's new team) vs. VKM (Voo Doo Kin Mafia – basically, the New Age Outlaws – Road Dogg/BG James & Billy Gunn/Kip James)
The PPV will probably be solid. There is some variety and extra stipulations where they can keep the matches varied so the crowd won’t be too burned out. Expect the D-Von & Bubba (Team 3D) to win the so they can add the NWA Tag Titles to their vast lineage. Still, the PPV is under the radar of most fans. I don’t expect anything above the normal 30k PPV buys that TNA always gets.

You could go down to Memphis, TN. Hulk Hogan and Jerry Lawler are putting together something that would qualify as one of the most noteworthy independent wrestling shows in a long time. (As Dave Meltzer has emphasized, there have also been numerous lucha libre shows throughout the United States geared towards Hispanic audiences which have drawn huge crowds.) Set for April 27, Hulk Hogan versus Jerry Lawler is billed as the “PMG Clash of the Legends” and booked for the Fed Ex Forum in Memphis. Former WCW/WWE/ECW superchamp Big Show will be coming out of his “retirement” to wrestle under his real name of Paul Wight. Plenty of 80s legends, especially Hogan’s buddies will be on hand: Greg Valentine, Brutus Beefcake, Jimmy Valiant, Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson, Koko B. Ware, The Barbarian, Jim Cornette, Abdullah the Butcher and Jerry Lawler’s son Grandmaster Sexay (Brian Christopher). The arena seats about 19,000 and Hogan is very clever. Hulk won’t wrestle in half-empty arena, especially since this is seen largely as a major play by Hogan to prove to WWE that he’s still relevant. (If anyone is planning on going to show, PLEASE send us an email.)

If you’re an adult (above 18) and interested in a very “alternative” wrestling product, you could consider Carmen Electra’s NWWL. That stands for the Naked Women’s Wrestling League. This isn’t porn stars rolling around in oil or chicken wing grease. It is still professional wrestling, except all the women wrestle nude. While the earliest tapings featured some pretty cornball storylines and questionable wrestling, to their credit, the owners of NWWL have really invested heavily in their product and production values. They have a substantially large training gym in Toronto where Ron Hutchinson, a professional wrestling trainer who’s taught a host of accomplished performers (including Trish Stratus, Edge and Christian), works with the women. Also, they’ve brought in independent talent such as April Hunter and Melissa Coates. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to NWWL Writer & Producer Dan Brown on several occasions, and I must admit that while creating a sexy product is always the goal of NWWL, they’re also very serious about writing & producing a real professional wrestling show. The latest taping of NWWL: Naked Revolution, begun airing on Monday on InDemand. It was taped last year in Canada. If you’re at all curious, please listen to the hour interview with Dan & April which was conducted on Monday. It was a very funny, interesting and enjoyable time!

Lastly, there is plenty of excellent independent wrestling out there. Ring of Honor, the winner of Wrestling Observer’s “Best Booker” award, is touring Minnesota & Chicago at the end of the month. NWA Upstate in Rochester, NY just held an excellent card last week including a Wargames cage match pitting Brodie Lee’s Team vs Jimmy Olsen’s Team. Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG) will be having another superstar event in West Hills, CA on May 19. Portage, Indiana will host the rising Fight Sports Midwest with Human Tornado, Low Ki, Tiger Mask IV and Marty Jannetty. There is plenty of excellent professional wrestling across the entire United States and Canada almost every weekend. We urge you to check it out!

So, don’t forget – if WWE has you down, there’s plenty of other great professional wrestling out there! And that’s not even touching on all the Mixed Marital Arts goodness that awaits you as well…

IWW reviews Wrestlemania 23

Wow. That was a very solid PPV! There weren't many surprises: what you expected to deliver, really did; what you expected to stink, did just that. I want to thank everyone who commented on the recent WMpredictions pieces! (We always love to hear from readers and we're interested in what you have to say.)

This year's Wrestlemania drew a reported 80,103 fans to Ford Field in Detroit. If that number is legitimate, that would easily be the largest pro-wrestling event ever held in North America. Toronto is in third place with 67k fans to see Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania VI in 1990 and 68k fans packing the Skydome for "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan vs The Rock at Wrestlemania X8 in 2002. WWF's claim of 93,173 for WM3 at the Silverdome isn't real. The real number for Wrestlemania in 1987 was closer to 78k. WM23 isn't even the record for Vince as they drew 82,000 to Wimbley Stadium in London, England for Summerslam 1992 for Bret Hart vs Davey Boy Smith. Any way you slice it, this year's Wrestlemania is a record for North American pro-wrestling gate, North American pro-wrestling attendance and highest Wrestlemania attendance. Next year's Wrestlemania will be at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando which will probably hold somewhere between 65 and 75 thousand people. It probably won't surpass this year's attendance, but it will be another huge event with tons of people and an enormous live gate!

On the Indeed Wrestling Weekly staff, LadyA showed her dominance by predicting seven of the eight matches correctly (only faltering on the ECW tag). Everyone else predicted either four or five matches of the matches correctly. On the whole, there wasn't much in the way of unexpected events. However, in pro-wrestling, predictability can be a really great thing: fans like to be able to see where a story is going and they like to be excited about that path. In the late 90s, Vince Russo & WCW Nitro Crash TV really pushed the envelope when it came to giving surprises and SWERVING the audience. Shocking people might increase television ratings, but it rarely plays well for viewers who have paid serious money to watch Pay-Per-Views. When it comes to the really big events - it's best not to do something dangerous. (Look at WCW Starcade 1997 with Sting vs Hogan for an example of how not just giving the fans what they wanted - a clean pinfall/submission - ruined a perfect angle.)After Aretha Franklin, her choir ("CROWN IT") and the military vignettes, we had Wrestlemania PYRO~! Then it was time for the first match.

1. MONEY IN THE BANK Jeff Hardy/Booker T/Fit Finlay/CM Punk/Mr. Ken Kennedy/Matt Hardy/Randy Orton/Edge)
Going into this match, the leading contenders were Edge, Orton and Kennedy. Edge, suffering from a torn bursa sac in his jaw, hasn't been wrestling much on television lately. In the end, a massive legdrop from Jeff Hardy through a ladder (the MASSIVE HGH LADDER OF DOOM) suspended between the ring and the guardrail (or MANSHIELD as TC Watts calls it) removed Edge and Jeff Hardy from this match. Fit Finlay really stepped up his game and set the tone for the evening: large men unexpectedly doing moves off the top rope: Air Finlay! This match really had it all - Hornswaggle's mini-ladder (stiff shot to CM Punk's head from Edge), Matt Hardy taking a nasty suplex on the ladder (again from Edge), Ken Kennedy missing a senton and landing neck-first on a ladder, Jeff Hardy giving a huge senton on Kennedy, Orton hitting an RKO off the ladder on CM Punk, Ken Kennedy delivering a rolling Samoan Drop to Finlay's midget from off the ladder, Fit Finlay executing a painful looking Celtic Cross on Matt Hardy across a ladder and much more! They laid out this match very well with people pairing up to fight on the ladder (with strong strikes and quick movements, this flowed a lot better than some other ladder matches) along with giving each wrestler their moment to shine (such as Edge's 6 spears, Booker T cleaning house, Randy Orton delivering multiple RKOs). In the end, it came down to the two newest WWE superstars: CM Punk and Ken Kennedy. While both were on the ladder, CM Punk hit a Maui thay kick to knock off Ken Kennedy. Kennedy retailated by throwing a ladder at CM Punk's face and climbing to victory. As Ray Rhodes & Zip Whittle predicted, the "golden boy" of Smackdown is now the 2007 Money in the Bank champion.
WINNER: KEN KENNEDY (19 minutes 10 seconds)

(RAW) The Great Khali VS (Smackdown!) Kane
Ultimately, this felt like a strange TV match somehow transported to our Wrestlemania screen. The encounter was less than six minutes long and still exposed how dreadfully poor Khali is at selling. We did get some old-school wrestling action with a trapeze muscle hold! Kane brought in his hook/scythe and we eventually got a serious low blow (with a chain) by Kane. This lead to the big moment where Kane bodyslammed Khali. It was a nice visual. (I wonder if in twenty years, people will remember this match as fondly as Andre/Hogan. Well, with the exception being that the crowd was at least vocal during that Wrestlemania match.) However, Khali could not be put down. He hit his hanging neck tree slam (chokebomb?) and won clean. No Mark Henry run-in. No DQ for using a Chain. They continue to build Great Khali. I assume he'll be fed either to John Cena or Bobby Lashley in the next four months.
WINNER: The Great Khali (5 minutes 31 seconds)

At this point, we had classic Wrestlemania Comedy with a bevy of cameos. Cryme Tyme & Eugene (looking quite Ox Baker-like) ran into the Extreme Expose, Moolah & Mae Young, REV. SLICK~!, Dusty Rhodes, Jimmy Hart, Mean Gene, IRS, Jerry Briscoe and RICKY F'N STEAMBOAT and lastly, FAROOQ (DAMN!). They had a dance party. It was a beautiful thing. "FAROOQ... FAROOQ... FAROOQ IS ON FIRE!"

US Championship: Chris Benoit (c) vs Montel Vontavious Porter
MVP has improved a lot, especially since Kane burned his ass. He's been in the WWE for less than a year and it starting to show a lot of potential for becoming a serious wrestler. The announcers (JBL/Cole) did a good job really building up Chris Benoit in this match as an incredible technical wrestler (Bret Hart & Eddy Guerrero are the "only guys able to go toe-for-toe"). Thus, when MVP was able to hold his own with Benoit, it really meant something. This was easily MVP's best match of his career (and it's no coincidence he was in there with Benoit) and I really thought they were going to put the Florida native over the Canadian for the US Title. However, in the end Chris Benoit pinned MVP clean using the diving headbutt! Either way, it was a fun match and a lot better than I expected. Ray Rhodes was right to predict that they two would click in a great way. I'm still not sure where they're going with Benoit down the line, whether he's going to stay on Smackdown or whether he might move to RAW. I expect this feud between Chris & MVP won't be over for awhile.
WINNER: CHRIS BENOIT (9 minutes 19 seconds)

We had a segment with Boogeyman, Donald Trump and former Miss USA 2006 Tara Connor. Wacky, worm-related comedy abounds. Trump was completely nonplussed by Boogeyman. Tara ran off. Trump claimed there were "almost 100,000 people" there and he couldn't get a sandwich. All I can say is that Vince McMahon is amazing - he's such a heel that he can turn Donald Trump, hardly a likeable guy, into a babyface.

The 2007 Hall of Fame was introduced: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Nick Bockwinkel, Mr. Fuji, The Wild Samoans (who did an awesome crazy pose), The Sheik (represented by his wife) and Mr. Perfect (represented by his mother and his father - Larry "the Ax" Hennig). I really wish that they would broadcast the HOF ceremony on PPV for $10-$20. They could sell a decent number and lots of older fans would be interested in tuning in!

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (SMACKDOWN! TITLE)
THE UNDERTAKER VS DAVE "THE ANIMAL" BATISTA (C)

One thing you're always guaranteed at Wrestlemania is a great Undertaker Entrance. (Always gives 20-25 indy workers the chance to throw on a black robe and walk around with fire!) My wife wondered why the druids chanted in Latin, but we all know that it's because it sounds cool. Big Dave seemed very focused. Maybe he'd read the AT&T Poll results: 82% of the voters thought he was going to lose. Both men went at it hard & heavy from the start trading strikes. The fans were audibly booing Batista and cheering Undertaker. (It was clear that Cena would be in for a ride later tonight.) Undertaker really had his working boots on tonight and was willing to pretty much kill himself in order to get over the match. He took a flip bump over the stairs on the outside, executed a picture perfect, terrifying no-hands over-the-top rope PLANCHA OF DOOM to Batista on the outside, herked Batista off the turnbuckle and planted him for a Last Ride and took a powerslam through the ECW announcer table. Batista went to the top rope and surprised us with a flying shoulderblock and had a great near fall after almost paralyzing Taker with his Batista Bomb (a jack-knife powerbomb that was so brutal that I really believed Undertaker's streak was over). However, in the end, Undertaker recovered and hit his Tombstone Piledriver to a massive ovation. This was very good; a lot of people have been calling it a highlight even above the Cena/HBK match.
WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: THE UNDERTAKER (15 minutes 47 seconds)

Vince McMahon met with Stephanie McMahon to do a "WACKY VINCE PROMO". This one included BABY CAM and ended with the line, "She took a trump" when VKM smelled poop. It was silly but Vince can pull off a lot of stuff that would kill a mere mortal. I really was expecting Vince to get peed on in this segment.

ECW NEW BREED VS ECW ORIGINALS
(Elijah Burke/Matt Striker/Kevin Thorn/Marcus Cor Von) vs (Sandman/RVD/Dreamer/Sabu)
Ric Flair works the undercard with Carlito (against Shane Helms & Chavo Guerrero Jr.) so we can have Tommy Dreamer on Wrestlemania. At last. Anyways, at least everyone worked quickly and the audience seemed into it. The ECW Originals came in through the crowd while the New Breed made their entrance normally (with Burke looking a bit like Dee Jay from Street Fighter II). ECW fill-all, Scott Armstrong, was your referee! Sabu started the match and connected with his wacky springboard office. He tagged out to Sandman who actually executed a HYUGE legdrop across the ropes. Dreamer & Sandman did some goofy gobstopper elbows and eventually the ALPHA MALE got in the ring. Apparently, RVD was the only wrestler of this bunch who had ever been at Wrestlemania before. (Dreamer wasn’t in any hardcore battles?) The vampire came in to deliver some GOTHIC rear-chinlocks. Matt Striker knows how to take a great monkey flip! At one point, Sabu shot over the ropes and tried to kill Monty Brown. He was promptly dropped right on his head. Ouch. Anyhow, in the end ROB VAN DAM got the win with a big frogsplash. A bit of a surprising result; perhaps RVD isn’t leaving the company after all! The New Breed can’t beat the original ECW Geeks. It was a nice feel-good moment just like DJ Terry predicted.
WINNER: ECW ORIGINALS (6:26)

BATTLE OF THE BILLIONARIES: BOBBY LASHLEY VS UMAGA
Everyone got their own entrance in this match – even the barbershop platform. (No doubt it was powered by Wrestlemania 3 ring cart technology!) Vince came in with his super powerwalk. Umaga and Armando Estrada (remember him?) showed up. He still has the IC Title, by the way! Donald Trump (show with Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss Universe all in the crowd) saunters in with money dropping from the ceiling. Bobby Lashley, ECW World Championship and Army Sergeant, makes his way to the ring. Stone Cold Steve Austin arrives, ready to raise hell. They ate up a significant amount of time with just getting everyone down to the ring. Eventually, the match started at Umaga & Lashley traded some flying shoulderblocks (again, as the memo encouraged all the 300-pounders). Both Umaga and Lashley also did death-defying flip bumps from the ring on to the floor which could not have felt good at all. Austin made his presence known when he hooked Umaga’s eye (just like he said he would) when Jamal wouldn’t break. So, Shane McMahon showed up and distracted Steve Austin so Umaga could hit him with the Samoan Spike. Then, in the evening low point, Bobby Lashley had to sell Shane’s comical strikes (instead, of just EATING HIM) so Shane McMahon could do his “coast-to-coast” dropkick into a trash can. (This move, a take-off of RVD’s Van Terminator, was shown in the Wrestlemania clips at the start of the show. Foreshadowing!) With Austin still out, Shane tears off his shirt to reveal he’s now a referee. Umaga does a HUGE splash and nearly flattens Bobby. He pins Lashley and it’s 1…2… AUSTIN PULLS OUT SHANE. At this moment, Trump turns to the camera and nonchalantly says, “What’s going on here.” Hilarity. Then, in a surprising spot Trump runs over and clothesline McMahon and starts delivering wacky worked punches. Umaga misses a Samoan Spike on Austin, gets a stunner, Lashley spears him and 1-2-3 it’s over! Shane McMahon receives a patented Austin combo as Vince tries to sneak away. Lashley retrieves him, throws him over his shoulder and ties him to the Sweeney Todd Barber Chair (as my wife coined it). Surprisingly, Donald Trump actually participates in the shaving of Vincent Kennedy McMahon. They even break out the cream and blades to really turn McMahon bald. VKM does his hilarious facials and tries to push himself over in the chair. Out of nowhere, Steve Austin suddenly stunners Donald Trump. What can you say about a match like this? Part debacle, part spectacle, absurd and fun. Hopefully, all the added press around this match added a hundred thousand buys. Will Vince be on RAW tonight with a wig?
WINNER: BOBBY LASHLEY (so Vince McMahon got his head shaved)

We get some footage from the Lumberjack Tag Team Match with Flair/Carlito vs Helms/Chavo that was held on the preshow to give all the guys some kind of payday. Here they were mostly trying to stall so they could clean up the ring.

WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: ASHLEY VS MELINA – RING SURROUNDED BY LUMBERJILLS
Mickie James, Torrie Wilson, Candice Michelle, Maria, Kelly Kelly, Brooke Adams, Krystal, Victoria, Jillian Hall, Michelle McCool and the reappearing TRINITY came down followed by Playboy cover girl Ashely and Melina (without Johnny Nitro). They two didn’t have long to wrestle and didn’t ONCE leave the ring. They started with the obligatory hair-related offense and moved into the now-obligatory Stacy Kiebler leg chokes. Melina busted out a giant swing which was fun and Ashley did the headsissors & monkey flips proving any dope is capable. She missed an awful elbow drop. In the end, Melina won with a simple bridge. All the girls than got into a big fight. JBL ranted about “LUMBERJILL PANDEMONIUM.” I can’t fault the whole setup too much; they were in there for a simple purpose – to play a buffer between big matches. I’m glad they’re keeping on the title on Melina since Ashley is pretty hopeless as an actual wrestler.
WINNER: MELINA (3 minutes 14 seconds)

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP (RAW TITLE)
JOHN CENA (C) vs SHAWN MICHAELS
59% of the AT&T voters had Cena retaining. 41% chose HBK. Obviously, the outcome for this match wasn't as crystal clear as UT/Batista. JR kept claiming that Shawn hasn't held this title for nine years. What about his Elimination Chamber win?, I thought. Ray Rhodes set me straight: technically, that was for the World Heavyweight Championship which used to be on RAW until Batista & Cena swapped places. Cena's entrance this year lacked gangsters. Instead, it was a Ford Mustang shooting through the streets of Detroit ala Fast and the Furious. HBK was really heeling it up as a cocky bastard. Still, the crowd popped huge for Cena's arrival, booed his wrestling and cheered him whenever he seemed to be close to hitting his finisher(s): FU & STFU. We'd had very little blood (Fit got busted open during the opening match) so that was an element in this match. Shawn always steps it up when it comes to the big matches. Tonight he hit some nice enerzgis, an ASAI MOONSAULT and a very nice piledriver on Cena on top of the steps. The match had a number of great sequences highlighted by Cena trying to hit the FU and HBK countering with things such as a DDT and a sunset flip. Eventually, Cena switches gears and starts going for his submission hold but HBK is able to secure an inside cradle for a near fall. With both men bloody, Cena eventually secures an STFU but HBK manages to crawl to the ropes. Referee Jack Doan (the second ref in the match after the first one ate a Superkick from Shawn) rips Cena off Shawn and while he's admonishing him, HBK nails a sweet chin music on Cena. However, Cena does kickout and after a double down, Cena manages to secure the STFU for the victory. Ray Rhodes pointed out that's 3 of the last 4 Wrestlemanias where the main event had ended in a tap-out.
WINNER: JOHN CENA (28 minutes 21 seconds)

All in all? It was a great event. Both big title matches really delivered and the Battle of the Billionaires was everything is promised to be. The Money in the Bank match helped cemented rising star status for Ken Kennedy and the ECW tag match had a wonderful feel-good finish. MVP/Benoit had a surprising and exciting match with the Canadian Crippler coming out on top and both Great Khali & Melina helped balance all the face wins with some heel flavor. This will be a great event on DVD.

BEST MATCH?

Zip Whittle - Cena/HBK : The Asai Moonsault was terrific. The story was basic and riveting. Even after 3.5 hours of wrestling, this match seemed fresh and exciting.

Ray Rhodes - Batista/UT: These big men really stepped it up and Undertaker proved why he's such a legend. He hasn't looked this good in ages!

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