Tag Archives: WWE

IS. HE. ALIVE. OR. DEAD?!

Batista is going to the Great American Bash to face CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Title.  Who cares.

The more important result of last nights Fatal Four Way, as far as I’m concerned, was another mental meltdown for Kane.  He ate the pin and subsequently went crazy, tossing the ring crew around like bitches, scaring Lillian Garcia, and even tried to pull a Heidenreich on Michael Cole.  Jerry Stupid Lawler intervened and got his ass handed to him for his trouble.  I laughed.

But what’s the deal with this?  And what the hell is Kane talking about?  “Is he alive or dead?”.

The way I see it,  Kane is talking about Kane.  Kane as in Kane, unstoppable angry monster who killed his parents, kicks the shit out of Pete Rose, and sits up from multiple Tombstone Piledrivers.  If they want to turn Kane heel and make him an insane monster like he used to be, I’m all for that.  Hell, I’ve been wanting him to put the mask back on ever since he took it off.  At any rate, it’s time for him to become evil badass Kane.  RAW is now stacked with faces and Kane as a unstoppable evil monster would certainly help spread things out a bit.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t get totally jobbed out to the likes of Cena, Batista, and Punk (Which he will)


Worth Your Wealth? – WWE Night of Champions

Ryan’s latest column on 411mania is up!  This week, ‘Worth Your Wealth’ looks at last night’s WWE pay-per-view, Night of Champions.  You should probably go check it out!

Special thanks to Cliff for the awesome new logo!  Thanks buddy 😀


WWE Supplemental Draft

Yesterday WWE held its supplemental draft to switch around some more people, most of which probably wont make a difference in the long run.  However, some of these changes might actually prove to be significant, so they’re worth a look.

RAW Acquired:

1. Kofi Kingston (ECW)

2. Layla (ECW)

3. Matt Striker (ECW)

4. Chuck Palumbo (Smackdown!)

5. Deuce (Smackdown!)

6. Jamie Noble (Smackdown!)

RAW didn’t gain much to be honest.  Kofi Kingston is the one real standout drafted to Monday nights.  A feud with the newly-drafter Rey Mysterio could do wonders for Kofi and I think it would be highly entertaining.  Not really sure who would play the heel, though.  Aside from that, Chuck Palumbo MIGHT go somewhere, but I doubt it.  They haven’t really given him much of anything to do since his feud with Jamie Noble over Michelle McCool.  The rest of the guys are afterthoughts, really.

Smackdown! Acquired:

1. Carlito (RAW)

2. Shelton Benjamin (ECW)

3. Maria (RAW)

4. Brian Kendrick (RAW)

5. DH Smith (RAW)

6. Big Daddy V (ECW)

7. Trevor Murdoch (RAW)

Much like the real draft, Smackdown! made out pretty well here as well.  Apparently WWE really IS pushing to make Smackdown! awesome when it moves to the new network in the fall.  Sadly, this spells the end of the London/Kendrick tag team, but they weren’t really doing much anyway.  Of the bunch, Smackdown! got a few great midcard guys, although nobody is an overall standout.  I’m frankly surprised Big Daddy V was even involved in the draft considering he hasnt been seen for nearly 3 months.  Shelton Benjamin and Carlito (if he gives enough of a shit) stand to do well, I think.

ECW Acquired:

1. Finlay (Smackdown!)

2. Hornswoggle (Smackdown!)

3. Super Crazy (Smackdown!)

4. Mark Henry (Smackdown!)

ECW quite obviously gets a bit of repayment for their general ravaging in the real draft.  Finaly is going to be downright AWESOME on ECW.  I can’t wait to see that guy in some Extreme Rules matches.  Henry is fairly significant as well, despite not having won a match since 2005.  I have a sneaking suspicion they moved Henry to ECW and added him to the ECW match at Night of Champions simply so he can become a 24-hour champion for the sake of keeping the ECW title on ECW.  As much as I hate it, I can’t say I’d blame them, considering leaving it on RAW would be completely retarded.

Overall, the supplemental draft made at most 4 significant changes – Kofi and Finaly for sure, Benjamin and Carlito arguably.  Aside from that, they’ve shuffled around a bunch of jobbers and guys they never use that wont be doing anything different than they’ve been doing.  I’m really excited to be seeing Finlay on Tuesday nights, and that’s really enough to make it a success in my mind.


Shaking Things Up Again – WWE Draft Lottery 2008

Last night’s three-hour RAW broadcast was headlined by the 2008 Draft Lottery, which saw some very predictable brand switches and a couple surprises, to boot. Overall, the show was enjoyable, but I was left wondering what in the world they plan to do with some of these drafts they’ve made. Let’s break things down…

Rey Mysterio1. Rey Mysterio (Smackdown!), Drafted to RAW – Rey was an interesting choice to move to RAW, and while it surprised me, I can’t say that I see good things coming from this. On Smackdown!, Rey was still a marketable main-eventer, but the same cannot be said for him on the RAW brand. There are already a wealth of top-tier performers on RAW, which doesn’t leave much room for Mysterio to become a legitimate title contender again. Overall, I think this was a bad move for Rey.

2. Jeff Hardy (RAW), Drafted to Smackdown! – Fresh off his suspension, Jeff was seemingly right back in the title hunt on RAW. However, with all the other guys they currently have swarming up top, I think it probably Jeff Hardywould have taken management a while to actually give the guy a run with the title. Not that I personally think he deserves one anyway, but I can’t deny that he’s mega-over and gets a great crowd reaction. The jump to Smackdown! gives Jeff some new opponents (although we’ll still likely see the old standby Jeff/Umaga match every other week) and a bit smaller of a pond with which to finally establish himself as a main-event player. Great move for Jeff.

3. CM Punk (ECW), Drafted to RAW – Hell of a promotion here for Mr. Money in the Bank. I don’t think CM Punkanybody didn’t see a move coming for Punk, as he’s essentially outgrown ECW at this point. I personally am really looking forward to seeing Punk in some higher-profile feuds, a program with Chris Jericho down the line would be especially awesome. Look for Punk to establish himself on the RAW midcard and finally cash in his MitB briefcase in early 2009. Great move for Punk.

4. Matt Hardy (Smackdown!, United States Champion), Drafted to ECW – I laughed my ass off at the 10-minute Hardy Boyz reunion going up in smoke to the fans dismay. But then I remembered Smackdown! and ECW have that whole ‘talent exchange’ bullshit thing, so it doesn’t really make a difference anyway. I feltMatt Hardy it was an interesting move to transder the US Title to ECW when they already have had a title and only an hour on the air each week. However, I think Matt will personally be a good fit. They kinda left him with nothing to do after finally defeating MVP and the move to ECW will give him some fresh faces to feud with. I would especially be interested to see a Hardy/Burke or Hardy/Morrison feud over the US title in the months to come. Good move for Matt.

5-6. Jim Ross (RAW), Drafted to Smackdown!/ Michael Cole (Smackdown!), Drafted to RAW – Man, how pissedJim Ross is JR? He could barely cover it up on TV. Between his reaction to being drafted and Tazz’s repeated displeasure with ECW getting screwed, I have to wonder if these guys didn’t know ahead of time what the draft picks were going to be. That said, I think Smackdown! DEFINITELY get’s the bright end of this trade. JR and Foley could truly become a broadcast team for the Michael Coleages, too bad it’s on the show less people watch. On the other side of things, I can’t say I’m thrilled with the prospect of Cole/Lawler calling RAW. Cole’s boring, catch-phrase laden commentary is not exactly salvagable by Lawler’s skirt-chasing antics and minimal attention to matches. Overall, good move for JR, bad move for Cole.

7. Batista (Smackdown!), Drafted to RAW – Big Dave returns to Monday nights for the first time since taking the World Heavyweight Championship to Smackdown! a few years back. I was excited for this one,Batista since Dave has pretty much accomplished all he can on Smackdown!. Really, how many more times can we see him feud with Undertaker, feud with Edge, make Khali his bitch, and not regain the title? This move to RAW opens up the potential for some stellar feuds that we haven’t had a chance to see yet, most notably John Cena and Randy Orton. Great move for Batista.

8. Umaga (RAW), Drafted to Smackdown! – Another move I think everybody saw coming. Much like UmagaBatista on Smackdown!, Umaga is officially out of stuff to do on RAW. My only concern is that with a wealth of new opponents on Smackdown!, booking will shove him right back into more wash, rinse, repeat matches with Jeff Hardy. Incidentally, an Umaga/Finlay feud could possibly be one of the most brutally awesome things ever. Good move for Umaga.

9. Kane (ECW, ECW Champion), Drafted to RAW – Now THIS was one I did not see coming. Tazz was PISSED.Kane ECW loses one of it’s biggest stars AND it’s title in one draft pick, and I can’t say I’m down with it. Kane was in a great place on ECW, what’s he going to be on RAW? He’s going to go back to his mid-card, ‘I job to only the main event guys’ spot on the roster and this will suck. This is pretty much a guarantee that Big Show is walking out of Night of Champions with the ECW title, otherwise it would be pretty damn stupid. Terrible move for Kane.

10. Mr Kennedy (RAW), Drafted to Smackdown! – Cue the Kennedy main-event push! It’s long been Mr. Kennedysaid that his move to RAW in the last draft was a terrible call (it was), because there are just too many main-event guys on RAW for him to go anyplace. On Smackdown!, Kennedy will finally have a chance to run with his newfound popularity and make something of himself. Hopefully we’ll be seeing him in the title hunt within the next year. Great move for Kennedy.

11. Triple H (RAW, WWE Champion), Drafted to Smackdown! – Definitely didn’t see this one coming either. Triple HTriple H has been on RAW since the brand extension began, so it’s a welcome change of pace. Who knows, maybe he wants to be on the road with his wife. It makes sense. Of course, it’s altogether possible they’ll run another angle like they did way back when the initial draft took place and trade him back to RAW for a bunch of random guys. At any rate, Triple H is now on Smackdown! and the prospect of a Triple H/Edge feud has me pretty interested. Good move for Triple H.

Final Thoughts – Overall, I was pleased with the results of the draft, but I’m left wondering about the state of the title picture. I guess that’s their goal right? Get you to buy Night of Champions so you can figure out what the hell is going on with all these belts. In light of the drafts, and assuming Triple H isn’t magically traded back to RAW, I would say signs point to either Edge or Hunter dropping their title on Sunday. This would put one of the belts back on RAW and leave on on Smackdown! for them to feud over.

Night of Champions Predictions!

Women’s Champion – Mickie James

Diva’s Champion – Natalya

WWE Tag Team Champions – Miz and Morrison

World Tag Team Champions – Ted DiBiase and Whoever

US Champion – Matt Hardy

Intercontinental Champion – Chris Jericho

ECW Champion – Big Show

World Heavyweight Champion – Edge

WWE Champion – John Cena