wrestling / Columns
Schmozzes & Screwjobs 06.05.07: The Draft Lottery Edition (Part 1 of 2 )
It’s that time of the week again that we’ve been anticipating for the last seven days – Schmozzes & Screwjobs is back, right here on 411Mania (*thumbs up*). After that epic look at John Cena and Edge that took well over a month, we’re back to normal routine here today. Well actually, not quite normal, but near enough. Today, I take a look at more current WWE Superstars who could one day have the honor of gracing the Hall of Fame in False Finishes as well as my thoughts on Sunday night’s ECW WWE One Night Stand pay per view. In today’s Screwjob, we take a look at past WWE Draft Lottery’s to find out exactly who got screwed, and you might be surprised by the findings. But first let’s kick things off with a look at Saturday Night’s Main Event!
The 3rd edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event since its rebirth last year took place last weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I’m not going to complain about the lack of hype or booking arrangements because that’s something for Larry to do in his 4 R’s and I also understand why the show was booked the way it was. What I enjoyed about the show was that it was light-hearted and just an enjoyable evening. Sure, the wrestling wasn’t that great but the show felt like a special attraction and it was a lot of fun.
The Khali/Cena match was as good as Judgment Day and a smart piece of booking. Lawler called Cena’s first win over the monster a fluke, and Khali did his part to prove that statement right by beating Cena clean in the middle of the ring. So was it a fluke or can Cena derail Khali at One Night Stand? ORDER THE SHOW TO FIND OUT! So for all those bitching about WWE giving away the pay-per-view main event the day before on free TV, it should actually make more people order the show due to their intrigue. And how the hell does Khali get cheered over John Cena? Those crazy ass Canadians, I guess they haven’t forgiven The Champ for dethroning their boy Edge at Unforgiven.
Speaking of not being able to forgive and forget, I begging these fans to stop with the “You screwed Bret” shit. Regardless of who screwed who (and we will discuss that in a later column), it was ten years ago and nobody gives a shit anymore. Which begs the question of why I’m planning on writing about it but that’s another story for another time. The arm wrestling contest was what you’d expect; McMahon backing out and allowing Lashley to face Mark Henry instead. Lashley nailed a great looking spear on the big man and Vince took advantage and laid Lashley out with a chair. It didn’t make me want to watch Lashley and Vince tomorrow night, but it was OK and kept reasonably short.
The SmackDown tag team match was an interesting affair as it didn’t go long and really did nothing to build towards ONS. Having said that, it was a decent enough match and fine as a spectacle. One small gripe is that I would have liked to see a few more stars put on show – perhaps making this a six man tag with Matt Hardy and Miz would have worked well by playing off of Matt and Benoit’s recent teaming up. Edge was made to look like a bit of a pussy for walking out on MVP but at least that way it doesn’t look like Porter was getting squashed the second Batista got into the ring. Decent match as you’d come to expect from these four men.
I have to say, the Boogeyman/Little Boogeyman vs. Finlay/Hornswoggle was tremendous. The match was short but funny at the same time, but the best part was the stuff that went down after the match. Little Boogeyman chasing Hornswoggle around the backstage area was perfect; all that was missing was Ron Simmons’ “Damn!” Then Finlay laid out Big Boogeyman and mocked his gyrations in one of the funniest moments I have ever seen on a wrestling show. The chase led out to the ring where ECW’s Extreme Expose were doing their thing (and doing it well, I might add). Hilarity ensues and it all ends in a catfight with Layla and Brooke on the shoulders of our little friends. Glorious.
The main event six man tag match sucked ass. But as I mentioned earlier, this was a special attraction kind of show and you don’t get much more special than Eugene and Doink the Clown teaming with Kane against Viscera, Umaga and Kevin Thorn. Kane got the win after a chokeslam on Vis while Eugene debuted some queer new Superman-esque ring gear. The match had some funny spots with Doink the Clown but really nothing that special, just fun.
So overall, a fun night of action but nothing worth going out of your way to see. If you’re looking for a more detailed report of the evening, check out Arnold Furious’ 411 Report.
The Draft Lottery Version 1.0 – March 22 2004
Who got screwed – Raw or SmackDown?
Background Information: As we should all know, after the influx of ex-WCW and ECW talent in 2001, it was deemed that WWE should split their overcrowded roster into two separate brands – Raw and SmackDown. This happened in the spring of 2002 and 60 wrestlers were sent to one of the two shows and since then, countless trades have taken place, numerous superstars have jumped ship and two draft lotteries have been done. The first of these was due to take place in March of 2004 just after WrestleMania XX. It was deemed that the rosters needed “shaking up” so on an episode of Raw in March, Raw and SmackDown’s general managers (Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman respectively) would make six random picks each. Whichever Superstars were picked would switch brands. Simple enough, right?
How It Went Down: Heyman and Bischoff would alternate their picks. SmackDown and Heyman were first up and they drafted…
René Duprée to SmackDown – This was significant because Duprée was part of the La Résistance trio and thus it was highlighted how tag teams and friends were not guaranteed to be on the same roster after the draft. Thankfully for Raw, La Résistance could continue with it’s other two members Rob Conway and Sylvain Grenier and they did go on to success in the tag team ranks, twice winning the tag team championships together, both times from Chris Benoit and Edge. Duprée had a solid if unspectacular run in the SmackDown mid card. He even debuted the talk show Café René and had a decent series of matches with John Cena over the United States Championship. Since then however, Duprée has done jack shit, as did La Résistance after 2004.
Shelton Benjamin to Raw – Benjamin at the time was not a big pick for Raw. He was one half of SmackDown’s World’s Greatest Tag Team with Charlie Haas but truth be told that team had appeared to have ran its course as creative had no idea what to do with them at the time. On SmackDown, Haas was involved in a really bad angle involving Miss Jackie and Dawn Marie before being released, and then rehired again over a year later – basically, he did shit without Benjamin on SmackDown. But Benjamin quickly received a singles push, earning a clean pinfall victory over Triple H on his debut and a few months later winning the Intercontinental Championship (which at the time still meant a damn) from Chris Jericho. He held onto the gold for seven months. Benjamin has since gone on to have some great matches with Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle and held the IC strap on two more occasions. Benjamin seemed to lose momentum in 2006 and was reunited with Charlie Haas on Raw at the end of that year.
Mark Jindrak to SmackDown – This was an interesting one as Jindrak had been one half of a promising young tag team with Garrison Cade (who later became Lance Cade). Jindrak spent several months on Velocity (SmackDown’s former baby sister) before being brought up to the main roster where he won many matches but was never really elevated up the card until he joined Kurt Angle’s faction in the end of 2004. While he didn’t do much, his face was familiar in the main events of SmackDown thanks to the feuds with Big Show and John Bradshaw Layfield. Jindrak did practically nothing after Angle’s faction split in early 2005 and it wasn’t long before he was released. Jindrak’s ex-partner Cade went on to become Coach’s little running buddy for a few months before disappearing from TV for almost a year before being repackaged as Lance Cade, one half of a tag team with Trevor Murdoch. The pair had minimal success; one short reign as tag champs. But in early 2007, Cade and Murdoch have had very good matches and looked to be a more serious threat to the tag team titles.
Nidia to Raw – Another strange choice here. Jamie Noble and his “girlfriend” Nidia were a very over act on SmackDown until they split early in 2004. This meant that Noble was quickly pushed down the card (lower down the card than cruiserweights!?) as he no longer had a hot girlfriend at his side. So Nidia was sent to Raw to join the women’s division. She wasn’t really needed there, but provided some extra eye candy. She did practically nothing, at the expense of a great act on SmackDown. She was released within the year because WWE changed their minds and decided she wasn’t hot enough.
Triple H Booker T and The Dudleyz to SmackDown This provided a great moment on Raw as all the Superstars were shown backstage watching a TV set as the draft picks were made. The Game was chilling at the back of the room, certain he wouldn’t be picked. He took a sip of water and as his name was read out, he spat it out everywhere. Funny moment. Shame it wouldn’t last as on the next episode of SmackDown, it was revealed that Triple H had been traded back to SmackDown in exchange for Booker T and The Dudley Boyz. We all know that Triple H was one of the biggest Superstars at the time and still is, but Raw was his home. Wether he was on Raw or SmackDown, he would be dominating the main event. What SmackDown did get, was a very credible tag team who actually had a main event run for a few months as part of their feud with The Undertaker on SmackDown. They also had another tag title reign and a spell as little brother Spike’s bodyguards, for lack of a better term. Unfortunately, creative had nothing for them by the time 2005 came around and they were released shortly after. Booker on the other hand, still had a lot left in him. In 2004 he had a forgettable but fun feud with John Cena before a great series of matches with Chris Benoit and eventually a King of the Ring reign and World title victory. The King Booker gimmick is one of the best in recent memory and Booker excelled in it.
Rhyno to Raw – After returning to SmackDown in 2003 from a career threatening neck injury, the Man Beast teamed and feuded with Chris Benoit but by 2004 he really had little to do on SmackDown and was sent to Raw. WWE had never shown any interest in pushing him beyond the mid card and Ii think that he had unfulfilled potential on SmackDown, but on Raw he was added to the tag team ranks with Raw’s next draftee.
Rob Van Dam to SmackDown – Van Dam had lost the tag titles early on this night to Batista and Ric Flair, but had feuded with just about everybody on Raw so a change of scenery was needed and more than welcomed. RVD had a brief spell challenging for the US Championship but no other babyface was going to oust John Cena from his spot as US Champ. So Van Dam teamed with Rey Mysterio in late 2004 in what was a very successful duo – the pair even one tag team gold in December of that year. Van Dam’s reign was cut short due to a knee injury that kept RVD out for over a year and during RVD’s time off, he was even drafted back to Raw as part of the next Lottery.
Tajiri to Raw – Tajiri had been treading water on SmackDown for a while. Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero were locked in a feud over the cruiserweight title and Paul London was higher in the cruiser pecking order than Tajiri was, so he was drafted to Raw. Although he was very popular, all Tajiri got was a feud with Coach and an ultimately unsuccessful tag team run with Rhyno which never even resulted in a tag title run. In 2005, Tajiri became a jobber and wrestled most of his matches on Heat before he decided to leave the company in early 2006. Thankfully, Tajiri did the job on his way out to Triple H.
Theodore Long to SmackDown – Long had been managing several acts in late 2003. Rodney Mack was one of them, but he basically came to nothing and barely made it onto television in 2004. Mark Henry was the other, but he suffered a shoulder injury that would keep him out for two years and also meant Teddy Long had absolutely nothing to do. He was drafted to SmackDown where he managed Mark Jindrak for a few months before turning face and becoming SmackDown’s general manager, a position which he has held down for three years and counting. A pick that may not have seemed much at the time turned out to be quite important for SmackDown’s future.
Edge to Raw – Easily Raw’s best draftee was Edge who had been on the shelf for thirteen months due to a neck injury and was due to make his return, something that he did the next week, spearing Eric Bischoff. We all know Edge turned out to be one of the greatest heels in modern times. On Raw he had great matches with Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels and Matt Hardy before becoming a two time WWE Champion during a fantastic feud with John Cena that may have been mentioned around here a couple of times over the past few weeks. Again, Edge had done so much on SmackDown and had he gone back there, I can’t think there would be a whole for him to do as SmackDown had moved on a lot since the days of the SmackDown Six.
Spike Dudley to SmackDown – At the time Paul Heyman was pissed with this pick, because Dudley was perceived as a joke. But in the summer of 2004 Spike would turn heel and have a very successful reign as Cruiserweight champion. His act included having brothers Bubba and D-Von at his side to help him out. Spike ‘The Boss’ Dudley also had a kick ass beard. While it was only a brief run before he went back to being a jobber (and then released) it was great while it lasted.
Paul Heyman to Raw – Nobody was safe in the draft, not even the general managers. There was no way that Heyman was going to be working under Eric Bischoff so he immediately quit Raw. Heyman would go on to return to SmackDown as The Dudley Boyz manager but was soon taken back off of television before returning under the ECW banner in 2005 (for a spell) and then 2006.
The Analysis: The general consensus is that every Draft Lottery the WWE has ever done has resulted in SmackDown getting screwed over like Lindsay Lohan on a Friday night. However if you look at the people who were sent over to Raw, none of them were having great success on SmackDown and were either treading water in lower card limbo (Tajiri, Rhyno) or creative had nothing for them to do and they needed a change of scenery (Edge, Nidia, Benjamin). Only two of Raw’s draftees made any impact on Raw, those being Edge and Benjamin. Even Benjamin’s success was short lived as he now back where he started in the tag ranks, the only differences being he is on Raw and there is no true division for the tag teams. In comparison, SmackDown had a few sleeper picks. Long as already mentioned has been in a mainstay in the GM role and Rob Van Dam had a lot of success until his injury, which WWE could not have foreseen. Booker went on to portray one of the most successful acts in recent memory while having some great matches along the way. I wouldn’t say that SmackDown did brilliantly in the draft but I don’t think they did badly either and in fact I’d say they did better than Raw in both the long and short term.
The Draft Lottery Version 2.0 – June 6 – March 5 2005
Who got screwed – Raw or SmackDown?
Background Information: Oh, you thought we were done? Nope, we’ve got one more Draft Lottery to dissect first so that next week we can talk about the latest draft. Anyway, it’s May 2005 and once again Vince McMahon wants to shake things up. So another draft is announced. This one is a little different in that one draft pick is made per show over a span of four weeks. There are five selections per show (two on the last week) and no-one is exempt – that includes champions, something which would become important later.
How It Went Down: The first pick would be made on June 6 during a special edition of Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel. Who would the first pick be? In JR’s words. “IT’S HIM!”
WWE Champion John Cena to Raw – This was a huge coup for Raw at the time. Fresh off an amazing “I Quit” match with JBL at Judgment Day, the champ was nearing the peak of his popularity and was looking to make an impact on Raw, something that he did immediately by taking on all comers. Since joining Raw, Cena has had tremendous matches with Chris Jericho, Edge, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Umaga and even got decent matches out of The Great Khali. He is undoubtedly the WWE’s biggest star right now and one of its best workers. This one was a major blow for SmackDown.
Chris Benoit to SmackDown – This was a great pick for the Blue Brand. Benoit was a former World Heavyweight Champion and still one of the best workers in the business. Since joining SmackDown Benoit has reigned as US Champion twice and had many excellent matches. While he would never fill the void John Cena left, this was a big blow for Raw, but it was about to be filled.
Kurt Angle to Raw – This made up for losing Benoit and then some as Angle could immediately give us what we wanted – a rematch with Shawn Michaels. After that match at Vengeance 06, Angle would with WWE Champion John Cena but failed on numerous attempts to win the WWE title. In January, Angle’s Raw contract expired (kayfabe) and he returned to SmackDown so thankfully SmackDown did not miss the Olympian for long as he would become World Champion upon his return.
Randy Orton to SmackDown – A huge pick for SmackDown. Orton was more marketable than most guys in WWE at the time as he had several huge victories under his belt including being the youngest World Champion in history, an honor which he still holds to this day. Orton would tear things up on SmackDown in several matches with the Undertaker, several of which Orton won. Less than a year after being brought to SmackDown, Orton was in SmackDown’s main event of WrestleMania with Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio. However a few short months later and Orton was inexplicably moved back to Raw so SmackDown had lossed another major star.
Carlito to Raw – Carlito had been making some serious waves on SmackDown, even beating John Cena for the US title on his debut in October of 2004 but had gone down with a shoulder injury. But by the time the draft rolled around he was fit again and had a pinfall victory over the Big Show to his credit. Carlito proved to be a short term success for Raw as he won the Intercontinental title from Shelton Benjamin on the same night he was drafted. Carlito was close to the main event scene as he came within a whisker of becoming WWE Champion in an Elimination Chamber at New Year’s Revolution but spent most of his time on Raw floating around the mid card and really treading water. Now, his work his sloppy and his heel turn is lacking the edge that he first had when he came over to Raw.
Muhammed Hassan w/ Daivari to SmackDown – The less said about this the better. In fairness, Hassan appeared to have a bright future when he debuted in early 2005 – his promos were great and his in-ring work was good, too. But when he was moved to SmackDown and began a terrorist type gimmick during a feud with The Undertaker, he was quickly removed from television at the request of SmackDown’s network. Hassan did not even last a month on the Blue Brand. Daivari however, stuck around in a managerial role for various Superstars including Mark Henry and The Great Khali and has since become part of SmackDown’s dying cruiserweight division.
The Big Show to Raw – Show’s run on Raw was pointless. He feuded with Snitsky and had some terrible matches and then became job fodder for Triple H before a hideous tag team championship run with Kane. Thankfully, Show was moved to ECW where he became its champion. While Show’s Raw run sucked ass, he was not missed on Friday nights either.
Christian to SmackDown – This could have been huge had Captain Charisma stuck with WWE, but as things turned out he left for TNA just four months after being drafted. During the brief time he was on SmackDown, he came close to winning the US Championship on numerous occasions, debuted his own talk show, The Peep Show, and jobbed to SmackDown’s next draft pick more times than Lindsay Lohan has entered rehab. Man, what’s with all the LiLo jokes today?
Rob Van Dam to Raw – Van Dam was drafted to Raw in June but did not return to the ring until January of 2006. When he did come back, he won the Money in the Bank Ladder match at WrestleMania 22 and the Intercontinental Championship at Backlash. However, upon the return of ECW, Van Dam was drafted to the place he considered home and he won the WWE and ECW Championships before the infamous drugs bust.
World Champion Batista to SmackDown – Batista was a huge star in 2005. He had had one of the best feuds in a long time with Triple H and captured the World title at WrestleMania before besting his “mentor” in two rematches, one of which was The Game’s match, Hell in a Cell. Batista would have great success in his early SmackDown career in matches with JBL and the late great Eddie Guerrero. However an injury took him out of action for half a year. When he returned in mid 2006 he appeared to have lost a step and with that came a drop in his popularity and marketability. Batista did reclaim the World title from King Booker at Survivor Series 2006 and also returned to form in a series of matches with The Undertaker in 2007, one of which saw him lose his World title. Batista has appeared to have regained his edge (no pun intended) and hopefully still has big things in his future.
Analysis: Again, at the time people felt that SmackDown got screwed over big time here. They may well be right – after all, John Cena and Kurt Angle were two HUGE blows. On the other hand, as I mentioned, Angle would soon return and they did received a lot of talent in return such as Chris Benoit. One thing to note here is that the majority of these choices had success, but very short term success. Angle did well for six months, then came back to SmackDown for six months, then went to ECW, then left. Carlito’s stock quickly dropped off in 2006/07 and Rob Van was also only around for a few months before leaving. On SmackDown, Orton did some great stuff while he was there but has since returned to Raw where he is only now beginning to make some waves. Benoit is consistently solid on SmackDown while as far as I’m concerned the jury is still out on Batista. But Raw received a star that hasn’t been seen since the days of Rock and Austin. That’s what gives Raw the advantage in this draft.
So we have a share of the spoils in our first two draft lotteries. Next Monday night on Raw is the first ever tri-branded Draft Lottery and we’ll see who gets the better of that one and who gets screwed next week.
WWE One Night Stand Thoughts
WWE’s One Night Stand pay-per-view took place Sunday night in Orlando and I thought it was another great WWE pay-per-view. The opening stretcher match was all kinds of coolness with Van Dam kicking the crap out of Orton in the early going, trying to return the favour and give Orton his own concussion, Orton then went on the attack and the pace was a lot slower, but at least all the work was focusing on the injured head of RVD. Then of course comes the shocking part as Van Dam actually beats Orton! The post match beatdown was well done and Orton I think, is in line for a WWE Championship shot. Stellar opener here. **¾
I had high hopes for the tables match but was disappointed when it was announced that only one member of the team had to go through the table. They only got seven minutes but the New Breed, Punk and the Originals made the most of those seven minutes. Once it broke down into chaos it felt like an old school ECW match but, you know, good. They were even allowed to bust out some hardcore stuff including a piledriver from Tommy Dreamer to Elijah Burke. Good booking as Striker was made to look like the weak link, while Punk, Cor Von and Burke, who are all future stars, looked strong. Fun, chaotic brawl. ***
I’m not sure about the tag team ladder match. On one hand, it was EXTREMELY sloppy and lacked any real flow. On the other hand, it was EXTREMELY entertaining to see all those guys going balls to the wall and nearly kill themselves in the process. How Shelton Benjamin was even able to stand after that is beyond me. I was disappointed as I thought this match had tremendous potential that they really didn’t live up to, but, it was exciting, fun and a great match. Hopefully the World’s Greatest Tag Team will remain strong contenders for the titles and an actual division can be built around Hardys, WGTT and Cade and Murdoch. ***¾
The lumberjack match sucked ass, plain and simple. Watching cheerleader Val at ringside was about a million times better than the in ring action. He only gets a pay-per-view appearance once in a blue mood so he has to make the most of it, the attention seeker. The action was slow and sluggish and not even as good as their match on SmackDown last week. I have to give them a little credit for the psychology on the back work, which actually counted towards the finish in a big way, but this was not pretty. *
I enjoyed the street fight a hell of a lot more than I thought I would and after watching it again, I think it was damn fine match. While there was a fair bit of boring shit, it had a bunch of high spots that makes this good to watch. Lashley nearly killing himself by leaping over the top rope was funny in a terrible way. Let go of the rope dumbass or you’re just going to land on your face! Then of course we had a bunch of Shane O Mac goodness including the elbow through the announce table which looked better than ever, and the missed Van Shane-O-nator. I truly believe had Shane gone into a full time wrestling career he would have been one of the greats. Anyone, Lashley won and is the ECW Champion again. Lots of fun, just please let it be over. **¾
Ah, the pudding match. Before I talk about the match itself, the segment before it was quite possibly the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. I mark out when my girl Maria talks all intelligent and stuff, but then tack on that kiss and Ron Simmons and you have one awesome backstage skit. The match itself was once again funny in a sick kind of way. I marked out when Cadice nailed the DDT INTO THE PUDDING, BAH GAWD! To no-one’s surprise, Candice went over and Maria returned to interview Candice, only to get dragged into the pudding. This was quite possibly the greatest match of all time. *½
I thought the steel cage match was great – a really well done battle and both men looked great. The ending was kind of predictable and very JBL-esque but at the same time it solidifies Edge’s character and at the same time keeps him looking strong. That’s now twice that Edge has beaten the Animal clean. Sneaky, but clean. I hope that Batista now gets pushed down the card a little to make way for some fresher opponents for the Rated R Superstar. Great match here, miles above my own expectations. ***½
The main event Falls Count Anywhere match was another big performance from John Cena and another big spot to finish the feud off once and for all. Cena worked his off to make Khali look dominant and Khali did his best as well, eve busting out his heel kick. Once the match went out of the ring I thought it got better and the build to the big spot was also very good. I hope Cena now goes on to have a feud with someone who he can have more great matches with because that’s what the champ does best. As far as this match goes it wasn’t just a little bit better than their previous pay-per-view matches. **½
Overall, a great show. Aside from the lumberjack match, everything was decent and worth seeing. Even though there was no tremendous matches, it’s always good to see a card that’s good from top to bottom and One Night Stand was. I do think things could have gotten more extreme at times but I guess they didn’t want to kill the gimmick before it even got off of its feet. 7.5/10
Last week I ran down a list of current WWE Superstars who could one day possibly make the coveted WWE Hall of Fame. Today, I continue to examine who may be up for induction one day starting with…
Bobby Lashley
Accomplishments: ECW World Champion (1 time), United States Champion (1 time)
Lashley is still young and has a long career ahead of him. Vince McMahon clearly likes him BUT… the guy can’t talk for shit! Hell, he’s not even that good in the ring and I hope to God he never makes it in.
Chances of Induction: The same as Lindsay Lohan making it to her 30s. It’s not looking good.
CM Punk
Accomplishments: None
Punk has no current titles in WWE/ECW, but he has huge amounts of talent both in the ring and on the mic. Management seems to like him and he is gaining for popularity week by week. I do think that he can be a world champion one day but I’m not sure about his chances of Hall of Fame induction if he keeps going the way he is, it’s certainly a possibility.
Chances of Induction:The same as TNA ever making it big time.
Mr Kennedy
Accomplishments: United States Champion (1 time), Mr Money in the Bank (1 time)
Kennedy is the future of Sports Entertainment. The guy has only been around two years and he appears to be the total package; he has the look, the charisma, the in-ring talent and he is over like rover. Personally I would say the only thing that could possibly hold him back is injury, of which he has had more than his fair share for the time he’s been around. That being said, I think Kennedy has a huge future in front of him and should already be a world champion within the year.
Chances of Induction: Miisstteerrr Hall of Faaammmeee… Fame!
Proper links return, as do the many great columns at 411 this week!
Stuart Carapola, 411’s Weekend Warrior, has his usual Friendly Competition as well as the Ominous Thoughts News Report.
My fellow Payloader Matt Adamson brings the All Japan news in Destiny.
In this week’s Triple Threat, Sean, David, and Alex celebrate the big 50 with more new topics.
Andy Clark’s Shimmy brings part 2 of the Shawn Michaels report card as well as One Night Stand thoughts.
JP and JT are back with another batch of Hidden Highlights including goodness from the World’s Greatest Tag Team, CM Punk and even Jillian Hall.
The 411 staff have many choices such as Lashley, The Hardys, Sara Del Ray and John Cena for this week’s Wrestler of the Week. Who did the staff chose?
Check out all the great TV and pay-per-view report’s from the great 411 staff including;
Bauer’s ECW Report
Byers’ Impact Crater
Brad’s SmackDown Report
Slimmer’s Heat Report which happens to be the best on the whole damn internet.
J.D. Dunn’s SmackDown Breakdown and his Saturday Night’s Main Event report.
Furious’ Friday Night Fury SmackDown report and his Saturday Night’s Main Event report.
Finally, Larry Csonka brings us his Impact Report and One Night Stand report.
And now for some shameless shelf-pimpin’.
First of all, myself, Matt Adamson and Rob Halden have another edition of The Fink’s Payload featuring your thoughts on WWE guys jumping ship to TNA.
While over in the Sports Zone my 3rd edition of Sunday’s Soccer Showdown looks at the England v Brazil fixture from last Friday.
I was taking care of last night’s LIVE Raw coverage and that Raw report can be found here.
Finally, look out for me on Thursday making my Fact or Fiction debut!
And that wraps another edition of Schmozzes & Screwjobs. Next week I take a look at the 2007 edition of the Draft Lottery and examine who, if anyone, got screwed over. Plus, a detailed look at how the new ECW has done one year on from its rebirth. All that and more, next week!
