The Bell To Bell News Report 06.23.11

Hello rasslin’ fans, I’m Randy Harrison and this is the Bell to Bell News Report! First off, I’ll begin with an apology for my absence again last week, but as I said previously, sometimes you have to take time away from the computer to do things that are more important with the people you care about. I tried to find a replacement, but it was somewhat short notice so it just didn’t work out. This week, my biggest detriment won’t be time, but typos as I’ve been without my laptop for the past three or four days and instead have been typing the column out on a netbook with a much smaller keyboard. They can claim that these things are “full-size keyboards” all they want to, but after using a laptop for the better part of the past five years, this thing is miniscule and I will likely be making a ton of mistakes. I’m setting aside extra time for more proofreading runs, but if a mistake slips through here and there, I apologize in advance.

Before we get into the column this week, it’s time for another congratulations for my former hometown of Winnipeg as the NHL’s Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment for the purposes of relocating the team to Winnipeg. The vote was considered to be a rubber stamp formality, especially after the rousing success of Winnipeg’s ticket drive, but the move could not be considered official until the vote was completed. Now, it’s on to the NHL Entry Draft on June 24th, where the Winnipeg franchise will pick seventh overall with expectations being that Ryan Strome of the Ontario Hockey League will likely be the player chosen for the new yet-to-be named team. Strome has drawn comparisons to players like Patrick Kane and Tyler Seguin and scored 106 points in 65 games this past season for the Niagra IceDogs and could help shore up a group of forwards that finished with 218 goals, good for 20th in the league. The draft will be the first official function of the new Winnipeg team and that will probably be when it really sinks in that there’s NHL hockey back in the city that I love and a team that I can cheer for without fail, though it will still be 1 and 1A between them and the Red Wings. Good news is that they’ll be in different conferences for this year due to the timing of the relocation, so maybe we can see a Detroit/Winnipeg final next June. Hey, I can dream so don’t mock me.

As for wrestling news this week, there’s plenty to get to as Shane McMahon was front and center at golf’s US Open this past weekend, The Ultimate Warrior released his series of ‘Karma’ videos about Hulk Hogan, Matt Hardy discussed taking time away from TNA, and Zack Ryder got screwed and tattooed by Vince McMahon during a recent episode of Monday Night Raw. You know how this thing starts, so let’s ring that bell!

You know the drill…

Ding Ding….

— The story that everyone has been talking about in the past few days was a rather cruel prank that was played on everyone’s favorite bro, Zack Ryder, during the WWE’s visit to Long Island, NY for last week’s episode of Raw. Ryder, who is a Long Island native, has slowly but surely built a fanbase for himself with his internet exploits and his Z True Long Island Story videos in the past couple of months with little to no TV time. Ryder saw the script for the show when he arrived at the building and believed that he had been rewarded for his hard work and perseverance with a major segment on last Monday’s Raw in front of his hometown fans. The reason why I say believed is because unknown to Ryder and practically the entire WWE roster, Vince McMahon circulated a fake script with Ryder’s segment and didn’t break the news to Ryder until the show was nearly over. McMahon thought the “rib” was hilarious, but others, including WWE cashcow John Cena, were less than impressed.

Honestly, I can’t say that I blame them as it seems like an incredibly childish and petty thing to do. From someone who is frequently taking potshots at those who criticize him, it’s not entirely surprising, but this is one of the first times that I can remember that he has turned his vitriol onto one of his own talents. Earlier this week, Steve Cook talked about the situation in his column and spoke about how confusing it must be for some of the young guys in the WWE right now. During Tough Enough, Stone Cold Steve Austin was adamant that guys need to be willing to make their own opportunities to get over and here comes Ryder, who has basically willed his current wave of popularity through hard work, ingenuity and being genuinely entertaining. Unfortunately, all of that went by the wayside and Ryder instead became a victim of a foolish prank from a senior citizen that should know better.

It’s situations like this that make me wish that there was a viable competitor for the WWE after all of these years. During the late-90’s, Vince rewarded guys for getting themselves over and actually listened to what the fans had to say because he was in a dogfight for his financial life. The fans had a say and guys that were willing to put in the work on their own like Stone Cold, The Rock, Mick Foley, Chris Jericho and others were actually rewarded for that hard work. Nowadays, Vince is all alone at the top and he seemingly thinks that because he’s there, he’s infallible. He’s won the battle and the war thanks to the fans that he listened to and now that he doesn’t need them anymore, they’re cast aside, much like Ryder. It’s sad to think about how many talented guys may be getting passed over or left behind because Vince just isn’t concerned enough to give new guys a legitimate chance, but it appears to be the way that the WWE is going to be run for quite some time. It’s frat house rules in Stamford and Vince is pumping the keg.

— Those of us who were hoping that CM Punk might be reconsidering leaving the WWE after rumors surfaced a while back that Punk might be hanging it up should prepare to be disappointed. Punk recently posted to his Twitter account about the rumors and it’s looking more and more like he’s going to be finished with the company sooner rather than later. Here’s what Punk had to say about his career and his future…

“I knew I was gone at the beginning of the year. I just woke up one day and I knew. That’s the way I work a lot of the time. I think it’s creepy too, but it’s really helpful. I knew I’d be history by July. Come say goodbye on July 17th. I promise to go out with a bang. Trust me. XxX”

Of course, considering that he addressed the date on this past Monday’s Raw, it’s also possible that Punk is just working everyone to make the angle mean even more, especially since the whole thing is eerily similar to his 2005 Summer of Punk angle in ROH where he was believed to be leaving that company before winning the ROH title on his “last night” and threatening to take it with him to WWE. This one has a bit of a different twist as Punk would have nowhere to “take” the title unless he jumped brands, but seems to be following a very similar tack to the previous angle.

If you thought that there would be some inside info as to whether or not this is a work from behind the curtains, it appears that those in the WWE are speculating just as much as the rest of the IWC. Some within the company are expecting Punk to either be re-signed or close enough to it before the PPV that he won’t leave, while others believe that he will be leaving the company as soon as his contract expires. Punk’s kind of got all of his bases covered here because if he leaves, he’s got a ton of hype over this whole angle, if he stays, he’s likely put pressure on the WWE in the negotiations and will make a pretty hefty sum for his services. He may have his detractors, but there’s no denying that Punk is incredibly smart about the business and while I sincerely hope that he’s going to be coming back to the WWE with a new contract, he’s also deserving of some time away if he wants it. Either way, the next month should be incredibly interesting regarding Punk and his future and check out the Bell to Bell every week for more updates on the situation.

— They say that bad news comes in threes and that is certainly the case for the WWE as they had to spend much of the past few days sending out press releases and announcements regarding voting errors for their episode of Raw this past Monday which resulted in fans not getting the matches and stipulations that they actually voted for. The bout between Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler that was scheduled as two out of three falls was actually supposed to be a match with Vickie Guerrero banned from ringside, while Sin Cara was supposed to win the vote to face Evan Bourne instead of Mason Ryan.

There was also a problem with the voting for the main event stipulations that forced the WWE to switch from the text voting to the WWE Live Chat poll to figure out which stipulation to attach to the six-man tag bout. While the WWE has apologized for the confusion, which stemmed from a backlog of text votes that occurred during voting on the Diva match, they’re still working to make things right. Next week’s Raw from Las Vegas will feature the Sin Cara/Bourne match that was supposed to take place this week with the feeling being that more matches that were affected by the votes will also get the “do-over” treatment. It’s a shame that the WWE didn’t make sure the system was foolproof before it went live on Raw, but you have to give them credit for admitting their mistakes and trying to fix them as well.

— Big congratulations go out to the team of Giant Bernard and “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson as they reached what many would consider to be the pinnacle of Japanese professional wrestling this past week. Anderson and Bernard, better known as Bad Intentions (which is a kick-ass name for a tag team by the way), already hold the IWGP Tag Team Championships and defeated Takuma Sano and Yoshihiro Takyama on June 18th to add NOAH’s GHC Tag Team Championships as well. I’ll admit that I’ve only been able to get into bits and pieces of puroresu, but Anderson and Bernard have been one of my favorite things to watch in wrestling in the past three years or so. While I would selfishly love to see them weekly and monthly as part of some US promotion, I also realize that part of what makes them who they are is that they are able to work their style without restriction in Japan and that’s something that just wouldn’t happen here in either TNA or the WWE. For now, I’ll have to settle for YouTube, but maybe someday there’ll be a time when they’re able to make a go of it here in the States. Congratulations again to Bad Intentions and here’s to hoping for a long and successful title reign.

— That wasn’t the only international title change that made news this past week as AAA held their huge TripleMania event in Mexico City with TNA star Jeff Jarrett scoring a huge win in one of the main events, defeating El Zorro to become the new AAA Heavyweight Champion. This year’s TripleMania show was notable because of the heavy TNA influence up and down the card that saw stars like Velvet Sky, Mickie James, Abyss, Mr. Anderson, Rob Van Dam and Jarrett all making appearances. There had been rumblings that Zorro was not in the best shape for the bout and when you add in Jarrett’s recent loss to Kurt Angle on Impact where Jarrett talked about moving to Mexico, the result makes quite a bit of sense. AAA has been re-energized by the angle with TNA and Konnan’s La Sociedad and judging from the heat on Jarrett from the fans in attendance when he won the belt, it looks like this could be the beginning of a boom period for AAA in their never-ending battle against CMLL for lucha supremacy.

— More bad news for former WWF and WCW superstar Scott Hall as he was sentenced to ten days in jail in Seminole County, FL this past week. The sentence stems from an incident and arrest in May of last year when Hall was taken into custody after drunkenly yelling and cursing at the patrons of a Florida bar. Police arrived and Hall was uncooperative and was ultimately charged with resisting arrest. Though he was sentenced to ten days, Hall will only have to serve two days as he has been given credit for time already served following the incident. Due to his failing health, Hall will serve his time in a medical unit at the jail when he reports for his sentence on July 5th. Best of luck to Hall in passing this latest hurdle and hopefully he can spend his time after his jail sentence continuing to heal and recover from the health problems that have plagued him in the past three or four years.

— Things in the Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior feud have continued to heat up with Hogan pleading for peace earlier this week, the day before Warrior released his ‘Karma’ shoot series. Warrior firing back by releasing the tapes anyways, Hogan be damned. I watched the whole thing and unfortunately most of the best stuff was in the preview video. Warrior ran it kind of counter to how Hollywood works in that he should have teased some of the good stuff and then kept the rest for the release, but such is life. The most damning accusations were regarding Hogan’s drug use and his wife whoring around with the boys, both of which were referenced in the preview.

In perhaps the weirdest twist of the whole tale, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman weighed in on the release of the videos and on Warrior’s speech on Hogan…

“I think it’s hypocritical to mention Hulk’s catch phrase of “A day without pot is like a day without sunshine.” without mentioning your famous “prayer” sessions at the arenas, which was code for smoking pot. As far as the “juvi juice” you’re referring to, which for everyone that doesn’t know, was a supplement you could buy over the counter at supplement stores called Renutrient & other names. It was Furanone Dyhydro (a chemical precursor to GHB) and I promise you Terry Bollea did not introduce it to the wrestling business. Tons of people in wrestling used it at the time. People that never drank or did any other drugs were even using it at the time. Yes it was very powerful. It’s no longer available, but at the time was totally legal. So Hulk Hogan didn’t control the “juvi juice” supply for the wrestling business. Guys in both companies did it.

All of this kind of high and mighty preaching of morality is why the people shit on you when you did go to WCW. Maybe it is an example of the decay of society, but people don’t want to be preached to. Like I said before, I think the vast majority of people do not care whether Hulk let someone else bang his wife any more than they care whether you were a gay prostitute in the past. Except for the fact that you made some statements, while speaking at a college, that many people viewed as anti-gay. If the accusations were ever found to be true & now your rhetoric is anti-gay, then that might raise a few eyebrows. I hope there’s more to your book than just exposing Hulk’s dirty laundry.”

Did someone say male prostitute?

Seriously though, Waltman actually has a point when it comes to people not enjoying being preached to, especially when it’s someone with a reputation like Warrior’s. I’m not necessarily in the camp defending Hogan because I’m sure that a lot of what Warrior has to say is true, but it’s not necessarily fair to release videos of that nature without any sort of corroboration or validation. When X-Pac is the voice of reason, I’m pretty sure it’s time to pull the plug on whatever your beef is, but I’m sure there will be more fallout from this in the next few weeks as both guys jockey for position on the truthiness bandwagon and fire more shots across the bow.

— Every once in a while, I take a piece of the column to give my thoughts on a recent DVD, movie or book that was I had a chance to check out and in this instance, it’s the WWE’s Very Best of Nitro DVD set that came out earlier this month. Hosted by Diamond Dallas Page, the set looks back at the highs and lows of WCW’s flagship program, from the beginning of the show in September of 1995 to WCW’s eventual collapse in early-2001. As I’ve said a couple of times previously, I’ve been on a big kick of watching WCW circa 1996-1998 lately, following all of the shows and pay-per-views from the beginning of the nWo angle and I’ve gotten all the way up to Uncensored ’98. This set is a very good representation of what Nitro was, even if some of the matches chosen are a little bit baffling at times. The moments and promos that were put in the set were all top-notch from the nWo formation to the Four Horsemen return to Bret Hart’s steel plate angle with Goldberg, it’s almost all here.

Usually, I’m clamoring for the documentary part of the 3-disc sets and feel unsatisfied when there isn’t one, but in this case it’s actually better. All of the ground that could be covered was already covered in both the Monday Night Wars set and the Rise and Fall of WCW set, so I can’t really see where there would be anything new that warranted a documentary. Keeping off a rehash documentary also allowed even more matches and angles to be showcased, giving the set a more complete feel than most other sets. All in all, I was very impressed with how this one turned out, including having DDP hosting, which was very enjoyable. This one was definitely a home run for me and should be a must-buy for anyone who was a fan during that time period as it’s great to take a trip down memory lane with some of wrestling’s biggest stars and biggest moments.

— Good ol’ JR, Jim Ross, has been battling more health problems as of late and is currently recovering from a recent abdominal surgery, but he got some good news this week as the National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced that Ross will receive the Lou Thesz Award on July 23rd at their annual induction ceremony in Waterloo, IA. The Thesz Award is given to an individual in wrestling who has taken the skills of professional wrestling into the realm of public service and with Ross’ considerable work with groups like Circle of Champions, and Get R.E.A.L. (Respect, Education, Achievement, Leadership), he’s a no-brainer for the award. Understandably, Ross is excited about the award, stating that Thesz was one of his wrestling idols and that the honor is an overwhelming one. Congratulations to JR on yet another award for an outstanding career and best wishes on a speedy recovery as well.

— Though he’s kept a rather low profile since resigning from his post as one of the top executives in the WWE, Shane McMahon was back in the news this past weekend after making numerous appearances during NBC’s coverage of the US Open golf tournament. McMahon is currently serving on the board of directors of International Sports Management, a sports agency firm that represents golfers like Ernie Els and the golfer that won the US Open, rising phenom Rory McIlroy. As McIlroy made his way through the final holes, the coverage cut away numerous times to his father watching from beside the final green with McMahon right by his side the whole time. It had to be incredibly difficult for Shane to make his move and leave a company where he was virtually guaranteed to have success to begin a new venture so it’s good to see him having some success in his new career as well.

That wasn’t the only time that McMahon was in the news this week though as he recently spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the circumstances surrounding his exit from the WWE and it was surpsingly candid. He talked about how he was one of the successors to Vince, but that Vince isn’t going anywhere anytime soon so he didn’t want to wake up when he was 70 and have regrets. He also mentioned that it was the hardest decision he’s ever had to make and that the relationship between himself and Vince is still difficult because of his decision to leave. I can only imagine that after being groomed to run the business for such a long time, it had to be a disappointment for Vince to see Shane leave, but I hope that it’s not something that has a long-term effect on their relationship. Shane deserves to do what makes him happy and what he can succeed at and if he felt that he wasn’t going to get that chance within the WWE, he was right to go somewhere else. Shane took a big risk and it looks like it is paying off for him, but I’m sure that it still stings him a little bit that his father is disappointed in what took place. One would imagine that time will heal whatever wounds there are, but Vince has been known to hold grudges in the past. Hopefully he doesn’t view it that way with his own family and instead takes the high road and repairs the relationship with Shane.

— Ring of Honor may be forced to try to replace two of their biggest stars sometime in the near future as former ROH Tag Team Champions Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero, The Kings of Wrestling, were brought in for a pre-show workout by the WWE prior to last week’s Raw and Smackdown tapings. It is believed that they worked dark matches before the venues opened and there is no word on whether the WWE is looking to offer either man or both men a contract. Castagnoli was in the WWE developmental system previously but was released by the company due to “visa issues” although Castagnoli says that there were no issues. Both guys have a ton of size and are great in the ring and could really bring a lot to the WWE, especially Castagnoli, who is one of those guys that I’ve felt could have been a big part of Raw or Smackdown for the past couple of years already.

My only concern is if they try to bring Hero and Castagnoli in as a tag team as opposed to bringing them in as a pair of singles wrestlers. The WWE’s tag division has been on life support for the better part of the past five years and while adding the Kings of Wrestling would provide an immediate boost, they would quickly run out of credible opponents and be left stuck with their heads against the tag team ceiling. If they’re brought in as singles, they’ll at least have a chance to shine on their own without the stigma or stench that seems to accompany tag team wrestlers who are breaking out on their own in singles. In fact, outside of The Miz, I can’t really think of anyone off the top of my head that came out of the tag team ranks of the past four or five years and really made an impact. Expect more updates on Castagnoli, Hero and their possible jump to the WWE in the weeks ahead in the Bell to Bell.

— Matt Hardy has been given some time off from TNA by TNA management and not surprisingly, he broke the news of the situation on his Twitter account…

“Between dates, injuries, & outside issues, I’m gonna have a few week off & I’m ecstatic! The Matt Hardy Movement is going into full effect!”

The way that Hardy presents it, it sounds as though it was something that he asked for and was given by the company, but according to various sources within the company, all is not as it seems. Instead, TNA officials are saying that they have actually suspended Hardy due to continued issues with his lateness to TNA events. I guess that’s two for two with the Hardy family and TNA as they are both going to be sitting at home for the next little while and I say good on TNA. Both of them seem as though they’ve gone from trouble-makers to outright locker room cancers and it’s nice to see TNA put their foot down to try to regain some control vis a vis the Hardys. Neither of them are as big as they surely like to think that they are and TNA will continue on without them, so if Matt wants to be a prima donna that shows up late to events, he can sit at home and maybe go shopping for a better watch.

With all the talent they have, I’ve grown rather weary of hearing about how Matt and Jeff are seemingly doing their best to piss it all away, so if it seems like I’m a little pissed, it’s because I am. For all of the gifts that they have, they’re doing everything the wrong way and looking for everyone else to blame and nothing bothers me more than watching someone squander their opportunities. Part of me hopes that this will help Matt get his head together and back into the TNA game, but it’s looking more and more like Matt and Jeff are content doing whatever the hell it is that they do in HardyLand and I say good riddance.

— Finally, some disappointing news as TNA announced that they have released Desmond Wolfe, who had recently made his return to TNA in the role of Commissioner of Xplosion. That role saw him set up an Xplosion tournament for the internationally syndicated show and seemed like something that could have allowed him to stay on in the company while his mysterious medical problems got addressed. Unfortunately, TNA saw otherwise so he ended up on the chopping block. It’s a real shame that it’s happened this way for Wolfe as he was incredibly hot in his early run in TNA with Kurt Angle and others, but fell into injury problems and had his momentum derailed. Wolfe was one of those guys that seemed like he could be an exciting addition to the main event scene in TNA, but it just never panned out for him. Either way, it looks like it might be the best thing for now for both sides as it frees up a roster spot for TNA to maybe add another piece of talent while allowing Wolfe to move on to other projects while he continues to try to address his health problems.

Alright, that’s it for me for this week. Be sure to check in next week when I’ll be talking about the fallout from the NHL Draft, hopefully an actual name for the new team in Winnipeg and all of the top stories in wrestling from the past seven days. Check out DeMarco’s 5 & 1 for your weekend fix of wrestling news and bewbs and all of the rest of the great content here at 411. In the meantime and in between time, I’ll see you all back here next time for another brand-new edition of the Bell to Bell!

If you’re a fan of MMA, be sure to check out Nokaut.com for more of my work.

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