wrestling / Columns
The Bell To Bell News Report 06.30.11
Welcome to the Bell to Bell folks and it’s a special holiday edition as we head into the Canada Day holiday for my friends in the North and the 4th of July holiday for the United States. Not only is it almost time for everyone to kick back and enjoy the first big party of the summer, but this past weekend also saw the NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, MN. As I wrote last week, the Draft was the first official function for the new NHL team that will play out of Winnipeg next season and not only did they draft an excellent player with the 7th pick overall in Mark Scheifele, but they also revealed the name of the team. It was believed that Winnipeg’s management team was looking to bolster their ranks in the forward lines and Scheifele seems like he could definitely fit the bill. He started the season nearly out of all of the scouting reports and rankings as a member of the OHL’s Barrie Colts, but worked hard through the season and made huge strides as the top scorer on one of the worst teams in the league. Coached by former Winnipeg Jets legend Dale Hawerchuk, Scheifele has an amazing upside and looks like he is set to continue to improve as he develops which could make him a real diamond in the rough.
As for the whole deal with the naming of the team…..drum roll please…..
That’s right, they’ve decided to call the team the Winnipeg Jets, bowing to huge public pressure to bring back the name that left the city when the team bolted to Phoenix in 1996. There are two trains of thought in this and to me both of them are valid, which put True North Sports and Entertainment between a rock and a hard place. People on the side of naming the team Jets argued that the name is so entrenched in professional hockey around the world that the city would be missing out on a huge opportunity to raise its profile with the same name. On the flip side, people against it pointed out that the Jets history is in Phoenix and the team essentially ceased to exist after ’96. I’ll admit that it will make things a bit more difficult to figure out as there’s the “new” Jets records and “old” Jets records, but the sentimental side of me is happy with the choice. According to True North, a new logo and new jersey design is forthcoming and it will be quite different from the old design, but for the few out there who might be craving a taste of what things might look like come October, check out Dustin Byfuglien in a shot from last weekend’s NHL Entry Draft…
Now that’s a pretty sight!
Moving on from the sports talk, it’s time to hop back into the ring as we’ve got news about CM Punk’s epic promo from Raw, Chavo Guerrero’s release, Ric Flair settling his legal troubles with Highspots, the buyrate for Over the Limit, a new Ring of Honor Heavyweight Champion, TNA taking Impact back on the road and more.
You know the drill…
Ding Ding….
— The talk of the wrestling world in the past few days has been the promo that CM Punk cut to end this past Monday’s episode of Raw. For those of you who haven’t had a chance to see it, track it down in some obscure corner of the internet and watch it because it’s a thing of absolute beauty. If you’re not able to find it anywhere, here’s a full transcript of what Punk had to say on Monday night…
“John Cena, while you lay there, hopefully as uncomfortable as you possibly can be, I want you to listen to me. I want you to digest this, because before I leave in three weeks with your WWE Championship, I have a lot of things I wanna get off my chest.
I don’t hate you, John. I don’t even dislike you. I like you a hell of a lot more than I like most people in the back. I hate… this idea… that you’re the best… because you’re not. I’m the best. I’m the best in the world. There’s one thing you’re better at than I am, and that’s kissing Vince McMahon’s ass. You’re as good at kissing Vince’s ass as Hulk Hogan was. I don’t know if you’re as good as Dwayne… he’s a pretty good ass-kisser… always was and still is. Oops… I’m breaking the fourth wall. [Punk waves to the camera.] I am the best… wrestler… in the world. I’ve been the best ever since Day One when I walked into this company, and I’ve been vilified and hated since that day because Paul Heyman saw something in me that nobody else wanted to admit. That’s right, I’m a Paul Heyman guy. You know who else was a Paul Heyman guy? Brock Lesnar… and he split, just like I’m splittin’, but the biggest difference between me and Brock is that I’m going to leave with the WWE Championship.
I’ve grabbed so many of Vincent K. McMahon’s imaginary brass rings that it’s finally dawned on me that they’re just that. They’re completely imaginary. The only thing that’s real is me, and the fact that day in and day out, for almost six years, I’ve proved to everybody in the world that I am the best on this microphone, in that ring, and even on commentary. Nobody can touch me. And yet, no matter how many times I prove it, I’m not on your lovely little collectors’ cups, I’m not on the cover of the program, I’m barely promoted, I don’t get to be in movies, I’m not on any crappy show on the USA Network, I’m not on the poster of WrestleMania, I’m not on the signature that’s produced at the start of the show. I’m not on Conan O’Brian, I’m not on Jimmy Fallon, but the fact of the matter is I should be, and trust me, this isn’t sour grapes, but the fact that “Dwayne” is in the main event of WrestleMania next year and I’m not makes me sick!
Oh hey, let me get something straight, those of you who are cheering me right now… you are just as big a part of me leaving as anyone else, because you’re the ones sipping out of those collector cups right now, you’re the ones that buy those programs that my face isn’t on the cover of, and then at five in the morning at the airport, you try to shove it in my face thinking you can get an autograph and sell it on eBay because you’re too lazy to get a real job.
I’m leaving with the WWE championship on July 17 and hell, who knows, maybe I’ll go defend it in New Japan Pro Wrestling… maybe I’ll go back to Ring of Honor… [Punk waves to the camera again] hey, Colt Cabana, how you doing? The reason I’m leaving is you people because after I’m gone you’re still going to pour money into this company — I’m just a spoke on the wheel — the wheel’s gonna keep turning. And I understand that… that Vince McMahon’s gonna make money despite himself… he’s a millionaire who should be a billionaire… you know why he’s not a billionaire? It’s because he surrounds himself with glad-handing nonsensical [censored] yes-men like John Lauranitis, who’s gonna tell him everything he wants to hear… and I’d like to think that maybe this company will be better after Vince McMahon is dead, but the fact is it’s gonna get taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family.
Let me tell you a personal story about Vince McMahon. You know we do this whole bully campaign…”
(Microphone is cut off. Punk hits the mic a few times, says something inaudible, yells “I’ve been silenced”, and we fade to black.)
The reaction both in kayfabe and in reality to Punk’s promo has been coming fast and furious since moments after the show went off the air on Monday night. Late Monday night, WWE.com posted an announcement that Raw did not end because of technical difficulties, but was pulled from the air by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon with Punk suspended indefinitely by McMahon for his “unprofessional conduct” to close out the show. Suffice to say that no announcement made on the WWE’s website has been this dissected by the IWC since the surprise release of Daniel Bryan last June. In fact, this situation mirrors the Bryan release rather well as during that entire span, there was intense buzz around whether the situation was a work or a shoot. With Punk’s Twitter postings, his promo on Monday and his subsequent suspension, the same type of speculation is beginning over again, fueling interest in the WWE product and in Punk.
In reality, the reactions came from pretty much every corner of the wrestling world as Zach Gowen, Kurt Angle, Tommy Dreamer, Shane Helms, Batista, Trish Stratus, JBL, MVP, Bill DeMott, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Joey Styles and Taz all offered glowing praise of Punk in varying degrees. Hell, even Punk’s fellow Chicagoan and huge wrestling fan Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins weighed in, saying that it was one of the greatest promos that he’s ever seen. It’s been a VERY long time since anyone has been able to positively unify public opinion like that when it comes to a wrestling angle and Punk should be incredibly proud of the work that he did. Not only did he get a lot of people talking about wrestling positively, something that almost never happens on the internet, but he also raised the bar which could lead to everyone being forced to up their game, provided that the WWE follows this up properly and doesn’t move away from it next week (I’m avoiding spoilers for the 4th of July show that was taped this week).
Two of the biggest stars of the Attitude era, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock also weighed in on Punk’s masterpiece in the aftermath of Raw, with Austin being incredibly positive as he looks at it from outside the business, while Rock cut Punk down on his Twitter account in what looked like a worked response. Rock, who Punk mentioned during the promo, stated that he was in the main event of WrestleMania because he can draw more in one night than Punk can in a lifetime, which is exactly how you would expect Rock to react in character. In the case of the Rattlesnake, Austin, who was one of the best promo men in the history of the business in his run from 1996-1999, posted about the promo on his Twitter account saying that Punk “melted my 52 inch TV with a scorching hot promo…delivery, content, and attitude…one of the best promos I’ve ever seen.” That’s pretty high praise coming from someone like Austin and it hits every key point. Punk’s delivery was top-notch because he looked the part of someone who was pushed past the breaking point of going “off-script” instead of someone who was just going through the motions like nearly every other promo on TV today. The content was fantastic as you could tell that a lot of it came from Punk himself rather than a group of writers who write promos while trying to sound like wrestlers. Finally, the attitude was pitch-perfect as it was genuine emotion from Punk because he believed in the words because they were his. Of course he doesn’t “believe” them, but he is able to make people believe that he does because he is able to put real passion into his thoughts instead of into words on a piece of paper.
This type of promo was rampant during the Attitude era when guys like Austin, Rock and Foley were tearing up mics from coast to coast and I was excited to see even a glimpse of it back in the WWE against after such a long time gone. Now, I’m not looking for the return of the Attitude era to professional wrestling as that brought with it almost as much bad as it did good. Rather, I’m looking for the return of the genuine emotion that the Attitude era introduced to professional wrestling and Punk’s promo on Monday night was dripping with it. In the history of great promos, it may fall a step behind some of Ric Flair’s classics or Dusty Rhodes’ “Hard Times” gem, but given the landscape of the past few years when it comes to incredibly generic interviews, Punk has found a way to stand miles ahead of everyone else in just six minutes.
— There will be more news surrounding Hulk Hogan and his personal life later in the column, but in news that concerns his role with TNA, Hogan announced on his Twitter account that Impact Wrestling will begin taping on the road for every other taping beginning in August. One of the biggest knocks against TNA has been the rather canned nature of their show when it’s the same fans in the Impact Zone week after week, month after month. By moving the tapings to other cities where TNA is popular, they will be able to freshen up the show while also exposing their tapings to more fans. If you look back at the history of TNA, some of the shows that have seemed the most fun have been the shows that have taken place in cities other than Orlando in front of larger crowds. The only thing that TNA needs to make sure of before these tapings is to get venues that are the right size. A venue of 1,000-1,500 will look great on TV and be packed in virtually any town they go to. A venue of 8-10,000 with only 2,500 in the seats will look awful and reflect badly on TNA. I would expect to hear more about this development as the summer goes on, so keep your eyes on the 411 wrestling news feed and the Bell to Bell for more information on when TNA may be taping TV in your area.
— Congratulations are in order for American Wolf Davey Richards as he was crowned the new Ring of Honor Heavyweight Champion this past weekend at the Best in the World iPPV show in New York City. Richards won the title from his American Wolf teammate Eddie Edwards in the main event of the show in what was an absolutely phenomenal match at the end of a fantastic show. Edwards/Richards had HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE expectations to live up to and the match could have very easily collapsed under the weight of those expectations, but instead, they met and surpassed them. The match was brutal without being violent if that makes sense. Both guys were practically killing themselves to hold the belt, but they were doing it with their bodies in the confines of the match rather than with a ton of weapons and insanely dangerous and convoluted spots. I didn’t necessarily like how we had what felt like eighty overdone two-counts to end the match, but it was still an incredible bout and one that I look forward to owning the second it comes out on DVD. Many have felt that Richards was the best wrestler in the promotion to not hold the title and now that he has won the title, it will be exciting to see what he does with it and how it raises his profile.
The show also saw some huge developments in El Generico winning the ROH TV Title from Christopher Daniels and Kevin Steen making a shocking return to the promotion after he lost a loser leaves ROH match against Generico last December. The Steen return is one of the bigger stories that has happened in ROH in the past few months and given his “Fuck ROH” promo and ROH’s quick response to “ban” Steen from any future events and bar any mentions of his name, it looks like something that’s going to be going on for quite some time. Unfortunately, it looks like they may have started the angle a bit too soon as they will have to really stretch it out for it to run until ROH returns to television in late-September. On its own though, it made for an incredibly hot moment on a pay-per-view that seemed to be full of them. While I’m congratulating Richards and Generico, I feel like I should be congratulating Ring of Honor too as they are continuously raising the bar for their i-PPVS and delivering top value for this wrestling fan’s hard-earned dollar every time out.
— The legal drama between Ric Flair and Highspots.com has finally been resolved as Flair has paid the $35,000 that he owed the company while also signing 300 photos to be sold by the website at a later date. Flair had been fast approaching a court-ordered deadline that would have seen him possibly spending time in jail had he not been able to make good on the debt, which stemmed from an advance Flair took from the company in 2010 that was allegedly never repaid. Highspots posted an update on the case to their Facebook page earlier this week and have already begun to sell the pictures, claiming that each will come with a certificate of authenticity that states that it is from the set of photos that Flair signed as part of the settlement. While I get that there is a certain niche for the photos that were signed by Flair as part of the settlement, it seems a little ghoulish of Highspots to be exploiting what is certainly a painful chapter in Flair’s personal life. I wonder if Highspots will have a premium price on the pictures that have smeared autographs from Naitch’s tears as well. Either way, I’m glad that it has finally been resolved in a manner that benefits both sides so that the issue can be dropped and both sides can move on from the messy dispute.
— One of the longest-serving WWE performers left on the roster was given his walking papers this past week as Chavo Guerrero asked for and was given his release by the WWE. Guerrero posted about the news on his Twitter account and indicated that he had asked for his release because he was unhappy with how he was being used. Here’s Chavo talking about the release and what he hopes to do in the future…
“Yes, it’s true. My release is the big news I was talking about. But let’s get something straight. I asked for my release. I was just tired of not being used correctly. Just because you can make other people look good, doesn’t mean they should just have you lose to them. The same thing happened to Eddie. After being champ, they still had him working mid card status.
Being a Guerrero, we’ve been taught since diapers to get the most out of people & matches. It’s our gift, but also our curse. WWE has always used us to make other people look good. It all comes down to being happy. I was not happy in WWE anymore. I had a smile on my face last night though when I got my release though! 🙂 now it’s time for me to start being a Guerrero again, and start kicking ass again, be able to tell stories in the ring like you know we can. 🙂 win or lose I will never go back to the place WWE put me in. I will never go back to being under utilized and watching people who suck get bigger “pushes” than me!
Thank you to all of you who stuck by me & kept reminding me, I was better than that! 🙂 stay tuned.. Big things coming!! Now I will really be able to entertain you! 🙂 like me or hate me, 1 thing I have always tried to do is entertain you and give you fans your $ worth. Even if my hands were tied most of the time. I love you all and can’t wait for the future!! So happy. :)”
I have to agree with Chavo that he was languishing in the WWE with little to no direction. Since the death of his uncle Eddie and the subsequent angles afterwards, Chavo has done very little in the WWE and has had next to no impact on the show at all. Hell, even before Eddie’s untimely passing, he was saddled with the terrible Kerwin White gimmick so I might go back even further and say that he hasn’t had much to work with since the Los Guerreros/Chavo Classic runs on Smackdown. That’s nearly six years of being employed while doing little of consequence, which is a feat in and of itself. While it’s somewhat remarkable, I have to agree with Chavo that if he was no longer happy there, he needed to move on. He’s worked for over a decade in the WWE and if he’s saved properly, he can work places where he wants to work to make extra income, rather than working places he HAS to work simply to make ends meet.
The only problem in all of this is that, outside of a couple of short instances, Guerrero has been an exclusively mid-card talent and that’s going to cause problems for him as he looks to find a new home. Unless Chavito is looking to go to Ring of Honor to follow guys like Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, it might be difficult for him to be able to live up to the promises in his statement of “never going back to being underutilized while people who suck get bigger pushes”. Chavo moving to TNA would be more of a sideways move than an advance for him as he’s never going to be a main eventer in Orlando. That would mean that he’d get the same two or three minutes for matches on TV that the rest of the mid-card in TNA gets (when they actually get it) and that’s not conducive to storytelling. In Ring of Honor, he might not get past the TV Title hunt, but he could put on ten-minute matches on TV and fifteen-minute matches at house shows, which would likely make him far happier. Look for news to break on Chavo once his non-compete clause expires in the fall.
— The WWE has been experiencing a free-fall of its pay-per-view buyrates in the past year or two and the Over The Limit PPV show that took place last month was expected to be extremely low, possibly the lowest ever for a WWE show according to projections. Luckily, the WWE has dodged that particular bullet as the numbers are in and the show did somewhere around 200,000 buys, which is in line with most of the WWE’s other PPV offerings. The problems with the WWE and their PPV buys has been discussed numerous times and while things appear to be stabilizing for now, the problems will continue to exist until either A.) the American economy turns around to where fans have more disposable income, or B.) the WWE begins to put on a more compelling product that essentially forces fans into buying the shows. Given that the WWE has had a hard time doing that over the past five or six years and economists are predicting that the US economy has years before it can recover properly, it may be a race between the tortoise and….well….another tortoise to see which happens first.
— Former WWWF Champion and wrestling mega-star Bruno Sammartino had been dealing with some health issues as of late, but according to a recent release from Sal Corrente, “The Living Legend” is on the road to recovery. Sammartino suffered with Rheumatic Fever as a child and the disease did damage to the valves in his heart, which he had been able to live with until recently when doctors discovered that the valves had deteriorated to the point that they needed to be replaced. Sammartino has undergone the surgery to replace the valves and is set to undergo three months of rehab with doctors expecting the legendary superstar to make a full and complete recovery. Best of luck to Sammartino during his rehabilitation and best wishes for a speedy recovery to one of the all-time greats in this business.
— As if things weren’t wild enough for Hulk Hogan lately with his beef with the Ultimate Warrior at an all-time high, apparently he’s still into it with his ex-wife as well. Linda Hogan went on the Today show this past week to help promote her new book “Wrestling the Hulk: My Life Between The Ropes” and in an interview with Matt Lauer dropped a bombshell that Hulk had been violent with her in the past. Here’s what Linda had to say…
“[Hulk] tore my shirt. He threw lamps. He held me down on the bed with his hands around my throat during arguments, slamming doors, pounding walls. I was always afraid he would kill me in one of his rages.”
She took it even a step further and added that she “didn’t want to end up like Nicole Simpson”, obviously alluding to OJ Simpson’s spousal abuse that led up to the “alleged” murders of Nicole and a friend in 1994. She added that she chose not to divulge these details until now because it would have hurt his career and possibly his relationship with his children.
For his part, Hogan denies that any abuse took place and is instead suggesting that Linda is trying to roust some publicity for her new book now that she is not in the limelight that Hulk provides. Talking to his friend Bubba the Love Sponge on his radio show, Hogan called Linda “delusional” and said that he had never laid a hand on her, going one step further in stating that she is a non-issue that is still trying to ride the Hulk Hogan name to one more big payday. Hogan closed out by saying that Linda should be lumped into the same category as Warrior and The Iron Sheik, both of whom have been less than complimentary to Hogan in the past. Can you imagine those three as some sort of a heel faction? Anyhow, I’m sure that Hogan wasn’t going to win any “Husband of the Year” awards, but this does sound an awful lot like someone who is trying to sell some extra books. There’s never been any indication or rumors of Hogan being abusive in the past and Lord knows if there had been, Warrior would have been all over it in the “Karma” videos. Hulk is taking a lot of blows from a lot of angles all at once these days, but as always seems to be the case with Hogan, I’d expect him to come out of it smelling like a rose on the other side.
— The long strange trip through court for Jeff Hardy appears to be coming to an end soon as the criminal case against him stemming from a September 2009 arrest on charges of trafficking in controlled prescription pills and possession of anabolic steroids could end as soon as Thursday. Hardy was found to be in possession of 262 Vicodin prescription pills, 180 soma prescription pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, a residual amount of powder cocaine, and drug paraphernalia and was set to face trial last year, but after Hardy agreed to a plea agreement with rehab on the table instead of jail, the case was pushed back. Now, a judge has placed Hardy on standby for a Thursday hearing while he goes over the report given to him that makes the case for Hardy to serve out time in rehab. If the judge agrees, it would end the criminal case and Hardy would end up in rehabilitation.
For as much as Hardy fans will hate me for this, I am of the mind that the judge should turn down the request and have Hardy spend some time in jail while also attending rehab in those facilities. I’m not one of those that thinks they should throw the book at him and have him spend the maximum amount of time in jail, but Hardy has been a perpetual addict with multiple relapses and seems to have little to no concern for the law. Rehab alone has failed more times than can be counted and maybe being “scared straight” is the only thing that can save Jeff at this point. There’s not much else left to try so what’s the worst it could do? It’s not like he’d be a general population prisoner that could be subject to harm, so maybe some time in the clink would clear out Hardy’s head while the rehab could look to fix the problems that cause most of his addicition. Look for an update on this story in next week’s Bell to Bell as there is likely to be more information coming out after the column goes live.
— With the news coming later in the column about the official introduction of Sinclair Broadcasting Group as the new owners of Ring of Honor, it should come as no surprise that the company is looking to nail some of their talents down to long-term contracts. First up are the current Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. As with most Ring of Honor contracts as of late, no terms were released regarding the length of the contract, but given that they are currently holding gold, one would have to assume that ROH has them sewn up for the mid-to-long term future. Alongside the news of Haas and Benjamin signing a new deal with ROH came word of the opponents for their next title defense on July 8th in Richmond, VA. At that event, Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team will make their third title defense when they put the belts up against the team of El Generico and Colt Cabana. Given that they have already defended against The Briscoes in Toronto and against The Briscoes, The All Night Express and the Kings of Wrestling in an elimination match this past weekend, it makes sense for Haas and Benjamin to face a team like Generico and Cabana. Both guys are incredibly popular and can work very well in the ring while keeping the “top level” challengers like the Briscoes and the KOW fresh for future matches down the road. That’s not to say that Generico and Cabana have no chance as ROH has booked surprises in the past, but it’s less likely for them to come out on top than it is for a team like Castagnoli and Hero.
— Last weekend saw the continuation of the CHIKARA 12 Large Summit that will crown the promotion’s first Heavyweight Champion and here are the current standings in both Block A and Block B…
Block A:
Claudio Castagnoli (1-0, 2 pts)
W vs. Hallowicked (6/24)
vs. Mike Quackenbush (7/30)
Sara Del Rey (1-0, 2 pts)
W vs. Icarus (6/24)
Hallowicked (1-1, 2 pts)
W vs. Mike Quackenbush (5/21)
L vs. Claudio Castagnoli (6/24)
Mike Quackenbush (1-1, 2 pts)
L vs. Hallowicked (5/21)
W vs. Ophidian (6/25)
vs. Claudio Castagnoli (7/30)
Ophidian (0-1, 0 pts)
L vs. Mike Quackenbush (6/25)
vs. Icarus (7/31)
Icarus (0-1, 0 pts)
L vs. Sara Del Rey (6/24)
Block B:
Eddie Kingston (1-0, 2 pts)
W vs. Ultramantis Black (6/25)
Vin Gerard (1-0, 2 pts)
W vs. Brodie Lee (5/22)
Ultramantis Black (1-1, 2 pts)
W vs. Fire Ant (6/24)
L vs. Eddie Kingston (6/25)
Jigsaw (0-0, 0 pts)
*returning from injury in July*
Brodie Lee (0-1, 0 pts)
L vs. Vin Gerard (5/22)
*injured, status uncertain*
Fire Ant (0-1, 0 pts)
L vs. Ultramantis Black (6/24)
There are a couple of surprises in here, but for the most part the tournament seems to be going how it was expected to go early on. Things look like they’ll begin to clear up a bit in Block A after the upcoming bout between Claudio Castagnoli and Mike Quackenbush on July 30th as they are two of the favorites and the bout will likely vault the winner into first place while the loser will have to hope for some help to get back to the front of the pack. If I had to hazard a guess, the winner will likely be determined by whether Castagnoli and Chris Hero are brought in by the WWE or not. While I’m talking about the tournament, congratulations to Sara Del Rey for winning her opening bout against Icarus this past weekend to move into a tie for first place in Block A. Given how CHIKARA works, Del Rey has to be considered as a dark horse contender as her winning would make perfect sense in their promotion, so it will be interesting to see how she holds up as the tournament progresses.
— While his brother Jeff looks as though he may finally be out of hot water for a while, Matt Hardy seems hellbent on continually sticking his foot in it. As reported last week, Hardy was suspended by TNA due to “repeated lateness to house show events” and this week he decided to try to stoke the fires of his followers. Hardy posted the following on his Twitter account this past week, which looks to be an attempt to try to force TNA into bringing him back by costing them money…
“If you asked for a refund in Ft. Wayne cuz I wasn’t there, tweet me your story & I will RT it. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart!”
Thankfully, Abyss also posted on Twitter to inject some reality into the situation. He not only took a veiled shot at Hardy, but defended the company that he has spilled his sweat and blood for in the past nine years…
Our roster of talent is the best and brings everything they have to the ring everynite and our Impact live events give the fans alot for their money. No refunds required or requested. Thanks for being great fans no matter whos on the show. You guys are the best
The tweet from Abyss was retweeted by Karen Jarrett, which leads me to believe that there were probably some ruffled feathers in the locker room due to Hardy’s comments. Considering that he’s away from the company right now for problems that likely ostracized him from the boys, you’d think that Hardy would know better, but once a Hardy, always a Hardy.
I spoke last week about Hardy being a locker room cancer and this does nothing but confirm my feelings on him. It’s Hardy’s own fault that he got suspended and instead of taking responsibility for it, he’s trying to take money out of the company’s pocket by inciting his fans to ask for refunds. This whole thing is just another instance of Hardy’s self-inflated sense of worth to the company as not only is it incredibly selfish of him to bring up the refund thing, but I highly doubt that the fans that go to TNA house shows will feel ripped off because Matt Hardy wasn’t wrestling in the second match of the night. Good riddance to Hardy and if TNA is smart, they’ll keep him off the road and off of TV until he’s ready to straighten up and start working with the company instead of against it.
— Finally, Ring of Honor has officially changed hands as Sinclair Broadcasting Group has bought out the company’s former owner, Cary Silkin, who is expected to remain with the company in an executive role. The announcement of the purchase was made late last month, but the official roll-out of the new company took place this past week and even saw the company unveiling a new logo, which you can see above. SBG is the largest operator of local television stations with most of them airing through the South and the Midwest. The company’s channels reach about 24 percent of American households and includes mostly Fox stations, though the umbrella includes ABC, CBS, CW and NBC affiliates as well. The company has made news previously for controversial political decisons on airing programming including their airing of a 2004 documentary that was critical of then-Presedential hopeful John Kerry’s anti-Vietnam War activism just two weeks prior to the election and a 2010 anti-Obama infomercial that claimed he received campaign contributions from the Hamas terrorist group. Whether Ring of Honor will feel backlash from any future controversy remains to be seen, but there has to be at least a little bit of unease heading into this partnership. That being said, any exposure is good exposure for ROH at this point in terms of getting their product back on television in some shape or form, so beggars can’t be choosers. TV tapings for ROH’s new program will begin in August with the show’s first air date coming in late-September.
Well, that’s all for this week everyone. Best wishes for a safe and happy Canada Day to all of my Canuck readers and for a safe and happy 4th of July to all of my readers in the US. DeMarco will have you covered with the Wrestling 5 & 1 this weekend as his Versus Summer League continues and I’ll be back next week so in the mean time 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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