The Happy-Go-Sucky Wrestling Report 02.25.09

Once again, count your blessings that I am here to give you your favorite 411mania News Report. As we speak, I am less than a week away from launching my very own radio station. And thus, things are a bit nuts this week. So once again, you’re stuck with a not-so-lengthy news report, but I’m here nonetheless.

Not to mention that I’m kind of distracted watching live webcams from Bourbon Street in New Orleans right now. Let’s just say I’ve seen quite a many things that makes me glad that the city didn’t sink after all.

By the way, Happy 60th birthday Ric Flair! Now, cue banner!

News: The WWE has released Scotty Goldman (Colt Cabana) and Manu.

Happy: These guys were certainly not getting a fair shake in the WWE. And with all the wrestling programming out there right now, it’s probably best for both of them. Let’s face it, Scotty Goldman was never ever going to get anywhere WRESTLING in the WWE, and neither was Manu.

For Goldman though, or who I will refer to as Colt Cabana from here on, the timing is PERFECT for a return to Ring of Honor. He won’t be there for the first few shows because he has to honor a 90 day no compete clause, but come this summer, long time ROH fans will probably get a treat on HDnet when Colt Cabana returns to ROH where he’ll be more appreciated.

As for Manu, I honestly couldn’t be happier. I mean yeah it sucks that this guy lost his job, but from Day 1, Manu has been out of place. It’s not his fault but the WWE did an AWFUL job of getting him involved with the product. He was always losing. He always looked lost when they showed him hanging out with Ted and Cody. I suppose they at least could have sent him to ECW to get some work in but I really never had any expectations or hope for the guy.

Go Sucky: This could have all been prevented on Colt Cabana’s part. Apparently the reason he was fired was because they apparently had to redo a match between Umaga and Scott Goldman, which was obviously aired this past Friday on Smackdown. That made Vince irate and instead of giving him another shot, he just fired him. (You can’t squash a squasher I guess.)

The sad part here is that by all reports I’ve read, and of course watching “What’s Crackin'”, Colt had a great future as an announcer for the WWE. Recently, the WWE has been worried about the future of its broadcast booth with JR turning 58 and Jerry Lawler turning 60 later this year and only Striker and Grisham are showing any promise. Colt would have been a great addition to the booth at some point in the future.

Hey, couldn’t have been any worse than Mike Adamle right?

As for Manu, his time in the WWE went up in flames when Randy Orton deficated all over him. While I agree with Randy Orton on every aspect in regards to Manu, it still sucks to know that it cost him his job. But c’est la vie!

News: Sonjay Dutt has departed ways with TNA.

TNA’s X-Division genocide continues. And in this case, I hope TNA is regretting every second of releasing Petey Williams. Sonjay decided that his contract negotiations weren’t going well, so he gave up on them and walked away from the company. So it would appear now that TNA’s plan now has a Maple Leaf sized gap in it.

Sonjay Dutt has always been one of my favorite guys in TNA. He was always fun to watch in the ring and really helped TNA pioneer what WAS TNA X Division. Or maybe I should refer to it now as X Division Classic. Anyway, TNA’s X Division just seems to be getting worse and worse.

I guess the “Happy” part about this story, since I’m breaking format on this one is that Sonjay, much like Colt Cabana and Manu that we mentioned above, is that Sonjay can now go somewhere else and drop the whole “Guru” gimmick. Hopefully he didn’t burn any bridges in TNA and can return at some point.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why TNA continues to do what it’s doing. It’s borderline insane! So far, they have released original talents like Sonjay, Petey, Jimmy Rave and Lance Hoyt. And more are coming from what I understand. While guys like Stevie Richards are being brought in for future, worthless feuds with Abyss. Trust me, I get that the talent on the roster was stale, but maybe they should consider pushing their lower midcard talent over their has been main event talent.

News: Ohio Valley Wrestling has lost its TV deal with WBKI in Louisville.

Go Sucky: I’m going to break format again here because I’ve been a huge fan of OVW for a long time. In fact, just recently OVW showed up in Lexington again on our CW network. Now what I’m confused about is since WBKI is no longer going to air OVW, does that mean the station in Lexington will quit airing them too? And what about Cincinnati and London? (Yes there’s a London in KY, there’s also a Paris, Athens, Cairo, and Bagdad.)

A lot of people see this as the end of OVW. The fact of the matter is that Danny Davis was paying $2,000 per show on that TV channel. That’s expensive. And with the economy the way that it is, OVW needs that $2,000 to focus on what OVW really exists for. Teaching. And that’s respectable. OVW is a wrestling school first, an indy wrestling organization second. Do the math. $2,000 a week to air a low quality wrestling show, or take $8,000 a month and put it into training and equipment for your main business. It’s a no brainer.

And while I’ve loved watching OVW on TV for years (I remember watching Batista debut as Leviathan in OVW), I’d be more sad to know that OVW ceased to exist. And that’s just not the case. For now, OVW can survive off it’s wrestling school. It will likely start selling DVD’s online as well and will make a little extra cash that way too. And if they REALLY want to keep a mainstream audience, they can stream their programs online and sell advertising to international markets.

If you could watch OVW for free, you’d watch it right?

Happy: It’s hard to be positive about this tough economy but the good part here is that Danny Davis and OVW isn’t losing focus on what’s important. With so many wrestling company’s out there today, many of them getting TV deals, training new wrestlers is a very valuable aspect in our sport. OVW has been the best wrestling school in the world since the days of the legendary “Dungeon”. Sure we here in Kentucky and Indiana may not be able to see them wrestle on TV anymore, but rest assured, they’re still wrestling and still going to wrestle on the road, even if it’s not at Six Flags anymore. There are PLENTY of places here in Lexington that would love to have a weekly wrestling event.

News: The WWE has released its roster for the upcoming WWE Legends of Wrestlemania game. The roster is as follows:

• Andre The Giant
• Animal
• Arn Anderson
• Bam Bam Bigelow
• Big Bossman
• Big John Studd
• Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
• Bret Hitman Hart
• British Bulldog
• Brutus Beefcake
• Dusty Rhodes
• Greg Valentine
• Hacksaw Jim Duggan
• Hawk
• Honky Tonk Man
• Hulk Hogan
• Hunter Hearst Helmsley
• Iron Sheik
• Jake The Snake
• Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart
• Jimmy Hart
• Jimmy Snuka
• Junkyard Dog
• Kamala
• King Kong Bundy
• Koko B. Ware
• Michael Hayes
• Mr. Fuji
• Mr. Perfect
• Nikolai Volkoff
• Paul Bearer
• Ravishing Rick Rude
• Ric Flair
• Rowdy Roddy Piper
• Sgt. Slaughter
• Shawn Michaels
• Stone Cold Steve Austin
• Ted DiBiase
• The Rock
• The Ultimate Warrior
• Undertaker
• Yokozuna

Happy: That is one hell of a video game lineup. There are guys on there that we’ve never been able to play a video game with! How much fun will it be to put guys like The Rock against Andre The Giant. And we can finally once and for all get the match we’ve all been waiting for in Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Hulk Hogan. The dream matchups are endless!

Go Sucky: As with any video game lineup, there are some parts of that roster I really don’t agree with. First off, when did Arn Anderson ever wrestle at Wrestlemania? The same goes for Michael Hayes. I can only remember Michael Hayes being apart of the gimmick battle royal a few years back. Then there’s Koko B. Ware and Hacksaw Jim Duggan who never really had a big impact at Wrestlemania. Ever. Don’t get me wrong, they were all fantastic wrestlers and great during their time in the WWE, they don’t belong in the category of “Legend”.

Missing most oddly is the “Macho Man Randy Savage”. The WWE just recently released the matches they are putting on his DVD compilation, yet, he’s not good enough to be on the video game? He was the champ at Wrestlemania 3 and won the title again at Wrestlemania 8. How can you leave him out? And speaking of Savage and Wrestlemania 3, the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame Ricky Steamboat is also missing! Others deserving of the honor includes Owen Hart, and believe it or not, John Cena.

I was really hoping to lay the smack down on Cena…

News: ROH will debut on HDNet on March 21st at 8pm with a replay at 11pm.

Happy: I’m really excited for ROH and all of the fans that have helped keep it alive for the past 7 years. It will be interesting to see ROH’s first rating, which I wouldn’t expect to be higher than 0.4. However, I feel that ROH’s initial debut, will showcase just how powerful the internet is on professional wrestling. Because unless you are from Philadelphia, or for some reason stumble upon it on your channel guide, then I believe it’s safe to say that “normal” wrestling fans won’t have a clue about Ring of Honor.

I have to say there, if there is EVER a time to get people interested in a wrestling project, now’s the time. This is the time where wrestling fans from the past come out of the woodwork to check out what’s going on with Wrestelemania and new wrestling fans are made due to the publicity of the event. So ROH’s planning is spot on.

Go Sucky: The problem with debuting at the same time as Wrestlemania is that there is no way you could ever emerge from the shadow that is the WWE during Wrestlemania. There’s no way at all. Why should a new fan pay attention to ROH whom they aren’t familiar with at all when they can watch the show of all shows in Wrestlemania.

ROH is going to need a much larger fanbase than the IWC to survive in the mainstream as well. I personally believe that the IWC kept TNA on TV. But I don’t think they can do it for ROH, just because HDnet isn’t exactly a popular network like Fox Sports and Spike TV are.

Rapid Fire

News: The WWE announced that Wrestlemania 26 will be held in Phoenix.

Hey, at least they beat Pittsburgh in SOMETHING.

News: Jamie Noble is ok after suffering from a “stinger” Monday on Raw.

When I first read this, I thought it said he suffered from a “stinker”. And then knowing he wrestled Mike Knox, I couldn’t help but to laugh.

News: Raw scored a second consecutive 4.1 rating.

Jamie Noble Stingers = Ratings.

News: Former WWE diva Amy Weber is expecting her first child.

Remember when Orton poured beer all over her head? Classic!

News: The Honkey Tonk Man will be at the WWE Hall of Fame.

Noooo. Honkey isn’t vying for a spot in the hall or anything is he?

And that’s going to do it. Back to absorbing radio frequency and watching live feeds from New Orleans! Until next week my friends, may your lives be Happy or Go Sucky!