wrestling / Columns
The Thursday JT-For-All News Report: 08.28.08
Hello, all! As predicted, Small still has not gotten over his devastated emotions over The Great Khali’s tragic loss to Triple H at SummerSlam. Therefore you’re stuck with me for one more week! I’m coming off my pay + auction + keeper fantasy football league draft last weekend, and I must say I am pleased with the results. As you FFers know though, how I feel about that four weeks into the season can be a very different story; I’m looking at YOU Kevin Boss (George Sirois will also be held personally responsible for Boss’ performance this year)!
Wait for it……….
Wait for it……….
Keep waiting….
Keep waiting….
Yes, yes………….
THE “YOU SUPER FAIL AND SMALL STILL ISN’T HERE TO HOLD YOUR HAND AND COMFORT YOU” WHAMMY!!!
Thanks to Monica a.k.a MoneyOvaNiggahzAllways for the sick banner.
Before we get started, I’d just like to remind everyone that I interviewed 411’s Chris Lansdell for the sites MySpace page. You can read that here!
Create yours at BlingyBlob.com!
NEWS FROM TITAN TOWERS (Thursday, August 21st – Wednesday, August 27th)
Here is the latest Billboard Recreational Sports DVD top ten sales list.
1. WWE: Summerslam – The Complete Anthology 1988-2007
2. NBA: NBA Champions 2007-2008 Boston Celtics
3. WWE: The Rock – The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment
4. UFC: UFC 83 – Serra vs. St-Pierre
5. WWE: Nature Boy Ric Flair – The Definitive Collection
6. WWE: Night of Champions 2008
7. WWE: WrestleMania XXIV
8. MLB: Yankee Stadium – Baseball’s Cathedral
9. WWE: The Best of RAW: 15th Anniversary 1993-2008
10. WWE: One Night Stand 2008
My thoughts? WWE makes a shit-ton of money off of DVD sales. I also think it’s telling that #1 is a $200 product released three weeks ago while #2 is only a $20 product released only five weeks ago. Furthermore, this is basically how this list always looks with WWE having six, seven or eight of the top 10. Obviously I can’t speculate without specific numbers, but clearly wrestling has a much bigger fan base than some people give it credit for. It has always amused me that something that a quarter billion people (if not more) worldwide enjoy can still be considered taboo simply because it isn’t “authentic competition”. Hey, whatever. I’ll keep enjoying the product and Vince will keep raking in the dough and laughing his ass off all the way to the when the next Billboard list is released.
Mr Kennedy’s WWE contract is set to expire soon, in the fall. Although he hasn’t been pushed lately there is no reason to think that he won’t re-sign with the company. Anything else would be speculation.
UPDATE:Ken Kennedy is set to have shoulder surgery this Friday. Kennedy injured his shoulder earlier this month at a house show in a match with Shelton Benjamin. He suffered a torn labrum and damage to his rotator cuff according to Dr. James Andrews. Kennedy attempted to rehab the injury, but it was determined that it was no help to the injury. Dr. James Andrews will perform the surgery on Friday, which is expected to keep Kennedy out 4-6 months.
There has also been mild reporting of the opposite, that perhaps he wouldn’t be re-signed. Honestly, I am a big fan of his and although some to even most of it has been of his own doing, I just kind of feel bad for the guy. I don’t have an exact timeline, but basically it seems like every time he’s set to blow up, something happens. Some people may not notice, but because I was hooked from the start (covered him as a newcomer on ByteThis, more on that later) all of these events to me just seemed like another let-down, as if he couldn’t catch a break. Basically, it has gone as follows:
- Gets himself over, gets original push, gets hurt.
- Comes back, gets himself over again, gets another push, wins MITB, gets hurt.
- Comes back, gets himself over again, gets another push, opens his mouth, violates wellness.
- Comes back, gets himself over again, gets another push heading into a huge program for the summer, William Regal violates wellness.
- Moves to SmackDown!, gets himself over again, gets another push, get hurts again.
- Tries to rehab unsuccessfully, will now have surgery and be out for half a year.
It like it just doesn’t end for the guy. Many people think he is another run-of-the-mill wrestler who can talk, but I see much, much more in him. He just needs longer than four/five months at a time to get to that next level. Hopefully this surgery is an indication that they plan to renew him, he comes back healthy, and stays that way. If that happens, I predict big things for him.
For those wondering why I was hooked so early, feel free to check out his ByteThis appearance here. It really is good shit.
WWE has already announced their first major international Tour of 2009, with the following dates on the schedule:
* April 17th – Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland
* April 17th – The Zenith Of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France
* April 18th – Exhibition & Conference Centre in Aberdeen, Scotland
* April 20th – O2 Arena in London, England (Monday Night Raw Taping)
* April 20th – Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, Wales
* April 21st – O2 Arena in London, England (Smackdown & ECW Taping)
* April 21st – Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, Wales
* April 22nd – Echo Arena in Liverpool, England
* April 24th – Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland
People overseas LOVE WWE shows because unlike us, they rarely get them and therefore don’t take them for granted nearly at the level that most American fans do. Economically, these trips are usually a success as well because of how much money people will spend for these “rare” occasions. One thing I question here is the timing. This will be during the “Backlash from WrestleMania” time, and rather than getting the wrestlers some time off before or after this trip, they’ll be going balls to the walls. WrestleMania 25 is on 4/5, RAW will be like on the 6th and 13th of April, with the ECW/SD taping the 14th, overseas the 15th, then shows starting on the 17th. Then, after nine shows in seven days, they will fly home on Saturday the 25th, perform at WWE Backlash on Sunday the 26th, and be right back to the grind for RAW on Monday the 27th. That is a brutal and un-envious schedule for any one and I wish planning could have shown a little more consideration to not only the talent but the production and other staff involved on putting on the show from a day to day basis stateside let alone overseas.
In a slight change in the Scramble match rules, the match will now start with two random challengers, not the champion and the challenger. The rest of the rules remain the same — a new challenger will enter every five minutes, pinfalls/submissions create “temporary champions” and the person who wins the overall match is the new champion.
Originally, I liked the premise to this match. That was until they added the “enter every five minute” rule. I wouldn’t mind it if it didn’t have a 20 minute match but since it does that leaves one man only a five minute window to become champion. Now some would say he still has the best shot because he’s the freshest man and the others have kicked the crap out of each other, but it still just seems unnecessary and thrown in there for the sake of having an added stipulation. Final thoughts?
WWE.com reports that Batista, Shelton Benjamin, and Candice Michelle will all be attending the Democratic National Convention while Shawn Michaels, Mr. Kennedy, and Mickie James will be attending the Republica National Convention.
Again, this is the stuff that doesn’t get enough coverage by the mainstream media regarding WWE. While the world is talking about steroids and laughing at men in bathing suits wrestling, nobody wants to address things like the SmackDown Your Vote Campaign, the annual Tribute to the Troops, and things like their work with Make-A-Wish. The WWE does some really good and beneficial things and it’s a shame that they are always painted in such a different light.
On Shelton Benjamin: Really nice, old school match on Friday Night Smackdown between Finlay and Shelton Benjamin. Both men wrestled aggressively and in a bad mood. I loved the physicality. It seems as if Benjamin is starting to come into his own. Amazing athletic gifts like Shelton’s should be taken advantage of by the bearer. I like what I have been seeing lately from the amateur standout from the University of Minnesota. When in college, Shelton was a regular workout partner with Brock Lesnar after Bejamin used up his eligibility for the Gophers. I’ve heard that some of their wrestling room workouts were special to watch. Shelton would seem to have the skills to have been a superior MMA competitor if he had chosen that route. Shelton has told me many times that people can’t fully comprehend just how fast Lesnar is not to mention that his strength is freakish. I suggest that Heath Herring would agree with that assessment. Speaking of Lesnar, I hear he will be fighting again most probably as soon as December if a deal can be reached for his next opponent soon. It will be interesting to see if it’s possible for Brock to improve as much between now and his next fight as he did between Mir and Herring.
Sorry J.R. but I am not sold yet, not at all. Yes, he has had a pretty good month-to-six-week period, but he’s had this “patches” of excelling before. Until he can bring it consistently on a night in/night out basis, he will always have the “what could have been” cloud following him around. The cloud, and his momma of course!
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that John Cena is currently suffering from severe neck issues, which have started to cause numbness in one of his arms. Cena had an MRI done on Saturday before the show in Madison Square Garden. When he returned to the arena and people asked how he was, Cena replied, “Long story short, my neck is f*cked up badly.”
The matches involving John Cena over the weekend were changed to tag matches, and the reason Batista carried most of the load. As of now, it is not known if Cena is going to take time off.
I have a feeling Cena will try to be the company man and want to work through this. Honestly a neck is not something to fuck around with and hopefully someone with enough pull will make the decision (and the right one) for him by sending him home. I’m no doctor, but to be honest if he is feeling numbness from this I’m not even sure why it is up for debate. John, nobody is going to forget about you, Vince isn’t going to fall out of love with you, and you possibly have some great years ahead of you on top of the company; go home and heal up. Here’s hoping the next story regarding this is “John Cena taking some time off”, not “John Cena worked the show and fucked his neck up beyond repair”.
UPDATE: As seen on Monday, John Cena has been relieved from duty for an undisclosed amount of time.
Whoever made this decision – Cena or someone else for him – GOOD CALL.
MORE UPDATE: John Cena is set to be examined by Dr. Lloyd Youngblood in San Antonio, TX on Wednesday. Youngblood has performed neck surgey on many WWE stars including Steve Austin, Edge, and Lita. There is a fear that Cena’s injury is far worse than just the herniated disc mentioned on RAW. WWE.com has an article up on Cena’s injury including comments from Cena.
“It needs to be dealt with because I lost most of the feeling in my right arm and am having pain in my shoulder,” Cena told WWE.com. “I’m losing 20 percent of my strength per day. If I don’t do anything about it, the injury will end up rupturing and then the surgery will be more difficult. It’s not easy, because surgery never is.”
YET EVEN MORE UPDATE: According to WWE.com, John Cena had surgery on his neck today in Pittsburgh. The surgey was performed by Dr. Joseph Maroon. Cena is now in recovery. Cena was supposed to go see Dr. Lloyd Youngblood in San Antonio tomorrow but obviously the plan changed to put Cena under the knife immediately.
This sounds serious considering how rushed the surgery was; that tells me the neck must have been in awful shape. I will say again that he needs to do whatever in the hell is necessary to make this the safest and best surgery/recovery possible. If he can’t go for the next 20 months, so be it. He doesn’t need to come back until it is 100% no matter how long that might take.
IT’S LIKE AN UPDATE THAT NEVER EVER ENDS: STAMFORD, Conn. — WWE Superstar John Cena® underwent emergency surgery today for injuries received during last Sunday’s SummerSlam® Pay-Per-View match. The procedure went well, according to renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Joseph Maroon who performed the surgery. Cena is expected to return to action in approximately three months. Further details can be found at www.wwe.com.
Again I am no doctor but the question I have is if this was something that was only severe enough to require three months of recovery/rehab, why was it so necessary to opt for immediate “emergency surgery”? Three months sounds rushed to me but I am not the professionals so I suppose we will see.
WHAT’S THIS? ANOTHER FRICKEN UPDATE!?: After having neck surgery early in the day on Tuesday, John Cena was up and out of the hospital by Tuesday night and even showed up backstage at the Smackdown taping.
……you know what? Just forget I said anything. Clearly I’m about as qualified to talk about this situation as Small is to talk about… well, anything really.
Matt Cappotelli, who is currently battling cancer, is still under contract with the company. He was backstage at Summerslam visiting with friends.
Good. Nothing to add here, just think this is a great thing that WWE – who makes MILLIONS of dollars a year in pure profit BEYOND the bottom line – is keeping this guy on and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were picking up most of the tab.
The Great Khali’s knees are said to be in very bad shape, but he is refusing to get surgery on them.
I touched on this last week but I will be serious instead of shitting all over Small. Khali is not a stupid guy. He has made it internationally, made it into movies and television, and is a cop back home. He is well aware of the history of men his size and their typical lifespan. Anyone who actually knows anything about him knows that he typically has and continues to without question hand over 80% of anything he makes to his hometown, from his bodybuilding days to his WWE job to his movie roles. I honestly believe that he is going to do anything and everything to make as much money as possible for his village or whatever before he can no longer make a living off of being his size. So while I don’t necessarily agree with his decision, I’m not going to knock it. Half the IWC can go ahead and keep shitting on him all the time, I simply cannot hate on his motives for getting coin.
– My name is Jeff Small… and I approve this message.
JT: Get the fuck out of my column.
JP: Stop using my multiple person format!
Stenographer: According to my records, Judge Mills Lane will ALLOW IT!
JT: Ha! Take that shit, Prag.
JP: …the stenographer has always hated me.
Stenographer: According to my records, that is correct.
Ghost of JT: YEAH!
JT: Woah. That was weird.
Small: Stop distracting from the Khali bi-
JT: I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY COLUMN SMALL! Moving on… Okay, we’re switching focus, so I need to avert your attention so you aren’t solely focused on the E. I do so with this public service announcement:
I’VE ONLY GOT TWO WEEKS TO BRING THIS TO EVERYONE’S ATTENTION, SO DON’T FORGET THAT COUGARS NEED LOVE, AND IN ALL HONESTLY, APPRECIATE THAT LOVE MORE THAN 22 YEAR OLD HUSSIES WHO THINK THEY CAN GET AND HAVE ANYTHING THEY WANT BECAUSE THEY HAVE A GREAT SET OF TITS.
NEWS FROM O-TOWN> (Thursday, August 21st – Wednesday, August 27th)
According to sources in WWE, Gail Kim will be heading back to the company for what is being described as a “sizable offer.” Kim’s TNA contract was coming to an end, and when it does she will be free to begin with WWE. The decision was said to be based purely on the financial offer, and nothing to do with animosity between her and TNA. Word from TNA sources state that Gail has left on good terms, and that the door is open for a future return. Gail Kim’s final appearance with the company will be tonight on Impact, facing Awesome Kong in a Street Fight.
I don’t think Gail Kim is the loss to TNA that many do, however I don’t think she was as completely meaningless to the company as some have said. This sounds like good news all around for Gail Kim. In business – not just wrestling – it is always to your advantage if you can leave one employer for another and remain on good terms with them. A backup option of employment is never a detrimental thing. I wish her the best of luck in WWE and the sooner she can take some more naked photos, the better! Sorry, distracted for a second. Bottom line, she is a valuable women’s wrestler who is ten times better than she was when she first got to WWE and can do nothing but help the women’s division. Personally, I think RAW is perfect for her. She is one of the few ladies on the entire WWE roster that can truly be trusted to go out and wrestle a live show without much concern.
Midway confirmed two more unannounced wrestlers for TNA iMPACT! Brother Ray and Brother Devon, better known as Team 3D, were officially announced as part of the game’s 25-man roster.
To date, Midway has announced 23 wrestlers who will be featured in the game. Here is a list of the confirmed roster:
Abyss
AJ Styles
Alex Shelley
Booker T
Chris Sabin
Christian Cage
Homicide
Rhino
Sting
Shark Boy
Sonjay Dutt
Brother Devon
Eric Young
Hernandez
Jay Lethal
Kurt Angle
Christopher Daniels
Samoa Joe
Jeff Jarrett
Scott Steiner
Tomko
Kevin Nash
Brother Ray
Only 23 names have been “confirmed”, so I won’t jump down their throats too bad. One thing that seems odd to me though is that 45% of the featured roster is not homegrown talent. Don’t get me wrong I understand why guys like Kurt Angle and Christian Cage are on this list, after all they are main players in the company. I’m not video game programmer but could we not have these guys AND make sure we get a ton of homegrown talent in (or even talent that made its name elsewhere not WWE and then came to TNA and flourished)? I immediately noticed no Petey, Roode or Storm, three people who happen to be current champions in your company. Further inspection of the TNA roster reminds me of guys like the James’, also not on this list. Why was the cutoff 25? Also, I understand that this is their debut game and has been in development for years now and so again I won’t be too hard on TNA, but one thing I will mention is that if they intend to continue to push their Knockouts Division as a key piece in the TNA puzzle, they better make damn sure it is included when/if there is a follow up.
Mick Foley’s management agency, The Gillespie Agency, is expected to make an announcement about Foley’s future on 9/1 (which is after his WWE deal expires). Most seem to think that Foley will jump to TNA.
This all seems rather touchy to me. Typically I’d say that as long as Mick Foley doesn’t show up trashing Vince and Co., that he’d be on good terms and welcome back down the road if either party were interested. However, the way this last parting of the ways reportedly went down, combing a run in TNA with that might lead to the final straw in the love/hate relationship hat that is Vince McMahon and Mick Foley. That being said, Mick certainly isn’t hurting in the pocket so I say good luck to him in whatever he chooses to do in the future.
The trial date for the Konnan vs. TNA lawsuit is likely to be set for October 26th, 2009. The discovery phase will now go on until August 29th, 2009, with both sides being urged to try and mediate their situation before the trial date. The discovery phase will look into many issues including racism in TNA, salaries paid to TNA’s “independent contractors” (wrestlers), TNA’s drug policy, the situation revolving around Konnan’s kidney failure, whether Konnan ever waived his trademarks and copyrights of LAX, and more.
Obviously I’m no attorney and don’t have nearly enough information to form an opinion on who is right and who is wrong but I can tell you from working for one that the discovery phase can get very ugly. Hopefully TNA and Konnan can both keep this civil enough where they both walk away with most of what they wanted without either side looking too bad or un-credible. The one that jumps out at me though is the copyrights to LAX. With Konnan successfully using the name in other promotions it seems silly that he would put all his eggs in one basket and sign it over to TNA.
Time to switch gears again, so to get you out of your silly TNA mindset:
KEEP IGNORING THEM PEOPLE I AM GETTING ALL THE COUGAR LOVE!
NEWS FROM BRISTOL, PA (Thursday, August 21st – Wednesday, August 27th)
August 22nd: Ring of Honor will debut in the St. Louis area on Friday night, December 5th, 2008 at Gateway Center, One Gateway Drive, Collinsville, IL 62234. Bell time is 8pm. Tickets will go on sale at www.ROHwrestling.com this coming Monday (August 25th) at 11am EST. ROH is finally coming to St. Louis and you better believe this is going to be one big debut!!!
August 22nd: “Survival Of The Fittest 2008” will be on 10/10 when ROH makes its debut in Coral Springs, FL. There will be a new Survival Of The Fittest champion this year as only athletes who have never won the tournament will be in it. This is like Race To The Top/Survival Of The Fittest rolled into one!!! Who will make the most of this opportunity? There will be 12 participants. They will collide in the first half of the show in six singles matches. The winners will advance to an elimination match main event. The first competitors signed are ROH World Tag Team Champion Tyler Black, FIP World Heavyweight Champion Erick Stevens, Kevin Steen, El Generico and Jerry Lynn!!! Get tickets for less than $10 starting later today at ROHwrestling.com.
This was more as a follow up to last week, as I did not have specific dates to give you.
August 22nd: The Big 10 Sale is back at www.ROHwrestling.com starting later today. Get over 120 ROH DVDs for only $10 each, $10 tickets for 9/19 PPV taping in Boston, 9/20 in Philly, 10/10 in Coral Springs, 10/11 in Orlando, 10/24 in Hartford and 10/25 in Edison and on top of that save 10% on your entire order. This is a great chance to take advantage of new DVDs like “Respect Is Earned II” featuring the entire PPV and bonus matches. In fact, if you want violence you can’t miss the insane bonus match of Jay Briscoe vs. The Necro Butcher. This is the craziest match between these two!!! Plus: The brutal Fight Without Honor pitting Roderick Strong vs. Erick Stevens; Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black defend the ROH World Tag Team Titles vs. Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries; Nigel McGuinness puts the ROH World Title on the line against Go Shiozaki; Claudio Castagnoli vs. Davey Richards; Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Jigsaw & Ruckus and six man action with Brent Albright, Delirious & Pelle Primeau vs. Chris Hero, Adam Pearce & Eddie Edwards plus much more!!! Everyone was raving about this PPV and now the DVD is available at ROHwrestling.com.
I’m not a big purchaser of ROH stuff, nor do I know if this sale is still valid, but if you are and it is, sounds like some sweet deals to me!
BEFORE WE GO, HERE’S SOME QUICK AND DIRTY NEWS
COMING ATTRACTIONS
– Fact or Fiction is now playing.
– Bauer’s in Friday.
– Shorts in on Saturday.
– Martell’s got the Triple Threat on Sunday.
– Prag’s back on Monday
Fantastic news. I wish her continued success in her fight and think Rob has been great with how supportive he has been. This is the part where Jeff Small tells you that he’s Jeff Small and you’re not. I’ve seen Jeff Small; consider yourselves lucky!
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