Don't forget...

We all know what happened. Chris Benoit is dead. He murdered his family, and then took his own life. It's a tragedy, and it's stunned every wrestling fan, from small children who believe wrestling's real, to grown men who understand the complexity of "Sports Entertainment."

What we don't know is why. There are lots of explanations, but we may actually never know. Yes, it's possible that steroids were a factor. It's possible that Benoit was clinically depressed and snapped. We can only guess.

One thing that's not helping is the media attacking the wrestling industry itself. Yes, the industry is hard. Wrestlers spend days on the road, living in motels, taking a beating in the ring. But that's not the only thing we should be talking about right now. What we should also talk about coping. WWE's flagship program, RAW, gets ratings between Mid 3's to high 4's every week. Smackdown gets a broadcast rating between 2 and 4 per week. That's presumably 4-10 million people that watch WWE programming every week. That's just for the two main shows, and just on American soil.

These fans are shocked that a performer that many consider the best at what he does, and one who was perceived as a family man, could murder his family in cold blood. So if you're in the media, and you're reading this, I implore you not to forget that there are possibly millions of people that feel just like I do. They are sad not only that there hero is dead, but that he died after committing such a horrific act.

Draft Thoughts, part 2

Tri-Brand draft part 2: Friday Night Smackdown!

We’re looking at the draft again today, this time we’re looking at RAW’s broadcast network little sister, Smackdown.

Smackdown loses:

The Boogeyman, King Booker & Queen Sharmell, Chris Benoit, Ken Kennedy, Paul London & Brian Kendrick, The Miz, Daivari, William Regal, Jillian Hall

One brands gain is another brands loss. Specifically, Raw’s gain is Smackdown’s loss. The Friday night CW offering loses a large amount of talent in this year’s draft. Whereas I could actually say good things about some of the talent leaving Raw, I can’t say that about Smackdown. The move that will hurt the most is “The fastest rising star in Sports Entertainment” Ken Kennedy. Kennedy is money in the bank, and I’m not talking about his Wrestlemania win. The guy oozes charisma, and is one of the few stars that bleeds desire the way a young Stone Cold Steve Austin once did. That’s not even considering the built in Main Event feud with Edge that was waiting on a silver platter when Kennedy was healed up.
Losing Kennedy was bad enough, but Smackdown also lost 3 strong veterans that helped form the backbone of the brand. King Booker is a powerful loss that helps RAW, but provided plenty of entertainment with his faux British accent. Chris Benoit proved a valuable asset that could help the most mediocre talent look good. William Regal was the consistent heel who could provide any young up and comer someone to play off of. Any company or brand is lucky to have any one of these, and until recently Smackdown was lucky to have all three. With their departure, the job of seasoning the young talent falls more heavily on Finlay, Dave Taylor, and Chavo Guerrero.
Smackdown loses three talented cruiserweights in Paul London, Brian Kendrick, and Daivari. While Daivari has yet to find his place after giving up as the mouthpiece for Muhammed Hassan or the Great Khali, he could more than hold his own in the ring with any other cruiserweights. London & Kendrick, though, are the loss that will be felt the most on Smackdown. They’ve double teamed their way to the top of Smackdown’s tag division. With their departure, along with that of William Regal, Smackdown’s tag team roster basically consists of Deuce & Domino and the newly acquired Major’s Brothers.
Smackdown has also lost many of the characters which separated it from the other brands. With the departure of The Miz and The Boogeyman to ECW on top of Kennedy’s move to RAW, Smackdown seems short on over the top personalities. Throw in the departure of Brooke Hogan wannabe Jillian Hall, and it will be interesting who gets to showcase their character over the next year.

Smackdown gains:

The Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters, Ric Flair, Kenny Dykstra, Hardcore Holly, Brett & Brian Majors, Victoria, Eugene

What does Smackdown get in return for their 3 Upper Mid-card veteran talents? Well, if you ask me, not much. I’m not saying that there isn’t potential with the arrival of Kenny, Chris Masters & Hardcore Holly. I’m just saying it’s not really a fair trade off. If Hardcore Holly continues on the path he was heading down during his stay in ECW, he’s got a chance to fill in as a main event level foil for Batista or Kane, or as an elevater lifting Matt Hardy above mid-card. Masters could have the chance to grow, but there are so many heel talents working Smackdown right now, I don’t see any place for him to truly go. He could feud with Matt Hardy or Kane, and possibly a babyface Hardcore Holly, but I’m just not seeing it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him slapping the Masterlock on a debuting star and starting a feud out that way. As for Dykstra, he’s pretty much in the same boat. Although I’d really enjoy a Dykstra/Hardy feud, but I’m afraid we’ll see a renewal of the Spirit Squad/Eugene feud.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a feud between Batista and the Great Khali. It sounds like a disaster to me, but it’s fairly obvious that WWE would love to see the two big men go at it. Regardless of who Big Dave takes on, expect the Nature Boy to follow him. Flair’s not got much left in the tank in ring, but his managerial career could just be starting.
The Majors Brothers got an interesting start in ECW, but look for them to take on a more serious role in Smackdown’s now damaged tag team scene. If I were in charge, I’d be calling every tag team wrestler in the WWE system looking for some help with that group, but we’re more than likely to see the random pairings than the legit teams right now.
That leaves us with Eugene and Victoria. What I would love to see is Eugene start chasing Hornswaggle around. Something could easily come from that. But don’t expect it, as Finlay is one of the major stepping stones on the Friday night roster. What Eugene needs, though, is a sympathetic member of the Smackdown crew to take him under his wing and work with him. Make a team of the two. The question to ask in that situation is who would be that sympathetic to the mentally handicapped superstar? Victoria? I don’t see her doing much else, outside of the occasional women’s match. But Smackdown’s women’s roster isn’t as strong as Raw’s, and she’ll need something to do.

Smackdown, in my opinion, needs to make sure that next years draft has nothing to do with computers. The randomness of the brand’s acquisitions seems likely to hurt the brand for a while. The way it’s been going, though, I’m sure Smackdown, with what is possibly the best commentary team in wrestling right now, will come out ahead in the end.

Feel free to discuss this post at Da Wrestling Board

Draft thoughts, part 1

With one of the most conversation worthy weeks behind us, I want to take a look at the so-called draft that WWE put out. I’m not even going to mention how I think that having computer generated picks is a mockery and insult to legitimate drafts(Well, I just did), but I will give my opinions and thoughts on the picks that the computer “randomly” generated.

Tri-Brand Draft, part 1-RAW

Out of all the brands, RAW got the best deal coming out of the draft, and that’s no surprise. Let’s take a look at how this worked out for WWE’s flagship show:

RAW Loses (in order):

The Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters, Ric Flair, Kenny Dykstra, Viscera, Victoria, Eugene, Johnny Nitro

Basically, what we have here is RAW losing a limited monster, eye candy (and I use that loosely), a muscle head, an old man, a talented up and comer, the world’s largest lover, one of the best women wrestlers, a mentally challenged character, and a cocky rising star.
Sounds like a mixed bag, huh?

Well, in my opinion losing Khali, Masters, Wilson, Flair, Viscera and Eugene really helps RAW. You lose a monster in Khali, but that opens the door for Umaga to return to form as a smashmouth killing machine. The pre-taping of Smackdown also ensures that Khali won’t pull an Iron Sheik (random f-bombs) as he has done in the past. Masters switching brands only helps him, as he has a fresh group of Cruiserweights to lock into his full-nelson “Master-lock,” and the promise of fresh feuds with guys like Matt Hardy, and possibly Hardcore Holly. Master’s loss, however, make one less heel on RAW for the recently crowned Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella.
Flair leaving is great for RAW, definitively killing the Carlito-Flair feud and any possibility of a re-occurance with either Carlito or Foley. It does hurt the brand, though, as that’s one less wrestler who could make almost anyone look good. Val Venis is probably stoked to have his RAW jobber duty back. The losses of Viscera and Eugene aren’t that pivotal. I will say, however, that I thought Viscera and Val Venis were one of the most under-utilized tag teams in recent years, as I believe they could’ve had quite the impact. Like Torrie Wilson, the switch of Eugene will have basically no effect at all. Eugene has been used in recent months as a dark match crowd warmer, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

RAW gains (in order):

King Booker & Queen Sharmell, Bobby Lashley, Snitsky, Ken Kennedy, Paul London & Brian Kendrick, The Sandman, Daivari, William Regal, Jillian Hall

There are two picks here which make no sense to me, and that’s the Sandman and Daivari. Why anyone would move these two from their previous brands is a loss to me. The Sandman is only with the WWE because of the re-birth of ECW. Though I’m sure he’s loving the larger paychecks, I’m not so sure taking him off the brand serves any real purpose. The Sandman’s best work these days, and honestly ever, is done in “Extreme Rules” matches in which weapons are illegal. Barring the DDT and the Heineken-Rana, he has a very limited moveset without a Singapore Cane. Not to mention his status as an “ECW Original” maintained what little credibility the new ECW had with old-school fans. Daivari, while being a good wrestler, is limited in possibilities on RAW. He’s much better suited on ECW with some smaller roster members, like Little Guido or Matt Striker, or on Smackdown with the Cruiserweights. But it’s likely he was forced to RAW to prevent any question of why he wasn’t translating for the Great Khali. Even though a Khali attack on Daivari could have led to a great face turn and a possible Cruiserweight title reign.
When it comes to the other choices, there is nothing but benefit for RAW. King Booker, when he returns, is a solid heel who could hold his own with Cena both in and out of the ring. Booker’s reactions to Cena’s stale sexual preference jokes might actually freshen up the Champ’s bad jokes. Bobby Lashley has somewhat proven his ability to win over a crowd. The question is whether or not he can do it against a lesser presence than “Evil” McMahon. His arrival on RAW allows him the chance to feud with other young up and comers like Randy Orton, or even the recent acquisitions like Ken Kennedy and William Regal. Kennedy will be a breath of fresh air for the show, as we haven’t seen a true rising star on the show since Cena switched brands and his character fell flat on it’s face. Hopefully, Kennedy will follow a different path. Regal, on the other hand is a versatile wrestler capable of seamless movement throughout the card. I could see him feuding for the IC title, or teaming up with King Booker or even helping Armando Estrada with Umaga.
London and Kendrick are possibly the best of the draw for RAW, as their devil may care style will mesh perfectly with Matt and Jeff Hardy, if WWE continues to ignore that Matt’s actually on Smackdown. Even so, L&K are well suited to work with the RAW tag scene, and the possibility of a feud with the World’s Greatest Tag Team could take both teams to new levels.
This leaves us with Snitsky and Jillian Hall. Snitsky has very little promise, in my opinion, but I could see him feuding with John Cena after a few months of build. Like so many before, I could also see Snitsky feuding for the Intercontinental Title. Honestly, if Santino were to overcome the challenge of Snitsky or Regal it could do wonders for his in-ring credibility. Fans might begin to take him seriously. Jillian Hall, in my opinion, is a waste of airtime, but we may see her latching onto Carlito or another mid-level heel to try and spice up the character. I predict she gets more airtime than she’s worth. Much like Miss Brooks in TNA.

Overall, RAW gets a fair cut from the “computer-generated” draft. They lose some young guns, and a couple of big men. While Snitsky will basically replace Khali, RAW does get some versatility in Regal and Booker and some depth in the middle with London & Kendrick, Lashley & Regal. Not to mention they get the fastest rising star in wrestling today with Ken Kennedy. If the booking is as exciting as the roster, RAW will be quite the show. But that’s a big if.

Feel free to discuss this post at Da Wrestling Board

TCW, Local Wrestling Action

Here's a rundown of what you need to know going into this show:

Jeff Storm and Brett Storm are father and son, and former tag team champions. Their feud began as an act of reconciliation, as Brett offered to help his father regain the tag team titles from Jeff's former partner "Playboy" Jamie Gibson. Gibson won the titles with some help from his current partner in the "Ultimate Males," Stallion. Jeff sought a partner, and Brett surprised everyone by accepting. After several good matches in Johnson City, they had a blowoff match in Mountain City which ended with Brett and manager Rebecca Lynn leaving Jeff Storm high and dry in the ring. Now both Storms are trying to prove themselves top dog in the Storm househould.

"The Carolina Cowboy" Brady Hawks has been trying to beat the Ultimate Males, Stallion and Playboy, for two months now. Two months ago he teamed unsuccessfully with Rick Karloff. Last month he came close as he teamed with Tommy Fantastic in a tag team title match. The two, dubbed "The Southern Express," get another shot this month against the sliest dogs in TCW .

Since returning to TCW, "Hard Body" Allen King (The wrestler with the most ironic name in history) has been pushing every button Commissioner James Ray has. It started when King followed a match with Exotica by choking "The Exotic One" with his wrist tape. Then, when Commissioner Ray came out, Allen King choked him as well. This eventually lead to a chain match between Exotica and Allen King. Exotica won the match, but Allen King didn't learn his lesson. Commissioner Ray decided to up the ante by bringing in none other than "Big" Steve Fury, who won last month by count out. Unsatisfied with that win, Fury demanded a rematch and Commissioner Ray was more than happy to grant it.

The show is several weeks away, but if you're going to be in the Northeast Tennessee/Southwest Virginia/Northwest North Carolina area, I recommend it. There are no pyro set ups, no lighting rigs, no fancy video screens. Just some guys settling their differences in the squared circle.

Find out more about TCW on MySpace or on their Yahoo Group

So it begins....

It's official, I now have a blog. I've fought it for years, but that wonderful website DWS has given me the opportunity to share my thoughts on things.

What a mistake.

Anyway, what you'll see on here is mostly my thoughts on different wrestling shows, including reviews. Not only that, but when I'm motivated you'll see movie reviews and music reviews. But that's when I'm motivated, which isn't likely. But it will happen on occasion. I promise.