WWE Wrestling News

WWE to Release Autobiography on the Iron Shiek

2008-08-21T02:25:00.000-05:00

From: PWMania.com

WWE has plans to release an autobiography on WWE Hall of Fame Iron Sheik under the Simon & Schuster banner. Keith Elliot Greenberg has signed on to help Sheik put the book together. Greenberg's looking to hear from wrestlers who have good Sheik stories, as well as fans who have Sheik stories. You can e-mail the stories at SheikStories@gmail.com.

WWE Signs 285 Pound Weightlifting Champion

2008-08-20T23:29:00.000-05:00

From: PWMania.com

The United Kingdom’s Evening Post is reporting that WWE has signed Rob Terry to a three-year developmental contract. Rob Terry is a 28-year-old weightlifting champion from Wales and moved to America last October taking part in a special training program. He is currently signed to Florida Championship Wrestling.

Rob Terry is 6ft 5ins and 285 pounds, he caught Vince McMahon’s eye after winning virtually every natural bodybuilding event in Britain and Europe according to the article.

"It was quite daunting at first because I had no experience," he said. "I'm signed up to the Florida Championship Wrestling franchise, which is the feeder to the WWE. Some of the other guys there have been on the amateur wrestling circuit for years."

"I also got to go along to Wrestlemania, which was mind-blowing because I got to chat one-on-one with some big names like Triple H. He was a really down-to-earth guy and it was great to meet him because he is one of my heroes. He's also built very big like me and gave me plenty of good advice.” Terry said.

He also added, "I know it's going to take time to get there, but I'm determined to make it in WWE."

RAW GM Adamle to Wrestle at Some Point

2008-08-20T21:23:00.000-05:00

From: PWMania.com

WWE has plans for Raw General Manager Mike Adamle to wrestle soon. Adamle recently hired a personal trainer in Chicago who works with a number of top athletes because he was told to get ready to wrestle in the near future. Adamle does have an athletic background as he was a very good NFL player at one point, but that was a little over 30 years ago. On another note, Adamle still works as a sportscaster for the NBC affiliate based out of Chicago on a freelance basis.

Stone Cold Steve Austin to Appear at Cyber Sunday?

2008-08-20T20:21:00.000-05:00

Stone Cold Steve Austin is being advertised to be making a "special guest appearance" at the WWE Cyber Sunday pay-per-view on Sunday, October 26, 2008. WWE Cyber Sunday will be taking place at the U.S. Airways Arena in Phoenix.

Austin appeared at last year’s WWE Cyber Sunday pay-per-view, acting as a special guest referee for the World Heavyweight Championship match between champion Batista and Undertaker.

The advertisement on the U.S. Airways Arena site has the ticket sale date messed up with the ticket sale date being advertised for September 23. The WWE website states that the tickets actually go on sale this Saturday on August 23rd at 10am.

Obviously there is no guarantee Austin will be appearing on the pay-per-view, however if WWE have booked him for an appearance, they will be using him on the show in some capacity.

Latest on the Health of Killer Kowalski

2008-08-20T19:37:00.000-05:00

From: PWPIX.net

At his family's discretion, wrestling legend Killer Kowalski was removed from life support on Monday in Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett, Massachusetts, reports SLAM! Wrestling. However, the family is still holding out hope that Kowalski gets better. Kowalski's brother Stan Spulnik said Tuesday tonight: "He's off life support. There's not much you can say. It's more or less waiting." Also, Spulnik is "a little annoyed" that his youngest son, Mark, who lives in Australia, posted a blog (walterkowalski.blogspot.com) about his uncle's death, who has not passed away.

Official "Rules" for Unforgiven Championship Scramble

2008-08-20T19:21:00.001-05:00

WWE has announced the rules for the "Championship Scramble" matches that will be taking place at Unforgiven in September. The rules have officially been posted on WWE's Fan Nation site.

The match will have a 20 minute time limit. The defending champion and one randomly selected challenger will begin the match with a new, randomly selected wrestler entering the match every 5 minutes until all 5 men are in the ring.

Pinfalls or submissions can happen at any time. Should a wrestler score a pinfall or submission, he will be recognized as a "temporary" champion until the match either ends or he is pinned or made to submit. Whoever is the "temporary" champion when the 20 minute time limit expires will be recognized as the current champion.

Wow, ECW Entertaining For Once

2008-08-19T22:10:00.003-05:00

Yes, you heard me right, I actually enjoined watching ECW tonight. It for once featured matches that were all good and the action was not bad in itself. The first match was a great throw back to classic ECW matches as it saw Chavo, Miz and Morrison take on Evan Bourne, Super Crazy and Tommy Dreamer. Granted we did not throw anyone off a stage through six tables or slice open their head with a cheese grater, but Crazy and Bourne's flights out of the ring onto the opponent brought back memories of guys like Sabu putting their bodies on the line to sell a match. It was great to see the old Super Crazy, instead of the comedic sidekick jobber he has been turned into. This guy has so much potential due to his willingness to take the high risk maneuver route and should be featured more. I would love to see him and Bourne tag together as their airborne tactics would make for some fun matches. Also Tommy Dreamer put in a decent performance using his brawling tactics to clear the ring of all three of his opponents. Too bad it was not enough as Miz got the pin, but it's great to see some guys who needed a good match get that solid performance tonight.

In the new star initiative we saw Ricky Ortiz beat Gavin Spears. Both guys did not look out of place and put together some good sequences, but without much character development the match lacked a bit of interest. But that's OK as both men showed they can handle themselves in the ring, and since ECW is about the young guys they should have plenty of time to develop a persona. Ortiz is starting to gain some popularity as some fans has the rally towels for him. He has shown a good lovable funny side, and if he can harness it a bit more he may find himself moving up the ladder.

Finlay again called upon Mike Know to take to the ring in order to settle the score over Knox's perceived notion of Finlay being weak. Knox did show up but refused the invitation. So Finlay than decided to take matters in to his own hands and went after Knox and tackled him on the ramp. The official s broke up the impromptu brawl but the two will meet next week in a match. This has to be seen as an attempt to get Knox over as Finlay matches his brawling style. I really don't think the second time will be the charm as they have released Knox once and I really can't see him making it as he is another one of those guys who fits the Snitsky mold.

Our main event was the Summer Slam rematch for the ECW title. The match this time went longer as Mark Henry dominated for the most part. He was able to use his ground and pound style to prevent Matt Hardy from getting the advantage with his speed. While the match was good, going this route of Henry controlling the match does tend to make it seem longer than it really is. The limitations to Henry's in ring skills are the reason he never has been able to establish himself and once he loses the belt to Hardy we may never see him in a high profile program again. He did get the win tonight, but Hardy should be able to get a rematch due to Tony Atlas interfering again. This time the ref missed Atlas pulling Hardy off the champ during a pin attempt. It is just matter of time before Hardy becomes champ, but I'm not sure how long they can keep this program fresh due to the aforementioned lack of skill on the part of Henry.

Pick a Stiff Night

2008-08-18T22:15:00.004-05:00

Coming out of the pay per view Sunday the WWE went with a transitional Raw and allowed its biggest names to take on the lower half of the roster. This move only made sense as we are 3 weeks away from the next pay per view in Unforgiven and it does not offer much time to start new programs while finishing the events of Summer Slam. At least they gave us a decent main event in Jericho and Punk, but the rest of the night really wasn't special.

The night pretty much revolved around Jericho and his punch of Shawn Michael's wife. First Jericho started the show off blaming HBK and the fans for the actions at Summer Slam. We also saw Michaels' response to the actions after the pay per view and got soft spoken response of his need to tend to his family. CM Punk also got in the act by vowing to give a Chi town beating to Jericho. Well the champ tried his best but came up short as Jericho was victorious. It was a good exchange between the two and this could be a good program for Punk once the Jericho and Michaels situation dies down. But you have to wonder why would you have your champ lose after a pay per view. We'll see how this develops.

We did learn what the title match will be for Unforgiven as we will see Kane, JBL, Batista, Cena and Punk in the championship scramble. The idea of the match is there will be 20 minutes and the man to score the last pin will be the champion. It does keep the title picture fresh, but I'm afraid it will be a confusing affair. There will be way to much going on in the ring and the time limit makes it too long to hold the fans interest.

The rest of the night really featured nothing of interest other than featuring the big boys of Raw up against inferior competition. Cena found himself in a handicap match against the tag champs DiBiase and Rhodes. This match did have some back story as Cena lost the tag belts, along with Batista, last week to this duo. Before the match started Cryme Tyme ran to the ring and while Shad distracted the champs JTG ran off with the belts. A nice angle but an odd way to get these teams intertwined as the match with Cena was still on. The champs did get to show some decent moves on Cena, but after dominating all match they would lose as Cena found his second wind to gain the win. By this time you already forgot the title were stolen and it kind of killed that angle. Regardless it should be a good program between the two tag teams.

Th rest of the night featured dull matchups which saw Batista make quick work of Paul Burchill. JBL knocked out Jamie Noble while we saw Mickie James and Kelly Kelly defeat Jillian and Katie Lea. The only other match that had something was D-Lo Brown getting a DQ win over Santino Marella. Beth Phoenix helped her man by interfering in order to prevent the pin, but brought about the DQ as her and D-Lo got into it. But that was not all, as Beth had to rescue her man from Kofi Kingston who also got involved. But as with Summer Slam, the WWE's new power couple prevailed.

They did try to build the Mysterio and Kane angle some more tonight as Kane spoke as to how and why he has Rey's mask. It seems he attacked Mysterio in a parking lot and right now we don't know what happened to Mysterio. This brought Batista out again as he and Kane had a quick scrap. They need a story for both Kane and Mysterio but I'm not sure if this plot will work as it seems to be losing momentum already. It was a great surprise when Kane pulled out the mask but I don't think they have enough to carry the story. They need to get these two together if there is any hope of having a good program.

Let's Talk Wrestling SummerSlam Post Show Report

2008-08-18T14:09:00.001-05:00

Matt Loede and John Sefick are back by popular demand for the Let's Talk Wrestling SummerSlam Post-Match Show. The two talk about the latest WWE PPV offering, and talk about the matches, the crazy Hell in a Cell Match, what they thought of the undercard, and what is up next for the latest WWE Programs. Click to check out this latest audio offering from the Let's Talk Wrestling crew.

RAW Preview from WWE.com

2008-08-18T13:41:00.000-05:00

Preview:
Unsolved Mysterio
August 18th, 2008

Since returning to the Raw brand, Kane has come to the ring clutching a burlap sack at his side. For weeks, the WWE Universe puzzled over the bag’s contents, but Raw General Manager Mike Adamle attempted to sate our fans’ curiosity by forcing Kane to reveal what he has been hiding. The Big Red Monster claimed that there was a mask inside the bag, and that it belonged to someone who had been scarred and damaged before opening up the sack to reveal Rey Mysterio’s mask. What has Kane done to the Master of the 619, and what actions will be taken against him?

At SummerSlam, John Cena and Batista will face off against one another for the first time ever. In spite of the mounting tensions between the competitors, two weeks ago they managed to successfully compete as a pair to defeat Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase for the World Tag Team Championship. When the young Superstars exercised their rematch clause, though, the animosity between Cena & The Animal was so great that Rhodes & DiBiase were able to take back their gold. What will happen when the Chain Gang Commander & Batista compete at SummerSlam, and who will walk away “the man” of Monday Night Raw?

Ever since CM Punk became World Heavyweight Champion, he has been subjected to the mockery of JBL, who refers to him as nothing more than a “paper champion.” On Monday, that mockery continued as the self-proclaimed “wrestling-god” challenged the Straightedge Champion to a drinking contest, which goes against Punk’s principles. The champion’s response saw him throwing the drink in self-made millionaire’s face, and beating him to the ground. At SummerSlam, when the two meet in the ring with the World Heavyweight Title hanging in the balance, will CM Punk be able to prove that he is a worthy champion?

On Monday night, Santino Marella defeated WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James in an Intergender Match as Beth Phoenix looked on from Marella’s corner, and Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston from Mickie’s. At SummerSlam, however, all four competitors will be involved in the action as Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix take on Kofi Kingston & Mickie James in a Winner Takes All Match. With both the Intercontinental and Women’s gold up for grabs, which team will walk away with both championships on their waists?

For the answers to these questions and more, be sure to tune into Monday Night Raw at 9/8 CT only on USA Network. And don't miss the Biggest Blockbuster of the Summer, live, and only on pay-per-view, Aug. 17 at 8/7 CT.

Foley Was Slated to be at Part of Hell in a Cell at SummerSlam

2008-08-18T12:36:00.000-05:00

From: WrestleScoop.com

Mick Foley was originally tapped to be involved in the Hell in the Cell match between Undertaker & Edge as the 10th anniversary to one of the most famous matches in the history of professional wrestling. However, he was told this past week that there was a change of plans and that his services weren't needed for SummerSlam.

Michaels/Jericho Segment Slammed at SummerSlam

2008-08-18T09:33:00.000-05:00

From: WrestleScoop.com

The booking for the Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho segment at SummerSlam is said to have received less-than-stellar reviews from veteran wrestlers and WWE crew members. Some wrestlers were apparently shaking their heads at the fact Shawn Michaels didn’t attack Jericho after Jericho hit his wife, and thought he came off as a “wimp.“ One side of the argument backstage is that Michaels just admitted he was too unhealthy to fight anymore so there’s no way he would go after Jericho, while the other side of the argument is that some dude just punched his wife and he didn’t do anything about it.

SummerSlam Post-Match Thoughts and Commentary

2008-08-18T06:12:00.002-05:00

So another SummerSlam is in the books, the show wrapping up Sunday evening from the Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers. The show from start to finish to me seemed a bit rushed, but I felt overall they got over what they wanted, which was a Hell in the Cell that from all indications could and really should be a match up for "Match of the Year." Other than that, the card will be rather forgettable, as there was not a heck of a lot to the show - unless you were naive enough to think that Shawn Michael's wife was NOT going to get laid out in some form by Chris Jericho.

Here are my post-SummerSlam thoughts:

Undertaker defeats Edge (Hell in a Cell) - This match made the card, without question. As expected, the job Edge did with the match is really what made it, and even though he lost he's the one that should get a lot of props for making the match what it was. Taker did a great job as well, and it's amazing he can be gone for two and a half months and come back and put on that type of show the first time out. I could have gone for not seeing the who Guerrero family and Bam and Hawkins and Ryder during the match, but whatever. As far as the visual at the end, interesting to say the least and more times than not that would be the end of the feud, but for whatever reason I can see this thing getting more play, despite the fact these two have already headlined now five PPV's in 2008.

Triple H defeats The Great Khali (WWE Championship) - This is about exactly as I expected, as no one ever felt that Khali had any sort of chance vs The Game to even sniff the title. The title was pushed to the back burner for this PPV with SmackDown's main being the Taker-Edge match, and that was the right thing to do. Hopefully with Edge off TV for a few weeks (at least two after the Hell in the Cell beating), they can refocus on the title and come up with a good program. One thing I am afraid of is rushing the Taker-HHH program, which if they are going to do should wait till Mania 25.

CM Punk defeats JBL (World Heavyweight Championship) - I thought Punk stepped his game up here, and he continues to show why he should get a sustained run with the belt. While JBL continues to get main event PPV matches for little to no reason, both men did a good job here, but Punk really shined. While Punk should continue to get a shot to keep the belt, they need to keep pushing his character and move him away from JBL and into another program.

Matt Hardy defeats Mark Henry via DQ (ECW Championship) - Total waste of time, and the only thought is they realized this was so rushed, they needed to keep this going and let's just throw this out there for 2 minutes and rush a DQ finish. What a waste to fly Matt Striker and Todd Grisham in to call a 1 minute match. As for the ending with Jeff Hardy coming out and "saving" Matt from a beatdown, that made little sense after Jeff lost in the opener. Bad booking here all the way around.

Batista defeats John Cena - For a match that we supposedly waited six years for, this clearly didn't live up to the hype, or should I say lack of hype. Batista was outspoken about rushing this match, and he was dead on. Then to have a clean finish, it didn't really make sense, other than to think we'll see this again down the road (Survivor Series?) and then Cena wins, setting up some meaga third and final match at Maina with a belt on the line. I just think in the end this could have been done better.

Santonio Marella and Beth Phoenix defeat Kofi Kingston and Mickie James (IC and Women's Championships) - You saw this coming with the romance angle with Marella and Phoenix, as now each of them having belts will put them on TV together more and more. The backstage interview with the popping out Maria and Marella and Phoenix was one of the funnier moments of the card, and it went over well on TV. Marella's unibrow was equally as funny. If you don't at least crack a smile at Marella's antics in and out of the ring, you have little to no sense of humor.

MVP defeats Jeff Hardy - The line they will use is that Hardy lost due to the "interference" by Shelton Benjamin, but what it really does is put these three - Benjamin, Hardy and MVP in the mix for a series of three-way bouts for the US Title, the first of which I think we'll see in three weeks at Unforgiven. Pretty good opener, and give Hardy some credit for taking some rather vicious shots, the best of which was the belly to belly suplex into the turnbuckle.

The other thing that has to be talked about is the "announcement" by Shawn Michaels that he's retiring - only to have it broken up by Chris Jericho. Now you knew the moment you saw her that HBK's wife Rebecca was going to get laid out in some form by Jericho, but man, give that lady some props for taking a shot that I don't think a lot of us would have taken for the sake of entertainment. I love Jericho's new character, and the punch to Mrs.HBK was a fantastic kickoff to what ought to now be a huge match at Unforgiven.

Update on the Health of Killer Kowalski

2008-08-18T05:21:00.002-05:00

Keep WWE Hall of Famer Killer Kowalski in your thoughts and prayers. Reports continue to float around that the web about the health of Killer, who suffered a massive heart attack on the 8th of August. Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online put out the following on Kowalski earlier today: "Walter Kowalski's condition was downgraded today from guarded to poor. He is still unresponsive after a heart attack on 8/8."

Umaga Out Four to Six Weeks After Surgery

2008-08-16T22:51:00.000-05:00

From: WWE.com

According to WWE.com, SmackDown star Umaga underwent surgery this week to repair his posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). Umaga was injured at a SmackDown house show in Johnson City, Tennessee last week when he fell out of the ring onto his knee. He will be out for four to six weeks.

Interesting News on the Release of Domino

2008-08-16T22:29:00.000-05:00

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

As reported last week, Domino (Cliff Compton) was finally released by WWE. It was reported several weeks that he was on the chopping once they broke up his pairing with Deuce. According to some, Domino realized his limitations and may have been too forthcoming about them. He too knew Deuce would be the star as soon as they broke up. While there was talk of making Deuce a big player in WWE, since his switch to Raw in June's Supplemental Draft, he has completely disappeared. He has not appeared on a single show since the draft, including house shows. Anyway, Domino was trying to get people in WWE to see that he was beyond the one-note Greasers gimmick, which likely explains why he'd often take his shirt off during his matches in recent months. He knew the break-up was looming, so he produced a video for a new character several months back for after the break-up of the tag team.

He came up with a more modern character talking about "Global Dominotion" as his catchphrase. He also used former OVW announcer Timothy Baltimore as his rapper manager Tiny Tim and a scantily clad woman in the video. The creative team saw the video and were said to be negative on the idea, feeling that it doesn't fit into the company's new directive to make their programming more family friendly. The character probably would have fit in in say, 1999, but not in 2008. WWE continued using Domino in a "Jobber to the Stars" role up until his release two Fridays ago.

Triple H Speaks Out on the Move to SmackDown; Fatherhood

2008-08-16T21:24:00.000-05:00

Triple H stated that his move to Smackdown was not a good move for him personally. "It's actually worse for me," he told Slam Wrestling. "When Vince (McMahon) told me, I said I'd go wherever he needed me. It really screws me personally, but we'll make it work. You know when you get into this line of work you're going to be gone a lot. It's really important that the time I get to spend with my family is quality time."

Hunter also commented on fatherhood: "It's been great, other than the no-sleep thing. It's put a whole new spin on life for me. It's changed my perspective about what's important in life. I don't know if it's softened me up, but it changes the way you look at women. I'm probably going to pay for my past."

He also spends a lot of time discussing his frustration with younger wrestlers who complain about the way they are pushed, yet don't take the proper steps to succeed.

Click HERE to read the rest of the story

Update on Why Some Wrestlers were Released

2008-08-16T19:22:00.000-05:00

From: WrestleScoop.com

- Stevie Richards release was a surprise since management recently praised him for his series against Vladimir Kozlov on Smackdown.

- Cherry's release was also a surprise as she was been heavily involved in the Smackdown Diva mix in recent months.

- Colin Delaney recently faced Tommy Dreamer on ECW and turned heel, which failed to draw a response from the crowd.

- The Highlander (Robbie and Rory McAllister) faced Cryme Tyme on RAW this week in a quick match and lost. Robbie's appearance on TNA Impact prior to WrestleMania was probably the reason the team was released.

Orton Rips Bubba Ray Dudley; Talks About Broken Collarbone

2008-08-16T17:20:00.000-05:00

From: WrestleScoop.com

Randy Orton ripped Bubba Ray Dudley (a/k/a Brother Ray) during a WrestleCast interview. "I never liked him," Orton said of Bubba. "I never liked what he did because he only thought of himself. In the match my foot was broken, it was his fault... Bubba Dudley is the most out of shape, fat, non-work-ethic-having person I knew. And you had a bad taste in your mouth when you met him."

Orton also said he's happy he suffered broke a collarbone. "It is really great that I got hurt," he said. "I thank God that I broke my collarbone. At the time I wasn't thankful. I missed work, but being home with my wife the last two months of the pregnancy and witnessing the birth of my baby, which could have missed if I was on the road, that would have been horrible."

Edge Done Gone Crazy

2008-08-15T21:11:00.003-05:00

Tonight Edge showed how far he has really gone off the deep end as the night was filled with his lunatic rants at Vickie. Originally Vickie locked herself in her office for fear of what Edge may do to her. Victoria was there to comfort her but Edge intercepted the two as Vickie tried to leave the arena. This lead to Edge taking Vickie on wild ride around the arena culminating in the two "reminiscing" about old times at ring side. In his madman state Edge forced Vickie to apologize for what she did to the Undertaker. Edge would also decree the match at Summer Slam would be "till death due us part". With this set up you have to figure this will be a blood fest in Indy and one of the memorable Hell in the Cells. I thought they would have worked the Undertaker into the show tonight but I love the fact they did not go this route. This only builds more anticipation for the match as we have not seen the Undertaker since he was banned.

Jeff Hardy got the screw job again tonight courtesy of MVP. In a title match for the US belt that seemed like a victory was ruined again by MVP's interfernce. These two will be able to sort things out on Sunday, but you have to question if Shelton Benjamin will find himself in the mix. First he has the US belt and second he has had two good matches with Hardy recently. If the WWE really wants him to raise his game there would be no better test right now for him than a program with Hardy. I eluded to these three being linked together last week and with the results tonight it looks like a done deal. I really wouldn't be surprised if Benjamin finds himself involved some how at Summer Slam.

Other Summer Slam hype featured Triple H and Khali getting into a little spat after H made short order of Kenny Dykstra. Yes you heard me right, Kenny still lives. The little run in saw Triple H try to give Kahli the pedigree but had to settle for just knocking him out of the ring. With the action last week combined with the run in today we really have seen all this match can offer. So the question is why watch it Sunday? This has to be in the top five for worst booked WWE title matches ever.

We saw another Divas tag match that saw the heels win this time with Natalia pinning Michelle McCool. We also saw Maryse and Maria in action but their was really nothing special about this match. The Big Show continued his irrelevancy tonight by beating Ryan Braddock. Nothing like going from one of the main events at Mania to taking on new talent in the span of six months. I really hope the Show gets a good program soon as they are really wasting his talent. Morrison Light, aka Brain Kendrick also beat another newcomer in Scotty Goldman. And Victor Kozlov beat Festus. When will we see Kendrick and Kozlov so we can have a match of guys we will not be hearing from at this time next year. Both of these guys are getting decent pushes but we already have wrestles like them the company in Morrison and Snitsky. I really don't see much to come of these pushes and really seeing both guys fading by the new year.

WWE Says Good-Bye to Six More Members

2008-08-15T20:07:00.001-05:00

The following has just been posted on WWE.com:

World Wrestling Entertainment has come to terms on the release of ECW Superstar Stevie Richards, Raw tag team Robbie & Rory of The Highlanders, and WWE referee Wes Adams as of Aug. 15, 2008. WWE wishes them the best in all their future endeavors.

WWE has also just announced the releases of Colin Delaney and Smackdown Diva Cherry

Breaking Down Sunday's SummerSlam PPV

2008-08-15T19:40:00.000-05:00

The WWE presents its annual biggest PPV of the summer this weekend - SummerSlam. The show takes place Sunday 8pm est from the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. While this is usually a show with a lot of build and high profile matches, this years offering seems a bit lacking, despite the fact they have thrown some major superstars together in trying to draw a big buyrate. With that, here is the breakdown for the show.

Edge vs Undertaker (Hell in a Cell) - This will likley be the main event, and for what it's worth - it should be. It will be the first time we've seen Taker since he "retired" a few months back after a loss to Edge at One Night Stand. Now he's back thanks to Vickie Guerrero, and this should be a blood bath. Both these men work well together, and they are wise to put this on as the main. Both these guys are at the top of their game, and this one should be a very solid main event despite not much on the line.

World Heavyweight Champion C.M. Punk vs JBL - We've seen this one before, as Punk took on JBL the night he won the strap, so they must feel they can keep it fresh. Keeping JBL in the title picture is a bit of a head scratcher, but they must feel that he still has value and can give Punk a solid match. No way I can see JBL winning the belt here, as Punk walks out with a successful defense of the World Heavyweight Title.

WWE Champion Triple H vs The Great Khali - Let's hope they keep this one short. With not much else going on in the title scene, they threw this together in hopes of making it legit, but not many are buying Khali as a serious contender for the belt, and for good reason. The company gave HHH some time off to be with wife Steph McMahon for the birth of their second child, and because of that, we have to deal with this, which should be a short 7-8 minute squash with HHH winning clean.

ECW Champion Mark Henry vs Matt Hardy - Hardy dropped the US Title at last month's PPV offering to set up this feud that we knew was coming when Hardy was moved and Henry got the belt. The ECW brand has been a bit better with the infusion of young talent, and while Henry does not deserve to carry the torch of this title, look for a win here to simply continue this feud till Hardy finally does win his first major heavyweight title.

Batista vs John Cena - They are pushing this as the "first time ever" for these two, and many felt we wouldn't see this till Mania. I predict we still might, as I can easily see a no-decision here, allowing them to keep this fresh as the build for Mania 25 starts in full in the next two-three months. From here I see a slow build for Batista going back to heel to build towards a big grudge match with a title involved with Cena at Mania.

MVP vs Jeff Hardy - These two just had a match at a PPV a few months back, but this time they are actually going though with a program, so I wouldnt' doubt if they drag this out a little. On the other hand, this could be a "one and done" and then they could move Hardy into the title picture with Triple H after he takes care of Khali. Down the road Hardy will have a title shot, and I think it's going to be sooner than later, meaning he wins clean here.

Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella vs Kofi Kingston and Mickie James (IC and Women's Belt on the line) - Kind of a silly way to have two belts decided, but for whatever reason they decided to have these four in a match and put not one but two belts up. I can likely see one of the belts changing hands, and the way it should go down is Marella, finally admitting his crush on Phoenix, helps her win the womens belt and forgo's the IC belt. That's the most logical way of it playing out anyway.

The five best SummerSlam matches of the past decade

2008-08-15T19:31:00.002-05:00

With SummerSlam only a few days away, I thought it would be fitting for another “Five Count.” This article will look at the my five favorite SummerSlam matches of the past decade (1998-2007). The list will go in chronological order, not order of preference. As always, any comments/complements/critiques are welcome below or in the shout-box...

1. SummerSlam 1998: Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeats The Rock in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship.

This match had everything you could ask for. Two future Hall of Famers battling in their respective primes, and each used the ladder in inventive ways. The match ended when Chyna low-blowed The Rock as he was climbing the ladder, allowing Helmsley to get the win. In my opinion, this match is as good as, if not better then, the epic Shawn Michaels-Razor Ramon battle at WrestleMania XII.

(A quick aside: I can't remember if Triple H has EVER beaten The Rock cleanly. I can understand that being the case when Trips was the heel and Rocky the face, and heels usually need help to beat faces in the WWE, but even in this match, when Helmsley was sort-of the face and Rock the heel, Helmsley STILL couldn't get a clean win over The Rock. No wonder he sounded bitter when the Rock stole the show at the 2008 Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Orlando...If anyone can remember Triple H beating the Rock clean, no interference of any type involved, please let me know).

2. SummerSlam 2000: Edge and Christian defeat The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz for the WWE Tag Team Championship in the first-ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match.

Three of the best tag teams in the history of the WWE squared off in a match that was invented for their unique styles. These six men delivered in a huge way, and notable spots include a 3-D on Christian through a table, Jeff Hardy missing a Swanton and eating a table of his own, and Edge and Christian pushing Bubba-Ray off a ladder through four stacked tables on the outside. As JR would say, “It looked like these six men went through a car wreck!” by the time a battered Edge and Christian retrieved the titles. These teams would go on to have an even better match at WrestleMania X-7, where this time Jeff Hardy didn't miss a massive Swanton off an extra-tall ladder through two tables.

3. SummerSlam 2002: Shawn Michaels defeats Triple H in an Unsanctioned Street Fight.

This match was, quite simply, incredible. For Shawn Michaels to be out of action for four years due to a debilitating back injury, then come back and deliver the kind of performance he did in this match is nothing short of miraculous. The action went back and forth, with lots of counters, and Michaels beating on Triple H with a ladder. Even the ending was good, as Michaels reversed a Pedigree for the roll-up, setting the stage for the HBK-HHH feud that would last a good two years.

4. SummerSlam 2004: Randy Orton defeats Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship.

It is probably not an exaggeration to say that Randy Orton went to the equivalent of wrestling finishing school during this match with Benoit. They were helped by the crowd, which was hot from the get-go (they taunted Earl Hebner with chants of “You screwed Brett;” an homage to the Montreal Screwjob). This match featured several Sharpshooter reversals, and six consecutive German suplexes by Benoit. Benoit missed a diving headbutt, jumping right into a very stiff-looking boot from Orton. After a few more counters, Orton hit the RKO for the win. Even though he was playing a heel, Orton began to visibly break down, truly understanding his place in history. It was a very neat moment, and the crowd gave the then-24-year-old, the youngest-ever champ in the history of the WWE, a standing ovation.

5. SummerSlam 2007: John Cena defeats Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.

This match is special for me: I was invited to a friend's house to watch it, and it sucked me right back into wrestling, which I had given up on after the idiocy of the Invasion in 2001. The match itself was good, but not great, as Orton pretty much carried the action until Cena hit an FU for the win. Orton, like most great heels, has the ability to make his opponent look awesome in the ring. Cena's in-ring ability, which was pretty bad early in his career (case in point: the WrestleMania 22 main even where Triple H absolutely carried the match) had by this point gotten to where he was serviceable, and he put on a good show as well.

What I loved about this match was the build-up: All the evil things Orton did to Cena, from RKOing him through a chair on Saturday Night's Main Event to punting his dad in the head, Orton made himself look unstoppable, and was incredibly over. Cena portrayed the never-say-die underdog (even though he was in the middle of a long title defense) excellently, and his win, while not unexpected, was a bit of a shocker. The build-up to Edge-Undertaker at this SummerSlam has been equally good. Hopefully the two veterans can put together what should be an incredible match on Sunday.

Honorary Mention:
SummerSlam 2001: Rob Van Dam defeats Jeff Hardy in a ladder match.
SummerSlam 2003: Kurt Angle defeats Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.
SummerSlam 2005: Rey Mysterio defeats Eddie Guerrero for the custody of Dominick in a ladder match (penalty points because it was such a dumb premise, even by wrestling standards).

SmackDown Preview for Tonight from WWE.com

2008-08-15T06:13:00.000-05:00

Preview:
Over the edge
August 9, 2008

As Jeff Hardy gets ready to face Montel Vontavious Porter at SummerSlam, he goes up against United States Champion Shelton Benjamin in a title encounter on SmackDown. Can Hardy upset Benjamin and go into Sunday as the new United States Champion? Or, will the Gold Standard stop the Legend Thriller?

After Mick Foley awakened a sadistic cruelty in Edge, the Rated-R Superstar has unleashed hell on anyone standing in his way. Could this new-found rage give him the support he needs to survive Hell in a Cell against a returning Undertaker at SummerSlam? What will the Ultimate Opportunist do just days before perhaps the biggest match of his career?

Last week in their unprecedented Indian Broken Glass Arm Wrestling Contest, No. 1 contender to the WWE Championship, The Great Khali, applied his vicious Vise Grip to Triple H, sending a message that “The Game” is over. After finding that his patented Pedigree on Khali could be anatomically impossible, how will The Cerebral Assassin successfully defend his gold against the Punjabi Giant at SummerSlam? Will these titans clash again just days before the Biggest Blockbuster of the Summer?

The undefeated Vladimir Kozlov is demanding a better class of competition. After making short work of Jesse, could the Moscow Mauler find what he seeks in the corn-fed colossus, Festus?

And with advisor Ezekiel Jackson providing a hefty distraction at ringside, The Brian Kendrick picked up yet another victory over Super Crazy last week. With Jackson becoming such a decisive factor in The Kendrick’s matches, will anybody be able to stand in his way?

Find out the answers to these questions and more on Friday Night SmackDown on The CW Network at 8/7 CT. And don’t forget to catch SummerSlam, Sunday, Aug. 17, only on pay-per-view.

Benjamin Being Counted On to Step Up

2008-08-14T18:36:00.000-05:00

Source: PWTorch.com Newsletter

There is currently a lot of pressure on Shelton Benjamin to step up and take advantage of his current WWE push. Benjamin has some heat with management for being a little too complacent. Benjamin is said to be very comfortable with his mid-card role after already having made more money than he ever though he would. Management feels he could be a strong upper-card player if he aspires to do so, and have been impressed by his matches in recent weeks.