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Maria Kanellis Discusses Recent WWE Visit, Wrestling This Weekend, ROH

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:22:10 GMT

Former WWE Diva turned First Lady of Ring of Honor, Maria Kanellis, joins us to talk about her first wrestling match in two years since her WWE release. This weekend, Kanellis faces fellow former Diva and current TNA star, Tara, in New York on her 30th birthday, no less. Maria talks to us about the match, why she's returning to the ring and her training for her ring return.

The First Lady of ROH dishes on how her ROH appointment came about, the differences between working in ROH and WWE, the reactions from the notoriously tough ROH crowd, and her response to fans who questioned her passion for wrestling & assumed she'd quit the business after her WWE release.

Maria also tells us about her recent backstage visit to WWE and what happened when she spoke to Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis, the very people who fired her two years ago this week.

Highlights:
Working in ROH vs working in WWE: "I'm much more relaxed! I'm very relaxed at Ring of Honor. I don't feel the pressure that I did at WWE. But I'm also, so I think that a lot of it comes with maturity and being comfortable in your own skin. I'm more confident in myself than I was when I was in WWE. That goes with being outside of WWE and starting to see the world through different eyes. Now coming back into wrestling and being like, 'You know what? This is where you have fun', and I just want to have fun with my wrestling career now. I don't want to be stressed out or worrying about where's my next storyline. I don't want to be worrying about all that stuff."

Why she's returning to the ring: "There was a lot of things I wanted to accomplish that I didn't get to accomplish before. I never really felt like I was that great in the ring, and then I also felt that I didn't get a whole lot of time to be in the ring. My goal is to go out there and do the best that I can, and if I get out there and I'm like, 'Okay, this is it for me and I'm not going to wrestle anymore', that's one thing. Or if I get out there and I'm like, 'You know what? I really want to continue moving forward with this part of wrestling' then that's what I'm going to do. But there was so many things I wanted to accomplish in the ring and so many things I loved doing in the house shows that I never got to really show off on WWE TV."?

"I never won a championship and that was a big thing for me. I didn't want to win the greatest championship in the world and I didn't need to hold it forever, but just winning it by a fluke would've been nice, just to say I was on that great list.""There's just a lot of things I want to accomplish in the ring."

Being backstage recently at a WWE Raw taping: "I stood there and talked to Vince for probably 10-15 minutes, just shooting the s--t. I talked to him about the new network. I told him that I thought the show was great as of late, I really enjoyed last week's episode. I talked to him about, 'How's the family?' and 'Give Linda my best'. At the same time that I'm not there, it's still part of my family. Sometimes I don't like the things that John Laurinaitis does but at the same time, for a long time I was on the road with him all the time. He's the one that initially called me and sad, 'Maria, we want you to go down to OVW', so you still have to have an appreciation."

"At the end of the day, wrestling's still a business and I try to remember that every day when I do anything with wrestling."

WWE News: Kelly Kelly Wants Match at WrestleMania XXVIII

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:56:04 GMT

As various sites have noted, former WWE Divas Champion Kelly Kelly has spoken of her ambition to have a singles match at this year's WrestleMania to the company's official magazine, noting that she has previously only had small supporting roles at the event. Asked for her "favourite WrestleMania moment" for WWE Magazine's special WrestleMania XXVIII issue, she laments:

Sadly for Kelly, the direction of the women's division on Raw indicates she's probably not going to get her way, for this year at least. Indeed, WWE seem to be heading for a clash between current Divas Champion Beth Phoenix and returning diva Kharma.

Phoenix vs. former WWE star Trish Stratus (who came back for a match at last year's WrestleMania to team up with John Morrison and Jersey Shore Snooki against Vickie Guerrero's heel stable) has also been suggested recently by Stratus herself. Kelly's chances of a top spot on the card look even bleaker when you consider that the former model has is an afterthought on Raw these days.

While she was the company's most pushed babyface diva last year (she even scored the cover of popular men's magazine Maxim magazine in November), she has made sporadic appearances on Raw over the past few months, with the creative team seemingly struggling to come up with ideas for her.

WWE Raw: Undertaker to face Triple H at Wrestlemania in Hell in a Cell

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:16:11 GMT

Undertaker. Triple H. Wrestlemania. Hell in a Cell. Say no more. It’s official and thus, we are now on the road to Wrestlemania 28. Yes, we have the WWE building toward a Chris Jericho-CM Punk feud with the title at stake. Yes, we have John Cena vs. The Rock in an icon vs. icon match. But the road to Wrestlemania got a huge boost tonight on Raw in a tremendous segment that made it official:...

Beth Phoenix Discusses Her WrestleMania Match, Facing Tamina Snuka & More

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:28:00 GMT

WWE Divas Champion Beth Phoenix recently spoke with The Miami Herald to hype the Road to WrestleMania 28. Here are a few highlights: The Pin-Up Strong movement: "I think that in combination with living a healthy lifestyle and really presenting a good role model for women is kind of what 'Pin-Up Strong' encompasses. It's basically just words that I wanted to put out there for young women to identify themselves with. I wanted to show them that women of all shapes and sizes can be beautiful and powerful and set a good, classy example. You can find more out of your life, find success and be classy at the same time."

Her Elimination Chamber match against Tamina Snuka: "I've been so excited. Everybody has been listening to me blab forever about working Tamina. I get to work with Natalya all the time, who is third generation, but now we have the daughter of Superfly Jimmy Snuka. She is the real deal. She definitely has that flavor and incredible athletic ability that is second to no one else.

"She is very special and very physical, which I look forward to a girl who can go and really bring it. Someone who can hit as hard as I hit, and we can go toe-to-toe, and it's a challenge. She has really been waiting for an opportunity like this. I think she has been in the company for maybe three years and really been pushed to the forefront for this opportunity.

"I really see her shining week after week. I'm really looking forward to our match. There is not only going to be a great diva's match with a great amount of physicality, but you are going to have that nostalgia behind it. I certainly grew up watching her father and admiring everything he has done. I've done my share of studying Roddy Piper's strategies. So I'm looking forward to putting some of that in the match. I think you are going to have a good match at the Elimination Chamber."

WrestleMania 28: "It's hard to pick [an opponent]. I would even like to go one-on-one with Natalya at some point. We have that 'who is better' mentality that we haven't been really able to explore yet. Kharma is an ideal opponent. I've seen so many fans who have said that it's the match they want to see. They would like to see these two titans who have never crossed paths kind of mix it up. Then there is Trish [Stratus]. We've met before in tag matches, but we come from two different eras. We have never had a singles encounter. That would bring something entirely different to the table.

"Alundra Blayze has come from another different era. She was literally one of the females who inspired me to do this. So that's a really controversial match because of the way she left the WWF. She has kind of been this notorious figure toward the beginning of the Attitude era. So it's interesting to see all of those options.

"Do I have a favorite opponent out of those? No. Bring it all on. Whoever it is, I will know the opportunity to have a WrestleMania match would be spectacular. It would be the highlight of my career."

WWE RAW Review: Ryder Takes a Ride

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:25:23 GMT

The Elimination Chamber debate was a fun concept and did a good job getting the participants over who seemed to be given the greenlight to do a bit of ad-libbing too, a nice touch for sure. I like that WWE is letting Kofi Kingston show a little more personality instead of simply being a silent-yet-successful high-flyer. Though he still lost to Chris Jericho in the evening’s first match the creative team gave him a nice rub with the pre-bout shot and Y2J’s eye-poke to set up the victory.

Also, on the subject of Jericho, it’s nice to see CM Punk finally have a rival who can hang with him on the microphone. His eventual Wrestlemania bout with Punk (assuming yes, unrealistic no) should be great and feature some excellent exchanges leading up to their championship showdown.

The Randy Orton-Big Show-Daniel Bryan stuff was okay but nothing spectacular. However, I am enjoying the way Bryan is sort of a “cerebral assassin” in the way he’s playing fighters against each other (or against themselves in certain instances as was the case with AJ).

The microphone work from HHH and Shawn Michaels in the following segment was brilliant. There was lots of emotion based on the history of their friendship, an intelligent move by the writers, and some jaw-dropping comments from each. Let’s just hope Undertaker doesn’t show up hoping to inspire HHH by breaking HBK’s back, Choke-Slamming him through a stage, having John Cena hook up with Stephanie McMahon, and….wait, wrong storyline. Also, Undertaker’s video response was well-produced, and though I don’t like the taped vs. live aspect of Taker’s retorts I have to say I’m intrigued to see what’s up with his haircut. I’m hoping he went straight up shaved off instead of a standard do.

R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler was decent and, like Jericho/Kingston, put one man over without really damaging the other. Ziggler is cocky and it cost him, while Truth needs the momentum of a victory entering this weekend’s PPV to be a believable contender.

I still don’t understand why Tamina Snuka doesn’t come to the ring barefoot like her father if the company is so intent on having her serve as homage to his work. I’m also unclear as to why they’re rushing her fight with Beth Phoenix. Whatever happened to a decent build? Even Divas deserve that. Also, the Bella Twins continue to have the best Diva outfits out there, bar none. Amazing.

Miz and Punk’s pairing was nothing new. It was good but simply established Punk is the superior competitor, no news there. It seems a Jericho run-in or some level of interference would have made more sense, even getting Miz’s hand raised in the process, but instead they just served up a dish of leftovers.

I saved all the Cena, Eve, and Zack Ryder stuff until the end so I could lump it together as one segment. I’m no fan of this storyline and have been very open as to why. It’s insultingly dumb. For example, Cena put Ryder in his locker room at the start of the show, yet it took him more than an hour to find Eve and he was even ready to do an interview when things went down between Kane-Eve. Additionally, Ryder went from a first date to falling in love with Eve over the span of a few weeks. It’s a comical storyline and would’ve been good ten years ago but not today.

By the way, did it occur to anyone else that the kiss was a little TOO natural between Cena and Eve? I’m thinking they’ve done that before, off camera based on the open-mouth nature of the smooch.

And Cena being ready to fight a broken-backed, heart-shattered Ryder because he slaps him? Silly. Truly, Ryder getting thrown off the stage in his wheelchair sums things up nicely to me. “The Long Island Iced Z” represents the storyline, handicapped in nature, as it has plummeted from the WWE stage into a nose dive on the ground. If there is any justice in this world the Elimination Chamber PPV fight between Cena-Kane will mark the end of their feud. Enough already. I’ve embraced the hate. Of the storyline.

Divas in WWE Today

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:18:49 GMT

The WWE Divas. A pretty polarizing group of female athletes, to say the least. In recent months, The Divas have upped their game. Many of them, already former champions, have created alliances with one another in order to stay out of obscurity. Due to this security, it can be argued that the Divas are taking more risks in the ring in order to become more memorable athletes and keeping us, the consumers, happy. Let's take a look at these women and find out just who stands head and shoulders above the rest. (Perhaps not literally.)

Former WWE Champions Backstage At RAW Last Night, Rock Rejects Sequel

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:33:53 GMT

Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio were backstage at RAW last night. Mysterio was there since the show was in his hometown of San Diego. Del Rio is still not cleared to wrestle, which is likely why has wasn't used on TV. He returned to WWE live events in California last weekend, but didn't take any bumps.

-- The Rock has turned down one sequel and signed on for another. As noted earlier, The Rock will star in Fast 6, which will start filming in June. He will also not be a part of the Tooth Fairy sequel, which will star Larry The Cable Guy and will be a direct-to-disc release.

WWE: The Natalya Flatulence Angle Is Counterproductive to WWE's Diva Image

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:28:32 GMT

There are lots of things that can be said to describe the current angle on SmackDown, which sees WWE Diva Natalya become the victim of a humiliating flatulence problem in various backstage segments and skits. And, unsurprisingly, none of them are complimentary.

It’s not funny. It’s a juvenile waste of time. It’s embarrassing television. It could destroy Natalya’s career and render her a joke if WWE aren’t careful. All of these are fair criticisms that have been echoed on message boards, news sites and television reviews all across the web in reaction to this storyline.

In fact, even Natalya’s own uncle, Smith Hart, has recently taken to his Twitter account to lash out, calling it a waste of his niece’s considerable talents. But one thing that hasn’t really been spoken about is how incredibly counter-productive this gimmick is to the image of the WWE divas.

You see, WWE management have spent years presenting the women in WWE in a wholly flattering, glamorous light only to risk undoing all their work with this flatulence angle. Why they are doing this current angle is anyone’s guess. But it is almost startlingly in contrast to how they have marketed their divas in the past.

Indeed, aside from its crassness, one thing that sticks out about this current gimmick is how a WWE diva is being presented in such a demeaning and laughable manner. It is a striking turnaround. It would almost be fascinating, were the storyline not so atrocious.

Far from being a glamorous, incredibly beautiful girl that most male fans will dream about (which is how women in the cosmetically-obsessed WWE have overwhelmingly been portrayed for over two decades now), poor Natalya has been turned into an on-screen joke, unable to stop breaking wind at the most inconvenient times and emitting poisonous toxins so bad they are enough to almost kill Hornswoggle and Santino.

Or so we are told in the storyline, anyway. So much for being the object of anyone’s fantasies. This angle is even more perplexing when you consider that, with the dawn of the PG era, the emphasis on T&A in the divas has been greatly curtailed as the product is watered down and made more accessible to kids and sponsors, and WWE have also tried in recent times to turn their women into role models.

Goody-two-shoes babyface Kelly Kelly (who, over the years, went from being an inexperienced model to respectable in-ring performer) was held up as an example to young girls of how hard work and effort could be pay off and heap huge rewards.

Likewise, the educated, well-spoken Eve Torres has been heavily utilized in a public relations role, doing numerous speaking engagements and interviews for the company.

Even Natalya and her tag-team partner Beth Phoenix became (admittedly heelish) role models in their “Pin Up Strong” group for a brief time, as they asserted their dominance over the promotion and, refreshingly, refused to be “pretty and perky” simply because management required that in all their girls.

With their emphasis on wrestling and being taken seriously, they were quite the pair, and potentially could have been breakout stars in the women’s division had WWE just had the time and patience to push their act to the top.

Of course, the scant attention paid to “Pin Up Strong” and Kelly’s achievements wasn’t anything great, and the women’s division in WWE is still woefully neglected, but it was a step in the right direction at least.

With this current flatulence angle, however, Natalya is far more a laughingstock than a role model. Who can take her seriously with this gimmick? Who would want to?

Summarily, there are numerous problems with the current flatulence storyline, but the main one be that WWE has, for reasons only known to them, set out to undermine and totally destroy an image of their women that they have spent years carefully crafting.

Hopefully they can realize their mistake, and this angle will quickly be swept under the rug, never to be mentioned again. Although, knowing WWE’s misguided booking team these days, I wouldn’t bet on it.

WWE Divas – February 6, 2012 Raw Results: Eight-Divas Tag Team Match (Royal Rumble Event Rematch)

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:14:36 GMT

Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox, and Tamina made their way to the ring to Eve’s theme music. A recap of Eve being stalked by Kane on last week’s episode of Raw was seen (Beth destroys Eve and Kane attacks); followed by WWE Divas Champion Beth Phoenix, Natalya and The Bella Twins making their way to the ring. During their entrance, footage was seen of a WWE.com interview with Beth, saying that there was no competition for her. Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres began this match, with Beth dominating. She then tagged in Brie Bella, who fell victim to Tamina’s samoan drop and Super Fly Splash…

Thoughts: This match was significantly shorter than the 8-Divas Tag-Team match at the 2012 Royal Rumble, and easily forgettable. Unfortunately for the Divas, they once again got very little reaction from fans. While forgettable, the match planted the seeds for a future match between Beth and Tamina, which would explain Tamina’s recent face push.

WWE Diva Reportedly Suffers Broken Nose On Raw

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:09:04 GMT

Eve Torres was rushed to the backstage area immediately after she tagged out of the ring during the Eight Divas Tag Team Match on tonight's Raw SuperShow. Torres was hit hard by a Beth Phoenix clothesline. She was severely bleeding from her nose and it is said that she suffered a broken nose.