Monday News and Notes; Foley, PPV's, RAW, Hall of Fame
Lots of news and notes to get to as we head into another week of WWE TV tonight with now less than a month away from WrestleMania 23 in Detroit. Here's the latest in the world of wrestling:
* TV has been strong as of late, and tonight with RAW in Phoenix, they already have a few solid matches announced that should make it another strong offering. The main event will have Edge vs John Cena. They also will have Randy Orton vs Shawn Michaels, and a women's title match with Melina vs Mickie in falls count anywhere. RAW has been red-hot as of late, and tonight should not be any different.
* Orton will almost for sure be the 8th man in the WrestleMania "Money in the Bank" match, but his qualifying match will likely not be until tomorrow night on ECW or Friday on SmackDown. Tonight in a match vs Michales there is no way to play off a MITB stip, so they will save it for tomorrow night or tape it tomorrow and air Friday. It almost feels like the MITB match is now as high as 4th on the WrestleMania list of matches for the show.
* The big news this past week is that the WWE will now have wrestlers from all three brands on their "B" PPV shows. Already set to appear on the RAW PPV "Backlash" in late April are RVD, Undertaker, and Batista. Flyers for the "Great American Bash," which will take place in July in San Jose had Bobby Lashley and John Cena scheduled to appear. This is a major, and very smart move for the WWE. The lesser PPV's struggled in 2006, and this will give them a much fresher look and feel for 2007.
* Couple of WWE wrestlers that were destined for big pushes on TV now appear to be on hold due to not being even close to ready to compete. Those two guys are Vladimir Kozlov and Daniel Rodimer. There was a few interviews given to Kozlov during SmackDown, but you can bet those will not continue. As for Rodimer, he was slated to be a third man in Rated RKO with Edge and Orton, and his name was even on WWE's web site in house show matches of 3-on-2 vs DX. Once HHH got hurt, plans for that halted, and now the company is saying that he too is not ready to be on TV as of yet.
* Mick Foley's new book "The Hardcore Diaries" comes out tomorrow, and should be an interesting read. The book is being pushed on WWE TV, despite the fact there are points in the book its very critical of things within the company. Seems a lot like Eric Bishoff's book, which I read and thought was not very good nor very well written. Foley is a pretty good writer though for a wrestler, and this should be one to get. There is word that he will not be a part of Mania, and that some of the higher ups in the company want him off the show for what he said about them in book.
* Even with a weaker lineup this year, the WWE Hall of Fame looks like the hottest ticket in Detroit, as the event sold out Saturday morning in about 25 minutes. Most of the pairs and 4-packs were gone within 5 minutes, and scattered singles were all that were left after that. Last year my friend and I in Chicago, picked up two tickets through the box office the day of the show, and you can bet that can be done again this year. Expect Jim Ross or The Wild Samoans to get announced tonight for the Hall.
* TV has been strong as of late, and tonight with RAW in Phoenix, they already have a few solid matches announced that should make it another strong offering. The main event will have Edge vs John Cena. They also will have Randy Orton vs Shawn Michaels, and a women's title match with Melina vs Mickie in falls count anywhere. RAW has been red-hot as of late, and tonight should not be any different.
* Orton will almost for sure be the 8th man in the WrestleMania "Money in the Bank" match, but his qualifying match will likely not be until tomorrow night on ECW or Friday on SmackDown. Tonight in a match vs Michales there is no way to play off a MITB stip, so they will save it for tomorrow night or tape it tomorrow and air Friday. It almost feels like the MITB match is now as high as 4th on the WrestleMania list of matches for the show.
* The big news this past week is that the WWE will now have wrestlers from all three brands on their "B" PPV shows. Already set to appear on the RAW PPV "Backlash" in late April are RVD, Undertaker, and Batista. Flyers for the "Great American Bash," which will take place in July in San Jose had Bobby Lashley and John Cena scheduled to appear. This is a major, and very smart move for the WWE. The lesser PPV's struggled in 2006, and this will give them a much fresher look and feel for 2007.
* Couple of WWE wrestlers that were destined for big pushes on TV now appear to be on hold due to not being even close to ready to compete. Those two guys are Vladimir Kozlov and Daniel Rodimer. There was a few interviews given to Kozlov during SmackDown, but you can bet those will not continue. As for Rodimer, he was slated to be a third man in Rated RKO with Edge and Orton, and his name was even on WWE's web site in house show matches of 3-on-2 vs DX. Once HHH got hurt, plans for that halted, and now the company is saying that he too is not ready to be on TV as of yet.
* Mick Foley's new book "The Hardcore Diaries" comes out tomorrow, and should be an interesting read. The book is being pushed on WWE TV, despite the fact there are points in the book its very critical of things within the company. Seems a lot like Eric Bishoff's book, which I read and thought was not very good nor very well written. Foley is a pretty good writer though for a wrestler, and this should be one to get. There is word that he will not be a part of Mania, and that some of the higher ups in the company want him off the show for what he said about them in book.
* Even with a weaker lineup this year, the WWE Hall of Fame looks like the hottest ticket in Detroit, as the event sold out Saturday morning in about 25 minutes. Most of the pairs and 4-packs were gone within 5 minutes, and scattered singles were all that were left after that. Last year my friend and I in Chicago, picked up two tickets through the box office the day of the show, and you can bet that can be done again this year. Expect Jim Ross or The Wild Samoans to get announced tonight for the Hall.
