News Update: ECW, Hall of Fame, Mania, Where are they Now
Tuesday's night's ECW was pretty much a lame duck show, with just two matches, and two things that really came out of it - a challenge that we all knew was coming from the ECW Originals to take on the New Breed at WrestleMania, and an interview from Steve Austin that really didn't mean anything. The show of course had the three sluts dancing for four minutes, that meant nothing, not that it ever really has ever meant anything, and they had a run-in from Snitsky during a bad match with Balls Mahoney and Bob Holly. Overall, pretty nothing show that there was not much out of to talk about other than the one big WM match for the brand with eight of the guys involved.
On to some news:
* Looks as if we are all set for the WWE Hall of Fame, as some more names have leaked, and it looks as if this year it will be a class of 5 single wrestlers, one tag team, one manager and one announcer. Here is the class as we've heard it to date:
- Curt Henning
- Jerry Lawler
- The Shiek
- Mr.Fuji
- Jim Ross
- Nick Bockwinkel
- The Wild Samoans
- Dusty Rhodes
That is a pretty big class, and if you are planning on going to the event, look to be there for about 3+ hours, as last year the event ran from about 7:30pm to 11pm. The presenters should be interesting as well, as we know that Larry Henning will speak for Curt, but who will induct him is up in the air. Nick Bockwinkel will be inducted by longtime manager Bobby Heenen. The Shiek will be spoken for by Sabu, but again, who will induct him is unknown. Lou Albano will likely present the Samoans. Jimmy Hart, who has been involved with Lawler in Memphis, could be the presenter for the King. As for Ross, that is a shoe-in, as Steve Austin will get the call there to present him. The most interesting presenter could be the one for Dusty Rhodes. One would think that it would be his son Dustin (aka Golddust) but the two have been back and forth over the years in terms of their relationship. With that, I would say that the nod for a presenter would go to Ric Flair. As for Mr.Fuji, I would bet the likely presenter would be former star Don Muraco, who was manager by Fuji for a large part of his WWE run in the 80's.
* USA TV and the WWE are still talking about putting some part of the Hall of Fame show on TV the night before Mania. The network has shown parts of the ceremony the last two years, but the star power this year is just not there. The last two years the one-hour show has been filled with the bigger names and presenters inducting them: you've see Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, and Gene Okerlund. I would guess if they did get it on TV this year, the three they would squeeze into that one hour would be Dusty Rhodes, Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross. Not quite the level of the last two years. The entire ceremony will be on the WrestleMania 23 disc set again this year though.
* As suspected, the plan to have Randy Orton in the Money in the Bank match at Maina is still on, as they have posted on WWE.com that this week on RAW they will have a three-way with Orton, Ric Flair and Carlito for the last spot in that 8-man match. Orton and Edge would have been a better singles match, but they are saving that for down the road. For now, with Orton in that MITB match, you can expect to see Flair and Carlito in a one-on-one singles match on the Mania card.
* If you don't visit WWE.com often, I suggest you do for one of their new features - "Where are they Now." This week they catch up with Brutis Beefcake. They have had profiles already on past WWE stars like Virgil, Honkey Tonk Man, Greg Valentine, Smash, Haku, and Outlaw Ron Bass. I always appreciate when the company tries to give the older fans a little bit of history and at the same time give some props to the stars of the past.
On to some news:
* Looks as if we are all set for the WWE Hall of Fame, as some more names have leaked, and it looks as if this year it will be a class of 5 single wrestlers, one tag team, one manager and one announcer. Here is the class as we've heard it to date:
- Curt Henning
- Jerry Lawler
- The Shiek
- Mr.Fuji
- Jim Ross
- Nick Bockwinkel
- The Wild Samoans
- Dusty Rhodes
That is a pretty big class, and if you are planning on going to the event, look to be there for about 3+ hours, as last year the event ran from about 7:30pm to 11pm. The presenters should be interesting as well, as we know that Larry Henning will speak for Curt, but who will induct him is up in the air. Nick Bockwinkel will be inducted by longtime manager Bobby Heenen. The Shiek will be spoken for by Sabu, but again, who will induct him is unknown. Lou Albano will likely present the Samoans. Jimmy Hart, who has been involved with Lawler in Memphis, could be the presenter for the King. As for Ross, that is a shoe-in, as Steve Austin will get the call there to present him. The most interesting presenter could be the one for Dusty Rhodes. One would think that it would be his son Dustin (aka Golddust) but the two have been back and forth over the years in terms of their relationship. With that, I would say that the nod for a presenter would go to Ric Flair. As for Mr.Fuji, I would bet the likely presenter would be former star Don Muraco, who was manager by Fuji for a large part of his WWE run in the 80's.
* USA TV and the WWE are still talking about putting some part of the Hall of Fame show on TV the night before Mania. The network has shown parts of the ceremony the last two years, but the star power this year is just not there. The last two years the one-hour show has been filled with the bigger names and presenters inducting them: you've see Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, and Gene Okerlund. I would guess if they did get it on TV this year, the three they would squeeze into that one hour would be Dusty Rhodes, Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross. Not quite the level of the last two years. The entire ceremony will be on the WrestleMania 23 disc set again this year though.
* As suspected, the plan to have Randy Orton in the Money in the Bank match at Maina is still on, as they have posted on WWE.com that this week on RAW they will have a three-way with Orton, Ric Flair and Carlito for the last spot in that 8-man match. Orton and Edge would have been a better singles match, but they are saving that for down the road. For now, with Orton in that MITB match, you can expect to see Flair and Carlito in a one-on-one singles match on the Mania card.
* If you don't visit WWE.com often, I suggest you do for one of their new features - "Where are they Now." This week they catch up with Brutis Beefcake. They have had profiles already on past WWE stars like Virgil, Honkey Tonk Man, Greg Valentine, Smash, Haku, and Outlaw Ron Bass. I always appreciate when the company tries to give the older fans a little bit of history and at the same time give some props to the stars of the past.
