The Following was posted one year ago today on Let's Wrestle

The main storyline that continued on ECW on Tuesday night had to do with C.M. Punk and his realtionship with the New Breed, which now seems null and void following an 8-man tag match. Punk was at ringside as the Breed took on the Originals, and Elijah Burke and RVD were the last two in the match. With that, Punk cost Burke the match, and then basically told him off, all of which will lead him to leaving the New Breed and going back out on his own.

This will create what should be an interesting feud with Burke and Punk, which should last for awhile and have at least on PPV match between the two. While I think they could have dragged the story of Punk turning back out a few more weeks, it was obvious from last week that he would not last with the New Breed very long.

The storyline with Punk and the New Breed has been very good so far, and was the best the new ECW had to offer since coming on the air last year. Now the test will be if they can keep the interest going for awhile. Punk really does seem to be the best that the new ECW has to offer, and his popularity with the crowd is something that cannot be overlooked. Next to RVD, Punk is the most popular wrestler on the roster.

As far as the rest of the show, we started with a match between Umaga and Bobby Lashley, which ended with a lame DQ that saw Armando interfere, then get the snot beat out of him by Lashley, which ended with him being thrown out of the ring hard style by Lashley. Vince McMahon was near the ring for the beating, which was effective and a solid build towards the 3-on-1 match with Lashley vs the McMahons and Umaga for Sunday at Backlash.

I hope for one that the match at the PPV does end this feud, as I think that Lashley does need to move on to a better challenge for the ECW title. My fear is that they will keep this thing with Lashley vs McMahon going, which would lead us to another match at Judgement Day. I just hope they don't try and sell us a one-on-one match with Lashley vs Vince, as that would be a serious waste of time.

The other match on the card was Snitsky vs Balls Mahoney, which was not much more than a squash with big Gene taking home a win over Balls. All in all, with the Punk back and forth with the New Breed, and the Lashley vs McMahon, Umaga build, this was a solid show that kept my interest for 60+ minutes.

Labels: balls mahoney, bobby lashely, mr.mcmahon, umaga

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:36 AM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: bobby lashely

Posted by Tymo55 at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

The WWE now enters that time of the year where there seems to be a lull after the mega build for WrestleMania and the hype leading up to the event. The company in the past few years has had its best wrestling it seems leading up to Mania, only to have some of its worst in the few months following it. We shall see if that is the case yet again in 2008.

Mania for the most part was a strong card, and after being there as well as in Detroit last year for 23, I would have to honestly say that this years was a better offering. The hoopla with the Ric Flair match, the huge build around Floyd Mayweather and the Big Show, the best Money in the Bank match to date, and a strong finish with the Undertaker and Edge outdid what they had on the plate last year.

Last years build was mostly around the saga involving Vince McMahon and Donald Trump in the hair vs hair match. The two "hired" wrestlers to represent them, which was Umaga for McMahon and Bobby Lashley for Trump. While the match was okay, the spectacle was seeing McMahon getting his head shaved post match.

The two main events last year were both solid, with John Cena beating Shawn Michaels, and Batista losing the belt in a very good match with the Undertaker. While that being said, I still felt this year was slightly better due to the undercard being stronger, and the three main events being strong as well.

The attention now turns to Backlash, the next PPV venture coming up on Sunday, April 28th from Baltimore. Without giving out "spoilers" for the show, already there will be a few Mania rematches, with the RAW main being announced on Monday night, which also will be a multi-wrestler title match. In the past few years Backlash has also been pretty strong, so let's hope that same will be for the 2008 edition.

Labels: backlash 2008, bobby lashely, vince mcmahon, wrestlemania 23, wrestlemania 24

Posted by Matt Loede at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments

Posted One Year Ago Today on Let's Wrestle


WWE wrapped up another solid week of TV on Friday night with SmackDown! from San Jose, CA. The main event was another cross-over, as ECW Champ Bobby Lashley took on Ken Kennedy with a stip that Kennedy could do whatever he wanted and that if Lashley did, he would lose the title. In the end, Lashley won a decent match with a powerslam. The other highlights included Lashley and Vince McMahon having another in ring run-in about the match with Lashley and Umaga at WrestleMania. Batista cut another promo on Taker, and this time Taker came on the video screen in a graveyard and said he would make the champ rest in peace at Mania.

The matches on the night of note included two Money in the Bank Qualifier matches. The first was a solid match that saw Matt Hardy advance as he took on and beat Joey Mercury. This leads me more to believe that we'll see MNM in a match together at Mania. The other MITB match was a three-way with Finley, MVP and Chris Benoit. After teasing a Benoit win most of the match, they switched it up and had Finley with with some outside help. This advances him on to the match at Mania. That means we have one more wrestler to add, and I expect that to be Randy Orton tomorrow night on RAW to round out the eight.

There was also a womens match with Ashley beating Jillian Hall, which continues her push to face Melina at Mania, and a six-man cruiserweight match with Scotty 2 Hotty, Shannon Moore & Jimmy Wang Yang beating Gregory Helms,
Daivari & Chavo Guerrero via pinfall. The wrestling on the show was good, and everyone is now so pumped for Mania that you can feel a stronger vibe on pretty much all the shows.

Next week they are doing Undertaker vs Finley, which should be good, and a push for Taker as he will likely get the pinfall win here. I can see Batista doing an appearance at ringside or on the ramp to make it look good as they do another stare down. The one thing about direction of this brand right now is really what to do with Benoit. He is stuck in no-man's land, and unless they come up with something quick, one of the companies best wrestlers will be off the biggest shows of the year.

Labels: batista, bobby lashely, smackdown, undertaker

Posted by Matt Loede at 6:53 AM | Permalink | Comments

The Following was posted on Let's Wrestle on February 27th 2007:

A WWE/ECW superstar has bit the dust, as the company announced this afternoon the release of Test (Andrew Martin). Test had recently been suspended by the company for 30 days for some sort of violation of substance. The release of Martin ends (of now), a long career with the company, that included a "wedding" to Stephanie McMahon. That wedding, which is one of the better ones in WWE history, was stopped by future real life husband of Steph, Triple H. The storyline was that HHH got Steph drunk, then took her to a Vegas chapel to get married. It was one of the funnier storylines the company had pulled off in years.

Test was gone for the company for sometime, then returned to be a part of ECW, where he had been wrestling shortly after the rebirth of the brand. His biggest program was with ECW Champ Bobby Lashley, who he at one point fought, and lost to three times in seven days. He was also a mainstay opponent of Lashley at house shows across the country. You can bet that Martin will take a long look at moving to TNA.

Labels: bobby lashely, Test

Posted by Matt Loede at 6:35 AM | Permalink | Comments

- Next week’s Raw is highlighted by a really solid HBK vs Jeff Hardy one on one match. I think most fans of pure wrestling will like this particular main event. I know that after the show, while the King and I were sitting in the drive thru at Whataburger, the Hardy-Michaels match was one of the things we talked about, as it related to work.

- I have read where the WWE and Bobby Lashley have come to terms of a contractual release. I did not take the time to discuss this matter with any WWE officials the past few weeks, but things like this don’t surprise me now days as they perhaps once would have. Lashley is a genuine physical specimen who is supremely gifted athletically, but much like Brock Lesnar, Bobby apparently did not like the travel demands of being a pro wrestler in today’s marketplace, nor do I think that Bobby ever fully understood the business of sports entertainment, which added to Lashley’s consternation at times. Financially, Bobby had a superb, hell fantastic, 2007, one of the best I can ever recall for any one at his stage of the game. In my personal opinion, if a pundit speculates that Bobby did not do well or wasn’t treated fairly financially, I would dispute that uninformed statement wholeheartedly. Bobby is apparently in a relationship with Krystal Marshall, another former WWE performer, and I wish them well. The business of sports entertainment isn’t for everyone and sometimes people don’t realize that until they have put in some time on the road and spending in the locker room community. My personal philosophy is that “wrestling relationships” rarely, not never, but rarely make it long term and if it is true that Lashley and Marshall want to have a life together, perhaps being in another line of work will work better for them. Lashley vs. Lesnar some day in the UFC is intriguing, as Bobby definitely has the background to have a fighting chance to make it as a MMA star, if Lashley chooses to go that route, with the proper training. But that’s just me doing some fantasy booking.

- Paul London’s foot injury apparently is not 100% healed, from what I hear, but I would love to see London ready to rock and team with Brian Kendrick, with the hopes that they might get on a “roll”. With the duos of Holly/Rhodes, Cade/Murdoch, and Carlito/Marella all getting some TV time, the possibility of seeing some competitive tag team wrestling on Monday Night Raw seems to be improving.

- Many of the Raw superstars took ample supplies of J.R.’s Beef Jerky with them on this upcoming, long road trip that will see many of them travel to Alaska, South Korea, Japan, Hawaii, California, Nevada and back to California, before they get to make it home. There is not a damn thing glamorous about international travel these days, but it actually should be a fun trip if one chooses to make it such. I think the WWE Superstars get two days in Hawaii, which can’t be all bad. Perhaps some of the WWE superstars will cross paths with Bret “The Hitman” Hart who is spending some quality time at his place in Hawaii. Bret recently sent me a copy of his book and it was postmarked from “the islands." I can name many WWE Superstars who would benefit from sitting under the Hitman’s learning tree for a few hours.

- Not much fallout from the Brock Lesnar loss to Frank Mir, or so it seems. Lesnar has said the right things since losing by tapout and Brock’s UFC future is still bright, but a nice win in 2008 would not hurt his cause. I talked to Stone Cold Monday morning and he said he enjoyed his Vegas weekend including staying there to watch the Super Bowl. Steve said that it was obvious that Lesnar was in awesome shape, had prepared diligently, but he simply made a simple mistake that any “rookie” would and could make in MMA competition. All my friends that attended the UFC 81 event said without question that Lesnar was the “star attraction” of the night and that most fans were there to see him, especially many of the celebs in attendance.

Labels: bobby lashely, brock lesner, jim ross, paul london

Posted by Matt Loede at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments

In a quiet, hidden part of the companys website on Monday, the WWE officially put out that Bobby Lashley is gone from the company. It was an interesting ride for Lashley, who was a US Champ, ECW Champ, and even was high on the card at WrestleMania as he wrestled for Donald Trump vs Umaga in the famous Hair vs Hair match that saw Vince McMahon get his head shaved.

The company's statement simply said: "WWE has come to terms on the release of Bobby Lashley as of today. We wish Bobby the best in all future endeavors." The word was that Lashley was peeved when the company dumped his real-life girlfriend - Kristal Marshall, after she refued to do the Edge sex scandal storyline. It will be interesting to see where Lashley goes from here.

Labels: bobby lashely, kristal marshall

Posted by Matt Loede at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments

From PWInisder

Here is the latest on the Bobby Lashley-WWE situation. Lashley has definitely informed WWE that he wants to leave the company. There are a lot of reasons for him wanting to do so. The word we have gotten is that part of it has to do with how his girlfriend Kristal Marshall was treated by the company when she balked at being paired with Edge and doing the Lita gimmick, and was then quickly released. Let's just say that there is a line of thought that at least part of why she didn't want to do the angle was fear of a racial element being added to the storyline by the Smackdown creative staff.

I have also heard of other issues behind the scenes where Lashley reportedly feels like he hasn't been treated well himself while he has been out rehabbing. There is said to have been little communication between Lashley and Vince McMahon and no firm plans in place to get him back on TV now that his injury has healed and this was frustrating to him.

At this point, Lashley needs to negotiate an official release from WWE as he is still under contract (and thus is still listed on the company website). As always in this business, things can change at the drop of a hat but for now, his plan is to move on from WWE and then plan the next phase of his life.
Here is the latest on the Bobby Lashley-WWE situation. Lashley has definitely informed WWE that he wants to leave the company. There are a lot of reasons for him wanting to do so. The word we have gotten is that part of it has to do with how his girlfriend Kristal Marshall was treated by the company when she balked at being paired with Edge and doing the Lita gimmick, and was then quickly released. Let's just say that there is a line of thought that at least part of why she didn't want to do the angle was fear of a racial element being added to the storyline by the Smackdown creative staff.

I have also heard of other issues behind the scenes where Lashley reportedly feels like he hasn't been treated well himself while he has been out rehabbing. There is said to have been little communication between Lashley and Vince McMahon and no firm plans in place to get him back on TV now that his injury has healed and this was frustrating to him.

At this point, Lashley needs to negotiate an official release from WWE as he is still under contract (and thus is still listed on the company website). As always in this business, things can change at the drop of a hat but for now, his plan is to move on from WWE and then plan the next phase of his life.

Labels: bobby lashely, edge, kristal marshall

Posted by Matt Loede at 6:21 AM | Permalink | Comments

Jim Ross is back with, yet, another jam packed blog entry. In this entry, Ross speaks on Bobby Lashley's return to the ring, Jericho's return to RAW last week and much more. Below are several highlights:

Jim Ross On Jessica Hatch Signing With WWE: I have no idea if or when eliminated diva Jessica Hatch will be signed by the WWE but I do hear she has the desire to be a WWE diva. I would suggest that she head to Louisville and learn to wrestle and to work on her verbal skills and then watch the negotiation process begin.

Jim Ross On Chris Jericho's Return To RAW: I was extremely pleased to see the return of Chris Jericho to Monday Night Raw. The build up and the final presentation was nicely done. The live crowd in Ft. Lauderdale, albeit some what laid back throughout the night at times seemed to come to life when Chris made his appearance. The introduction of any talent is crucial but not as crucial as the plan going forward on a weekly or regular basis. It looks like we may be heading for Jericho vs Orton at Armageddon if I had to make a guess. Jericho is a great addition to the locker room. Of course, being an “old schooler” I don’t believe in bringing any talents, rookies or veterans, into a locker room who are going to be disruptive of which Jericho is definitely not. Chris is a credit to the business.

Jim Ross On HBK's New DVD: I just got a copy of the new HBK DVD and I plan on watching as soon as time permits. I am anxious to see it especially since I was working in Shawn’s first territory back in the 80’s. From those insiders that have seen the DVD, I am told it is really well done.

Jim Ross On Matt Striker's Future: Matt Striker’s career, in my opinion, is as a manager and not as a wrestler even though Striker’s mat skills are just fine. It just seems to me that Striker can fill a much needed void as a wrestling manager and become a big time player with the chance to be around for a long time and to not leave the business with the physical ailments that often time plague some grapplers.

Jim Ross On Bobby Lashley's Return: I don’t know if Bobby Lashley will be back for the royal rumble or not as he is still rehabbing his surgically repaired torn labrum. I don’t expect to see Lashley before the first of the year based on how his rehab is progressing. It is a slow process to say the least. Wrestling at the rumble would be great for Lashley and the fans but mother nature and Lashley’s own pain threshold will have a lot to say about when Bobby returns. Lashley’s surgery was a major deal.

Here's the link to Jim's full blog

Labels: bobby lashely, chris jericho, jessica hatch, jim ross, matt striker

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments