The following was posted one year ago today on Let's Talk Wrestling

Tomorrow night's Draft is shaping up to be a "must see" WWE TV event, as the fans as well as the wrestlers wait to see what shows they will be on for the forseeable future. Don't forget the show will be 3 hours, so set your TiVo's for 8pm to tape the show and not 9pm. Here are some news and notes from around the company with about 24 hours to go before the draft.

* Reports say that a former WWE wrestler is hoping of a possible comeback. Sources say that former WWE and WCW Champ Sid Vicious is thinking wrestling again. Sid is 46 years old, and says he is in very good shape. Of course his prior WWE tenure's did not always end well, as Sid is known to want a lot of time off, mostly in the summer. A possible role as bodyguard or manager might be better suited for Sid at this point in his life.

* Jim Ross has a new Blog entry up, and a few of the interesting notes has him talking about the King of the Ring, which the company stopped doing a few years, back, as well as any sort of return to TV for former ECW owner Paul Heyman. Here are the two entries on his blog on those items:

"I have not heard anything regarding the reinstating of the King of the Ring one night tourney. Personally, I like tournaments of any kind, as a rule, but I don’t hold out any significant hope that the KOR will return. Nonetheless, I vividly remember handling the play by play for the 1993 KOR in Dayton, Ohio where Bret Hart won it all and then was attacked by Jerry Lawler."

On Heyman - "I still think it is “highly unlikely” that Paul Heyman returns to the WWE any time soon, but stranger things have happened. Heyman is a talented talker, which there is no overabundance of on TV. If it does happen, I would be surprised, but pleasantly so. However, I’m sticking with my “highly unlikely” answer."

* The latest WWE SummerSlam plan with the main event built around the cast of "Jackass" is one the front office may want to reconsider. Last Monday's start with Steve-O backstage didn't exactly get off to a great start, and there are already plenty of wrestlers and those that work behind the scenes thinking disaster about the whole thing.

Shane McMahon is the one behind the idea, and he likely will have to babysit the project from start to finish. The last time the crew was in WWE they were laid out by Umaga, and you could see Steve-O laughing, which didn't sit well with the boys or the backstage crew. Steph and HHH are not for the idea of bringing the actors/stuntmen in, and Vince is not sure, but at this point did not say "no." The recent lack of ratings and what seems to be a downtrend with the company may put more pressure on Vince and the company to allow the act to go on. So far here is the crew that is signed on for the event: Steve O, Chris Pontius, Wee-Man, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, and Preston Lacey.

Why the WWE is willing to go this route is beyond me. They should be focused on the returns of HHH, Ken Kennedy, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Everyone knows the crew of the show "Jackass" cannot be trusted, and the trust they put on these B-list actors could turn one of the biggest PPV events of the year into a nigthmare. Focus on the wrestlers you have, don't put trust on those that don't belong in the ring.

Labels: ken kennedy, shane mcmahon, shawn michaels, undertaker

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments

Following up on our breaking news from earlier today; PWInsider has confirmed along with a post on WWE.com that William Regal has been suspended for 60 Days for his violation of the WWE's Wellness Policy. Below is the post on WWE.com:

STAMFORD, Conn., May 20, 2008 - In accordance with its Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy, WWE has suspended Darren Matthews (William Regal) for 60 days for his second violation of the company’s policy.

This has to be about the biggest blow to a star since Jeff Hardy's two month suspension back before WrestleMania XXIV. Regal was getting a major push as the "King" and RAW GM, and his momentum is now dead as he'll be off TV for two months after his storyline loss to Ken Kennedy last night. This is his second violation as stated above, so if he has another issue after his return, he's gone from the company.

Labels: ken kennedy, william regal

Posted by Matt Loede at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

I have never been a fan of when the WWE forces a change of personality to a wrestler when he goes away, if it a short or long period of time. That's exactly what took place recently upon the few week absence for Ken (Mr.) Kennedy, who when he left us was a mean, grouchy, heel, and now upon his return is a wonderful, loveable babyface. It's as if the writers (led by Vince McMahon himself), has finally said that we as fans are now being told that we're to root for Kennedy. And why is this? Only the writers know.

The wrestling fans that watch the product week in and week out know when a wrestler is on the verge of a change of going from good to bad or vice-versa. Right now there are a list of performers who seem ready to "switch" one way or another: Batista, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, (at least one if not two of these first three seem ready to switch), Trevor Murdoch, Melina, Chavo Guerrero, and Mr.McMahon. It's common practice, which is why the move to make Kennedy a face is not a good one.

I have said for sometime that Kennedy would be embraced by the fans. It didn't take all that much to figure that out. Now with this latest turn by the company, the move seems forced, and it's a move that could have been kept on the back burner for some time to come.

Labels: ken kennedy, mr.kennedy, vince mcmahon

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:17 AM | Permalink | Comments

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

Friday night's SmackDown from Fort Wayne, IN was a strong finish to the week for WWE, and I tought that the ending angle with Taker and Basitsa was a great way to end the show. Of course the last scene was Booker getting tombstoned on the announcer table, but that angle will be a way to get him off TV for two months, as he is taking time off for a knee injury. It also puts him in a face position for when he returns. I thought the lure of not having Taker talk was cool as well, as it really keeps that mystique going.

I also think that they are keeping the shows strong with using guys from other shows once in awhile, in this case it was Jeff Hardy, who had a strong opening match with Kennedy. They did the right thing with having Kennedy go over clean, as he won with a DDT after Hardy missed the swanton bomb. The match also keeps the momentum going for Kennedy, who won the big money in the bank match on Sunday at Mania.

They also kept the feud going with MVP and Chris Benoit, as Benoit lost a match to the Miz when he went for the head butt off the top rope (I guess Chris' new finisher), and MVP, who was hiding by the ring apron, pulled Miz out of the way. It was an effective way for Benoit to lose, not lose any push, and give a push to Miz. We'll see how the MVP-Benoit thing keeps going, as I assume we'll see more of them in the ring in the future.

The Matt Hardy-Boooker match was strong as well, and they did a good job in making Booker look like a face after he lost, and then Sharmell slapped him for losing and not getting back at Hardy. Strong match, and a good way to set up Booker taking time off. I forsee Booker coming back, getting a big face push, and maybe a feud with a guy like Mark Henry, who they will be bringing back to TV in the next few weeks.

The tag match with London and Kendrick vs Gregory Helms and Chavo was okay, and I guess they did it to set up what is coming next week, with a match between the champs and Deuce and Dominio. I am not sure what they are going to do with the challengers next week, as they have already had title shots and not gotten the job done. As far as London and Kendrick, I have no issues at all with them keeping the belts, espically with the somewhat weak tag division right now on SmackDown.

Overall I tought this was a great week of TV for the company. The RAW to set up new angles and crown a new pair of tag champs was very good, ECW was okay, and SmackDown was strong as well. The company is back at it Monday night, and with a tour of Italy coming up, they need another good week of TV to keep the streak going.

Labels: jeff hardy, ken kennedy, smackdown

Posted by Matt Loede at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments

The Following was published on Let's Wrestle One Year Ago Today - February 22nd 2007

Things in the wrestling world are getting more and more critical as we now head for the biggest mega-show of the year, WrestleMania. Tuesday night in the second WWE TV show of the week, ECW for the first time in as long as I can remember, stepped up and had what I thought was a solid show, finally getting some help from a solid match from C.M. Punk and Johnny Nitro. The match was a qualifier for Mania's Money in the Bank match, and they finally got Punk out of the doghouse with easily his biggest win since being an employee of WWE.

The loss for Nitro continues to make me think we are still going to see a major bout between the Hardy's and MNM at Mania with TLC stip or at least ladders involved. The bout will have added emphasis if the Hardy's do with the tag straps, which I think is in the plans in the next 3-4 weeks. Both Nitro and Punk carried the bout well, and Punk got the clean win with a new knee to the head move that he had not used before.

The main event on the show was a decent 3-way for the ECW title between Bobby Lashley, Ken Kennedy, and Hardcore Holly. Lashley, who stays on this huge roll that has landed him as Donald Trump's "wrestler" for the Hair vs Hair match vs Vince McMahon at WrestleMania, got the clean pin on Kennedy with a power slam. Sort of odd booking with Kennedy getting pinned instead of Holly. I would think that with Holly leaving to nurse an injury that they would just let him get buried instead of Kennedy, but I guess that was not the case.

The other main match on the card included RVD vs Kevin Thorn in a ECW Old vs New Breed match. Both men again worked hard, and in the end they got RVD the win with a five-star frog splash. Again, as stated here before, look for an announcement in the next 2-3 weeks of a ECW Old vs New Breed Extreme Rules match for Mania.

There was one squash on the card, as they are putting La Resistance (Rene Dupree and Sylvan Grenier) back together to be another tag team in ECW, and they beat Los Luchas in 31 seconds. In the ongoing push for Snitsky, he came out and beat up the two 150-pounders some more after the bell.

Again, this was a much better showing for ECW, and now with specific matches lined up for Mania with some of their wrestlers, there seems to be much more focus for the upcoming few weeks of TV.

Labels: c.m. punk, ecw, johnny nitro, ken kennedy

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments

WWE RAW superstar Ken Kennedy (Ken Anderson) married his girlfriend, Shawn Trebnick this past Friday. Matt Hardy posted a new blog on his MySpace about going to his wedding:

Whoa dudes! We've had three hard days of celebrating this monumental marriage (a.k.a. partying, LOL), but now it's time to go home. Finally, I am back in my room after a really nice wedding tonight that capped off an extremely fun 3 days in Minnesota. I have to admit, I haven't ran this hard over the course of three days since my appendix ruptured. But-I held up just like the old self, actually better! It was great getting a chance to spend so much good, quality time with Shane, Ken, Jamie, Dara, and Hassan. It was almost like the old golden days, traveling on Smackdown with the CCB's! I'm exhausted from sleeping only a few hours a night and wearing those damn uncomfortable tuxedo shoes, HA! But, in all actuality-I did get alot of compliments on my very not-me tuxedo look-I'll have to post you guys and gals some pixs when I get a chance. If I crash now, I can sleep three and a half hours before I gotta get up and catch that flight back to NC-so I'm going for it. Good night to you all my peeps, I got nothin' but love for ya! And congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, may God bless you guys in your new journey in life!

Labels: ken kennedy, matt hardy

Posted by Matt Loede at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments