ECW To Reform Again...This time in TNA? By Stuart Rodgers

So there has been a lot of talk about Paul Heyman coming into TNA and now, TNA are doing what WWE did and creating an ECW faction in their company. WWE for me failed with the infamous Invasion angle in 2001 which involved former ECW and WCW workers and of course, more recently, WWE 'brought ECW back' full time but it was awful. They did the One Night Stand PPV in 2005 and that was the highlight as far as WWE and ECW go.
Paul Heyman in TNA would be a great shot in the arm for the company because Heyman has a great creative mind but there are so many things that are in TNA that will stop Heyman going there, namely Hogan, Bischoff & Russo. Hogan's contract runs until November and I'd be VERY surprised if TNA renewed his contract because it hasn't been a great success since Hogan went to TNA. Maybe if Hogan doesn't re-sign, Bischoff might go and then Heyman could very well come in.

Heyman's name is being banded about for WWE too. They are to announce a new GM soon and Heyman's name has been mentioned for this role. For me this would be awesome. I can't see it happening myself though, PG TV product doesn't sit well with Heyman.

Please post thoughts/comments.

Jim Cornette Talks Bryan Danielson

"The news was put out what Friday night at about 8 or 9. WWE, knowing that they were making a decision that was probably off the charts in terms of stupidity, and they made an innocent guy a scapegoat for something who knows what, they fired Bryan Danielson for choking somebody in an wrestling angle. What are they going to do next? Are they gonna fire Wolfgang Puck for using chicken in a chicken dish? Are they gonna fire Magic Johnson for dribbling a basketball? Somebody made Bryan Danielson a scapegoat because of their PG rating, or their Senate run, or any number of things that the WWE are into now, trying to get away from the stigma of them being professional wrestling promoters, which they are but they won't admit it, and they are taking one of the brightest young talents in the business, who has a lot of fans, and they pissed them all off. I don't understand it. As to whether Bryan will be in Ring of Honor, of course we would love to have him back, and of course/on the same token, since he has just been released, he's obviously under one of their non-compete clauses, which I would love to someone challenge one of those in court one day. It's just another example of 'We're gonna go to the zoo and scoop up a handful of monkey feces, and we're gonna throw it in the face of every wrestling fan,' because we will continue to give you all of this child-like, inane, inconsequential pablum we give you on television every week, but when we accidentally hit the somebody that people want to see, we're gonna screw that up as quickly as possible. It's ridiculous. I would love to see Bryan Danielson back in Ring of Honor."

Other stuff Cornette spoke about in this interview:

His thoughts on one of the most anticipated main events in ROH history between Tyler Black & Davey Richards for the Ring of Honor World Championship at ROH's Death Before Dishonor VIII iPPV: "I think it's a huge match, because you couldn't find any two people, both inside the ring & out, that are more different than Tyler Black & Davey Richards. But at the same time, they are at the top of the mountain and are some of the best at what they do. Tyler, to me, is a tremendous athlete, and he does some innovative things that I have never seen in professional wrestling ring, and I've seen a lot of wrestling. He has really come along and gotten confidence after he won the ROH World Title; and then you have a guy like Davey Richards: the first time I saw him I was blown away, because to me, he is a reincarnation of The Dynamite Kid. He's got the intensity, he's got the movements in the ring when he just explodes, he's in tremendous shape, a driven guy, and he wants to be the best in the world, and when people chant 'Best in the World', he takes that seriously. It's gonna be interesting, and I think two of the best guys in the business, and they are going to scorch it."

The rumors of Paul Heyman joining TNA's Creative Team, why he feels Heyman can write better wrestling shows than Vince Russo, & why he strongly believes that Heyman is "too smart" to join TNA: "If Paul Heyman went to dinner at Taco Bell, 30 minutes later he could squat down and crap out a better wrestling show format than Vince Russo has ever dreamed of in his life. But I think my old friend, 'Happy Heyman,' is probably way too smart to get involved in that political minefield. One, he's not going to be part of the team, because that would be like putting the top NBA player on the court with a group of guys who they got from a pick up game from the playground. There's nobody capable of even carrying Heyman's pencil down there right now. Secondly, I think he's too smart, because he doesn't want his legacy diminished by going into a hopeless, fruitless cause, because even he was the only person on creative & doing it all himself, he'll still have to deal with the TNA front office, and most of those people with the non-wrestling background are so inept that really I'm surprised, based on my experiences of being there for three years, that they can get anything done. I don't think they would give Heyman the pull or control over everything that is necessary. I think Dixie would still try to stick her nose in, and I think he would be frustrated just as when he was trying to work within the WWE confines, where the people are a whole lot more competent, but not much more educated as far as pro wrestling. I don't see him changing that structure (of TNA)."

Ring of Honor's growth since he returned to the promotion at the end of last year: The talent roster has been tremendous. We have had a couple of big additions. Christopher Daniels, most notably, has been a real shot in the arm for the match quality on the cards. Also, television with HDNet continues to get stronger as more people across the country are able to see HDNet. Also, the amount of new markets & different things ROH has done. We opened up Charlotte in April, and we're going back there in August. We're going to Richmond, VA for the first time in August; Buffalo for the first time in five years; Louisville, KY: my hometown is going to make its debut July 22nd at The Davis Arena, the old home of OVW. So a lot of big markets opening up, a lot of great matches, a lot of things are happening. The guys are excited, the matches are off the charts, so all in all, things are cooking right along."

The recent announcement from TNA President Dixie Carter that a major surprise is coming soon that will change TNA forever: "As the news went out that TNA is going to change forever...again. How many times in the last six months have you heard that TNA is going to change forever? And it keeps changing forever for like three weeks, and it changes again. I don't know what Dixie Carter is talking about, but short of Merlin the Magician popping up to transform them into a viable wrestling promotion, I think it's going back to her PR background. When you completely lost in the woods, and you have nothing else to do, you're at your wits end. Promise people a huge surprise & a big change, and by the time you realize it's not coming, then you got out of that particular hole you were in."

Danielson Fired - Is it Real or a Work?? By Shaun Nichols

As Stuart has already discussed, Bryan Danielson was fired on 11/06 due to choking ring announcer Justin Roberts with a tie on the live 3 hour Raw. Such was the interest in the story of Danielson being fired and the possibility of this being an elaborate angle that the Wrestling Observer website had more new subscribers in a 48 hour period since the Chris Benoit tragedy.
There is several reasons why you can make a case for if Danielson being fired is either real or a work, with that in mind I'll look at why you could be forgiven if you think that Danielson being future endeavored (what a great term by the way) is false.
The first reason is the fact that WWE Senior Producer Kevin Dunn allowed the shot of Danielson choking Roberts to stay on screen for a number of seconds. It is Dunn that has full control from what camera angles are shown on Raw, as he's been in the company for years he will know full well what WWE can show and what they can't. Had Danielson decided to go into business for himself, Dunn would have been able to switch to a different camera as with an 8 on 1 attack going on it was hardly a matter of urgency to show Danielson beating up a ring announcer. The fact that the shot lingered would indicate that the WWE at least at that time didn't see a major issue with what was happening.
Secondly as Stuart mentioned in his piece is that Danielson was a part of the tag team match in FCW, if there was any issue surely they could have used Barrett, Gabriel, Sheffield or indeed anyone to team with Heath Slater.
Thirdly is the Twitter post from John Cena, now if any of the wrestlers could be classed a schill for the promotion it as to be Cena. Yet as the WWE's own website basically tried to bury news about Danielson getting fired, their most popular wrestler is going outside the company line stating that he'll sign a petition and he would like to settle it in the ring. For those interested it seems that Cena gave Danielson permission to spit on him during the beatdown and it wouldn't be something that Bryan would have done without Cena's consent. The only thing to consider is that Cena is not exactly upto date on social networking sites which means someone could have posted on his own behalf. That being said the post at least to my knowledge as not been deleted and if the WWE wants one of their wrestlers to remove a post than that's what the wrestler does. See King of TWITter Matt Hardy for evidence.
Finally the fact that it seems that Vince himself fired him. Bryan was fired several days after Raw it wasn't done at the show where if Vince personally was going to do it that's where it would make most sense. Vince very rarely fires anyone, after all he's got the former Johnny Ace to do that for him. It's never nice to fire anyone and from what I can gather virtually everyone as sympathy for Danielson so it's not like Vince feels that Danielson crossed him and he would get a kick out of it. Also far bigger names than Bryan Danielson have been fired or released and not one of them seems to have got the 'Your Fiirrreed' directly from Mr McMahon.
Onto why it would make sense that Danielson being fired is completely genuine.
The idea that it was one or more Corporate sponsors that were very unhappy with the angle and demanded that the WWE do something about it is I'm afraid is all too real. The WWE have made a big deal that their show is PG and as a result they have attracted a lot more sponsors who in turn have lots of cash. Don't think that Vince is about anything other than making money, he's running a business and that is what he is aiming to do. If he risks losing a multi-million dollar deal or sacking a guy who doesn't deserve it and at least at this stage doesn't mean a great deal to the 'WWE Universe' then that guy is out of the door. You can also add the fact that Linda has secured the Republican nomination and there could possibly have been some pressure applied for political reasons. This hasn't really been mentioned so far but I suppose you can't rule it out completely.
Secondly, Vince has assured all the major WWE executives that this is completely genuine. When I say executives I don't mean that they are in creative. These are the guys that arrange things like TV deals, PPV deals, merchandise and so on. The majority of these guys probably aren't even wrestling fans or follow the product. The idea that if they found out that Vince was working them as well as the fans would lead a number of them to wonder why they were working for a cheap third rate company. Actually this sort of thing happened in the last couple of years of WCW and all those executives that ensured WCW was run professionally for years, realised they were working for idiots and they pissed off and WCW died a quick death.
Thirdly, remember the 'Loose Cannon' gimmick for Brian Pillman in WCW circa 1996? If you are a long term fan, then I'm sure you do. Fans always remember Pillman doing the gimmick with fond memories as you never knew what would happen next. However the important thing to keep in mind is that the company that booked it (WCW) never made any money out of it all and worse yet allowed the wrestler in question to leave the promotion that was pushing him. Surely with that in mind, the WWE would never do anything as stupid.
Fourthly, after the Chris Benoit tragedy there was clear message that was sent out to WWE performers that choking was not allowed. This is something that wrestlers who have been in the company for over 3 years would be aware of. Clearly it is likely that Danielson would not have known about that, after all time as moved on and although the decision to ban choking was a big deal back in 2007 it wouldn't be something you would expect wrestlers to know automatically in 2010 hence why Danielson as so much sympathy within the company.
Finally with the Wade Barrett promo at the start of this weeks Raw (14/6) where he stated that Bryan had been kicked out of the NXT Invasion due to showing regret. A ridiculous statement to make however what it does do is to make it clear that Danielson is gone from this angle. Of course he could be back in a matter of weeks either as a part of the group (meaning yet another swerve) or as a babyface.
It's bizarre that even a few days after his release, virtually all fans still aren't sure if Danielson has really been fired and if he has what was the actual reason why they did sack him. Yes you can say that he was a scapegoat, but why not suspend him, fine him or send him back to the developmental territory. Better yet why not book John Cena to beat him up that badly that he was driven out of the promotion as it would mean keeping him around a matter of another 4 days. I'm sure we will find out the real story in time but for the moment this is clearly the most intriguing pro-wrestling story for a very long time.

WWE Fire Bryan Danielson -What's The Story? By Stuart Rodgers

Right, so on Monday June 7th the WWE did a 3 hr 'Viewer's Choice' show which the short of it was the viewers 'picked' oppenents for wrestlers etc. The show was pretty dire this was however until the last segment, John Cena was facing CM Punk and then the NXT season 1 roster came down to the ring and proceeded to attack Cena, this attack was being led by Season 1 winner Wade Barrett. Cena took a pretty good beatdown, Punk even attempted to help Cena despite being a heel but he also was beaten down. The NXT guys didn't leave it there, other than wrecking the RAW set, they also attacked WWE staff members at ringside and this included Bryan Danielson giving ring announcer Justin Roberts one hell of a kicking. This is not that abnormal if there is a heel group causing havoc but one of the things that Danielson did was use Roberts' own neck tie to choke him out. This was zoomed in on by the camera man which of course got his directions from the show director.
(Here is a Youtube link to the attack)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtSA-lhvvPM
As the days passed, the internet was buzzing with this 'shoot' style angle and the NXT guys even went on to do a similar type of angle down in FCW in Florida with the NXT S1 guys attacking The Miz and Christian. (Here is a Youtube link to the FCW angle - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRvq3cJOsNA)
WWE was getting a lot of heat from numerous sources, sponsors etc. the likes of Mattel who produce the current range of WWE action figures and also, with the show being TVPG, this was deemed too violent and as Danielson was choking Roberts it was even more frowned upon following what happened with Chris Benoit.

On Friday June 11th, WWE announced that because of what had happened, Bryan Danielson had been fired from the WWE, apparently by Vince McMahon himself. At first, everyone thought it was an angle as this is pro-wrestling and that's what pro-wrestling does but it seems it's legit and Danielson is gone from WWE. Now, I think he may well very be brought back to the comapny in some months time but that is not certain. Like when most WWE stars get released from their contracts, Danielson has a 90 day no compete clause which basically means he can't work for TNA wrestling but he has been asking around for indy bookings.

I feel for Bryan, I know I didn't want him to go to WWE in the first place for selfish reasons, i wanted him to stay in ROH and work for PWG but I understand that this is Bryan's livelyhood and he is in the business to make money and WWE would get him plenty of that and world wide exposure but that was all taken away on June 11th 2010. The question that is being asked by many, how did the camera man keep his job for zooming in on the choking of Roberts, how did the director for allowing this? Bryan, new to the company wasn't sure of proceedure due to the Benoit situation but still, there needed to be a scapegoat and that was Bryan Danielson.

I am writing this hours before WWE RAW on June 14th airs all over the world, speculation is rife that Danielson will turn up on the show but I think that is all it is and for at least the time being, we have seen the last of Bryan Danielson on WWE TV.

NXT Season 1 Over, time to look forward to Season 2

Well, season 1 of NXT is over, the UK's own Wade Barrett won but Daniel Bryan still for me, was the star of the show. Season 1 wasn't what I thought it was going to be' it was pretty much a let down. To mess with the 'internet fans' they had Daniel go on a terrible losing streak and then get into an angle with Michael Cole before being eliminated so I have no problems with Barrett winning season 1. Season 2 starts straight away and Kaval (the former Low-Ki) is in this season but once again, WWE are messing with the 'net fans' by having Kaval's mentors being.........Lay-Cool!!

Of course, I'll give this season a chance but I don't think I'll be impressed, we shall see.




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