WrestleSlam

We're Back...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:05:00 +0000

It's been a while, but today I'm proud to be back running WrestleSlam and want to let everybody know 2012 is going to be a great year for the site.

In a few weeks, we'll be re-introducing our PPV Hub feature with our Royal Rumble PPV Hub, and we'll be regularly reporting news.

For those of you wondering, over the past few weeks WrestleSlam was on what you could call a "hiatus" due to the restructuring of Slam Content, our parent company.

Expect new issues of WrestleSlam Magazine, and regular updates to our site and apps.

Matt Hardy Entering Rehab

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 01:15:00 +0000

I know Matt Hardy very well may have read my last blog post which was extremely harsh, to say the least, but this post is much easier for me to write.

Matt Hardy posted a video earler today announcing that he is going to be attending rehab, the rehab that WWE pays for, for all former talents.

All I can say is Matt Hardy has done the right thing, and the fact that he was able to make that choice is great. Maybe eventually we will see the Matt Hardy from 5-7 years ago, the one who had the amazing summer 2007 feud with MVP.

While Jeff is off letting TNA use his real-life drug issues in storylines, Matt is out doing the responsible thing, the respectable thing, and getting the help he needs.

I felt I had to write this after the post I wrote two and half weeks ago absolutely ripping Matt apart. I recieved a huge number of e-mail about that post, some agreeing and some not, but after today's announcment, I have to at least commend Matt Hardy. He's doing the right thing and I'm sure has gained back a signifiacant amount of support and respect from a number of fans, including myself.

Breaking News: Matt Hardy is Still a Nutcase

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 02:50:00 +0000

Matt Hardy today announced his retirement as a "full-time professional wrestler." The video he posted online is so full of shit, I think I saw little bits of crap oozing out of sides of my computer screen. Everything about it was just so stupid it's almost mind-numbing.

First of all, he announced his retirement as a "full-time professional wrestler." What luck, Matt Hardy! You're retirement coincides perfectly with you being fired from TNA. We're not dumb fans, obviously he is retiring because he has no choice. WWE fired him, TNA fired him, and any wrestling promoter would be out of their mind if they got within a mile of him. The fact that he tried to pass it off as his own choice is just beyond stupid.

He did address his suicide-note-esque YouTube video. He said he never meant it as a suicide hoax, and basically tryed to to act shocked that anyone would percive it as such. The guy titled a video "Goodbye" and the all-text video said things like "Goodbye world", "My time here is almost complete", and ends with "September 23, 1974 - August 31, 2011." Then he goes on to say that the first draft of the note stated that it made clear that his time was complete "as a full-time professional wrestler." Bottomline, he milked the crap of the term "full-time professional wrestler." It was clearly a half-assed cover up.

He also said that he wants to spend his time helping people who are feeling suicidal. Matt Hardy is not a doctor, he is borderline insane and should never attempt to help anyone. When he said that he is going to help people, I immediately thought of that scene from the movie The Other Guys when Will Ferrell is trying to talk a jumper off the ledge of a buidling, but the guy jumps after Ferrell does a terrible job and just reminds him of everything that sucks in life. That is what would happen if Matt Hardy became a faux-therapist. Just don't try to help people, you are not qualified. Your trial for driving under the influence hasn't even been settled yet. He needs to at least help himself first.

What Matt Hardy should do is face his trial and then, if he is able to, go to rehab, which WWE pays for being that he is alumni. I realize this was an extremely harsh blog, and if anyone, or even Matt Hardy, is reading this, he can send me an e-mail: joe@wrestleslam.com to give me their thoughts.

SummerSlam 2011 Predictions and Thoughts

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:25:00 +0000

WWE treats SummerSlam like their biggest PPV behind WrestleMania. They go all-out in LA with a pre-Party, Axxess events, the whole 9 yards, but the fans see it differently. WWE began to really brand SummerSlam as a big deal about three years ago (when they started holding it at the Staples Center), but since then we have yet to see an entire show that really blew everyone away. The main events were always great (Undertaker/Edge HIAC, Punk/Hardy Ladder Match) but the show as a whole usually is just good. Now good is obviously better than bad, but in order to solidify SummerSlam as a WrestleMania-caliber PPV, WWE has got to put on just one event that is amazing. This is probably not going to be the year. The card is alright, but is being carried by one match (Cena/Punk). We've got a weak five match card (albeit, we'll probably see an impromptu match or two), but as of now we've got a weak five match card that is being carried by that one match. Yes, that match has potential to be absolutely amazing, but in the end it's stil only one match and isn't going to make the whole show stand out as a great PPV. On that note, I'll run down the card and give my thoughts on each match.

The first match we have is Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett. This match would be an alright show opener, but it isn't something I'm looking forward to in the slighest. Daniel Bryan is a great wrestler, but I just don't see this match being all that great, or even all that good. As for who wins, I'd put my money on Daniel Bryan, as I would imagine WWE will want him to build up steam now that he is Mr. Money in the Bank.

Next on the card is Sheamus vs. Mark Henry. Now, I'm a huge Sheamus fan, anyone who knows me will tell you that. I'm also a Mark Henry fan, but most of his matches go the same way. They are slow moving, with a few great spots. There will be one spot, and then nothing for a minutes and a half, then another spot, then nothing for a minute and a half. Because of that I question how good any match feature Mark Henry can be. I'm not going to shoot this match down right away, as I think it can be an alright match, but it wouldn't shock me if this ends up being not that great.

The Divas match of the night is Kelly Kelly defending her Divas Championship against Beth Phoenix. Now, I'm absolutely psyched to see Beth Phoenix in this match as she is one of the few divas who can actually wrestle, but I still have my doubts about this match. While Beth is a great womens wrestler, Kelly Kelly is not. Sure, she's improved since her debut (she's improved a lot, actually), but she isn't anywhere close to Beth Phoenix in terms of in-ring ability. I now everyone is excited that this may be the first Divas match that is worth watching in quite some time, but in order for the match to be that good, both wrestlers need to posses enough in-ring ability. Sure, Beth has it, but Kelly doesn't. I'm expecting to see a match that Phoenix carries 100%, minus a flip move from Kelly Kelly once or twice. I do think this will be an alright divas match, but before anyone gets too excited over it, it's worth noting that only one out of the two participants can actually wrestle. As for who wins, I'm going with Beth Phoenix because she is CM Punk's girlfriend, and giving her the belt was probably an incentive to get Punk to sign back with WWE.

The Smackdown main event is Christian vs. Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship. I've show down almost every match on the card, so I'm not going to dismiss this one as a bad match yet. I just have one thing to say about this No Holds Barred Match: use weapons! Yes, use weapons. It sounds goofy, especially because the best matches aren't contested with chairs and kendo sticks, but we've seen this match so many times before (at every PPV since April) that I just want to be entertained. We've seen Orton wrestle Christain more times than I care to count, from PPV main events to Smackdown main events. Bottom line: we've seen this match before, multiple times before, and I don't want to see the same thing again. Enter the No Holds Barred stipulation. In order to make this different from every other times we've seen this match, I think they should shake things up and make it a real "Extreme Rules-type" match. Use chairs, break announce tables, go up the ramp and fight up there. MIx it up, don't just stay in the ring and wrestle like every other time we've seen this match. Can they put on a great wrestling match: yes, but it wouldn't be anything new. As for who wins, I am going to ge with Christian here.

The main event of the night is a match that everyone has been looking forward to very, very much. John Cena vs. CM Punk is a WWE Champion vs. WWE Champion match with Triple H as the guest ref. The winner becomes the true WWE Champion. This match I expect to carry the show, and I mean carry the show completely. This match to be given 40 minutes, or at least a half hour. The point is, it is going to carry the show. It was a debatable move making Triple H the guest ref, but it should lead somewhere, so unless HHH costs CM Punk the Championship, I think it could be an OK move. Bottom line: this match should be awesome. As for who wins, I'm going with CM Punk.

New Site Feature: PPV Hubs

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:05:00 +0000

We'll be lauching this new feature today with our SummerSlam PPV Hub on the site, but before it goes up, I want to explain what exactly this is.

The day of a PPV is obviously a big deal in the wrestling world. The hype builds up, and everyone scrambles around online for the msot up-to-date news, it's a busy day.

What we will be doing from now on is, on PPV days, we'll be posting a special page where you can get everything, the most up-t0-date card (and with WWE announcing matches online the day of, that can be useful), links to PPV related blogs on WrestleSlam, PPV related news headlines, and we'll even be embedding WrestleSlam's twitter feed where I (Joe) will be active the day of the PPV.

Our first-ever PPV Hub goes live in just a few minutes with our SummerSlam Hub, so you can go check that out. It'll be your one-stop-spot for all SummerSlam news.

Is the CM Punk Storyline Moving Too Fast?

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:40:00 +0000

Dave Meltzer recently published something and it spread throughout the web like a wildfire. He said that WWE burned through months of TV in one night after they crammed all that action into the Raw broadcast after Money in the Bank.

The short answer is, he's 100% correct. This storyline could have been dragged out much, much longer. However, given WWE's current situation (with SummerSlam being in mid-August) they didn't have many other options.

It just makes sense to have John Cena face CM Punk at SummerSlam to crown an undisputed WWE Champion. It's the second biggest show of the year, and this storyline has just taken off faster than WWE could have imagined. It would have been flat-out stupid, both in terms of garnering PPV buys and giving the fans a great main event at a huge PPV, to not only not do Cena vs. Punk but to leave CM Punk off the card completely.

The whole storyline did move a little faster than most of us would have preferred, but when you break it down, there weren't any other options.

For what it's worth, I would have booked it a little differently. I would've done John Cena vs. CM Punk at SummerSlam, but had Punk make his return at SummerSlam and not appear on WWE TV until then. I've been getting asked what I would do a lot, so there you have it.

The Whole Soccer Thing...

Wed, 11 May 2011 02:46:00 +0000

I know a good number of you read my Bleacher Report articles, so most of you may have already read the one I'm about to talk about.

Yesterday I posted an article on Lex Luger running WWE's Wellness Policy and in it I compared WWE's drug policy to that of the MLB, NFL, and other major sports leagues.

I posted a little joke in there about soccer, and between the comments and my B/R inbox, everyone pretty much told me that it was bad joke. Looking back, I definitely see that it was, in fact, a bad attempt at a cheap joke, so I do want to just apologize to anyone that was truly offended by it.

Hopefully I don't get into too much trouble for this...

Yes, This Will Spoil Smackdown... Yes, You Should Still Read It

Wed, 04 May 2011 03:24:00 +0000

2 days. 48 hours. That's it. It seemed as though Vince McMahon had finally pulled his head out off his ~~ass~~ rearend and would give Christian his run at the top. The run at the top that he not only deserved, but would have made WWE money, because it's what the fans wanted to see. But in yet another moment of infinite wisdom, Vince McMahon and WWE Creative decided to have Christian drop the belt after just 2 days. I'm not saying I am not looking forward to seeing a Christian vs. Randy Orton feud and even their match on Smackdown, but there was just no reason to take the belt off of Christian. Maybe it was to turn Orton heel, if so, it would work because fans feel so strongly about Christian, but one would like to think that WWE would not use this to garner some heat. Hopefully they give the title back to Christian somtime soon, maybe at Over the Limit, that's all I really have to say at this point.

Hogan on Idol

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:32:00 +0000

I was watching American Idol, and Holk Hogan just made a surprise appearance. He announced that two contestants were safe to go onto the next round. He came out, announced this, and threw Ryan Seacrest into the crowd. His deep voice really made memories of Hulk come back. The Idol contestants as well as the crowd cheered him on. I thought that this would make a great quick blog because it just happened, and it was great to see the "Holkster" appear on one of the most watched TV channels in America.

Raw Live - March 19, 2011

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:59:00 +0000

It’s truly amazing to be at the "World's Most Famous Arena" for a WWE Live Event. Joe and I went to the March 19, 2011 Raw House Show at Madison Square Garden. The experience of just being at Madison Square Garden is electrifying. The arena was packed, and the crowd was rockin’ loud and crazy into the event.

The event started with the Miz coming out to the ring demanding his match against Randy Orton. Then Orton came out, and their match began. The match was very good, until the ending came. Towards the end of the match, CM Punk came out to the ring, and the match ended in a DQ. Soon after, the Raw General Manager sent an e-mail saying that the crowd decides the main event. The choices were the Miz vs. Randy Orton or CM Punk and the Miz vs. Randy Orton and John Cena. The first match got a lot of cheers, but the second was double as loud. Now we know tonight's main event.

The next match was Evan Bourne, Santino Marella, and Vladimir Kozlov vs. Zack Ryder, Primo, and Tyson Kidd. This match was surprisingly good, considering they are all mid-card superstars. Towards the end, Santino got the cobra, followed by Evan Bourne's shooting star press.

Afterwards, Alex Riley came out to the ring saying that he may be fired, but he passed security and came in. He asked the Raw GM for a match on Raw, stipulation being that if he wins, he can be working for the Miz again. The Raw GM e-mails saying that he can prove himself tonight, at Madison Square Garden. Riley is all fired up, until his opponent comes out. His opponent is The Great Khali. Khali won the match really quickly with a chokeslam. Khali also came to the ring all taped up due to his 'injuries' on Raw.

The next match was a Divas match. Kelly Kelly and Eve faced the Bella Twins. Fairly quick match and Sunny was the surprise special guest referee. She was fair, and Kelly Kelly and Eve came out victorious. After the match, The Bella Twins attacked Kelly Kelly and Eve. Sunny came into this and attacked them.

Vickie Guerrero came out to the ring and introduced Dolph Ziggler, who faced John Morrison. This was a very good match, but WWE did a false ending where Dolph pinned Morrison with his feet on the ropes. Officials came out and restarted the match. John Morrison won the match with the Starship Pain. The second match was just as good as the first match.

Next, R-Truth came out and picked four contestants from the crowd to be in a contest for tickets to WWE Survivor Series. Then, the Raw GM sent an e-mail saying that the contest would be a dance contest. Before it started, R-Truth asked where everyone was from. Two people were from New Jersey and two were from New York. The two people from New Jersey got booed, and the two people from New York got really big cheers. The winner wound up being an older man from the Bronx, New York.

The following match was a New York Street Fight between Triple H and Sheamus. Sheamus came out first, and when Triple H came out, he got a huge cheer. This match was really good, and one of the best matches of the whole house show. Some of the match took place in the crowd, and most of it was in the ring. Triple H used the referee’s belt on Sheamus, and Sheamus used a Cane on Triple H. Sheamus then brought in a set of steel steps, and Triple H brought in a chair. After all of this, the winner was Triple H after he got a Pedigree. This was a very exciting match, and very extreme for a house show.

The final match was the Miz and CM Punk vs. Randy Orton and John Cena. Of course, Cena gets the most pop when he enters. This match was really good, as it went back and forth many times. The referee also got knocked out during the match, and they had to bring in a new referee. In the end, Randy Orton won the match for him and Cena by getting an RKO.

Overall, the House Show was a great event and we had an awesome time being there to see it live at Madison Square Garden. As always, attending a live WWE event at Madison Square Garden is remarkable.