wrestling The Big Wrestling Thread!

[Mazhar]

Partial Source: The Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter

The general feeling among those backstage in WWE is that Shawn Michaels is sincere about his retirement. The WrestleMania match and RAW farewell were the real deal. Keep in mind though that he never did rule out another match during his promo on Monday. They also called it a 'farewell' speech and not a 'retirement' speech.

While no one is ruling out the possibility of Michaels working a match or two down the line, many feel he truly believes right now that he worked his final match on Sunday.

During his farewell speech on RAW, he acknowledged there being a temptation to return to the ring but that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure it doesn't happen. With that being said, many feel he will ultimately give in and return for at least one more match.

We'll see what happens but as of right now he's taking an extended period of time off for sure.

Well, he may come for a match or two but that doesn't matter. He is not a full time wrestler now. He will not work on RAW any more than he used to do till WrestleMania 26. So as far as his career goes, its over, its real deal.

[Rappy Veteran]

[LOC Veteran]

I'm actually shocked sorta that WWE didn't do a much more involved retirement angle with HBK here. I mean, HBK probably didn't want a Ric Flair style send off, he's much more humble now than the olden days, but still. If HBK knew going in it would be his last match (and he had to have told them this is it for it to turn out like this don't you think?) maybe do a bit more to push that it could be his last other than the random stuff between him and UT on RAW/SD leading up to the match.

But I digress, he had his farewell speech on RAW and said his goodbye to in-ring work as a full time worker. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd say with about 85% certainty he'll be back in the ring eventually. He will never be back full time, that's for sure. But one or two more matches, I can see it sure. He's not doing it for the money that's obvious. He'd do it because either he wants to do it, the fans really want him to do it, or the storyline is just to good to pass up to him/the other wrestler involved. Either way, we should have enough HBK matches on tape to last awhile I think :)

[Mazhar]

Coming off the heels of Shawn Michaels apparent retirement from World Wrestling Entertainment, HBK has been officially removed the company's active roster. His bio has been displaced from the Raw Superstars page and moved to the WWE Alumni section.

[Rappy Veteran]

Chris Klucsaritis, who competed as Chris Kanyon, was found dead Friday night at his apartment in the Sunnyside section of Queens, New York. He was 40 years old.

Klucsaritis' death is believed to be suicide as a longtime friend reports that a pill bottle and several notes were found close to his body.

He had been vocal about suffering from a bipolar disorder and had threatened suicide many times in the past according to those close with him. He told one friend as recently as Monday that he was going through another bout of depression and contemplating suicide.

Kanyon also worked as a masked character named Mortis in World Championship Wrestling and had a run with World Wrestling Entertainment beginning in 2001 which resulted in reigns with the WCW United States Championship and WWF Tag Team Championship. He garnered headlines following his 2004 departure from WWE by going public with his homosexuality and claiming WWE fired him for being gay. Although he retired from wresting at one point, he returned to the ring and worked matches on occasion.

He, along with Scott Levy and Michael Sanders, attempted to sue WWE for "cheating them out of health care and other benefits" but a federal judge in Stamford, Connecticut dismissed the case.

[Scorbing]

Jack Swagger has a lot of potential. He is a big man but needs to be out up against a real challenge such as Batista or The Undertaker. The other guy who I think has a lot of potential but has never been really used well is the Russian Nicolai Koslov. That dude also needs to be put up against big guys such as Triple-H, Undertaker, Kane or Batista.

The fun era of bad words and middle fingers (Stone Cold Era) is over and thus the WWE has become boring so they need to improvise and make use of their wrestlers better and come up with good angles and good stories because lately, their stories are absolutely absurd and ridiculous.

[MightyJordan]

The other guy who I think has a lot of potential but has never been really used well is the Russian Nicolai Koslov.

Vladimir Kozlov. :p They are wasting his talent, like Shelton Benjamin. I remember when he started off as a babyface. "I love double double E!"

[Scorbing]

Vladimir Kozlov. :p They are wasting his talent, like Shelton Benjamin. I remember when he started off as a babyface. "I love double double E!"

LOL....Thanks for correcting me on his name. Yes you are right, they are wasting his talents big time. They need to stop this PG bullsh..... and go back to the middle finger era again.

[Valerus]

Chris Klucsaritis, who competed as Chris Kanyon, was found dead Friday night at his apartment in the Sunnyside section of Queens, New York. He was 40 years old.

Klucsaritis' death is believed to be suicide as a longtime friend reports that a pill bottle and several notes were found close to his body.

He had been vocal about suffering from a bipolar disorder and had threatened suicide many times in the past according to those close with him. He told one friend as recently as Monday that he was going through another bout of depression and contemplating suicide.

Kanyon also worked as a masked character named Mortis in World Championship Wrestling and had a run with World Wrestling Entertainment beginning in 2001 which resulted in reigns with the WCW United States Championship and WWF Tag Team Championship. He garnered headlines following his 2004 departure from WWE by going public with his homosexuality and claiming WWE fired him for being gay. Although he retired from wresting at one point, he returned to the ring and worked matches on occasion.

He, along with Scott Levy and Michael Sanders, attempted to sue WWE for "cheating them out of health care and other benefits" but a federal judge in Stamford, Connecticut dismissed the case.

Dang. :(

[Victor Rambo]

RIP who's betta than kanyon :(

[deuz]

when is wresltmania?

edit: judging by the other thread...its already happened?

[Y2Stu]

when is wresltmania?

edit: judging by the other thread...its already happened?

yeah it was 28th March

[Rappy Veteran]

In light of Chris Kanyon's passing over the weekend, it's interesting to note that a total of twenty-two talents who performed for World Championship Wrestling in 1998 have since passed away - nearly equal to a 25-man MLB roster. Likewise, a total of six wrestlers who performed for the World Wrestling Federation the very same year have since passed on (Big Boss Man, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Golga, Owen Hart, Road Warrior Hawk and Test). However, only two WWF performer deaths have been attributed to drug use while the WCW list is significantly greater.

In its entirety, here is the list of deceased talents who performed for WCW in 1998. With the exception of one performer, all deaths listed occurred before the age of 50.

? Bam Bam Bigelow - 2007 / 01 / 19 (45)

? Bobby Duncum, Jr. - 2000 / 01 / 24 (34)

? Brady Boone (referee) - 1998 / 12 / 16 (40)

? Brian Adams - 2007 / 08 / 13 (44)

? Chase Tatum - 2008 / 03 / 23 (34)

? Chris Adams - 2001 / 10 / 07 (46)

? Chris Benoit - 2007 / 06 / 24 (40)

? Curt Hennig - 2003 / 02 / 10 (44)

? Davey Boy Smith - 2002 / 05 / 17 (39)

? Eddie Guerrero - 2005 / 11 / 13 (38)

? Elizabeth - 2003 / 05 / 01 (42)

? Emory Hale - 2006 / 01 / 28 (36)

? Johnny Grunge - 2006 / 02 / 16 (40)

? Joey Maggs - 2006 / 10 / 15 (37)

? Kanyon - 2010 / 04 / 02 (40)

? Louie Spicolli - 1998 / 02 / 15 (27)

? Mark Curtis (referee) - 1999 / 09 / 08 (37)

? Randy Anderson (referee) - 2002 / 05 / 05 (42)

? Ray Traylor - 2004 / 09 / 22 (41)

? Rick Rude - 1999 / 04 / 20 (40)

? Renegade - 1999 / 02 / 23 (33)

? Rocco Rock - 2002 / 09 / 21 (50)

Additionally, six more talents who joined WCW after 1998 have since passed on - Chris Candido, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Mike Awesome, Rhonda Singh, Sherri Martel and The Wall. All six deaths listed occurred before the age of 50.

On a final note, Kanyon's passing marks the fifteenth consecutive year in which at least one talent who performed for WCW between 1991 and 2001 has died.

[red.]

Who betta than Kanyon?

RIP Kanyon :(

[Rappy Veteran]

After hitting a record low rating last week, TNA iMPACT! rebounded last night with an 0.9 rating with an average audience of 1.2 million viewers.

Meanwhile, WWE Raw fell half a point from last week to a 3.2 rating with nearly 4.6 million viewers. Their target demographic ? men 18-49 ? dropped 26% with only 2.5 million viewers which is the lowest in that demo this year.

Mind you, WWE is still dominating in the ratings between the wrestling companies but it cannot be happy with its numbers dropping. Two weeks ago, Raw also scored a 3.2 but bounced back up to a 3.7 last week. However, some of that may have been to watch the Shawn Michaels retirement ceremony.

Both shows were likely affected by the NCAA basketball national championship game as well as 'Dancing with the Stars' with each of them scoring big numbers.

iMPACT! did move up an hour to an 8:00P ET start time and you have to wonder if TNA and Spike TV should make that a permanent move.

[Rappy Veteran]

The pro?s poll was (from best to worst): Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, David Otunga, Skip Sheffield, Michael Tarver and Darren Young. WWE.com now has the results of the fan?s voting.

The fans have voted Daniel Bryan #1. Following him are Justin Gabriel, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Wade Barrett, Darren Young, Skip Sheffield and Michael Tarver.

The fans are apparently buying into Otunga enough to keep him high on the list. Of course, with all the publicity backing him, that?s not a shock. Gabriel and Slater are the two fresh faced young guys with flashy moves who rarely lose, so, naturally, they rank high. Gabriel has the potential to be a Jeff Hardy type face as a smaller high flier kids can get into, so we?ll see if the WWE realizes it. Tarver has been given little to do and looked bad on this week?s NXT, so he?s probably the first gone, while Sheffield, playing a goof, is sure to not rank high. With a personality befitting his intimidating look, he?d be higher up, I?m sure. The fans like Darren Young more than the pros, which makes sense. Young has gotten a lot of screen time, particularly with the most over Pro, so he?ll get some love by osmosis. Barrett is ranked where one would expect- high up, but as a big heel, not too high. And Bryan is the man.

[timster]

Devin Cutting is reporting that the June 7th edition of WWE Raw will be a 3 hour show airing from 8-11pm EST.

Former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis has noted on her Twitter page that one of the track names on her forthcoming album "Seven Sins" is called "Change Your Mind Between My Thighs." The song is currently being played on Playboy satellite radio

------------------------

.... i wouldn't mind my mind between her thighs :p :p :p

[timster]

breaking news: I can see John Cena

WWE.com has announced two new RAW guest hosts. The hosts and dates are as follows:

May 10 in Pittsburgh: Flava Flav

May 24 in Toledo: Jon Lovitz

[Rappy Veteran]

Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The Legacy split was scheduled for Ted DiBiase to start a heel stable known as 'The Fortunate Sons'.

Plans called for DiBiase to team with his brother Brett and rising developmental superstar Joe Hennig (son of the late "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig). DiBiase referenced 'The Fortunate Sons' title during his promo on RAW this week. Whether WWE will still go forward with that idea remains to be seen.

[timster]

The following matches have been announced for WWE's Extreme Rules PPV:

Last Man Standing Match For The WWE Championship

John Cena © vs. Batista

If CM Punk loses, he must shave his head

Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk

During this afternoon's taping of tonight's Raw broadcast, the following two matches were announced for WWE's Extreme Rules PPV:

World Heavyweight Title Match:

-Jack Swagger © vs Randy Orton

Street Fight:

-Triple H vs Sheamus

--------------------------

yes, Raw was taped at the O2 Arean in London, England this afternoon hosted by David Hasselhoff. both Raw and Impact tonight are taped.

oh, and Maryse dropped the ladies title to Eve Torres

[Rappy Veteran]

none of those appeal to me whatsoever :unsure:

[LOC Veteran]

I don't see how WWE is pushing Swagger at ALL when his first match after winning the title he lost cleanly to Orton on RAW last week (non title of course). That's RETARDED creative wise. I suppose if he's just a transition champ for Orton now or someone else it's fine and dandy, but if Vince and Co. want everyone to think "anything can happen" and they will push newer talent, that's not how you do it.

[Rappy Veteran]

I don't see how WWE is pushing Swagger at ALL when his first match after winning the title he lost cleanly to Orton on RAW last week (non title of course). That's RETARDED creative wise. I suppose if he's just a transition champ for Orton now or someone else it's fine and dandy, but if Vince and Co. want everyone to think "anything can happen" and they will push newer talent, that's not how you do it.

If he loses the title to Orton at PPV the MITB push would be for nothing and in turn WWE have failed on a grand scale

[LOC Veteran]

Exactly Rappy. So, I don't see why after winning the title the next freaking RAW they have him lose cleanly to Orton. How can they explain it that Swagger can just magically beat Orton now at the PPV and not make Orton look weak as hell also? Dumb, dumb dumb WWE.

[LOC Veteran]

World Wrestling Entertainment's Smackdown show has been a staple on network television over the last decade. But that will change this fall when the show moves to cable.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Smackdown will be moving from its current home on MyNetworkTV to NBC Universal's SyFy Channel either in late September or early October. It is expected to remain on Friday nights.

While no terms have been announced, it is believed that SyFy will be paying close to $30 million a year for the wrestling program. MyNetworkTV had been spending about $20 million for Smackdown.

The move with further solidify the relationship between Vince McMahon's company and NBC Universal as SyFy already airs WWE NXT on Tuesday nights. USA Network, which is also owned by NBC Universal, airs WWE Raw.

It will mark the first time in Smackdown's history that it will be on a cable channel. The show debuted on UPN back on August 26, 1999. Once UPN merged with the WB, Smackdown began airing on The CW in 2006. Two years later, the show moved to MyNetworkTV.

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