Former WWE and WCW World Champion Sid Vicious was arrested for drug possession after being pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt. Officers then discovered a bag with 18 grams of marijuana. Vicious also didn't have his license. He was released on $1000 bail.
The first question of the day, copied from PWInsider, asks about the identity of the new "they" in TNA, and is pretty much a spoiler, so if you don't want to know who it looks like it's going to be based on spoilers, don't read after the bump.
"They" is looking like it's going to be a reunited Main Event Mafia. Apparently Scott Steiner returns on an already taped Impact. Kurt Angle and Sting are already under contract, and Kevin Nash is in negotiations to return. I haven't read anything on Booker T returning, but it's possible that's on an already taped show as well. As far as anyone else joining, maybe Samoa Joe will since he's already been there before. They think maybe Bobby Lashley, as his name's been tossed around a few times.
I'm not really looking forward to MEM vs. Immortal. I liked MEM the first time around, but I think they've gotten everything out of some of the members (Steiner, Nash) as they're going to get. Not to mention that TNA didn't exactly use them to get over younger, fresher talents. But I do seem to remember ratings being slightly higher with them around, so who knows. I just can't believe we're talking about Steiner, Nash, Booker, Sting, Hogan, Bischoff, and Flair as major players in 2011. Who would have said that that would happen in 2001? Bobby Lashley's also an interesting piece to the puzzle if he ends up there. It would pretty much only be a good idea if he wasn't splitting his time with MMA and didn't have to leave from time to time.
The second question asks about a re-united Angelina Love and Velvet Sky. If TNA keeps the Knockouts Tag Team Titles, then I can see them ending up teaming regularly again. They certainly have a fanbase.
The final question of interest asks what happens when The Undertaker retires and goes into the Hall of Fame. I think that if he is totally done with wrestling, he would "break character" to be inducted (in other words, not come out as the Deadman persona). It'd be kind of a weird sight since he hasn't appeared outside of that persona in WWE in years, but I don't see why he'd insist on staying in-character for his own induction. It's possible though. Either way, Paul Bearer and/or Kane should induct him. That'd be a heck of a memory.
For some reason, PWInsider has two sets of questions today. Here are my answers to batch #2:
The effect of WWE's stock sliding will hopefully be some restructuring internally and that they stop paying such unsustainable dividends. They need to lead up to pay-per-views better, maybe cutting 1 or 2 underperforming ones. There are probably a few jobs they can cut too, and a few talents maybe axed. But I don't think there will be any huge changes like firing 10% of their staff again. I'm not an expert on WWE's financials; you can never be 100% sure what they'll do. Probably they'll cut more staff and some wrestlers they don't use, as they seemingly always do.
Apparently Slam! Wrestling reported than Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are taking or have taken pay cuts. PWInsider hasn't heard one way or another. I know a lot of people would cheer for that given how many fans aren't fond of the duo and their work in changing TNA. If TNA needs some people to take pay cuts, and those two are making a lot of money, it would make sense to try to get them to tale a cut in pay. It'd also make sense to cut some wrestlers who are being paid a lot but not doing anything of importance. Mick Foley and Sting, if they're not drawing a lot in merchandise, come to mind. If they're really bringing back Nash, Steiner, and Booker, they likely won't come cheap. I'm sure there are others they're not using who are making a lot of money. Supposedly Christy Hemme makes $150,000 a year. I don't know if I've heard that confirmed though. I could go into a whole column on who I'd cut in TNA, but that's not what the question asked.
Apparently Triple H is ready for a return, so it seems likely that he'll be in the Royal Rumble. How he fits into WWE in 2011 will be something to keep watch on.
The latest update on The Great Khali shooting is some news footage of the 3 wounded people. It's not in English, so I don't know what new info is on there.
Here's a link to an interview with Sean Waltman, formerly WWE's X-Pac, talking about turning his life around following a suicide attempt. As far as wrestling goes, he says that if he goes back to TNA it would be solely for the money, as he says that their writing is horrible. He says that they need to drop Vince Russo as head writer and do Impact on the road, two ideas that people have wanted TNA to implement for years now.
He also says that Nexus is an nWo clone. I say there are differences. The nWo started off as established ex-WWF guys trying to take over WCW. The Nexus is a group of rookies (now led by C.M. Punk) trying to make names for themselves at WWE stars' expense. But with the gang-style beatdowns, it's easy to compare the two. Interesting interview overall.
PWInsider has more news on WWE All-Stars' roster. Ric Flair will not be in the game. Hulk Hogan is able to be in because his TNA contract allows him to take other licensing deals.
That's all for today. More news and questions to come tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment