Here's the news for Saturday 4/9:
PWInsider.com is reporting that releases are on the horizon in WWE, however no one has been let go as of yet.
G4 will be showing replays of Tough Enough Sundays at 9 p.m.. The channel is mostly owned by Comcast, who partly owns NBC Universal.
Kurt Angle plead guilty to reckless driving for the recent incident in ND. The plea deal, which still needs the judge's approval, would see Angle pay a $475 fine, serve a year of unsupervised probation, and undergo a chemical dependency evaluation. There are conflicting reports on whether it includes him serving a suspended sentence of 10 days in jail. This is why you don't drink while in the driver's seat of a motor vehicle. Angle's blood alcohol content was a .083. The legal limit in ND is .08.
After the break, I'll look at Saturday's questions submitted to PWInsider.com and give my take on them. The first question pitches three ideas for WWE: less attractive women who can wrestle, a new tag team, and Cena vs. Undertaker.
It's hard to tell whether the first idea would work or not. WWE's Diva division has been about model types to some degree for so long that it'd definitely be a change of pace. There are some fair (and more than fair) wrestlers in the bunch, too, so it wouldn't just be the total opposite of what we're seeing now. They've signed Amazing Kong, who doesn't look like your typical WWE Diva at all, so it will be interesting to see how she works out there. I know they passed on bringing ODB to the main roster when she worked in their developmental league (pre-TNA), but I don't know if they'd be interested in her now. Kong can almost certainly get over in that capacity.
As far as a new tag team, I don't know how much it would affect ratings since the division as a whole isn't that strong. One "traditional" team with a team name and unique finisher will only take things so far, especially after they've run through the the division and have no one else to face.
As for a more edgy John Cena, I still don't see that one happening anytime soon. As much as (some of) the IWC thinks that would be a great idea, kid-friendly John Cena is still a top merchandise seller, and that's the bottom line as far as WWE's concerned. When he stops getting over with kids, maybe they'll change him, but that seems like it'll be a while down the road. They usually save interpromotional feuds for WrestleMania because that's their biggest show. If you do too many Raw vs. Smackdown feuds, there's not much reason for a brand split in the first place. Cena vs. Undertaker in general would almost certainly be a draw, but as over as Cena is with the younger audience, I don't know if Orton-level edginess would be a smart move. There's a reason they aren't as drawn to him.
Nothing to add to question #2 without being redundant, so we'll move on to Edge feuding with Christian. There's a reason that they get along better now than they did months back: Edge was heel then. Now he and Christian are both face and on the same page against Alberto Del Rio, so they're not facing off. I wouldn't rule out a turn by someone at some point, but I'm not so sure we'll see a swerve of one of them hating the other the whole time or anything.
For the next question, technically Winter hasn't hypnotized Angelina Love. The indication is that she's drugged her or something along those lines. It serves a similar purpose but is more realistic. Not that the angle is a model for realism!
As for D'Angelo Dinero vs. Samoa Joe, I don't think they're being buried. When they lose to midcarders in less than a minute, we'll talk burial, but for now I think they're just being misused. TNA is trying to get over so many people and angles that people are getting lost in the shuffle. Remember that they've had to re-write a number of things in the last few months because of being unable to get Kevin Nash, Sting returning, and the Jeff Hardy situation, so things are going to be pretty bumpy. That being said, I'd like to see both of them used better going forward. The angle itself isn't Mae Young giving birth to a hand bad. It's just that TNA in general isn't that great, and it magnifies how that angle isn't as good as it could be.
Sting has a rare interview up where he talks about Jeff Hardy and his TNA return. I'm glad that Jeff Hardy's getting back in condition. Hopefully his head's on straight when he (almost certainly) returns down the line. As far as his return, it's got to be frustrating for all the TNA stars who are busting their butts to be there and are being overlooked for someone the company wasn't sure was going to come back for another year. Sting's an asset and all, but I don't think he's worth quite as much as TNA's putting into him by making him champion.
WWE Hall of Famer "Superstar" Billy Graham no longer wants that honor, as per an interview with Slam!Sports. He pins it on the induction of Abdullah The Butcher, but it should be noted that he's criticized the Hall in the past for not having a physical location and "only existing in Vince's mind" or something of the sort. He also bashes Chris Jericho for comments in his latest book. Graham's undergoing a number of health problems and isn't expected to live much longer. I think he should be kept in the Hall of Fame, not only because of his place in wrestling history, but because it's hard to tell how much of this is him just being a bitter old man with serious health issues. Wanting out of the Hall of Fame just because of one man you don't like going in's pretty petty.
Scott Hall was hospitalized recently following an episode at an indy show where he fell asleep when signing autographs and was barely coherent and sluggish when awake. Naturally, people assumed it had something to do with alcohol or something, but it could also very well be due to the fact that he's on 10 different medications for his blood pressure and pneumonia issues.
WWE will tape an episode each of Raw and Smackdown from Mexico this October. This will be the first time they've had TV filmed from that country. Pretty big news, as that's been a great market for them lately. WWE's doing similarly to the established promotions there despite only starting having Raw there for the last few years.
Finally, here's video of Trish Stratus' appearance on the Today show discussing Tough Enough, including how the finale will be handled. Pretty cool idea, since their goal is to get over with the WWE audience.
That's all for Saturday's news. I'll have more later tonight.
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