The widow of the former Viscera/Big Daddy V/Mabel has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against WWE, alleging his demise was the result of the punishment he took while working there. I'm interested to see how that plays out.
Update: Here's more on the lawsuit. It sounds like something of a stretch, but that's up to the court to decide.
Update: WWE officially responded. Interesting response, given the lawsuit is on official websites of where it was filed.
Grado of British Bootcamp is pushing an online campaign to get permission to use Madonna's "Like A Prayer" for his entrance music. It could come down to a money issue, and there's virtually no chance TNA would shell out that much cash for the song, especially in the shape they're in now.
Update: Time magazine covered the campaign, as did a number of UK outlets.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Randy Orton is expected back on TV soon, but how many times have we heard that? Rollins vs. Orton at WM31 would make a lot of sense.
There's talk of putting Kevin Nash in the WWE Hall of Fame this year. That one's a no-brainer.
Brian Kendrick will be on NXT TV soon. Another good name to work with the talents there.
Sgt. Slaughter talked about his beginnings in the WWF and more. That was pretty cool to read about.
Jon Stewart responded to Seth Rollins' shot at him on Raw. Great stuff! Glad Stewart is playing along. He looks kind of rough, though.
Update: Seth Rollins responded on TMZ. Genius! Keep it going! Hopefully this draws attention from that other headline-grabbing story he was in. Get Stewart at WM31!!!!
There's talk of WWE moving Goldust into a producer's role after WM31, presumably after facing Stardust/Cody Rhodes on that show. I think that's a great idea. As talented as he still is at his age, I don't know how much longer he can keep doing what he's doing. I'd rather him go out in a big feud he's been asking for for years than linger on indefinitely. It would be a cap to an amazing legacy.
The awesome Rob Schamberger, who has painted quite a few wrestling-related pictures, was interviewed. That man has an insane level of talent.
Dr. Chris Amann filed a lawsuit against C.M. Punk and Colt Cabana for claims made on Punk's big podcast in November. That's huge! This could end up having a big impact on the wrestling world, depending on how far it goes in court and how much media attention it gets. I'll definitely be following this one.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I agree with the idea he was booked badly even then. For 18 months, they built Joe up as this unstoppable beast. Perhaps the best TNA had to offer. What does it mean if he taps out clean to a former WWE guy in their first match? On the other hand, imagine if he took Angle to the absolute limit, and showed him TNA guys are at the level of the former WrestleMania participant/WWE World Champion? But I'd say he was definitely misused a pretty fair amount for most of his TNA run. There were times when they waited too long to pull the trigger (Joe's first World Title), changed his character from what worked (Nation of Violence), booked him as beneath where he should have been (giving Kurt Angle the World Title to join MEM, playing second fiddle to Kevin Nash of all people)... you get the idea. He could have really been their guy in the way of John Cena, but they could never figure out what made him work. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say about a 7 out of 10 on the "messing it up" scale.
2. I cracked up at the line about all Samoans in WWE being related. That's actually pretty close to being true. As awesome as Joe is, rushing him into a top Mania match feels short-sighted. It would definitely be better for both sides for him to be 100% healthy and on top of his game and have more of a feeling out process before he gets to be on such a big stage. I absolutely want to see Joe vs. Bryan in WWE, though. And Joe vs. Owens. And Joe vs. Cesaro. And... you get the idea.
3. There's a lot to go into with this one!
a. I do miss the characters of the Attitude Era. They had depth and more to work with than "great wrestler who wrestled all over the world". The half sports/half theater line was perfect.
b. Fans are exposed to a lot more info than they were in the '90s because of social media and such. It's MUCH easier to get info on who a wrestler is and so on.
c. I disagree about the Kane/Isaac Yankem thing. Firstly, not a lot of people watch NXT compared to the main roster. Secondly, I think it's totally fine to have someone be a different character on the main roster after having worked NXT (if there's reason for it). The whole point of NXT is to get people experience working TV. There should be some suspension of disbelief so someone can pick up the tools they need down there without having to worry about it breaking kayfabe for the same performer to do a different role. It's like a pilot vs. the actual show.
d. Bringing in international talent for the hell of it and throwing them on TV with no WWE experience is short-sighted. It's like randomly putting a Broadway actor in a movie or TV show one week with little rehearsal. Especially if they don't speak English and can't connect to a lot of the fans in attendance for that reason. As was said earlier, just having good wrestling isn't enough.
e. I agree with the comment about there being WAY too much content to make in a week.
4. Having one top guy doesn't mean there aren't other stars who are close to that level. Stone Cold was the top guy in the Attitude Era. That doesn't mean he didn't have a lot of quality opponents. WWE does need to shake things up in the main event scene, but that doesn't mean they're doing things entirely differently from their boom period. I also want to see some other names break that glass ceiling, though.
5. It's a shame there are so many patently false stories going around.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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