Wrestling Rumblings #32
September 11, 2009
By: Jose Marrero of WrestleView.com
I got to be really honest with all of you. This week has been a bit blah for me in terms of wrestling. Sure there are things to talk about but nothing that I would really want to devoid a whole column on and of course yours truly always strives to be different, so let’s do some headlines for the week?you?re reading ?Wrestling Rumblings?.
1. Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff announce the opening of a new promotion.
If you have not heard the news by now Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are launching a promotion by the name of ?Hulkamania? that will begin overseas touring sometime in November. Normally I would tend to get excited at the possibility of anyone launching a promotion as more promotions mean more places to work, and more talent to be seen. This is Hulk Hogan though, and because of that fact alone I see nothing but a place for a couple of older wrestlers to get a payday. Look for guys like Brian Knobs, Brutus Beefcake and Jimmy Hart to be all over this thing as I don?t see it as anything more than maybe one or two tours and nothing else. Let’s hope I am wrong.
2. Ken Anderson’s 90 day no compete clause expires.
It’s usually the case that when a main or semi main event wrestler’s 90 day no compete clause expires he tends to get a ton of buzz and people are really excited to see the next move in that wrestlers career, however I really can?t say that about the former Mr. Kennedy whom many are expecting to show up in TNA maybe as early as No Surrender. Why is that? Well when you take a look at TNA’s track record of handling former WWE and WCW stars they have not done the best job in the past and Anderson’s exit was really not juicy enough to anticipate a new debut elsewhere. Some might argue that his stock has fallen a bit since being released by WWE and well why wouldn?t it? We are talking about a wrestler who spent more about 30% of the past 4 years on the inactive roster due to injury, movies, or suspension. In actuality if you really stop to think about it and take away Kennedy’s final WWE match which was a 10 man tag in May he hasn?t been a regular contributor since early August 2008. Tha t’s a big chunk of time to miss in the wrestling business which is really a business of what have you done for me lately, and in Anderson’s case the answer is not very much. Will he go to TNA? More than likely he will, and when he does arrive in TNA and uses the Mr. Kennedy gimmick sans name, fans will crap on it for being unoriginal and crap on him for being a one trick pony. Again, let’s hope I am wrong.
3. John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler pulled from WWE Breaking Point PPV.
Do you have any idea how much email I have had to answer about this? Would it have been nice to see this match on the PPV? Absolutely you have no argument from me there but at the same time isn?t it great to be able to get it on TV? John Morrison has been having a lot of=2 020-30 minute matches as of late and you typically don?t see anyone outside of the main event get that kind of time on a PPV. I also think from a booking standpoint it would help protect both men. How many times can we see Dolph Ziggler wrestle on PPV for the Intercontinental Title and lose? When you take into consideration the tremendous push John Morrison has been getting lately I don?t think it does him any good either to do a high profile job to Dolph Ziggler. So relax you will get the match on T.V, it will be good and both men will probably be a bit better for having it presented in that fashion. I do think at some point WWE has to get Morrison on PPV as he hasn?t been on a PPV since May but I think one more month in this instance won?t kill him.
4. Armageddon has now been changed to Tables, Ladders, and Chairs.
There is nothing wrong with having a gimmick pay per view, but I am seriously against this new initiative by WWE to have every PPV have its own gimmick. Gimmick matches are very hard to build to, it took 4 months of booking to build to the last TLC match which was Summerslam and the reason that match worked was not just because of the buildup but because it was the only match of its kind on the card. To have potentially 3 TLC matches on a card simply because you have to have them on is going to be difficult to book correctly. Look at Breaking Point, none of the submission matches on that card really make much sense from a booking standpoint and I don?t expect much from the show overall especially with a Hell in a Cell PPV to follow it 3 weeks after. Could gimmick PPV’s work? Sure Survivor Series is an awesome example of how it works but to have one every month is terrible.
5. Angelina Love released from TNA due to visa issues.
For those who are keeping track of this story please refer to this link below for my earlier research into work visas: click here.
Basically from what I am hearing as of this writing from people closer to the situation than I am right now Angelina Love has been working without a visa during her whole time within TNA wrestling. She had a visa during her time with WWE developmental but it was either expired or withdrawn upon her being terminated with the company. If this is true that would be considered illegal and Angelina would face banishment from the US for a period of up to 10 years. I should state for the re cord that the prior link states rules that apply to H1-B visas and from what I am hearing from others Angelina actually had an E2 visa. The difference being that an E2 visa is a five year visa that can be extended for 2 years at a time. The catch is you must be fulfilling the criteria that entitled you to get the visa in the first place. WWE helps to sponsor visas for all talent that may need it and helps expedite the process, however while I am unsure as while my past history has involved working with H1-B visas (I was previously involved with working in a hospital in a Residency program which would obviously involve Residents from outside of the U.S) I am unfamiliar with the process of E2, however I believe that if she was terminated from WWE she may have had the visa revoked since WWE was sponsoring the visa and would have had a certain window of time to go about reapplying for a visa. She may have been unaware of this and TNA being pretty much hands off with matters such as this unlike WWE never thought to check this out, until it came to their attention, hence the release.
I can see a likelihood of this being resolved through the proper channels although I can?t guarantee it. For those who question why did TNA release Angelina? Well that’s simple, it is illegal to employ any illegal alien and TNA could have been fined accordingly if it was found that Angelina’s immigrant status was bought to their attention and they simply kept her employed. Plus it would also do more harm than good for Angelina’s visa hopes to be seen on a PPV working illegally after being made aware of the situation herself. While I wouldn?t be surprised to see Angelina possibly in attendance at Raw this Monday backstage or otherwise, I would seriously doubt she would make the jump to WWE since things were going very well in TNA and I do believe they wish to see this resolved and have Angelina back in TNA. While it is wrestling and anything is possible I think that will be the case. As for the status of The Beautiful People? There have been rumblings of TNA looking at Candace Michelle and even Kristal Marshall who is linked to Bobby Lashley and it is possible to see them perhaps fill in the void as Velvet Sky’s partner although from what I understand from others closer to the situation TNA is more than likely going to fill the void from within.
6. Nigel McGuinness becomes the latest wrestler to defect from ROH to WWE.
I am not sure how McGuinness or for that matter Danielson will progress in WWE as they have a style that is not really on par with what WWE presents. Danielson has a better chance of adapting his style to WWE due to him having more of an inside knowledge as to what it is WWE wants on its TV. I do think the shorter T.V matches are going to be a challenge for both wrestlers if and when they get called to the main roster but am very eager to see what WWE can do with them. Chris Jericho said it a few weeks ago; WWE is indeed in crisis mode and needs to make new stars and while the ROH faithful have been familiar with these two stars for years this will be there first time to truly shine on a national stage. As for Ring of Honor? I have been saying for months now that it was a mistake to expand and have this HD Net deal and this is why. For a long time WWE was content to let ROH sort of do their thing. Sure when th ey saw a talent that they felt could make an impact in there company they sent out feelers but for the most part it was considered OK to have ROH around and groom talent. However once ROH put themselves on that national stage with PPV’s and television they took a step up from being a quasi developmental territory and became competition. While many fans will argue whether or not that is true, it really does not matter because if that is how WWE sees them than that is what they in fact are. Now they are without two of their top main event stars?the exodus has begun. Remember when all is said and done, I said this would happen.
OK on that note it is time to wrap up this week’s ?Rumblings?. Of course you know you can hit me up on the email with questions, comments, etc. at wrestlingrumblings@hotmail.com and well that’s it. Next week I will try to do better, and until then I am out.
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