Week of May 11th ? 17th 2009
By: David Stephens of WrestleView.com
Ousta! Welcome back to the only WrestleView column covering topics both nowhere yet everywhere at once. If you are new to the column you are probably going to hate us for the first couple weeks, but then you are going to hit a point where you say ?oh wait a minute, I think he gets it?. Don?t worry, that’s exactly how it is designed to be. This column is all about gut reactions and traveling thoughts. As the great Andy Kaufman once said: ?I just want real reactions. I want people to laugh from the gut, be sad from the gut, or get angry from the gut?.
Top 10!
I had a spur of the moment thought this past week and decided to dedicate today’s column to top 10 lists! I?ve asked my best friend Mark to help me out and we each sat down and wrote down our lists for the world of professional wrestling. In a little bit down the road (6 months, a year, who knows) we will sit down again and see how our attitudes have changed. Send me yours as well and I?ll compile them together for next week and release the WrestleView fans? Top 10.
We only considered CURRENT examples for these lists. It is unlikely that our overall opinions would change if we chose examples from all time. Remember that these lists are not based on any legitimate basis in terms of formulaic reasons. God forbid I ever become one of those columnists that stick their nose up in the air and give numeric values for everything from technical and brawling ability to charisma and mic skills. I shudder at the thought. You guys know me better than that, so dive in and enjoy!
Top 10 WWE Males
David
1. Tyson Kidd
2. John Cena
3. AJ Styles
4. Evan Bourne
5. Christian
6. HHH
7. Chris Jericho
8. Shawn Michaels
9. Finlay
10. John Morrison
Honorable mention: Hornswoggle
Mark
1. Chris Jericho
2. Tyson Kidd
3. Edge
4. Shelton Benjamin
5. Jack Swagger
6. Miz
7. MVP
8. CM Punk
9. Kofi Kingston
10. Matt Hardy
Top 10 Indy Males
David
1. Paul London
2. Teddy Hart
3. Kenny Omega
4. Jack Evans
5. Kota Ibushi
6. Danny Demanto
7. PAC
8. Bryan Danielson
9. Nick Gage
10. Necro butcher
Honorable mention: Randy ?The Ram? Robinson
Mark
1. Kenny Omega
2. Austin Aries
3. Kenny King
4. Eddie Kingston
5. Ophidian
6. Jimmy Jacobs
7. Sami Callihan
8. Jagged
9. Claudio Castagnoli
10. Jimmy Rave
Top 10 Female Wrestlers
David
1. Kelly Kelly
2. Maria
3. Velvet Sky
4. Mickie James
5. Maryse
6. Melina
7. Michelle McCool
8. Taylor Wilde
9. Miss April
10. Brooke Carter
Mark
1. Natalya
2. Cheerleader Melissa
3. Michelle McCool
4. Maryse
5. Sara Del Rey
6. Lufisto
7. Awesome Kong
8. Angelina Love
9. Daffney
10. Gail Kim
Top 10 Finishers
David
1. Shooting Star Press
2. 450 Splash
3. Spear
4. Phoenix Splash
5. Styles Clash
6. Dragon Sleeper
7. Texas Cloverleaf
8. Asai DDT (Standing Shrianui)
9. Dragonrana
10. Spiral Tap
Mark
1. Spear (Edge)
2. RKO
3. Chokeslam (big show)
4. Pay Dirt
5. Blue Thunder Bomb
6. Tombstone Piledriver
7. Trouble in Paradise (Kofi)
8. Go To Sleep
9. Shooting Star Press (Bourne)
10. Styles Clash (McCool)
11. Walls of Jericho
Top 10 Theme Songs
David
1. Maria
2. Shawn Michaels
3. Shane McMahon
4. Kofi Kingston
5. ECW
6. Christian
7. Santino
8. Chris Jericho
9. Kane
10. Rey Mysterio
Honorable mention: Hornswoggle/Finlay
Mark
1. Chris Jericho
2. Matt Hardy
3. Edge
4. Charlie Haas
5. Big Show
6. Shane McMahon
7. Vince McMahon
8. Goldust
9. Triple H
10. Jack Swagger
What’s in the News?
all news is taken from the WrestleView archives
WWE Women’s Champion Melina, who was recently drafted to Smackdown, has been off the road due to strep throat
-am I the only one that didn?t even know she WAS off the road?
Wrestler Benoit’s doctor gets 10 years in prison. Dr. Phil Astin was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty Jan. 29 to 175 counts that including illegally distributing prescription drugs.
In the month of April, World Wrestling Entertainment’s flagship Web site, WWE.com, had more U.S. visits than premier pop culture and sports hubs Disney.com, TMZ.com, Hulu.com, PerezHilton.com, CBS.com, ABC.com, NBC.com, NBA.com and NFL.com, according to Hitwise, a leading online competitive intelligence provider.
-Mike Siciliano of ?Pro’s from the Palace noted: “Is this something to truly brag about?? Perhaps the fans are visiting the web because they don’t have the cash to go to the shows?? ”
WWE’s legal department is said to be very aware of websites like Justin.tv streaming WWE PPV events for free in real time and have been working hard to shut down the feeds
-We can?t really complain about this one, I mean in all fairness streaming is illegal
According to Jeremy Borash’s Twitter page, James Storm (of Beer Money, Inc. along with Robert Roode) signed a new long-term contract with TNA Wrestling.
-I?ve yet to really jump on this whole Twitter bandwagon. I made one a while back but haven?t really gotten into it, besides Facebook takes up enough of my time as it is
WTAE-TV 4 in Pittsburgh has an article up looking at the MMA movie “Warrior” starring Nick Nolte and TNA star Kurt Angle. There was an interesting quote from Angle in the article who added, “I’m going to continue to wrestle for a little while longer. But my crossover — the appeal is coming, and it appears I’m going to start doing movies for a living, so I’m very excited about my future.”
-Well hey, at least he has an exit strategy
According to the official website for Time-Warner Cable, the company is stating that they will stop carrying HDNet as of May 31, 2009. HDNet is the home for Ring of Honor Wrestling which airs every Saturday night. This took place a few months ago and the company continued to carry the network following new negotiations.
-uh oh
WrestleView reader Qanas in Kuwait sent us word that a soccer player wore a Rey Mysterio mask during a celebration after scoring a goal during a game between Palermo vs. Lazio in Italy.
-cheers to our friend in Kuwait. Looks like wearing Rey masks is becoming a celebrity fad
Comcast employees were notified this past Friday via email that they were to update their marketing materials to reflect a name change for WWE’s June PPV, The Great American Bash reports PWInsider. The new name will now reportedly be, “The Bash.” This change has not taken place yet on the WWE website.
-taking the final step away from its WCW routes it seems. This is interesting considering that in years past a lot of the promo was spent dealing with the historic past of the PPV
Tim Baines of The Ottawa Sun has an interview up with WWE star Jack Swagger.
-On how he got his name “Jack Swagger” in WWE:
“WWE Creative came up with the name, it’s definitely awesome. My late grandfather’s name was Jack. It’s funny, when my old college buddies from the (Oklahoma Sooners) football team heard the name, they were like: ‘Yep, that’s him, that’s the perfect name.’ What I do, the smiling, that’s me. And the cockiness, the sarcasm … I’m sarcastic (in real life), I like to mess with people. And calling myself the All-American American, that just pisses everybody off.”
According to Jeremy Borash over on his official Twitter page, So Cal Val will now become a new backstage interviewer for TNA Wrestling. Borash added, “She will be helping with TNA live events! Congrats Val! Lauren and I will still be handling iMPACT! Val will be keeping the crowd hyped at TV tapings & doing local TV interviews. She’s a natural!”
-can?t hurt, she was never going to be a serious competitor
Ratings
WWE RAW ? 3.29
ECW on Sci-Fi ? .93
TNA Impact ? 1.2
WWE Smackdown ?
WWE Stock Update
Week Ending May 15th 2009
Open ? 11.47
Close ? 11.29
Low ? 11.02
High ? 11.49
Quick Results
Well, I?ve decide to finally stop being lazy and including ROH and WWE Superstars results. I?d liketo say it was because I received hordes of requests for me to include them, but I think my laziness matched your interest. Nonetheless here ya go:
RAW
-WWE Champion Randy Orton def. Batista by disqualification
-United States Champion MVP & Kofi Kingston def. Matt Hardy & William Regal
-Santina Marella def. Beth Phoenix in a Miss WrestleMania Match
-John Cena and The Miz’s “Exhibition Match” ended in a no-contest
-The Brian Kendrick def. WWE Unified Tag Team Champion Carlito
-Mickie James & Kelly Kelly def. Divas Champion Maryse & Jillian
-Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase def. Batista by disqualification
ECW
-Mark Henry def. Tommy Dreamer
-Finlay def. Tyson Kidd (disqualification)
-Vladimir Kozlov def. local competitor
WWE Superstars
-Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio def. Shelton Benjamin
-ECW Champion Christian def. Mark Henry
-Big Show def. Hornswoggle (Disqualification)
TNA Impact
-?Fallen Angel? Christopher Daniels def. Chris Sabin w/ Alex Shelley
-?Samoan Submission Machine? Samoa Joe def. ?Showtime? Eric Young
-Intergender Stretcher Match: Awesome Kong w/Raisha Saeed def. Kip James w/Angelina Love
-Team 3D Invitational Tag Team Tournament Semifinals: British Invasion w/Rob Terry def. Amazing Red & Suicide
-Handicap Match: ?Big Sexy? Kevin Nash def. No Limit
-I Quit Match: Booker T. w/Sharmell def. ?The Outlaw? Jethro Holliday
Smackdown
-CM Punk & John Morrison def. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas
-Jeff Hardy def. Ricky Ortiz
-Women’s Champion Melina & Gail Kim def. Michelle McCool & Alicia Fox
-Dolph Ziggler def. Jimmy Wang Yang
-R-Truth def. Mike Knox
-World Heavyweight Champion Edge def. Chris Jericho (non-title)
ROH
-Claudio Castagnoli def. Brent Albright
-Dark City Fight Club def. Grizzly Redwood & ?Sugar Foot? Alex Payne
-Jay Briscoe def. Sami Callihan
-?Mr. Wrestling? Kevin Steen & El Generico def. Kenny King & Rhett ?Addicted To Love? Titus
Loose Ends
-Please send me your own Top 10 Lists this week
-I?ll be compiling the WrestleView fans responses together to form a list and we?ll look back in about six months and see how all of our opinions have changed and grown
-The more of you that participate and e-mail me, the better the results will be when we compare down the line
-You don?t have to complete all the lists, you can just send me one or two if you want, any response is appreciated
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So ?that’s a wrap?. Love it? Hate it? Disagree with everything I said? Just want to chat wrestling? I?m always up for reading your thoughts so send them ?em on over.