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Archive for October 19th, 2009

While the WWE has an eye-catching lineup of female talent, one of the most annoying (and not in a good way) is Jillian Hall, who almost certainly needs to become more familiar with acne treatments. Of course, I’m talking “acne” of the voice… I know it’s intended to be bad… but it is SO bad…

Melina is a far more “livable” diva, since she has no overly annoying gimmick. Eve, Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim and Maryse are also less annoying when it comes to draining screen-time away from the real WWE superstars.

Now is certainly the time to start delivering on what could become one of the marquee feuds of the year; Randy Orton and John Cena are both at exactly the right stages in their careers to headline PPVs all the way between now and Wrestlemania.

While most feuds last less time than that these days, rarely do the top two stars in the company peak at just the right time to be ideal opponents; Austin was older than The Rock, for example, and Andre was older than Hogan by a lot. And even though he’s a long-time wrestler himself, Chris Jericho was much younger last year than Shawn Michaels, who likes to rent his hotels near Disneyland.

While there are a few years separating Orton and Cena, it’s certainly a fitting feud that has enough potential that one could find enough variations on the theme to last through the next WrestleMania. After that, the feud should be back-burnered for a while, but definitely these two superstars have the potential to headline more than even just one WrestleMania.

Hopefully this doesn’t bode an ill wind for Linda McMahon’s chances against Chris Dodd, but Jerry “the King” Lawler was solidly rejected by the populace of Memphis as a candidate for mayor recently. Out of a wide field of candidates, Lawler finished in a very distant fifth place with only four percent of the vote.

Lawler, who at one point promoted himself during his in-ring wrestling career as the “King of Memphis,” saw that popularity in sports entertainment doesn’t necessarily translate into political success. Call it the Reverse Ventura Principle.

While Lawler may be able to walk down the streets of Memphis and still need identity theft protection, apparently he’s not quite popular enough to get those looks of recognition translated into votes at the polls.

There was a time when Jim Ross and WWE were as inseparable as auto mechanics and truck accessories; but even though his current contract expires come 2010, WWE apparently has not even begun negotiating an extension for Ross, who currently is the lead announcer on SmackDown.

So, the gossips are speculating – as they do – that the WWE’s only straight-talker may soon be talking up TNA instead of WWE. If it comes to pass, it would certainly go a long way toward improving the announcing quality at TNA.

All we can say here at ProWrestlingViews, though, is… say it ain’t so, guys! WWE and Jim Ross simply should not part ways.

US Democratic Senator Chris Dodd and the Connecticut Democratic Party is behind a YouTube effort to minimize and discredit Linda McMahon, even though she’s not yet even the GOP’s nominee. Already, they are mining over 4396841 scenes from Raw, Smackdown, ECW and various PPVs over the past 25 years to come up with some really damning stuff.

Of course, they found the infamous “Katie Vick” storyline in which Triple H accuses Kane, who he was to face at a PPV, of being a murderer and necrophiliac. Katie Vick was the name given to Kane’s alleged victim, and Triple H in a sketch intended to demean Kane through comedy, tactlessly simulates the supposed murder of Vick.

Tacky and tasteless? Sure. But it’s interesting that Dodd and the Connecticut Dems are already pulling out the big guns like this, when Linda hasn’t even won a straw poll among the state’s GOP faithful. Seems a bit premature. Could they be worried about her potential appeal if she does secure the nomination?

Oh well… you can always trust a Democrat to stab you in the back.

Just weeks after his mother, Linda McMahon, announced she was stepping down from her WWE position to run for US Senate as a Republican, Shane McMahon has also announced his intent to leave his father’s company, effective January 1, 2010.

Shane behind the scenes was a creative force on the media side of WWE, helping to create the Attitude Era, modernizing the company’s Web site and fulfillment center in 1997, and generally helping the company to become “with it” going into 2000. Since then, however, the company has been stuck in neutral, clinging to what worked a decade ago, and that’s just not cutting it anymore.

Perhaps Shane is stepping down to help his mother’s political campaign. Perhaps he’ll start a company of his own. No one’s talking about his next step just yet, and anyone who is, is using only the vaguest of terms.

Either way, with Vince in his 60s and suddenly seeming to age quickly, both of these moves seem to clear the way for Vince to set up daughter Stephanie McMahon-Levesque to slowly take over the reigns of the company from her father.

Whether she remains behind the scenes completely or follows her father’s example of inserting herself into WWE programming, the change won’t be felt immediately, but in, say, five to 10 years, expect everyone to look back at this event as the day Stephanie won the battle for control of WWE.

Jeff Hardy is known for blazing many trails; his style of high-energy, high-acrobatic wrestling, combined with his penchant for taking risks in the ring, cemented his star in the pro wrestling universe early on. His daring jump – as a hot WWE superstar rather than one past his prime – to TNA blazed a trail for other bankable names defecting. And his surprising return to WWE after such a stunning betrayal of the McMahon family was the icing on the cake.

Now, Jeff Hardy is fighting for his freedom and wouldn’t be able to get a decent insurance quote on anything, thanks to a September drug bust that may or may not be the result of a sting operation. Either way, not only is his eventual return to the ring in serious doubt, but so is his long-term freedom.

If Hardy pleads out or is found guilty on charges like these, it will mark an ignominious end to the career of one of pro wrestlings great risk takers, as well as an excellent in-ring storyteller.