Major Changes in WWE

It looks like the WWE will be doing some important changes in the near future. They will stop doing Heat, a series that airs on wwe.com and will start bringing the ECW brand on SCI FI tapings to the RAW brand. It seems that the changes will take place this June, right after the WWE tour in Australia. So far the plans are to have ECW wrestlers fight at RAW tapings so that there will be more interest in ECW and ratings will start being higher on Tuesday night.

Now the normal thing would be that ECW wrestlers will join RAW house shows but this is still not confirmed. As an immediate result, Smackdown will be a stand alone TV show together with their house show events. Also, TV affiliates of the WWE have been informed that a new WWE Classics show will start airing instead of Heat, a series that will use old footage.

My View on WWE Judgement Day 2008

Well, Judgement Day 2008 was not really that impressive on the whole and I have not been impressed by most things. First off we had a JBL vs John Cena match, one that started very slow. JBL started working on Cena's shoulder, Cena missing a flying move from the turnbuckle and basically a big domination on the part of JBL. Then, when John Cena seemed to be out of it we saw the F U and everything was over. Quite a long and boring match, definitely one that should not have been the first one in the pay per view. Then we got to see a match for the tag team titles between John Morrison and The Miz and the team of the ECW Champion Kane and CM Punk. We did see some nice moves by CM Punk, a Chokeslam by Kane on The Miz on the outside and then John Morrison with a finisher on Punk for the win. Again, not a special math whatsoever.

Then we got to see the match between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. Now this match did live up to the hype and it has quite an interesting storyline around it, with HBK faking injury to win against Batista. The entire match was action packed and I must say that it was totally enjoyable. Every wrestler pulled out their signature moves and Shawn Michaels won the match with a roll up as Jericho was going for the Walls of Jericho. Thumbs up for this match!

We also saw the women's title defended by Mickie James in what was quite a decent match but not as special as the matches we get to see more and more often in TNA. Now Mickie did put in great moves and Beth Phoenix did lift both of the opponents (Melina and Mickie James) on just one shoulder, showing a lot of strength although the end was a simple jumping DDT on Melina. Not a great match but one that was better than many women's wrestling matches I saw in the WWE.

Now the next match was the one I was waiting for as the Undertaker faced Edge for the vacated World Heavyweight Championship title. I must say that this storyline was great and still is great, probably the best one that I have seen in a while with the WWE. I am still disgusted by the fact that Vickie Guerrero is playing the role of Edge's girlfriend but still, this does sit well with the entire storyline. The match was great between the two wrestlers and the end saw the Undertaker win via count out. Then we got to see a twist in the story as there was no pin or submission so Vickie Guerrero stated that the title is still vacant. Then there was a tombstone on Edge just as The Undertaker was pissed. Can't wait to see how this rivalry continues.

Next we saw an unexpected match with MVP issuing a challenge and Matt Hardy accepting it on behalf of Jeff Hardy. Cute little match that was won with the Whisper in the Wind by Hardy although MVP kind of dominated most of the match.

The main event was Triple H versus Randy Orton for the WWE title. The match was pretty good but nothing really special. You had the feeling of hate between the wrestlers and that is always nice. Triple H did a figure 4 leg lock and then some chair shots. Not a great match although it is good to continue the feud, which will lead towards a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand. That match should be more interesting. On the whole, it was not as special as I had hoped. The Undertaker's match and Jericho's were enjoyable but the rest were kind of boring in my view.

The Icon Sting

Sting is by far one of my favorite professional wrestlers in history and I did get to see him ever since the early days, with his colored costumes and face paint. His real name is Steve James Borden and was born on the 20th of March 1959. Sting is one of the only two wrestlers that have been world champions and never wrestled for World Wrestling Entertainment, together with Abyss. He is a 12 time world heavyweight champion in wrestling organizations like National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling All-Stars and Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling. It is needless to say that Sting is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. He never did wrestle for the WWE and when he appeared in TNA the shock was incredible. A lot of old WCW fans started watching TNA just because of this man.

Leaving all that aside, Sting is a guy that started wrestling as a bodybuilder. He made his professional wrestling debut in November 1985 as Flash Borden. During his career he was also known as Blade Runner Flash, Flash, The Crow and, of course, Sting. His biggest wrestling successes came in WCW, where he had so many memorable feuds and his transformation in the "Crow" Sting was something that was tremendous and done in the era of the New World Order, something that eventually did backfire although my favorite face paint of Steve Borden is the red and black Sting of the NWO wolfpack. Sting even fought in the last match of the WCW ever against Ric Flair, something that every WCW fan will remember.

Now Sting is still in TNA, wrestling, with a huge career behind him. We all remember his wrestling finishing and signature moves: The Scorpion Deathlock (a sharpshooter), The Scorpion Death Drop (a Reverse DDT), the Stinger Splash, the Spinebuster, the belly to back suplex, the snap DDT, the dropkick, the diving crossbody, one-handed bulldog and the way he punches. He also has that black baseball bat as a signature foreign object and on the whole we all remember and will keep on remembering his face paint patterns. You might be interested in visiting Sting's official web site: The Real Sting. And to finish this post, here is a small tribute vid that I liked, one that pictures Sting's WCW days:

John Cena on Conan - NBC

Here is a short recording of John Cena appearing on Conan on NBC. It is quite hilarious and funny!

Jeff Hardy Update

It is needless to say that Jeff Hardy is highly popular and he is a wrestler that has entertained wrestling fans all over the world. The problem is that, as we probably all know, he was suspended for 60 days by the WWE because he broke the Wellness policy of the company for the second time. To make it even worse, his North Caroline home also burned down. It is easy to see how such events can put a mark on someone but the good news is that Jeff Hardy is now motivated, in great physical shape (As we already saw when he defeated Umaga on his comeback night) and on the whole Jeff Hardy is in better spirits.

Now we see that Jeff is back on a full time basis with the WWE and he will be traveling with the company. Various sources that are close to Hardy have revealed that the fire was a wake up call for him and now he realizes the importance of his wrestling career and the importance of his WWE contract. Needless to say that all the recent mistakes he did were his own fault and we are happy to see that Jeff Hardy is back. He even has plans to re-build his North Carolina home and is already looking at various blue prints. Also, we must keep in mind that although this was the second time Hardy broke the Wellness Policy, he did not spend time in a rehab facility so his recovery is all his and his motivation. Welcome back, Jeff!

4 Days Till WWE Judgement Day

4 Days till Judgement Day and we have quite an interesting wrestling matches card setup although not that much to my personal liking. We will get to see a steel cage match between Triple H and Randy Orton for the WWE championship and the World Heavyweight Championship will be defended by The Undertaker against Edge. Now the women's championship will be won or lost in a triple threat match between Beth Phoenix, Mickie James and Melina. The stupid (in my personal view) rivalry between JBL and John Cena will be handled in a regular match. We will also see a match for the Intercontinental Championship between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels and then the last match that is announced is for the WWE Tag Team Championship between the raining champions, The Miz & John Morrison and ECW Champion Kane and CM Punk. I do not really know why but I think TNA Sacrifice will end up being better than Judgement Day.

40 Wrestling Finishers

It is safe to say that every single individual has a different top of the 40 wrestling finishers that impressed him/her the most. Well, there are hundreds of such movies on youtube and a lot of wrestling moves that should not be performed, like the number one in this video. In any case, this is one wrestling finisher compilation movie that is pretty interesting. A lot of finishers that I have never seen before:

Ashley Massaro Linked with an Escort Service

WWE woman wrestler Ashley Massaro and Playboy Cyber Girl of the week on January 5th 2004 is now attacked with allegations that she worked for an escort service called Bella Models. This agency is investigated at the moment by the FBI and it seems that it frequently recruits Playboy Playmates, Penthouse Pets and Playboy models in general, including various other female beauties. There is also a BellModels.com web site that featured a special page with the female wrestler. As expected, Ashley denied everything but it looks like the problems are serious for her and other models that are also linked with the FBI case. We are talking about Miss May 1999 Playmate of the Month, Tishara Cousino, Tina Jordan (a former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner and Miss February 2002 Playmate of the Month), world renowned Krystal Steal, Maxim Model Jody Palmer and Sandy Bentley (one gall that was Hugh Hefner's girlfriend until she was caught cheating on him with someone that was allegedly met through this escort service). One can also mention various other porn stars including Taryn Thomas, Lanny Barbie and Naomi.

Now even if this is true or not we can not deny the fact that this case will have an impact on the WWE Diva and on her popularity. We might see the company withdraw part of the support offered to her and this would be a shame. More news is expected in the future.

Petey Williams Injured

Unfortunately for the wrestler, Petey Williams suffered what is considered to be a broken orbital bone. This happened at the Impact tapings in Orlando, Florida, all during a 6 man X Division match that was no title. The first report stated that Petey Williams suffered from a broken jaw due to a strong knee that was delivered by Jimmy Rave but it was later discovered that this was not the case. The problem at hand was that Williams did not have a health insurance and he was scared because of that. It seems that everything was put on the TNA bill.