House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[air_raid]

OCTOBER 2007

THE MAIN EVENTS - RAW

There is - at long last - a new (literally brand new, first - OK, second technically - reign) WWE Champion and after No Mercy its a European Tour for both rosters. Great gates in Erfurt, Braunschweig, Cologne and Glasgow for alternating mains of Randy Orton vs Jeff Hardy for the belt and Jeff and Triple H beating Orton and Umaga - the same in Cardiff, Sheffield and two nights in Belfast.

THE CARDS

Triple H vs Umaga happens on nights the tour isnt a tag main, and its a streetfight. Ken Kennedy vs Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes vs Carlito happens two nights and each face wrestles the other heel twice, then Carlito starts losing every night to Harry Smith and Kennedy is pinning Val Venis. Tag title of Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick goes on for the tour before TVs then its Bobcore & Cody - in Belfast it’s non title so that… well, you know (grr). Beth Phoenix vs Candice Michelle continues for the Womens title though half the nights Beth's forced to do bikini contest with the Extreme Expose girls involved too.

On the tour it’s usually Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs William Regal and Super Crazy doing more jobs to Gene Snitsky. For ECW on tour it’s either Tommy Dreamer & Balls Mahoney vs Elijah Burke & Mike Mizanin or two singles with Dreamer pinning Burke and Balls beating Miz.

VARIATIONS

In Erfurt Val loses to Super Crazy, Regal has a night off and Duggan jobs to Snitsky. In Cologne Regal misses another and Val loses to Duggan. In London only Regal beats Carlito and Harry beats Santino. In Cardiff Super Crazy beats Regal with Duggan and Snitsky just running in afterwards. In Sheffield Regal & Harry beat Cade & Murdoch by DQ so Cody beats Carlito again and Hardcore beats Santino.

MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN

12th-15th we're in Luxembourg City, Brussels, Minehead (Butlins LOL) and Newcastle for alternating Batista, The Undertaker & Matt Hardy vs Great Khali, Fit Finlay & MVP and Batista vs Khali vs Rey Mysterio for the belt, after TVs in Manchester (16,000+) Nottingham Glasgow and Aberdeen it’s exclusively the six man.

THE CARDS

The Undertaker & Kane vs Fit Finlay & Chris Masters happens on nights when Taker isn't main event ; the other nights, Masters is with Rey Mysterio and Kane's dropping Kevin Thorn, randomly. After Birmingham TVs Reys also beating Jamie Noble in Glasgow and Aberdeen. The MVP vs Matt Hardy grudge match goes on when neither of them is main event.

On tour its Jesse & Festus vs Deuce & Domino and Chuck Palumbo vs Dave Taylor every night. CM Punk vs John Morrison in ECW title rematches is a treat half the nights ; Punk losing a handicap to Big Daddy V & Matt Striker the others is not. Johnny Jeter is picking up the job for Morrison or Thorn when they don't have their other opponent. Michelle McCool & Maryse vs Victoria & Kat Waters is a common tag, the former Nikita tries out various monikers on the tour ; Katerina, Katie Lea, Katie England.

TVs

1st in Cleveland a few guys return from suspensions and Ron Simmons tapes another Heat match pinning Daivari, a memorable Raw has Umaga return and kickstart his HHH feud but Kennedy manages to be part of John Cena getting injured in his first televised match back. Whoops. For reasons unknown SmackDown's Mysterio beats SmackDown's MVP by count-out in the dark main. Next night in Dayton the Major Brothers beat Paul Burchill & Taylor and TWC regular Mike Kruel jobs for Sho Funaki in dark matches, Ace Steel does a job for Chuck on SmackDown and dark The Undertaker pins Mark Henry. No Mercy has a dark match - Hardcore beats young Cody again. Can we pause on No Mercy for a second? Orton being declared then finally winning the WWE title here is the first time he gets a big belt in over 3 years. That's incredible. Oh, and Beth relieves Candice of the Womens belt. 9th in Detroit (a disappointing 7000) Morrison returns to TV by beating Punk non title (WHY THE FUCK), SmackDown has Taker and Kane beat Matt & MVP non title (DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS) plus Krissy Vaine is involved in a backstage segment - her first and last. 15th we're at the NEC and not only does the heir to England Harry Smith pin Carlito dark with his dad's finish, Robbie Brookside jobs to Snitsky for Heat and on Raw Andy Simmons (Andy Local!) jobs to Umaga in three separate short gimmick matches. Plus Shawn Michaels returns and beats Orton by DQ. Next night Carl Ouellet (Pierre/PCO) rocks up in Brum to try out with Dreamer, and Drew McIntyre makes his SmackDown debut with Taylor as his second. 22nd in Omaha “DH Smith” pins Carlito in his Raw debut, (Ron) Simmons beats Santino by DQ and in the process of losing to Phoenix, Candice cracks her clavicle (ouch). Next night in Kansas City dark Kenny Dykstra has Victoria with him to see if that works, as he loses to Chuck (who’s had Michelle coming down with him). For SmackDown a Steve Fender tags with Joe Hennig (yes, that one) to lose to Jesse & Festus and dark, Batista & Rey beat Khali & Finlay. Dark at Cyber Sunday the former Daltons beat Deuce & Domino on a show where Kennedy beats Jeff non title (FUCK OFF) and a forgotten rematch has Big Dave pin Taker, reffed by Steve Austin. Philadelphia next night Dykstra loses dark to Atlas Dabone who apparently will later be Ricky Ortiz in ECW, and on Raw Mick Foley refs Hornswoggle vs Coach, next night at Nassau the Majors beat Drew & Dave dark and for TV Kane pins MVP non title (FUCK THIS SHIT).

DEPARTURES

8th in Grand Rapids Daivari puts over Cody again for Heat then they let him go. As soon as they put that other lad with Khali, he must have known he was on borrowed time. I saw the poor lad take the piss out of Man City not being able to sign Kaka once, getting a British crowd's football sensibilities arse backwards as they nearly always did. Ryan O'Reilly and Krissy Vaine - a couple outside of the ring - both ask for and are granted releases this month because they both have family members that are ill. Rotten luck, right?

[HarmonicGenerator]

I didn’t realise how frequently they toured internationally around this time. Seems to be a tour almost every month!

[air_raid]

2 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

I didn’t realise how frequently they toured internationally around this time. Seems to be a tour almost every month!

Just like the (gush warning) mid-90s before, the reaction to domestic business underperforming has ALWAYS been to hit the international markets hard where the market hasn't been saturated and people will still come out in droves for their rare chance to see the wrestlers off the telly. 05-07 was a great time for "Hey, let's go to Singapore," "Hey, San Juan always sells, let's do a whole TOUR in Puerto Rico" "Hey, does anyone know where Guatemala is?" etc

[SaitoRyo]

On 7/8/2023 at 10:05 AM, air_raid said:

Rob Van Dam lets his contract expire in June, burned out after giving everything for six years straight. Even after the embarrassment of the drugs bust the company put him over strong by letting him actually win his stretcher match against Orton at One Night Stand before getting injured and written out ; still high on him in the ring, they hope he’ll be back. After one shots at 15th Anniversary Raw and the 2009 Rumble and a lengthy spell in TNA, he’ll return for another run between 2013 and 2014 but not quite hit the heights of his first. Which is crazy, because if you think RVD wasn’t good enough to merit a run on top during that particular era of two titles, I’d say you’re out of your mind.

Recently been re-watching some of Van Dam's 2013/14 run and he came back so motivated and over. After six years away he seemed really fresh, too. Also helped that he looked pretty much exactly the same and could still hit his trademark offense. Just last night I watched a random August 2013 SmackDown match with him and Orton and thought, fucking hell that guy could move well. 

I definitely would've given him a run with one of the belts, especially since he had two pay-per-view title matches with that shithouse Alberto Del Rio. Pairing him with Ricardo Rodriguez was a mistake, mind. That just never fit. 

When he came back after his break in 2014 he still tried, but they seemed to only care about jobbing him out to help get the current crop over. Which is understandable, to a point, but a bit of a waste imo. 

[air_raid]

NOVEMBER 2007

THE MAIN EVENTS - RAW

3rd in San Diego is extra special - hometown boy Rey Mysterio is borrowed from SmackDown and tags with Triple H to beat Randy Orton and Umaga. 4th in San Bernardino Orton defends against Jeff Hardy before HHH vs Umaga then we’re off to Oz - 8th in Brisbane it’s the same top with Jeff winning a battle royal to earn his shot at show open, 9th in Sydney it’s actually Orton vs Jeff vs Ken Kennedy, 10th in Melbourne (record setting attendance in the Rod Laver) it’s a tag main of HHH/Hardy vs RKO/Umaga. The same tag main events a joint brand show 17th in Fort Myers, then 24th in Augusta and 25th in Greenville HHH vs Umaga is going into a cage atop Orton vs Hardy.

THE CARDS

Ken Kennedy swaps wins (yes) with Cody Rhodes in San Bernardino and Brisbane then Ken's winning Fort Myers, Augusta and Greenville. Month end we pick back up Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick for the tag belts and Hardcore Holly vs Carlito. Womens title of Beth Phoenix vs Mickie James is a rare ray of consistency in Cali, Australia and Fort Myers, virtually everything else is a mess. Down South month end we have a tag of Mickie & Maria vs Jillian Hall & Melina which I can't imagine hit as hard.

Vladimir Kozlov beats Super Crazy in San Diego and Augusta, and beats Hacksaw Jim Duggan in San Bernardino and Greenville ; it's also Duggan vs Santino in Sydney and Melbourne.

VARIATIONS - FUCKING CHRIST

I'm going to start with the tag belts. In straight tags, Cade & Murdoch beat The Highlanders in Brisbane and Cody & Hardcore in Sydney after THEY'VE beaten Robbie & Rory AND Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin in separate matches ; there's also multi-man fun, in San Diego they beat Cody & Holly plus Haas & Benjamin, in San Bernardino its the WGTT and Duggan & Super Crazy, in Melbourne its the WGTT and the Highlanders. Fuck. Otherwise;  Jeff vs Kennedy in San Diego where it’s also Carlito vs Atlas Dabone, Duggan over William Regal and  Santino over Kendrick. In San Bernardino Holly over Carlito, Regal over Atlas and Kozlov over Kendrick. Jillian is involved in the Women’s title match in Brisbane, where it’s also Kendrick upsetting Shelton. In Sydney Kendrick pins Regal, it’s Kennedy vs Hardcore in Melbourne plus Gene Snitsky over Kendrick and Cody beating Regal. In Augusta Gene Snitsky beats Duggan ; in Greenville, Kozlov does. And for Raw matches in Fort Myers The King gets a run out against Santino and Kofi Kingston pins Ted DiBiase Jr.

THE MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN

3rd in Redding its Batista vs Great Khali for the belt, 4th in Stockton it’s once again Batista & Rey Mysterio vs Khali & Fit Finlay before a tour of Puerto Rico - 9th in Ponce (LOL) that tag has added Undertaker and (local flavour bortowed from Raw) Carlito, next night in Arecibo Dave & Taker drop Khali & Finlay, 11th in San Juan (massive 17,000+ sellout) it’s Taker, Batista & Kane beating Khali, Finlay & MVP. SmackDowns big contribution to Fort Myers has Dave and Kane beat that same villainous trio in a handicap match. 24th-25th in Knoxville and Charleston WV Dave has days off so Taker & Kane beat MVP and - he's back! - Edge. 

THE CARDS

Between a small card in Redding that has nothing in common with Stockton and serious rotation in Puerto Rico we’re struggling here too! MVP vs Kane for the UST happens more than once. CM Punk defends the ECW belt against The Miz in California, John Morrison two nights in Puerto Rico and Elijah Burke in Arecibo and down South. Once MNM mk2 win the tag belts, they defend in three ways with Deuce & Domino and Jesse & Festus. 

The near unstoppable Chuck Palumbo beats Chavo Guerrero Jr in Stockton and San Juan, Drew McIntyre in Fort Myers, Knoxville and Charleston, likewise after the tour Big Daddy V squashes Tommy Dreamer. In Puerto Rico there are two more editions of Michelle McCool vs Victoria.

VARIATIONS - FUCKING CHRIST

Just a four match card in Redding is completed by Kane & Palumbo beating MVP & Finlay, and Jimmy Wang Yang pinning Chavo. In Stockton, Yang loses to McIntyre, Mark Henry crushes Shannon Moore, Morrison pins Dreamer and the last house show singles match for Torrie Wilson has her pin Vic. Ponce has one more round of MVP vs Matt Hardy, Kane pins Chavo, Palumbo pins Kenny Dykstra, Dreamer jobs for Burke, Matt Striker pins Sho Funaki and Yang pins Jamie Noble. In Arecibo Rey Mysterio pins Noble, Hardy pins Carlito, Yang beats Chavo and Funaki, Morrison pins Stevie Richards, Dreamer pins Striker and Palumbo & Michelle beat Dykstra & Vic. In San Juan Rey pins Carlito, Matt pins Dykstra, Yang beats Noble and Funaki and Burke & Striker beat Dreamer & Richards. In Fort Myers it’s Punk vs Miz vs Morrison and Jesse & Festus beat Deuce & Domino. In Knoxville Noble pins Funaki, Chavo beats OVWs Charles Evans and Torrie & Michelle beat Raws Beth Phoenix & Vic, and finally in Charleston Evans goes over Funaki, Noble pins Chavo and Vic teams with Nattie Neidhart to lose to Wilson & McCool.

TVs

5th at a sold out Staples Center the mini comeback continues - Ron Simmons beats Aaron Aguilera for Heat. No roster notes next night in Bakersfield. 12th in Topeka Dabone jobs to Duggan dark and on Raw Batista & Taker beat Cade & Murdoch non title (oh do fuck off). Next night in Wichita Kevin Thorn beats Little Guido dark, and on SmackDown Miz & Morrison (yay!) win the tag belts from MVP & Matt. Night after Survivors in Fort Lauderdale, Norman Smiley loses to Kozlov dark, on Heat Duggan beats Mai Tai Anoa’i - that’s Afa Jr who will later get a run as Manu - the Save Us videos are paid off with the obvious yet still brilliant return of Chris Jericho and dark, DX beat Umaga & Kennedy. Next night in Tampa there’s one of the most bizarre tryouts you’ll ever hear about - The Nasty Boys beat Dave Taylor & Drew McIntyre. Now, fuck knows who saw what in the ten years Knobbs and Sags were off the national stage that made them think “Maybe there’s something left” and they weren’t as played out as they’d been in 1993. Regardless, the boys fucked up in every conceivable way. Backstage they act like big stars despite their one title reign in the company putting them on par with Santino and Hornswoggle, they take forever sauntering to the ring like returning heroes, pausing with every friend or family member and glad-handing with fans. The match itself was a mess, the Nasties were unduly stiff with their opponents which the company really didn't like in respect to then-21 year old McIntyre who they had high hopes for. Worst of all the consequence of them dawdling was the whole taping was then running at a time delay to schedule, meaning when they wrapped what they needed to tape for SmackDown, they had about 5 minutes to change the aprons etc for ECW which at the time was still broadcast live. Needless to say, the Boys didn't secure a deal or future bookings. Thank Christ. Don’t worry, TNA will come knocking. Shelton transfers to ECW splitting up the WGTT for the second time, on SmackDown there are a fair few upsets - MVP pins Rey by cheating, Noble of all people halts the momentum of Palumbo, and Torrie cleanly pins former two time champ Victoria. Dark, Batista and Rey beat MVP and - back in the ring! - Edge. 26th in Charlotte one of the best-known jobbers ever, Marty Garner (of botched Pedigree fame) does a job dark for Kozlov, Christian York gets himself on Heat losing to Carlito, Jericho wrestles his first televised match back dropping Santino with the Codebreaker, and the long build towards Ric Flair retiring (LOL) kicks in after he returns from a lengthy absence and is thrust into the "lose, you're gone" scenario - and he pins WWE Champion Randy Orton in a non-title match (FUCKKKKK YOOOUUUUU!!!!!). This is also the episode with one of the worst segments ever where Hornswoggle spray paints a tunnel on the wall and then goes through it to escape Carlito. Look, we all know the wrestling part is choreographed and its just a story, but - FUCK - in the story, Hornswoggle just performed a magic trick. Just fuck off with that. Next night in Roanoke James Curtis (KC James) loses to McIntyre in one dark match and in the other, 15 years of mediocrity is about to kick off - Nattie jobs to Vic. Little of note happens on SmackDown but Noble pins Palumbo again. And Teddy Long returns, recovered from whatever caused him collapse at his wedding. Hey, where's his wife? Who knows.

DEPARTURES 

Barely any time after returning from his Signature Pharmacy suspension Chris Masters tests positive for a banned substance and is suspended for 60 days but in the process the company decides he’s a walking scandal risk and lets him go. Of course he’ll be back looking still ripped but less inflated and genuinely become a superb worker, in term. 2006 Diva Search entrant Brooke Adams reaches the end of her one year contract and unlike Maryse or winner Layla, is released, marking the end of Extreme Expose. How nobody in WWE saw upside to her is beyond me, and as Miss Tessmacher she will become as close to a star as possible in TNA without ever getting the call to come back. Dave Taylor reaches the end of his potential uses after brief spells as Burchills partner and McIntyres mentor. Talented wrestler he was, “fresh new talent” he was not, and he’s a great example of how they were giving deals to all sorts.

Finally...... Torrie Wilson takes time off for physical therapy over a back injury. Come May her contract is up and she’s ready to call it a day so there’s an amicable parting. She does the battle royal at Mania 25 and has popped up on occasion ever since, most notable in Rumbles, her own Hall Of Fame induction and that of eternal partner or rival Stacy Keibler, with it befitting the pair to induct each other. Arriving from WCW with genuine pedigree in the fitness model world and game for virtually anything the company asked of her, it’s fair to say she was one of the truest success stories of the buyout, and while the business was dropping off, they were still able to maximise the dollars her charms could generate in a way WCW never did or could have been expected to ; that is to say, WWE definitely received their moneys worth in exchange for (ahem) guaranteed cash changing hands at newsagents all over the globe - mine included. Always a class act, Torrie is also a living definition of aging like a fine wine, to this day.

[air_raid]

DECEMBER 2007

THE MAIN EVENTS - RAW

2nd in Savannah it’s still Triple H & Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton & Umaga, then only TV tapings until Christmas. 26th-28th in Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta and again 30th in Raleigh it’s HHH vs Umaga in an innovative (for house shows) “fans choose the stip by text” gig which always ends up a cage match, usually supported by the new WWE title match - Randy Orton vs Chris Jericho.

THE CARDS

Jeff Hardy vs Ken Kennedy for the ICT is on after Christmas, there are two rounds of Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes vs Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick, commonly there’s also Super Crazy vs Vladimir Kozlov and (formerly on SmackDown, testing babyface waters) Drew McIntyre vs Gene Snitsky. Including Savannah there are a couple of instances of Santino vs DH Smith, fresh back from Wellness suspension. Chip off the old block that one. Mickie James & Maria vs Beth Phoenix & Melina is our women’s match. Nothing else regular - short cards and not many of them.

VARIATIONS 

In Savannah Hacksaw Jim Duggan goes over Charlie Haas and Kendrick does one last job to Snitsky, plus Kennedy oddly goes over fellow heel Carlito, Phoenix vs Mickie for the belt is one on one and prior to winning the tag belts Cody & Bob beat The Highlanders. In Chattanooga only, a fair few midcard matches don’t happen, replaced by Y2J winning a show-opening battle royal to earn his title shot. In Atlanta only, McIntyre is back with William Regal. The Ayatollah is off on Raleigh causing the following domino effect - Orton retains over Jeff instead, Kennedy thus works Smith, Santino thus tags with Carlito to challenge Hardcore & Cody - which needed a change away as Cade separated a shoulder two nights previously. Murdoch also goes over Hacksaw.

It should be noted that in Chattanooga the Women’s tag is replaced with the same four wrestlers having a bikini contest. No disrespect intended to Maria or Melons, but it’s a bit weird paying Mickie James and Beth Phoenix to be in the building not to let them wrestle.

THE MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN 

4th-7th we’re already back in Europe! 4th-7th for two nights in Belfast then Frankfurt and Zurich we alternate Batista & The Undertaker vs Edge & MVP then Batista vs Edge for the belt. 26th-29th in Albany, the Continental Airlines (16,000 sellout), Hershey and Baltimore it’s new champ Edge beating Big Dave in No DQ or Last Man Standing matches with help from his new lieutenants.

THE CARDS

When Taker isn’t on top Undertaker & Kane beat Great Khali & MVP in Europe or Khali & Big Daddy V back home - Kane vs Daddy happens on nights Taker tags with Dave and again at the former Meadowlands. MVP vs Carlito is an odd run after Christmas which occurs when Rey Mysterio gets injured. CM Punk vs Chavo Guerrero Jr is also added month end for the ECW belt, plus Mark Henry squashing Jimmy Wang Yang - though Yang does get to beat Jamie Noble in both Zurich and Baltimore.

When Khali isn’t tagging with MVP on tour he’s doing a DQ with Fit Finlay - otherwise Finlay beats the up to now consistent Chuck Palumbo. Meanwhile the other nights Palumbo swaps wins with Noble in a feud that started on TV and continues til New Year. John Morrison & The Miz vs Jesse & Festus for the tag belts continues, the former Daltons otherwise beat Drew McIntyre & Kenny Dykstra two nights of the tour plus Tommy Dreamer wins twice against Kevin Thorn. Month end Dreamer beats Elijah Burke. It’s alternating between Michelle McCool vs Victoria with Nattie Neidhart as the ref or a triple threat on the tour.

VARIATIONS 

Night one in Belfast it’s Punk vs Miz vs JoMo and Yang pins Matt Striker. Night after, Punk beats V by DQ, Yang pins Thorn and Noble pins McIntyre. In Frankfurt Yang upsets Morrison and Punk pins Miz. In Zurich McIntyre pins Thorn, Dreamer pins Dykstra. In East Rutherford only, Taker pins Khali in singles, presumably because they thought Taker in a singles would sell more tickets. There’s also a good old fashioned cross feud tag of Henry & Noble vs Palumbo & Yang. In Baltimore only, Michelle & Kelly Kelly vs Victoria & Layla El actually goes on as a match as opposed to bikini contest plus  an opponent swap sees Dreamer lose to Mizark.

TVs

2nd in Florence Chavo pins Charles Evans before cameras, next night in North Charleston Atlas Dabone knocks off Kozlov. 10th in Bridgeport DH Smith vs Steve Corino before cameras is as “1PW” a thrown together pair I could imagine. The special anniversary Raw has Rob Van Dam turn up to pin Santino, Hulk Hogan brawl with Khali, Marty Jannetty job to Kennedy, Holly & Cody win the tag belts and IRS win a nostalgia battle royal to then take a dive paid off by old mucka Ted DiBiase (Sr). Next night at the former FleetCenter (6000 is dreadful there) Corino jobs to Kofi Kingston before the taping and Batista pins Edge after it. Dark at Armageddon Jesse & Festus beat Miz & Morrison non title (YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME) - this being a highly eventful PPV which sees JBL attack Y2J to announce his return to the ring, Jeff start his slow crawl toward genuine main event status by cleanly pinning Triple H (who unfortunately laughs it off) and Edge beat Batista and Taker to win the belt back with help from newly rechristened Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder. Next night in Buffalo McIntyre pins Dabone before Raw, Ric Flair continues his streak under threat of retirement beating Umaga by count out Jeff & HBK beat Orton & Kennedy when Jeff pins the champ and dark Orton loses to Jericho by DQ again when JBL interferes again. In Rochester Dave Taylor does a job for Kingston (I believe Taylor’s last use before release in April), James Curtis pins Evans, WCW buddies Yang & Shannon Moore beat Miz & JoMo non title (WORTHLESS) and Colin Delaney gets pinned by Shelton Benjamin on ECW. 29th in Greensboro Kendrick pins Nick Nemeth, Charlie Haas starts wearing his lucha mask on Heat, Flair beats HHH by DQ and dark Y2J & Jeff beat Orton & JBL when Hardy pins Orton again. Finally next night in Richmond our dark matches have Rob Terry second Nunzio (Big Guido reincarnated?) to beat Nemeth and Khali vs Tommy Dreamer is the match you looked forward to least on a Silver Vision box, Rey wins Beat The Clock on SmackDown and dark, Batista beats Edge by DQ.

DEPARTURES 

WWE gives the roster a Christmas present of not sacking any of them.

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by air_raid

[air_raid]

JANUARY 2008

To paraphrase the old Rumble review thread this month really does feel like a chapter start and refresh. New stars are now established on top and the Rumble has two great title matches AND the Rumble itself has huge star power from the first two to the last three! It’s remarkable how crap things start to look by 2012s version of the same PPV.

THE MAIN EVENTS - RAW

4th in White Plains it’s Randy Orton vs Jeff Hardy for the WWF title then 5th in Poughkeepsie it’s another of those double shots ; the afternoon has Jeff tag with Triple H to knock off Orton & Ken Kennedy then a shorter card in the evening has two singles matches. Orton vs Hardy rolls on 6th in Utica, 11th-13th in Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Dothan then 18th-20th in Syracuse, Jamestown and Binghamton, and 26th Raws top contribution to a huge cross brand show in Providence (9500) is either Jeff & Chris Jericho dropping Orton & JBL or Triple H vs Umaga inside a cage!

THE CARDS

1st week Triple H vs Ken Kennedy is the semi main ; after a mid month DX distraction (see below) Shawn Michaels vs Umaga is huge in New York State. Tag title match early month has Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly vs Trevor Murdoch & Santino (in for the injured Lance Cade) then on and off it’s Santino & Carlito including in Providence. Women’s title is Beth Phoenix vs Maria early month or Mickie James for two weeks.

Early month matches on repeat are DH Smith vs JBL, Atlas Dabone vs Charlie Haas and Drew McIntyre vs Gene Snitsky. Mid month McIntyre vs Haas is the only consistent match. Week three it’s two or three rounds of Smith vs Murdoch, Vladimir Kozlov vs Brian Kendrick (reprised from White Plains), Haas losing to Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Snitsky beating (yet again) Super Crazy.

VARIATIONS 

In Jacksonville DX beat Umaga & Snitsky, in Tallahassee Umaga & William Regal, in Dothan all three in a handicap. Other one offs, aside from those big matches in Providence, see Nick Nemeth beat Super Crazy in White Plains, Crazy & Kendrick vs Nemeth & Haas, Smith vs Regal, Holly vs Murdoch, Cody vs Kozlov, Dabone vs Santino and Maria vs Jillian Hall the afternoon of Poughkeepsie then JBL beat McIntyre in the first of four matches in the evening, in Utica it’s Kendrick vs Nemeth and Crazy vs Kozlov, in Jacksonville Cody vs Regal, Ted DiBiase Jr vs Haas, Crazy pinning Afa Jr, Smith & Dabone vs The Highlanders and Holly vs Snitsky. In Tallahassee Bob & Cody defend against the Highlanders leaving Carlito & Santino with Smith & Crazy, Dabone beats Murdoch and Kendrick jobs to Snitsky, in Dothan Smith & Crazy beat Robbie & Rory and Kendrick vs Murdoch. Finally in Binghamton Kendrick vs Haas and Kozlov over Duggan.

THE MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN 

5th-7th in Canton, Johnstown and Elmira it’s still Edge vs Batista for the Big Gold Belt then 12th-14th in Jonesboro, Little Rock and Tupelo we move to Rumble challenger Rey Mysterio before reverting to Big Dave 19th-21st at State College PA and Salisbury and Upper Marlboro MD, before on last in Providence it’s a somewhat inevitable three way in the last house show of the month.

THE CARDS

The Undertaker & Kane vs Mark Henry & Big Daddy V is a big name semi main mid month then it’s Kane vs V in singles and Ric Flair vs Henry is a great match for the jeopardy of Flairs “lose and retire” stip the week before the Rumble. MVP vs Fit Finlay has two runs for the UST then Rumble week Finlay’s actually pinning Great Khali! John Morrison & The Miz vs Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore is not a tag title run I expected but it’s the first regular road cheques for Moore I can recall in ages. I should add that in Canton it’s non title but a “Royal Rumble Qualifier” so Yang and Moore are permitted to beat the champs. Grrr.

OVWs Charles Evans vs Kenny Dykstra goes 50/50, Jamie Noble vs Deuce is the kind of match they’d start Superstars with in 95, followed by two squashes then a proper main. Nattie Neidhart vs Victoria early month is refd by the permanently useless Kelly Kelly, mid month we return to Kelly & Michelle McCool vs Nattie & Layla El - lovely bit of muffin - then month end it’s Kelly vs Vic. CM Punk vs Chavo Guerrero Jr for the ECW belt is ongoing, Tommy Dreamer vs Elijah Burke is on and off plus a tag with Nunzio and Shelton Benjamin as their partners as well as Kofi Kingston vs Kevin Thorn, mid month Kofi swaps wins with Burke too and Dreamer does jobs for Benjamin - there are also rounds of Punk vs Chavo vs Shelton in Elmira and Tupelo. Finally month end Shelton starts challenging Punk one on one and Kofi starts pinning SmackDowns Deuce.

VARIATIONS 

In Elmira it’s Dreamer vs Thorn, Kofi vs Nunzio and Burke has a night off. In Tupelo Finlay’s off, MVP beats Noble. In Upper Marlboro Kane vs Khali is back on as a one off and Dreamer jobs for V. Finally in Providence MVP vs Kane has one reprisal and Henry squashes Nunzio.

TVs

7th in Uncasville Ashley Massaro returns from injury in (I can’t believe the shit I have to write) a five way lingerie pillow fight, which she wins. Next night in Wilkes-Barre Sho Funaki & Kingston beat The Highlanders before the show and Batista beats Edge by DQ after it. 15th in Birmingham Kofi beats Paul Burchill who has Katie Lea with him for the first time. 22nd in Charlottesville VA Burchill goes over Funaki, Kofi debuts on ECW TV, Chavo wins the belt from Punk with help from Edge (that will be avenged!) and dark Batista, Rey and Punk beat Edge, Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder. at the Rumble Yang & Moore beat Deuce & Domino dark, Mike Adamle makes his disastrous debut, Flair beats MVP non title (boooooo) and of course, John Cena returns shockingly and wins the Rumble. Next night in Philadelphia Burchill beats ex-CZW Nick Berk dark, next night in Reading Kozlov beats Funaki, and on ECW Kofi pins Rob Eckos (Robbie E).

DEPARTURES 

Genuinely, I believe, nobody.

[air_raid]

FEBRUARY 2008

MAIN EVENTS - RAW

7th they’re in Anchorage which technically isn’t an international tour but feels like one for Randy Orton defending the WWE title against battle royal winner John Cena. 10th in Seoul Orton & Umaga lose to Shawn Michaels & Chris Jericho, 11th at Tokyo Differ Ariake and 13th in Honolulu it’s Orton vs Jericho for the title then HBK & Triple H beating Umaga & William Regal, either side of 12th at Budokan Hall where Jeff Hardy wins a battle royal to later get a crack at Orton followed by HHH vs Umaga in a streetfight. 15th in Fresno Orton vs Hardy is followed by “The Game” vs “The Samoan Bulldozer” in a cage, 16th at the Staples Center (13,000) it’s again DX vs Umaga & Regal on last. Leap Day in Cape Girardeau is the only house show in Feb that falls after the PPV and two weeks of TVs - still Orton vs Hardy.

THE CARDS

Jeff Hardy vs Carlito and Chris Jericho vs Ken Kennedy happen when neither face is required for a main event, Ric Flair vs William Regal happens quite often but Nature Boy beats Kennedy a fair few times too. Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly vs Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch for the tag belts goes every night until Leap Day, likewise Beth Phoenix vs Mickie James for the Women’s title. DH Smith vs Charlie Haas goes 50/50 overseas, it’s Carlito vs Brian Kendrick on both nights in Tokyo and Gene Snitsky pinning Kendrick happens a few times overseas and back home.

VARIATIONS 

Starting at the top, Flair vs Umaga is a one off in Anchorage, Kennedy pins Val Venis in Seoul, Hardy pins Snitsky at Differ Ariake, Shawns sole contribution at Budokan, remarkably, is making up the numbers in the battle royal won by Jeff, and in LA Jericho beats JBL second to last in a streetfight. Otherwise it’s Smith vs Regal in Anchorage, Super Crazy oddly winning a three way over Carlito and Kendrick, Venis vs Haas and Smith vs Snitsky in Fresno and Smith, Kendrick & Crazy beat Carlito, Haas & Snitsky in Los Angeles. Finally in Cape Girardeau, Bob & Cody are back with Carlito & Santino while Murdoch teams with Haas to lose to Crazy & our Harry, Mickie & Maria upset Beth & Jillian Hall, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan beats Paul Burchill by DQ thanks to interference of Katie Lea.

MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN 

9th-10th in Guatemala City and Guadalajara it’s Edge vs Rey Mysterio for the belt, 12th in Quito, Ecuador (12,000) we have a six man of Rey, Kane and The Undertaker vs Edge, MVP and Big Daddy V before two huge sellouts (12,500 twice) in Santiago for first Edge vs Taker (which Edge says was their first real singles match) then Edge vs Batista.

THE CARDS

Batista & Fit Finlay vs Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder is not a match I expected to see in Guatemala, Mexico and Ecuador. MVP vs Kane continues a few times and it’s Chavo Guerrero Jr vs CM Punk for the ECW belt nearly every night. Mark Henry vs Jamie Noble is an odd choice even for 2008 to showcase the threat of the Worlds Strongest Man early on but his week improves. Kofi Kingston vs Shelton Benjamin is a decent sounding wrestling match to represent ECW but the brand is getting further and further removed from what it signified. The mismatched tag of the will-be “LayCool” (ugh) continues - Michelle McCool & Kelly Kelly vs Victoria & Layla El every night.

VARIATIONS 

Got to start with The Undertaker - he beats Big Daddy V with Hells Gate in Guatemala City, teams with little brother to beat V and MVP in Guadalajara and pins Henry night 2 in Santiago - Mizark also gets to wrestle Big Dave on night 1. It’s supposed to be Rey Mysterio +1 vs Edges clones on both nights - first night it’s Kane, in which Rey does his bicep. There’s a shuffle next night and Hawkins and Ryder lose to Finlay and Noble - the latter having been squashed the night before by Daddy, who thus receives night 2 off other than getting a choke slam from Taker. Night 1 also has MVP vs Finlay, Chavo vs Punk vs Shelton and Kofi gets a night off.

TVs

4th in Austin (12,000 paid sellout) they do a live then a taped Raw ; Burchill makes his debut (with Katie Lea) beating Kendrick and a match probably overlooked has Jeff pin HBK clean, no questions asked. Next night Corpus Christi also sells out, Vladimir Kozlov beats Sho Funaki dark, and on ECW Punk beats Chavo non title but I’ll forgive it as it’s the Gulf Of Mexico match so not a real job. Next night in Houston (12,000 paid sellout) they tape ECW and SmackDown for the week after - Kozlov beats Funaki again, and on TV MVP jobs non title to Batista (FUCK). At No Way Out Kane pins Shelton dark and of course Big Show makes his surprise return in an angle with the injured Rey, starting the build for his match with Floyd Mayweather - a misguided heel turn, as it happens. Next night in Anaheim Hacksaw vs Rory McAllister is very “midway through a Coliseum tape” for a dark match, Maria pins Phoenix in a non title match (FUCK OFF) then Cena pins Orton non title (SERIOUSLY FUCK OFF) to get added to the Mania title match. Next night in San Diego McCool pins Victoria dark, Flair turns up on ECW to tag with Punk, MVP loses again to Batista non title (CUNTS), Chavo loses non title to Rey (FUCKING STOP IT YOU CUNTS), Matt Jackson (yes) does a job to Chuck Palumbo and dark, Taker Kane & Big Dave beat Edge, Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder. 25th in Phoenix Y2J qualifies for Money In The Bank pinning Jeff non title (BUT FUCKING WHY???) - Hardys already qualified even if he won’t actually make it. Next night in Tucson for ECW MnM mk2 lose non title to Tommy Dreamer & Colin Delaney (WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK).

DEPARTURES

I think it’s nobody again. That will change.

Edited April 2 by air_raid

[air_raid]

MARCH 2008

Jeff fucks it all up - his ICT reign, regular main events, a MITB win and rumoured cash in at Mania 24. Silly sausage. Plus Ric Flair retires, LOL.

THE MAIN EVENTS - RAW

Randy Orton vs Jeff Hardy continues 1st in Louisville and 2nd in Danville IL then Jeff gets his suspension so it’s Orton vs Chris Jericho in “fans text the stip” that ends up streetfights in Madison and Green Bay 8th/9th. 14th-15th Ortons looking towards one of his Mania opponents and randomly teaming with Gene Snitsky to lose to Triple H & Shawn Michaels in Waco and Tyler.

THE CARDS

Chris Jericho vs Ken Kennedy continues week 1. Fit Finlay vs JBL gets added in streetfights in Texas. Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly vs Carlito & Santino is the early tag title match then from Green Bay onwards it’s Trevor Murdoch & Lance Cade - the latter back from injury. It’s Mickie James & Maria vs Beth Phoenix & Jillian Hall week one, Beth vs Mickie for the belt in Wisconsin and Texas.

Week 1 both nights feature David Hart Smith & Super Crazy vs Charlie Haas & Trevor Murdoch, Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs Paul Burchill and Gene Snitsky vs Brian Kendrick. Crazy vs Haas is the only repeat undercard match in Wisconsin, and they meet again in Tyler too. Otherwise Texan undercards are jumbled.

John Cena has wrestled on, by my count, ONE house show since his return at the Rumble. I don’t think they considered him completely recovered from injury.

VARIATIONS 

In Madison DX beat Cade & Murdoch, Kennedy plays face in his home state against William Regal, Umaga pins Hardcore and Smith plays heel to loose to Val Venis. Next night in Green Bay DX beat Umaga & Snitsky, hometown hero Kennedy pins Santino, Harry again plays heel to lose to Kendrick and Venis loses to Burchill. In Waco Smith pins Haas, Carlito pins Kendrick and Crazy & Venis beat Regal & Burchill (pals again), in Tyler Burchill beats Kendrick and Carlito & Santino beat Harry & Val.

THE MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN 

What an odd tag this is - The Undertaker & Fit Finlay vs Edge & Big Show 1st-2nd in Fort Wayne and Muncie. 8th in Oshkosh WI it’s Edge vs Batista, afternoon of Sunday 9th in Dubuque IA Edge and Show lose to Dave and Kane. 15th-16th “The Brothers Of Destruction” are beating Edge & Mark Henry in Alexandria and Bossier City.

THE CARDS

MVP vs Matt Hardy for the US title is back on in Dubuque and Louisiana when Matt returns from injury. John Morrison & The Miz vs Jesse & Festus for the tag belts for a week and Chavo Guerrero Jr vs CM Punk all month for the ECW belt. Still Kofi Kingston vs Shelton Benjamin early month and in Bossier City. Michelle McCool & Kelly Kelly vs Victoria & Layla El feels like it will never end and continues in Indiana where it’s also Big Daddy V vs Kevin Thorn with Thorn uncharacteristically playing babyface, and Jamie Noble vs Domino. Jesse & Festus also work Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder in both Oshkosh and Bossier City, in Oshkosh and Alexandria Shelton is upset by Tommy Dreamer.

VARIATIONS 

In Fort Wayne only MVP pins Jimmy Wang Yang, no match for Porter in Muncie, just a confrontation when Matt crashes Michael Hayes on The VIP Lounge. In Oshkosh it’s Big Show vs Kane, MVP vs Noble, Fit Finlay vs Chuck Palumbo, and Hardy back in the ring pinning Thorn. in Dubuque JBL lends himself back to SmackDown to lose to Finlay, Dreamer & Kofi beat Shelton & V, Jesse & Festus beat Palumbo & Thorn, Noble pins Ryder and Kelly pins Vic. Alexandria is blighted by flight delays causing a shuffled card and Chavo vs Punk opens and is extended to 2/3 falls to buy time for the other wrestlers to arrive, then it’s Jesse & Festus vs Morrison & Noble and Kofi vs Matt Striker as unique matches. Finally in Bossier City, JoMo pins Dreamer, Noble beats Striker and Michelle pins Vicky.

TVs

4th in Cleveland Kofi pins Thorn before tapings, Stevie Richards gets a TV outing losing to Shelton, James Curtis gets back on TV losing to Kane and Shannon Moore pins Deuce in a match taped but never used on air. 10th in Milwaukee the 3 hour Raw is so packed that Carlito vs Cody is a dark opener and on the show Y2J relieves Jeff of the ICT, 11th in Chicago the ill-fated Chris Harris loses to Shelton dark, and after the taping Taker beats Show with that fuck awful WCW finish, where he’s allowed to pin Edge who interfered instead of the guy he’s actually wrestling. Bull. Shit. 17th in Lafayette Vladimir Kozlov pins Super Crazy, on TV Ric Flair beats Vince in a forgotten streetfight. Next night in Biloxi Kozlov beats Noble, handicap matches ahoy see Deuce & Domino slapped back to “worthless” by Batista and Show beat Luke Hawx, Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas - if those last two names sound familiar it’s because they were The Naturals in TNA. Then Chavo loses non title to Taker (boooo). 14th in Columbia (SC) Ron Killings beats Paul London dark, he’s on the way back in, next night in Fayetteville he beats Kenny Dykstra plus there's a dark six man of Taker, Batista and Flair vs Edge, Show & MVP. Orlando the night after Mania Kingston pins Dykstra dark, on TV Cryme Tyme returns to beat Cade & Murdoch and Paul London & Kendrick beat Hardcore & Cody non title (BOOO!).

DEPARTURES 

Kevin Thorn is despatched back to OVW and after stints there and in FCW he's finally released as a lost cause in April 2009. Big Daddy V loses a MITB qualifier to Punk and though announced for the contenders battle royal doesn’t appear and indeed never appears on ECW again. In the supplementary draft they move him to SmackDown but he never gets used and is released in 2008. Remarkable how he got another run that lasted so long, he was the drizzling shits. Finally, Ric Flair loses his retirement match to HBK at Mania and of course, never wrestles again. For many years, for several companies, all over the world.

Here's Flair in his penultimate match of all time.

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by air_raid

[air_raid]

APRIL 2008

THE MAIN EVENTS - RAW

8th in Trenton it’s Randy Orton vs Triple H for the belt with a DQ finish before we’re off on tour ; 11th in Liverpool Orton beats William Regal before odd couple HHH & Chris Jericho beat Umaga & Gene Snitsky, 12th in Cardiff Hunter & Y2J beat Orton & Umaga, 13th in Nottingham H beats Orton by DQ again. After London TVs it’s Orton vs HHH vs JBL 15th in Linz (Austria), we’re back to Orton vs Hunter 16th-17th in Vienna and Granada, 18th-19th in La Coruna and Lisbon it’s again The Game & Y2J beating Umaga & Randy.

THE CARDS

Chris Jericho vs JBL is a nice semi main for Vienna and Granada then Bradshaw redeems himself beating Hardcore Holly twice. Kane vs Chavo Guerrero Jr happens every night until they both head to Cardiff to work the second night with the SmackDown crew and thereafter. Bobcore & Cody Rhodes vs Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch happens every night through Europe before TVs then they’re in a triple threat with Carlito & Santino. When Cody loses his partner to JBL, he beats William Regal in singles, and there are a couple of rounds of Paul London & Brian Kendrick winning three ways over Cade/Murdoch and Santino/Carlito.

There are multiple instances on tour of Beth Phoenix vs Mickie James for the belt, it’s Mickie & Maria vs Beth & Katie Lea in Trenton and Europe too, and towards the end of the tour there’s both the title match and a mixed tag of Katie & Paul Burchill losing to Maria & Val Venis. Kendrick swaps wins with Carlito in Trenton, Cardiff and Linz, Burchill vs Venis happens in Cardiff, Nottingham and Vienna as does Burchill vs DH Smith and Venis vs Gene Snitsky in Trenton and Linz - Smith also does a few jobs to Snitsky elsewhere.

VARIATIONS 

CM Punk works Carlito in Liverpool, Santino in Cardiff and tags with Y2J in Nottingham to go 3 for 3 beating Umaga & Snitsky, before he joins up with SmackDown. Regal vs JBL No DQ is pretty cool for Nottingham. Umaga vs Santino in Trenton is a fun callback even it’s technically heel vs heel. Trenton also has Ron Killings vs Charlie Haas, Liverpool has Smith loose to Santino and Kendrick beat Burchill. In Nottingham Harry upsets Carlito and Kendrick loses to Santino. In Linz London pins Santino, in Vienna Smith loses to Regal and Umaga & Snitsky win a one off over London & Kendrick. In Granada Kendrick upsets Snitsky, Regal pins London and Umaga pins Smith.

THE MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN 

Europe beckons for the blue brand too - it’s The Undertaker, Batista & Big Show vs Edge, Mark Henry & Great Khali 10th in Valencia and 13th in Strasbourg (near 9000 sellout for debut in the city) and 14th in Cardiff either side of Taker & Dave vs Edge & MVP 11th in Torrevieja. 16th at the NEC it’s actually Taker vs Edge for the belt, 17th-18th in Sheffield and Newcastle the six man becomes Taker, Kane and Show beating Edge, Khali and Chavo Guerrero Jr, before 19th in Glasgow Taker, Batista and Matt Hardy beat Edge, Henry and MVP.

THE CARDS

Batista & Fit Finlay vs Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder is a bit random for later tour nights when Dave B isn’t in the main event tag. Dave F also gets to pin Great Khali on nights HE isn’t main event. It’s usually MVP vs Matt Hardy for the UST on tour, and it’s Mark Henry vs Tommy Dreamer when big Mark isn’t on last towards the tail end. CM Punk vs Shelton Benjamin goes a couple of rounds when Punk transplants from the Raw side of the tour. John Morrison & The Miz vs Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore for the tag belts is nearly every night.

Kofi Kingston vs Kenny Dykstra, Dreamer vs Mike Knox, Michelle McCool vs Victoria and two rounds of Finlay & Jamie Noble vs Hawkins & Ryder also go down early month in Europe. Kofi also picks up wins over Shelton then at least a couple of three way wins over Dykstra and Noble, and after London it’s Kelly Kelly pinning Vic.

VARIATIONS 

Batista, Show & Matt vs MVP, Ryder & Hawkins is a hell of a unique six man on the NEC undercard. Not all great news for Mattitude, he’s squashed by Henry in Torrevieja. Show pinning Khali after a choke slam in Glasgow must have been a memorable sight. We have Kane vs Shelton for the belt and Punk vs Chavo in Cardiff, Kane vs Punk vs Chavo at the NEC, and Kane vs Chavo and Punk vs Shelton vs Dreamer (won by The Gold Standard) in Glasgow. Other exceptions - in Valencia Finlay pins Dykstra and Ryder in singles beats Noble, no odd man out in Torrevieja as Show beats Hawkins & Ryder in a handicap, Noble pins Knox and Shelton downs Tommy. At the NEC Kenny gets to win a match over Noble, in Glasgow there’s also a tag swap - Yang & Moore get to win against Hawkins & Ryder, and the champs lose non title (grr) to Finlay & Noble.

TVs 

1st in Miami the virtually invisible Dykstra loses to Finlay before tapings, on SmackDown a “mystery blonde woman” (Natalya) attacks Michelle, Matt pins MVP non title (get fucked), and Vladimir Kozlov debuts on TV beating Matt Bentley (yes, ex TNA, HBKs cousin). 7th in Albany Ron Killings pins Robbie McAllister before cameras, on Raw Carlito & Santino beat Hardcore & Cody non title - SERIOUSLY fuck off with this, two weeks out of three the “champions” have lost by pinfall. Pathetic. 8th in Boston Natalya gets her name and helps Vic beat Michelle. At the sold out O2 on 14th Holly pins Chad Collyer dark (actual Chad Collyer, not “Chad Collyer, one half of the team of CM Punk”) and Mickie wins the belt from Beth, next night Stevie Richards beats Nunzio before cameras roll, Bam Neely starts seconding Chavo and Cherry actually gets a match, pinning Vic to continue the story of Vic & Nattie vs Michelle. 21st in Greenville Killings pins Murdoch to open, and the live King of the Ring on Raw has ICT holder Jericho beat US Champ MVP in a quarter, then Y2J in turn get pinned by Punk in the semi (final won by Regal) - what the FUCK is wrong with these twerps? Can anyone explain their obsession with beating their titleholders on TV literally every week?? Next night in Greensboro Chuck Palumbo beats Sho Funaki dark, Natalya beats Cherry on SmackDown, Marty Garner gets another gig putting Kozlov over, and Taker pins Batista in a forgotten title match when HBK interferes. Dark at Backlash Miz and Morrison beat rivals Yang & Moore, this being the night Matt finally wins the UST from MVP and in an eliminator Triple H rather than Cena wins the WWE title. Next night at the Meadowlands Killings pins Nick Nemeth dark, night after in Atlantic City Elijah Burke pins Noble, Julio Dinero appears on SmackDown losing to Finlay, and Vickie Guerrero ludicrously strips Taker of the belt by deciding Hells Gate is illegal - even though it hadn’t been when he used it to win the title.

DEPARTURES 

Balls Mahoney is let go, and he definitely lasted longer than most of us expected. A sad tale that we touched on when Axl screwed his shot up, he dies aged just 44 in 2016 of a heart attack, and later is revealed to have suffered CTE. Val Venis wrestles his final match for the company before injury which he just can’t shake after ten solid years in the ring for WWE, finally being released from contract in January 2009.

Saving the saddest until last.. Ashley Massaro wrestles her last match before requesting to be released from her contract on account of her daughter needing medical treatment, which is granted in July. In 2016 she is part of the class action lawsuit against WWE regarding concussions and will give damning statements concerning a “shake it off” attitude to concussion, general ignorance to her need and repeated requests for training, Vince insisting on a cast being removed before time doctors advised so he can get her back on TV and more. Worse and most famously there are horrendous allegations of a US armed forces officer drugging and raping her in Kuwait during a USO tour in 2006. An incident apologised for by Vince but in doing so insisting neither will it be investigated or allowed to become public knowledge, to both protect the relationship between WWE and the US armed forces and of course, their own reputation. Tragically Ashley hangs herself in 2019 aged just 39, one of the absolute worst cases in my book of the business and the people that run it having a callous disregard for human life, and that any level of suffering is tolerable within if the alternative risks negative publicity and thus, a loss of revenue.

Edited July 18, 2023 by air_raid

[simonworden]

Great read as always. Quick query as TV Bam Neely wasn't Roadkill from ECW. Did he try the gimmick first or is this just a mix up?

[air_raid]

16 minutes ago, simonworden said:

Great read as always. Quick query as TV Bam Neely wasn't Roadkill from ECW. Did he try the gimmick first or is this just a mix up?

Definitely a mix-up, a misconception I've carried around for 15 years and only just today realized was wrong. I believe I'd read this mistakenly reported on a (fake) NEWZ site around the time and thought "fair play, he got in better shape" when I saw Bam on TV, and never had this corrected.

[simonworden]

11 hours ago, air_raid said:

Definitely a mix-up, a misconception I've carried around for 15 years and only just today realized was wrong. I believe I'd read this mistakenly reported on a (fake) NEWZ site around the time and thought "fair play, he got in better shape" when I saw Bam on TV, and never had this corrected.

To be honest I had to double check as thought maybe he'd got in shape, had a trim etc. Then I saw Roadkills wiki page photo of 2007 and definately not a mix up. 

[air_raid]

MAY 2008

THE MAIN EVENTS - RAW

2nd-4th we’re in Canada for Triple H vs Randy Orton in a cage match in Montreal and “fans text the stip” streetfights at Copps Coliseum and in Barrie. 9th/10th Hunter and Orton are off so it’s Shawn Michaels & Chris Jericho vs Umaga & JBL in Saginaw and Kalamazoo, 11th in East Lansing Hunters back to partner HBK. After Judgment Day we’re off to Mexico! 21st in Monterrey (12,000 sellout) and 24th a second night in Mexico City (18,750) it’s DX vs Umaga & Gene Snitsky, 22nd in Queretaro (8500) and 23rd night 1 in Mexico City (15,600) it’s HHH vs Umaga for the belt. 

THE CARDS

Back at last! John Cena vs JBL and Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho are both big matches for Mexico that go 2-3 times depending on main event, while early month Jericho & Ken Kennedy vs William Regal & Gene Snitsky in impromptu matches is very odd, with Ken playing pseudo-face against Regal on TV and Y2J on the cusp of an awesome heel turn. Kane vs Chavo Guerrero Jr for the ECW belt goes on through Michigan as their feud continues to flit back and forth between crews. Mickie James vs Beth Phoenix is virtually every night for the belt. Cody Rhodes vs Nick Nemeth runs through Canada and Michigan, where Hardcore Holly vs Snitsky also happens, then in Mexico the tag champs turn back two challenges each from Carlito & Santino and Paul London & Brian Kendrick. 

In Canada it’s Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs Cryme Tyme (which continues in Michigan), London & Kendrick with Carlito & Santino. The Super Crazy vs Paul Burchill & Katie Lea handicap match they did on TV continues in Canada and one night in Mexico. It’s Crazy vs Santino in Michigan and Murdoch vs Charlie Haas in singles twice in Mexico.

VARIATIONS 

Night 1 only in Mexico City big match John tags with Jeff Hardy to beat JBL and Snitsky. Jericho meanwhile works Snitsky at Montreal (plagued by transport issues), Jeff in Monterrey and future protege Cade night 2 in Mexico City. Kennedy beats Cade then Burchill the two nights in the capital. A spotty month for Hardy has him beat Carlito in Queretaro and London night 2 in Mexico City. In a lighter note Maria finds herself partner to Crazy in Monterrey in a mixed tag with the brother-sister Burchills than with Mickie against Katie and Beth night 2 in Mexico City. Otherwise…. The transport problems for five talents to Montreal cause the following shuffle; Mickie defends the belt against Katie, there’s a one night return to London & Kendrick vs Cade & Murdoch, Regal beats Crazy and Carlito pins Shad Gaspard. In Saginaw Bobcore beats Santino and Crazy has to do yet another job to Snitsky. In East Lansing Cody and Holly swap opponents - Holly pins Nemeth and Cody pins Snitsky. In Queretaro Crazy pins Burchill in singles, night 2 in Mexico City he pins Haas.

THE MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN 

3rd in Moncton is Batista vs Edge in a No DQ match (title vacant, remember) then 4th it’s a double shot! 2500 in Fredericton see Dave & Matt Hardy vs Edge & MVP then in the evening there’s 5000 in St John for The Animal vs Rated-R. 10th-11th The Undertaker faces Edge in more of the “fans text the stip” no DQ matches then 12th in Toledo it’s Taker, Kane and Big Show vs Edge, Chavo Guerrero Jr and Mark Henry. 24th just 1800 is enough to sell out Taco John’s Event Center (bless) in Cheyenne, Wyoming for Edge vs Show then 25th in Loveland it’s Taker vs Edge again.

THE CARDS

Kane & Big Show vs Chavo Guerrero Jr & Bam Neely happens twice in Canada - you can never keep Kane and Show separate for long. Show vs Mark Henry is then back on mid month and in Loveland. Matt Hardy vs MVP is, of course, still on for the US title all month. John Morrison & The Miz vs Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore is a sandwich month despite being blown off on TV mid month it’s back to Jesse & Festus again. Fit Finlay & Jamie Noble vs Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder is still going on early and mid month. CM Punk vs Chuck Palumbo vs Mike Knox in Canada is an odd one - Punk wins one, Chuck wins one.

Early month in Canada also has Kofi Kingston vs Matt Striker, Kenny Dykstra vs Ted DiBiase Jr and… bikini contests. Mid month it’s Kingston vs Knox, DiBiase over Tommy Dreamer and Victoria & Natalya vs Michelle McCool & Cherry in wrestling, Kofi works Shelton Benjamin in Toledo, Cheyenne and Loveland and those last two gigs we add Nattie v Cherry in singles and a squash of Vladimir Kozlov vs Sho Funaki.

VARIATIONS 

Fredericton has a shuffle between two regular shows - Show & Finlay vs Team Edge, Punk vs Palumbo one on one, Kingston vs Knox, Noble vs Striker, Bam doesn’t wrestle. In Huntington it’s Punk vs Palumbo vs Shelton, in Dayton there’s no Chuck, Punk wins both. In Toledo Dreamer pins Knox and DiBiase beats Palumbo by DQ, in Cheyenne there’s an odd man out due to no Taker so Noble jobs for Henry, Punk vs Chavo only gets added in Loveland.

TVs

Huge 16,000+ sellout at the Air Canada on the 5th gets a dark match that’s possibly the most-contested match today in company history - Kofi vs Nick Nemeth - and on Raw Y2J & HBK beat Miz & Morrison non title (could you fuck off with this shit?). Next night in London Noble pins Ted Jr dark and a story begins where Deuce & Domino kick Cherry out in favour of Maryse. 12th in Detroit Ron Killings pins Nemeth, and a dark six man main has Cena and DX drop Orton, JBL and Umaga. 13th in Grand Rapids ECW champ Kane loses non title to Morrison (I despair). Dark at Judgment Day Hardcore & Cody beat Santino & Carlito - this being a PPV where Y2J loses a non title match to HBK (sure). Next night in Kansas City Killings loses to Carlito dark, Holly & Rhodes lose non title to London & Kendrick on Heat (oh FUCK OFF), and Jericho loses non title to Batista on Raw (DO fuck off). Next night in Des Moines Matt Sydal pins Noble - of course, they’ll eventually call him Evan Bourne. On SmackDown Matt & Kofi beat Shelton & Elijah Burke. 26th in Denver Killings pins Nemeth dark, Ted DiBiase Sr introduces his lad to Cody and Hardcore on Raw, and DX beat Orton & Umaga dark.

DEPARTURE

Elijah Burke is done on TV and and on the road, short of one dark match in June and one in August that’s the end of him and he’s released in November.

[HarmonicGenerator]

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

MAY 2008

Kofi vs Nick Nemeth

It begins!