This afternoon, WWE.com revealed the third match for this yearâs Survivor Series. It's another elimination match, featuring teams will be lead by WWE Champion John Cena and ECW World Champion Big Show. They are:
Team Cena
- WWE Champion John Cena
- Rob Van Dam
- Sabu
- Kane
- Bobby Lashley
Team Big Show
- ECW World Champion Big Show
- Umaga
- Test
- MVP
- Finlay
** The Wrestling Post take: What's the point in throwing random superstars together? There's no logic to any of these teams. And isn't the point of separate brands to have separate feuds? Is an ECW guy really gonna start a program with a Smackdown guy?
And how the heck does MVP deserve a spot in Survivor Series?!?
Mondayâs RAW rating increased slightly this week, coming in with a 3.7 cable rating and a 6.0 share. The show did quarter hours: 3.8, 3.4, 3.7, 3.7, 4.1, 3.8, 3.5, and 3.7, with a 4.0 overrun.
Last weekâs edition did a 3.6 cable rating. It's a tiny increase, of course, but may show that fans are glad to see DX involved with Eric Bischoff, Edge and Randy Orton - instead of the stale Vince McMahon feud.
According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter ...
The following report is courtesy of wrestlemag.com ...
1. CM Punk beat Mike Knox. Knox ordered Kelly Kelly from ringside. Knox dominated most of the match with punches and kicks. He hit a couple of back breakers, but Punk took over with slaps, a spinning back fist, a high knee, a uranage and the anaconda vise for the submission.
This win qualified CM Punk for the Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember.
Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay announced they are coming to ECW. Paul Heyman came out and announced the tag team main event. He said that next week there would be an open contract for anyone from ECW or WWE who wants to enter the Elimination Chamber. (The Wrestling Post note: this is lame. It's supposed to be an ECW ONLY event.)
2. Daivari beat Little Guido. Daivari dropped Guido on the top rope and raked his face. He hit the DDT for the pin. Great Khali gave Guido the choke slam after the match.
3. Test beat Tommy Dreamer to qualify for the Elimination Chamber. The crowd was into Dreamer. Dreamer clotheslined Test to the floor and hit a neck breaker and sit down power bomb for near falls. Test caught him with a low blow, hit the yakuza kick, and finished Dreamer with the TKO.
4. Rob Van Dam and Hardcore Holly went to a no contest with Big Show and Paul Heyman. Basically, Big Show worked over Rob Van Dam the entire match. He gave Heyman a couple opportunities to slap and taunt RVD. Finally, RVD made the tag to Holly, and Holly immediately turned on RVD. He joined with Show to beat up RVD and gave him the Alabama slam on a chair.
** Click here for more ECW photos from this week
According to WWE.com, the Undertaker will take on Mr. Ken Kennedy at Survivor Series. Expect the Dead Man to make some kind of announcement regarding the match on this week's Smackdown.
The other match already signed is a traditional Survivor Series elimination match. It will pit superstarts from RAW, Smackdown and ECW. These are the teams:
Shawn Michales, Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy and CM Punk vs. Edge, Randy Orton, Johnny Nitro, Gregory Helms and Mike Knox.
Life as a WWE Diva is a dream come true for Maria Kanellis. She recently sat down with Slam Sports to talk about it.
While everyone is familiar with the role of a ditz she plays on Monday Night RAW, most are not aware that she's also dating ECW star, CM Punk. It's all part of a whirlwind adventure for the beauty.
"I've always had big dreams," Maria said. "And they just keep getting bigger. I'm doing what I dreamed of doing ... and that's performing.
"I want to get involved with the (WWE) movie program. I want desperately to win the women's championship. I want to be in magazines - Vogue ... Cosmopolitan. And I want to have kids."
With that in mind, would she ever follow the lead of Sable and Torrie Wilson, shedding her clothes for Playboy?
"I've been asked to do Playboy since I was 19," she said. "I'm waiting. My sister is still in high school and it's very important that there's no pressure on her. If the timing was right, I'd do it, but it's not a major goal of mine."
Maria, whose athletic background includes volleyball, basketball and softball, grabbed onto her role as an "out there" interviewer before actually wrestling.
"It's exaggerated," she said of her TV stupidity. "Everybody has their moments when they're a bit ditzy. People connect with that part. Sometimes it's totally off the wall."
As for her connection with CM Punk, she's very happy with the arrangement.
"We met in OVW," she says. "I knew from the moment I met him that he was something special. He has a passion for the business and I'm excited for him."
The following report is courtesy of lordsofpain.net ...
The show opened with JR and King announcing that K-Fed would be on RAW tonight to explain why he attacked John Cena last night at Cyber Sunday.
Edge, Womenâs Champion Lita, and Randy Orton came to the ring. The Rated-R Superstar grabbed a mic and welcomed the new Womenâs Champion, Lita, and the history making tag team that defeated DX last night, Rated-RKO (Edge and Orton). He said that there was a new era starting tonight ⦠an era w/o DX making immature jokes and whoring out their merchandize. Edge had the boys in the back roll the footage of Bischoff helping them beat DX last night. Orton took the mic to a chorus of boos and said that for the first time ever, DX has been beaten. He said that people shouldnât act like they donât like what happened, because they were the ones who voted for Eric Bischoff. Randy then introduced Bischoff, who came to the ring and asked to have his music cut.
He said he had a lot of people that he wanted to thank. He thanked the people for voting for him last night, and allowing him to ref the match where DX suffered their first loss. Bischoff also thanked Edge and Orton for getting the job done last night and putting on an outstanding performance. He then thanked Vince McMahon, who Bischoff said was well aware that controversy creates cash. Because Bischoffâs book has been selling so well, McMahon put Bischoff in char
ge for the night. Thus, Bischoff decided to give fan-favorites like John Cena the night off ⦠and ban DX from the building. Also, Nitro (w/ Melina) will take on Jeff Hardy for the IC title. At that point, the new tag team champions, Ric Flair and Roddy Piper, came to the top of the ramp and welcomed themselves. Flair asked Bischoff if he remembered the time that he beat his ass backstage in St. Louis. Edge intervened and tried to remind Flair of the last time he was on the Cutting Edge.
Piper interrupted and called Edgeâs show a Roddy Piper-rip off. He said that Orton couldnât even correctly rip off his old man. Piper said he was born controversial and that every time a guy like Bischoff thought they knew the answers, guys like him and Flair changed the questions. Bischoff made Piper and Flair against Edge and Orton in a no-DQ match for the tag titles as the main-event.
Match 1: Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy vs. Johnny Nitro (w/ Melina)
- After back and forth action, the champion hit a sit-out facebuster for a near fall and called for the Twist of Fate. Nitro countered, though, and pushed Hardy into the turnbuckle. Hardy countered, too, and hit the Whisper in the Wind. Melina came into the ring and jumped on Hardyâs back, but he whipped her to the mat and went to the top to drill her with the Swanton Bomb. Nitro caught up to and crotched him on the top rope before he could execute his high risk finish. Johnny went on to drill Hardy with the championship belt and get the pin. Nitro became IC champion at around 8:00.
Backstage, Duggan and Eugene, as well as the Spirit Squad, argued with Eric Bischoff. Bischoff said that those two teams would face tonight, and the losing team would have to split up and never tag with each other again. Maria showed up and Bischoff reminded her of how she used her previously unknown brain power to help get him fired last year. He put her in a match with Umaga and said that if she didnât wrestle, she was fired.
K-Fed appeared on the Titantron and said that he knew we all enjoyed seeing what he did to Cena last night, just like they all enjoyed going to his concert and listening to his album. He challenged Cena to a match in Miami, Florida on Monday Night RAW on January 1, 2007.
Match 2: Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Eugene vs. The Spirit Squad
- The finish came when the Squad got involved, distracting Duggan long enough for Johnny to catch him with a roll-up win. Eugene and Duggan were forced to disband at 2:35. Eugene turned on Duggan after the match, even going as far as to beat Hacksaw with a 2X4.
Match 3: Umaga (w/ Armando Alejandro Estrada) vs. Maria
- The Samoan Bulldozer dominated and destroyed the poor girl until Cena showed up and knocked Umaga out of the ring. Cena tended to Maria as AAE tried to hold back Umaga from retaliating. Maria and Umaga went to a no-contest at 2:33.
Cena took the mic from Todd Grisham after the match and said that nothing made sense on tonightâs show. He said that Bischoff was fired the last time he checked, but now heâs the GM for the day. He said that K-Fed snuck up and attacked him last night, but now heâs challenging the champ to a match. He said that Umaga must have run out of guys to beat up if he was beating up Maria. Cena gave Grisham the FU and said it was time to make some sense of the night. He said that next time Umaga wants to attack a diva, he should try to beat the hell out of John Cena. He also said that if K-Fed wants his ass kicked on New Yearâs, then Cena suggests he use Britneyâs money to buy himself an Army, Navy, and Air Force ⦠b/c thatâs the only way he was leaving Miami, Fl alive. If you want some, come get some.
Last week, The Chop Shop debuted with memories of the glory days of the WWE and other wrestling federations.
What does our columnist have to say this week? Let's just say that Cryme Tyme won't be too pleased about it ...
Ric Martel and Tony Garea, where have you gone? Gone are the days of feuding with Mr. Fuji and Mr.Saito, or the Moondogs, and the Wild Samoans.
Hell, I would settle for Harlem Heat and the Steiners (pictured) all over again. Gone are the TAG TEAMS. You know, guys who stunk as individual wrestlers, but were champions with a partner. It is true that great singles wrestlers have made good tag wrestlers, but the day of it being specialized are long gone.
Rock-n-Roll Express, Midnight Express, Freebirds. Those guys have been replaced by the Dudleys, The New Age Outlaws (BJ James Gang in TNA wrestling), and the Spirit Squad. I ask you: What would Ole and Arn do with those stiffs?
Is there a great tag team out there today?
Sure, wrestlers curretly make a ton of money and do movies. Hell, they become champions after a six-week push (e.g. Brock Lesnar) What happened to paying your dues?
I use the late, GREAT Curt Henning as a reference. He used to get his fanny kicked; even Greg the Hammer broke his leg before he made it to greatness. He paid his dues. He wrestled for years as a mid-carder. Then, he became one of the games' greats. Guys paid their dues.
That doesn't happen all that often anymore. Yes, there are indies who make it kind of big, but those guys are in the minority. If you've got a look, or a schtick, Vince McMahon will put you on TV. Hell, you can be a fifth stringer on your high school football team and you can be put on.
