Various sources backstage at tonight's RAW/ECW tapings have confirmed that Monty Brown is in the house.
The former TNA Wrestling star could just be visiting - or he could be making his debut on one of those brands. Tune in and find out! (RAW will be live, as always; while ECW on Sci-Fi will be taped afterward and air tomorrow evening.)
Especially after the lack of build-up to December to Dismember, many ECW originals are considering leaving the company.
For example, Rob Van Dam's contract is due to expire in six months. Insiders say the frustrated wrestler is counting the days until he's done with the company.
Then there's Sabu. He's earned scored backstage heat for behavioral issues and is reportedly acting in a way that gives the impression he is almost "trying to get fired."
Things look a bit better for ECW newcomer Bobby Lashley, however. He'll receive a long title run as former WWE stars continue to be treated better than ECW originals and veterans.
The following report is courtesy of wrestleview.com ...
- The show opens with a video package running highlighting the Extreme Elimination Chamber tonight for the ECW Championship with champion Big Show, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Test, CM Punk and Bobby Lashley.
- A graphic opening then hits welcoming us to December to Dismember. A display of pyro goes off in Augusta, GA. We then see a shot of the Extreme Elimination Chamber hanging above the ring.
- The Hardy Boyz defeated MNM. Fans were really into the match - hot crowd tonight in Augusta. The Hardys took out Joey Mercury during the match with a big 180 back suplex. Melina got involved during the match, pulling on the leg of Matt Hardy. When Matt went after her, he got taken out with a big clothesline from Mercury. They did a big spot with Matt flipping over the top rope to take out Mercury on the outside, which then saw Nitro go over the top followed by Jeff that got a big reaction from the crowd. Jeff later took out Nitro and Mercury with a whisper in the wind that Matt followed up with two side effects. MNM came back with a snapshot on Jeff, but Matt made the save. The finish saw Jeff hit a swanton bomb on both Nitro and Mercury to get the pinfall. After the match, The Hardy Boyz celebrated.
- Balls Mahoney defeated Matt Striker. Striker got on the mic before the match and told the referee to enforce all rules as this match was NOT under extreme rules. Lots of back and forth action between the two. Better match than you might think. The finish saw Mahoney hit a spinebuster on Striker to get the pinfall.- Backstage, we see that Sabu has been injured and he will no longer compete in the Extreme Elimination Chamber tonight. The fans in Augusta didn't like this decision at all. And who can blame them?
- Sylvester Terkay & Elijah Burke defeated The FBI. Solid tag team match, although the crowd in Augusta is very quiet tonight after a hot opening with The Hardys and MNM. The finish saw Burke hit The Stroke on Tony Mamaluke for the win. After the match, Terkay took out Little Guido with a Muscle Buster.
- Backstage, Sabu is shown leaving in an ambulance. We see a shot of Rob Van Dam and CM Punk with a concerned look on their faces.
- Daivari defeated Tommy Dreamer. The Great Khali had been ejected early on in the match for interfering. The finish saw Dreamer go for a DDT, but Daivari countered that into a schoolboy for the pinfall. After the match, Khali came back out and slammed Dreamer on the entrance ramp. Medics came out to help Dreamer, but Dreamer got up on his own as the fans cheered and he headed to the back.
- Backstage, Hardcore Holly is talking to Paul Heyman. Heyman announces that Holly will replace Sabu in the Extreme Elimination Chamber tonight for the ECW Championship.
- Kevin Thorn & Ariel defeated Mike Knox & Kelly Kelly in a Mixed Tag Team Match. Before the match, Kelly Kelly got on the mic and wished CM Punk well tonight when he competes in the Extreme Elimination Chamber. It was all Knox and Thorn early on in the match until Kelly Kelly and Ariel got the tag. The finish saw Knox refuse to tag Kelly and he walked out on the match. Ariel then hit Kelly with a leg trip and got the pinfall.
After the match, The Sandman made his way through the crowd and drank some beer. Sandman had a singapore cane in hand and took out Thorn with it. Thorn bails from the ring and Sandman chases him down still hitting him with the cane. Sandman then pops open another beer and celebrates with the fans in Augusta.
- Michael Cole previews the upcoming WWE Armageddon PPV on December 17.
- Paul Heyman came out to the ring with his security guards. Heyman talked about the main even tonight - the Extreme Elimination Chamber. He reminded the fans that Sabu will not be competing tonight in the Chamber. Heyman then introduced the ECW Champion The Big Show and asked for the Elimination Chamber to be lowered.
- Bobby Lashley won the Extreme Elimination Chamber to become the NEW ECW World Champion. Order of entry for the Elimination Chamber: Big Show (in pod with barbed wire bat), CM Punk (in pod with steel chair), Test (in pod with crowbar) and Bobby Lashley (in pod with table). Rob Van Dam and Hardcore Holly will start the match. CM Punk was the first out of a pod with a steel chair. Punk threw his chair at RVD, but RVD caught it and threw it back at Punk. Next in was Test out of a pod with a crowbar. RVD was cut open at this point and Test went after his cut with the crowbar. RVD got a steel chair and took out Hardcore Holly, Test and then Punk in the corner. RVD then hit a Five Star Frog Splash on CM Punk and got the pinfall - CM Punk is eliminated. Test then took out Hardcore Holly with a high kick and got the pinfall - Hardcore Holly is eliminated.
Test then puts a steel chair on RVD, climbs up Big Show's pod, jumps off and connects with an elbow on RVD over the chair - Rob Van Dam is eliminated. Test then awaited the entry of the last two participants - Bobby Lashley and Big Show. Paul Heyman's security guards prevent Lashley's pod from opening. Lashley, who had a table inside the pod with it, makes a hole to free himself from the pod. Lashley then takes out Test with a Spear - Test is eliminated. We are now down to Bobby Lashley vs. Big Show with the ECW Title on the line. Big Show's pod opens and he enters with the barbed wire bat. Big Show swung the bat at Lashley, but Lashley blocked it with a steel chair. Lashley then threw Big Show into a pod, busting Big Show open. The finish saw Lashley block an attempted chokeslam from Big Show into a DDT. Lashley then connected with a Spear on Big Show to get the pinfall to become the NEW ECW World Champion.
** Click here for more December to Dismember photos
The storyline of Edge and Randy Orton beating down a bloody Ric Flair on Monday Night RAW last week was an angle designed to write Flair off of WWE TV indefinitely.
Close friends of Flair have stated that the finalization of his divorce will be preoccupying him in the coming months and is one of the reasons why WWE gave him some time off from the road. His situation could go so far that his legal proceedings dividing his assets could end up on Court TV.
Well, no, the WWE Chairman probably won't win the award. But one Sports Illustrated writer seems to think he should.
On SI.com, Andy Gray lists Vince McMahon as his personal choice for Sports Illustratedâs 2006 Sportsman of the Year award. The pick is based on WWEâs upcoming Tribute to the Troops tour.
âWhile five days may not seem like much of a commitment, it's five more days than any other professional sports team spent in Iraq this year. More importantly, the company doesn't make a dime off the trip. It's simply a way for McMahon and the rest of the WWE to say thank you to a group of people who are too often overlooked,â Gray wrote.
At last night's during RAW house show in Knoxville, TN, Voodoo Kin Mafia, Kip & BG James showed up to continuing filming footage for their current "WWE invasion" storyline. They were accompanied by a camera crew, Vince Russo, announcer Jeremy Borash, and a group of âfansâ that had TNA posters and VKM signs.
According to reports, the TNA Wrestling stars entered the Knoxville Civic Center as Triple H was making his entrance to take on Randy Orton. Fans began to chant for them as they saw the stars in the upper level seats.
Triple H made no mention on the mic of the TNA stars being in attendance.
The following report is courtesy of lordsofpain.net ...
The show starts with Teddy Long in the ring. He talks a little about Survivor Series, and says that at Armageddon, MVP will take on Kane in and Inferno Match, and Mr. Kennedy will face Undertaker in a Last Ride Match. Then he welcomed the new World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, to the ring. He said the kinds of things you would expect him to, about surrendering the title, and finally getting it back, but was eventually interrupted by King Booker.
The King said that Batista had stolen the title from him, and that he was going to invoke his rematch clause right here tonight. The were both getting ready to fight when Finlay came out and said that Booker didn't deserve a rematch, because he'd never beat Finlay. In the end of it all, Teddy Long decided to book a Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship for later on Smackdown.
MNM vs. Brian Kendrick and Paul London
- MNM won after William Regal and Dave Taylor came out and interfered with Kendrick and London.
- There was a backstage segment with MVP and Mr. Kennedy where they talked about what had happened on Sunday. Kennedy was pretty upset, and MVP said it was a shame, because they could've helped each other out.
Chavo Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit
- Pretty standard match between these two, nothing too spectacular or out of the ordinary. The end came when Vicki got on the ring apron, and Benoit almost knocked her off again, but stopped himself, which proved enough of a distraction for Chavo to come from behind and roll him up, getting the three count by holding Benoit's tights.
- Batista was shown backstage talking on a cell phone, but they only played it in the arena for about 5-10 seconds, because Layla El was coming out and they had to play her entrance video.
Layla vs. Kristal
- The crowd started turning on this match near the end, chanting "boring." Kristal won. There was no Boogeyman during or after the match.
MVP vs. The Undertaker
- The match started out going back and forth, but eventually Taker went out of the ring and got a chair. MVP left the ring, and Mr. Kennedy came out. This, again, was on the opposite side of the ring from me, so I'm not sure if Kennedy willingly got in the ring, or if MVP threw him in, but he ended up in there somehow. Not long after that, Kane came out, and all four of them ended up in the ring. Kane and Undertaker always had the better of MVP and Kennedy, but somehow Kennedy escaped and ran over the annouce table and through the crowd.
Finlay vs. King Booker vs. Batista (C) for the World Heavyweight Championship
- There was a lot of action between all three guys, with at least one spot where Booker and Finlay teamed up, only to have Finlay pull Booker off Batista because he wanted the belt. Little Bastard made an appearance, but like at Survivor Series, he just ran in, looked at the size of the guys, got scared and ran out. Eventually, Batista got the better of both of them, and he gave a spinebuster to Finlay, and tried to put away King Booker, who escaped and went for the Scissors Kick, but Batista moved and gave him the Batista Bomb to retain his title.
Long announced that Booker and Finlay would get another shot against the champion at Armageddon in a tag match. We now know Batista's partner will be RAW's John Cena.
** Click here to see more WWE photos from this week's Smackdown
Greetings, wrestling fans. Welcome to The Wrestling Matt, one manâs take on the latest story lines and backstage TNA/WWE rumors.
What would I like to see tagged in for further development? What should be tapped out immediately before it gets even worse? Letâs find out. On to the column â¦
Tap Out: The inanity of the Voodo Kin Mafia angle. Let's forgot for a moment how TNA and WWE are obviously two different companies, so it's sheer idiocy to pretend as though the VKM could be involved in a WWE match.
But just who does this story line appeal to? TNA fans already watch that product and WWE fans won't change loyalities because two former stars are bashing their brand. It's ridiculous.
Tap Out: DX. Tell me other people are sick of their antics and seeming invincibility, too. Fine, they got a win at Survivor Series. Did they really need to shutout Team Rated-RKO? Why not give Edge and Orton at least some rub?
Tag In: Ashley Massaro in Playboy. We're not exactly gonna complain about this one.
Tag In: Best wishes to Roddy Piper, Candice Michelle and Michelle McCool. All three are suffering from various ailments. We hope surgeries and time resting helps each superstar recover well.
As of last night, here is the updated card for TNA Wrestling's Turning Point on Sunday, December 10:
NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
- Abyss (c) vs. Sting vs. Christian Cage
- Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe
X Division Championship Match
- Christopher Daniels (c) vs. Chris Sabin
Bikini Contest
- Ms. Brooks vs. Eric Young
