January 2007 News Archive (Page 2)

Over on WWE.com, there's a story about a recent photo shoot with almost all the WWE Divas in San Antonio.

Below, Lilian Garcia and Rebecca enjoy their cow girl sides. As we imagine what it would be like to have those ladies saddle us up, read more about the shoot here.

The following report is courtesy of wrestleview.com ...

MNM v. The Hardy Boys
MNM controlled the opening segment, keeping Matt Hardy at bay. Eventually Nitro gained the advantage after a brief Hardy comeback, and tagged in his partner Joey Mercury.

Mercury was tagged in only to be rushed to his opponent’s corner and watched Jeff tag in and drop kick him in the face. Mercury hit a low blow to save himself and tagged in Nitro who almost immediately was on the receiving end of an atomic drop and a leg drop to the groin.

Eventually, Jeff went for his diving splashes in the corner, but Nitro rolled out of the way of the second and almost scored a flash pin. Eventually Matt popped up and hit the twist of fate on Nitro. He went to hit Mercury with it, but Mercury grabbed him and bull rushed him out of the ring. Jeff capitalized and hit the swanton bomb for the victory.
Winners: The Hardy Boyz via pin fallTeddy Long and Coach were in the back looking at the number balls when Edge poppd up. Kelly Kelly popped up and told everyone she was the rumble tumbler for the numbers. Edge made fun of her until Orton popped up and gloated about throwing him over the top rope. They argued a bit and Edge wanted to see Orton’s number. Edge said he’d show Orton his if he showed him his. King Booker showed up and asked them if they just said that.

ECW World Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) v. Test

The two locked up and powered each other around the ring until the ref broke the clinch in the corner. The break wasn’t frienly though and Lashley speared Test backing up and rode him into the ring ropes.

Lashley hit some shoulder thrusts and went for a military press, but his arm gave way. While the referee tended to him, Test came out of nowhere and killed Lashley with the big boot. He went for the cover but Lashley kicked out at 2.Test went for his f-5 like finisher but Lashley wiggled out and shoved Test to the mat. Lashley waited for Test in the middle of the ring, but Test said he had enough and began walking back to the back and got counted out.

Winner and STILL ECW World Champion: Lashley via count out

After the match Lashley was apparently upset that he retained the title so he went after Test, brought him back to the ring and power slammed him.

World Heavyweight Championship: Batista (c) v. Mr. Kennedy

Batista bullied Kennedy to the corner but Kennedy hit him with a thumb to the eye and landed some forearms to Batista’s face. Batista quickly tossed him off the ropes and locked him up with a suplex and dropped him on his back.Batista went for a power slam, but Kennedy booted him in the back of the leg to regain the advantage. Kennedy came flying off the ropes, but Batista caught him and planted him with a spine buster, but looked like he injured his knee in doing so.

Kennedy kept putting the boots to Batista but he fought through the pain and hit some clotheslines and a body slam. Still favoring his knee, batista went for a fireman’s carry slam, but Kennedy held him up with some elbows. Batista hit the fallaway slam and set up the Batista bomb.

Kennedy shoved Batista off into the referee and hit a low blow and his swinging neck breaker but the referee couldn’t make the cover. Finally the Ref came to and Kennedy hit a DDT and got another 2 count on the cover.

Kennedy went for second rope double axe handle but got plastered with a lariat. Batista set up for the Batista bomb and connected with it, but not without Kennedy punching away at him all the way down. Batista made the cover to retain the title.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Batista via pin fall

WWE Championship - Last Man Standing Match: John Cena (c) v. Umaga

Cena rose to his feet after an initial beating at the count of seven. Umaga hit a body slam and then went to the outside and gathered some toys from the ringside area. Umaga tossed the ring steps into the ring and went to get back into the ring before Cena drop kicked him back to the floor. Cena picked up the steps and tossed them directly at Umaga’s head, cold cocking the challenger. Umaga stumbled to his feet at seven before getting back in the ring.

Cena had a brief advantage before Umaga nailed him with yet another clothesline. Umaga hit some more punches to the gut before slapping on a bear hug in the middle of the ring. Umaga held the hold on for two minutes or so before converting it into a belly to belly suplex.

Umaga hit a banzai drop but was met with knees on the second. Cena hit a bulldog onto the steel steps and then followed it up with his inverted suplex onto the steps. Umaga was draped on the steps as Cena set up and connected with the five knuckle shuffle. Cena went for the FU but he felt forward and Cena’s head smacked off the ring steps.Cena came too, but was bleeding badly. Umaga went right at Cena’s cut, Hammering away at Cena’s open wound. Despite a pretty bad fist-based beatdown, Cena rose to his feet at nine.

Umaga tied Cena upside down in the corner and went for his diving head butt, but Cena sat up, climbed to the top rope and hit a leg drop off the top rope. Umaga popped up though , so Cena tossed him into the ring post. Cena grabbed a TV monitor from the outside and slammed it right into Umaga’s forehead hardway, denting the TV monitor.

Umaga still rose to his feet before he was dumped back to the floor by Cena. Cena went for a suicide dive but was caught and slammed into the ring post and then summarily into the ring steps.

Umaga cleared off the announce tables and set up Cena on the Spanish announce table. Umaga ran across three tables and went for the diving head butt but missed and went crashing through the table.

Umaga went for the spike with the metal piece but missed. Cena began beating the hell out of Umaga with the piece of metal and slapped on the STFU using the ring ropes to choke Umaga out.

It looked like a real life strangling. Cena let go but Umaga began stirring before 10. Cena went right back to the well and literally strangled Umaga lifeless on the mat. The referee finally counted Umaga out as JR screamed “even a monster has to breathe!”

Winner and STILL WWE Champion: John Cena

The Royal Rumble MatchEntrant #1 is RIC FLAIR. Entrant #2 is FINLAY.

Finlay grabbed a headlock and hit a shoulder block to floor Flair. He bullied the 16 time World Champion to the corner and began hammering away at his chest before whipping him hard to the buckles and back body dropping him to the mat. Finlay looked for the elimination before Flair raked his eyes.

The #3 Entrant is KENNY DYKSTRA.

Kenny came in and he and Flair immediately went at it. Flair chopped the poo out of Kenny’s chest before Finlay came over and decked Flair. Kenny helped Finlay but then Finlay turned around and tried to toss Kenny, but Flair made an inadvertent save.

The #4 Entrant is MATT HARDY

Hardy came into the ring and hit the side effect on Kenny while Finlay worked over Flair. Kenny eventually gained the advantage. Flair swapped places with Hardy and the duos switched up a bit.

The #5 Entrant is EDGE

Edge came right at Flair and Speared him. He hit the same on Finlay before missing Hardy in the corner. Dykstra and Hardy double clotheslined each other leaving everyone down on the mat. Flair went to the outside and grabbed two chairs to ry and get revenge for the conhairto on Raw. Kenny low blowed him allowing Edge to dispose of Flair.

RIC FLAIR eliminated by EDGE

Kenny slapped Edge five only to get tossed over the top rope by the same man.

KENNY is eliminated by EDGE

The #6 Entrant is Tommy Dreamer

Dreamer went after Finlay but found himself nearly eliminated. Edge and Hardy grappled all over the second rope and neither really switched places for the entire time.

The #7 Entrant is SABU

Sabu went immediately UNDER the ring and laid out a table. Dreamer and Sabu went at each other before he hit an inverted swinging DDT on him. Edge worked over Finlay in the corner while Hardy came really close to eliminating Sabu.

Continue Reading...

According to The Wrestling Observer newsletter ...

• After discussions and negotiations throughout the week, there is still nothing definite for WrestleMania 23 yet. Batista vs. Undertaker is the closest thing to a decision so far, but it’s not set.

Cena vs. Michaels has been suggested, but they've decided most likely to not go through with it. Edge and Randy Orton are said to be the two main candidates for facing Cena right now, with Orton being the favorite of the two.

• Hogan Hogan has been asked about three possible matches. His potential opponents are Khali, Umaga and Shane McMahon. Right now WWE, is pushing hardest for the Hogan vs. Shane McMahon match.

One plan is to have Donald Trump in Hogan’s corner and Vince McMahon in his opponent’s corner, with The Great Khali as the McMahon family bodyguard.

• Big Show has not committed to appearing at WrestleMania yet. Right now, his goal is to lose as much fat as he can and get healthy before he makes any career decisions.

Trish Stratus was interviewed in the Toronto Sun yesterday and effectively ruled out a WWE return due to the travelling issues; below is what she had to say when asked about a full-time return to the company:

"I'm done. I could never do that touring schedule again. Wrestling is in my blood. I love it, so if there were an opportunity to do something again in the ring, maybe. But going on the road? No -- I've moved on."

Her CBS reality show, Armed & Famous, meanwhile, has been canceled after just a few episodes.

Triple H told WWE.com that his recovery from quadriceps surgery is one month ahead of schedule.

“My rehab is going great so far, I’m actually about a month ahead of schedule,” HHH said to WWE's official website. “I’m on crutches and have a brace that keeps my leg locked out, but my range is already up to where it should be about a month from now, and my quad is starting to fire a little bit. I’m starting to see some changes and my swelling is down; it’s a good start and I’m feeling really good.”

Before the injury, Triple H was on track to meet John Cena in the main event of Wrestlemania 23.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

The following report is courtesy of wrestleview.com ...

- World Heavyweight Champion Batista defeated WWE Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms.

- WWE U.S. Champion Chris Benoit defeated The Miz.

- Deuce & Domino defeated an unknown tag team.

- King Booker defeated Finlay via DQ.

- MNM (Nitro, Mercury & Melina) defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London & Brian Kendrick & Ashley.

- An angle was started with a promo by Mr. Kennedy. Batista then came out and dared Kennedy to come out and slap him. Kennedy came out, but then the lights went out. When they came back on, Undertaker was in the ring. Undertaker then threw a big kick at Kennedy. Kennedy dodged it and Undertaker hit Batista instead.

- Kane defeated MVP via DQ with a steel chair shot. MVP tried to set Kane on fire after the match, but Kane stopped it.

- There was no winner in the 6 Man Over The Top Rope Battle Royal involving Kane, Chris Benoit, King Booker, Finlay, MVP and The Miz. The lights went out once again and Undertaker appeared, cleaning house on everyone to end the show.

TNA Wrestling is planning on holding a special on SpikeTV on February 12th. How come?

Because that's the evening Monday Night RAW will be pre=empted due to The Westminster Dog Show. The special will be comprised of recent pay-per-view matches, as well as introductory features of the company.

TNA’s announcer, Don West, made a note on his Nashville radio show yesterday that the special will feature five pay-per-view matches.

SpikeTV and TNA are still negotiating the exact length of the show; they are contemplating two or three hours. They don’t expect to get the high rating that WWE RAW gets each week, but at least they will gain a lot of attention from fans looking for a good filler for their normal Monday night timeslot.

This just in: Victoria likes to flash other WWE Divas. She told WWE.com:

“I just flash the girls! I’m the naked one in the locker room. They always make fun of me, they’re always like, ‘Jesus Christ, put some clothes on.’ I’m always naked. Isn’t that nice to know?”

Yes, it IS nice to know. Read more about life as a WWE Diva here.

Kurt Angle gave another candid interview to Bubba The Love Sponge on Thursday. Highlights of the discussion follow:

• Dixie Carter is paying him more than Vince McMahon ever did. He called her a better businessperson than McMahon and said that there's a rumor going around that an NFL owner might begin backing TNA Wrestling.

• Angle said that TNA has opened discussions with Hulk Hogan and Chris Jericho. He believes Jericho, Big Show and Hogan are the top free agent prospects. Angle did a great job putting over Big Show, claiming that he was one of WWE's hardest workers and that, should he sign with TNA, Angle would push for him to have a long undefeated streak.

• He said that TNA's ratings are now beating ECW and SmackDown.

• Claimed a doctor once told him that Vince McMahon has blood vessels on his nose (which he masks with makeup on television) that signal high blood pressure; McMahon, according to this doctor, is at risk of a heart attack.

• Angle put over Test (and Bobby Lashley); he had nothing positive to say about Triple H.

• He called his match with Hulk Hogan a "five-star" bout; he put over the Hulkster.

• He said that he hopes Christian Cage gets a chance to headline as a long-term champion, but that he needs to change his style to become a more effective heel.

• He criticized Shawn Michaels by mentioning his own track record as someone who has done more jobs than anyone yet not lost overness (but he did admit that HBK offered to put Angle over at WrestleMania). He also mentioned that HBK refused to move to SmackDown.

Courtesy of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter ...

• The Rock recently taped an appearance for The Disney Channel’s show Corey In The House.

• ECW on Sci-Fi scored a 1.5 rating this week.

• CNBC’s Mad Money featured WWE stock last night, giving it two thumbs up and saying they think it will be making a comeback.

• Trish Stratus’ reality TV show Armed & Famous on CBS did a 2.9 rating Wednesday night, which is viewed as a disaster by the network. The show went head-to-head with American Idol on Fox, which did a 20.3 rating.