Hello!
I hope everyone is having a very happy holiday season. I am way behind due to Christmas and all that comes with family gatherings but I am here to catch you up on everything you may have missed over the last 10 days or so.
This column will be more of a newsbit type rather than a commentary so you can get up to speed and know what is happening. I may throw in a spoiler or two but don't worry, I won't ever give you information about something that is coming up that you may not want to know about (because you like to be surprised) without warning you first. I love spoilers and can't keep myself from reading them or hearing about them. Others want to find out as they watch the wrestling shows what is going to happen. So, whenever I post a spoiler, I will notate it first so you can skip over that section.
Fair enough? :)
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE WRESTLING WORLD
A New Baby for Former WWE and ECW Diva
Dawn Marie (Dawn Marie Psalitas), former WWE Diva and ECW mainstay, gave birth to a baby boy she named Mathew on December 20. The baby was a couple of weeks early but both mother and baby are said to be doing just fine. The identity of the baby's father is the subject of much speculation and that is one spoiler you won't find here! I don't advocate personal things like that being spread around unless the people involved verify it. I assume the name of the father will be revealed eventually but I highly doubt it will be by Dawn or the baby's father. I wish Dawn and the baby the best of everything. I know she had talked about wanting children often in the last few years. WWE fired her while she was on maternity leave. Kind hearted aren't they?
Sting Scheduled to Make His Big TNA Debut Soon
In a previous column, I speculated about Sting (Steve Borden)'s role in TNA. Well, it has been confirmed that Sting will be a full time worker for TNA and will make his official debut at the January 3rd Impact! taping in Orlando, Florida. However, his major debut will be at TNA's "Final Resolution" pay per view on January 15. Look for Sting to make some sort of appearance, whether it is just a long shot of him, a short promo, or some other teaser with his major debut coming at the pay per view.Sources are reporting that Borden is receiving a six-figure salary and first class paid travel to and from the shows as part of his deal. I don't know if he will wrestle or play more of a management role but there are already merchandise deals in the works for the Sting character. I think Sting fans will be delighted to see him return to full time action while those who were not fans of WCW may have no clue of his white-faced persona. I am assuming, but don't know for sure, that Sting will appear as his last incarnation, which was that of the black trench coach wearing, baseball bat carrying, white faced Sting as opposed to the other personas he took on over the years (The blonde surfer look very early on, the red faced Wolfpac Sting which was short lived, and a couple other variations of the Sting character).
WWE Star Injured
Add Booker T (Booker Huffman) to the list of injured WWE stars. He suffered a fairly severe strained groin muscle during a match with Matt Hardy on December 26. He will be unable to wrestle for about a month. This puts his "Best of Seven" series of matches with Chris Benoit on hold and shakes up some WWE plans. Expect Randy Orton to step in and wrestle Benoit at least once to replace Booker. WWE's website confirmed the injury and noted that WWE trainer Larry Hatch said, "Normally, this type of injury takes 4 to 6 weeks to heal," said Hatch. "But Booker is a wrestler, so he'll probably be ready sooner."
I wish Booker a speedy recovery. I know these types of injuries are extremely painful and there is nothing anyone can do but to rest and wait out the healing process. I believe he will remain on Smackdown as a character while he recovers.
Who Called Shelton Benjamin?
This may be a spoiler to some but it has been widely known that WWE had sent out a casting call in Los Angeles that read: "SHELTON BENJAMIN'S MAMA / Co-Star / Female / African Am / 50-60 Shelton Benjamin's Mama - 50's, Black, heavy set, good personality, willing to travel."
The ad said that the role would last three to six months. On Monday's Raw, Shelton got a phone call from someone and expressed shock that the person would be showing up on the show next week. We can all surmise Shelton Benjamin's "mother" will be showing up next week.
Frankly, I think the last thing this talented, underrated wrestler needs is his "mother" showing up and making a comedy character out of him. Anyone remember real life mother Judy Bagwell showing up in WCW to costar with her son Buff Bagwell? A disaster of epic proportions! Let's hope WWE has better sense than WCW creative did but I am not holding my breath on that one.
Controversial WWE Suicide Victim Not Dead After All
In my last column, I mentioned that referee Tim White appeared to commit suicide on WWE's "Armageddon" pay per view. Although obviously he did not in real life, he went so far as to close his real life bar, The Friendly Tap, and leave a note on the door saying the closing was due to a "family emergency." White also had a cryptic message on his website from his webmaster a few days after the show saying no one had seen nor heard from him since. His webmaster later admitted that the "suicide" was an angle and that White was simply doing what was asked of him by WWE. He also denied the suicide/death angle had anything to do with the late Eddie Guerrero's passing and said the plan was in place before Guerrero died. Many were outraged to see a suicide angle so soon after the real life death of Eddie Guerrero and so close to the holidays when depression and suicides skyrocket.
During the show, people in the vicinity of the bar where the angle took place had no idea it was an angle and called the police. White was left trying to explain why he didn't forewarn the police about the storyline before it actually occurred. He was not charged with any kind of criminal activity.
Now, it appears that WWE will bring Tim White back - alive! In what WWE calls "dark humor", the suicide angle was supposedly intended to make people believe White had done the deed but will reveal that he didn't. Some sort of storyline is supposed to take place but it all seems so silly. I guess we will have to wait and see what the minds of the WWE creative staff offer us as far as "dark humor" where Tim White is concerned. I would just drop the whole thing and hope nobody even remembered the suicide angle if I were WWE.
WWE Diva Helps Animals
WWE's Lita (Amy Dumas) has taken a lot of hits from fans because of her off screen behavior and her onscreen persona but, despite what people think of her character in or out of the ring, she genuinely has a deep interest in the welfare of animals. She started A.D.O.R.E. (Amy Dumas Operation Rescue and Education), which is a charity for animals and is now selling A.D.O.R.E. merchandise with proceeds going to benefit animals in need. You can see and purchase the merchandise at www.cafepress.com/adoreyourpets.
Ring in the New Year with TNA!
TNA will be airing two special New Year's Eve shows on Spike TV. The first show will begin at 8 p.m. EST airing matches involving Jeff Jarrett, Monty Brown, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, James Storm, and more. The show will also have a look back at TNA in 2005.
At midnight, Christian Cage (formerly WWE superstar Christian will be on hand for action and the "official announcement that will change the face of TNA Wrestling in 2006" will be aired. Also, there will be a championship match on that show.
You may want to set your DVRs or VCRs for these two shows if you aren't able to watch them. I hear both shows are supposed to be quite good and will give first time viewers a good understanding of what TNA has to offer, which is great talent and very solid, entertaining wrestling with a lot less talk and a heck of a lot less silliness than WWE has been presenting as of late.
Former WWE Diva Finally Speaks About Her Release
In a column dedicated to asking why Christy Hemme was fired, I speculated as to why WWE would let a promising, enthusiastic diva go when they have so many lesser talented ones on the roster.
Christy Hemme, last year's Raw Diva Search winner, spoke out on her website, www.ChristyHemme.com saying that she was extremely disappointed in WWE and was blindsided by the release. She said that WWE claimed they had no ideas for her and she was a "budget cut." However, there are some very inside sources saying that there is far more to the firing than a budget cut. While I prefer not to repeat what I was told the real reason for Christy's firing was, money wasn't the object. Jealousy and insecurity was. This would make more sense considering Christy was booked well into the future for signings and tours and then was abruptly sent to OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) to train. While she was not happy to be removed from the Smackdown roster, Christy, who is dating WWE's Mercury (one-half of the Smackdown MNM tag team), made the best of it, relocated, and showed up early for training. Just a couple weeks later, she was fired.
It seems to me if WWE can come up with a storyline for 2005 Diva Search loser Kristal and one for 2004 Diva Search loser Maria, one certainly could have been thought up for Christy who was showing great promise and enthusiasm in the ring.
Christy has already accepted a wrestling booking, so she apparently is not bound to the standard 90 day no compete clause that most fired workers are. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she showed up in TNA and made a big impact (pardon the pun). I wish her the best and hope she keeps her spirits up and her head held high.
Her commentary about her WWE release was removed from her site just a day after she wrote it. Another mystery...
You can check out Christy's website by clicking the link above.
Should the reason of Christy's firing be made public, I will certainly relay that to you but right now, I don't feel comfortable repeating what I was told. I have a feeling it won't be long before it becomes public knowledge anyway.
ECW! ECW! ECW!
Any hardcore ECW bloodlust fans reading? If so, there is a two DVD set for you coming out very soon! WWE is releasing the set, which will be hosted by former ECW owner Paul Heyman, called "ECW's Most Extreme Matches" on February 7.
These DVDs will feature many of ECW's bloodiest and most extreme matches in the promotion's history. The set is not yet available for preorder but will be soon. I have the complete list of matches and extras and will post them next time for you to see. I am amazed (and disappointed) that there is not one match featuring one of ECW's most controversial and colorful characters, Raven. I don't know if that is a personal dis on him because he is with TNA now or what but I watched ECW since the start and I saw some very brutal matches featuring Raven and, without him in at least one match, I find it hard for WWE to consider the DVDs complete. Another notable exclusion is New Jack, who was arguably one of the most violent and craziest workers in ECW. Still, you will see matches featuring The Sandman, Terry Funk, Cactus Jack (Mick Foley), Chris Jericho, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, and many others.
Fans of ECW or those who want to know what the promotion was all about will want to pick up this set. I will give you more details next time plus a preorder link when it becomes available.
If you want to see raw, real time ECW footage, check out the link below to many of ECW's best DVDs and videos. ECW can never be duplicated but does live on through the beauty of videotaped shows and matches.
There is so much more going on but I need to end this and get to work on other things. I will be back soon with lots more thoughts and news.
I am looking at a chat for the first or second week of January, possibly on a Saturday evening, so check the forum to see about that. I will also announce the chat here. Too, as promised, I have posted pics of the hottest WWE and TNA worker as voted by you in the forum. I can't blame you for your picks especially after you see the photos I posted!
Lastly, please join me as I host the The Fringe Daily Challenge. This is a fun 10-question daily quiz on any number of topics. You sign up, which takes about a minute. Email addresses are not checked so, if you don’t want to use your real email address, that's OK. Pick a handle and a password and go! Players gain points for questions they get right as well as speed. At the end of every month, the top ten scorers are inducted into the FRINGE HALL OF FAME where they will remain indefinitely. The more players, the more points for the daily top 10 scorers (and everyone else). Start now and practice for January's challenge. Topics are either hand picked by me or I let the computer randomly pick one. I choose the level of difficulty – Easy, Intermediate, or Difficult. I like to make it easy on players at the beginning and end of the month. In between, you never know what I may come up with. It's all in good fun and I invite you to become part of the challenge. Stop by and say hello to me in the "shout box" on the quiz page!
Visit my personal website, WRESTLING ON THE FRINGE for news, columns and much more. I am doing some maintenance on the site but it will be back up by the time you read this. Check out the message boards (two sets of them), chat room, and all the many columns past and present. I will have a long and detailed look back at wrestling in 2005 within a day or two that may interest you. My personal column is called "Patty's Place" and you can access it by the left side buttons or the main menu. The site is getting an overhaul for 2006 and will be much more interactive and have more content.Lastly, if you want to write a column (regularly or just a one time thing)for The Fringe, know about wrestling, and are a decent writer, email me. I am always looking for new columnists, male or female, to bring their thoughts, opinions, stories, or whatever to the site. Take a chance. You'll be read by many and will be able to have a little corner of The Fringe to call your own.
Until we meet again ... HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
Check the link below for all the great ECW DVDs and videos available at low prices!
Sting fans! You will want to check out Sting's frank and very honest book.
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